Paige Michalchuk walking into the coffee shop at the end of the block one Friday morning at about 8. "No Charles, that's not going to work for me, no, I can't do that; I will talk to you later." She hung up her phone and walked slowly up to the counter. Her stiletto heels clicked against the tile floor.
"That's her, Paige Michalchuk." People whispered. A camera flash went off in her eyes. She saw a blank spot where the flash had hit. Her green eyes watered a little and her mascara smudged under her eyes.
Paige turned around and walked straight out of the coffee shop without buying anything. Everyone in Toronto knew about her, because she was the topic of everyone's interest. She had just divorced her husband, Jason Mann, the newest actor. But it wasn't just a regular divorce, there was a scandal behind it. Paige never told anyone that he hit her, until they went through the divorce process.
"Come on Paige, you have to act back. You can't just sit around and let him get on with beating other women." Her best friend Faith told her.
"Yes, I can, because there's nothing I can do. I can only sit here and watch him prance through the tabloids saying 'Look at me, I'm perfect and my wife divorced me because she couldn't stand the beauty of me'. That's just how he is Faith."
"Maybe you need another opinion. I would tell you the same thing I told Tiffany, you need to go back to your roots. Go back to Degrassi, go to your reunion. Ask your friends from High School what to do, they'll know."
"Yeah…I guess they will." She said softly. What Faith didn't know is that Paige had left the school with no friends. She was an outcast. She had ruined the Prom in her junior year, and that's when she lost most of her friends.
Her cell phone rang. "Paige Michalchuk here." She said.
"Hello honey. I hear you've been talking about me. Telling Faith about me beating you. I don't want to start anything." Jason said in his deep voice. "So let's just not tell anyone, and we'll be fine."
"Right Jason, I won't tell anyone." She said and hung up.
"Hon, you can't let him walk all over you." Faith said softly. "You have to tell someone."
Two weeks later…
Paige stepped out of her Porsche in black heels and a red dress. She walked up the steps of Degrassi. "It's all or nothing." In the auditorium there were tables set up with cheesy centerpieces.
"What was the budget for this thing? A dollar?" She said to know one in particular.
"Pretty much." Said an old friend Hazel.
"Hi Hazel! I haven't seen you in forever." Paige said putting on a smile.
"Yeah, since graduation. I came over to see you the next day, but I guess you'd already left."
"Yeah." Paige glanced around feeling awkward and she noticed a ring on Hazel's finger. "Who's the lucky guy?" She asked Hazel.
"Jimmy, we never broke up after high school. I hear you married on the famous side." Hazel smiled.
"It wasn't really that big of a deal…and I'd rather not talk about it."
"Oh…sorry Paige, I knew you got divorced, I didn't know it was a big soft spot."
"Yeah well let's just say he left me with some scars." Paige said thinking back to grade 10 when Terri was beaten by Rick and he put her in a coma. "Thank God that didn't happen to me." Paige said softly.
"What didn't happen to you?" Hazel asked curiously.
"Um…Jason…he…hurt me…badly." She stuttered out.
"Like…emotionally? Or physically?" Hazel questioned.
"Both, but mostly physically, he beat me." Paige said with Tears flooding her eyes.
"Oh my gosh Paige, you need to tell someone. This is serious."
"That's what Faith said. I guess she was right." Tears flowed gently, like streams out of her eyes and down her cheeks. Hazel pulled her into a tight hug.
"I'm going to help you get this guy in jail. No one should get away with hurting someone." Hazel said to Paige as she stroked Paige's blonde hair.
"Hello Ladies." A deep voice said from behind Hazel. Paige jumped at the sound thinking it was Jason.
"Oh hey Craig!" Hazel said as Paige gave a sigh of relief.
"Hey Craig." Paige said to him.
"What's up with you guys?" Craig asked looking over his glasses at Paige and Hazel.
"Nothing, just trying to get my business up and running." Hazel replied to him.
"What about you Paige?"
"Nothing, just looking for a new husband." Paige joked as she looked in her compact to fix her makeup. She smudged her finger under her eyes.
"Oh…that's right, I heard that you and Jason got divorced, I'm sorry."
"It was for the better. We weren't in love anymore. Where's Ashley?"
"Ashley and I never got married. We're just friends." Craig replied to her with a look of sadness on his face. "I never got married to anyone, though I've dated every girl that Hazel and Jimmy have thrown my way." He laughs softly.
"We're just trying to help you dude." Jimmy says as he walks over in a suit. "Paige Michalchuk!" He yells as he gives her a big hug. "How have you been gorgeous?"
"I've been…alright."
"She is gorgeous." Craig says. "Paige, are you thirsty or anything? I'll get you something to drink."
"Um, punch would be nice if you don't mind."
"Not at all." Craig said to her smiling.
"So Haze, what have you been up to?" Paige said to Hazel as Craig walked away smiling, skipping a little.
"Just trying to find Craig a woman, I think I've found her though..." Hazel replied with a giggle as Craig walked over grinning.
Paige had a lot of fun that night at her reunion. She had to leave that night to get back to her house, so she could be in for work the next day.
"Paige, can I walk you to your car?" Craig asked her with a smile.
"Sure Craig, I'm sorry I haven't talked to you in a while. I've been busy, I haven't really talked to anyone." Paige said, not really smiling as they walked out to her car. She unlocked it a few feet away.
"Whoa, you have a Porsche? That's awesome." Craig said to her grinning, excited to see a car like that.
"Yeah, a present from Jason, he's so considerate of my feelings." Paige lied. She opened the door and stepped into the car. "Thanks for walking me to my car Craig. That was really sweet of you." She said to him looking up at him.
Craig's eyes locked with hers. He could see tears forming, as she looked upset about something. Craig leaned in and kissed Paige on the cheek. "I hope you'll come back again, I live with Manny. But, just as friends." He said to her as she closed the door.
"Bye Craig." She said softly putting the key in the ignition and driving off. "Why couldn't he just kiss me on the lips? He had every chance. I bet he and Manny aren't just friends." Paige said angrily signaling to turn off of the highway.
Paige walked into her apartment and saw her message light flashing. She hung her purse on the hook along with her coat; she kicked her shoes off and put them under the bench. Paige walked over to her message machine and pushed the play button.
"Paige, it's Faith. We got a big shipment in tonight. We need your help unloading it to send off to everywhere. I guess you decided to go to your reunion, so if you get this before 11, just stop off at the store. Bye." Paige glanced up at the clock 11:03, she just missed it. "Oh well." She said as another message started playing. "Paige, it's Jason, um…I need to talk to you, about the divorce. So call me tomorrow, around two. Ok, bye." Paige sighed as she deleted the messages and walked into her bedroom.
She took off her stockings and dress with a yawn. She changed into her pajamas without bothering to shower. She lay down in her bed and turned off the light. All night, she thought of Craig.
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Paige's alarm went off at promptly 6:15 the next morning. She got up almost instantly and walked to her bathroom to shower. She got out of the shower and noticed she had a message. Huh, she thought not remembering hearing the phone ring. She pressed the play button as she got dressed for work.
"Hey Paige, it's Craig. Um, you left your award at the school last night, and um, I was um, wondering if I could bring it to you. Um, just call me back. Uh…bye." Beep. The message made Paige's heart skip. She picked up her phone and pressed the previous call button, to reveal Craig's number. She called him, but he didn't answer. Rather than leaving a message she added his number on her cell phone and finished getting dressed. She did her hair and make up then walked out of her apartment.
"You're a little bit late today, Ms. Michalchuk." John, the doorman, said to her.
"I got a call from an old friend, well, a message." She replied walking down the street to her car. On her way to work she stopped off at the same coffee shop as the Friday a few weeks ago, but she put her sunglasses on and ignored everyone else.
Paige walked into work at 8:15 that morning, three minutes behind schedule. As she walked to her desk she noticed something weird was going on.
"Paige. Did you get my message?" Faith asked her as soon as Paige had sat down.
"Yes, it was already 11:30 though, and I was exhausted." She lied about the time. "I didn't get out of Degrassi until, like, 10:45 and I got stuck in traffic. As weird as that sounds." Paige was still smiling as if nothing had been wrong.
"Well, not helping us isn't the problem, this is." Faith pulled out a magazine from her briefcase. "Look at what that ass is saying now."
Paige grabbed the magazine from Faith noticing that there were two pictures on it, one of her, one of Jason.
"Billionaire Jason Mann and former wife Paige Michalchuk's scandal." Paige reads the headline. She turns the pages inside to find it. "Earlier this year, Jason Mann divorced his wife, for reasons unknown, until today. Reporter, Manuela Santos got the inside look on the true story." Paige gasps at the name but reads on. "'My wife Paige was cheating on me, with an old friend Craig Manning. One night I came home and found them in my bed. Paige denied it to me, saying that it wasn't what it looked like. But of course it was.' (cont. page 35)" Paige flipped to Paige thirty five in a hurry. "(cont. from page 17) 'So Paige and I had our problems, and she started hurting herself, blaming it on me.' I…I can't read anymore." Paige said tears flooding in her eyes.
Faith pulled her chair next to Paige and hugged her tightly. "You should've told someone sooner." Paige pulled away roughly.
"Craig and I talked last night, he's living with Manny. He could've known, but didn't tell me." She said very angry pulling out her cell phone and dialing Craig's number.
"Hello?" Craig's voice came from the other end of the phone.
"Craig, it's Paige. Why didn't you tell me that Manny was writing that article about me? You could've saved me." She said through tears.
"What article? I don't know what you're talking about." He said softly.
"In the Us Weekly, Manny wrote this horrible article about me and Jason. She interviewed him, and…and he made up all sorts of lies." She said bawling into the phone.
"I don't know why Manny would do such a thing…that's horrible. I'm so sorry Paige, I'll read it and call you back, I promise." Craig said in a very angry tone and they hung up.