Chapter 7

Ohana blinked a few times and then quickly got up from the sofa. She was bewildered, she still didn't know what to do, she had a strapless dress, she didn't know who would take her home given what had happened with Pablo earlier, but she knew that the evening had been much more productive than she had imagined it would be, in many ways.

She grabbed her dress awkwardly and looked around for something that could help her at that moment, then found a dark jacket on a dressing table that was probably his.

The brunette confirmed her suspicions as soon as she approached and took the garment in one hand, smelling Apollo's characteristic scent, then put it on, zipping it up and trying to hide the destroyed straps and the top of the dress, which was completely loose.

After that, still unsure of what to do, Ohana picked up her things, headed for the door and, when she opened it, bumped into one of the security guards, the same one who had helped her. The man looked at her and smiled kindly. He was very tall and wore completely black clothes, but despite his intimidating posture, when he smiled, Ohana felt calmer and safer.

"Mr. Apollo asked me to take you to his home, miss," said the man, indicating the corridor to Ohana, who walked a little ahead of the security guard.

"hank you very much," she said, a little shyly.

He just nodded as he led her out. The walk was silent, but not uncomfortable. Ohana was trying to think about what had happened and also about how she would tell Lenor, who certainly wouldn't want to miss a single detail.

They arrived at the parking lot in a few moments and when she got into the car and put on her seatbelt, she breathed a sigh of relief; luckily, all the journalists had also left, so there would be no one to ask her questions.

"What's your name?" she asked, looking at the man who was starting the car.

"Cristian, miss," he replied, without even looking away from the road. "Can you give me your address?"

"Of course. You can take Pioneer St., Brooklyn" he said, looking out of the window and observing the calm early morning traffic. "Have you worked with him long?"

Cristian looked away for a moment, laughing slightly as he shook his head, stopping at a red light.

"He sent me word that a conversation with me would cost him his phone number," the security guard replied with an amused laugh.

Ohana rolled her eyes, slightly annoyed. Apollo had certainly imagined that she would try to get information from the security guard and had left his price. The brunette opened her bag and, taking out her notebook and pen, wrote down her own number, handing it to him with some irritation.

"Since he started," he replied, accelerating the car again as soon as the light opened. "Nobody thought it would come to this, Apollo surprised everyone."

"It seems that everyone was really shocked by his rise," she commented, looking at him with a small smile and thinking for a moment. "And how does he reconcile his two lives?"

Cristian considered the question as he walked up the street that would take him to Ohana's house. He spent long minutes in silence, turning the corner she had indicated and looking for the brunette's house. Only when they were very close did he answer:

"He has a lot of help, even if those who help him don't really know why he's gone."

The answer was more than satisfactory for the brunette and, when the car pulled up in front of her house, she smiled slightly, nodded at him and opened the door.

"Thank you, Cristian, it was a pleasure!" she said, getting out of the car.

Cristian waved and waited for Ohana to enter his building. Only after she was inside did he start the car, drive towards the Brooklin exit and continue on his way.

Ohana, for her part, headed for her apartment and, when she reached her living room, threw herself on the sofa and tore off her jacket, which had left the scent of its owner everywhere. That smell tormented her and brought back memories of Apollo's deliciously warm fingers on her skin.

She decided not to think about how to prevent Lenor from listening to the recording of the interview, which was certainly depraved by her standards.

Ohana got up from the sofa and, as she walked towards her bedroom, Pompy finally appeared, rubbing against her legs and meowing in a way that drew her attention. Ohana looked at him with a little smile and sighed, heading into the bedroom in the company of the feline, who followed her all the way to the bathroom, where he sat in front of the closed door, clearly unhappy that his owner had left him out of the room.

Ohana took a long shower, put the unused dress aside and, after feeling the hot water relax her body sufficiently, she got out, put on some very comfortable and even rather old pyjamas and lay down on her bed to try to sleep.

She wanted to be able to say that she slept like a baby, heavily and quickly. However, the time it took her to fall asleep was longer than the time she had spent in deep sleep. She lay in bed for most of the night, thinking and rethinking the crazy things she had done that night. She reflected on everything, but she would be a great liar if she denied that what occupied most of her thoughts were the warm lips and bold fingers that covered her with caresses.

When she fell asleep, it was almost morning, and when her alarm clock went off, she wanted to stay in bed and sleep for the rest of the day.

While Ohana was tormented by shyness and shame at having surrendered in such a way to a man she hadn't even seen his face, Apollo thought of the sweet taste of her lips and the warmth of her skin.

Like her, he barely slept, but his night wasn't filled with worries, but with fantasies, of the most diverse kind, about the brunette who took up his thoughts completely. Her lips, perfectly drawn and plump, her skin soft, her breasts warm and fitting perfectly in his hands.

He couldn't contain his excitement, his desire and, even if he had any woman he wanted at that moment, the only one he really wanted was Ohana. But despite this, the star thought it was nothing more than a passing attraction that, as soon as it was satisfied, would disappear as quickly as it had appeared. That's why, when he lay down on his bed and received Cristian's message, he smiled slightly, sure that he would get his wish as soon as possible.

Apollo took out his cell phone, one of the ones he had, and added the number to his address book, sending a very characteristic message and then putting it aside. He loved to play games and that night he was sure he had started a very fun game.

The next morning, when she woke up and forced herself to get up, the first thing Ohana noticed on her cell phone was Lenor's endless calls and, in addition to them, a message from a number she had never seen before in her life.

"I hope your evening was great and that, in the middle of it, you satiated your desire alone by thinking of me, because I did."

Although she didn't know the number, she knew exactly who the message was from and, as she finished getting ready, she thought about how useful that communication with him would be for her and for getting more information.

So, as she went downstairs, she looked at the screen and typed quickly:

"I prefer my desire to be satisfied by the one who provoked it."

Then, after sending the message, she put her cell phone away and began to make her way towards the subway. She wasn't late, so she wouldn't have to run around looking for a cab or Uber.

She arrived at Cochicho at the exact time she was supposed to and, unlike always, she didn't find Pablo waiting for her, nor did she see him as she made her way to the elevator, let alone when she entered the floor of the presidential office.

As she made her way to her boss's office, wondering why her stalker had disappeared, she was busy thinking about what she would say to Lenor when she was asked about the interview and, as soon as she approached the room, she came across the man she wanted to avoid.

Pablo stared at her with a certain irritation, but said nothing. Unlike his usual behavior, he simply turned and headed for the exit, taking the elevator and silently disappearing from sight.

Ohana entered the room and found her boss with her sharp eyes fixed on her.

Lenor was silent, trying to organize her thoughts about what Pablo had said to her, but it hadn't affected her opinion of Ohana at all. She knew that his setbacks were driven by his terrible temper and she certainly wouldn't blindly trust his words or accuse Ohana gratuitously, after all, if there was one thing she knew how to be, it was fair.

"Well?" she asked, raising one eyebrow at the brunette. "What do you have to tell me?"

"I've got some things you'll like," Ohana replied, taking a seat on the sofa." But first, I'd like to say something."

Lenor just nodded, indicating that she should start her speech, putting her laptop aside and turning her brown eyes to Ohana. She was curious to hear the brunette's version of what had happened the night before and considered her much more reliable than Pablo, but she would listen to her first before drawing any conclusions.

"On Saturday, at the concert, well, before it actually" she began, inhaling deeply, feeling completely cornered by Lenor's analytical gaze. "Pablo showed extremely unacceptable behavior, he held my arm tightly, even threatened me and…"

"There's no need to say any more," Lenor said, taking off her glasses and looking at the brunette seriously. "I'll sort it out, Pablo's behavior hasn't pleased me for a long time, and Pedro is the only reason he's still in this company."

Lenor spoke in a clearly irritated manner, her tone was serious and her expression closed, clearly in a bad mood. Although she didn't have much sympathy for people in general, she hated men who felt entitled to harass and lure women; for her, this was unacceptable behavior, especially in her company.

It had taken her many years to get there, to build her empire, and she wasn't going to allow anyone to break her rules. As a woman, she knew how difficult it was to break through the barrier of objectification, she knew very well what it was like to be treated as someone who needed her body to get ahead in life, so she would never allow cases like that to happen in her company.

"Now I need you to tell me about the interview" Lenor's voice rang through the room once more and, for a moment, Ohana felt her body go cold.