Tom eased his way through the chapel as quickly as possible, avoiding eye contact with everyone.
After managing to make it to Fuller's door unscathed, he took a deep breath. Well, here goes nothing!
Tom lifted his fist, and just as he was about to knock, the door swung open and there stood Adam Fuller, a very stern look on his face.
"Hanson…go figure" He said flatly, stepping to the side and motioning for Hanson to enter.
Tom quickly took a seat.
"Look, getting mad at you is pointless. It's not like you had any control over the situation…and you can't help who you fall for. But, I wish you would've come to me sooner."
"Sorry coach, I just…I don't like talking about my private life."
Fuller sighed, "well, we need to get this under control. Those pictures started quite the frenzy" Fuller said chuckling.
Hanson gave his boss a quizzical look, unsure why he was laughing at something that was clearly not funny.
Fuller noticed Hanson's confusion and chuckled again. "Here." He said tossing the fatal magazine to Tom.
Tom picked it up and began thumbing through the pages. One headline caught his attention.
'Cale's Mystery Man Appears To Be More Of A Mystery Than We Thought!'
Tom began reading the article.
'As many of you already know, we at the magazine offered free tickets to the premire of Miss Kale's new movie, To Die Alone, to anyone who could identify her new beau. Well, after countless interviews, it appears that many people seem to know this mystery man.
"I would know that face anywhere! That's Tommy Quaid!" Marcy Lind, a senior at Marymount High claimed.
""Of course I recognize him, his name is Tom Gillmore!" Susan Chadwick, a high school teacher claimed!"
As a matter of fact, 125 different names were compiled after only one hour of interviews! Clearly, this man is more of an enigma than anyone could've hoped. "
Tom put the paper down and shook his head. "God, this is a mess!"
"No kidding, well I had the station send someone down to the magazine to have them call off the contest, and retrieve anymore pictures they might be hiding. As for you, no more public…you know…"
"Got it coach" Hason said, stopping Fuller before the conversation got anymore awkward.
"Good… So, the best advice I can give you is lay low. With the holidays you're lucky because there's no cases. That will give this some time for this to blow over." Fuller patted the younger man on the back, "Go home to her Tom"
Hanson's eyes widened at Fuller's sudden compassion. "Okey Dokey", he replied.
"Here he comes!" Penhall said jumping up and down.
"Leave him alone Doug!" Judy spat.
"Oh, come on Jude!" Ioki said joining Penhall.
"Here he is! My Hero!" Doug said engulfing Hanson in a hug.
Hanson kicked and flailed and eventually succeeded in freeing himself from Penhall's bear like grip. "What do you want?" Tom said straightening his jacket.
"We wanna meet her!" Harry said plopping himself down on Tom's desk.
"Oh not you too!" Tom remarked shaking his head and sitting in his chair.
"Please!!!" Doug said dropping to his knees.
"NO! Doug, she is just a person. I refuse to let you idiots harass her. You should be ashamed of yourselves."
Everyone was silent for a few moments while they considered what Tom had said.
"We should be, but sadly we're not." Harry said joining Doug on the floor, and pleading.
"Come on Hanson…you can't keep her all to yourself!" Doug said
Hanson shook his head, and focused on the paperwork in front of him.
"What if we all had a little dinner party? It is only fair that as your friends, we extend our hospitality!" Judy said, trying a different tactic.
Tom looked up and studied his three friends. They all looked so pathetic, and for the first time in his life, Tom took pity on them. "Fine…seven o'clock. Don't be late".
"Yes!!" Penhall cheered, jumping up and doing a victory dance.
With that, Tom grabbed his coat and hurried out the door, leaving his ecstatic co-workers behind.