The Lie That Made Me Love You

@Mallory_Ray Julian West is a complete narcissist. I asked him for an autograph at Westcliff Mall, and he called me FAT! What kind of person does that?! #JulianWestIsOverParty @BookLover123 Wait, WHAT?! 😱 That’s so awful. I knew he seemed cold, but I didn’t think he’d be that rude. @Diana_Sparks Ugh, I used to love his books, but this is disgusting behavior. No excuse to body-shame someone, especially a fan! 🤬 @AshleyAnne I don’t know… are we sure this happened? I met him last year, and he was standoffish, but he didn’t seem that bad. Maybe there’s more to the story? @BriannaChic Tbh, I’ve heard rumors about him being a jerk for years. Not surprised. His whole “moody artist” thing is just code for being an a**hole. 🙄 SimplyJules @AshleyAnne, I met him too, and he was totally rude. Just because you didn’t see it, doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. @RealityBites This is the second time I’ve heard something like this about him. He’s always been super dismissive of his fans. Why even write books if you hate people? @StanleyReads Whoa, that’s low. Authors should respect their readers. Julian’s books just went into the “never again” pile for me. @XOXOBibliophile The way he talks in interviews though? I can totally see him saying something rude like that. He thinks he’s untouchable. @WriterGal87 I used to admire him, but this is crossing the line. Public figures should know better. Unfollowing him ASAP. #ByeJulian … Julian "Julian August West!" I can't see past the smoky haze in front of me, but I'm very sure that my buzz is about to be killed. "Julian! Where are you?" I lean back into my sofa and it squeaks against my weight. Taking another long drag from my blunt, I shut my eyes and hold it in for a while. Henry's footsteps grow louder until I hear him barge in. Pursing my lips, I let the smoke curl out slowly. "Did you f*****g call a woman fat at the mall?!" He must be really pissed; Henry never raises his voice, at least not with me. He knows better. "What are you talking about?" "You're trending on Chatter, everyone's canceling you! I can't believe this. You just released your book for f**k's sake!" Nothing he's saying makes sense to me and I just want to get high in peace. "Look, can we do this another time? No offense but right now, you're being a buzz kill." Henry walks over and before I know it, he snatches my blunt from my fingers and clears my entire glass table. "What the hell are—" "Listen to me," he shoves a finger in my face, "the entire world hates you right now and no one wants to read your books anymore. Do you hear me? You're done. You'll be living in the streets in six months' time, do you know why? Because you f*****g shot yourself in the foot by calling someone fat just two days after you released your book!" A vein has sprouted on Henry's forehead and I can see it throbbing. Which is weird because— oh, wait, maybe I'm high already. Yeah, it has to be the greens making me see things. Henry has no idea how stupid he looks with a throbbing vein in the middle of his head. "Are you even listening to me?" "No." "God!" Henry roars, slapping his palm on the table in front of me. I push myself forward and watch him pace about; something he does whenever he's getting frustrated. He makes it easy; to push him into anxiety and frustration. I don't know how many times I've got to tell him: never raise your voice at me. It's disrespectful. "Henry, listen to me." He pauses to watch me, clearly trying to control his anger. "I don't know what you're talking about. I didn't call some woman fat; last time I was at the mall, I ignored everyone." I look him dead in the eyes for him to understand that I'm not making this up. Whatever is happening out there in this f****d up world, I haven't the slightest clue of it. "s**t," he finally mutters under his breath. "Then we have to sue for defamation. Someone's deliberately trying to tarnish your image for whatever reason." I don't care what he wants to do, or how he's going to go about it. Right now, I don't really care about an image, I just need to be alone in my own damn house. "Next time, if you walk in on me smoking, you either join me, or leave me the hell alone until I'm done, you hear me?" "No matter what, we need to clean you up, give you a new act." He's pacing again, totally ignoring me. "We need to make you look good; the opposite of what you're being accused of." I try to imagine what's going through Henry's mind. "What? Would you have me sponsor a beauty pageant for plus sized women?" He huffs drily, "As if you could afford it. You're broke, in case you didn't know." "Yeah like—" "Damn it!" Henry runs a hand through his hair. "We're going to have to hire PR to do some damage control. And we need to do it fast." Henry is already scrolling through his phone and I'm properly without a buzz. Great. Might as well see what it is that's made him all worked up. I fish around until I find my phone and then I open the Chatter app. My phone begins to vibrate crazily and I have—600 messages! "The hell?" The more I read, the crazier the story gets. Some woman claims that I called her fat and now there's a whole campaign against me. "What the f**k?" I look at Henry and I must have the most confused look on my face because he sets his own phone down and comes over. "Let me see." He reads some of the messages and hands me my phone back. "This is bad." Just then, Henry's phone rings. "This is Henry," he says, then listens. "Oh, yeah, Alisha. Just the woman I need. One of my clients is facing the heat right now and it's not looking good…" Henry's voice trails off as he walks out of the room. I go online again and this time, I type my name on the search engine. Different Chatter images pop on the screen and I tap on them. Blogs are talking about me, calling me narcissistic. I swipe until I come across one chat. It's the originator of everything. One Mallory Ray. I go to search for her on Chatter and I discover that the account has been deleted. "f*****g coward." If she's going to lie, she should be able to defend it. Another blog post pops up. "— has been deleted. Now everyone is speculating, could it be that Julian's connections have forced her to delete her account? Whatever is going on, I hope dear Mallory Ray is safe. No matter what happens, one thing is for sure: Julian West is not getting away with this. Whoever this Mallory Ray is, she better prays to God I don't find her. If there's anything I hate most in the world, it's a person who lies for no reason.