I still can't believe that it happened. I felt as if I was in a daze. The lawyer that Dad sent over to us, Joel Sullivan, arrived at the same time as the police and the paramedics. The paramedics were mostly for Gia because she was the one who had passed out, but that didn't mean I came out of the fight unscathed. Most of my face was bruised, and my head still hurt a little from when I hit it against the bathtub at the start of the fight. After establishing that I didn't have a concussion, the paramedics cleared me to be questioned by the police.
Only for Joel to step in between.
"Don't talk to them at all," Joel instructed me brazenly before turning to the officer on the scene. "I'll be answering all the questions for my client."
The police officer, Sam Mallard just nodded, apparently aware of high-profile cases, and focused on inspecting the scene—the bathroom, the window where Gia broke in, and my bedroom. Then he turned to me, "You have nothing to worry about, Troy. This woman is going away for a long time. You can answer my questions without worry. We'll need this information to build a solid case against her."
"Come on, Sam," Joel said in a patronizing tone. "This is not my first time doing this. Redirect all your questions through me and I'll answer everything, even when Troy is back in London."
Sam frowned, "But he can't go right now. Our case will fall apart without his testimony."
Joel was adamant, "Roger will stay behind to give you testimony. You can have Troy's testimony either right now after I approve all his answers, or later over the phone. Unless you're charging Troy with something, he won't be staying here when his parents are in London."
Sam seemed as if he had lost a battle, but he could only nod in resignation.
What followed was a gruesome questioning round lasting a few hours, where each of my answers was carefully examined by Joel before I was allowed to speak. At the end of the day, the police were charging Gia with twelve counts: Breaking and Entering, Assault and Battery, Attempted Sexual Assualt, Lewd Acts with a Minor, Child Endangerment, Attempted Kidnapping, False Imprisonment, Assault with a Deadly Weapon, Attempted Murder, Trespassing, Possession of a Firearm During a Crime, and Criminal Threat.
Given the severity of the charges, it was unlikely for her to see the light of the day anytime soon.
My parents weren't sitting idle in London either. As soon as they learned about the incident, they made some calls and got my private jet ready for takeoff. So as soon as my questioning ended, a new driver and a whole team of security arrived to accompany me, Tobias, and Loki back to the airport. Just a day ago, I would have scoffed at the excessive arrangements, but the last day had opened my eyes to the dark side of fame all over again. The last few years of routine media activity have made me a little complacent. And given how intensely the reporters accosted our car both outside our home and near the airport, the security was pretty necessary. But I ignored it all in favor of just thinking about my day.
I almost fucking died.
That bitch brought a gun to my home, my safe space, and wasn't shy about using it. If anything had gone even a little awry, I could be six feet under right now. Not only that… she was willing to do the unspeakable to have my baby. If you think about it, it's disgusting because my last film was released nearly two years ago. I've grown a lot since then, but everyone who sees me does a double take because they're still expecting a small kid, not a tall teenager. Usually, viewers don't realize the passage of time, which is why it's difficult for them to accept child actors in adult roles. So it means that she was ready to do it with me thinking I was the same 12-year-old kid as I was during [The Chamber of Secrets]. If a girl says that they want to do it with, say, Brad Pitt, it makes sense because he's a grown man physically. I'm not.
A small part of me still wishes I had shot her before Roger stopped me. The only problem I have is the blowback it may have had on my life and career.
"Are you okay?" Tobias asked for perhaps the hundredth time from across my seat on the plane.
"Yes, Tobias," I intoned blandly. I was in no mood to talk to anyone and just wanted to brood in peace.
"I'm so sorry you had to go through that while I was out there at that party." His guilt was evident in his voice.
"Will you stop that already," I said irritably. "It happened. Shit happens. Let's just move on. We just have to make sure something like this doesn't happen again."
"Oh yeah," he nodded emphatically. "I'll make sure to tell your father to add at least two more permanent guards to your protection."
I scoffed at that thought. "I'd be lucky if I had just two more guards. Knowing my parents, they'll probably get me five guards at the minimum when I'm not at our London home."
Tobias was about to say something, but I raised my hand, halting him. "I don't want to talk about this incident. If you have anything else to say, then go ahead."
He hesitated before asking about something that had totally slipped my mind. "What about our contract with Universal? And our deal with Rian Johnson? We didn't sign either of those contracts."
I rubbed my forehead in deep thought. This was a little messy. Had Gia attacked me a day later, both those contracts would have been finalized, but because they weren't…
"Call Rian Johnson as soon as we land," I instructed Tobias, who took out a notepad and scribbled it down quickly. "If he agrees to the contract that we offered him, tell him that you will personally fly back to L.A. later to work with him on the production plan. Meanwhile, transfer him $50K advance for his script as a show of good faith."
"You think he can be trusted?" Tobias asked. "What if he sells the script to someone else in the meantime?"
"Then it's your job to make sure he doesn't," I pointed out, to which he appeared clueless about. Taking pity on him, I added, "My lawyer, Joel, has power of attorney. Tell him to sign a temporary contract on my behalf until you can get there."
"Glad to know that," Tobias muttered under his breath before speaking up. "Okay, what about Universal, then?"
And that was the big problem I didn't have any solution to. As far as I knew, they had planned to begin shooting [Dawn of the Dead] in Canada in 2-3 weeks. It would be difficult to convince my parents to let me go shoot right now. Even if they somehow agreed, it's entirely possible that Universal would drop me from the film altogether. Big studios hate any kind of public scandal. If Warner could pause the production of the third [Harry Potter] film, which was part of the biggest film franchise in the world at the time, then a small-budget horror film was nothing for Universal.
"Let them call us first," I said after a few moments. "I'm not sure at the moment whether I want to do it or not given the circumstances."
"Would your parents agree to send you now?"
"If I decide to do the film, it will be your job to convince my parents to let me do it," I said bluntly. Then I pulled out a sleep mask and put it on. "Now let me rest a bit. I didn't sleep at all last night."
(Break)
I removed the eye mask when I felt someone gently shaking my shoulder.
"What?" I asked sleepily.
"We're about to land," Tobias announced. "You should do your seatbelt."
Had it been that long already? Nonetheless, I did as I was told.
"Ready to face the music?" Tobias asked somberly.
"As ready as I'll ever be," I shrugged, not knowing what else to say or do.
It didn't take long for the flight to land and for us to be ready to get out. The best part about using a private jet is that you don't have to wait for little things like security clearance and such. Another positive point was that I could bring Loki along with me in the cabin. Most commercial flights don't allow that. You don't even have to walk over to the parking area when you board or deboard; instead, your driver can drive right up to your plane. And that's exactly what happened here.
As soon as the pilot gave us the go-ahead, we exited the plane, and my parents were there waiting for me. I hadn't even stepped on the ground before Mum rushed over and hugged me tightly. She didn't say anything, just held me close. A few moments later, she released me, only for Dad to take her place.
"Come on, guys," I groaned. "Can we go home first? I had a very long day."
"Not a bad idea," Dad commented while patting my back. "Come on then." He separated from me and turned to Tobias. "You should go home and rest as well. We'll take care of things from here. There's another car here that will drop you off."
Tobias nodded and took his leave.
Soon, we were in our car speeding off home. The only thing reminding me that something was different was the reporters' cars trailing our fleet of security guards.
"Thank God you're safe and sound," Mum said after some time. "I've been worried sick ever since we got Roger's call. The media has gone into a frenzy. I can't turn on the TV without hearing about you. Tell me truthfully, love. Are you really alright? That woman didn't hurt you, did she?"
"She tried," I said honestly. "She tried hard. But I didn't let her. That reminds me, I want to restart my martial arts training. If I hadn't stopped all those years ago, the situation would have been much better today."
"Don't worry too much about that right now," Dad said. "Focus on getting better. We've arranged a therapist for you. It'll be better to work on that first before doing anything else."
Not this therapy crap again. I really didn't want to talk to another person about my feelings, especially since I couldn't tell them my deepest, darkest secret. So I'd be lying to them anyway. Still, I knew my parents only had my best interests at heart.
"I'll agree to do it," I relented. "But only if you can get me a martial arts trainer within two days."
Dad grinned. "Just started being a producer, and he's already naming his terms to me. Believe me, Kathy, our son will go far in this business."
"You and your business talk," Mum shook her head despondently before getting serious. "Troy, you have to be very careful about what you say to the media in the coming days or months. They will try to provoke you into saying something about this incident when you're promoting [Harry Potter], so you have to keep it in mind."
I nodded at her. "Don't worry, Mum, I can handle it," I said with a confidence I was not feeling at all.
Reaching home and meeting Evan was usual business. He was also excessively clingy and inquisitive like my parents, but I didn't mind. I would be too if our positions were reversed. I also received a lot of calls from almost everyone I even remotely knew. And to top it all off, an in-person visit from my girlfriend.
It felt great hugging my beloved Emma once more after so many days.
"I was surprised when you didn't reply to me immediately," Emma whispered in my ear, resting her head in the crook of my neck.
I kissed her temple gently as we sat together in the living room. I wanted to do so much more than that, but Mum was conveniently "dusting the house" right from where she could keep an eye on us. It's not like we didn't have full-time servants ready to do the same.
"I thought you just lost connection or something," she continued. "So I just went to sleep. When I woke up the next day… well, Mum woke me up to give me the news."
"I called you in the morning, didn't I?" I said, caressing her soft curls.
"Yeah, but it was harrowing for me to not know what was happening for hours. I tried calling your parents, but they must have turned off their phones because of the excessive calls. And then I realized that we were just talking about fame when you stopped responding. I felt like that talk backfired and I jinxed you somehow by bringing it up."
I bonked her head at her admission. At her scandalized look, I hugged her tighter. "You silly girl. You can never jinx me. Stop believing in such superstitions."
She smiled at me before moving forward and planting a kiss on my lips. I kissed her back.
At that moment, I didn't care about anything else in the world. I felt complete and loved—not just because of Emma, but because of every one of my friends and family who had called me or come to meet me in person. It made me realize that these moments were more satisfying than anything else in life, much more than the satisfaction that the box office collection of any film could ever give me.
(Break)
Emily was more than a little relieved when she could finally connect with Troy once more.
"Are you okay, Troy?" was the first thing she said as soon as their call connected. The video was a little pixelated, but not terrible.
Troy sighed audibly. "I am. Although I'm sick of hearing the same question again and again." Then he rubbed his forehead for a moment before adding, "I'm sorry. It's just been a long day for me. I had to turn off all my phones because of the calls and messages I was receiving. And now everyone else has gone to sleep, but I can't because my internal clock is all messed up from the different time zones I've been in recently."
"I understand," she said softly. "You don't have to apologize. Let's talk about something else. What's up with the film you were signing in L.A.?"
"I'm not sure if the offer still stands," he said. "This controversy could be a deterrent."
"Ah," Emily said knowingly. "And we're back to the topic we didn't want to talk about."
"Tell me about your day, then," Troy said with a grin. "What did you do today?"
"I…" Emily bit her lip to stop herself from speaking further. After a few moments, she said, "I don't think you'll find what I did very interesting."
"Sure, I will," Troy emphasized. "Come on, tell me. I need to hear something mundane."
When it seemed like Troy wasn't going to budge, Emily relented. "I'll tell you, but promise me you won't judge me."
"Okay, I promise," Troy said with utmost seriousness, and Emily was inclined to believe him.
"So, yesterday, I didn't know anything about you or the situation. I called Benji, and he was also reluctant to give me full info, so I went online."
"As you do," Troy butted in.
Emily gave him a look. "May I speak?"
"Sorry, go on." Troy raised his hands in surrender.
When she was convinced he wouldn't interrupt again, she continued, "I was browsing different news articles to see if there was anything I could find about the situation. I didn't find anything that NBC hadn't already covered, but I kept searching and stumbled upon this forum that was just talking shit about you."
Troy shrugged as if it didn't matter to him. "Ignore people like that. I do."
"I'm not you," Emily asserted fiercely. "I couldn't just sit back and let them talk shit."
Troy grinned again. "What did you do, Emily?"
"I…" She hesitated for a moment before firming her resolve. What's the worst that could happen if Troy knew? "You asked me what I did all day? I spent all this time telling those assholes why they were wrong. And as soon as I started, it felt like I wasn't the only one doing that. It's like a team of your fans descended from the sky, and suddenly the haters were overwhelmed. For every negative comment, at least five people were speaking for you."
Troy looked conflicted for a moment before asking, "Let me get this straight—you spent your entire day dealing with some online haters?"
Emily shrugged. "Go on. Tell me I'm a crazy, obsessed fangirl just like my mom did." Then she mimicked her mother's shrill voice, "Oh Emily! Grow up! There is a life beyond Troy and the Spice Girls."
Troy chuckled at that before shaking his head, "No, I find it quite sweet actually. I just hope you're not neglecting other things like your studies or acting classes for this… new online avenging hobby of yours."
"Of course, I'm not."
"Good," Troy nodded. "Then I have a role for you. Well, more of an audition. You'll get the role if the director agrees to cast you."
Emily sat there stunned, her mouth agape. She had not expected the conversation to go this route at all.
Troy chuckled. "Don't be that surprised. You knew I was producing a film. While in L.A., I ran into another director, and I loved his story as well. So now I'm making two films. I'll recommend you for both. You'll have to go to L.A. for a few days for auditions. I'll cover your stay and travel. If either of the directors likes you, the film or films, as the case may be, shall be yours to do. I'll email you the details of the stories and your respective characters later."
"Are you sure?" She asked hesitantly. "I'm literally a nobody. I'm not that beautiful either."
"You look pretty good to me," Troy said as if it was the universal truth. "If you don't believe in yourself, no one would. Come on! Do you want this job?"
Emily could only nod silently. As much as she didn't expect the offer, she appreciated it a lot. And she would be a fool to turn it down.