Sophie arrived right at seven, just as she had promised. Owen was already waiting in the apartment, freshly showered, wearing a light gray rolled-up shirt, his hair still damp. As soon as he saw her, a smile slipped out.
"Your mother let you out dressed like that?" he asked, seeing her in a tight black tank top, black-painted nails, and black jeans. It looked like some kind of rocker or punk outfit.
Sophie raised an amused eyebrow as she stepped in casually, setting her bag on the back of the chair.
"Don't copy Matt's jokes. Besides, I'm twenty years old. I can dress however I want, it's not like when I was a teenager and she could say something," Sophie said.
"I bet she still gave you a disapproving look," Owen said as he closed the door.
"Of course she did, but she should be grateful. Kids of very religious parents are almost always rebellious. And I'm a pretty tame version, I never gave her much trouble," Sophie said, sitting on the couch as if it were her own home.
"You sound very confident about that fact. Have you read a lot of surveys about it?" Owen asked with a faint smile.
"Yeah, sure. I spend my time reading statistics about teenage behavior and religious trauma. It's my hobby," Sophie replied sarcastically.
Then she shifted on the couch and moved to the side. "Come on, sit down. Let's watch the movie," she added, glancing at Owen.
Owen dropped down beside her like last time. "Relax, Netflix won't pull the movie from the catalog. Besides, I haven't even made the popcorn yet."
"What do you mean you didn't make the popcorn?" Sophie asked, feigning outrage. "That's bad customer service. You just lost a point on this date."
"A whole point? You're demanding…" Owen laughed, but then fell silent for a moment, his expression turning more serious.
Sophie noticed right away and turned slightly toward him.
"What is it? Everything okay?" she asked curiously.
"Yeah, yeah. It's just… before the movie starts, there's something I want to talk about. Something I think you should know," Owen said.
Sophie's smile faded a little at his serious tone.
"What is it?" she asked. "Will you finally tell me about your mysterious past?" she guessed.
"Yeah, your intuition's good," Owen said.
He leaned forward on the couch, elbows on his knees for a moment, searching for the right words. He didn't take long to find them. In about ten minutes, he told her everything. Not with drama or excuses, but with a strange calmness, like someone accepting something that can't be changed anymore.
First, he told her how he was expelled from the university's acting program because of absences, bad grades, erratic behavior, and so on. Then he went on to explain how his whole family cut ties with him after finding him throwing a party at the house with drugs…
Owen knew that if he stayed in a relationship with Sophie, sooner or later she would find out. He couldn't hide forever the reasons why he didn't see his family, or what had happened with college.
When he finished, silence lingered for a few seconds between them. Sophie had listened quietly to the whole story. Inside, she was very surprised.
Because the Owen she knew, the one who had hired her to act in Paranormal Activity, the one who wrote the script, organized the shoot, set up scenes, acted with complete dedication, didn't match that past at all.
That Owen was hardworking, disciplined, sarcastic in a good way, with clear ideas, goals, and structure. He didn't seem like someone lost or consumed by parties, alcohol, or worse, drugs.
And yet, he had told the truth with such calmness, with such serene honesty, that Sophie knew he wasn't lying.
But then, how did it all fit together? How do you go from the wreck he had just described to the version she knew now?
And that's when she understood, or thought she did, what had happened.
Hitting rock bottom. Being found by your father, high, in the middle of a wrecked family home. Taking a punch in the face, being thrown out of the house with your parents' total disappointment, cut off completely from family, and losing everything: money, safety, and blood ties.
That, Sophie thought, had been the breaking point.
No financial support. No home. No one to save him. He had been forced to rebuild himself from scratch.
And somehow, he had done it, by producing a movie. Although now she understood where the money had come from, the car his parents had bought him.
She didn't yet understand all the details or Owen's older past, but she could see that he had truly hit rock bottom and changed for the better.
And it wasn't just intuition. She had seen it with her own eyes.
She had known Owen for almost a month. They had shared the set, and she had seen how seriously he took the production of Paranormal Activity.
"Sophie?" Owen asked, noticing she had gone silent, her gaze lost in thought.
Suddenly, Sophie furrowed her brow, slowly turned her face toward him, and looked at him with a grave expression. She jumped up from the couch and exclaimed indignantly, "I can't believe it… You lied to me this whole time. My mother was right. All attractive guys like you are a mess and liars."
Owen blinked, bewildered. His body tensed instantly.
"What…? No, I didn't lie. I just… hid the truth for a while. That's different," he said, trying to justify himself, his tone clearly nervous as he got to his feet.
Sophie glared at him, her face clearly angry, but inside she couldn't help but smile. It was the first time she had seen Owen like this. He was always so confident, decisive, sarcastic. But now she had him cornered, and she couldn't help enjoying it a little, since usually she was the one who got nervous because of him.
"No, you're a liar. I bet you bullied people at school. I can't be with someone like that," Sophie said.
Owen opened his mouth to respond but couldn't find the words. He should have considered this possibility. Today's youth were far more judgmental about such things. If there were suspicions of bullying in his history, even if they hadn't been his, but the previous Owen's, he was clearly in cancellation territory.
"No, no, wait, I never bullied anyone… well, not physically…" Owen tried to piece together a coherent defense.
"Oh, so that's better than verbal bullying? I'm sure you tossed out hurtful comments you thought were funny with your little popular-kid friends," Sophie said accusingly. "Classic."
She was right. The previous Owen had indeed made cruel remarks back in high school, when he was the most popular boy.
Owen fell silent, not knowing whether to justify himself or apologize for crimes he hadn't committed, but still had to take responsibility for.
In the silence, Sophie couldn't hold back her laughter at Owen's expression. "God, your face. Worthy of an Oscar," she said between laughs.
Owen blinked. For a second he was frozen, until he finally understood. "You… were acting?"
"Of course," Sophie said, sitting back down on the couch with a satisfied smile.
"You… are evil," Owen said, calmer now, as he sat beside her again. It seemed their date was still on.
"I can never beat you at these things. I had to take advantage," Sophie said with a faint smile.
There was a brief silence.
"Seriously, it doesn't bother you? You want to continue the date…?" Owen asked, turning his head to look at her.
Sophie met his eyes and replied, "Yes. I give people chances. And I saw how you treated everyone on set. Always kind and respectful. Not just with me, with everyone. It's clear you've changed."
"Although…" she added, standing up, "I'll be keeping an eye out. Clinical eye activated. No weird relapses or shady stuff. Got it?"
"Got it, Inspector," Owen nodded as if speaking to a police officer.
"Perfect. Then let's make the popcorn, Mr. Reformed Troublemaker," Sophie said with a smile, holding out her hand.
Owen laughed as he stood and took her hand. "I think you just invented me a horrible new nickname."
"And one you earned," she replied, leading him by the hand toward the kitchen. "Now let's make the popcorn, a movie awaits us."
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