‘Wait here,’ I said to Theo. ‘Lemme find out what’s going on.’
I walked over to Mum, trying to appear relaxed but conscious of the watchful eyes on me. Whatever Veronica had shown the gaggle of aunties, it had now spread.
‘Cassie … your aunt has shared some troubling information,’ she started, her face filled with concern. Aunt Gladys on the other hand, looked furious and proceeded to shout at the top of her lungs for everyone to hear.
‘A PROSTITUTE, Cassandra?? Is that how low you have sunk? Why would you embarrass the family like this? Why would you bring a whore to a family gathering? Are you not embarrassed?’
It was as if you could hear a pin drop. I stopped breathing as I felt the heads of people in our vicinity turn towards me. I looked around to see people whispering to each other, looking at their phones in disgust.
‘Cassie, Femi’s work colleague recognised Theo from some online gossip forum,’ Mum started, her hushed tones now filled with concern. Ah. ‘There was an article in there about some famous American actress called Catherine Thompson he used to date, before he was outed for being a prostitute she hired a few years ago while cheating on her NFL player husband. Apparently it caused a huge fuss in Hollywood.’ Mum handed me her phone, showing the article posted on the gossip website. It was dated back to 2021 and showed articles featuring paparazzi photos of Theo and said actress outside several nightclubs, as well as hisOuiMeetprofile, and a few of his nude-adjacent photos. My jaw dropped. Everything I feared had come true. Catherine Thompson; I recognised the name. She was that 40-something-year-old actress who had been in a few superhero franchise movies over the last few years and was known for her heavy party lifestyle more than anything. Theo’s bracelet in his bathroom; ‘C.T’. It belonged to her. The gaggle of girls who recognised him on our first date – it was because of Catherine. Mystery solved.
Aunt Gladys wouldn’t let up though. ‘You have really disgraced this family, I hope you know that. Your cousin Rachel would never do something like this; I’m glad I raised my kids well.’
I turned around to spot the guests whispering and looking down at their phones. From a short distance I could see a few of the guests googling ‘Catherine Thompson’ into their phones, and bringing up her photo. This was horrifying. It felt as if the room was spinning. I saw Theo, looking like a wounded dog, his eyes wide and pathetic.
‘Cassie, I’m sorry – I’msosorry,’ he said, his voice thick with regret. He looked at me, pitiful and sad. But I couldn’t hear him any more. I turned, zeroing in on Veronica like a missile locking onto a target. My pulse roared in my ears as I stormed up to her. If this was some sort of payback on me forher husband’s indiscretions, I guess we were all going to lay it out on the dancefloor today.
‘Why would you do this, Veronica? It’s not my fault that your husband tried to cheat on you and I rejected him. You should be angry athim, not me! I didn’t do anything with him,’ I hissed, my voice trembling with fury. ‘Why the hell are you on a gossip site anyway? You’re a grown asswoman!’
The words came out sharp and cold, each syllable crackling with rage. My chest was tight, my breathing shallow, and I could feel the heat of a hundred stares pressing into my skin. Shame and anger were battling for control – and both were winning.
Theo looked ashen upon hearing this nugget of information. Sade and Kofi looked at each other – aghast – then both glared at Veronica, venomous.
Veronica glared at me, a look of hatred burned across her face. ‘I’m sure you must have led him on. Girls like you always lead men like him on. What was it you liked about him? Was it his money? Did he compliment you?’ Her face cracked into a grin.
At that moment, my mum strode across the dancefloor, another flute of champagne in her shaking hands. ‘I don’t care if you work with Femi or not and, frankly, I don’t care or know what happened between your husband and my daughter; you’re not going to talk about my daughter like that – especially not on a day like this! You need to get out. Now.’
I wanted to hug my mum there and then. I knew what it probably cost her to have my back like this, especially so publicly, when I knew she was probably feeling just as humiliated too.
Veronica looked from me to my mum, her face contorted with rage. She held up her phone with the article featuring Theo to my face and continued to shout.
‘Me? I’m the problem? Clearly your daughter is the one who seems to go around fraternising with men she shouldn’t be fraternising with. It’s shameful, and hopefully this will teach you—’ she looked over at me as she spat ‘—not to go after people’s husbands!’
I continued to stand there, glued to the spot – my stomach in absolute knots. I could no longer speak. Silent tears began to trickle down my face. At that, Sade had sprung into action as only a best friend could, by verbally dragging Veronica within an inch of her life:
‘First of all, yeah, you and your ashy, dry-ass locks can get the hell out of here. My bestie hasn’t told me the full story yet but I don’t need to know the full story at this point. Because who the hell do you think you are rolling up here and trying to ruin our day? Looking like you let a blindfolded kid do your make-up, and whatever thatoutfitis – sis those colours are fighting each other harder than you’re fighting for your marriage—’
I needed to leave. Now.
Chapter 19
‘Cassie! CASSIE wait!’ I heard Theo’s booming voice behind me as I jaywalked into traffic trying to find solace in the park opposite the hotel. I needed air, and to feel the earth beneath my feet. As I approached the park, I took off my heels and sat in a slump on the grass, slowly counting to ten to soothe my breathing.
Everything I had feared when it came to Theo had come true. Someone had recognised him, and now I was the shame of my family. Now they all knew that I was too pathetic to find a man organically, and that I’d had to lower myself to paying for company. I would forever be known as my mother’s failure.
I was too shell-shocked to even cry. All I could do was gaze into the distance, regretting all my life choices thus far. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Theo crossing the road towards me, panic and concern in his eyes. As he came over and joined me on the grass, I stared at him, motionless.
‘Cassie? Cassie, are you OK? Say something,’ he said, his voice filled with worry. His eyes were frantic, searching mine for some form of recognition or acknowledgement on my end.
‘Cassie, I’m so sorry,’ he said softly, his eyes locked on mine. ‘I don’t even know where to begin. I never thought that story would see the light of day again – I didn’t evenknowI had a fucking gossip page and that that situation would have beennews in the UK, but apparently I guess some people know. It happened years ago, when I was living in the States for a while. It was a mess, and I was a mess. But I swear to you, I never meant to keep it from you.’
He took a shaky breath, his voice thick with emotion.
‘You have every right to be angry. I just … I didn’t want anything from my past to ruin this. I know I should’ve said something. I know I’ve probably blown it. But please believe me when I say I never wanted to hurt you or your family. You mean more to me than I know how to put into words.’
He looked down, then back at me with pleading eyes. I just stared at him wordlessly. He continued.
‘I’ve made so many mistakes in my life. But you? You’re the one thing I wanted to get right. That’s why I messaged you back when you booked me again. I know you said you wanted to have a talk earlier, but I also wanted to talk to you too. I haven’t been able to get you out of my head. And I’m terrified I just lost you. Cassie, please say something.’
