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Chapter Eighteen
Allison had finished an exhausting day of filming and luckily not acting in the same scenes with Jeremiah. He’d shown up at her condo door last night and tried to proposition her. She felt nasty all over just thinking about it. She’d told him absolutely not and slammed the door in his face. If he tried it again she was going to report him to the director. It was all too common for actors and actresses to hook up on set but if she was being harassed, she felt strongly that this director would stand up for her.
At the same time, tomorrow was their last day of filming then they’d have a two-week break for Christmas and New Year’s. She’d told Jeremiah she was with Birch and would never cheat on him. Hopefully, that would get through his thick skull and he’d move on to willing participants before they returned from the break. The next two weekends she’d be with Birch. She was ecstatic about it.
Her phone was lighting up as she stepped out of the shower. She’d wanted to just call Birch and go on a quiet walk on the beach, but she sighed and picked up the phone. There were numerous texts from friends and associates and even Rachel and Abe all saying the same thing, “You and Jeremiah?”
“What?” she asked herself. She clicked on Rachel’s text which read,What in the crap is wrong with you? Please say this is doctored.
The link showed a picture of her and Jeremiah in his swimming pool. They were embracing, he was kissing her neck, and to her horror it was the night she’d worn that stupid, cursed, flesh-colored bikini. In this picture it looked like she was naked. She clicked on the link, her stomach rolling, and breezed over the article that had numerous quotes from Jeremiah saying the two of them had fallen in love again in Kauai. It also gleefully reported that the actress who claimed she was so moral and took the high ground was definitely not what she portrayed to be.
“No,” she groaned. Clicking her phone, she pressed Birch’s number. “Please don’t let him have seen this,” she muttered but as the phone rang and then went to his answering machine, she got concerned. “Birch, it’s Ally. Call me please, and … I know you wouldn’t believe garbage online, but … don’t look. Please just don’t look.” She pushed out a breath and hung up. She didn’t want that gross image stuck in Birch’s mind. Would he think she’d lied to him about being a virgin? Would he think she was cheating on him with Jeremiah who she’d promised she wouldn’t spend time with? This was a nightmare.
Scrolling through her phone calls there were a ton of missed calls and voice mails. Most of the numbers she recognized, some she didn’t. She didn’t want to deal with phone calls right now.
Birch, she wanted to moan. She called her agent and explained that the photos were old and she had been wearing a swimsuit, but because of the color of the suit, the angle of the photos, and Jeremiah’s arms around her it looked like she wasn’t. What a nightmare. Jessica promised to contact the site and demand the article be removed, but who knew how many times it had been copied and shared on social media. Allison didn’t even want to Google that.
She called Birch repeatedly, then texted him, then FaceTimed him. She knew he was on a mission so he probably hadn’t seen anything and possibly didn’t even have his phone. She’d pray for that. Birch loved her, he trusted her. Right? What if his old fears of all actresses being fake and immoral reared again? What if he believed his brother was right and he should never have dated an actress?
She responded to all the texts, telling them it was an old photograph, she had been wearing a suit, etc. She was still ticked at herself about it. Why had she ever put that suit on for Jeremiah? She’d been fresh out of school and he was already successful and she’d been trying to impress him and given in to him begging her to just put the suit on. So dumb. He must’ve had security cameras taking pictures and for some reason saved them. What a sicko.
She wanted to go confront him.
Her phone rang. The director. “Allison?” the question in his voice made her squirm.
“The pictures are old. I was wearing a swimsuit,” she asserted quickly. “I know I should never have dated the scum.”
“You’re both signed into a four-movie contract. Is this going to be difficult for you?”
“No, sir, but I will have words with Jeremiah, and if he tries anything like this again my agent will get a lawyer involved.”
“Understandable. I’m going to speak with him and tell him if he cannot behave professionally, his contract will be in jeopardy. We’re still early enough in the filming it wouldn’t be impossible to replace him.”
Or kill his character off, thought Ally with grim satisfaction. “Thank you, sir, that means a lot.”
“We want a higher standard on this movie and our set. I’ve been impressed with your acting skills, your integrity, and the kind way you treat everyone on set no matter their job. I’ll go to bat for you, Ally.”
Ally’s throat was tight. “Thank you again.”
“Of course. With this mild scandal and the fact that tomorrow is the last day of filming until the New Year, I think we’ll take the break early. We’re ahead of schedule and I’d rather let everything calm down and see how Jeremiah responds. I’ll see you January fourth.”
“That sounds wonderful. Thank you. See you then.”
As they hung up, Allison felt some relief. The director was on her side and had said as kind of things to her as any director she’d ever worked with. Now if only she could get ahold of Birch and make sure things were right with him.
It hit her then. They weren’t filming tomorrow. She started shoving clothes into a carry-on, pressed a button for an Uber, and then called the airport. All flights out of Kauai were redeyes. She’d catch one tonight instead of tomorrow. By tomorrow morning she’d be in Florida, waiting for Birch when he got done with his assignment. She could hardly wait to see him, and could only keep praying he wouldn’t believe the rumors.
* * *
Birch was waiting for his discharge papers from the hospital and still trying to call Allison. The doctor did not want him on a flight to Kauai but what choice did he have? He had to get to her.
He walked out of the hospital with Isaac and a blonde woman stepped in his path. He veered out of the way but stopped when he realized who it was. “Bermuda?”
“Hey.” She nodded a greeting to Isaac.
“What are you doing here?” Birch demanded.
“They called your mother and told her you’d been hurt.”
