The Swan

The Next Morning

Maria opened her eyes and noticed she was in her bedroom. How did she get here? The last thing she remembered was... hearing the laughter as she passed out. She re-lived the horrible moment. The pictures, the video of her behavior. She, then, remembered David's reaction of disgust. 'No, no, no. Why did David have to see that? This will ruin us!' Maria panicked. She couldn't figure out how those videos and pictures got added in. She wracked her brain trying to remember. Then an image floated into her mind. She remembered seeing Eve smiling as she passed out.

'That b*tch! She better not be the one to do this. Now it makes sense. She wants David and thought this little stunt would break us up,' Maria was worried it may have worked. 'I have to talk to David.' Maria remembered that David was supposed to be at his office today. She got out of bed and carefully got dressed. She had a headache and realized she must have hit her head when she fell.

Before leaving, Maria took Tylenol for her headache and decided to wait to go to the doctor to be checked. She needed to talk to David.

***

David was too distracted to be of much use to his current patient. He heard Ms. Phillips talking, but wasn't really listening. He kept thinking about last night. First, the shock of finding out Evelyn was the famous Misty Diane, then seeing his fiance on screen dancing and gyrating on some guy's lap. He felt utterly disgusted by what he saw. Not to mention, Maria had lied to him all this time. When they first got together, she portrayed herself as innocent. Sure, everyone has backgrounds, secrets they are ashamed of. But this was a new side of Maria that he didn't like.

Finally, his client left and he wrote the note before deciding to head out. Leaving his office, he was walking down the street toward his car when he remembered that Eve was doing a book signing at the bookstore on the next block. He made a last minute change to his plan and crossed the street heading toward the store.

***

Maria had just pulled up and got out of her car when she saw David walking across the street. 'Where is he headed? His car is right in front of mine'. Intrigued, she decided to follow him. She soon realized where he was going and she felt her anger begin to boil. She knew he was going to the book store to see Eve.

***

Eve was enjoying herself as she greeted each person that walked up to her table. There was a long line and she'd been at the book store since early that morning. It was now 2pm. She didn't have time to reflect on how perfect the previous night was, but she hadn't slept much since she got home. She felt giddy.

She had just finished signing a book when she looked up and saw David enter the store. She motioned to her agent that she was taking a ten minute break. Apologizing to her fans, she stood up and pointed to the other side of the room for David to join her.

"What are you doing here?" Eve felt pleased to see him. She was really starting to like his company.

"Oh, I just wanted to see who this popular author was that everybody keeps talking about," David winked and smiled. "Why didn't you tell me who you were?"

"I mentioned I was a writer. I don't usually like to brag under normal circumstances," Eve felt shy for some reason all of a sudden.

"Makes sense," David paused, not knowing what to say next. "You looked really pretty last night at the reunion," he couldn't believe he just told her that. He felt himself blush.

"Thank you. I was hoping it wasn't too fancy," Eve felt her own face turn red.

"David! What are you doing here?" Maria strolled over, completely ignoring Eve.

"I, uh, I was just... wanting to get an autograph to surprise you with," David was able to think quickly.

Maria didn't buy it, but smiled anyway. "That is so sweet of you!" She, then, turned to Eve. "I'm so glad you were able to join us last night, Ms. Diane. Or should I say, Eve?"

David heard the malice in her voice, but was confused as to why she felt bitter towards her favorite author. He decided not to mention anything.

Eve ignored the bitterness she heard in Maria's voice and smiled back. "It was a pleasure! I sure enjoyed the evening. But, are you doing ok? I noticed you fell last night after the presentation. I was worried about you," Eve had to keep the smile out of her voice and forced concern.

Maria glared at her for a split second before smiling. "Yes, thank you. David here brought me back home and took great care of me, didn't you hon?" She wanted to make sure Eve remembered that David was HER fiance.

Eve gestured to the line and stated she needed to get back to the signing. She looked directly at David. "I'm glad you came to see me, David," then turned and walked back toward the table. Maria felt herself get even angrier as she realized the meaning behind Eve's words. She glanced up at David. "I appreciate that you wanted to get me an autograph. But I'm here now. I can stay and get it. Why don't you go on back home and I will be there soon," she smiled.

David just looked at her. "Seriously? You are going to act like everything is fine?" David wasn't letting her off the hook that easily. He was furious with Maria and was close to calling off the wedding. Maria's smile faltered.

"I know I screwed up, David. Can we talk about this later at home? You will be there, right?" She felt ashamed at the whine in her voice. David just looked at her, then turned and walked away. Maria turned and noticed Eve watching them, a smile beginning to form on her face before she turned back to another fan to sign a book. 'She will pay for everything', Maria told herself before stomping out of the door.