Chapter 56: Extension

Sienna stood in the hallway for several seconds after the door closed in her face.

The quiet click of the latch felt louder than it should have. Her jaw tightened as she stared at the door, her fingers slowly curling into a fist at her side. It was a small thing - being told to wait, being asked to come back later but it landed with more weight than her pride could accept without suffering a dent.

There had been a time, not long ago at all, when Tom Harlow would have opened the door wider the moment he saw her. He would have adjusted himself around whatever she needed before she had even finished speaking.

Sienna exhaled through her nose and forced her hand to unclench. She could not afford to lose her temper now. Not when she needed something from him. She turned and walked back toward her room, each step measured, as if control could be maintained by posture alone.

Inside her room, she sat on her dressing chair and stared into the mirror but she wasn’t seeing her reflection. She was seeing something else. The memory of how he had stood in the doorway returned, upright, calm, speaking without the old careful softness. There had been a steadiness in his voice that she did not remember. One part of her, the part that noticed details whether she wanted to or not, registered it as confidence. Charisma, even.

"Wait, what?"

The other part of her rejected the thought immediately.

That other part maintained that Tom Harlow was still a bartender. An opportunist who had said yes to a drunk woman and found himself inside a life he would never have reached on his own. Whatever this new posture was, it did not change the foundation.

She repeated that to herself until it sat still enough to accept.

~~~~~~~~~

By the time Tom came downstairs, she had already been pacing the living room for several minutes, a cup of tea she hadn’t touched at her, sat in her hand.

Tom had showered and changed into casual clothes. When he entered the room, Sienna stopped walking. For a moment they only looked at each other across the space.

"I’m ready. We can talk now." Tom called out. His tone was calm, neither cold nor particularly warm.

Sienna glanced down at the cup in her hand, then back at him. The next words left her mouth before she could refine them into something more natural.

"Have you had breakfast?" it landed forced.

Tom’s brows lifted slightly. The question was ordinary but coming from her to him, it was not.

"No, but we can talk first." he said.

He moved to one of the seats and sat down. After a brief hesitation, Sienna followed and took the chair opposite him. The low table between them felt wider than usual. She set the cup down on it carefully, using the small action to gather herself.

For a few seconds she did not speak. Then she folded her hands loosely in her lap and began.

"I need to protect what I’ve built," she said. Her voice was quiet, but there was a tightness underneath it. "The investment, the launch. Everything connected to it. What’s happening online right now is not small, and it will get worse if it isn’t handled properly."

Tom didn’t interrupt. He watched her with a quiet attention that made it harder to rush the words.

"I need you to help me contain it," she continued.

"through public appearances. Enough for people to see us as a functioning couple. Enough to quiet the speculation before it reaches the people who are actually funding the collection."

The silence that followed was short, but heavy.

Tom leaned back slightly in the chair. When he finally spoke, his voice was still calm.

"If you need me for something that important, then you should be civil about it."

Sienna’s fingers tensed against each other. She blinked, telling herself inwardly that this man was trying so hard to appear charismatic before her. She gritted that she already knew the endgoal... Definitely to collect money from her in a formal way.

"I am being civil. I am, in every sense. And that’s why I have prepared this." She said then reached for the folder she had prepared earlier and placed it on the table between them. The movement was controlled, but there was an undercurrent of urgency in it.

"I’ve had an agreement drawn up. You can state whatever amount you want. Including any other conditions that make the arrangement worth your time. In return, you appear with me as needed until the launch is over and the collection has had time to settle in the market." she informed him.

Tom’s eyes moved to the folder, but he didn’t reach for it.

"Not immediately after the launch?" he pointed out, noticing that the timeline was now different from earlier planned.

Sienna met his look and nodded. "No. A little longer than that. The situation has become more complicated than it was before."

"How much longer?" he asked.

She hesitated for half a second. "Two months after the launch."

Tom was quiet. She could almost see him calculating it - Roughly three months from now, if not more.

"That’s not a small extension," he said.

"I know." Sienna forced herself to keep her voice still calm and negotiating, instead of snapping or shoving it in his face. "That’s why I’m willing to make it formal. As formal as it would please you. State what you want. Whatever covers your time and the inconvenience. I’m prepared to pay any amount." She maintained firmly.

Tom looked at her for a long moment. Something unreadable moved behind his eyes; not anger, not eagerness, but a careful measuring of the situation and of her. When he finally spoke, his tone remained calm.

"I’m not interested in your money."

Sienna blinked once. The answer landed harder than a demand would have.

"Then what exactly do you want?" she asked but from her eyes, he knew she didn’t believe what he just said.

Tom didn’t reply immediately, his gaze lowered for a brief second before it returned to her face. The pause stretched long enough to become uncomfortable.

Then he stood up.

The suddenness of the movement made her straighten slightly in her seat. He looked down at her from across the table, still his expression was calm but unreadable.

"You won’t be able to do what I’m going to ask for," he announced.

Sienna’s brows drew together. The instinct to argue rose first, sharp, familiar, ready. But she pushed it down and held his gaze instead.

"I will," she said. The words came out firmer than she expected. "Whatever it is. I’ll do it."

Tom studied her for another second, as if testing the weight of that promise against everything he already knew about her. Then he stepped back from the chair.

"I’d need a moment to think whether I can work with the new timeframe." He said.

Sienna gulped.