Chapter 27

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Quinn wiped the sweat from his forehead and let out a pant as he leaned backwards. He wished this satisfied feeling in his body was from a sexual activity with the man next to him. Only it wasn't: it was from sheer greed and gluttony. His plate sitting empty before him, his champagne full once more, and the announcement of dessert all made him consider his life choices.

Matty had baked vegan cakes, because of course he did, and he was now at the kitchen counter prepping the final touches, and if Quinn was not mistaken, rehearsing his lines under his breath.

‘That food was good,' Quinn said to Noah and Hermione. His eyes found Noah's. ‘You should be a chef.'

‘I enjoy cooking, but not enough to make it a career.' Noah grinned, making Quinn want to melt. ‘Maybe if the books stop selling.'

‘They'll never stop selling,' a now-tipsy Hermione said.

‘Food always sells.'

‘It does.' Noah nodded. ‘But I like having something with no pressure, no expectation. Capitalism these days makes you feel like everything has to be a commodity. The things you love to do need to be wrapped up and monetised. I don't want food to become like that for me.'

‘That got deep fast,' Quinn said.

‘I like going deep.'

Oh, good god.

Quinn was thankful Ivy wasn't here to read his dirty thoughts, and he stifled his wicked grin by drinking from his champagne flute. Matty returned to the table with the cakes, which looked wonderful and not at all hideous like Quinn had secretly hoped. When he bit into them, praying they would be dry, soft flavourful crumbs greeted him with hints of ginger and lemon, but not enough sweetness to make it sour or overpowering.

‘I used to have a bakery down in London,' Matty said once they had greedily consumed the dessert and everyone complimented him. ‘It's how we met, isn't it?'

‘It is,' Noah said. ‘Me and my sweet tooth.'

Curse that sweet tooth leading you to him! Quinn thought, though he smiled and laughed all the same.

‘But enough about me.' Matty waved his hand, as if they had bombarded him with questions about his bakery, why he might have given it up, and his muse for his acting. ‘We're here tonight to talk about all things Hermione.'

‘Unofficially.' Hermione smiled. ‘I loved Noah's idea of you getting to know me, Quinn.'

‘And us getting to know you,' Noah said to Quinn, and Quinn, feeling warm and light, caught the glance that flickered in his direction from Matty.

‘Is this an interview?' Quinn asked.

‘Not at all,' Hermione said. ‘And we can go over these things again when the official writing takes place. But it's only fair that you know why I want to tell my story. And why now.'

‘I'm all ears,' Quinn said.

‘I know what they say about me out there,' Hermione said. ‘The witch of Cusop Dingle, the recluse, the spinster … and I've heard worse. And it all stems from the fact that I had sex.'

Matty let out a feigned gasp, which was more annoying than funny, but Quinn joined in with the laughter.

‘I was shamed and humiliated,' Hermione said. ‘Because of course, it got filmed, and it got released, and this was in the eighties. My career was flourishing in America, but they marketed me as the girl next door – the innocent, wholesome woman. I thought I had it all.'

Hermione sighed, looking wistful at nothing in particular, no doubt her mind wandering to a time that she missed.

‘Then I met him. His name was Roger. Never trust a Roger. He was a movie producer, so he said. Said he loved my work and thought we could work together. Our relationship blossomed, but he never told me where he worked. Maybe I was na?ve, trusting, but I assumed he was a producer for the big studios, you know? Everyone around me was a somebody.' Hermione shook her head. ‘He took me to his studio once. It was less than glamorous, but I'd been on a few sets in my career and they often weren't glamorous. Again, I didn't think much of it. Infatuated, I suppose, by this man. He took me onto a set and the moment took us and we … well…'

‘Don't say it,' Noah said. ‘I don't need to hear it.'

‘Fornicated,' Hermione said, and Noah pulled a face. ‘Your mother had sex, Noah. It's how you got here!'

‘I prefer the baby with a stork theory.'

Hermione laughed. ‘Not the case. Older people have sex, you know. After that night, he didn't see me again. Next thing I knew, I was being told about a sex tape that had me in it which had found its way out into the public domain. We didn't have the internet back then, so it was good old-fashioned video tapes, and it was in all the seedy shops on Hollywood boulevard. Turns out, Roger was a movie producer. A pornographic one.'

Quinn gasped, one that was genuine.

‘He led me there and filmed me without my knowledge, without my consent, and starring in one of his own movies,' Hermione said. ‘Got off on it, apparently. He'd left a camera on and the USP was the voyeuristic home footage aspect of it. Turns out, his studio was going bankrupt, and when he saw me, he spotted an opportunity. An entrepreneurial spirit, some people said. With that one video, with my image and name attached to it, he saved his business from bankruptcy and had a lavish career in Hollywood's porn industry. And me? Well, you know what happened.'

Quinn gripped his champagne flute as if it was the neck of the man that had set Hermione up. He tried to erase the images in his mind of the aftermath of such an event, and he could only imagine how she must have felt. Noah was biting his lip, a disappointed expression on his face.

‘You were assaulted, Hermione,' Quinn said.

‘I was.'

‘That needs to be investigated. The man needs to be arrested.'

‘He's dead.'

‘Oh.'

Hermione laughed, though it wasn't warm. It was hollow, resigned to the lost justice she could have had, and the peace she might have got from such an event. ‘Yeah. About ten years ago. Drugs, apparently.'

‘The life of a film producer.' Matty shrugged. ‘It's not a glamorous industry.'

‘How would you know?' Noah asked him.

‘I'm in it.'

Noah scoffed.

Quinn cleared his throat, feeling a little shocked at the exchange between the hottest men in Cusop Dingle. ‘Hermione, I'm sorry that happened to you.'

‘Don't be,' she said. ‘The video tapes kept selling until I used all my money up on lawyers and got them taken down. Only by the time we did, those copies had been bought and distributed. Now I hear there are digital versions floating around the internet. Back then, people could do that. They didn't care. Like I say, he got heaps of praise and I lost all my work, my agent, and most of my money. The only reason I'm able to live like this is because I still get royalties from some of my films.'

‘I'm sorry.'

‘What I want to see is a clearing of my name, but I want to raise awareness too,' Hermione said. ‘Sex isn't shameful. Sex work isn't shameful. I shouldn't be ashamed of what happened. I was embarrassed, and I still am, but I've been learning to deal with that.'

Realisation hit Quinn hard. This wasn't just a regular semi-celebrity autobiography. It was much bigger than that. This wasn't just an opportunity for him and for Hermione, but for victims too. Hermione's story had been crying out for years, ignored because it had become so normalised to just laugh at her expense. If she wasn't the washed-up actress, she was the spinster in the village, or the old porn star.

‘Did you consent to sleeping with him?'

‘Oh, yes,' Hermione said. ‘Oh, it wasn't anything sinister. The only consent that wasn't given was the taping and the distribution. I loved him. And I still do in some silly way. He was kind. He looked at me differently. He wasn't like the other men I met.' Hermione seemed oblivious to the consensus at the table that Roger was not, in fact, kind. ‘But he hurt me, ruined me, and broke me. For a little while, I understood why he did it. How silly is that? I justified it by saying I helped him get his life back on track.'

‘Bull,' Noah said.

‘I know that now,' Hermione said. ‘I was hurting, and I tried to heal in any way I could.'

‘How did he distribute it without your consent?'

‘It happens a lot more than you might think,' Hermione said. ‘I've joined a couple of online chat rooms over the years. Revenge porn, I hear, is a big thing. It's now a criminal offence, but it still happens. People have their images, their videos, distributed without their consent all the time. I found out, through my lawyers, that he forged my signature in case anyone asked. Nobody did. They saw who was on the tape and knew there was money involved. It didn't matter whether I consented.'

‘But of course, it did.'

‘It should have,' Hermione said. ‘To them, though, it was just business.'

Just business. The words Quinn kept hearing. Horrible, dirty words that hurt those involved. How many people suffered at the hands of ‘just business'?

‘A similar thing happened to Marilyn Monroe, you know,' Matty said. ‘Playboy. She didn't consent to that cover.'

‘Yes. A decision she made early in her career, and then the photographer had the say over who bought the photos, rather than her,' Hermione said. ‘I remember reading up on that and feeling like I had something in common with her.'

‘And Pamela Anderson,' Matty said. ‘Home sex tape stolen and distributed.'

Quinn had heard stories often about the horrible industry in Hollywood. Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian. Now, it felt very close to home.

‘I fled back home, and not too long after, I had Noah.'

Quinn turned to Noah, realising what was about to come.

‘Roger is my dad,' Noah said.

Quinn realised then that the things he heard about Hermione were only half true. There was more to the story, hidden truths and concealed hurt.

‘Hermione, you've got the opportunity with this book to get control of the narrative,' Quinn said. ‘And with that, you regain your power.'

‘And you'll help me get it back.'

Noah placed a hand on Quinn's knee, which felt sturdy, warm, and welcoming. It fit so perfectly over his muscle, Noah's fingers sprawling over the sides. Quinn cursed the cold weather, wishing it was the middle of summer, so that he could wear shorts and feel that skin-on-skin contact.

Matty also noticed. That familiar, fleeting warning expression was back on his face, only this time it lingered.

‘You will do this, won't you?' Noah asked.

Quinn's eyes trailed down to Noah's hand, then back to his face, hovering ever so slightly on his lips. ‘Absolutely.'