Behind The Limelight 26: Scandals With A Side Of Cocktails

The last place that Ashton wanted to spend his Saturday night was at a party filled with pretentious people and his exes. But well, life clearly had other plans for him.

He was invited to some event organized by a billionaire, and Malcolm insisted, no, ordered Ashton that he absolutely had to attend. Apparently it was good for his image to show his face at such places and mingle with people of high standing.

So there he was, making small talk with strangers while ignoring the ones that he did know. His stars definitely weren’t aligned as no one other than Ryker was there too. The two hadn’t spoken yet, but their eyes did meet plenty of times from across the room.

Ashton was only counting down the minutes till it would be acceptable for him to leave, especially after he saw that Maria was at the party too. He hadn’t spoken to her since they met at that restaurant a couple of months ago, and frankly he wasn’t in the mood to do so. At the time a part of him had thought that he wanted to be with her again, or at least be friends, but now he had changed his mind.

“Quite a turnout, huh?” Ryker said, coming up from behind Ashton and catching him off-guard yet again.

“When Callum Kaufman throws a party… everyone shows up,” Ashton muttered.

“You planned your exit strategy yet?” Ryker asked.

“I’m about to get a migraine in like fifteen minutes,” Ashton answered with a shrug.

“Damnit, I was going to use that,” Ryker replied with a laugh.

“Maybe you can say that you have a case of explosive diarrhoea,” Ashton retorted with a sickly sweet and fake smile.

“Ha ha, thanks for mental image,” Ryker said. “I think I’ll go with having an early morning meeting tomorrow.”

“Good one,” Ashton muttered.

“I’ll see you around,” Ryker spoke, keeping his hand on Ashton’s lower back for a brief second before retreating it. Just the simple touch sent a shiver down the other actor’s spine, but he ignored it. Or at least he tried his best to do so.

“If luck is on my side then no, no you won’t,” Ashton mumbled. Ryker chuckled again, not even bothered by Ashton’s sass anymore before walking away. He was immediately pulled by someone else, probably a producer or businessman.

Ashton decided to have his last drink of the night before leaving. If he thought that it was a bad night before, then it proved that the universe was clearly out to get him as he faced with the one person he didn’t want to be within a hundred mile radius of.

His mother.

“What a wonderful surprise,” said Rebecca Archer.

She looked as elegant as ever in her black satin dress and her hair tied neatly in a bun with just a few carefully styled strands hanging out. Everything from her heels to her nails was picture perfect.

“Mom,” was all that Ashton could say as he stared at the woman. She stepped forward to hug him, which Ashton stiffly returned for a second before pulling away. “What are you doing here?”

“I made a pretty big donation to the Kaufman Charity Fund, so of course I’m here,” Rebecca answered. Ashton frowned slightly, he did find it odd that he was invited to the party as he had never been called to attend a Kaufman event before.

“I suppose you had something to do with my presence here as well,” Ashton muttered.

“Speak loudly, dear. You’re an Archer, we don’t mumble our words,” Rebecca retorted. “And well, can you really blame me for doing so? Imagine how it must feel for a mother to have to pull strings in order to be able to see her son.”

“I suppose that says more about the mother’s parenting than the son’s attitude,” Ashton replied. Rebecca laughed, the grin on her face clearly fake and just for show.

“We need to talk, Ashton,” Rebecca said, suddenly sounding serious and ignoring Ashton’s comment.

“We’re talking now, aren’t we?”

“In private. Not with all these vultures in hearing distance of us,” Rebecca huffed.

“Takes one to know one,” Ashton said under his breath, before clearing his throat and speaking normally. “I’m busy. I don’t know if you’ve heard but I’m working on a pretty big project—”

“I have, indeed.”

“—and I’m afraid I don’t have the time for much else right now. If you wish to say something then do so here and now,” Ashton finished.

“You’re just going to have to make time, then.”

“Sure. How about next Saturday? We’ll go out for a nice dinner. I’ll give you a call,” Ashton suggested.

“Oh please,” Rebecca scoffed. “As if I don’t know you. You’re neither going to contact me nor are you going to pick up when I call you.”

“Busted,” Ashton said, flashing the same phoney smile as his mother.

“Alright, if this is how it is going to be then… your father and I need your help,” Rebecca admitted.

Never in a million years did Ashton think that his mother would be asking him for anything, let alone help of some kind. He couldn’t even begin to comprehend any situation where his parents would need his assistance.

“In what?” Ashton was skeptical. Highly skeptical.

“Do you remember Cora?”

“Katherine’s daughter, yeah,” Ashton furrowed his brows in confusion. “What about her?”

Katherine was one of their housekeeper, and Cora was her daughter that was roughly the same age as Ashton. The two used to play together as kids, until his mother forbade him from associating with the children of the staff. They still snuck around sometimes, but then her mother sent her off to live in another state with her father.

“Well,” Rebecca paused, pursing his lips as she looked around to make sure that nobody was overhearing their conversation. “She came back a few years ago to work for us after her mother couldn’t and…”

“And what, mom?”

“She’s pregnant,” Rebecca stated. “With your father’s child.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Ashton hissed, not believing his ears. “He’s old enough to be her father!”

“This is not the time for judgment, Ashton. I’m aware of the…several problematic aspects of this incident,” Rebecca said pointedly.

“Problematic doesn’t even begin to cover it. How did… how are you so okay with this? Shouldn’t you be filing for a divorce?” Ashton questioned.

“Don’t be ridiculous!” Rebecca exclaimed. “Everybody makes mistakes. Besides, this is not what I wish to discuss with you.”

“What is it, then? How do you expect me to possibly help you with this?”

“Well,” Rebecca began. “She would not terminate the pregnancy. And she’s not ready to sign a non-disclosure agreement as well. Trust me, we’ve tried. Even offered a large sum of money to keep her mouth shut.”

“Okay…”

“She claims that she wants nothing from us. That she would not blabber her big mouth in front of the media and just wants a quiet, peaceful life,” Rebecca continued.

“Isn’t that, I don’t know, a good thing?”

“Of course, not! We cannot trust her! What if she’s lying? And even if she’s not, what if she changes her mind tomorrow and decides to blackmail us? Our family’s name would be ruined if this gets out, Ashton. And I will not let the Archer legacy be dragged through the mud because of that wanton woman!” Rebecca said, making Ashton roll his eyes. Of course, she was blaming Cora instead of her husband. Typical.

“Once again, I fail to see my role here.”

“You both used to be friends. I want you to speak with her. Tell her that it would be in best interest of her and…her child if she would just accept the money and get out of our lives for good,” Rebecca spoke.

“Are you shitting me right now?” Ashton snapped. “I’m not going to do any such thing. It’s her life and her decision.”

“Think of what this means for our family, Ashton. What this would mean for you.”

“I don’t give a fuck,” Ashton retorted. “I’m not going to play a part in manipulating a woman. Not now, not ever. Not for anyone, and especially not for you.”

“Leave the moral high ground for a second, would you? This could be the scandal of the year. Everything your grandparents built, everything I built and that you are trying to build would come falling down. It’ll ruin us,” Rebecca warned.

“So be it,” Ashton spoke in a casual tone, his face still scrunched up in anger at his mother’s goddamn audacity to expect him to partake in this. “It’s dad’s fuck up. And since you still want to be with him… it’s yours to clean up. Not mine.”

“I’m texting you her number. Call her. Think about the consequences from a sound mind and you’ll come to your senses,” Rebecca said calmly.

“Don’t hold your breath on it, mother. And do not contact me again.”

Ashton could not bear being in the same vicinity as her mother for even a second longer, so he turned around and walked away. His head was beginning to spin from the information that she had dropped on him, and it seemed like his migraine excuse wasn’t going to just be an excuse.

In that moment, Ashton felt the need to seek one particular person. There was nobody, not even Malcolm, that understood the extent of his problems with his mother. So, Ashton set out to find Ryker. He asked around until someone finally pointed him in the direction of where they had last seen the other actor.

Ashton headed towards the balcony, and the night seemed to get only worse once he saw Ryker talking to Maria.

***