Reader Request: the Catalyst

My name is Nate Guertta, and I'm here to tell you how I scored the hottest young actress as my wife.

When I met my future wife in college, I couldn't believe how much she looked like Hailee Steinfeld. They could have been twins, I swear. I was a bit anxious when I asked her out, almost star struck, forgetting she wasn't actually the up and coming actress in True Grit and Ender's Game. Oddly enough, we met as undergrads in film school. The UCLA School of Film of and Television was one of the top three film schools and we had both made the cut. As luck had it, our professor had put us in groups and we were going to be filming a short film. I was so glad we would be working together.

"Say Haley, do you want to go over the screenplay over coffee?" I thought it odd she had practically the same name.

That had been the start and over the next few semesters, we had really hit it off. After that year, we had started dating seriously our senior year. She had auditioned for some small parts even as we were in school, while I was heading in the directorial path. She had landed a few jobs in music videos (odd, because MTV never shows them anymore), and that had launched her into some modeling as well. We were both hoping she would land something bigger, and she did in a way. She landed a recurring role in a sitcom for NBC. When that finished, she landed another role in a sitcom but with a bigger role. Things were looking up!

I started a Master's program, and the same professor that put us together, mentored me as I continued at UCLA. That's when I had started getting some good news myself. The professor had vouched for me, and I landed a job with an independent film being shot in the ethnic neighborhoods in LA. I was tasked with cleaning up the screenplay and editing the film. When it was finished, it toured several film festivals including SXSW. It started getting good press and rave reviews. The best part was the nods the reporters gave it for editing and screenplay. At this point, I asked her to marry me.

I surprised her at a dinner date. Her best friends, Faith and Harper were there. They had met on the set of our student films. Faith was a mirror image of Florence Pugh and Harper could have been the doppleganger for Hayley Baldwin. It certainly didn't help that all three would try to imitate their more famous counterparts. In fact, that night they had styled themselves based on recent paparazzi photos of the starlets.

We met up at Joey DTLA, not too far from Dodger Stadium. Our dinner consisted of a few friends and family, a small party. After dinner, the waiter brought out desserts. One for each of us, a small red devil cake, shaped as a heart.

"We didn't order dessert," Haley said, perplexed.

"Just try it," I smiled at her.

Everyone tried theirs, until she was the last one. She felt odd being the only one not to have tried it, so she cut into it with her fork...

...and it hit something.

She used the fork to remove the cake and found a ring.

A princess cut diamond sat dead center surrounded by small sapphires.

She gasped, and brought her hands to her mouth. When she looked over to my seat, I wasn't there. She looked around and I was kneeling to the left of her arm.

"The story of our love is just beginning. Will you help me write this screenplay?"

Needless to say, I shocked everyone, especially her parents. Everyone was smiling and cheering. People around the restaurant all started clapping. With tears rolling down her cheeks, she said yes and kissed me.

***************

Six months later, my brother had flown in for the wedding. We had one week before the big day, and this upcoming Friday, was the bachelor/bachelorette parties, the wedding on Sunday.

He flew in late Wednesday.

Since my brother was here on short notice (I had been busy with my budding film career), I invited him to stay with us at our Santa Monica bungalow. The life and demands on a director are huge, constantly planning shoots and hammering out a myriad of details. It wasn't unexpected when I would come home late. This time I got lucky and came home early on Thursday.

I coasted my car to park at the curb, since my brother was parking in the driveway along with Haley. Parking is very hard to come by in LaLa land, so I counted my blessings. Walking up the path, I walked into the refreshing interior of our domicile. At first, I thought no one was home...the place looked empty. I took out my Apple earbuds, and that's when I heard sounds coming from our bedroom. Walking as silently as I could, I spied my brother fucking my fiancé. She had her ankles by his shoulders, her body at the edge of the bed. His hips were smashing into her loins and I could hear her enjoying it.

"Oh yeah, just like that. Give it to me...ooohhh, that feels so good!"

I was revolted and confused. How could they be doing this to me? Even though I was tempted to bust in on them, a quiet and reasonable voice was talking me out of it. Our wedding was just days away.

Walking just as silently down the hall, I left our place. I took a quick drive and came back. This time as I parked, I was blaring System of a Down out of my car with the windows rolled down. I took a moment, then turned off the car. Walking into my place, my brother was on the couch searching for something to watch.

He nodded, and said, "Hey man, Haley just jumped into the shower I think."

He never made eye contact.

I walked to the back, and entered the bathroom. "I'm in the shower!" Haley called out.

"I can see that," I responded. "Want some company?"

"Hey! We're not married yet," she joked.

"Okay, whatever, that hasn't stopped us before!" I said as I walked out.

It was late afternoon, and I asked my brother to join me for happy hour at the local bar. We headed over in his car so I could keep mine at the curb. I texted Haley letting her know we went for a few drinks. I picked seats away from the other people. We sat down, and I hit my brother with what I knew...

"Hey, I came home earlier and saw you fucking Haley." I choked out. "How could you do that man?" My voice was raw with emotions.

His face and shoulders collapsed. Guilt was written all over his face and body language,

"Hey, she started hitting on me. I swear, she was all over me and...before I knew it she was giving me a blowjob, then... Look! I'm so sorry! It'll never happen again."

He apologized profusely and I could tell it was genuine. I've always believed in second chances, so I figured this was his.

About an hour and a half later, we left and went back home. Haley and I started cooking dinner. It surprised me to what extent she acted like everything was normal. She is, after all, an actress. Despite that, I noticed Haley didn't look at my brother, nor did he to her. Once we were done, we drank and talked in the living room until we decided to call it a night.

In bed with Haley, she started flirting with me and talking about 'the big day' with a smile. I cut her off, and whispered...

"Is that why I came home to you fucking my brother?"

She blanked. Then she quickly started blaming him.

"He started hitting on me. No really, he was all over me and started grabbing me. Before I knew it, he carried me into the bedroom... Look! I'm so sorry! It'll never happen again."

She was in tears and swore to me it was a mistake she would never make again.

I was confused and didn't know who initiated it. I was torn, both seemed genuine in their apology. For the life of me I didn't know what to do. So my action was inaction, I did nothing.

I figured it was over and that was the end of it.

The next day, neither spoke to each other, and it was the day of the bachelor/bachelorette party. I just wanted to blow off some steam. Luckily, I got some good news.

My sister was invited to go with Haley to her bachelorette party, along with her squad. Haley's brother, my brother and my friends were going to mine. Since her brother was coming with us, we couldn't get too crazy, so it was a strip club. If you're not aware, in California you can't grope the strippers. You have to sit on your hands and they tease you non stop. They can press whatever they want on you, but you can't return the favor.

You can get private lap dances, and some dancers use that to try to sell you a 'girlfriend experience', in other words they 'escort' you. I didn't get one, and neither did the guys. After lots of drinks and stuffing g-strings and lap dances, we called it a night. My brother and I got home about 3am. He crashed on the couch, and I went to bed.

Haley wasn't home yet, but I figured it wouldn't be too long before she got home.

When they had stepped out for the evening, Haley, Faith and Harper were dressed like their celebrity twins with my sister in tow. There were some other girls with them, but I didn't know them as well.

I was about to nod off when I got a text. I didn't recognize the number, and they had attached a short video clip. In the short clip it showed a room that was dimly lit, but not so dark you couldn't see what was happening. In the video, it's clearly a hotel room, one of the larger ones. The video pans and in the mirror, I see Faith with cum all over her face. In the background, the sounds of sex and fucking can easily be made out.

The camera pans some more.

I see Haley on a bed being double teamed by two black men. She's clearly enjoying it and vocal about it. "Gimme that big dick! Harder!" I hear her say. Then another guy walks up and she dives on his cock, shoving her face down on it as far as she can. The camera pans again.

On another bed, my sister is being double teamed by two black guys as well. She's being split roasted with a cock in her mouth and pussy. Her body is being used like a giant sex toy. Then the guy whose cock she's sucking, moves and gets behind her to double penetrate her. I can hear Faith egging them on.

"Fuck that pussy! Give them that BBC! Fuck those little cum sluts!!" The video ends.

I feel like I'm going to vomit.

Nausea rises up in my gullet.

My sister is married going on four years and has kids. Her husband is a family friend we grew up with as kids.

Faith must have gotten a new phone, and meant to send it to Haley. Our numbers are almost the same except for the final number. We planned it that way.

Then another video pops up.

In it, I can hear the men saying they are going to cum. Haley gets on her knees as does my sister. The three men that were fucking my fiancé shoot wads of sticky white cream on her face. Her mouth is open and smiling as they do. My sister is just as thrilled as the two men drop their spunk on her waiting tongue and face. I hear Faith cheering in the background.

That's when I see another black man come up behind Haley and start fucking her doggy style, as she licks the cum off her face. My sister crawls over and they start kissing and licking the cum off each other's face.

Faith is cheering "Lick that cum bitch! Swallow that spunk Haley!"

In the corner Harper can be seen climbing onto a guy's massive cock. She's sweaty and her hair is all messed up. It's obvious she's going on another round or third.

The video ends.

So much for her swearing it would never happen again.

That's when I heard her walking in through the front door.

***************

I pretend to sleep, even do some snoring. She falls for it, or rather she makes a B-line to the shower. When I can tell she's in the shower, I go to my brother sleeping on the couch. Letting him know about the text. Then I ask him for a favor, and tell him I'll text him the rest. After that's done, I go back to the bedroom.

That's when I see Haley's phone light up.

Picking it up, I unlock it. Sure enough, it's a text from Faith, letting her know she sent me the video and not to her. Responding to her, I mimic Haley's previous texts, and tell her that 'Nate' was into it, and would keep her secret. That Nate was super horny when she arrived and we had just finished fucking. Then I ask her never to talk about it, not to anyone even me. Nate said it can never get out, and swore her to secrecy and silence. Before powering it down, I erased her text and my replies.

That's when I started texting my brother directions. I hear her finishing up in the shower so I walk to the kitchen to finish up the directions. In the kitchen I pull a half empty bottle of Voss water from the fridge as an excuse. Going back to the bedroom, I see Haley climbing into bed.

"I thought you were asleep babe," she says.

"I was, I got thirsty." I said, angry that she called me babe. "How was your party?"

Climbing into bed and snuggling up to her. She wasn't the only one trained in acting.

"Mmm," she took me in her arms and hugged me. "It was a lot of fun, and your sister fit right in with us. She's...what's the word... simpatico!

"Oh, you're learning Spanish now?"

She smiled, and I kissed her between the eyes. "Let's talk about it in the morning, it's late."

There was no way I could kiss her in the mouth after what I had seen. Somehow, probably from mental exhaustion, I was able to fall asleep. The next morning, Saturday, I cooked her favorite, Oreo pancakes. Mind you, we slept in till noon after last night. She smiled as she walked in. She was wearing a very revealing set of shorts and tank top. My brother started making noise, he was waking up too. I motioned her to cover up, but she just waved me off. That's the thing about actors and actresses, nudity or revealing clothing isn't such a big deal.

He shuffled into the dining area as we sat and started digging in. "Go take shower, brush your teeth while you're at it!"

He shuffled to the guest bathroom. We both giggled as he scratched his butt.

"Excited?" I ask her.

She gives me a blank look. Then her face lit up, "Oh my gawd! Tomorrow is our big day!"

I smile from ear to ear. I reach over and embrace her and take her into my arms. We kiss, genuinely kiss.

"Gross! Get a room!" My brother said as he shuffled out to join us for breakfast.

***************

We stood overlooking the ocean, on a bluff in Malibu. It was a small wedding, with just her immediate family and mine. We selected a close group of friends to join us. Many of our friends were mutual friends so that helped us out. In all there were about 50 people. She was wearing a long white but simple wedding dress. I was wearing a beige suit because no one wants to wear black in the California sun.

We didn't have a priest or a pastor, rather we had our favorite professor, my mentor officiate the ceremony. We read our vows to each other, and in front of those we cared for. I would love to say our wedding was special and unique, but doesn't every married couple cherish their own wedding as special and unique?

And wouldn't you know it, Faith and Harper were styled in clothing imitating their celebrity inspirations wedding attire. I swear.

That evening, our reception was held in the backyard of my favorite professor. He had lived in LA since the sixties and was one of the few that had a big house and yard in LA. Wine and craft beer freely flowed. The food was catered from an authentic Cuban restaurant called Versailles. The thing about LA is that every ethnic food you can think of, can be found here. And top notch quality food at that.

When it came time, Haley's parents showed a series of photos and videos of Haley growing up. It was cute and surprisingly funny at times. It was poignant and beautiful. Everyone 'awwed' as it came to an end.

It was my turn.

I stood up and used the mic from the karaoke machine. "I want to thank everyone for coming tonight. I am incredibly blessed to have Haley in my life, and I honestly feel like I have a new mother and father!" I lifted my pint glass in their direction. My parents nodded towards them. Haley was tearing up, and dabbed her eyes with a napkin.

"I put together a short film as well, dedicated to the future Mrs. Guertta!" I smiled and winked at my brother who was acting as our DJ/MC and audio-visual tech.

The film started with a low tempo bass of industrial/cybergoth/techno. Acting still shots of Haley's portfolio started waving across the screen as the music started increasing in pace. Then, I had spliced cut scenes from her tv appearances mixed and looped so she appeared to be dancing to the music. These were mixed with with actual video of her dancing in those rap videos that had landed her those rolls.

Then the beat dropped.

The music went into high gear. If this was a rave, this is when the crowd would go wild as the music started pumping to a faster tempo. The video was spliced and edited of Haley and her friends being raw dogged by many black men. I heard something between a scream and a shout and saw Haley's mother pass out. Her father was trying to take care of his wife and waving for someone to shut it off.

Haley and her squad were whiter than their normal white. Their jaws dropped to the floor, and I'm not exaggerating. I had edited out my sister since her husband was with her. As some of her friends finally woke up enough to stand in front of the projector, she started screaming at me. Her father threatened to sue me for everything I had. Picking up the mic, I calmly spoke to our friends and family.

"This short video was just posted to Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram. It's been hashtagged to all your accounts and to everyone I can think of in the industry. Your career is over B I T C H!!!"

Pandemonium ensued.

At least that's what my brother wanted me to do.

***************

Here's the thing the about Hollyweird, actors and actresses are constantly fucking around. Hollyweird is the most incestuous industry in the world. Any actor of standing can probably throw a stick at the Oscars and it'll hit someone they were fucking for a time.

Look at Will Smith and Jada Pinkett.

Her entanglement went viral, but no one ever talked about how Will Smith was fucking Margot Robbie in every hole while they filmed Focus. Everyone in the industry knew Will or Jada had an open relationship. The rest of America, not so much. Or how Margot Robbie was taking Dicaprio's johnson while filming Wolf of Wall Street.

So my decision was this; Haley and I were walking into our marriage with open eyes and hearts.

I had fucked both Faith and Harper while we were dating in our undergrad years. That's one of the first things I told Haley when I showed her the video.

Her jaw dropped.

She was so embarrassed, it took her several minutes before she spoke. When she did, she had tears in her eyes, genuine tears, and said,

"You were never supposed to see that." she cried. "I know how much it would cause you pain."

"I'll give you this," I smiled. "You got my uptight bitch of a sister to let her hair down!" I laughed.

She stared at me with wide open eyes. "You're not angry?" she said incredulously.

"Haley. I knew you slept with our professor back in college. I knew you were sleeping with Faith and Harper too. I knew what I was getting into. Honestly? I've jerked off so many times to this video!"

"Oh gawd, Nate!"

We were getting married in just a few short hours, and I had to make sure we both knew what we were getting into. I was clearing the air. We were alone in her dressing room. I explained how Faith had texted me by mistake. I was right about her using a new phone and mixing up our numbers. Also, how I had seen the text from Faith and intercepted it. Why else did Faith take my word if she wasn't aware we were both fucking her during undergrad years?

"So, we are low key going to marry into an open marriage. The best part is your parents won't even know. Here, take a look at these vows." I said as I gave her a paper with the vows.

To love is not to possess,

To own or imprison,

Nor to lose one's self in another.