THE FALL OF A FACADE

Casey felt like she would black out as her heart kept hammering against her chest. Where did things go wrong? How did this happen? She thought as she curled up on her bed with tears streaming down her face. There she stayed unaware of the time passing until the familiar sound of her phone ringing jolted her, she ignored the call, her mind not was not in the right state to receive it, she felt numb. Trying to block out the persistent ring of her phone, she held her pillow to her ears, but it seemed whoever was ringing was not about to give up anytime soon. With a groan Casey snatched her phone from the table and picked it without checking the caller id. She regretted it immediately though, after hearing the annoying shrill voice of the person she once considered her friend, "Neora". She burst into fresh bout of tears as she asked the one question she wanted to since she saw the news 'why?'

That morning Casey woke up with her cat rolled up by her side and a smile that seems to be plastered on her face since she received the news of being nominated for the NAM award as the upcoming model of the year. Still in her happy mood she rushed to have her bath and decided to take a stroll round town and maybe she could finally treat herself to a box of donuts, something she rarely took so she could stay in shape. When she was done she left her apartment with her purse and her phone which she still hasn't switched on since she switched it off to get a perfect night rest. The first indication that something was wrong was when she greeted the old security officer and instead of his usual reply of 'good to see you woke up to a new day miss Grey,' a look of pity stood in its stead. 'Anything the matter?' Casey asked the old man but all he did was to look away. She shrugged and continued on her stroll, feeling nothing could dampen her mood. 

Her second indication was when she felt people staring and pointing at her, Casey was confused, yes she was popular but not so well known that she would draw so much attention to herself as she was drawing that morning. She made up her mind to brush it aside and to stop strolling, she just wanted to get her donuts and call her friends back home. She walked faster to the cafe and went straight to the counter to make her order but before she could place her order the young girl behind the counter gasped and with animated eyes asked her 'Are you Cassandra Grey?' Casey nodded her head hesitantly 'you must be really strong, how are you out here after that video. If it had been me I know I would still be crying right now but I guess you're stronger than I am...' The girl kept talking and talking animatedly. Casey was getting flustered, what video was she talking about? Casey held the girl still and asked 'what video?' The girl stilled and frowned, then a look of realization crossed her face, 'you don't know do you? Check your phone; I'm sure your agent must have tried to reach you by now.' Immediately Casey switched on her phone, she noticed she had a lot of missed calls and messages from her parents and her agent. Now Casey became worried and checked the net and what she saw had her running out of the cafe and towards her home blindly, not bothering to apologize to people, she pushed them out of her way and ran. She finally understood the reason for the stares. There was a SEX TAPE OF HER GOING VIRAL ON THE INTERNET!!!

  As she lay on her bed she knew there was only one person who could have done this, Neora, her closest friend and confider. She met Neora when she first came to New York and when she found out Neora was also in the modeling agency they clicked off and became close friends but when Casey started getting popular and getting more gigs, Neora started distancing herself. As she kept on getting famous, Neora started threatening her with the promise of revealing all her dirty secrets including a sex tape of her and her boyfriend, Jason. She didn't believe though because she never believed that Neora a video of her and her boyfriend together or that she would ever release it. As she laid on her bed lost in her thoughts, she heard her phone ringing and she ignored it but later picked up after its persistent ringing. Her world came crashing down even more when her agent told her that the organizers of the NAM awards had deemed her unable and unqualified to receive the award, she was still pleading with him when he cut the line. The phone rang again and she picked it thinking it was her agent.

The minute she heard Neora voice on the line, she started crying again, with so much hurt in her voice she asked her 'why? Why would you do something like that? You not only destroyed my career but also my worth as a lady'. Neora's callous and cruel laughter rang through the room 'i warned you didn't I? You're not meant to be where you are Casey, you think i don't know how you went behind my back to talk to every director that offered me a gig, you told them i was unfit for the job with all sorts of lie, you even went ahead to sleep with most of them that didn't believe you so you could have your way, i slowly distanced myself from you, i told you in advance what i was going to do so that you will step down but you didn't. Wanna hear a secret? Im very sure you didnt watch the video, that video wasnt of you and Jason. No, it was a slideshow of you with not just one but ten of the top modeling managers in the world. You deserve every bit of what i did to you Casey!! Stop acting innocent', and she ended the call, leaving a stunned Casey with her phone still against her ear and tears dripping down her face.