Roxanne took in a deep breath, stepping out of the plane.
“Breathe in that salty air…
It’s great to be back here, right, Olive?” she said to her manager, smiling.
“Uh-huh…” Her manager said absent-mindedly, holding up her hand, as she was on the phone.
“Alright, thank you…”
“B.O.G.S sent a driver and an agent to escort us to our hotel,” Olive said once she was done with the call.
“Do you know who they sent?” Roxanne asked, her eyes glimmering.
“No,” Olive responded in a blank tone.
“Oh…” Roxanne said in disappointment.
“None of your fans knows you’re here, remember–”
“Don’t stop moving, if anyone recognizes me, smirk and kindly ask them not to bring any attention to me…”
“Don’t forget to not be too excited…
You know how you get at times…”
Roxanne nodded.
“Of course…
I’ll keep it low-key.”
“Let’s go.”
Dominic waited inside an SUV, checking the time.
She’s supposed to have arrived…
What’s taking so long?
He saw two women running to them, one of them laughing in glee.
“Start the car!”
What..?
Please don’t tell me those are the people I’m supposed to escort.
What are they running from?
“Start the car!”
Then he saw it.
A mob of paparazzi and screaming fans chased after them with their phones and cameras flashing.
“Start the car!”
He started the car without hesitation, and once they stepped into the car.
“Drive!”
He drove with no hesitation.
A few people jumped in front of the car, attempting to block his path, but he dodged and managed to get away without hitting anyone.
There was an awkward silence.
Dominic felt the tension between the ladies.
He breathed heavily, gathering the courage to initiate a conversation.
“Olive…”
“I’m ignoring you…”
Roxanne smiled stiffly.
“Why?
I did nothing wrong,” she said.
“Except for doing the exact opposite of what we agreed on!” Olive angrily said
Roxanne looked away, laughing nervously.
“What…?
I didn’t do anything…” she said in a little high-pitched voice.
“Really?
You didn’t just hug a fan, pose for several pictures despite my warnings, announce an album, and an upcoming collab?
You didn’t kiss a fan’s notebook when they asked for an autograph–”
“Okay, I got it,” Roxanne said in embarrassment.
“I may have gotten a bit distracted…”
“An understatement…
Dominic tried to keep a straight face.
Is she a celebrity?
I’ve never heard of her.
He glanced at her through the rearview mirror.
She doesn’t look familiar.
They made eye contact, and Dominic looked away.
Oops…
I got caught, hopefully she won’t say anyth–
“What’s your name?”
“Who me?” Dominic said without thinking.
“Well, you’re the only one I don’t know…
So…”
“Right,” Dominic said awkwardly.
“Dominic,” he said.
“Do you know who I am?” Roxanne asked.
“No…” Dominic said uncertain.
Am I supposed to know?
“My name’s Roxanne,” she said, introducing herself, smiling kindly.
She looks calm now, despite the chaos from earlier.
`”Have we met before?” she asked him.
“No,” he shook his head.
“I don’t think so.”
“Really?
You look familiar somehow.”
“I’m sure we’ve never met,” Dominic replied with a smile.
Roxanne frowned, but shrugged.
“Oh well,” she said.
“So how long have you worked for B.O.G.S?”
“Around a month,” he responded.
“Interesting…” she said.
“And you just awakened, right?”
Why is she asking these questions?
“Yes…” he replied, looking at the rearview mirror and making eye contact with her again.
She’s still looking?!
He moved his gaze hurriedly.
“So what brings you to Saesburg?” he asked, wanting to keep the attention from himself.
“Have you been here before?”
“Once, when my best friend moved here a few years back…
we used to get in so much trouble…
He works in B.O.G.S too.”
“Really?” Dominic said, now engaging in the conversation more.
“What department?” He asked.
“I’m not sure,” Roxanne replied awkwardly.
“But he’s amazing.”
Then, for the rest of the ride, she spoke on the various adventures she and her friend had.
It made Dominic miss his old life, something he hadn’t thought of in weeks.
“…then when my ex returned, the glitter bomb was set off.
He was pissed, when I tell you he was pissed…
You know those cartoons, whenever the characters get angry, they would get red and start to fume?”
“That’s exactly how he looked.”
“I’m sure he’d find glitter in random spots to this day…” He said.
“Most definitely…
he opened a social media page, and his entire content was just where can I find glitter this time,” she said
Dominic’s mouth opened.
“I know that channel!” He said.
“It was you?”
“Yeah,” she replied.
“I’m surprised you guys got away with it…” Dominic said.
“We didn’t,” she said.
“We spent the night in jail before getting bailed and were sued for 1.5 million,” she laughed.
Dominic nodded.
“Well, it’s to be expected, you caused a lot of property damage after all.”
“Yeah…
I just wish I had gotten it on video,” she said, sighing.
“I would have shown you.”
“Did you do anything crazy as a child?” She asked.
He sighed lightly.
“No, not really…
I was very book-focused…
though, there was this one time I strapped a homemade rocket to my half-brother’s bed trying to launch him to space.”
“What?
No way…
did it work?”
“Almost,” Dominjc replied, laughing.
“I was caught before I could actually set it off…
I was grounded for months.”
“Can you still do that?”
“No, no, I haven’t tried to build any machines in a long time, I don’t know if I can.”
“Pity…” Roxanne said in disappointment.
“I was hoping you’d help me prank my friend.”
“Prank your friend?” Dominjc questioned.
“Well, it’s been so long we’ve seen each other, and that bastard hasn’t called since he moved here, so…”
“You want me to help you prank this guy…”
“No…” Olive said strictly.
“You are here for diplomatic duties, not to play around…”
“It’s not like I don’t know,” Roxanne grumbled.
Poor Roxanne…
His senses sharpened.
Boom…
They had hit something large.
Dominic frowned and parked.
Roxanne straightened.
“What’s happening?”
“I don’t–I don’t know, I think we hit something,” he responded.
He looked through the rearview mirror.
“Shit,” he cursed under his breath.
We hit someone