Page 156 of Harrison's Wedding

We spent two hours at Cooper’s office yesterday in a conference call with lawyers, as well as Aaron Hamilton, who dialed in from California. We can’t specify who drugged us, for what reason, or how they’d done it, but we can give the general details about what happened. So I word my answer carefully.

“Obviously, there is a current criminal case regarding this, so we can’t be quite as open as we’d like. What I can say is that Cruise Control was specifically targeted at the Cancer Society event. We were given GHB in the alcohol that we were served.”

“So, this was the Willful Poisoning charge that has been made?” She looks thoughtful.

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“And it was everyone who was sitting at your table, correct?” Carol asks, and I nod my head. “I see. So, that would have included Miss Turner?”

“That’s right,” Heather replies, “Maddy was as much a victim as anyone else at that table.”

Carol looks at her with interest when she says this, “You seem quite defensive of a woman who slept with your fiancé, Heather.”

“I’m not going to lie, I was very angry in the beginning, but I always knew that Maddy was a victim,” Heather looks up at me, and it seems almost involuntary. I smile at her, and she looks back at Carol as she continues, “I am the lucky woman whose fiancé cheated on her but also had a very good excuse for it. It was tough because I still had all of those feelings associated with being cheated on, but at the same time, how do you get to be angry at someone who has been the victim of a crime that caused them to do it?”

Carol goes on to run through our time apart and asks me some awkward questions about how much I’d been drinking during that period. Then the producers pause filming to go get Maddy.

My entire body tenses and I have to focus on my breathing as my stress intensifies. Heather quickly hugs me and says quietly, “I love you, honey.”

I smile at her as Maddy walks toward us. I’m grateful when they sit her next to Heather and not me.

“Madeline, thank you for joining us,” Carol says in a kind voice, “you’ve been painted by a lot of people as the scarlet woman—the person who broke up the golden couple, how has that been for you?”

Maddy responds in a mildly sarcastic voice, “Well, it hasn’t been great, Carol!”

I work hard not to smirk because, even though she’s a good interviewer, Carol basically walked into that one.

“No, I suppose it wouldn’t have been. Heather has been very defensive of you throughout our interview”—Maddy looks at Heather and smiles at her—“what are your feelings toward her now?

“I don’t think we’re ever going to be best friends, but I’d like to think that there are no hard feelings between us.”

“That’s correct. Maddy and I sat down and talked things through one night, and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to thank her enough for being willing to do that. Hearing from her how it felt to be drugged and then do something you would never do while sober, only to face the violation of someone spreading your naked picture all over the internet…how could you hate a woman who had suffered all of that? Even if she did sleep with your fiancé!” Heather shrugs.

I squeeze Heather’s hand tightly and focus on the feeling of her skin against mine, fighting nausea at the reminder of the picture the entire world saw. I’m grateful when Carol asks her next question to Maddy, so I don’t have to try and speak.

“Let’s talk about that, in your words, Madeline, what was that night like for you?”

She proceeds to run through the events of the night from Maddy’s perspective, and I cringe at the memories. I work on moderating my breathing, counting my breaths slowly as they talk.

Eventually, Carol turns to me and asks, “Harrison, your fans have been very protective of you during all of this, do you have a message for them?”

I’m glad to be given this opportunity, because I know the fans will only really believe it if they hear it from me. Even then, some will still just believe whatever they want to believe. But, this is my chance to try and get through to them.

“Yes,” I smile down at Heather, and she looks back at me, giving me comfort with her beautiful blue eyes. I look back up at Carol before I reply, “I guess, if I were to tell them anything, it would be that I’m okay. Heather and I are okay. That Maddy is not to blame for anything that happened and, honestly? That even if I had cheated in the traditional sense, it still wouldn’t have been Maddy’s fault.”

It’s the truth. Maddy wasn’t in a relationship; I was. While the whole world believed I had chosen to cheat on Heather, they still blamed Maddy for what I’d done. Apportioning a share of blame to Heather, as well, because she must have donesomethingto make me cheat in their eyes.

“I would ask them to please let Maddy live her life in peace. Please don’t attack her on my behalf. I don’t want that, and Heather doesn’t want that. Save your anger for the people who did this to all of us,” I look over at Maddy and smile at her, wanting to publicly apologize to her for what I inadvertently brought into her life, “I’m sorry that you’ve had to go through this, Maddy.”

“Thank you, Harrison, that means a lot to me,” she smiles back.

“Well, thank you all for coming today and being so open and honest with me. I really appreciate it. What you’ve all been through must have been incredibly tough. Let this be a reminder to us all that things aren’t always the way that they appear on face value. Best of luck with your wedding, Harrison and Heather; I’m sure it will be absolutely beautiful, and we look forward to hearingGames We Playwhen it’s released next week, Harrison.”

Relief floods through me when the interview ends. The producers warned us that the cameras would stay rolling to capture some behind-the-scenes footage as Carol thanks us all for participating. Heather tells her how pleased she is that Carol handled our interview so delicately and says that it’s a massive relief to know that the world will soon know the truth because we got to speak it ourselves. I can tell that she’s choosing her words carefully for maximum impact, and I reiterate it by agreeing with her.

The crew has already started setting our apartment back to normal, matching everything against the pictures they took prior to changing anything. The photo frames they added with pictures of us have already disappeared, and the sofa is being pushed back to its original position.

“Would you like to join us for a coffee out on the balcony, Maddy?” Heather asks.

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