‘That got deep fast,’ Quinn said.
‘I like going deep.’
Oh, good god.
Quinn was thankful Ivy wasn’t here to read his dirty thoughts, and he stifled his wicked grin by drinking from his champagne flute. Matty returned to the table with the cakes, which looked wonderful and not at all hideous like Quinn had secretly hoped. When he bit into them, praying they would be dry, soft flavourful crumbs greeted him with hints of ginger and lemon, but not enough sweetness to make it sour or overpowering.
‘I used to have a bakery down in London,’ Matty said once they had greedily consumed the dessert and everyone complimented him. ‘It’s how we met, isn’t it?’
‘It is,’ Noah said. ‘Me and my sweet tooth.’
Curse that sweet tooth leading you to him!Quinn thought, though he smiled and laughed all the same.
‘But enough about me.’ Matty waved his hand, as if they had bombarded him with questions about his bakery, why he might have given it up, and his muse for his acting. ‘We’re here tonight to talk about all things Hermione.’
‘Unofficially.’ Hermione smiled. ‘I loved Noah’s idea of you getting to know me, Quinn.’
‘And us getting to know you,’ Noah said to Quinn, and Quinn, feeling warm and light, caught the glance that flickered in his direction from Matty.
‘Is this an interview?’ Quinn asked.
‘Not at all,’ Hermione said. ‘And we can go over these things again when the official writing takes place. But it’s only fair that you know why I want to tell my story. And why now.’
‘I’m all ears,’ Quinn said.
‘I know what they say about me out there,’ Hermione said. ‘The witch of Cusop Dingle, the recluse, the spinster … and I’ve heard worse. And it all stems from the fact that I had sex.’
Matty let out a feigned gasp, which was more annoying than funny, but Quinn joined in with the laughter.
‘I was shamed and humiliated,’ Hermione said. ‘Because of course, it got filmed, and it got released, and this was in the eighties. My career was flourishing in America, but they marketed me as the girl next door – the innocent, wholesome woman. I thought I had it all.’
Hermione sighed, looking wistful at nothing in particular, no doubt her mind wandering to a time that she missed.
‘Then I met him. His name was Roger. Never trust a Roger. He was a movie producer, so he said. Said he loved my work and thought we could work together. Our relationship blossomed, but he never told me where he worked. Maybe I was naïve, trusting, but I assumed he was a producer for the big studios, you know? Everyone around me was a somebody.’ Hermione shook her head. ‘He took me to his studio once. It was less than glamorous, but I’d been on a few sets in my career and they often weren’t glamorous. Again, I didn’t think much of it. Infatuated, I suppose, by this man. He took me onto a set and the moment took us and we … well…’
‘Don’t say it,’ Noah said. ‘I don’t need to hear it.’
‘Fornicated,’ Hermione said, and Noah pulled a face. ‘Your mother had sex, Noah. It’s how you got here!’
‘I prefer the baby with a stork theory.’
Hermione laughed. ‘Not the case. Older people have sex, you know. After that night, he didn’t see me again. Next thing I knew, I was being told about a sex tape that had me in it which had found its way out into the public domain. We didn’t have the internet back then, so it was good old-fashioned video tapes, and it was in all the seedy shops on Hollywood boulevard. Turns out, Rogerwasa movie producer. A pornographic one.’
Quinn gasped, one that was genuine.
‘He led me there and filmed me without my knowledge, without my consent, and starring in one of his own movies,’ Hermione said. ‘Got off on it, apparently. He’d left a camera on and the USP was the voyeuristic home footage aspect of it. Turns out, his studio was going bankrupt, and when he saw me, he spotted an opportunity. An entrepreneurial spirit, some people said. With that one video, with my image and name attached to it, he saved his business from bankruptcy and had a lavish career in Hollywood’s porn industry. And me? Well, you know what happened.’
Quinn gripped his champagne flute as if it was the neck of the man that had set Hermione up. He tried to erase the images in his mind of the aftermath of such an event, and he could only imagine how she must have felt. Noah was biting his lip, a disappointed expression on his face.
‘You were assaulted, Hermione,’ Quinn said.
‘I was.’
‘That needs to be investigated. The man needs to be arrested.’
‘He’s dead.’
‘Oh.’
