The Road to EGOT Season 03 Pt. 03

"It's okay. I'll get this sorted out."

"How can you? It's the internet. Those pictures will always exist. Ohhh god, it could have been me."

"What? What do you mean?"

"Duncan, we were so careless last night. At the concert, in the car. Anyone could have seen..."

"You had the wig, even Curtis didn't recognise you at first."

"I don't know what got into me."

"Taylor, it's alright. Nothing happened! No one saw us."

"But they could have." She was clearly shaken. "I..I...I can't have this happen to me. I can't risk everything for just sex."

"Just sex?" I asked more than a little hurt.

"No, that's not what I meant." She said "It's just Duncan, I can't afford this."

"Okay, I get it. You're a little freaked out. Maybe last night was a bit much. I'm sorry about that."

"It's you. I can usually control myself just fine. But you just bring it out of me."

"I don't know what to say Taylor. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have pushed you."

"You didn't. I was just so comfortable. It can't happen again okay Duncan? Ever!" She pointed at one of the pictures of Jen which was on her phone. "I can't have this happen to me." I nodded glumly as I finished packing my things. "I think we shouldn't talk for a little while." I heard Taylor say from the door.

"What? Why?"

"I just think it's for the best Duncan. I just need some time to figure things out and make sense of everything. Just please?" I nodded once more, mostly fearful of what I may say or how I might sound if I did anything else. I grabbed my bag and walked towards the door. I stopped in the hallway next to where she was standing. Her hand was held low, trying to avoid my gaze.

"I'll always be here for you." I told her as I placed a soft kiss on her forehead, before leaving the apartment. My heart heavy with so many different emotions.

*****

I landed in L.A, not feeling much better since I left Taylor's place. The entire time I couldn't stop replaying the events from the previous night. How could something so good, end so badly? The thought made me even angrier at whoever had done this to Jen. I hailed a cab home to shower and change and drove my Mercedes back to the office.

"Anything new?" I asked them as I walked into the conference room.

"We got most major websites to pull the pictures." Marty began. "But they're still getting around. We can't stop this."

"Any idea where these pictures came from?" I asked as Gary walked into the office.

"We won't know for sure until we talk to Lawrence." He said. "And we still haven't been able to track her down. She was supposed to be on set this morning, but never showed."

"What can we do now?" I asked irritated and angry.

"Keep putting out fires as long as we can." Kara said glumly. "When we find who did this, we need to break them." Kara said angrily.

"We'll find them." Marty said placing a hand on her shoulder trying to comfort her. This type of disrespect on the women of Hollywood, angered Kara to no end. Kara softened a bit at Marty's touch, but the look of anger and determination didn't go away.

"Okay guys, let's get back to work. There's not much we can do until we can reach Jen. Just keep trying to reach her, call people around her. She'll eventually pop up." Marty and I walked out together. "I'm going to go see Mark, alright? I haven't seen him since he brought the baby home. Call me if there's any change alright?"

"Of course."

********

"Duncan! How are you?" Maiara asked opening the door.

"I'm good thanks. How are you doing? How's motherhood?" I asked her as we hugged. It was a little awkward with the big teddy bear in my arms.

"It's been wonderful. Mark is with her in the room, go right ahead." I headed upstairs and peeked into the room.

"Hey!" I said seeing Mark holding his little girl on a rocking chair. She had clearly fallen asleep but he didn't want to put her down.

"Hey!" Mark replied with a huge smile on his face. "I thought you were in New York."

"I was, I came back because of this whole Jennifer Lawrence fiasco."

"I heard. How's it going?"

"Don't worry about that, we're on top of it." I told him as he handed me the precious little girl.

"I'm sure you are. Just curious how she's doing."

"No idea, she hasn't returned any of our calls. We don't even know where she is right now."

"She probably needs some space. It can't be easy for her. Having the whole world see you like that, it must be the worst feeling in the world."

"How are you holding up?" I asked him as I placed the little girl into her crib.

"Man, it's an adjustment. Not sleeping much, but everytime I see that little girl smiling at me, it makes it all worth it."

"Can she smile already?" I asked suspiciously.

"As far as i'm concerned she can do it all." He said laughing. "How was New York?"

"The concert was great, the meeting with Sasha went very well."

"And Taylor? How is she?" He asked crossing his arms. I told him how things had gone, without all of the details. "Oh wow! Finally! How do you feel?"

"For a few hours last night, everything was right with the world. Then she saw the pictures and freaked out. She asked me for space, so that she could make sense of everything."

"Yeah, it makes sense knowing what we know about her. She pushed her limits only to see how bad things can go when you do."

"I tried to calm her down, but I was at a lost. After that night, it was incredible Mark."

"It wasn't just sex?"

"Not at all. There was this.. I don't know how to describe it."

"A pull. Like there was some force pulling you towards her."

"How'd you know?" I asked him.

"I feel the same thing everytime I see Maiara." I said with a smile.

"I've only felt that with Victoria and Alex. And i'm conflicted. What does it mean about my feelings for Alex? Is it gone? Should I move on? What do I do?"

"I wouldn't know the answer to that." He said taking a second to think. "You haven't seen Alex in some time. Maybe when you see her that pull will still be there."

"Maybe. Why can't it just be easy like it is for you and Maiara?"

"We're different people Duncan. We each have our own paths. Maiara was mine, only time will tell where yours is." I nodded as we both took a beat to watch his daughter sleep. She was absolutely beautiful, without a care in the world. In that moment, I was extremely jealous of her. My phone vibrated, bringing the real world back into this room that only moments ago seemed so safe from it. It was Jen!

"Hey, Jen you okay?" I asked.

"No.." I could hear the tears in her voice.

"Where are you?"

"I'm home."

"I'll be right there." I hung up. "I gotta go." I told Mark. "Good seeing you."

"You too, Brother." I rushed out to my car.

********

I reached Jennifer's house and knocked on her door. The house was dead quiet, all the blinds were shut making it look as though no one had been here in days. Finally the door opened and Jennifer was wearing a red robe, she had clearly been crying, her hair was a mess. I didn't say anything, I just grabbed her and held her against me. I pushed her inside and kicked the door closed behind me.

"It's okay. We will get it all sorted out." I said trying to reassure her.

"How?" She asked walking away from me. She went straight for the living room and kneeled in the darkest corner. She pulled her knees against her chest, making herself look as small as possible. "I couldn't see this coming. He was such a nice guy. I totally trusted him."

"So the pictures are..." I said giving her space and deciding to stay standing a few feet away.

"They're real. I posed for them." She said nodding feeling the tears coming. "I was dating him, I was trying to keep it quiet. And then he goes and does this. How could I have been so stupid?"

"It wasn't your fault. Don't blame yourself for this. It's all on him. He never should have done that." I said sitting on the ground next to her. She didn't even blink or look at me. Her gaze was held straight ahead.

"What am I gonna tell my parents?" She finally said.

"Do you have to tell them anything?" I asked already knowing the answer.

"My father keeps tabs on me. He googles me first thing every morning. "

"He's gonna understands. I'm sure he will."

"Not deep down. Deep down no one will. This is what i'll be remembered for. Fuck the oscars, fuck the movies. Whenever people think of me, they will think of this. This is who I am now."

"That's not true. Yeah people will talk for a little while, but this will pass. You're not the first celebrity to be caught in this kind of situation."

"Yeah you're right! Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian, these are the people i'll be compared with now. It won't be about my talent, but about how great my ass looks in that picture. People are calling ME a slut, a whore. That I deserve this! That I shouldn't have posed for these pictures! Maybe they're right."

"They're not. Don't let the internet make you doubt yourself. You're a great actress Jen, and we will help get you through this."

"This is NOT OKAY Duncan! This is not fucken right! I am feeling something so intense... I can't even describe it to you right now."

"Rage."

"I wish it was. If I were angry, I could get up and do something. Right now, i'm only humiliated."

"Would it make you feel any better if I told you that humiliation always turns into rage." I asked her.

"How long does it take?"

"It depends. Wile E Coyote had an incredible fast response time." I joked. She laughed a little and placed her head on my shoulder. I wrapped my arm around her.

"I just want to hide!" She said somberly.

"Well, I have to go to London. You want to come with me. Get out of L.A for a little bit. Plus Europeans are much more comfortable about nudity." She laughed again.

"You don't mind? I probably won't be much fun."

"Neither will this trip anyways. But at least it's on Warners dime."

"Alright then. Maybe I'll see Sophie. Haven't really spent time with her since Apocalypse was released."

"Great! I'll give her a call. Get some stuff packed, I'll get everything set up and give you the details." She nodded as I kissed her on the cheek and got up to leave.

"Thank you Duncan."

"That's what friends are for."

******

The next morning, Jennifer and I were in a Warner Brothers, private jet towards London. She had her sunglasses on and was already fast asleep. I was on my laptop reading about the events that had taken place at the Victoria Secret party. Mike Bergin was at it alright. It was good to see that I wasn't the only one trying to make this town better for everyone. My phone vibrated. It was a text from Taylor. My heart stopped in its tracks before I had even opened it.

"Have a safe trip, I miss you already."

8 words. That's all it had taken to overwhelm me with emotion. I put my phone back in my pocket and relaxed. We would be taking off soon.