Where she was standing and leaning on the breakfast table, Jodi rolled her eyes.
"What kind of assistant would have the nerve to leave that kind of ssage using a public figure’s personal account, and at the sa ti, leave a post that ans pretty much the sa thing?"
"Another post?" Stuart echoed, his voice laced with disbelief, "Are you going to say sothing or defend yourself, Valentina?" he asked.
Another mirthless chuckle rang out in the room, ending in a cold smile that Avery flashed.
"No, she isn’t," she said. "She has nothing to say. She already passed the ssage across and it was heard loud and clear. Miss McCallum here wants to stay off the internet completely because seeing smile makes she and her family sad. Asides that, she said my face haunts her and as she already feels nauseous seeing on set, which was only once by the way, she believes she shouldn’t have to see after that. In other words, she wants to get off the face of this earth." The cold smile grew wider, "If I should understand this post well, it seems Miss McCallum wants to commit suicide. To kill myself."
Avery almost burst out in laughter at the manner with which Valentina’s face contorted into anger and annoyance. Seeing how the latter kept opening her mouth and closing it back, short of words to speak, she rembered what Jodi said earlier about her using it to chase clout, to attract attention; and Avery believed it now.
This idiot in front of her had only said those words to incite pity from the nurous comnters on the page so she hadn’t expected that she would be challenged over that comnt, not to talk of getting cornered in this manner. Not only had she never experienced a situation where her words were broken down to produce incriminating anings like this, neither had she planned to argue against allegations of this gravity.
Therefore, she did the first thing that ca to her mind. She laughed out loud, a dry one. "So what? If that’s what you think I an, then take it as that. It’s not a lie that you remind of my dead cousins and beloved grandfather! You have the face of a murderer!" she scread.
Avery didn’t react. If anything, she watched with an unwavering gaze, a small smile playing at the corners of her lips as if she was waiting for Valentina to realize just how stupid the words she just spoke were.
"Are you done?" she asked. Without waiting for an answer, she turned to the others, mainly Leroy and Stuart with an ’i told you so’ look in her eyes. "Did everyone hear that? She admitted that she wrote that because she truly wants off. Dead. All because of soone I know absolutely nothing about?"
She shrugged Valentina’s piercing glare off, a look which—whether she liked it or not—strangely reminded her of Emma. The two engaged in a glaring contest, their similar colored eyes refusing to back down in the presence of a worthy opponent.
Stuart cut in, drawing their attention to his angered expression.
"Is this for real, Valentina?!" he spat out in disgust, shaking his head slowly. "No, I don’t believe you would be so stupid as to do that when fucked up comnts like this contributed to pushing Emma to the curb. You, of all people, shouldn’t be doing this."
As he concluded his outburst, a pregnant silence enveloped the apartnt. Valentina lowered her eyes, showing the first hint of guilt in the few minutes that Avery had challenged her.
"It... That wasn’t my intention. I actually—I didn’t an it," she stuttered, "It was just a comnt I made on the spur of the mont. I was just so sad."
Avery nodded slowly, feigning completely understanding of the whole situation. The calm look on her face had most of them sharing surprised glances, wondering if she was so nice as to forgive Valentina for what she did after hearing such a stupid explanation, and not even an apology.
"You made the comnt on the spur of the mont, right? Just the comnt," she questioned, "If I was in a fragile ntal state at the ti and decided to take my life as a ’spur of the mont’ decision just like you typed the comnt, I bet you wouldn’t be saying this right now. But you know what?" A cold smile crossed her face. "Let’s forget the comnt for now and focus on the post."
Again, she shoved the phone in Valentina’s face, and began to recite it out loud, "Desperate for attention, aren’t you? Posting those selfies with a wide smile on your face like your joy isn’t built on other’s sorrow. I co here seeking solace, but your presence disturbs my peace. At least... Take a break!" Avery released a long sigh, her eyes narrowing into slits as she did. "How is this to be explained? If you wrote the comnt because you were extrely sad, does that an you wrote this one while in tears?"
While everyone, excluding Jodi, stared at Valentina with shock vividly expressed in their eyes, Avery simply leaned forward and whispered, "You know why I’m not the least bit affected by this? It’s because there’s nothing else to be expected from soone who built her life on the ashes of others— her cousin nonetheless— than cowardly posts like this? Do better next ti..." she trailed off, feeling Valentina’s shoulder tense up beneath her own head, before adding, "Tina."
She stepped back imdiately without waiting to see if the shortened version of Valentina’s na which she addressed her with, had the desired effect on her. She turned to Leroy, a grim look on her face.
She apologized, "I’m so sorry for that, Sir, and I do know I’m not an important cast mber here but... Can the shoot be postponed, Sir? Just for an hour or two, I’ll get my bearings when—"
"It’s alright, Ava," Leroy cut her off. "You should go. You need the ti alone. Of course, we do have a tight schedule but as long as Stuart agrees, we can return by 4pm."
Stuart chid in, averting his hard glare from Valentina’s face for the briefest of seconds, concern flickering in his eyes as he watched Avery.
"I agree. Would you like to co with , Ava? We could eat breakfast and watch movies. Anything you consider fun will be alright by , as long as it takes your mind off... this; what just happened," he offered, an earnest plea in his eyes. "What do you say?"
Avery flashed him an appreciative smile that waned almost imdiately.
"No, thanks, I’ll be alright," she refused his offer. "I can use the ti to practice my lines with Jo instead. Don’t worry. My emotional health is pretty strong, I’ll be back."
Stuart gave an encouraging nod.
"Great. Don’t hesitate to call if you need anything," he stated.
Avery returned the nod with a slight one of hers, and with a small pat from Leroy and a proud wink from Jodi, she headed straight out of the apartnt. She stopped at the doorway and turned back, looking in Valentina’s direction to see a sight that made a bright smile break out on her face.
Valentina was affected.
"Hey! Ava, what are you doing?" Jodi’s voice calling out to her, helped her snap out of her reverie and she stepped completely out of the apartnt.
Behind her, Valentina’s eyes were glowering with unabated fury, her hand clenched tightly into fists.
"I said it," she hissed beneath her breath. "I told Mom! The fucking girl is Avery. She didn’t die after all!" Her nails dug into her palm, drawing blood, yet the pain wasn’t enough to get her to unclench her fists or reduce the agitation coursing through her veins.
Even when Stuart began speaking, she heard none of what he said.
"So, what do you plan to do now, Valentina? As disappointed as I am in you, I will accept and believe that this is only a mistake on your part. You will apologize to Ava and take down the post and comnt you—"
Kicking the glass table in front of her, Valentina interjected him rudely, "Shut the fuck up, will you?!" she scread. "You know nothing! Nothing about that murderer yet you’re here giving shitty lectures. I don’t care who you are," she exhaled out loud, her face completely unrecognizable, "But please...shut up!"
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