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nThe flight to City L was gruelling. The promotions were happening all over the globe and City L was just one stop. There was a solid five hour time difference between his country and the one he was going to. On top of that, it was a long journey with a sther thiop in the middle. Long hours on the plane were one of the worst things about his job. His body would soon give away under stress, he was sure.

nHe was scrolling through the scripts that had come his way, marking those that interested him and keeping aside the ones that were sure-shot blockbuster hits. His manager was in the seat behind him, minding his own business. To his scorn, his rumoured ex-girlfriend Keira was also there on the same flight, heading to the same destination as him. It would be odd to go on a variety show and play games with the woman who had turned him into a joke in others’ eyes.

nCage could feel her eyes fixed on his face, and he couldn’t hide his irritation. She turned around to whisper to her own manager, ‘conspiracy’ written all over her features. Her unsubtle glances unsettled Cage. He knew that she was making some new strategy that would put him in the spotlight again.

nCage pulled out his earphones from his bag and connected it to his device. He closed his eyes in hope for some peace. He felt something shift beside him and was surprised as he had intentionally asked to keep it empty, booking the seat himself so that he didn’t have to share space with other people. He didn’t budge, though, he pretended to sleep.

nHe felt hands sliding towards his direction and reacted intuitively. He braced himself for the impact and held out his arm to protect himself from the touch. He ripped his earphones out and snapped at the person who had dared to invade his space.

n“What?” he hissed, recoiling from the touch.

n“Cage,” Keira giggled, much to his irritation. “Why react that way? Everyone is looking.” And indeed, everyone had turned to look at them.

nCage huffed in disbelief. Just a few days ago, she had been showing off her beach body with a new boyfriend and she was surrounded by reporters asking her about who else she had cheated with, but here she was pretending like they were an actual couple, like she was lovingly teasing him while he reclined.

n“I don’t care,” he snapped. His face was turned in a grimace, no sight of the fun-loving Cage Cavanaugh anywhere in sight. He still looked good, the scowl made him look rougher than he actually was. “I am not interested,” he said, hoping this time the message would go across.

nHe felt a hand ghost on his thigh and looked at her in disbelief. Which part of ‘not interested’ did she not get? He knew for a fact that the watchful eyes of the flight attendants and other fliers were on them. She knew that this would hit the headlines, and that is exactly what she wanted.

nCage realized then what the game-plan was. The manager of hers had contrived to make it look like they had got back together, effectively making the scandalous nature of the cheating incident die down, or at least reclaim some of the virtue Keira was supposed to show.

nHe realized that within the next two weeks, such occurrences would happen frequently. He crossed his fingers and turned to her with a furious expression.

n“I don’t know what you are trying to do, but we are not getting back together,” his voice was loud enough for the others in first-class to hear. There was a quiet mumbling coming from their audience, but Keira ignored him.

n“I want you back,” she played along, looking like a betrayed woman. It seemed that she was indeed good at implementing her acting skills in real life, she made it look like he was at fault. He could hear the others comment on how pitiful she looked and how he should have given her a second chance. But there was nothing to give her. He had never felt attracted to her and never would.

n“I don’t want anything to do with you. You cheated on me and betrayed my trust. I am worth more than that,” he said, unapologetic. He wouldn’t feel back for ruining her reputation further.

n“Let’s talk about us privately,” she hissed, now pissed that he was not playing along with her.

n“The conversation will be very short then, there is no us.” There never was, he added boldly in his head.

n“Do you want me to remove her?” He heard Stephen say. He was relieved that his manager was jumping in to protect him. Within moments, Keira was on her feet, huffing and puffing away as she went back to her original spot. Her manager was staring daggers at Cage.

nThe woman was a hotshot in the industry who had a lot of artists under her, but the middle-aged woman had let go of most of his artists to cultivate this newfound gem of hers, Keira Higgins. She had all sorts of ideas on how to regulate the media and she must be in a nightmare right now trying to reverse the damage Keira had done by being captured by the paparazzi.

n“I was wrong. She is a train wreck,” Stephen admitted in a low voice, now sitting down beside Cage.

n“And you thought us actually hitting it off would be your wet dream. Aren’t you glad I never got involved with her?” he coughed.

n“What does it matter? Everyone thinks you were with her, and that doesn’t look good on you anymore,” he commented, his brows furrowed.

n“So should I throw you under the bus and tell the media that you managers orchestrated this extravagant lie to sell more tickets?” he retorted. He almost broke into laughter at the sour expression his manager gave him. His earlier spoiled mood was slowly ebbing away. His weary eyes were wide open in excitement. He was ready for a fight, but he could think of nothing to do. He spent the next three hours plugging into his phone and listening to music. He didn’t get a wink of sleep.

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