C4 Chapter 3: Solution

Clara Simpson

"I need to go to the washroom" I walked straight to my bedroom's attached bath. Twisting the knob, I entered, and the first thing I saw in the mirror was my face smeared with tears. All my skin is turned red, and I look horrible.

Thank god the weeping I do on screen is just an act with no profound emotion involved, or else I would have looked like this in front of my fans who think of me as a goddess even if I walk in a rug before them.

I turned on the tap and let the water run. I splashed my face with water a few times to get rid of this pathetic facade.

'You are stronger than this, Clara', I said to myself like I always do. I am my own strength.

'I can do this. there has to be another way.' I again self-talked and filled myself with a new hope.

I grabbed the soft towel and tapped it on my face. Once I was back to the calm and confident Clara, I made my way to the living room to face the most extensive destruction of my life and find a way to solve all of this.

"You look..." Denise said, looking at my face. "Horrible." I completed her sentence.

"Thank you," I said in a taunting manner.

I looked at their sad faces. It was because, for the first time, I broke down in front of them like this.

"Finish with all these mourning guys. Hurry up. Let's back to work." I announced with full enthusiasm. This was perhaps due to opening up to my mother.

My Mother...

I looked at the nearby sofa on which my mother was sitting with regretful expressions. she didn't say anything from the time when I told all the bullshit to her.

She noticed me looking at her.

"Are you all right?" she asked with a hint of tears in her eyes.

"I'm fine," I said, except I'm anything but okay.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know it was a scam, and I thought I could help you bring back all the money I lost in gambling." She said, trying to explain herself.

I sighed, "What done is done, mom. There is no need to explain this. Let's hope that this problem will pass." I reached to seat ner Denise.

"Denise told me about the investors and Thompson," she said, looking at me, and continued. "Thompson owes a huge favour to your father. Although he is greedy, he cannot deny it if I request. It looks like it's time to remind him who Isabelle Simpson is". Saying this, she picked up her phone and dialled some number while walking out of the room.

I looked at Harry and Denise, who were as confused as me about what had just happened.

"Let's wait for her. Let's see what she is going to do." Denise said, and Harry agreed, "I suggest waiting too because I don't know what to do. Everything happened so fast that I didn't have time to analyse it."

"I hope things don't get worse than this," I said, leaning my head backwards to relax a little.

"You don't have any faith in your mother, Lara", mom said with a hurt expression when she walked back to the living room.

I didn't reply. I am extremely hurt right now. Just think of me as someone whose life savings evaporated in thin air in just one day.

I cursed the moment when I told my account details to Denise and didn't realise that my mother could listen and the money would be gone due to my own stupid mistake.

Denise is like a sister to me. She has been with me since when I was a small child artist. She was an orphan when my mother adopted her legally. Other than that, we both strived in our life on our own.

She doesn't call my mother 'mom', and we didn't force her to do so. She surpassed all the difficulties just like me, and now, her efforts led her to be a successful assistant and a genius student in IT (information technology). She graduated with me in her IT field, and me being an art lover, chose fine arts.

"Listen to me, Lara, I regret my decision to buy shares. My only thought was to mend my mistakes, but it created a bigger mess," she said, sitting beside me.

"At least you know that you created this mess. Now I'm completely broke. They are threatening to ruin my career and reputation. If things keep getting like this, then we'll be on the road in no time." I was sulking.

And I have the right to sulk...

"This will not happen. Rest assured." She said with confidence, and I frowned.

"How?" I said, confused.

"I talked to Thompson and tried to convince him that you'll not be doing any explicit scene." She said with a smile so bright that it could blind my eyes.

"And He agreed?" I asked like it was a ridiculous joke.

"I managed to convince him. He had to agree because more than half of the project is complete and only the climax is pending, and it would be a great loss for him too since he is also a major investor in this project," she explained. "Although I convinced him..." she stopped her speech. I knew that there was a but coming in the way.

"But?" we three asked in unison curiously.

"You have to find an investor to replace the current hard-headed one," she said thoughtfully. "Thompson said that of all investors, only one is a certified pervert and his main goal was to... " she was ashamed to complete the sentence.

"Sleep with me." I completed it.

"If he is replaced with a new one, then all your problems can be solved." She took a seat beside me. "The only problem here is that he has 30% investment in this project. So, you have to find an even bigger fish than him."

"Excellent!!" I said sarcastically, with a lake of enthusiasm. It is like solving one problem by creating one even bigger than the current one.

"I know him. He must be Ross Cruz." Harry pointed out, "I told you from day one that something was amiss with that old man. He is involved in many scandals regarding young actresses, but somehow those scandals don't last much on media."

"Money speaks, Harry." Denise said, "He used his resources to keep his reputation erect. Only people from the industry know his tactics."

"The point is now that how can we find a replacement for him." Harry said and then asked my mother, "How much time is given to us for finding the replacement, precisely?"

"He said a week. In this week, if you all can find a new investor, then he has his ways to make Ross quit this project." my mother elaborated.

"However, the question is, how can this be done in a week," I said, burying my face in my palms with tiredness.

"Don't worry, Clara; as your manager, I'll try my best to find a capable businessman who will be willing to invest in this project", Harry assured me, but I already know that It is a challenging job, to begin with.

Let's hope for the best.