There was a lot of excitement on set for a Monday. Ellen pulled Kem to the side and said, “Did you know Brent had a child?”
“No, we decided not to go with that storyline, remember?” Kem responded.
“You’re misunderstanding me. I didn’t say his character Max. I’m talking about Brent.” Ellen placed her cell phone in front of Kem.
“What is this?”
“Just scroll down and keep reading,” Ellen responded.
Kem read the blog where it stated there would be an interview with a woman claiming to be the mother of Brent McKenzie’s child. Kem handed Ellen back her phone. “This is absurd. You know better than to believe everything you read online.”
“Did you scroll to the next page?” Ellen asked.
“No. And I don’t want to hear anything else about it.”
Kem checked her cell phone. The only message she’d received from Brent was the one letting her know he would be in later. If this story had any merit, Brent would have tried to reach out to her. Well, at least she hoped he would have.
It was close to two and time for Brent’s scenes to be filmed.
“Ellen, where’s Brent?”
“He just got here so I rushed him into hair and make-up,” she responded.
Kem went to the area where Brent was changing clothes and getting ready for his shoot. “Hey, babe,” Brent said.
Brent hugged her and gave her a quick peck on the lips.
“We need to talk.” Kem looked at the people who pretended not to be listening but she could see that their ears were perked up. “Later. When we can have some privacy.”
The whole time they were filming Brent’s scenes, Kem couldn’t get her mind off the blog post about this upcoming interview with the woman who claimed to be the mother of Brent’s child. Brent had a lot of explaining to do, but she would wait to see what this Alize Jenkins woman had to say before confronting him.
Kem stared at the screen. She read over the same passage over and over. Nothing was making any sense. The script wasn’t making any sense. The woman’s accusations weren’t making any sense. She usually called Brent when she needed to discuss something but it was about him so instead she dialed Charlotte’s number.
“Girl, I have several fires going on right now. I’ll have to call you back,” Charlotte said, without giving Kem a chance to say why she was calling.
She dialed Mona’s number but her call went straight to voice mail, which meant she might still be filming.
Frustrated, Kem stared at her computer screen.
Brent completed his scene. He wasn’t able to talk to Kem alone until much later. She’d seemed distant. He knew she must have heard about Alize’s accusations by now, but if she didn’t bring it up, he wasn’t mentioning it.
“I have a lot to work on, so you should go home and I’ll call you,” Kem said as soon as he entered her office. She barely looked at him.
“I can wait. I haven’t seen you since Friday morning. Don’t you miss me?”
Kem smiled but barely. “Of course I missed you. But I have to do these changes or else I’ll be up all night. I would rather take care of them now so I can give you my undivided attention later.”
Brent wasn’t buying it. She could easily take the work home or take a break, but he would give her the space she wanted.
“I’ll see you later. Your place or mine?”
“Meet me at my place.”
Brent used the time in rush-hour traffic to return phone calls. The first call he returned was to his attorney.
“Mr. Dudley, this is Brent McKenzie. I was calling to see if you’d gotten the information to prove my innocence yet?”
Mr. Dudley’s voice blared through the car speakers. “I’ve got someone working on it. We should have the information tomorrow. I apologize that we weren’t able to get it today. This is a special case and the director was out.”
“No problem. I understand. Thanks for handling this for me.”
“Mr. McKenzie, if you want to follow through and file a lawsuit, we can.”
“I thought about it. Once I clear my name, I’m not going to pursue it. I really want her out of my life for good.”
“Okay. Well, if you change your mind, let me know.”
Brent hit the end button on the steering wheel. A car behind him blew his horn. “I’m going as fast as I can,” Brent yelled.
Brent’s phone rang. It was an incoming call from Charlotte. “Do you have what I need?”
“Not yet. My attorney’s working on it.”
“Brent, I was hoping to be able to have it to share with the outlets. Alize’s story is going to air tonight.”
“I know and I hate it but there’s nothing I can do to prove I’m not the father until my lawyer gets the document you need.”
“This is your friend talking now. Have you told Kem about this?”
“I’ve been trying to talk to her since I found out, but she’s been busy.”
“I suggest you do so before she hears about it. She may have already. She just called me but I avoided talking to her,” Charlotte admitted.
“I plan to talk to her tonight.”
“Okay. Well, let me go. We’re going to be busy these next few days. Once you get that document, I already have Terrance J on standby for you to tell your side of the story.”
“Thanks. I appreciate you supporting me like this,” Brent acknowledged.
“That’s why I get paid the big bucks.” Charlotte laughed.
Brent tried to laugh too as they ended their call. Charlotte supported him. He hoped once he shared the news with Kem that she would be supportive too.