Katherine had just loaded her outstation cab to City O and slid into it when her cellphone went off. It was the wee hours of the morning, but she was surprised to see that Cage was still awake. He woke up a little later than this, so she scrunched up her brow and picked up the video call. The interior of the cab was dark, so he couldn’t see her at first.

“Hi, love,” he greeted, a bright smile adorning his face. She found herself smiling back at him. He obviously couldn’t see her, so she looked at the driver, who was sitting in front.

“Excuse me, I am turning the lights on, if you don’t mind,” she politely informed the driver before doing exactly that. She raised her finger in front of the screen to ask him to wait for a moment before reaching into her backpack and rummaging for her headphone.

It was tangled in knots, but she just plugged it in and put it to her ears. Wouldn’t want the cab driver to be the one who exposes their relationship.

“Hi,” she breathed finally, looking at his handsome face. She saw him blink in confusion as he searched for something.

His smile faded as he spoke. “What’s wrong?” Katherine bit her lip, wondering how he read her so easily when she had tried to hide her displeasure. She was still upset by those comments but a lot less. He still saw it.

“I… may have done something stupid,” she began. She had to tell him. She had to talk to him so that she could feel better.

“What did you do?” He looked nervous. Katherine hesitated, her eyes prickling with tears as she thought of how to say it. It was nothing big, everyone did it. “Don’t worry about anything. Whatever it is, I’ll take care of it.” He pleaded. He didn’t want her to cry, especially if it was something that he could help with.

Katherine realized that she needed thicker skin. “You know how people google themselves?” she squeaked. That was not how she wanted to bring up the conversation. She was stalling. “Yeah, I went on the internet.”

“And?” he sighed. The internet was a cesspool of filth and rumors. Of course, she was upset. “What did they say? Is it about Laurence?”

“No. No. I googled to find out what they were saying about me… your girlfriend.” Katherine looked up surreptitiously to check if the driver was listening in. It seemed that he wasn’t. “Well, they’re calling me a whore and a number of other things,” she confessed. She looked away from the camera, focussing on his face to see what he thought.

He looked murderous. “Who? Who made you sad?” Yes, he was positively livid.

“Your… fans,” she confessed in a small voice. She was trying to be as silent as possible, considering the driver could hear in. Sensing her discomfort, the driver quickly put on some earphones. There was the slight thrumming of the beat through the device, so Katherine heaved a sigh of relief.

Cage dropped his head, his free hand combing through his hair with brutal force. She felt a tug of pain in her heart. Maybe she shouldn’t have told him anything about this. Maybe she should have swallowed her stupid insecurities and not pulled him into her mess when he was already so exhausted from months of continuous work.

“I’m so sorry you had to see that. This is why I don’t look myself up on the internet.” He stopped, suddenly thinking of what he had just said. It seemed like he was blaming her for going online to check. “They don’t know you. They think they do but they are dead wrong. They are just jealous and lashing out because of problems they have in their own lives.” He amended quickly.

An errand tear escaped her eyes. It had barely run past her lashes when Katherine swiped at it, brushing it away. She didn’t want to cry over something like this. She knew what she was getting into. “I know. I am much better than this. I just got so curious…” she huffed.

“This is not your fault. It seems to be human nature to pull one another down.” The fury in his eyes was barely concealed. “Do you want me to issue a statement on your behalf? Flip the proverbial bird at them?” he offered. He had the smallest smile on his lips, barely the curl of the corners.

She instantly felt better. “No. Now that I am talking to you, I feel so much better. I knew this would happen. I shouldn’t have let it affect me.”

“Katherine, stop. You are absolutely valid in feeling this way. They were saying nasty things. Just because you expect hurtful words doesn’t nullify the fact that they are hurtful. Words hurt, Katherine,” he whispered.

“Thank you. I felt a little stupid for my reaction,” she admitted. “But talking to you… none of that matters. They don’t know me. And I won’t believe a word they say.” There was an assurance in her that he hadn’t seen before.

Going on the internet had done her some good, it seemed. She was channeling her insecurities and feeling anger. It would be the first step to having her accept all of the things that come with Cage Cavanaugh.

The crazy fans. The paparazzi. Having your whole life thrown in front of the world to see. Happiness. Unbridled happiness.

And that was why she could pull through everything.

“Absolutely. They don’t know a single thing about you. About us. They can screw themselves if that is what they want… because I clearly won’t be screwing any of them.” He gave her a small wink, feeling a warmth of relief wash over him.

“On the bright side,” Katherine began with a cheerful tone. “The tabloids are rather quiet.” She was curious about that.

“If you think Stephen had something to do with it, you are wrong.” Cage snickered. “You know the industry. When they don’t find what they want, they don’t waste any more time. There is no scandal in me loving you. Just a normal relationship with no salacious details. So, they just stopped bothering.”