Chapter 2

“I will take a shot of tequila please.”

Dana eyed Rachel in wonder but Rachel was beyond all sensible sensibilities to care. The bar was crowded and filled with drunken day laborers and street workers in heavy makeup and a fake smile hanging around the tables, no doubt hoping they would make enough cash for their next rent. Rachel scrunched her nose in disdain, no wonder Dana’s date hadn’t shown up but she kept her mouth shut on that matter. It was nothing like the exclusive bar with the exclusive booth she and Jacob frequented. But where was Jacob now? He was probably bending Gabby backward like a pretzel and eating her ass out. SHE could bend like a pretzel. Jacob had just never asked. What was wrong with a good missionary sex where she could rest her back on the bed and let Jacob do the work of thrusting in and out of her?

She said as much to Dana who guffawed and ordered another bottle of beer.

“Bring the whole tequila bottle please.” when the bartender raised a concerned brow looking toward Dana for affirmation, Rachel raised her voice. “Hey, don’t you know me? Rachel Rivers from the bloody celebrity tv show on ABN! I could buy the whole damn bar if I wanted to.”

Beside her, Dana giggled. For a brief moment, she thought she caught the glimpse of a flash from Dana but she couldn’t tell when her gaze was blurring and her head was beginning to hurt. Maybe she should cry, she thought to herself, maybe crying would ease the pain in her head. So she tried. Rachel tried to squeeze tears out of her eyes as the bartender dropped the transparent bottle of tequila in front of her. Nothing. Dry eyes like the desert ground of Death Island.

“How do you feel?” Dana inquired.

Sucking down almost half of the bottle without coming up for air, Rachel shrugged. “Like a woman who just caught her husband fucking a 17-year-old even though they have had 4 years of blissful marriage?” Dana laughed. “But you know what? Even I can fuck an under-aged child! Get me a teenager who hasn’t even been weaned and watch me fuck the man out of him!”

Half the bar paid her no attention. She was drunk and so were the other patrons.

“Shh,” said Dana, “You have a public image remember? Allen Brothers would not be pleased to hear their star reporter spewing bullshit in a bar.”

“Well then fuck them!” Rachel leaned closer to Dana, her vision now very much distorted. She was swaying on the unsteady bar stool. “And fuck my public image, to hell with family values. Someone should choke morals and values morals right in the balls and give them a good tug because, morals? Values? Bullshit! Besides at this point in my life, what’s the worst thing that could happen?”

But the worse thing did happen the morning after the drinking charade. Somehow Rachel had been able to drive to the little remodeled cottage getaway she and Jacob used for vacations when she couldn’t be away from work without mishaps even though she did manage to take 2 wrong exits on the drive.

She was just waking up with the biggest hangover she had ever experienced in her life with her head heavy and begging for some painkillers. After downing a bottle of water and some orange juice she had sat down to respond to calls when her agent began to blow up her phone with numerous calls and messages. Finally, she picked.

“Where the hell have you been? Everyone has been trying to reach you!”

“Long story. I’m in the cottage.”

“Have you seen today’s episode of your show?”

“Celebrities, Lifestyle and Everything In-between? Larry, I’m at home, the show can’t go on without me.”

“Oh honey," his voice sounded pitiful. "Please stay away from your TV until I get there. I’ll be there in 10.”

Rachel stared at the phone while waiting tempted beyond anything to reach for the remote on the coffee table and turn the TV on. But somehow she resisted that temptation, falling only for the temptation of more wine.

Larry arrived in 9 minutes – Rachel counted – and after giving her a once over with a critical eye that told her exactly what he thought of her disheveled appearance, he went into the cottage living room and turned the TV on.

The first thing on the screen on the ABN channel was Dana’s million-watt smile as she spoke to two guests seated on the sofa opposite her while they discussed the hottest news of the day: The Fall Of Rachel Rivers.

Dana was saying, “Let’s roll that clip one more time.”

The scene on the screen was a murky memory in her head. The bar, the bottle of tequila in her hand, and some tequila dribbling from her lips to the loose white blouse.

“Even I can fuck an under-aged child! Get me a teenager who hasn’t even been weaned and watch me fuck the man out of him!”

Rachel’s eyes widened suddenly as understanding dawned. The flash she had seen from Dana the night before was a camera flash as the backstabbing bitch recorded her drunken outburst. Dana who had laughed with her at the bar was secretly plotting her downfall.

“Jesus, Vivian,” Dana was saying as soon as the clip ended. “Words from the mouth of Gem Hills' most successful TV personality. And that’s not even the worst.”

Vivian, an old has-been TV presenter now known for frequent engagement in every scandalous news ever was giggling behind her ugly old clawed hands. “It seems Miss Prim-Stockings is just as bad if not worse than the rest of us.”

“Roll the next to clip, Gary.”

“And fuck my public image, to hell with family values. Someone needs to choke morals and values morals right in the balls and give them a good tug because, morals? Values? Bullshit! Besides at this point in my life, what’s the worst thing that could happen?”

Rachel gasped. It was getting worse. Even worse than the banging headache behind her eyes. She reached for the remote to mute the TV.

“Well?” Larry queried.

“Well what? Do you think I meant all that?! How was I supposed to know that slimy snake was recording me when I was wailing because my husband was fucking my fucking babysitter?!”

“Jacob?”

“Yes, Jacob! He was drilling Gabby’s hole when I walked in on them yesterday! And you know what? He didn’t even regret it. I was heartbroken okay? I just wanted to forget it happened and I went to drink with someone I thought was a friend who ended up backstabbing me. When did this happen anyway? Why didn’t no one tell me before they put it on air?”

“According to Jim, Dana crashed the midnight news rerun to give them this juicy piece of gossip.”

“And he let it go on air?”

“He wouldn’t until he found out Dana had been given powers by the Allens to let it go on air, so here we are. Rachel,” Larry spoke as if he was reprimanding a 2-year-old, “Why would you lose control of yourself this way.”

“Because I was mad okay? I was in denial about what I just witnessed in the room I shared with my husband for 4 years. I didn’t think Dana was going to leave me out to dry like this.”

Still, her eyes were dry. Her head hurt and she was thirsty for more alcohol.

“I didn’t know about the whole Jacob thing but from the looks of it, Dana must have had a clue and was plotting, waiting for this moment."

Of course, how else does one explain how she was replaced in her own show so soon? She should have seen through the bitch’s happy-go-lucky charade that she was a rotten chameleon. Now that she thought about it Dana always made comments about how lucky she was to have her show and how she loved the way the audience adored her. She was smiling her million watts smile in her face while plotting behind her back. But this was Rachel Rivers, she had built her way from the ground up. She was dauntless. And she was going to get her job back. And some more wine.

As he was reading her mind, Larry said, “If you are thinking about what I think you are thinking, stop it. There are rumors in the office that Jacob is going to appear on today’s segment in about 20 minutes to discuss this new side of Rachel Rivers that is sending shock waves through all of Gem Hills.”

Rachel ignored the warning in his eyes. “ 20 minutes yeah? That’s enough for me.”