Page 81 of The Pursuit of Happiness
My tongue feels thick and laden with weight all of a sudden and my mouth feels dry. “Tell me about you,” I say.
He laughs, “I just did, remember?”
Remember? I don’t remember him telling me anything about himself. “What? When?” My words are slurring so heavily.
He chuckles, “Like two minutes ago.”
My lip curls in confusion and my brows feel heavy on my forehead. “I- I don- I don’t- Uh remember.” I finally stammer. The room is fully spinning now. Maybe I shouldn’t have had that second drink.
I’ve had alcohol of higher proof than this and I’ve never had this reaction. I’ve never lost my memory in just two minutes before. I’ve never had blurred vision and balance problemsoff two drinks. Realization crashes over me as I realize what’s happening. The last time I lost my memory like this was when I was drugged.
As the realization sinks in, I turn to face Rogan, a betrayed look on my face. “You,” I whisper, but my mouth feels weighed down as if sludge is inside of it. My body feels as if it weighs a thousand pounds on this floor and I can’t move. I lean all of my weight on the bar and Rogan reaches out, stabilizing me with a hand on my arm. “You- You did th- thi this.” The words struggle to escape my lips.
I know the bartender didn’t drug me. It was Rogan. He’s the one that got me the drink. I gasp as I realize something even more disturbing. Rogan was there the night that Sly and I were both drugged. He was there and he drugged us. But why?
He grins, “I see you’ve finally put the pieces together.” Gone is any trace of the friendliness he displayed earlier. In its place is a sick and maniacal human being with no remorse for his actions. He looks pleased with himself, victorious even as if he’s won something, but I’m not sure what.
I shake my head but the movement is slowed. I try to pull out of his grip, but my body feels too weighted down and he holds me so tightly. I look around to see if any of the blurry faces around us have noticed what’s going on, but nobody so much as glances at us. Besides, everyone here is wasted and partying. They aren’t paying attention to me. I’m on my own. Fear forms in my stomach and spreads through my body. I know I have to move, to run, but I can’t. “Why?” I whisper.
“Why?” He asks as if I asked the dumbest question on the planet. He snaps, “Because Slater has always gotten every single thing that I’ve wanted. And taking you was the last straw for me.”
I shake my head, “What- wha- do you- me- mean?”
He leans in closer to my face and glances at my lips beforebringing his eyes back to mine, “Slater has always gotten things handed to him so easily. I thought you would be the one thing that he wouldn’t have handed to him. I had hoped so since you rejected him that night at the club and years ago at that gala. I thought you would choosemethat night, not him. But then you fell for it and you fucking chose him, Aria.”
I try to pull away but he only squeezes my arm tighter, the grip surely leaving bruises on my skin.
“I knew that night that he had gotten you too. That was my breaking point. I’ll admit, I acted quickly and irrationally, but it worked.” He laughs as he continues, a note of pride in his voice, “You see, I didn’t want to have to drug you and set you up like that. I wanted to hurthimand ruinhiscareer. You were just collateral.
“After the tape, I was supposed to come to your rescue and you were supposed to think he set you up. You were supposed to hate him and I was supposed to have you and we were supposed to be together. But you fucked that up too.” His voice is sharp, angry. I see now what I didn’t see before. Rogan is a psychopath. He manipulated this entire situation and he planned it from the moment Sly and I met.
Oh my God. He framed Sly. Sly was telling the truth. That phone was never his. It was Rogan’s. “You’re probably wondering how I orchestrated the two of you having sex and recording the tape,” his laugh is malevolent. He shakes his head, and anger stifles his laughter, “I set you two up in that hotel room and the drugs did all the magic. I’ll admit,” his lips hover inches from mine, his hot breath against my lips as I cringe, “you look absolutely amazing getting fucked. Even if it isn’t me fucking you.”
I try again to tug out of his grip but it’s a useless effort. My weight is sinking and he uses his other hand to hold me upright. “Yo- you- you put- the- you put the ph- phone in hi- his room,”I slur, my eyes moving all around the room of their own accord. I’m panicking, reeling. How the fuck am I gonna get out of this? My eyelids feel heavy and I feel like I’m gonna fall asleep and what then? What does he have planned for me then?
He smirks, “You played into it so well, beautiful. I’m very pleased.” He caresses the side of my face and I try to turn away from his touch which only angers him. “I set that phone up earlier today when I was at his house pretending to be his fucking friend. I may have fucked up the first time around and handed you to him on a silver platter, but not this time. No. Now, I’m going to fucking ruin what he loves most.You.”
“Why?” I whisper again, tears rising to my eyes.
He frowns, “I’m truly sorry you have to suffer because of this. My goal was only ever to destroy him.” He brings my face closer to his, “But it’s okay. You won’t remember any of this tomorrow and then we can start over, together. Your career may take a hit for your cheating scandal, but we can fix it together. Sly will be so broken-hearted that he won’t be able to even look at you. And when that happens, I’ll be right there to offer you a shoulder to cry on. I just have to take the pictures first.”
I gasp, “Cheating sc- scandal?”
He chuckles darkly, “Yes. I’m gonna take you back to my hotel room and I’m going to take photos of our torrid affair. The media will think you cheated of course, but we’ll turn the narrative that Slater set you up for the sex tape and that he lied to you. I was the only one there to comfort you and pick up the pieces.”
I shake my head and try my hardest to struggle out of his hold but it’s absolutely no use. He’s going to get away with this and there’s nothing I can do. I won’t even remember it tomorrow. Tears stream down my cheeks and I choke out a sob.
I should’ve listened to Sly when he told me he didn’t know anything about the phone. I should’ve listened to him, trustedhim. I’m such a fool.
Rogan tugs my arm towards the entrance and I stumble. He uses both arms to lift me up and carry me from the event. The entire time, I try to open my mouth to scream, to protest, anything, but the words just won’t come out of me. My eyelids are so heavy and I can’t remember anything. The last thing I see before my eyes completely shut is the gargantuan glass chandelier hanging from the ceiling, the light reflecting from each crystal and shining prisms of light on the walls.
Chapter 18
Slater
I panic as Ipace the long expanse of my room, my hands clutching my head as I try to regulate my breathing and justfocus. I should never have let her leave. I should’ve found a way to make her stay, but I was too afraid I would lose her forever if I argued. Losing her forever would be nothing in comparison to losing her life. I don’t have any clue where she is. She left her phone and her purse here and ran away on foot. She has no money to pay for a cab if she were even able to find one and the streets of Los Angeles are dangerous at this time of night.
Fuck. If anything happens to her it’ll bemyfault. I should’ve made her stay even if I risked losing her forever. I was too selfish and worried about the state of our dwindling relationship to make her stay.
