Chapter 300: The Grand Opening (1)

’Did he plan to announce our marriage tonight?’

The thought alone made Sienna feel both nervous and excited. She had imagined their marriage might be revealed to the masses soon, but she didn’t expect him to do it today.

At the same time, she knew she couldn’t let herself get carried away with assumptions, especially when they still had a business to prepare for.

She took out her cell phone and called Ava.

"Ava, where are you?"

"Huh? What’s with the tone? Did something happen downstairs? Why did you call me in such a rush?" Ava’s voice came through the phone, sounding surprised and concerned.

Sienna smiled. She already knew Ava was upstairs, but she needed to talk to her immediately.

"Sorry for the tone. Can you come back to the office, please? There’s something important I need to discuss with you."

"All right. I’ll be there in a minute."

Sienna ended the call and walked toward her office.

She sat on the sofa and waited for Ava, trying to organize her thoughts as she waited for Ava to arrive.

It didn’t take long before there was a soft knock, followed by the office door opening. Ava appeared behind it, her expression a mix of confusion and concern as she walked inside.

"What’s wrong?" she asked, immediately approaching Sienna.

"No. Nothing’s wrong." Sienna smiled reassuringly and gestured toward the sofa opposite her. "Can you sit down first, please? Take a deep breath and relax."

Ava let out a deep sigh as she sat across from her. "It’s your fault I look so tense, you know. You scared me, girl. I thought something had gone wrong with the cafe."

Sienna chuckled softly.

"Sorry, didn’t mean to. Everything is fine. I just needed to talk to you about something that I just learned a moment ago. So, yeah, right before the opening."

Ava looked at her curiously and anxiously, waiting for her to continue.

"There will be reporters from several big media outlets coming today," Sienna finally said.

"Wow!" Ava’s eyes immediately lit up, and she clasped her hands together excitedly. "Sienna, that’s great for promoting our business. This is exactly the kind of exposure we need. Thank God! I thought you’d share some bad news! That was good news."

"Yes, of course it’s good," Sienna agreed with a small nod. "But I need you to be our front face and do the interviews with them."

Ava’s excitement disappeared for a moment. She raised a hand, as if to stop Sienna from continuing.

"Wait. Wait. Why me?"

Sienna looked at her with an apologetic smile. "Ava, I can’t do the interviews. I’m hoping you can handle them for me."

"Why?"

"Honestly, I’m uncomfortable meeting the media because I don’t want them to start asking questions about my personal life, especially about Zachary."

Sienna paused and took a breath before explaining further. "As you know, my marriage to him hasn’t been made public yet, and I don’t know what kind of questions they might ask if I’m the one sitting in front of them, and I don’t want to give them a chance to do it."

Ava fell silent for a few seconds, considering what Sienna had said. Her expression became more thoughtful before she finally asked, "Don’t you want your marriage to Zachary to become public knowledge?"

Sienna smiled softly.

"I do. Of course I want people to know eventually, but I’m worried about what will happen afterward. Once people know I’m married to Zachary Sterling and my picture starts appearing online, they’ll look at me differently. I don’t need that. I like to keep living my life as freely as I do now."

She looked down for a moment before continuing, "Right now, I can go wherever I want without worrying too much about people watching me. But once my relationship with Zachary becomes public, everything will change. People will recognize me, and the media may start paying attention to everything I do."

Ava nodded slowly, understanding her concern.

Then, as expected, her serious expression quickly turned playful.

"My friend, you’re finally experiencing the problems that come with being wealthy and famous," Ava said with a teasing smile. "You don’t have the same freedom anymore. Once people know who you are, everything you do outside could become something for the media and paparazzi to talk about."

Sienna couldn’t help laughing. "Hahaha, you described it exactly the way I was thinking about it."

"I know you too well." Ava leaned back comfortably. "Besides, I understand why you’re worried. Being married to someone like Zachary Sterling means people will naturally want to know more about you."

"That’s what I’m afraid of," Sienna admitted. "I just want to enjoy my life without having strangers discussing every little thing I do." 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Ava smiled knowingly. "Okay. I’ll handle the reporters. I’m not worried about whatever questions they’ll ask."

Sienna looked at her with relief. "Really?"

"Of course. I will only talk about the restaurant all day, which I can because I know a lot, and more than most people. I’ll direct them to ask me about the menu, the business, the concept, the staff, or even why we decided to open this place. I’ll answer everything."

Sienna laughed again. "Just don’t accidentally tell them my entire life story."

Ava shook her head, amused by her friend’s response. "All right, my friend. No worries. I’ll meet the reporters and handle the business questions... I promise you, I can stay away from anything about your personal life."

"Thank you, Ava." Sienna finally let out a relieved breath.

"Don’t say that." Ava smiled warmly. "I’m your partner, and I’m responsible for helping you."

"Hmm, I know." Sienna smiled back as she stood from the sofa and gestured for Ava to stand as well. "Still, you deserve my thanks."

Ava stood and adjusted her clothes before following Sienna toward the door. "Fine. I’ll accept your thanks, but only if you stop worrying and focus on the opening."

Sienna laughed softly. "Deal."

They left the office together and returned to the busy café area.

Plenty of things still needed checking before the official opening that afternoon, and neither of them wanted to waste time.

As they walked through the café, Sienna looked around at the staff preparing the tables and making the final arrangements.