Page 22 of Deck the Hauls

There had been other women. My stomach churned. How many others?

I’d been put in an unpleasant situation, a situation I should never have had to deal with, but I’d been able to extricate myself before anything actually happened.

Had it played out differently for those other women? What had he done to them? I shut my eyes. I didn’t want to know.

I stood, and started pacing around the small trailer. Why had Cat spoken to Rebecca about it? I clenched my jaw. I’d trusted her. Filming Clique together, our first major film, had been an incredibly bonding experience. We’d grown so close that when everything happened with Phillip, I’d confided in her, despite Phillip’s threats. But after filming we’d lost touch, just exchanging brief texts every so often. The last exchange had been when she’d won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in March. Unless all the fame and success had gone to her head, I couldn’t imagine her betraying my confidence like this.

I sat back on the couch and navigated to the ‘contacts’ section of my phone and swiped down to her details. My finger hovered over her number. She was probably busy—she’d had a steady stream of work since Clique.

I stared at her number, my leg jiggling. Fuck it. I might as well try. I wanted to know.

“Hello, who is this?”

“Hi Cat, this is Emily. Emily Rossi.”

“Emily!” Cat’s voice was warm. She sounded just as I remembered. “I’ve been trying to contact you. Have you changed numbers?”

She’d been trying to contact me?

“Yeah, a few months ago.”

“Well, I’m glad you called. How are you?”

“I’m okay.” I swallowed. “I just got off a call with a reporter. She wants to speak to me about Phillip. Did you tell her about what happened?”

“Shit, I’m sorry, Em. I mentioned your first name in passing—it just slipped out. As soon as I said it, I kicked myself. I’d hoped she wouldn’t work out who you were, but she must have put two and two together.”

I stood up again, unable to keep still, and started to walk. “Why were you talking to her about it in the first place?”

There was a long pause. Then she said, “Because it happened to me too.”

I stopped walking. “What?”

“It was after what happened to you.” Cat paused. “I saw how he treated you after you said no, so I went along with it.” Cat’s voice broke.

A tight knot formed in my stomach.

“Shit, I’m so sorry. I wish you’d told me.”

“I was worried you’d judge me. You were so strong, saying no…”

But I hadn’t been strong enough to go to the police when it happened. If I had, perhaps this never would have happened to Cat. And the other women. Tears pricked my eyes, and I swiped them away. At the time, it hadn’t felt police-worthy. I’d said no and run out of his hotel room. Was there really anything the police could have done? Maybe I should have at least spoken to HR.

I swallowed. “Well, I didn’t have the benefit of seeing what happened after someone else said no. Maybe if I’d been in your position, I would have done something similar.”

Would I have? I didn’t like to think about it, but it was quite possible.

“Are you planning to go public with what he did?” I asked.

“Yes, as long as Rebecca can get some other women on the record. I don’t want to be the only one.”

God, Cat was brave. Speaking out against Hollywood’s most powerful director and risking her career took guts. Meanwhile I’d spent the last two years trying to forget it all happened, and letting Phillip ruin my career.

“So you didn’t sign an NDA either?”

“No. One of his assistants reached out, offering me a significant amount of money if I did, but I refused. It took me a while to decide what to do. A few months ago, I read an article Rebecca had written about that Big Pharma CEO who harassed a number of his employees. After he was fired, I decided to reach out.”

So Cat was the only other woman Rebecca had found who could speak publicly. And she would only go on the record if other people did. “Aren’t you worried about the repercussions?”