Chapter 53: Aloud

Evening came and met Tom in bed with his phone in hand. He had been doing nothing but just scrolling Instagram. This wasn’t what he usually did but notifications kept coming in from the one comment he had dropped on that international model’s post.

That kept dragging him back to Instagram and he kept idling away there.

He had arrived back home after driving around town, thinking about nothing and everything.

"Seems I will become a comment celebrity soon enough..." He grinned to himself like a Cheshire Cat who had nothing to do. There had been a total of 150 likes on the comment.

Suddenly, the door to his room opened without a knock.

His head snapped up and when he saw who the culprit was, he pressed his lips together then looked back at his phone.

Sienna stepped inside, still in the clothes she had worn to the shoot, her expression was tight, sharp like it could cut.

"Hey..." She began in a loud voice.

"We have an agreement about this room. You don’t come in without knocking." Tom pointed out calmly as if he hadn’t just been yelled at, without glancing at her.

Sienna let out a short, disbelieving breath. "I don’t care about any agreement right now."

At that, Tom glanced up and studied her for a moment. The anger on her face was real, but underneath it he could see the strain - the kind that came from spending an entire afternoon managing something that refused to stay managed.

"Really?" he asked even though one part of him felt sorry she was going through a hard time.

"Yes." Sienna snapped back. There and then, the other part of him that said he shouldn’t care rose high up above the other.

"Okay." he said simply then he looked back down at his phone and unlocked it, thumb moving across the screen as if she were no longer the most pressing thing in the room. The quiet dismissal only sharpened her temper.

"Do you have any idea what your ridiculous, little appearance caused today?" she said, stepping further into the room. "That stunt at The Langford - appearing in a luxury suit, and that car, walking in and out alone , do you know what it’s done?"

Tom didn’t answer. He kept his eyes on the phone, scrolling with unhurried movements.

Sienna’s voice rose.

"They’re calling it a contract marriage again. The same blogger. The same accusations. People are tagging the Mayor’s daughter, telling her to pull the investment. And you just stood there earlier like none of it had anything to do with you." Her hands curled at her sides. "Was that intentional? Did you show up dressed like that on purpose? Were you trying to create a problem for me?"

"I bet you were! What’s your motive, actually? What the fuck is your motive?"

Tom locked his phone, set it down on the nightstand, and stood. He didn’t look angry. He didn’t look particularly interested in defending himself either. He simply walked past her toward the bathroom.

"Tom."

"Thomas."

He stepped inside and closed the door behind him. The soft click of the lock was quiet, but it landed heavily in the room.

Sienna stared at the closed door, her chest rising and falling too quickly. For a moment she considered shouting again. However, she knew that would be ridiculing herself further. She turned on her heel and left, the door to his room swinging shut harder than she intended.

~~~~~~~~~

Her own room felt too small the moment she entered it. Because of how her anger wanted to be let out... The room wouldn’t contain it.

Sienna walked straight to the dressing table, gripped the edge, and for a few seconds simply stood there trying to master the heat under her skin. It didn’t work. With a sharp movement she swept her hand across the surface. Brushes, compacts, and a small glass bottle clattered onto the floor. One of the compacts cracked open, powder spilling across the wood.

She was reaching for something else to break when her phone rang.

The name on the screen stopped her. Amanda. That was her public relations officer.

Sienna forced herself to inhale, then answered the call.

"Has the comment section turned around?" she asked immediately.

There was a short pause on the other end. "Not as quickly as it usually does."

Sienna’s eyes narrowed. "What does that mean?"

"The supporting comments are being pushed back harder this time," Amanda replied carefully. "For every coordinated positive reply we put out, there are more antagonistic ones answering them. The original post is still gaining traction."

"Then increase the volume," Sienna said. "Add more accounts if you need to."

"We’re already doing that."

"Then do it better." Her voice sharpened. "That’s what I pay you and your team for."

Silence stretched for a moment on the line. When Amanda spoke again, her tone had shifted; still professional, but firmer.

"There is one approach that would shut this down more effectively than comment management." she said.

Sienna closed her eyes briefly. "I’m listening."

"Public appearances," Amanda said. "You and your husband. Structured, visible, and consistent enough to make the contract-marriage narrative harder to sustain. Outings. A few controlled photos. Enough to look like a functioning couple rather than an arrangement under strain."

Sienna’s reaction was immediate. "No. Find another way."

"There isn’t another way that works cleanly before the launch," Amanda replied. "Not with the speed this is moving."

Sienna turned away from the dressing table and paced once across the room. "How am I supposed to trust him to cooperate? He refused to play along in front of Adrian Cole today. He corrected me in public and walked out. You weren’t there. You didn’t see it but I’m telling you that this man won’t cooperate."

"You know what the marriage is. And the man has changed." Sienna sounded reluctant to admit that out loud.

Amanda was quiet for a few seconds. When she spoke again, her voice was lower, more persuasive.

"I know exactly what the marriage is. I was the one who told you it was the only workable solution after that night. I’m not advising this lightly. I’m telling you that if you want the speculation contained before it reaches the people writing cheques for your launch, this is the most effective option left."

Sienna stopped pacing. The words settled uncomfortably in the room.

"You need him to agree," Amanda continued, still calm. "I can’t create the images without him. You’ll have to find a way to make it happen."

"Anyhow."

Sienna stayed quiet for a few seconds, then ended the call without replying then swallowed hard.

She lowered the phone and stood in the middle of her room, the scattered makeup still on the floor near her feet. The anger from earlier had not disappeared, but it now sat beside something more difficult to push aside - the reluctant understanding that Amanda was right, and the far more frustrating reality that the solution depended on the one person who no longer bent when she pushed.

She looked toward the wall that separated her room from Tom’s, her jaw tight, and realized she did not yet know how she was going to make him say yes.

"How do I achieve this?" She wondered aloud.