by Brenna Ash
Sunny couldn't believe this was happening and didn't know how to fix it. She wished Marlene would agree to come over. She hated having this conversation over the phone.
“Fine. I'll be there in a bit. Don't be surprised if Drake shows up with me.”
“However you can get here is fine. But I really wish you guys would believe me.”
“Kinda hard when you never told me you were suddenly getting fake stories that you didn't want to publish. I never read your blog, not because I don't like it, but because I'm not obsessed with Hayden like you are. I had no idea you'd taken such a dark turn with it. You knew it was causing him problems and that was the reason why he came home. You were the reason.”
Linc arrived before Marlene. He wrapped Sunny in his arms and she sobbed into his chest. “I don't know how this happened,” she said between breaths, her chest heaving. “Nobody believes that it wasn't me.”
He rubbed his hand down the length of her hair. “I believe you, doll. We'll fix it. Everything's traceable. She'll get hers.”
Sunny sniffed uncontrollably. “Nobody believes me.”
“Shhh…they will once we expose her tracks and can show them that it was her and not you.”
She dipped her head and pulled away from him. She couldn't help but let out a laugh. “Look at me, I'm a mess. And I got your shirt all wet with my tears.”
He looked down as if just noticing it now. He shrugged. “It's an old shirt. No worries.”
Marlene entered the kitchen, Drake right behind, shooting daggers from his eyes straight into Sunny. Damn.
Marlene left his side and gave her a hug. It was a bit stiff, but she'd take it. Maybe her friend was believing her a little bit.
Linc went about setting up his laptops at the kitchen table while Sunny fetched the beer, wine and glasses.
“You got anything harder?” It was the first thing Drake had said to her since he'd arrived. She nodded, went into the pantry and found the whiskey she'd kept in there for when people didn't want beer or wine.
“I've got whiskey?”
“That'll do.”
She gave a curt nod and reached into the cupboard for a proper whiskey glass and handed it to him along with the bottle. He took them and went into the living room to sit on the sofa.
Linc clapped his hands. “All right. Everything's set up. Whatcha got for me to imbibe myself on while I work?” She handed him his favorite local microbrew and he accepted it with a smile. “Relax, hon, we've got this.” Popping the top, he took a long swig, then cracked his knuckles. “We're in for the long haul. First things, first. We need to reset the admin password on your blog and it's got to be something really secure and way the hell out there so there's no easy way of hacking it.”
He looked at her expectantly. “I don't know. What do you want me to do?”
“What password have you been using?”
She blushed. “Hayden101586.”
He looked at her blinking. “Seriously? That lame-ass password and this is the first time you've been hacked? You are so freaking lucky you don't even know it.” He typed something on his keyboard. She assumed the password because her dashboard popped up on the screen. “You better have a pen and pepper 'cause you're going to need to write this down. This password isn't going to mean anything to you and that's the point. You don't want it to be anything recognizable and something that doesn't make any sense. It should just be numbers and letters, in no order so no words and you need to have some caps and special characters in there.”
Her eyes glazed over. That would be a pain in the ass, but if it would keep that bitch out of her blog, she was good with that. “Okay, you pick it and I'll write it down.”
He recited the characters as she wrote and then retyped them to save the password.
“Okay, that'll keep her out. I still can't believe that's what you used for your password. Especially when someone was threatening you. You should've switched it then.”
“Yeah, well hindsight's twenty-twenty and I didn't think that she'd do what she did.”
“The post is down so no one can link it back to you anymore.”
Sunny snorted. That was little comfort since the post had been picked up and shared and tweeted hundreds of times since going live. “So what about the people that shared it already?”
“The shares will still be there, but when they click on the link they'll get an error message since the post isn't available anymore. However, if they copied the article or any part of it and posted it to their website or whatever, then that information will still be accessible.”
“So a bit of solace, but not much.”
He shrugged and drank from his beer. “That's the best we can do to contain that piece of it. Now, let me work my magic and see what I can find out in your history and when and where the post originated from.”
“You can tell that?” She was so not a computer junkie.
He nodded, not really paying any attention to her as his fingers flew over his keyboard, the keys clicking away. She thought she typed fast, but he had her beat by a long shot. She checked her phone, hoping there'd be a message from Hayden, but knowing there wouldn't be. She'd sent him several texts and left a few voicemails. He wasn't answering any of them. She couldn't really blame him. She knew what loyalty meant to him. This happening and him thinking it came from her went against everything he believed in and what he believed about her.
Once Linc got the information he needed from her blog, she was going to write an apology post directed at Hayden and shut down the site. She'd leave that post up and available and that would be the only one. She assumed he got alerts from the blog whenever a new post was put up, so unless he'd unsubscribed from being so pissed at her, then he should get this one.
“Okay, the post generated from IP address...” Linc lost her as he rattled off a sequence of numbers that meant nothing to her. “The address is located in West Hollywood.”
“Can you get an address?”
Drake entered the kitchen and stood behind Linc, watching him as he worked. “If the post originated out of West Hollywood, then there's no way that Sunny could have posted that.”
Sunny threw her hands up in the air. “Thank you! That's what I've been trying to say! There's no way I would've done that to Hayden.” She turned to Marlene, hurt showing clear on her face. “You of all people should have known that.”
Marlene came over and hugged her. “I'm sorry. I guess I let Drake into my head too much.” She shot him a guilty look. “You're never allowed to influence my thoughts about my friends again.”
Drake put his hands up, palms out in surrender. “I won't, but you had your own doubts to be so easily swayed.”
The three of them retreated into the living room with their drinks and settled onto the couches to leave Linc alone to work.
Sunny was relieved that he proved she didn't make the post. She had no idea how she would convince Hayden of that, especially when he refused to answer her calls or texts. The irony of the situation wasn't lost on Sunny. Things had come full circle.
Drake stood up. “I'm going to call Hayden and let him know what we've found out so far.” Sunny just nodded. What could she say? Hey, tell him to call me, will you? Yeah, that'd go over really well. She watched him stride out of the room and out the back door onto the deck. He shut the door behind him so she couldn't hear the conversation.
She sighed, continuing to watch him.
“I'm sorry,” Marlene said quietly, getting up and coming to sit beside Sunny. “I should've believed you. But it was incomprehensible, I didn't know that's what your blog had turned into. Why'd you change its format after all these years?”
Sunny shrugged, eyes still on Drake. He was talking to somebody so she assumed he'd gotten Hayden to answer his call. “It was difficult. When I started it, it was because I wanted to see him grow and flourish and then it became really popular. I didn't expect that. And then soon, I was making a bit o
ff it, not a lot, but some. And then people were sending in information, and I got more followers.
“The more popular the blog became, the saucier the articles got. And maybe I was still a little bitter about the way things went down all those years ago and I was thinking that maybe there was some truth behind the stories, so I posted them. And they got a lot of clicks and shares and retweets.” She took a sip of wine, emptied her glass and refilled it. Marlene shook away more and she put the bottle back on the coffee table. Drake was still talking. Every once in a while, he'd glance at Sunny, his brows furrowed together. It didn't look good for her.
“You knew those blog posts were responsible for Hayden losing his latest movie part. That that was the reason why he came home. So he could get out of the spotlight and let things cool off in L.A.”
She shook her head. “I didn't know that was the reason behind it until he'd been here for a bit. But that was never my intent. I didn't want him to be hurt by it. Not really. Maybe subconsciously.” She blew out an exasperated breath.
“Honestly, Sun, what'd you think would happen if you're posting negative story after negative story about him? That everyone would flock to him?”
She stood up, glass in hand, and paced the length of the living room. “I don't know. I wasn't thinking, and obviously that was half my problem. But once he was here and we'd been together a few times, it was like all the years we were apart melted away as if they never existed. We blended and everything just felt right. I knew I had to tell him. That he'd be pissed but if I could explain my reasoning behind it that I could get him to understand. And then she started threatening me to post these bullshit stories and I refused.” She sat down in the chair, cradling her head in her hands. “I'll admit, it wasn't until we started spending time together that I realized my assumptions were wrong. But once I noticed, I stopped. I only posted the good stuff. And this person got pissed. And here we are.”
“Well, here you are. This is all you. Your mess, your cleanup.”
Sunny finished her glass of wine and refilled it from the bottle on the coffee table. She was starting to feel a warm buzz, but not enough. She wanted the escape it could offer. She sat down. Drake was still on the phone. She didn't know if he was talking to Hayden or if he'd even got a hold of him.
Marlene joined him on the deck, shutting her out. Sunny watched them from her chair in the living room. Feeling alone even though she was surrounded by three other people.
***
Hayden's phone was blowing up. He'd turned off the ringer when it constantly chimed. Now it kept vibrating from the table on his balcony. He'd come out here to clear his head. He didn't want to talk to Anna. Just wanted the beer to do its thing and take him out of this current situation. He could see why people became alcoholics when things went wrong.
If drinking could make him forget the pain and problems, he was all for it. He'd pickle his liver to get that feeling.
He picked up his phone and scrolled through the list of names and numbers on his screen. Sunny was there quite a few times. He swilled his beer and scrolled on. Drake's number popped up. He played with the idea of whether he wanted to talk to his friend before sighing and returning the call. His words were slurring and he was okay with that.
“Hey, man, how are things going over there? You okay?”
“Getting better with every sip. So, you've seen it?”
“Yeah. That's some rough shit.”
“All lies.” He swigged his beer. There was just a bit left in the bottle and he tilted it up, emptying the rest down his throat.
“I know they are.”
“It was Sunny.” He'd told Drake that earlier, but not all the details. Pushing himself up from the lounger, he went inside for more beer. Opening the fridge, Hayden pulled out a bottle, then reached back in and snatched another one. He didn't want to have to walk back inside right away when he emptied the next one.
“You drinking?”
“Maybe.”
“Somebody else there with you? Anna?”
“She's here somewhere. Last I checked unless she left.”
“I'm at Sunny's house.” There was a pause.
“What the hell are you doing there? You're taking her side? What the hell, man?”
“No,” Drake drawled. “Sunny called Marlene and asked her to come over.”
“And you let her.”
“Okay, one, I didn't let her do anything. I'm not her father. And two, Marlene's been giving Sunny a helluva time as well.”
“As she should. Can you believe the shit she pulled?” Another drink. Then another, draining half the bottle in one swallow.
“She's got Linc here too.”
“Who is that? The guy she really wants? The one she doesn't have to get back at? Were they in on it together?”
“Not in the slightest. Linc has no interest in Sunny, believe me. Interest in you, yes. Sunny? Definitely not. That's not the point. He's good with computers and shit. He's helping Sunny with her hacked blog.”
“Good. I'm glad somebody hacked the piece of shit. Maybe it'll take it down permanently.”
“You're not understanding.”
“No?” He finished the bottle and twisted the cap off the other one, throwing the metal in the general direction of the trash can in the far corner. “I understand that she tried to ruin my career, after getting me to fall in love with her again.”
“You need to lay off the drinking. It's making your mind muddled and your speech sucks.”
“Yeah? You need to stop consorting with the enemy.” Hayden clicked end to the call and threw his phone on the table. Before he knew it he was holding an empty bottle. He stood, wavering a little on his feet. Once he was sure he wouldn't faceplant it into a wall, he made his way back to the kitchen. He had no idea where Anna was, but he needed her. He wanted something stronger than beer and he sure as hell couldn't jump in the car and drive himself to the liquor store. He didn't feel like trudging through the house to find her.
“Anna!” he yelled at the top of his lungs, her name sounding funny to his own ears.
She appeared in the doorway, her brow lifted in question. “What?”
“I need you to go out and get something stronger than beer.”
She approached him then waved her hand in front of her face. “I think that's the last thing you need. I can smell you from here.”
He smirked, stepped closer. “You like?” He tilted his head to the side, darted his tongue out to lick his lips.
She pushed him out of her way. “Not on your life.”
“Come on.” He spread his arms out. “I saw the way you were looking at me earlier.”
“You're drunk and acting like an asshole. You should go to bed.”
“I will. Wanna join me?”
She shook her head. “Get the hell out of here, Hayden.”
“I need more to drink. The beer's almost gone and I want something stiffer.” He laughed at that.
“You've had enough.”
“I think you're forgetting who you work for.” He jabbed a finger into his chest. “That would be me. And if you still want to have said job in the morning, then you better go and get me something hard to drink.”
She huffed, but didn't say a word, just spun on her heel, and left the room, phone to her ear.
Hayden twisted open the last beer out of the fridge to drink while he waited for the next beer delivery. Getting drunk was doing a pretty good job of blocking Sunny out of his mind, but not totally. He could still remember her. Feel her touch on his skin.
“Christ!” He hollered to no one in particular. He wanted to vent his frustrations, but didn't know how. He'd love to get in a fight right now. Maybe one of the paparazzi hanging around outside his gate would want to get physical. He could pound the shit out of them so easy right now. It'd be such a release. It wouldn't help his legal troubles in any way. That shit would be all over the news.
He blew out a br
eath. That was out of the question.
***
Sunny rose from her spot in the chair when Marlene and Drake came in from the deck. “Did you get a hold of Hayden?”
Drake nodded but didn't add anything further. He kissed Marlene and left the room. A moment later, she heard the door off the kitchen open and close and the distinct rumble of a motorcycle.
“He had to go,” explained Marlene. “He did talk to Hayden. Just briefly though. He wasn't really in the mood to talk. Drake said he sounded drunk.”
Sunny grasped the wine and drank straight from the bottle. “Right now, I can relate.”
“You're just going to make yourself sick.” She walked over and removed the bottle from Sunny's hands. “You don't need any more.”
She stuck her tongue out at her friend. “Says you.”
“That's right, and since I'm the only one thinking out of the two of us, I'm making the decisions.”
“Oh, I'm thinking. Thinking about how I messed things up with Hayden. How I can fix things. If I can even fix them. Do you think I can?”
Marlene shrugged. “I don't know. Hayden's really hurt right now. I'm not sure how you guys are going to recover from this one.”
“If I can get over his abandoning me when I thought I was pregnant without a look back, then he sure as hell should be able to get over this. Jesus, what is he? A damn teenager?”
“And this is why I cut you off.”
Linc appeared in the doorway. “I've got her.”
Sunny lolled her head over in his direction to squint at him, but she saw two of him. She didn't know which one to focus on. She picked one and hoped it was the right one.
“Tell me.” He gave her a weird look for some unknown reason and widened his eyes in question at Marlene.
“I don't know. She's drunk. What'd you find out?”
“It's that Charyn chick we looked up before. She used a computer at her house to hack into and post the blog. It's also the same computer her emails originated from. Everything's right there. I can see it all. I've captured everything and saved it to my drive. We just need to get it out to whoever needs it to clear Hayden's name and all should be good.”
