Page 97 of Off Script
There’s a pregnant pause. “Umm, out of jail.”
“Jail!” I yelp.
“I’m confused. I thought you said that Ben called you about it? Are we not talking about the same story? Outside the Tokyo nightclub? Willa looks… well, she looks like a hot mess express… and then Ben got into a tussle with the paparazzi when they were leaving and—"
“Wait, what? What nightclub? Ben said he was going straight back to the hotel to sleep. He didn’t say anything about going out with Willa. Was it the whole cast or was it just the two of them, Harper? And what tussle?”
“From the video that I saw, no one else from the movie was with them, and Ben got into it with a paparazzo. Maybe you should look at the homepage ofToday’s Headlinesbecause there’s a little more to the story. Unfortunately.”
With my heart beating out of my chest, I put the call on speakerphone and grab my laptop to type in the web address forToday’s Headlines.It’s the featured story on their homepage, which is not a good sign. I click on the video link to watch it.
Camera clicks that sound like gunfire.
A cacophony of voices yelling their names.
Jostled camera angles as people push one another, each desperate to get the best shots.
Ben is dressed in joggers, a sweatshirt, and a baseball cap pulled down low over his face. His mouth set is in a grim line, as he escorts Willa through the crowd. She’s nestled into Ben's side, with her face buried in his chest. He has an arm wrapped protectively around her as he attempts to keep photographers away from them with his other arm. Willa’s hair is down, tousled and messy, and her eyes are glassy and unfocused. But what I notice most are her lips. Her lips are rosy and swollen, and her signature red lipstick is mostly gone, though a little is smeared around her lips. I’ve never seen her look so disheveled before.
Then Willa staggers and sways as the crowd converges on them. Ben scoops her up into his arms, cradling her like a baby.
My heart cracks wide open as she loops one arm around his neck and caresses his cheek with the other. Then she pinches his chin and tugs his face down for a kiss. His eyes flare slightly—maybe in surprise—when she kisses him, but he doesn’t stop her.
The following moment transpires so quickly that I startle as I watch it. A paparazzo jumps directly in front of Ben and Willa causing Ben to stop short and almost stumble. The man hurls insults at Willa while he snaps photo after photo of them. Stunned, Willa remains speechless, but Ben snarls at the paparazzo to move. When the photographerrefuses to get out of their pathway, Ben reacts swiftly, shoving past him and knocking the man to the ground.
Then the screen goes black, and I think that’s the end of it. But before I can close the browser window, a second video begins to play. It shows Ben, flanked on either side by Japanese police officers, as he’s escorted out of a hotel.
Holy shit.
Ben lied to me. He didn’t go back to the hotel to go to bed. He went out partying with Willa. And Willa’s appearance… she looks like she’d been making out with someone. Given the kiss she gave him on that video, it seems obvious that it was probably Ben.
They got caught on camera kissing the very same night that Willa told the world they were in love. What a coincidence.
And on the very same freaking night that he told me he loved me. God, I’m so stupid.
If he lied about this, what else did he lie about? Has he been lying to me the whole time he’s been away? Did they fall in love? Was Willa’s on-air confession true?
Maybe what started as something artificial between them grew into something genuine.
Maybe there was always something between them, and he lied to me about it from the very beginning. Or maybe they weren’t just friends but were, and still continue to be, friends with benefits.
“What is happening?” I mumble, rubbing my forehead. “Do you think that he and Willa really are dating or hooking up? That would explain why he hasn’t been calling and texting me much. He wasn’t just busy. He was getting busy with Willa. They’re thrown together at every juncture; it makes sense that their feelings may have grown into something real. God, that’s probably why Willa told the press that they’re in love.”
“Back up!” Harper yelps. “She said they’re in love?”
“Apparently,” I sigh, overcome with sadness. “That’s what Ben called about earlier. To warn me that in an interview, Willa told a reporter that she and Ben are in love.”
Stunned, Harper is silent for a minute before asking softly, “What do you think is going on?”
“I have no idea.” I close my eyes, as a tension headache hovers. “Do you think that they may have something going on between them? I mean, Ben told me he was going back to the hotel to sleep when he clearly went out partying with Willa. And none of the other cast members were in the video, so they probably didn’t go with them. Like, this clearly looks like a date. Right? And she kissed him!”
“But couldn’t it be one of their scheduled dates for publicity?”
“If that was the case, why didn’t he tell me? Why lie and tell me he was going to bed?” I pull my lip between my teeth. “It was a real date, wasn’t it?”
Harper’s hesitation before responding is telling, causing my heart to sink. “I don't know, Car. You need to talk to Ben before doing anything rash. You know how the media loves to spin things.”
“I will, but he’s half a world away from me!”
