Starlet Scarlett

Chapter 15 - 'Who's blackmailing me?'

"At the temple there is a poem called 'Loss' carved into the stone. It has three words, but the poet has scratched them out. You cannot read loss, only feel it."

- Arthur Golden, Memoirs of a Geisha

Another message springs onto my phone and this time it's a picture, followed by another lengthy text. I desperately click on the photograph, hands shaking, and my jaw visibly drops. The photo shows Charlie walking arm in arm, laughing, with Daisy? Cameron's ex-girlfriend? My stomach drops. I never knew they were friends. My mind's trying to process what I'm being told and I don't really understand. I click off the photograph and read the message underneath.

Bet you didn't expect that! This photo is from a few summers ago, remember when you visited Paris? This is what your so-called best friend was getting up to! Funny she never mentioned it, don't you think? Kisses xx

I feel sick, my stomach churns so much that I almost have to bend over to vomit, but I manage to keep it under control. Not knowing what else to do, not knowing who else to turn to, I dial Fisher's number.

"Scarlett? How's it going, don't worry, mom and dad bought it-"

"Fisher, I need you to come and get me."

"I'll be 10 minutes, text me the address."

*

"So, who do you think it is?"

When Fisher came and got me, I told him everything. I needed someone I could trust whole-heartedly, and he was the only person I knew would never double-cross me.

"I don't know," I sigh. My mind is whirring with a million things at once. On the one hand, I can understand why Jonah would be mad at me. I totally ditched him as soon as Cameron came along, which must have been a total kick in the nuts. Then there's Daisy. I stole her boyfriend and she walked in on us just after we'd have sex on his kitchen floor. She must hate me.

The only thing holding me back, is the fact that the person messaging me seems almost to be against them too? I'm stuck between the idea that they're doing it to throw me off the scent, or that it is just someone else entirely. I tell Fisher this.

"What confuses me is, why would someone random hate you this much? I mean that photograph is really bad and would give our family a really bad name, so I don't understand why someone would do this without provocation?"

"I totally agree," I say, nibbling my thumb nail. "But I don't honestly think anyone hates me enough to do this amount of damage to me?"

"I know what you mean," Fisher agrees. We're sitting in my room mulling over the situation. It's really late, so our voices are lowered so as to ensure no one hears us.

"Right, I'm going to get some paper," I say. I'm pretty into art, so I have a lot of supplies. I dig around and fish out some large pieces of paper, some tape and marker pens. I dump them all down in front of Fisher and he looks at me questioningly.

"What's this for?"

"Get ready for a late night," I tell him. "We're pulling an all-nighter. It's time to brainstorm. Who's blackmailing me?"

*

Fisher brings up a bounty of snacks and energy drinks from the kitchen at around 2 when we're starting to feel tired. I tear into some Oreos and look at our progress so far. We're sitting inside my walk in closet with pieces of paper taped to one of the walls which is hidden from view. I feel like a detective.

So far we've decided that my inner-circle of friends aren't overly trustworthy. Fisher also reminded me of our security cameras and we were able to find  footage from the other night when I received the parcel. We got a photo of someone wearing a black outfit and we were able to decide that the person was male due to his height and stature. The car was non-descript and we could only see it from a distance, but it was a dark colour and had a scratch on the driver's door. We printed out photos and put them up on the wall.

Charlie didn't want me to text back to the person when she was at mine and I had thought it was just wariness, but after the recent revelations about her and Daisy, it makes me wonder if it was just because it was her phone that would have gone off. I know she wouldn't tell me about it because it rules her out as a suspect, but perhaps that was the idea to begin with. To rule herself out.

Daisy herself is up there as a prime suspect because she's the person I've hurt the most. She could have sent me the photo to isolate me and make me wary of my friends and to make me question everything I think I know. After everything that happened between me and Cameron, it was only a matter of time before I heard something from her in means of revenge. But the person who left me that package was a man?

Jonah is a possibility. I hurt him by choosing Cameron over him. I made a fool of him by being with Cameron in the tabloids when I was supposed to be with Jonah. He must have felt so stupid. But is it enough to blackmail me?

It only occurred to me when we were brainstorming that it could be Levi doing this. Leaving him in Paris and completely rejecting him much have been a punch in the nuts. The only issue with this theory is that he lives in England, Brighton if memory serves me correctly. It would be difficult for him to construct something like this.

The photograph wouldn't be good if it hit the tabloids. My parents have done their best to keep our personal lives private, but being as famous as they are, it's difficult keeping everything out of the public eye. My dad's a rock star. When he was young, his reputation meant a lot. He was a bad boy and that made his music sell. People thought he was cool, rebellious. When he started having children though, his agents decided his image had to be tamed. He couldn't raise children if he was a loose cannon.

If this photo got out, people would think it was his actions rubbing off on me. They'd call him a bad father, they'd blackball him and my family. This photo wouldn't just hurt me, it would ruin my family. I can't let it get out.

"We need to figure out who it is," I contemplate out loud. Fisher nods, downing an energy drink.

"I have a theory," Fisher says.

"Share."

"This is going to sound crazy, but bear with me." I nod. "Okay, so I was thinking, there aren't many people in your circle who hate you enough to tear apart our entire family, right?"

"Right."

"So I was thinking, maybe it's not someone from your circle."

"O-kay?"

"Think about it, mom and dad are pretty famous. They must have tons of people who hate them! Maybe they thought that the best way to take down mom and dad would be to do it through you."

"Do you know something?" I say, my heart pounding. "I think you might be right."