The Arrangement

Chapter 16

AnnaLeigh

Leaving the hospital I decided to take the train home, there was something so soothing about watching millions of trees past by. I was thinking how the world spins on, with or without. That really put my life into perspective. I was just one. My problems were not the only problems. But enough, I told myself. No more dwelling. Tomorrow was a new day and I was ready to take it on without any sort of chip on my shoulder. I pulled out my phone for some type of a distraction. I decided to try the New York Times. I was scrolling and scrolling, trying to find an article to read, but I could not find anything that caught my attention. I needed something entertaining so I went to online media. As I scrolled through the Yorker, a gossip blog in NYC, I saw something that stopped me cold. Have you ever felt a reaction so viscerally you thought it might be fatal? Like a panic attack so bad you stopped breathing? Well that was what this was. My heart stopped. The noise around me receded until I couldnt hear anything. My vison was clouded by white spots. I had to hold my phone up to my face to read anything and when I did, I wished I hadnt.

There was a picture of Christain and me on our wedding night. Smiling for the camera, looking like we are in love. And beneath that picture, there was another picture. One that featured me - only me. I was looking right into the camera, my damp hair hanging straight down. My eyes were wide. The shot showed me from the waist up. And I was naked.

How can this be? I had never taken a picture of myself nude in my life. Nor had I let anyone else ever photograph me this way.How could this picture exisit? And how is it plastered all over the internet? I tried to calm myself down. Okay, AnnaLeigh. Be smart. Look for clues.

I squinted at the picture, thanking the lord for the black bar that covered my breasts. I noticed lockers in the background. Lockers? My mind raced. Where had I been with lockers? And then it hit me, at the gym. This was taken in the locker room. I must of been changing, but who would have been able to take my picture like this without me seeing? That is when I get a text message from the person who had the answer, my old boss. Johnathon Landon.

I always deliver.

You will never work again.

Mr. Landon. Of course. I wanted to kill him. I was so overcome with rage and humiliation I didnt have it in me to think back to how he could have done it. Not now.

Now, I needed to get in contact with the Yorker and have them remove the article. Then I would scour the rest of the internet for residual...And my cell phone goes off again. This time its my best friend, who I hadnt heard from. Till now.

AnnaLeigh!

Did you see the picture?!

You are everywhere!

Oh my god. Oh my god. Relax. Google yourself and find the sites with the photo and calmly ask them to remove it. I googled myself. And found the same picture on various sites. More websites than I could count. Some respectable, some less. And the unregulated sites didnt even bother putting the black bar over my chest. I was exposed for the entire world to see. And once again my phone goes off. This time its my husband, Christain.

Your nude are on the internet!

Remember when I told you not to embarrass me?!

I couldnt believe my eyes. My best friend. My husband. They had all seen the pictures of me topless. They assumed I had taken the photo myself. I closed my eyes. And the little devil in my mind laughed. That is what you are worried about? What about the rest of New York? It felt like I was standing on a high cliff, teetering on the edge. My life is over....

Christain Cartwright

I couldnt believe it. I thought she understood what I was saying the other night. When I made it pretty damn clear that she was to stay out of the limelight. But apparently not. Either she hadnt understood me or she had purposely sought out in the worst way she could to screw with me. And not just with me, but my own business. Which meant she had screwed with my father's business as well. The press could call me what they wanted - selfish, full of myself, whatever - but the truth was that I would never want my father to get hurt as a result of anything I did. I really wasnt sure if she was retaliating from the night I had been drunk and out of line but it was clearly a response to something. Or else it wasnt, and that out of sheer desperation to get her face out into the world to become famous she had released her own nudes. Regardless of her reasons, the picture was out there. And I was livid. Wasnt it enough that she had somehow conned my father and married into the Cartwright name? Why did she need to ruin everything else for me, too?

I was pacing the floor in my office when my father walked in. I wanted to yell at him, 'This is your fault.' But I couldnt talk to him like that, not even now. Maybe he was too trusting sometimex but he was still the man who looked out for me my whole life. So I tried to control myself as he stepped closer to me.

"Son," He started, his face grave. " I cant imagine what you are feeling."

"Im goddamn pissed." I said, pounding my fist into my hand for emphasis.

He took a breath, "The bastard who leaked those pictures is going to be taken care of." He said.

And that is when I realized I had never even considered the possibility of someone else leaking the pictures. But I trusted my gut feeling.

"First things first," I said. "Damage control."

"I have the team in PR handling the online outlets and Anne from publishing will handle print. And our lawyers our throwing slander around to anyone who will listen. This will be wiped under the rug by days end." My dad said, his eyes earnest.

"Jesus. Okay." I responded. "Thanks for having a handle on it."

"You are my son. And she is my daughter." Dad said.

I could feel the blood start to heat up in my veins again and I knew I had to get him out of my office before I blew up.

"I think I need some time alone."

"Of course,"He said and with one final look, he left the room. I made sure to close the door behind him.

AnnaLeigh

I had turned my phone off and went directly home from the train. And I had been alone all day. For the first time, I was not going to complain. Alone meant no prying eyes and no questions. It meant safe. And once at home I had gone to my room and climbed into my bed, finally letting all the emotion out. The tears came fast and hard and I shoved my face into my pillow to silence my cries. And the rage came, then the cries turned to screams. It wasnt fair. My life had gone from normal to terrible, from typical to the furthest thing from typical it could be, in a month. And it had all started with meeting Mr. Cartwright.

It had all started because I was offered an easy fix to my problems and I had taken it without considering the consquences. I was so sure Mr. Landon had seen photos of me and Christain in the news and heard we had gotten married and that was why he was now popping up like this. He didnt want anyone else to have me.

If I had just asked the bank for a loan or found another job in a different industry, one that Mr. Landon couldnt interfere with, I would have been able to pay for dad's treatment. But I knew I was lying to myself. His treatment could cost fifty thousand dollars and that was before the trial. This was the only solution. But was it worth the total destruction of my life?

As long as I was locked away in this ivory tower, I wouldnt know what I could be capable of doing on my own. Maybe getting out of here and getting my life back on track was the key to finding a real job and helping my dad myself. Without any billionaire there to run interference. I was sure there could be some sort of payment plan. Something. I turned my phone on, ignoring all the missed calls and texts that flashed across the screen. I only wanted to talk to one person and one person only.