Fake Fiancée - Season 1 - Episode 55

4 years ago

Fake Fiancée - Season 1 - Episode 55

My heart dropped the second Steve uttered those two words. They know? Who knows? Who knows what? I wished I could speak but I found that I was slightly dumfounded.

“Here.” My uncle tossed the paper to us and Henry slowly unfolded it with shaky hands. I leaned in closer to get a better view and was horrified with what I saw.

GINA’S GOSSIP COLUMN: FAKE ENGAGEMENT!
The sudden engagement of handsome Henry Parker and Lainie Watson has baffled me since day one. Of course, I was awfully happy for the Hollywood actor to find ‘the one,’ but there were loopholes. Why hadn’t we seen or heard of Lainie Watson earlier? Surely someone would have met her, but no one has.

The reason for this is because their lovely engagement is in fact, fake ! I know, I was truly shocked when I found out but on the other hand, I wasn’t that surprised. We all know Henry Parker is not capable of settling down with just a girl.

Check out these texts leaked out straight from Lainie Watson’s cell phone to see the proof!
~
Henry: It’s nearly midnight. Come home. – Where was Lainie exactly and what was she doing at MIDNIGHT?!

Lainie: I think I stay here however long I want. – Ooh, there’s a bit of tension there, don’t you think?

Henry: COME HOME. I don’t trust Hudson. – Who is Hudson? Could he possibly be THE Hudson Miller, who is Henry’s crime partner in his new movie which is still filming?

Lainie: This whole thing is fake anyway. Why are you so worried? – See that? Their engagement is a LIE.

Henry: I don’t care. I don’t want you near Hudson cos it’s bad publicity, so COME HOME.

There you go! In my opinion, Henry had hired Lainie Watson to be his fiancée so he could get his reputation back. It’s quite obvious, since he was always Hollywood’s ‘party boy’ before. I remember those days when the headlines were about Henry getting so drunk he couldn’t see at the biggest parties and hanging around a billion girls! I’ve also talked a bit with my good friend, the lovely Veronica Pierce (Henry’s co-star in his new movie) and she’s said, “I’m not surprised. I’ve seen Hudson and Lainie together all the time. They’ve gone out and had fun and it’s so obvious they have feelings for each other .” When asked about if Henry had any interests in other girls, she confessed bashfully, “Well actually, Henry and I have been getting along so well! We’re quite intimate with each other .”

That was when I stopped myself from reading more. This was obviously the work of Veronica. She had said her opinion of my relationship with Henry in the gossip column herself! That snitch!
“They know it’s fake,” Henry stated slowly.
Steve nodded grimly and turned to me. I was suddenly starting to sweat bullets. “Lainie, where is your cell phone?”

I bit my lip as I tried to remember desperately where I had placed my phone, but I couldn’t remember. I hadn’t used the thing in days! “I … I don’t know,” I stuttered.

I gripped Henry’s free hand in panic and questions swirled in my head. How had my cell been stolen? Or had I just simply misplaced it? My head hurt just from thinking about it.
“Look on the next page,” Steve added suddenly.

Henry flipped over to the next page and a large photograph of Keith and I hugging with smiles on our faces appeared along with a caption – Lainie Watson’s REAL fiancé?

I groaned and so badly wanted to slap Veronica. That picture had been from the day after Henry and I had confessed our feelings. Keith had told me he was ‘happy for me.’ See how an innocent, friendly hug could be manipulated into something more?

As I stared blankly at the photograph, it suddenly dawned on me.

I had ruined Henry’s reputation.

Everyone thought badly of him and it was my entire fault. If only I had been more careful! I felt like sinking into the ground.

“We’re going to have to come up with an excuse and fast,” Steve told us. “The texts don’t exactly say the engagement is fake. Lainie only wrote ‘the whole thing ’ is fake, so maybe we could use something else for ‘the whole thing.’ Maybe we could say you two had a bet going on …”

“No, we’re telling everyone the truth,” Henry cut in determinedly. “We’ll tell the public the engagement was a sham, but now we’re together and apologise. I’m sure the public will forgive me sometime.”
Steve shook his head. “The public don’t hate you Henry …”

My stomach twisted in knots and I had the feeling that I wouldn’t like what my uncle would say next. “What do you mean?” I asked.
“I’ve read other articles and watched some TV gossip shows and they think … they think that it’s your fault, Lainie.”

Confusion filled me and I uttered the only word I could think of. “Huh?”
“I don’t think this is good,” I heard Henry mutter.

Steve ignored Henry’s comment and started to explain slowly, “Fan websites of Henry’s think that you … played w---e so Henry could propose to you.”

What the hell? Seriously? “But that’s so stupid!”

“And what Rafferty said about you before doesn’t help,” Steve added.
Ah man, I had forgotten about that poor excuse of a father and his insult about me being a gold digger.

“I’m telling the press the truth,” Henry calmly stated to Steve, whose eyes bugged out of his head. “Whether you like it or not.”

* * *

Steve hadn’t been happy with Henry’s decision to tell the truth but he couldn’t stop the guy could he now? All he could do was stand next to him at the press conference and pretend to be supporting him. I wasn’t going because I didn’t feel like it and Steve had suggested I should stay at home if I didn’t want to get attacked by any girl fans of Henry Parker. Although we were in Curacao, they could have travelled here just for their celebrity crush.
“You’ll be ok?” I rolled my eyes as Henry asked me the same question for the hundredth time.

“I’ll be fine.” I stressed the ‘fine ’. “Now go, you’re going to be late!”

Henry nodded and ran a hair through his gelled hair. “Do I look good?” I raised my eyebrow at him as if to say ‘you really have to ask?’ Even though it boosted his ego heaps, I’d rather him be confident than insecure. It was heartbreaking to watch Henry in a vulnerable state. He kissed my cheek and gave me wink before leaving.
Once he left, I took a quick shower; blow dried my messy hair and changed out of my pyjamas, because I was meeting up with Natasha and Clara so we could have some needed girl talk.
Once I slipped on my sandals, I walked out the door and made my way down the hotel. It was three in the afternoon, so they should be waiting for me in the lobby. And they were. They both rushed up to me the instant they saw me and gave me a hug.

“So it’s true? The whole thing is fake?!” Natasha asked, looking disappointed in that Henry and I weren’t really a couple.
Clara’s eyes widened. “Natasha! Stop being so nosy,” she hissed, and then turning to me, she gave me a sympathetic look. “Lainie, are you ok? How are you holding up?”

I shrugged. “I’m actually fine to be honest, but I don’t like how everyone’s viewing me as some sort of desperate woman.”

“That does sU-Ck,” Natasha agreed while nodding her head. “So … your engagement to him wasn’t real?!”

I decided to just tell the truth, since Henry was announcing it at the press conference anyway. “It was … but we’ve fallen for each other.”

Clara’s dewy eyes sparkled. “Wow … that sounds like a fairytale romance story, don’t you think?”

I laughed. She was right. After that, we got into Natasha’s rented car and she drove us to the beach.