Rise of the Billionaire actress

Two weeks later, the Magazine issue with Deloise went out. The first few days were a bit slow, but as time proceeded, more people got hold of the latest Focus Magazine starring a retired actress.

Soon enough, the magazine became the most talked about on the internet. Albeit, most of the conversations around the issue weren’t the most favorable, but publicity was publicity.

In the entertainment world, getting spoken about in a bad light was better than nothing. Not that she cared anyway.

It was the weekend and Doris relaxed home with Deloise.

“Tony is requesting dinner,” She said from the couch and Deloise sighed. “Why the hell is he bombarding me with messages and not you?”

“Because I may have ignored him.”

“Get him off my back, will you?” she asked, exasperated, “And just so you know, that guy never gives up. Better to get things over with now than later.”

“Tell me about it.” Deloise grumbled, shooting off a text back at Tony.

Later that evening, in a cozy restaurant, Deloise sat across from Tony as they ate dinner.

“This was supposed to be a celebratory dinner,” she said, sipping from her cup, “If you wanted me alone, you could have said so, I know you enough not to find it weird.”

Tony threw his head in laughter, “What makes you think we are alone? For all you know, the others might be running a bit late.”

“Extremely late should be a better adjective.”

“Whatever floats your boat. I couldn’t care less if no one showed up here- with you as an exemption of course.” He winked, “Without you, Focus wouldn’t have made our best sales yet. Cheers.”

He raised his glass to her and they took a sip. With the increased sales of Focus following her feature, his brand was in the public’s eyes, and for Tony, that was enough reason to hurl her out for dinner, amongst other things.

Deloise nearly spewed the content of her mouth when she saw a familiar frame headed towards their table with eyes fixed on her.

Tony set her up.

“Aaron! Took you long enough.” He waved him over, “Told you we were going to have company.”

Sitting tight, Deloise focused on her food while he took a seat beside her. His eyes fixated on her, shooting daggers at her, and edging her to look at him, to throw one glance – but to no avail.

“Funny story,” Tony resumed when the silence became overbearing, “I planned to invite a lot of other people but they all called in busy. Except you guys.”

He didn’t need a soothsayer to know this wasn’t his brightest idea, but he was too chicken to admit it. Deloise dropped her fork and gathered her things.

Before he could speak, she beat him to it. “Thank you for dinner. I’ll leave first.”

Without as much as a glance back, Deloise made her way out of the building, feeling the eyes of everyone trail after her. Safe to say it was the last time she was having dinner with Tony.

Meanwhile, Aaron wore a frown the moment she was out of sight. He didn’t know if he was more surprised to see her or witness her ignore his existence. He knew for sure that his best friend wasn’t leaving unscathed from his anger.

“Is this some sort of joke?” Aaron hissed, up on his feet.

“Chase after her,” Tony wore a serious look, “Don’t be a fool-”

His words were still in his mouth when a destabilizing punch came his way.

Tony spat out blood, “Is that all you’ve got?” He smirked, showing off his bloodied teeth.

“That’s for wasting my time and insulting me.” The thought of his friend casually seated with her while she did not spare him a glance irked him. “I’ll be on my way.”

By now, they racked up an audience. “Don’t be a fool again.” Tony said, loud enough for him to hear it.

Aaron couldn’t be bothered to answer him. He left the place, and fired a text to his manager, informing them of a likely situation.

Meanwhile, Stella gets hold of pictures of them from the restaurant. She sends it off to her plug and in a few minutes, the picture goes out, painting Deloise as a desperate woman, looking for shortcuts to success.

*****

“I really can’t get a break with these people!” Doris yelled, throwing her phone on the couch, “It’s been what? One month, and they find a way to paint you the villain. How on earth did they get that from a picture of you eating?”

Deloise wore a grave countenance but maintained silence.

“They have refused to take it down, my guess is that someone is having them leave it up.” Anna stated, returning from her call. “We need to do something, and fast.”

A worried look etched on their faces when Deloise headed into the room without a word. On getting inside the room, she dug into her drawers and picked out a flash drive. She held it up with a menacing smile, grateful she listened to her mind’s direction to keep ammunition for future use.

Who knew Stella would give her the courage to do what she ought to have done long ago? Deloise returned to the sitting room and handed over the flash to Doris.

“What is this?” she received it, turning it around.

“A flash drive dummy,” Amanda comes to the rescue, apple in hand.

Doris rolled her eyes. “I can see that,” she turned to Deloise, “What’s inside it?”

“A little something to keep Stella busy.” She said and sat down, “It appears she has a lot of time on hand.”

Anna inserted the flash on her phone and proceeded to view its content. A clear video of Stella heading into a room kicked up the video. At the end of the video, their eyes were the size of saucers.

“Where did you get this?” Doris asked immediately,

“I have my ways.” she replied, leaving no room for further questions. “If she has decided to be a scheming witch, I will not be merciful. This time, I will not be bullied.” She declared with ice in her eyes.

This wasn’t the timid Deloise, this was a version they hadn’t seen before. An entirely new side of her. Doris nodded, knowing exactly what to do. They were sending a signal to the enemy’s camp.

By evening, Stella was a mess in her manager’s office.

“Do something!” She roared, “Get in touch with whoever is behind this and fix it. My reputation is at stake here.”

“There’s so little I can do. The PR team is trying their best to manage the situation but it’s hard to do that with the public feeding into it.”

“Contact Preston. I’ll do a Press Conference. I’ll convince them it is all an elaborate plan to ruin me,” She declared, “Just do something, already.”

The entire media was aflame with news of her sleeping around with men for movie roles. With pictures of her in a compromising position with a known sleazebag, the scandal was gaining foothold and she was losing fans at the speed of light.All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.

“Good. Because you will be going live in one hour.” Mr. Prseton said, announcing his presence. “Let’s hope for your sake that you are able to convince them.”

Stella sizzled silently with anger. A threat. She was no stranger to how things were done in Preston. They were quick to cut off anyone that proved to be a hassle. And at this point, she might as well be considered a hassle.

“I will.” She said, confident in her ability.

“It may be too late for that now.” Her manager said, stress evident in her voice,

“What do you mean by that?” Stella fired back,

“Because they just released a sex tape of you.” Mr. Preston hissed, scrolling through his phone. “Head back to your house, contact your manager for anything you need.”

Stella puddled on the floor, “They set me up… this is a set up.”

******

“I’d pay to see her throwing a fit.” Amanda said, happy at the thought of Stella’s suffering. “How the tables have turned.”

“She had it coming for three years,” Ann remarked, “Whatever she’s going through can’t be measured with what she deserves.”

Deloise gauged Anna with soft eyes, Stella had left a mark on her. She had exploited her innocent state and used her as a bullet – the effects of her evil deeds still told on them even after three years.

“Let’s just hope this is enough to hold her off for sometime,” Deloise added her one cent.

“Yeah.” Doris joined the conversation, “This will knock her out cold for a while. At least long enough to attend the awards show without looking over your shoulders.”

“Yeah.” The other’s agreed in unison.

“On to other things,” Doris said with a smile, “Your glam team for the event is ready.”

“I can prepare myself just fine.” She said, “I don’t think I need an entire team.”

Doris was quick to enter, “I am your manager, who also happens to be your boss, and friend. You will be meeting them tomorrow, hunny. No questions asked.”