THE PAPARAZZI

Lola a 35 year old mayoral candidate falls in love with 25 year old Lamb . They get into a secret relationship that is later exposed by a known paparazzi. Lola is torn between love and career

CHAPTER ONE

LOLA JACOBS
"Lola, you're going to need me!" I am confident that you will return to me!" Charles slammed the door behind him in frustration.

Lola shook her head and sighed deeply, remembering the relationship with Charles before the unimaginable happened.

Lola and Charles were college sweethearts, and everyone on campus knew them. Their love wasn't the only thing that made them popular, but so were their family background. They both came from reputable families of third generation lawyers and were studying to become one as well, which made them more of a perfect match made from heaven.
Charles proposed to Lola shortly after she joined his family’s law firm and they planned to marry the following year. Lola's fantasy of a perfect marriage was dashed when she discovered Charles was cheating on her with his secretary just two weeks to their wedding. Except for Lola's best friend, everyone counseled her to turn a blind eye because their wedding was approaching; even Charles begged and vowed it would be the last time.

"We make an ideal couple. Everyone envies what we have, Lola. With this marriage, our families will become stronger and more respected. Let’s not throw it away because of this small mistake. I told you it was only one time, I was lonely and acted on impulse.” Charles sought to persuade Lola to continue with the wedding. But Lola understood better than anyone what she was getting herself into if she went on.
Charles was arrogant, and he couldn't just accept that their wedding would be cut off. He wasn't prepared to deal with the consequences, it was more of his pride than his respect for her. Her parents exacerbated the situation by threatening to disown her if she canceled the wedding.

"By nature, men are polygamists. Do you think I would have stayed with your father for 32 years if I had never overlooked his mistakes?" Her mother said

"As far as I know, Ma, dad never cheated on you."
She responded

"Yes, but aren't there other worse things that men could do to you?"

"What's worse than cheating Ma, Charles cheated on me two weeks before our wedding. Two weeks! That could hardly have been his first."

"He's human; he was probably stressed out about the wedding. What do you lads call it now? Cold feet!. He probably got cold feet!"

“Really? He had cold feet, which led him to bed another woman. That’s more like a hot feet to me," Lola replied, rolling her eyes.

"What's the matter with you, Lola? I'm not going to sit here and argue with you all day. Your new position as an associate lawyer must be getting into your head. Do you believe that a woman's status and job are all that matters? A lady requires a man to be her crown!"

"And for what purpose? Is it now my responsibility to accept a tainted crown? A crown I'll have to share for the rest of my life with other women? I’d rather wear a tiara, I can at least be sure that will be mine alone!”

"You are going to marry Charles or forget about the Jacobs family! No daughter of mine will bring such disgrace to our family. What am I supposed to tell everyone? They are going to laugh at us! Can’t you see? Why are you so stubborn? I knew this stubbornness would get you into trouble one day. Don’t even think of showing your face if you ever cancel that wedding!” Lola had been threatened by her mother.

It's been five years already. Her parents still resented her for ruining her chance to marry, but Charles would come into her office every now and again to tell her how much he misses her and needed her. She was sick and exhausted at this point, and despite her many accomplishments over the years, her parents would not recognize them unless she married Charles, or someone better.

"Up for a drink?" Lola had called her best friend Amy over the phone

"Are you having trouble again?" Amy, responded over the phone.

"Yeah, he came here again, ranting about how much I need him."

"Has he not grown tired after five years? Now you are the one who needs him? He's remarkably persistent for someone who cheated on you two weeks before your wedding! Why do you continue to indulge him?"

"What should I do? We both work at the same law firm, and I see him every day. I worked my tail hard to get here, and I'm not going to waste it because of him."

"I understand. I should be finished by 6 p.m. At the regular location?"

"Yes, I'll see you soon"

"Mandy, could you please cancel my appointments for the rest of the day?" Lola called her secretary.

"Are you alright, ma?"

"I'm just feeling a little under the weather."

"Do you need me to bring you anything?"

“Erm… A cup of water would suffice."

"Right away”

"Thank you."

Lola drew her drawer open to get her antidepressant. She had been seeing a therapist for the previous five years after being diagnosed with depression and anxiety disorder.

"Here you go” Mandy said, setting the cup on the table.

"I'm not sure why he keeps coming here. I'm sorry you have to put up with that all the time”

"I appreciate your concern, Mandy," she said as she sipped the pills in her hand.

Mandy glanced at her with concern; aside from Amy Lola's best friend, she was another person who knew how much Lola was going through. Mandy had been Lola's secretary for three years and knew practically everything about her; Lola had been a role model to her from her intern days.

"I already cancelled all of your appointments. You can take a short rest now.”

"That's fine; could you wake me up at 5:30? I'm meeting Amy at 6 and I may not hear my phone alarm."

"You've got it, ma."

*****
“Look who's arrived! The town's newest mayor!" As Lola stepped into the bar, Amy exclaimed, raising her glass of whiskey.

"Girl, keep your voice down. We haven't even started the campaign yet," Lola said as she took a seat opposite her.

“C’mon! We already know who the winner is."

"Are you drunk? How come you started drinking before I got here?”

"You aren't the only one who has it tough, my dear. I almost broke someone's head at the store today."

"What happened?"

"This customer purchased a Chanel bag from our store and claimed it was a fake. We don't do fakes in this high-end designer store, sweetheart! I tried everything I could to convince her that there must have been a mix-up someplace because she couldn't have gotten that bag from us. She insisted on a return, so I demanded to see her receipt. She couldn't offer one and began throwing a commotion; she then called her boyfriend who later came down to our store to apologize; apparently, he bought the bag from a cheap store and lied to her that he had gotten it from us to wow her on her birthday; he said she had wanted a Chanel bag for a long time but he didn't have enough money to get her a genuine one, so he got a fake and lied to her. Arrgghhh, I wish I could teach these customers a lesson sometimes. I’m so angry!” Amy chewed hard on the ice in her drink

"Isn't it already an issue if he had to lie to her to impress her?"

"Girl, I just don't understand kids these days. They're both teenagers. The boy is 18 and the girl, 16. Why does a 16-year-old need a Chanel bag so much that a 18-year-old must lie to please her? Shouldn't they both be in school studying? When I was their age, the only thing I had that resembled a bag were souvenirs from family events."

"I guess it's different these days, they're doing Chanels and Guccis now, we did happy birthday, Danie at 5 during our time” Lola said, both of them laughing.

"What did Charles want this time?" Amy sounded serious as she faced Lola, dropping the cup in her palm on the table.

"Same old story, except he's added a new line now." Lola attempted to imitate Charles' speech and facial expression. "You need me for your political career; you need to show people that you have strong backing from a man, your man!"

"How come you're so good at it? It's ridiculous!" Amy burst out laughing.

"I dated him for seven years; it would be strange if I couldn't at least do this," they both chuckled again.

"Who does he think he is? Your savior? Because you refuse to date anyone, he assumes you aren't over him yet, which is why I keep urging you to find yourself a man. You have to show to him that he is a long-dead story to you!"

"Right now, I'm not interested in any kind of relationship, I'd rather face the new chapter of my political career. That way, I can get rid of him sooner”

"Your mother would have a heart attack if she heard you right now. Has she finally given you her support?"

"When has she ever given her support to anything other than my marriage? She still holds me responsible for what happened five years ago. I'm not going to sit here waiting for her approval or validation," Lola stated as she drank the entire glass of whiskey.

"Go easy on the alcohol, girl, you have a shoot tomorrow, remember?"

"Right, I have to get up early tomorrow. The shoot is by 9”

"You will be fine" Amy gently massaged Lola's back
“Oh my... look who's here?" she said with a surprised look

“Who?” Lola returned her gaze.

“Charles! Wait... isn't that his secretary? Is that the same one he cheated on? I assumed he fired her after the incident."

“Fired? He never dismissed her. He stated that she is very good at her work and that firing her would be a huge loss."

"What much of a jerk can he be? A huge loss?”

"To think he came to my office today to tell me how much he misses us and how much he thinks we need each other"

"Girl, you should confront him right now!"

"And for what reason? That would simply give the impression that I'm still not over him."

"OK, I think he just noticed us. Is he…” Amy pauses”Is he going to join us at our table? What kind of nerve does this person have? I can finally express my rage, I needed a scapegoat anyway."