Behind The Scenes

Chapter Two: Everyone has a secret locked, but can they keep it?

End of Flashback

It was only when he was holding a placard with his name in front of a board that marked his height for his mugshot that Matthew realized what the hell he had just done. He wasn't feeling guilty though, and frankly, he was way too pissed off with the whole situation. His agent came along with his lawyer, and Crawford couldn't tell which one was about to pull out a gun and shoot him in the head first.

"What the fuck, Matthew?!" Mark, his agent, screamed. "Beating a fucking paparazzi?! Have you lost your last drop of fucking sanity?!"

Crawford pressed his temples, feeling like his head was about to explode. He took a deep breath and swallowed the wish to send Mark and the others to hell.

"It was that motherfucker's fault," he said with a low voice. Mark laughed.

"Did he beat you first, by any chance?" The agent asked, trying to keep his voice down, and Matthew said absolutely nothing. Mark knew that the paparazzi did not even touch Crawford. The photographer wouldn't be that stupid, and it was a shame he couldn't say the same about his client.

"No", Crawford sighed, and then glanced at him. "But, fuck, Mark, he jumped in front of my car and kept taking damn pictures of my face. THREE FUCKING AM!" He screamed, out of control.

"Do you have any idea what you've gotten yourself into?"

Before Matthew could even answer, his lawyer came back into the room, looking like he was about to explode.

"What's up, Newman?" Mark asked. The lawyer limited himself to rolling his eyes.

"I'm going to come in with a-" he started saying, but Matthew jumped in a rush and interrupted him.

"How screwed am I?" He asked, and saw the guy arching his white eyebrows and shrugging.

"I don't know if you can get out of this so easily this time."

***

"Turn on the TV!" Alyssa heard through the phone, and frowned.

It was too late for an exasperated call like this, and she was comfortably tucked under her blankets watching a reprise of Breakfast at Tiffany's--like she hadn't watched the movie a billion times before. She rolled her eyes.

"Shane, I'm in really busy watching my queen in a movie."

"Are you watching Breakfast at Tiffany's again?" He sighed without actually waiting for an answer. He never did. That was her lovely best friend, Shane: always too busy to wait. "Of course you are. And put on TMZ, now!"

"What the hell is going o-"

"TMZ, Alyssa!" He yelled.

Aly snorted and followed the desperate demand from her traditionally gushy best friend. Whatever it was, she wasn't interested, but she knew he wouldn't leave her alone if she ignored him.

"What now? Did Kim Kardashian wear another hideous outfit for a-"

She stopped talking abruptly, hearing a sigh through the phone.

Aly widened her eyes with the image of Matthew leaving a police car handcuffed, and turned the volume up so she could listen to the journalist that had a very nasal voice.

"... The actor, known worldwide for his role on the TV show Hidden Springs, was arrested for physically attacking a paparazzi on the way out of a famous night club in Downtown Los Angeles. According to sources at the place, Matthew was visibly altered by alcohol and possibly illicit drugs. The paparazzi, identified as Jason Markee, refused to give us an interview, but confirmed he'll sue the actor for aggression."