Last night I’d spent some time looking through social media even though I definitely shouldn’t have. The Trever Owens fans are going crazy, demanding to know who this “harlot” “hussy” “tramp” is in the scandalous photo of him. The more professional media outlets are calling me the “Mystery Woman” who was caught posing with him. I can’t believe I’m a Mystery Woman. It’s so weird.
Some people claim it’s probably a digitally manipulated photo because Trevor is too good of a man to be posing with a half-naked woman.
Um, hello, I was in a robe. I wasn’t exactly half-naked like all these people say!
But the worst part is how this photo is single-handedly tarnishing Trevor’s good guy image. He has a reputation as America’s sweetheart. As the handsome actor who doesn’t constantly hook up with women. Christian women adore him, and moms love him, and every film he’s ever been in are always rated as something wholesome that the entire family can enjoy. In today’s world of TV shows with lots of nudity and sex scenes, many people really value Trevor’s clean image.
And now this accidentally racy photo of me with him is ruining that.
I feel awful.
I have no idea how to reach out to Trevor and let him know that I’m sorry and that I didn’t purposely do this. I call the hotel the film crew were staying at, pretending to be a member of the crew who needs to talk to the casting director, and they tell me the last of the crew checked out yesterday, which dashes my hopes of going to the hotel and finding Trevor in person.
His social media accounts haven’t been updated in a week. If Trevor had any desire to reach out to me, I think he would have done it by now. But he hasn’t.
Two days pass and my hope that he might find a way to talk to me, to get my side of the story, diminishes. Things get even worse when I wake up the next morning and see a news headline under the #TrevorOwens hashtag.
Trevor Owens Dropped From Future Acting Gigs with Oakbrook Lake Parent Company
Tears swell in my eyes as I read the article. Apparently, there’s an ethics and character clause in his contract that states that he must conduct himself as an honorable person in order to star in the wholesome romance movies that made him famous. And that due to his inappropriate behavior with the Mystery Woman, they’ve decided to cancel his contract and no longer cast him in future movies.
I am heartbroken for him. My careless mistake of leaving my phone with Jackie has cost him extreme damage to his career. Social media is going crazy—half of his fans hate him and half of his fans still love him and instead hate me, the Mystery Woman.
And yet Trevor is still silent.
I have no idea what’s going on in his mind. He probably hates me.
But I have to do something.
I wait until Julie goes to sleep because I worry she’ll try to talk me out of this. What I’m about to do could be extremely stupid. Or maybe it’s a great idea. But it’s all I can think of to do, and I have to do something. Trevor doesn’t doesn’t deserve any of this bad press. He’s an amazing guy and he deserves only the best.
I set my phone on the bookshelf in the office and I close and lock the door. Then I stand in front of my phone and press record.
CHAPTER23
Trevor
When my mom discovered that my life had imploded basically overnight, she’d called me all concerned and worried as if I were still a little kid. She told me to quit acting and move back home with her. She’s always on my side no matter what. She didn’t ask if the supposed “Mystery Woman” was really a fling, or something else. She didn’t ask me to talk about any of it. She just told me to come home and forget all about the mess of trying to be famous.
I almost did. I almost packed up my stuff and raced back to my hometown, but then I reminded myself of the reason I’m living in LA right now in the first place. I’m here because I’m good at acting, and I’m on a mission to earn enough money to make my mom financially set for life. Losing my contract with the one company that has given me most of my acting work is a huge setback, but it’s not the end of the world. It can’t be. I have to have faith that things will work out.
Even if things don’t work out, even if my career is totally over, it doesn’t even feel like the bombshell it should be. I guess because my heart is already broken from what Annie did to me. I’m not sure it can break anymore. If film companies want to fire me, then fine, so be it.
But Annie broke my heart and I’ll never feel quite whole again. I loved her. I trusted her. She’d seemed so genuine, and real, and sweet. How can I ever trust anyone again?
I’ve stayed off the internet since the day I discovered that photo on social media. I flew home from that small Texas town and have been tucked away in my house ever since, ordering food delivered to my door so I don’t have to go out or see anyone. My assistant calls me a few times a day to check in, and my agent has assured me that he won’t let this ruin my career. I know I’ll need to pull myself out of this pit of despair soon, but for now, I slump into my couch, click on the television, go to my favorite streaming app and watch a comedy I’ve seen a million times before.
My assistant texts me several times in a row. I tend to ignore all texts lately unless she sends a bunch at once, and I guess she’s figured out that’s the best way to get ahold of me these days. I reach over and pick up my phone, ignoring the multitude of other unread texts from friends, and clicking just on hers.
She sent a link.
I click on it and my heart throbs painfully when I see Annie’s face on the screen. The title of her video isI am the Mystery Woman.
I sit up straight on the couch, holding my phone horizontally in my hand. I mentally debate if I should watch the video or not, but ultimately, seeing Annie’s face on the screen breaks me to pieces. I want to see her, even if I’ll hate what she has to say. But maybe, just maybe, this video will explain why she betrayed me. Obviously, she did it for the money. Rumor has it, the media paid over fifty grand for that one scandalous photo. But did she even care about me at all? Even a tiny bit? Does she at least feel bad about what she did?
I click play.
“My name is Annie Reyes,” she says. Her voice is level and emotionless. “I am the mystery woman that everyone has been talking about in regard to a photo of me and Trevor Owens that was sold to the media.”
