Chin propped in his hand, Alex looked at his phone. It sat on his polished desk, next to his pens, in the spot he’d set it after getting off the texting app a minute before.

He’d almost done it this time. Really. He had almost asked Paisley to meet him in person.

But, of course, he had held back. No matter how much he wanted to get to know her, to meet the face behind all the witty remarks and insightful contemplations, he couldn’t.

If she knew the full identity of the man she chatted with online on a daily basis, who knows if she would ever speak with Alex again? How could he ruin what they already had going? Their chat sessions were a wonderful respite from hectic, stress-filled days. He couldn’t give them up.

Slipping his phone into his pants’ pocket, Alex took his briefcase and turned off the lights in his office. What he told Paisley about needing to get back to work was partially true. While he had finished working in the offices of his software company for the day, he still had another matter to attend to.

He took the back way out, going along his private corridor and to the elevator waiting at the end of it. Mythos Software employed a hundred and twenty full-time workers, and as the founder and face of the company, Alex felt it necessary to interact with his employees on a regular basis.

But today was different. Today, he wanted little to do with other people, for a maelstrom of attention waited for him in front of the building. Just thinking about it made the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

The elevator glided down to the ground floor. The doors opened, and Kathleen, his publicist, waited in the shiny foyer. Her blonde hair, pulled back into a tight bun, had not even one flyaway, and her dress suit looked like it had been ironed two minutes before. To say Kathleen always looked put together would be an understatement.

“You're ready?” she asked, her gaze sweeping over Alex from head to toe.

He nodded and ran a hand through his hair.

Kathleen led the way to the building’s front doors. “Now remember--"

“I'm sticking with the statement I wrote earlier,” Alex said, “and that's all I'll say.”

Kathleen paused, and Alex could nearly feel her need to say something else. In the end, she only nodded. He was the one who paid her.

Alex had never let his privileged position in life give him a false idea of superiority. He was humble and respectful with people from all social backgrounds, and he did his best to make a difference in the world by helping those who didn’t have the resources that he could count on. He wasn’t a fan of public exposure, though, and he kept his media appearances to the minimum.

Hank and Rodrigo waited by the front doors. At the sight of them, Alex halted.

“What are they here for?” he asked Kathleen.

“Your mother thought it would be a good idea.”

Alex inhaled long. Of course it had been his mother's idea to hire bodyguards for the day. All he would be doing was giving a statement. His whole life, no one had attempted to assassinate or kidnap him. Why would they now?

As irritating as it was having bodyguards around, Alex took a page from Kathleen’s book and kept his mouth shut. This whole thing would be over soon.

Smoothing down his suit’s lapels, he steeled himself and exited into the bright flashes assaulting the building’s steps. Cameras clicked, and a dozen photographers shouted questions at once.

Alex paused in front of the doors and the bodyguards spread their arms and sent glares the photographers’ way. Nearby, a small crowd of people had gathered on the sidewalk. They held their cell phones up and snapped pictures of Alex.

Did half of them even know who he was? Or had they only stopped because they saw the camera and were eager to get close to any celebrity at all?

“Prince Alessandro.” A female journalist right in front of him caught his eye. “Have you had any contact with the families of the children who have been saved from the cave?”

Alex cleared his throat. “I am very grateful the children have made their way safely home. My thoughts go out to them and their families. Thank you.”

It was the short statement he had prepared in advance and he’d completely ignored her question, but Alex didn’t care. He didn’t see himself as a celebrity and he hated talking to journalists or having his photo taken.

He’d donated the money to buy the expensive equipment needed to rescue the children because leaving them trapped in that cave was unthinkable. Laurels and applause had nothing to do with it. Those things belonged to the world he had grown up in… and the world he had left behind.

“Prince Alessandro, marry me!” one woman shouted.

“I want to be a princess,” another one shrieked, her eyes sparkling and hungry.

Head down, Alex stepped forward, making his way for the car. Hurrying into the car’s back seat, he shut the door and looked away from the window.

So many people around the world admired him but most of them were only fascinated by the fancy labels that were attached to his name. A member of a royal family. The founder of a successful software company. The man who had donated the money that ended the cave disaster…

But Alex was so much more than those things and there were very few persons in his life who saw him for who he really was.

And thinking of the people who saw him for who he truly was…

As the driver wound the car through Manhattan’s streets, speeding down blocks and grinding to abrupt halts at traffic lights, Alex took his phone out for one more work e-mail check.

Except he didn’t find himself reading e-mails. Instead, he read over the conversation he’d just had with Paisley.

So often, he wondered what she looked like. He knew they were close in age, but he had nothing else to go off of. No last name. No specific physical features. She worked at a restaurant, but he didn’t know which one.

And he was going to have to be satisfied with that. Paisley didn’t want to have anything to do with fame and… if she found out who AlexReviews really was, she probably wouldn’t want to have anything to do with him anymore either.