Chapter 1. Scandalous
It was the biggest scandal in Hollywood to date and I was staring down one its two ugly rearing faces. Up until recently I had been engaged, happily in a relationship that had lasted three years, but he blew that all to hell. Who is he? You might ask. He was Daniel Wright; actor, gorgeous, famous, but somehow miraculously not single. My blood boiled at the site of him, standing there calm, cool, and collected. How dare he! He cheated on me for two years, only proposing to me a year and a half into our relationship when I started getting suspicious of his spending extended hours with the leading lady on the set of the film he was starring in. I couldn't feel too bad for myself because I knew there was someone who had it worse. Daniel's "lady of the night" was the main reason this whole situation hit dangerous, uncharted waters patrolled by the paparazzi. She doesn't deserve a name, but her husband does: Noah Aven, actor extraordinaire. Noah was an unbelievably kind and wonderful man who she gave two children. I couldn't even imagine what kind of pain he must be going through; all I know was that I was more than happy to help testify against her in the custody suit for their children. Naturally sole custody was rewarded to him, as it should have been. That woman abandoned her children for two years to be with another man. Her selfishness astounded me and my heart went out to those children. I focused my attention back on the Greek-statue in front of me, if Greek-statues were capable of being home-wreckers.
"Get out!" I screeched, throwing whatever was his as hard as I could at him. The ones that made their mark looked like they hurt and in my mind I smiled with satisfaction. "Get out! Get your things out of my house and leave, now!" I had never been so angry in my life and though I'd never admit it, I frightened myself.
"Melrose… just let me explain," he tried to persuade me.
"What is there to explain!? You were screwing someone else while in a relationship with me! There's no gray area here; it's purely black and white. Now, get out!" I picked up a shoe and threw it as hard as I could at him. I missed and broke a lamp, which shattered on the tile floor. I never pretended to have good aim when I was angry.
"Will you just stop for a second!?" He was starting to panic that I might actually cause serious bodily harm to him.
He should be worried, I thought to myself, he completely deserves it. I stopped, my arm paused in mid-lance and then let my arm fall to my side. Let's just see what he has to say; I like seeing him sweat.
He glanced at my arm to make sure it wasn't moving anytime soon. "Melrose, you know I love you; I wouldn't have proposed to you otherwise. It was a mistake; I'm sorry."
My anger flared up again. "A mistake does not go around screwing someone else's wife for two years!" I lobbed a tennis racket of his and amazingly enough hit his head; the skin on his forehead split open and blood started to flow freely from it. I wrinkled my nose at the smell. Oops.
He didn't seem to care. He was more interested in placating me, knowing I could possibly do more damage. He changed tactics. "You know, I'm not the only one at fault here. You know you do this. You set up these ideals that no one can live up to, so that way it's easier to do what you're doing right now."
I gasped at what he was insinuating and started stalking towards him. "And what exactly am I doing?" I hissed murderously. "Hmm… breaking up with you? You're damn right I'm breaking up with you! Because in the world of relationships, not that I'm such an expert on that, but in that world, you don't cheat on your fiancée! So don't you dare try and place the blame on me, because this is all your own doing." I poked him hard in the chest to drive my point home. "So I'm terribly sorry if you couldn't live up to my expectations," I finished sarcastically. "Now get out before I really do become guilty of something, that something being your murder!!!!" He picked up his things and ran out the door. "I will send you the rest of your stuff!" I yelled after him. I slammed the door closed and rushed to the bathroom to splash cold water on my face. My hands shook violently as I threw the cold water on my face in an attempt to wake myself up from this nightmare, but no, this was reality and this couldn't possibly be happening. I was supposed to be in a blissful relationship with a man I loved, not staring down my reflection trying to calm down after breaking up with said lover. I sighed as I looked in the mirror. Everyone I have ever met has told me I looked gorgeous and looking at it from a purely ego-centric point of view, I could see what they meant. I had wavy, light blonde hair down to the middle of my back and bright blue eyes. I had a body that would make a model envious, had they any wish to look slightly anorexic, which they often did. Whenever I went out in public, which was hardly ever at all, people speculated as to whether I had an eating disorder or not. If I was being honest with myself, I had to admit that I did look it, but I wasn't. I simply ate healthy and being a vegetarian, I always refrained from eating meat. Somehow, despite all of that, there were people out there that were jealous of what I had. Maybe I was being modest or possibly even self-deprecating, but I truly didn't see what anyone saw in me as far as outward appearances went. I was the type of person to look for beauty in the soul, not in body. Here's what I know to be true: I am a now single, demure, used to be happy-go-lucky screenwriter, who doesn't know what to do with her life. In short, I was pathetic and I needed to get away from here fast.
