Promises Forgotten
Chapter 14

“When did this article go live?”

“A few minutes ago.” Stacy was trying to replace the initial source of the video and article, but it was blowing up so many places that it was hard to track exactly where it was coming from. Lately, more stuff had been posted by fans on social media platforms when articles picked them up.

“Stop. Don’t. It’s not worth it. If they had sent an email out before it got posted, we could have stopped it. It’s already up on TV and it’s all over social media. She is a social media whore. We won’t make a dent. Even with the whole social team working on it.” I rubbed my temples.

I picked up the phone on my desk because I hadn’t turned on my personal cell since yesterday and honestly, now I really didn’t want to. Dialing a number I loathed to remember, I leaned forward in my chair, with my elbows on my desk, putting the call on speaker as it rang.

“Claudia Anderson here.”

“Hi, Mother.”

I heard a scoff in the background. “Zachary, what a surprise. To what do I owe this pleasure?”

“You are out with the ladies right now?”

“Of course, dear, it’s Thursday.”

I sighed. “Mother, I need your help. Part of me doesn’t want to do anything, but I know it’s your and Dad’s reputation as well. You’re going to want your phone.”

There was silence on the line. She was at a country club and when she was out with the girls or even when she was drinking there alone, she made a habit of turning her phone in to the front desk. It prevented anyone recording or dropping any rumors before everyone had a chance to talk about it. Or drunk texting.

“Oh gods above.”

“Yup. It’s everywhere. All over social media, TV, news, internet. My crew isn’t prepared to handle something like this. I f*****g warned her yesterday she needed to grow up and this is what happened. This is recent too, maybe even caught this morning.”

My mother cursed. “What makes you say that?”

“The necklace she is wearing. I gifted that to her two days ago.”

“Christ almighty, she is wearing a diamond necklace bought by her fiancé while she f***s some other a*****e.”

I rubbed my temples, taking out my headache medication. Looking at the bottle, I sighed and put it back. Pouring myself another drink, I took a couple sips before sitting down.

“I can’t deal with this one, Mother. I don’t even know if I want to touch it at this point. I don’t want to make it worse.”

“Don’t worry. The girls and I are on it. I’ll call you in a couple hours. We will handle it.”

I nodded and chuckled. “Thanks, Mother. Call the work line. I’ve turned off my phone.”

“Smart. Don’t answer anyone, don’t reply to anything.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“I’ll talk to you in a few.”

I hung up the phone and exhaled, laid my head on my desk.

“Well, there is a bright side to this.”

My head felt heavy as I lifted it up to look at Jason.

“At least she won’t be barging in here anytime soon.”

I scoffed. “Glass half f*****g full alright.”

“Her parents must be pissed. Let’s be honest, you didn’t need this. Her family needed this union to bring them back up the social ladder and in the business world. I can’t even imagine her parents after all the hard work, seeing her land in bed with him.”

“You say ‘him’ like you know him.”

Stacy laughed hollowly. “About five years ago, he was the talk of the model community. Back when I still modeled on the side. Allegedly he was grooming girls. We all knew it was happening but who could prove it? No one. Soon, he stopped working with that agency and the allegations stopped. The newer models wouldn’t know about it, but us old yuks know exactly who that a*****e is and what he has done over the years.”

“Well, f**k.” Jason took a sip of his drink. “This just gets better.”

“Hopefully, Mother can stamp it out before it gets to that point.”

Stacy shrugged. “Be careful. She might end up fanning the flames. If she decides that it’s better to play Jennifer the victim…that he was grooming her…”

I wrinkled my nose in disgust. “Jennifer is a grown a*s woman. I don’t think that will work.”

Stacy shrugged and continued to drink her coffee. “I’m just saying…”

“I don’t…next month’s agenda. Can we please not focus on the work we actually need to do? I want to just relax today.”

The two of them laughed at me as they adjusted the work on their computer and we started to clean up the calendar for the next two months. From there, we started going through the paperwork that needed to be organized, signed, and submitted. My mother called four hours later. She sounded exhausted, but said it was taken care of it. I believed her and didn’t check the news. Honestly, even if it was taken care of in the media, everyone else now was thinking and wondering how I would react. I didn’t know how I was reacting. I was too numb and raw from yesterday that I couldn’t properly comprehend what was happening.

Rubbing my temples, I waved away Jason’s offer of dumplings. “Jason, if you want to take them with you, go ahead and head out now.”

“Thanks. I’ll do that. Night, Zach. Night, Stacy.”

Without even a second thought, Jason headed out. Stacy was still working on a bit of paperwork organization when I looked at my email. There was one in my spam folder that I didn’t recognize and I pulled it up.

.

Your lawyer said you wanted these. I don’t think they will help anything. There were four folders. Two from Vegas. Two from Greece. One folder of ones I took. One folder of the ones you took. I had you send me all the photos you took at the end of the day for copies. Your phone was destroyed that day when we were shot. Hope they help replace whatever you are looking for.

Evie.

.

I sat in my chair staring at the four folders. They were marked as she described. Z – Vegas, E – Vegas, Z – Greece, E – Greece. It was surprising that there were even photos by me. Usually my phone stayed off and never went back on until the plane ride home. Her two folders were much larger than the two I had, but I figured that was normal, since I wasn’t one to ever take photos.

My eyes glazed over as I stared at my screen, but I was not looking at the words anymore. I was worried. Both because of what I would replace and if I would remember anything.

“Zach? You okay?”

I looked up and jumped as Stacy had teleported from her seat to my desk. I took a deep breath.

“Scared the shit out of me.”

“I’ve been calling your name for five minutes, dumbass.”

“Sorry, I…” I looked at the email. “I need your help. I know I said you could go home early, but this isn’t work. I just need…someone….I think.”

Coming around, she leaned over and her brow furrowed as she read, but they shot up by the end.

“She has photos?”

“I haven’t opened them yet.”

Stacy looked at me. “Is this what you have been staring at for the past half hour.”

I nodded.

“Alright. But I need another drink and we are doing this on the floor with our backs to the couch. Like the old days.”

Chuckling, I got up and took my laptop with me. She poured two drink nearly full to the top. Dropping down on the floor, we sat shoulder to shoulder like when we were studying for our classes in college.

“Which one first?”

“Maybe go in order? Vegas then Greece?” Stacy offered.

Smiling, I clicked the folder Z – Vegas. “My file is smaller. Sorry beforehand if you see anything inappropriate.”

Stacy threw her head back and laughed. “Wouldn’t be the first time I caught something inappropriate while looking at your laptop with you.”

“I take no responsibility for having Jason as my roommate in college and he will need to apologize for any scarring he caused you.”

She laughed again. “Come on, you’re stalling. Pull it up.”

Nodding, I double-clicked the first photo and looked at it. Evelyn was standing on her tiptoes against the railing, her arms in the air. The wind was blowing her, eyes closed, her back slightly arched. She was in a beautiful red dress, but it was the evening and the bright lights of Vegas cast a glow around her. I slouched against the couch. Clicking next, she was crawling on all fours towards the camera on the bed. She was wearing a dress shirt that was falling off her shoulder. Lights coming through the blinds set everything aglow around her, but her eyes were the brightest thing in the room. Her smile filled her face as she looked at the camera or what was behind the camera. I clicked next. This time, she was laughing, her hands up again but she was sitting up in a convertible with a tube top and some white jeans, her ponytail whipping in the wind. She was in the passenger seat and her eyes were dancing with happiness.

I continued to click through the photos, my heart dropping with each photo. I was expecting four or five photos. Instead, there were about thirty to forty photos I had apparently taken. The last one in the folder was her in a white lace A-line dress. She was leaning against church doors, a bouquet in her hand, her head tilted down, unlike the previous one when she was looking at the camera, this one was of her just reveling in the moment. You could see the ring on her finger and how the light from the building lit up the night.

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I turned to Stacy, who had tears streaming down her face.

“Stace…what’s wrong?”

She looked at me, a mixture of horror and sadness. “You loved her, Zach. God, no one could take photos of one person like that and not be so f*****g deep in love. Some photographers would kill just for a single moment that you managed to capture over and over again. Her love when she looked at you, your love in how you captured her. F*****g christ, Zach. What the hell happened?”

I shook my head, tears streaming down my face as well, as I looked back at the last photo. “I don’t know, Stace. I don’t remember. Why can’t I remember? I can’t remember any of this, Stace. She f*****g loved me and I loved her and I can’t f*****g remember.”

I covered my mouth but the sobs still broke out and Stacy wrapped her arms around me. The love my grandfather always told me about. The love that he had with grandmother. Their whirlwind romance that was a week. Their lifelong love that they never grew tired of. I had found it and then I somehow lost it. I f*****g lost it. I lost all of it and not only did I lose it but I broke the one who gave me that same love back.