Friends, lovers... and an orange

Chapter 13

"They have a sex tape."

"They have what?"

"A sex tape" Mason repeated.

"Yours?"

"Obviously" he laughed.

"I'm sorry, I... I... How? When?" Adele asked.

"Why don't we sit down and I explain everything?"

"Yes, sure."

"Ok" Mason said, taking a deep breath. "Where should I begin?"

"From the beginning?" she chuckled.

"Yes, of course. It was... it happened during my 21st birthday. I don't know if you remember, but I was working in the US. I had spent some time in New York, and for my birthday I was in Los Angeles."

"Oh, I do. I remember seeing all the photos on Instagram while laying on my couch feeling like shit because of a cold. You sent me chocolate macaroons to make me feel better."

"I wish I had been taking care of you and eating them instead of... Anyway" he sighed. "My friends threw a big party to celebrate because 21 is a big number in the US since you are finally allowed to legally drink and all that, and they invited many people, most of them girls. By the end of the night I was very drunk, and I'm pretty sure I had hooked up with a few girls already. But then, I saw her. She was stunning, and when she came to talk to me, I just couldn't say no. She was... hypnotizing. Hypnotizing and a bitch" Mason chuckled. "Instead of going to one of the rooms of the house where we were throwing the party, she took me to her hotel room. I think she said she was visiting from Florida, I can't remember. And then... well, you can imagine what we did. When I woke up the next morning, she was gone. She had only left a note behind saying that I should pay for her room before leaving if I didn't want to get in trouble."

"Oh, how nice."

"Yeah... A couple of weeks later, my agency called me. Someone was trying to sell some compromising photos from my birthday. They were just me being very drunk, nothing that you hadn't seen before, but I had just gotten my first big contract, was starting to make a name for myself and being recognized because of me and not because I was Toni Mount's son, and they didn't want them to jeopardize everything we had been working so hard for."

"Look at them being nice for once..." Adele said. "How did they get the video?"

"Whoever was trying to sell the photos wasn't happy that we had managed to stop them, so they tried with something more juicy. My agency had to ask for many favours and pay a good amount of money to stop the press from publishing it."

"That juicy is it? Wait, sorry, I..." Adele said, feeling her cheeks burning.

"You can see me completely naked while she gives me... and then she..."

"I can imagine, there is no need to get into details" she interrupted him, her face about to burst into flames. "So your agency paid for the video?"

"Yes."

"Do they know who was trying to sell it? Was it her?"

"It was her, that bitch had planned it all. Somehow she had found out that there would be famous people at the party and went looking for a victim who would allow her to earn some easy money and maybe become famous. When she took me to the hotel, the camera was already there, ready to film everything we were about to do. I was so stupid..."

"Mason, it wasn't your fault. How could you have known it was all a trap? Besides, you were drunk. You are lucky you remember all the details you do."

"I know but... Anyway. That's what my agency has against me. They say I owe them. Big time. And if I don't do as they ask, they will release that video and the photos and end my career."

"That's blackmail, Mason. You could report that to the police."

"And the moment they find out, they will release the video and everything will be over" he sighed, letting himself fall on the bed.

"You don't know that, Mase. People these days are very aware of what a video like that means. It is a violation of your intimacy. I'm sure your fans would do everything in their power so it doesn't get shared everywhere, it has happened before. You are so lucky you are a man..."

"But what about the brands I work with? About the designers? What will they think?"

"If a sex tape makes them stop working with you when they keep doing it with people who have done worse, it probably is for the best" Adele shrugged.

"And you? What about you?" Mason asked, sitting up again.

"What about me?"

"What do you think about me?"

"Can I be completely honest?"

"Please" he said.

"I think you are an idiot."

"What?"

"Not because of the video. Again, that isn't your fault, you are the victim here. Double victim if we add what your agency is doing. You are an idiot because you thought I would look at you differently or stop caring about you because of it."

"But Addie... It's a sex tape."

"And?" she laughed.

"Aren't you like... shocked? Scandalized? Outraged?"

"The only thing I am is angry at that bitch and at your agency. She used you and filmed you without your consent, and they are blackmailing you."

"So if I had known she was filming and had agreed to it... you would not mind?"

"Can I confess something?" Adele said, biting her lower lip.

"It can't be worse than what I just confessed" he chuckled.

"Remember Ben, my last ex?"

"I do. Why?"

"Well... We liked to take photos or film ourselves from time to time to spice things up."

"Adele Antonia Turlington!" Mason laughed.

"You can't tell anyone. Anyone, you hear me?"

"I won't, I won't. But wow. I didn't expect that from you" he chuckled.

"I'm full of surprises" she smiled, still not believing she had confessed something like that to Mason. "And here is another one... I will walk that red carpet with you."

"Wait, what? Are you sure?"

"No, not really. But until we find a way to get rid of your agency, I'm gonna do everything in my power to help you and protect you. And if that means posing in front of a bunch of photographers, then so be it."

"Addie, I... I don't know what to say."

"A thank you will be enough for now."

"Ok, thank you" he smiled. And this time, it was one of his smiles, one of those that was all dimples. "I love you, Addie."

"I love you too, Mase" she said as she hugged him, trying not to think too much about the three words they had just said to eac