Behind The Scenes

Chapter Seven

*Robert's POV*

Shortly after the moment of silence Charlotte and I shared, we dispersed and went on with our day. She drove out before me, and as I was walking back to my corvette, I notice something underneath the passenger side of the car.

I frown and walk over to it. It looks like an unmarked book of some sort. I pick it up and thumb through it. It seems to be a diary, but who's? It doesn't have a name in it, so I guess I'll have to read it to find out.

I walk over to the drivers side of the car and get in. I begin to read, but get confused. It's very choppy and split up, like the person who wrote it kept getting distracted.

As of now, I am going to assume it is a girl writing this. She keeps talking about wanting to act, and be just like her dad. And that she feels like her dad would be proud of her for the first time if she was successful in it, but she has a fear of being in front of people.

I understand that. That's how I was, once I realized that when I acted, it would be shown to millions if not billions of people, which overwhelmed me. 

It's a book of struggles, but the one thing that stuck out the most, was dialogue that was written in, like a movie script of her real life experiences. It read:

Kelly

Bill, one more chance

Bill

Get out of this fucking house. I don't want you, or anyone you bring in, here ever again, you got me?

Kelly

You piece of shit, I should've never married you in the first place

Bill

Just get out, you can't handle one kid, let alone two

Kelly

Charlotte and Dylan don't deserve you  if all you do is bust out a belt every time they make a mistake.

Bill

Just get the fuck out.

And that was all the dialogue. I close eyes and wipe my face with my hands. This is Charlotte's diary. Now I know why she didn't want to talk about her past.

I put the car in drive to do a U turn, and right away I get a call. I press the green button on the touch screen in the car and it answers the call.

"Hello?" I ask.

"Hey, it's me." Charlotte says on the other line, she sounds distraught and upset, "Have you seen my diary?"

I take a deep breath, and almost laugh at the coincidence, "Yeah, I found it under my car, where are you?"

"In my trailer." Is all she says. I can't tell whether she is crying, or in relief.

"Okay, I'll be there in about thirty minutes." We say our good byes and I sit there for a minutes. I wish Bill were still alive so I can literally kick the living shit out of him. 

I make my way back to set, but all I think about was how Charlotte must have felt all those years. My past may have been bad, but no where near as bad as that. My dad never beat me, he never even laid a finger on me. It was more of a mental abuse than a physical abuse.

How can I make it up to her? She deserves a friend that will be there for her, that knows her like no one else. I can at least do that, and make her feel more important than she did growing up.

I look at the clock as I pull into the drive away, 12:34. I chuckle as the guard lifts up the gate for me. I pull in and find my parking spot that has my name on it. I get out, making sure to grab the diary on my way out. 

As I start to walk towards the trailers, I see Charlotte right outside of her trailer. I can't see what she is doing, she just looks like she is pacing in circles. I don't understand why she is walking around until I get closer.

"I have your diary." I wave it overtop of my head to show her that I have it.

She starts to walk towards me, "Thank you."

"Why are you walking around outside of your trailer?" I ask with a frown, we are about fifty feet away now.

"There is a massive spider in my trailer and I am trying to build up the confidence to go in and kill it." She laughs and grabs the book out of my hand.

"I am definitely not the one to call for that job." We both laugh and walk over to her trailer.

"You didn't read any of it did you?" She asks in a joking way, but I take it serious. I don't answer, and she assumes that I did, "How much did you read?"

"Well, I got my answer as to why you never acted, and what your father did to you and your brother." I say to try to break the ice, but it does the opposite. I shove my hands in my pockets from guilt. "I'm sorry, I had no idea it was yours, it didn't have a name in it-

"So you just decided to read it?" She is clearly mad, but I don't know why what I did was so bad.

"I didn't even know it was a diary until I read it," I pause starting to get defensive, "And I didn't even know it was yours until you had some dialogue. It's not my fault okay?"

"Okay." Is all she says.

I make her stop and look at me, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay." She says not looking at me, she just looks down.

"I didn't read the whole thing, but I read enough to know that your dad was an absolute asshole, and your mom was nothing close to what a mom should be." I look up trying to think of more encouraging words to say, "I want you to know, that the information I read will never be talked about behind your back, and only discussed between us. I will be here for you, I won't deceive you."

She doesn't say anything but just abruptly embrace me in a big hug. I smile and give her a tight squeeze back.

"Thank you." She mumbles  in my chest and we remain that way for several minutes.

"If there is anything you need, anything at all, you have my number."