章 32: The fictitious character

She was back at one of the most prestigious exclusive hillside residential places in the Northwest Mountains region of California. She had lived in this house for three years since she bought it from her hard-earned money from acting.

Leaving her father's home was the biggest step she made to become independent. Of course, his father was happy that she was finally growing up to be a very responsible adult. Then again, he was concerned that she might not be ready to be on her own.

She liked the community because of the privacy. The high fences around the neighborhood and the large area between each residence gave her the solitude she longed for after her long hours being surrounded by people, who all wanted her attention.

"Are you gonna be ok here?" Jessica asked as soon as she settled in her living room couch. She was exhausted from the latest event in her life, but it was not yet time to rest.

"Of course. This is my home." She simply said.

Home sweet home, but for the first time, she never felt as if it was her home. She unexpectedly longed for the simple villa that had sheltered her for the past weeks.

She looked around at her huge house with all its expensive furniture and decorations, but all she felt was the emptiness of it all. She felt deafened by the quietness of the huge space. It was lacking something.

She missed Lindsey and Gerry as they argued in the kitchen. She missed Baxter as it messed up the floor. She certainly missed Raf. Cutting her thoughts before she got emotional and started crying in front of Jessica.

"What are your plans now? Do you want me to look for another safe haven where you can hide for a few more weeks?" Jessica moved to another seat as she took out her phone to call her assistant.

"No. I think I had enough of hiding." She searched again around the house, trying to get that feeling of being home, but nothing was ever the same again.

She realized that she had found another home in another place, not exactly the villa, nor the island. It was the people and the dog that had welcomed her with love.

Jessica zeroed in on her, curious at what she was thinking at the same time doubtful of her plans. "What do you have in mind?" She dropped her phone on the table and focused her attention on her.

"I'm done hiding anymore." She said with conviction. Truly decided to make a change in her life. "Fill me in on all the details that happened during the time I was away." She adjusted her position on the soft cushion as she waited for her manager to speak.

Jessica looked a bit skeptical of her decision, knowing her, she acted more on impulse than with her brain as past experiences would suggest. "Are you sure about this?" She could not help but be apprehensive about her idea.

"Definitely. Don't worry, I know what I'm doing this time. I have thought this thoroughly." She planted his feet on the floor and walked towards her phone. She would need the help of her sister on this one.

"Then, we need to carefully plan this. I will help you as long as you are sure this is what you want." Jessica said as she started calling her assistant.

After almost an hour of discussing her strategies with Jessica, her sister, Marge arrived, followed by the other people Jessica called, including her assistant.

Marge was the only person she sought legal advice about her career, so her presence today was very much needed. She did not want any mishap to happen.

Then, they showed her some of the news that was circulating the circuit while she was away. She was shocked at the enormity of the situation.

However, the most that shocked her was what Brad did while she was away. She was expecting that he would throw her under the bus after the sex scandal, but the opposite happened. He tried to save her reputation by taking the whole blame to himself.

By doing that, he would be putting his marriage and especially his candidacy in jeopardy. His party was a very conservative block. Learning about his transgression would surely garner negative impacts on his political career.

"He should have not done that." She said to no one in particular after watching the recorded speech he gave the day after the release of the video on the net.

Her sister went to her side. "Well, it is about time that he owed to his part. You are not solely to be blamed with this." Marge pointed out harshly. She was still pissed that her little innocent sister became part of this scandalous affair.

Marge swore to their mom that she would always protect her. Now, that their dad was still sick, she planned to make sure that no more harm would happen to her.

"But that would ruin his career." She argued. Still unable to imagine Brad doing that for her.

"What about yours? It is enough that you tried to save his when you took all the blame and hid from the people, and then let them judge you without you defending yourself." Jessica countered.

"Think about yourself for once." Marge reinforced Jessica's words.

She thought about her initial plan. She was ready to crush and burned Brad after letting her feel like she did not mean anything to him. After watching the video, she suddenly realized that Brad was telling her the truth. He did love her. He was willing to sacrifice everything he had worked for just to save her reputation.

Maybe she judged him too quickly without even hearing his side of the story. She was now confused about what to feel for him. She did love him at some point in their relationship. Then again, did she stopped loving him or was she just furious with him because he did not try to reach out to her. Was it just purely a miscommunication on their part?

Then, what about Raf? She was sure that she felt something deeper for him too after the short affair they had on the island. Was that enough to say that she had fallen in love with him or was it a rebound thing after she felt dump by Brad?

She shook her head trying to clear her mind of the two men that were trying to cloud her judgment. She needed to focus on herself first, setting aside her feelings.

"I think that it is time that I also say my piece to the press. Can you arrange that?" She asked her manager.

"We need to hear what you have to say?" Marge insisted. She would not let her sister compromised herself again, especially not in front of the vultures who wanted only a story to sell to the masses and not the truth behind the story.

"Just give me a minute to think about it." She went outside to her garden, checking the status of her orchard. She smiled at the sight in front of her. She could always count on Ricardo when it comes to taking care of her plants. They were more beautiful than the last time she looked at them. So alive and exotic.

She finally decided that she wanted to be like her flowers. She needed her life back. She was tired of hiding, but also tired of being just a shadow of herself. She needed to control her life. Find herself, not the person that people say she was. Stopped merely following, but started making decisions on her own.

In a way, she wanted to change into someone that she liked. She desired to be Sky. Not the fictitious character she created. She wanted the traits of Sky for her, Sabrina Sanders.