Page 22 of Twisted Little Thing

I cannot help noticing that she bears a striking resemblance to me. She is not only fair-skinned and slim, butherlong, dark hair is casual-looking like mine. She is even dressed similarly in well-worn jeans and an oversized, cut-off t-shirt. Her thin arms are adorned with a bunch of wristbands in all kinds of colors – and she has tattoos. Rather nice tattoos, I might add.

The ink – and the fact that she is prettier than me – might be the only difference between us, because I have not gotten around to having one done. Yet. It has been on my wish list forever, but I just couldn't commit to a design, let alone save enough money for it.

As typical for these kinds of magazines, the subtitle for the picture is rather melodramatic: Did she break his heart? Sheila and Evan on a coffee run, only weeks before she disappeared from his life.

Disappeared? Did they break up? Did she die? Or did she actually disappear?

Curiosity gets the better of me, and I start reading the article, my heart beating wildly as I roam through the paragraphs. Thankfully, the text starts with a brief introduction about the life and career of "mysterious billionaire bachelor" Evan Beckhart. Apparently he is a "geek turned successful entrepreneur from Silicon Valley" who had his breakthrough at an age when most people are attending college. He – or his small start-up company – invented widely used office software that even I have heard of.

His company was acquired by a much bigger one a few years ago, and since then, he has been steadily increasing his wealth by making smart investments in other promising start-ups that succeeded wthout fail. He really seems to have a knack for selecting the best new and upcoming technology market, and has made a fortune by investing in social apps.

Even with my general aversion toward this glutted market of gadgetry and seemingly useless innovations, I have to admit that I am impressed. He never had anything handed to him and worked hard to be where he is now. He also seems to be involved in charity activities and is described as living a rather frugal life despite his immeasurable wealth.

Well, he still lures his nightlife acquisitions into five-star accommodations, so I disagree with the reference to living a "frugal lifestyle".

If anything, he tried to be one of us low-budget hipsters last night, the ones who live with roommates in crappy little apartments because they cannot afford to live there on their own. Us, those who have to think twice before ordering another drink when they go out.

The article goes on to describe his private life, wondering why a man like him – handsome, stupidly rich, and seemingly good-hearted – is still single as he nears 30. He appears to have been unattached most of his life – except for that one woman he was pictured with leaving the coffee shop.

If I had shown even the slightest interest in gossip magazines, I would have known who Evan was right from the start. Apparently, he has been in the spotlight for several years, not only because of his own success story, but because the woman he was dating was a well known soap opera star, another area about which I have absolutely no knowledge. They even used to live together here in Pasadena where she was working at the time.

I continue reading to find out more about them and how things ended, but the article does not include that information. At some point, it seems, they broke up. Or she broke up with him. Much to the sorrow of the article's writer – and many readers, I am sure – it was never revealed which of them ended the relationship, or for what reason. All that is known is that he moved out of the home they shared and disappeared from the public eye for months.

She, on the other hand, continued in her role on the soap opera and made public appearances as usual. She refused to comment on their relationship, however.

"Not one word ever crossed Sheila’s lips about the status of their relationship," the article concluded. With so little information, of course, the author felt inclined to make assumptions about the situation and presumed that Evan had endured terrible heartbreak at the hands of the soap opera star. This assumption was purely based on him disappearing from the spotlight, while she didn't. Never mind that she is an actress and constantly in public, while he is a self-made billionaire and entrepreneur who can remain behind closed doors if he chooses.

But who cares about logic and facts, right?

I shake my head as I continue reading. Every sentence reminds me of why I loathe these magazines so much. So many assumptions, melodramatic thoughts and words put into people's mouths that it's sickening.

The lack of real information in an article of this length is astonishing. I don't feel like I have learned a lot more about him or his ill-fated relationship than I knew from simply reading the subtitle to the article and looking at the pictures.

There are interesting facts that seem to be relevant to me, though. The first one is the uncanny resemblance I share with his former girlfriend Sheila. The second is that he is still living in this city, instead of going back to the outskirts of San Francisco, his original home before relocating here to be closer to her.

Their break-up took place more than a year ago. Is he still mourning his loss and trying to fulfill his longing by fucking random girls who bear a resemblance to her?

After all, that might have been the reason he approached me in the first place. Erratic dancing and free spirit, my ass – maybe it was just the fact that I reminded him of her.

A lump has formed in my throat and I feel utterly betrayed.

No matter how great the sex or how enticing this man was, I will not be somebody's placeholder. If he is still mourning his ex-girlfriend and I just happen to look like her, then I should write him off as soon as possible.

Then again, he did leave it up to me to contact him. Despite my complete ignorance of who he really was during our first night together, he must be aware that eventually I will find out about all of this. This magazine article is less than two weeks old, so it is current. He and his failed relationship are no secret to the public – or at least to the part of the population who actually keeps up on celebrity gossip like this.

What am I supposed to do? Just a few minutes ago, I was rather certain that I wanted to see him again. I would make him wait a little, maybe. But I was ready to contact him again. I wanted more.

But now I am anything but sure about my next step. I am confused and hurt. And I feel extremely stupid for not knowing who he was.

Yuka is going to have her fun with that story, for sure.

She might be the best person to ask for advice in this manner, though.

For now, I decide to follow her first piece of advice today, and I slip off to my bedroom to take a good long nap until she comes back.

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