A Stunning Accusation
By- Sarahbeth Caplin
Genre- New Adult/Romance/Women’s Fiction
Publication Date- July 6th, 2015
Adelaide Scott is a 25-year-old relationship advice columnist for Stunning! Magazine. Her new boyfriend, Jordan Johnson, is a renowned photographer for Sports Unlimited. Their relationship seems perfect, until his ex-girlfriend confronts them at a bar – and accuses Jordan of raping her, turning their world upside down.
It doesn’t help that her best friend and editor, Kiersten Sharp, sees rape as a black-and-white issue, with no shades of doubt. Addie is about to discover that the truth – in all its forms – is complicated, and not at all what she expects.
“So I met with another one of Jordan’s exes
today.”
“Oh, that’s right. So is JJ still not a
rapist?”
Talk about a loaded question. Holding my wine
glass by the stem, I spin it on my knee, contemplating how to answer. “Long
story short, he tried some kinky things she didn’t like, so she asked him to
stop, and he likened it to a second-grader pulling a girl’s hair to tell her he
likes her.”
Kiersten’s eyes bulged as she held her glass
close to her lips, as if anticipating shocking news that would require an
emergency pump of alcohol to face. “That’s it?”
“Uh, yup. That’s what she said.”
That’s
what she said. Ha, ha.
“Wow.” Kiersten sets the glass roughly on the
table, causing the Merlot inside to vehemently swish. “Jordan’s dated some
pretty weird women, if that’s their definition of assault.”
“Well remember, they weren’t the ones who
accused him. Only Samantha did.”
“Right. Why don’t you just forget the whole
‘interview’ thing and get the information you want straight from the horse’s
mouth? Quit wasting your time with his exes and just talk to Samantha already.”
I had considered doing that. Funny how Jordan
didn’t recommend I do that in the first place. Unless she’s just too volatile,
too fragile to confront. Not to mention, I could never use a fake identity with
her. She’d know exactly who I am and what I’d want from her.
“Maybe I will later,” I say. “This is still
worthwhile, though. I’m too intrigued to give up now, especially when there are
still two more names left. I’m halfway done already.”
Kier shakes her head. “Allow me to give you my
unsolicited opinion, since I’m your best friend. You aren’t getting anything
useful from them. At all. They sound like lonely, jilted women who saw an
opportunity to dress up the story of their failed relationships to get
sympathy, and you know what? It’s working. Don’t you see? Maybe they’ve seen
through your little charade and are just playing you.”
“I don’t think that’s what–”
“They’re cobbling together stories to put
doubts in your head so you’ll dump Jordan! That’s what they want! They hate him
for not wanting to get serious, so this is their payback. Not the best kind
that I’ve seen, but still ruthless in its own way.”
“And what could they possibly have to gain
from this? Wouldn’t falsely accusing someone only come back to bite them in the
ass?”
Kiersten seems to consider this. “You would
think. But who says Jordan dates smart
women?”
It only took a few seconds to realize her
mistake. “Oh, shit, Addie, I didn’t mean…”
“You meant to say that Jordan only dated
bimbos before he met me,” I clarify
for her. “Thanks to me he’s raising his standards.”
“Exactly what I meant. Cheers?”
We clink our glasses.
About the Author-
Sarahbeth Caplin is the author of three novels and a memoir, Confessions of a Prodigal Daughter, which ranked #51 in Amazon’s top 100 books on personal growth in May 2015. She lives in Colorado with her husband and kittens, and is working on an MFA in Creative Writing at Colorado State.
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I'd find it hard to trust the word of an ex! Sounds like a great read.
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