I guess Mimi has already told you about Thursday?
LUC
That the world is due to end?
She might have mentioned it
SIENNA
Just know I am rolling my eyes at you so hard right now
Premiere, red carpet, Leicester Square
LUC
I’ll be cleaning my glasses that day
SIENNA
Luc
LUC
Of course I’ll be there, Sie, wouldn’t miss it
I pause for a few seconds, twiddling my thumbs. At least on Thursday we won’t have an opportunity to talk about anything. I can go on a little while longer pretending that everything is normal between us. Pretending that the last decade hasn’t happened and we’re simply in our early twenties, just getting to know each other for the first time again.
LUC
In fact, I would
Were I not with you
SIENNA
See you Thursday
I carry mine and Jess’s wines through to the living room where Jess is already curled up on the sofa, a blanket draped over her lap and the TV playing quietly in the background. The tortilla chips and salsa she brought with her are on the coffee table. She’s scrolling through her phone, the screen closer to her face than it probably should be. A short sound plays from the phone speakers, a few seconds of one video before she moves on to another. I slide in next to her, worming my feet under the blanket.
‘Tell me about last night,’ Jess requests.
‘There’s not a whole lot to tell, really.’ I gulp my wine, nearly choking.
‘Sienna,’ Jess drones. ‘Come on.’
‘I mean it, Jess. There’s nothing really to tell. We just set some ground rules, had a general catch-up.’ I fiddle with the skin around my fingernails and inhale sharply when I pull too much skin off.
‘Did you talk about what happened between you?’
‘Absolutelynot.’ I don’t look at her.
I fell into a relationship with Luc easily after we met onEric Lancaster’s Laughsthe first time. The way he was kind to me but treated me like I was anyone else. How that didn’t change after my album went to number one and everyone else in my life stopped treating me how they did before. Mimi, Jess, Rory and Luc were the only ones to treat me how I was used to being treated. Even the way Mauve reacted to me changed. She became so critical, like anything I wore and did that wasn’t quite up to scratch would reflect badly on her.
‘When will you?’ Jess asks.
‘Never, if I have my way.’
‘That’s not really fair on him.’
