Fuck
Sienna, you have to believe me
That’s not what it looks like
The girl in the photo is Leia, as in Leia my sister’s wife Leia
We were planning my sister’s 30th birthday surprise
I didn’t even think how it would look I’m so sorry
I swing my legs out of bed, the offending broken dress in a heap on the floor. My voice is sore, but I try to ignore it as best as I can before my doctor’s appointment next week. I leave my phone on the sink when I get in the shower, and it vibrates against the ceramic. When I get out, there’s a missed call from Jess. My stomach sinks. I know what that means. I open the news app and there it is in black and white.ON THE OUTS? SIENNA SPOTTED LEAVING RENÉE ROSS’S PARTY IN OSCAR WINNER’S JACKET. It’s insane that the connection can be made so fast. A wild leap claiming me wearing a jacket must mean I’m in a relationship with its owner, or that I’ve slept with them.
I didn’t even kiss Alex. He’s not even in the photos. Why does that damn leather jacket have to be so famous?
At the bottom of the story there’s a box with all the men I’ve been connected to over the past fourteen years – most rumoured, very few ‘confirmed’ by anonymous sources.
I zoom in on the photo. Me clutching the bottom of Alex Paul’s jacket like my life depends on it, the gold skirt coming out of the bottom with those tiny clock sequins. The dressnow in a pile on the floor, which will need to be dry cleaned, fixed and sent back to Kendra Heath.
I open the windows and the slight breeze through the house clears my head. It starts to remove the putrid stench of a person hungover on whisky.
Jess arrives and immediately spots the coat at the end of the bannister. She points at it. ‘What are you doing with that?’
‘Could you somehow get it to Alex Pauls’s agent?’
‘Yeah, of course, but I need to give the papers a comment, so why do you have it?’
‘He really saved my ass.’ I pause. ‘Well, technically my boobs.’
‘Was heherelast night?’ Jess questions.
‘No, my dress broke and I borrowed it to come home in.’
‘You’re full of shit,’ Jess shakes her head with a laugh that doesn’t reach her eyes. ‘Luc is pictured with a woman you don’t know, and your first reaction was to try to get a rise out of him, to get him back, I take it?’
‘Jess, I swear to you. Alex did not come here last night.’ What state have I got my life in if even my best friend doesn’t believe I haven’t had a one-night stand? ‘We had a chat. About what kind of alcohol we like to drink if you must know – very PG.’
She laughs.
‘Do you want to count the condoms left in my box?’ I interrogate and then cringe at my tone.
‘Okay. Okay.’ Jess holds her hand up. ‘Where’s the dress now?’
‘On my bedroom floor.’ I flush, feeling a heat rising through my body and pooling in my cheeks.
‘I’ll make sure the articles reflect what really happened.’ She rubs my arm. ‘You and Luc okay?’
I nod. ‘Yeah, he texted me. We’re good. Still on for the charity gala.’
‘Alex has already been on Instagram Stories,’ Jess smiles. ‘He said – and I quote – that the world is “clinically insane”.’
‘He’s denying it outright, right?’ I bite my lip.
‘Of course.’
‘So, no harm done then.’
‘You and I both know that being a woman doesn’t work like that.’
