Page 161 of Lovestruck at Sundown
Arabella:The day you get bored of her, you will look back on this day and wish you had taken the role. My agent told me the producers are planning to launch an extensive Oscar campaign for this film. This is your chance to finally earn a nomination.
Arabella:I would NEVER make you feel like you need to reject a project as big as this one to keep me happy.
Arabella:You need to come back to reality. YOUR reality.
Arabella:This film doesn’t work without you in it. I was told the lead role was created especially for you. There’s a reason why we’re being cast together a second time. We make sense, and the public knows it.
Arabella:You know it, too.
Arabella:And I’m convinced we work great off-screen as well. I am okay with you staying with her. I can be discreet.
I’ll even sign another one of those contracts I signed the
last time.
Arabella:You can have it all. Don’t let it go to waste.
That’s where the nudes began, but I’d seen enough. I locked the phone and handed it back to William. There was so much to unpack in those messages. I didn’t even know where to start. It was as if the devil himself had possessed Arabella to tempt William personally. All he had to do was say yes, and he could have the role, the girl, more money, fame, and glory—andabove all, an ironclad contract that guaranteed discretion to make that happen.
“All she wants is more notoriety,” William said, his tone low but confident. “She’s a revamped and more delusional version of Erin. Arabella’s celebrity status grew exponentially after the film we worked on together was released. Many others like her, men and women alike, are leeching their way to the top. And I know what you read was raw. Believe me when I tell you I wished I could’ve done it any other way. But you wanted the honest truth, and now you have it.”
My lower lip trembled, but I gnawed at it with my teeth to make it stop.
“Arabella doesn’t know me or give a shit about me as a person. She probably can’t remember if my eyes are green or blue. That’s how self-centered she is. We slept together twice. It meant nothing to me and even less to her. And I regret it because it somehow made her feel entitled to assume I’d be interested in her that way. Or in any other way, for that matter.”
I blew out a breath that inflated my cheeks. I hated this dark, twisted Hollywood world William was a part of. And even if I wasn’t naïve enough to think this side of the business didn’t exist, there was still so much I didn’t know. So much William kept from me to protect my mental health. Still, it was shocking to have been able to get a glimpse of it when reading Arabella’s crude messages. The enormity of it all overwhelmed me, leaving me with a sense of vulnerability and uncertainty about my place in such a big, complex world.
“Guille?”
My mind was racing with horrible thoughts and scenarios. All I could think now was how many awful situations like this one William was exposed to on a daily basis and with whom. I knew I didn’t have a thick skin like he did, nor the stomach toendure any of this, and he knew it.
“Guille?” William said, louder this time, hauling me out of my thoughts. “Are you okay?”
“No.” I wasn’t. What good could lying do at this point? “Let’s go back. Dinner is starting soon. We’ll talk more about this later. I’m still processing everything.”
William unlocked his phone again, blocked Arabella’s contact, and deleted the thread. “I’ll ask Alice to get me a new number tomorrow.”
“Okay,” I replied in a neutral tone. I wasn’t mad at him. I was overwhelmed after the veils had fallen. “Thank you.”
He grabbed my hand, and the warmth and familiarity of it against mine offered me a sliver of comfort.
Three glasses of champagne and a five-course gourmet meal later, I managed to compartmentalize my previous interaction with William. I pressed pause on all the messy thoughts and feelings threatening to take over. They were now chained away in the deep confines of my psyche, threatening to pick the lock and wreak havoc if I got distracted.
William excused himself to the bathroom but left his phone on the table after asking me to keep an eye on it for him. It was a simple gesture to keep me at ease. A gesture I didn’t know I needed but highly appreciated. It was going to give me one less thing to speculate about.
My dad stood close to our table, chatting with Nathan and two other men. When Nathan realized William had left, he excused himself and sauntered my way, holding a short tumbler with whiskey in his hand.
“Is this seat taken?” he asked playfully with his crisp Britishaccent. He knew that was William’s seat and that he’d be back in a few minutes.
“It is,” I replied with a playful smile. “But this one’s free.” I pointed to the empty seat to my left. The couple sitting beside me during dinner was dancing to “Fly Me To The Moon” on the dance floor.
Nathan pulled out the chair and sat, setting his glass on the table.
“Where’s Vivienne?” I asked, my curiosity genuine.
“She, um—” He smiled and picked up his whiskey, twirling the glass before taking a small sip. “There’s no easy way of saying this, so please don’t take offense.”
“She what?” I insisted with a laugh. “Tell me.”
