Chapter 2: Trending Overnight
1116 Words
My head was pounding when I woke up. My throat felt dry and my body felt heavy as I pushed myself up from the bed.
I managed to get up and walk to the kitchen to get a glass of water. My apartment was very spacious and beautiful, a delight I had worked hard to earn.
I passed by the grocery bag the visitor from last night had brought and memory came crashing back.
Nathan's response to me at his office, the heartache, the night visitor,... The drink.
I rubbed my temples and hurried to get water.
I returned to my room to get my phone, then back to the sitting room, trying to think of what had happened last night.
My phone vibrated on the table. I couldn't ignore it 'cos it kept buzzing and beeping repeatedly.
That was odd.
Frowning, I reached for it.
My heart skipped several beats.
Fifty-seven missed calls, dozens of text messages and hundreds of social media notifications.
“What the...”
My fingers trembled as I unlocked the screen. The first message was from my PA.
"Don't bother showing your face around today. It's a lot, but I'll see what I can do from my end."
Another was from a colleague from the current movie set I was working with.
"The heck, Nora Finnian. Did you have to blow up this movie production? You'll be in a lot of trouble, hope you can handle it. Call me when you see this."
I was literally shivering, feeling goosebumps all over. I struggled to breathe properly.
Confused, I opened my social media notifications and froze.
My name was trending. It was there at the top of the screen. But obviously, unlike other times when it was for a movie debut or advert or public recognition, this was for... Disaster.
Nathan had mentioned that word yesterday.
I tapped the first post. And my whole world shattered.
There was a picture of me sprawled across a couch. My dress was pulled up and a man was lying beside me, shirtless. His arm draped over my waist.
His face was hidden. But mine wasn’t.
The headlines and hashtags and comments got my head spinning. I could breathe anymore.
I scrolled, only to see more pictures, in different angles and scenes.
There was the one in my bedroom, and on the floor.
This was just so much. I clutched my shirt, struggling to breathe.
I didn’t remember any of this. But it was very recent, I could tell.
Then the memory hit me. Yes, that drink. There must have been something. I remembered blacking out after the drink.
And the visitor...
“Oh God...”
My phone slipped from my hand and hit the floor before I did.
I felt like the air had been sucked out of the room.
This wasn’t an accident. Someone had done this to me.
My phone started buzzing again. The scandal was spreading like wildfire.
My career, my reputation, my life...
With shaking hands, I grabbed my phone again and dialed the only person who could help me fix this.
It went to voicemail. I called again. And again. But still voicemail.
“Oh Nathan, please I beg you... please.”
There was no way I could go out there now.
Tears blurred my vision as I kept dialing. Up to fifteen times but he didn't pick.
Finally, a message appeared. My heart leapt with desperate hope as I opened it.
But the words that greeted me crushed that hope instantly.
“Are you trying to ruin me? Don’t ever call or text me again.”
That was it?
A broken laugh escaped my throat. Then I screamed and threw my phone across the room.
I broke down crying and tearing at my hair. It felt like my eyes were going to pop out of their sockets.
After a while, I paused and tried to think.
I had been set up. By who? Nathan?
No, that could not be possible. He had told me to take some time off and get rid of the baby.
Could he have...?
No, no. He loved me. I almost slapped myself at that thought. Love? After all these recent reactions.
Unfortunately, I didn't even know the name of the guy who had visited last night. Wasn't even sure if he who was who I thought he was anymore. How could I find him?
I rubbed my aching head and tried to remember his response when I had asked if Nathan sent him. But I couldn't remember. I was such a mess yesterday.
I stood up and went to the bathroom, not lingering at the mirror, I blew my nose and washed my face. I shouldn't be such a weakling and fight this through, right?
"This kind of thing happens to celebrities sometimes," I told myself.
There was always one scandal or the other and sometimes they're able to survive it and come out better.
I took a deep shaky breath and poured myself a glass of juice in the kitchen. I needed to think clearly, though my head was banging like crazy.
The CCTV outside my apartment.
Yes, I should get a clip and show to the police, the guy who had set me up. But that didn't make sense. With the scandal, everyone would think it was just one of my many flings. There was no hard evidence. And then,... There was my baby.
The little determination and strength I had mustered up to survive this crumpled down immediately. I felt weaker than ever.
Of course, if I don't get rid of the baby, in a few months time, the scandal will turn out to be true.
No one would believe that Nathan was the father of the baby.
I closed my eyes as the tears spilled again and I cried my heart out.
What do I do now?
Get rid of the baby? Then what next? What if I died in the process or information leaked to the public?
What do I do?
Fight? Against who?
Run? To where?
Should I throw myself off the bridge, or ingest something poisonous, or...?
I looked up at the knife hanger, and selected the sharpest with a pointed edge.
I stared at the blade for a while and put my left hand to my chest. Would it even end everything quickly? I wasn't sure.
I placed my hand on my stomach. A new innocent life was forming in there. What if I ended up stabbing the child only and I survived?
I dropped down on the floor with the knife clattering aside and wept uncontrollably.
There was just one thing to do right now...
- Writer
