Chapter One: Very Late

Zoey’s POV:

My apartment complex had become a place of interest, for whatever reason. There were four men in all-black ensembles standing in the entranceway. “Men” was the wrong word to use; these men looked like bodybuilders. They all had on plain black t-shirts, black athletic pants, and black shoes.

One of the men stopped me holding his palm up to me.

“Did I miss the memo that we were holding a steroid convention here today?” I asked him sweetly, my annoyance with the spectacle growing.

Flashes to my left went off, and I turned to get three more flashes directly in my face. Turning back to the meathead that was blocking me from getting away from the flashes, I snapped.

“Let me into my damn apartment now.” The man looks up, surprised by my tone. He looks over to a clone of him standing closer to the building. The one in charge nods, and the man steps aside, letting me through. I bristle past them and onto the elevator.

I had a date with my bed.

Clarissa, my soon-to-be ex-roommate, was standing in the living room. Boxes lining up all over the place. The haulers would be coming first thing in the morning to load her items. She had been a good roommate, and I was going to miss her.

For the first time ever, I was going to be on my own.

“What is the deal with all the men in black downstairs?” I asked her, flicking my shoes off into the corner.

She pauses taping. “I was going to ask you. They asked for my name before letting me enter today.”

“Weird,” I said. “All I know is they better be gone by tomorrow.”

“And all I know is I won’t have to worry about it come tomorrow.” She looked up at me sadly; I would be missed by her too.

“Do you have to marry Joe?” I asked jokingly. I would be a bridesmaid in a couple of months at her and Joe’s wedding.

She smiles and nods her head, “Yeah, I do.”

“I suppose you do.” I smile back at her and go to my room to get ready for bed.

Clarissa was out the door first thing in the morning.

My apartment building was quiet when I returned home from work. Wednesday was always my longest day of the week. I booked my worst clients on Wednesday.

The men in black were still standing down by my apartment lobby door when I walked in, but today instead of stopping me from entering, they head nod me in.

It was yoga night with my group of girls. I dress in my favorite black yoga Capri pants and then found one of my black sports bra crop top. I used to judge so many girls for wearing crop tops to work out in. And then I tried one on and felt empowered. I worked out hard enough during the weekdays that made me love my body just enough.

My hair is set in a high ponytail, which also helps me feel like a badass bitch.

As I made my way down to the lobby, I finally realized why the men in Black had been around.

It was him.

Zach Rivers.

Every woman’s wet dream Since the early 2000s. He had so many platinum records it was hard to count.

I didn’t take much in as I passed him besides his bright blue eyes. They were brighter in person than his pictures even. He smiled politely at me, and I gave him a small smile in return.

And this one simple gesture changed everything.

Normal. Normal. Normal.

That was all my eyes kept scanning as I read the bazillion articles that were forward my way. The first couple that came rolling in in the early morning hours had me listed as an unidentified normal woman. They couldn’t even have left it as an unidentified woman; they had to add the normal for extra insult.

The picture was taken just right, so it looked like Zach Rivers and I just got back from working out together. When in reality, he had no clue who I was at that moment in time. He would now know my name was Zoey Michael since my name was now all over the gossip sites. Thankfully I had never posted much on social media; besides the endless pictures I took for work, there was not much to crawl through. And my business TikTok, which had plenty videos of me grooming dogs.

I had over fifty text messages and two hundred plus messages in my social media inboxes. Classmates I had not talked to were reaching out to ask if the rumors were true.

“Argh,” I bellowed when my phone chimed with another incoming message. I was walking out for work when I turned and stumbled into Zach Flippen Rivers, at the moment, my one true nightmare.

He grabbed onto my shoulders and kept me standing.

“Easy there,” he said in his Australian accent.

Man, oh man, what his voice did to me.

I placed my hands on his stomach; he removed his hands from my shoulders and took a step back; I smiled up at him. He had height to him.

“Zoey, right?” He asked, unfazed by how close we were.

“That’s right. And a very late Zoey if I do not leave now.” My phone had chimed only another four times since I had bumped into him.

“Wait.” He called out to my retreating back.

I turned around, giving him one last look. “Look, my life is kind of blowing up due to being in one picture with you….”

His head tilts to the side as he tries to figure something out, stopping me from finishing my conversation he talks. “You do not want to be seen with me?”

My hand hits the elevator button behind me. I smile at him as the doors open and I stepped into it backwards.

“Exactly.” Is all I say.

I was still smiling at the bemused look on his face as the doors closed.