Their apartment had turned into a call center.
All day Cody and Eden fielded calls from Time, Newsweek, and People. Reporters blew up her e-mail. Social media had Renee as a trending topic with Eden close behind.
Their investment in Sarah paid off.
No one would believe Renee was stealing work from others if it weren't for the fact Sarah recorded their conversation. Undeniable proof it was Renee and her voice was Eden's saving grace. Just on the blog hits alone, not only did she recoup her $2500 but she also made enough where her rent and bills were paid for the next several months.
She replayed the video back, as she did all morning, and couldn't believe her eyes. Renee was so confident in her trickery, as if she were pulling the greatest con of all time. Some argued it was part of a storyline on the Real Housewives. Some argued she was a sociopath and batshit crazy. No one, however, could deny she was the reigning queen of all media.
Eden briefly wondered how Dean's real girlfriend was feeling and where she was in all of this. She decided to make one last contact to Sarah to see if she could schedule a meeting with the mysterious artist. It was time to give her the proper shine.
"Good morning, baby girl."
Her eyes turned to the voice at the doorway. It was Roman. Dressed in lounge pants and a matching black tank, his long, black hair freely fell in luxurious waves. "How did you sleep?"
"Like I got knocked out." She managed to get up but slumped back to the bed. Her head pounded with pain and she quickly grasped it. "How much did I have to drink last night?"
"You cleared my liquor shelf," Roman entered the guest room and sat down on the bed. Sydney caught the first flight back to San Francisco and headed straight to Roman's home. After he brought Sydney in, he gave her warm clothes to change in. They spent most of the night talking about her relationship, while he introduced her to new friends, Johnnie Walker and Jack Daniels. "So that's a couple of hundred dollars you owe me."
Sydney didn't remember what happened after she blacked out, but seeing she was still in the same clothes he'd given her and she woke up in the guest bedroom, nothing occurred. Without looking, she pointed to the floor. "It's in my purse."
"I'm going to head to the shop." Roman reached over and interlaced fingers with her. "I wanted to talk to you about your man."
"He's not my man, anymore."
"He is, Syd," he corrected and her eyes narrowed at him, "you're here because you're mad at him. You're not here because you truly don't want to be with him anymore."
"Okay, are you the same Roman that I knew? The same Roman would've said to fuck him and move on."
"Well, the same Roman would've fucked you last night because he could." He caressed her hand. "I know where your heart is, baby girl. It's definitely not in San Francisco. And it's definitely not with me. You're with me now because you don't want to deal with Dean, though you're going have to. I saw how the two of you were together and I'll admit, I was jealous. I was jealous that I couldn't have treated you that way. I was jealous that I lost a good woman."
"You sound just like Sarah."
"Even a broken clock is right twice a day." He smiled. "You need to go back to L.A. and get your man."
Sydney turned her attention to the window. Tears threatened her eyes. "He probably hates me now."
"No," Roman shook his head, "he loves you very much and he misses you terribly."
"I don't understand," Sydney managed to sit up in bed, "why are you telling me this now? Why are you encouraging this? You never did before."
Roman took out his cell phone and handed it to his ex. "You might want to take a look at this."
Renee became an overnight joke.
Once she had access to all of Bonita's accounts, she began to post more pictures of the artwork and promised a big reveal very soon. Just as she was garnering more interest, her world shattered before her.
The ruse was up.
Eden revealed the damning video of Renee admitting to stealing the artwork and passing it off as hers. Her social media accounts had been flooded with people saying some horrific things about her and her life. Various memes were created in her honor, making fun of her looks, her speech, and even the fact she's Canadian.
The worst was yet to come. Other artists came out of nowhere, revealed some of the drawings Renee had was actually theirs, and threatened to sue her for theft. Her phone had been ringing off the hook and everyone wanted to know what was really going on between her and Dean, who suspiciously remained silent and incognito. And Bonita, well, her number had been changed. It was almost as if she'd never existed at all.
Renee made one final attempt to get into contact with Dean and all she got was his voicemail. She slumped down on her chair and felt defeated. Her life was gone. Her relationship with Dean was a distant memory.
"Renee, we need to see more emotion, honey. More emotion!"
Renee planted a frown and loudly sighed as she listened to the producer's instructions. She wondered how Meryl Streep was able to do instant tears as fluidly as she did. At least there was one sure thing Renee looked forward to – the next season of the Real Housewives was going to put her in the starring role.
When Sarah returned to San Francisco, Sydney met up with her at Sarah's apartment. Sarah ordered Chinese and the women were in the middle of a Lifetime movie marathon.
Sarah gulped her champagne. "Has Dean tried to contact you?"
He'd left several messages on Sydney's phone, with each message sounding more desperate than before. "He's left a ton of messages and texts."
"And let me guess…" Sarah held her cup towards her best friend. "…you haven't returned one of them?"
"And say what?"
"Hmm… 'Hey honey, I'm sorry I overreacted and did something completely stupid for which you played a very huge role in. We're both suck so let's call it even!'"
Sydney slowly shook her head. "It's not that simple."
"No, actually, it is. He was in the wrong and so were you. You're both assholes, honestly. He was one for toying his dick in front of Canadian Bacon for as long as he did. You were an asshole for letting Roman back into your life and he would still be a part of it had he not kicked you out." Sarah pointed out. "So yeah, you both were in the wrong. The issue is he's willing to finally admit whereas you want to keep punishing him. I knew you were into that S&M shit because clearly you like being a Sadist. Once someone says they're sorry, the only choice is to forgive them. That's it. You hold that grudge and the only person getting burned is you."
"Well, what's done is done." Sydney pushed away her food and grabbed the pint of Haagen-Dazs from the freezer. "Can I just go to the blogs and complain how much of a dick he is?" Sydney whined as she leaned on Sarah. She stuffed her mouth full of salted caramel Haagen-Dazs. "That'll get him fired, wouldn't it?"
"You need to change your name. I have a few suggestions." Sarah began. "There's Petty Labelle. There's also Petty White. My personal favorite is Tyler Petty. Which one do you prefer?"
"I prefer Petty Wap," Sydney stuck out her tongue.
"Trap Queen you are not," Sarah shook her head, "I don't know what one is but I'm pretty sure you're not it." She narrowed her eyes and a slow smile formed. "That's it!"
"I'm a Trap Queen?"
"No!" Sarah smiled. "You're Katy Petty!"
"Whatever," Sydney rolled her eyes, "I prefer Petty Rowland." She took a bite of ice cream. Gosh, you know what I wish I could do?" Sydney took another bite. "I wish I could sock her dead in the eye. Just one sock for good measure."
"Nah. You saw how skinny she is? You punch that Career Day Barbie-looking bitch and you'll break your hand because you'll directly hit the bones." Sarah chuckled. "Seriously, have you ever noticed how it looks like someone just pinched her in the middle of her face? Like, why does she have so much space on her face?"
"You're awful," Sydney shook her head, "Maybe I can start a thread on her on some online forum!"
"Girl, please. People who talk the most shit are usually lacking in two areas – nourishment or dick." Sarah rolled her eyes. "There are tons of those and honestly, you don't have that thing about you."
"But seriously, though," Sydney began, "what am I going to do?"
"Easy peasy," Sarah smiled. "you're going back to L.A."