Chapter 243 - Love Of Life

"I hate you," Stephen muttered as he accompanied Cage to the set. "Everybody wants an interview with you and my phone hasn't stopped ringing since Giselle posted about you dating. They want double page stories about your private life and dig through every person you have gone out with and splash your pictures." That freaked Cage out. "Why are you scared? As long as Katherine hasn't sneaked into your hotel room and has been squatting there, they won't find out." Stephen snickered. 

Cage sighed in relief. He tried to control his rapidly beating heart and his heightened breathing. 

"The image they posted is of a random girl who came by the set. You are not even in the image." A scoff followed. "Some outlets say you are going out a friend from high school. Others are claiming you got together with Keira."

"And she is not disputing it, am I right?" Cage wanted to bang his head against a wall. 

"I haven't checked with her team but knowing her, she will try to push her false narrative and make use of this exclusive to the fullest." Stephen looked at him with a worried expression. 

"I'll just outright deny it if she becomes vocal." He shrugged, finally. 

"I don't think you'll need to say any more. You made it clear that Keira was a non-issue in your life. Knowing Giselle, her story will have the details." Stephen shook his head with a smile on his face. "Keira is going to be pissed. You've not cut her any slack."

"Thank f.u.c.k. I can't stand her. Period." His breath gushed out. "When is Giselle pushing the article out, though?" he asked. It was a huge piece... an exclusive and she needed to churn it out before Cage spoke to anyone else. There was fire on her ass. 

"End of this week," Stephen commented. 

"That soon?" Cage said, surprised. "Her coworkers might be cursing her..."

"She doesn't care. She's going to get a fat end of the year bonus." Stephen shrugged. Cage rolled his eyes. He could only imagine how many people had called Stephen and tried to curry favor with him so that they could get the scoop.

He was glad that he wasn't in City H at the moment. Being so far away from Katherine was hard, but it was so much easier to keep her safe when they weren't meeting face to face. He probably would have thrown in the towel if they were in the same city.

"So, what are you telling the journalists?" He scratched his chin, trying not to look too awkward. 

"I just said that you have someone in your life. You are very happy and that you appreciate the privacy." Stephen groaned. "They just don't stop calling!" he shouted, stunning the driver. The man looked back at Stephen, who in turn gave him a look of apology. 

"I bet they are camping outside my home to see if any female goes in or out," Cage sneered. 

"Why are you so sure that they aren't waiting outside the shooting area, waiting to bombard you?" Stephen gave him a watery smile, filled with guilt. 

"I'll just pretend they are air. Good promotion for the movie?" he tried to console himself. 

"I'm turning down all requests for interviews at the moment with the excuse that your schedule is packed. We do have to think about Entertainment Tonight, though. Is there anyone you want to give an interview to?" Stephen asked, just to be sure that he wasn't missing out on anything. 

"No. I don't want to talk to anyone. Entertainment Tonight won't stop pursuing us until they get a comment. I'll give him ten minutes of my time and that's it." He was rather angry for being cornered in this manner. But he needed to wrap up this news as efficiently as possible so that Katherine wasn't affected later on. 

Plan for the future. 

"Follow the plan. They're going to be easy," Stephen commented. He was on the phone again, pressing it to his ear and politely telling someone off for calling him for the third time that morning. Media could be so persistent when they thought they could get a story out of it. 

When they reached the site, Cage realized he had been right about the crowd of reporters. There were no more than a dozen reporters, a small crowd in comparison to what he was used to. He also knew that he had dropped the bomb too late last night, so only correspondents in the city had come to talk to him at that time. As more time passed, more journalists would come to town to get a glimpse of him or scream questions that they hoped he would answer. 

Why the reporters thought he would have Katherine with him was beyond Cage. He did have his manager, though. The cameras flashes as the car stopped and Cage stepped out. Stephen followed swiftly, making sure no one came too close. 

Just because Cage was used to this didn't mean he liked it. 

They crowded around him like scavengers, tearing at him and screaming to get answers. Sometimes, Cage wondered if their sole reason for living was to infuriate people and make them act out in anger. He usually believed that was the case. 

"Hey guys, you found us," Stephen began as he made a path for Cage to move forward. "I was Cage's love of life all this time. Nice talking to all of you." The taunt in his voice reeked of frustration. There were some questions thrown at him and he replied with equally amusing remarks. "Do you want me to kiss him to prove it to you?"

Cage huffed and wanted to cry. Leave it to Stephen to dumbfound the media. He had an excellent reputation in the industry but sometimes they thought he was a lunatic.

Cage wanted to laugh when he remembered that Stephen now had a girlfriend who would find out about this conversation. He wondered how Angelina would react when she found out. He wanted to rub his hands together and act like a smug villain. 

Mental imagery aside, he pushed through with Stephen's help and breathed a sigh of relief when the security at the gate held the journalists and cameraman back.