Riley Brooks appears to be leading a charmed life on the outside. On the inside, she's spiraling as a result of a toxic relationship. Once the relationship comes to a tumultuous end, she loses very nearly everything, her sanity included. As an effor...
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I had her wait until I got to my room to tell me, though her tone alluded to how bad it would be. In the four years I'd known her, I never heard her cry.
I zombie-walked to the dark magenta bed and plopped down with my bags. "Lucy, what is it?" Emotionally, I felt spent and wrung out with the exception of the slight panic in my voice.
She sniffled wetly, but this had nothing to do with her allergies. "Ryan's been talking about you. Talking to the press."
My heart thudded hard and fast in my chest. That I could deal with. He'd said enough as it is, but I could tell there was more. "Okay...?"
I noticed for the first time how dark the room was. I hadn't even bothered to turn on the lights. The furniture was an arrangement of dark blobs around me.
"He said..." She took a shaky, deep breath and then her words came out in a rush. "He said you've been doing drugs. That he had to leave because you needed help and that he couldn't do it anymore. That you began to take it out on him."
I needed air. I crossed the room and opened the sliding door to the balcony.
I wasn't surprised in the slightest, but it didn't ease the pain of the betrayal. The pain of his lies. Ryan was a master manipulator. It was the same manipulation that convinced me to stay with him as long as I had.
Outside, the misty air wet my lungs through my nasal passage, making it a little easier to breathe. I didn't step out far because I didn't want anyone to see me. Even in the dark, I was aware of the possibility of paparazzi crouching in the bushes.
It was still sprinkling out. I noticed the irony of the situation of course, being the daughter of a director. The sprinkling rain was a prelude to some climatic event. Then the rain would pour as emotions exploded, as the parent or beloved pet died, as the couple broke up or their lips crashed into a first kiss. And in the background, the orchestra music would swell and tug at your heartstrings.
"And what?" I tried to sound strong, but my voice sounded choked. "You actually believe that?"
Her silence spoke volumes. I was gripping the phone so hard my knuckles screamed in pain, so I switched hands.
"Well, you've been acting strange. You completely neglect your appearance. You've gotten really skinny. You're covered in weird bruises. I mean, what do you expect me to think, Riley?" There was no hint of organity in her stiff words. It was like she was a terrible actress reading from a script.
I sensed movement and glanced to my left. On the balcony from the hotel room adjacent to mine, Meadow pranced out, all legs and hair. She was smoking a cigarette and completely oblivious to my presence.
She was wearing a pair of lacy panties and that was all, her pointy model-nipples on display to the world. She lifted her head to the sky and smiled, letting the rain drizzle on her hair and face.
