Page 76 of Once Bitten, Twice Fried
“Oh god, Zo. Everything’s a shit show, I’m so sorry.” He broke the embrace then held her by the shoulders. “That girl, she’s just an actress that I met to discuss this new film project. But of course, the bloody tabloids had to run with it.”
Zoe nodded. She couldn’t care less about this French actress, especially when she was the one who’d really cheated. She should be the one apologising to him.
“It’s alright, Tom. I know how tabloids are.”
Tom took Zoe’s face in his hands and planted a kiss on her lips. “I’m so relieved you understand. Last time we spoke on the phone wasn’t great and now this, I thought you’d be bloody livid with me.”
Nicki cleared her throat. “Hi Tom! Good to see you. I’m just going to let myself out so you two can talk about things.”
“Oh, hi Nicki. I didn’t see you there, sorry!”
“It’s alright.” Nicki smiled then waved at both of them before gathering her things and heading out the front door.
Being alone with Tom made things more stressful. How was Zoe going to approach this?So Tom, I slept with a woman I knew ten years ago and I thought about calling off the engagement but I ruined everything with her so now I have no clue what I should do. Fancy eloping next week to get the tabloids off our back?There was no good way to put it.
“Did you talk to your manager already? I just had a lengthy meeting with mine.” Tom walked towards a dining chair and sat down. He put his head into his hands. “This girl, she’s a gem. She’s one of these once-in-a-lifetime talents and there’s no one else I can see working with me on this project.” He looked at Zoe with pleading eyes. “It’s gotta be her. But at the same time…”
“The tabloids are never going to leave you alone.”
“Exactly.” Tom sighed.
“Well, I was in a meeting with Harry.” Zoe felt her heart beat faster. If she went this way, there was no going back. “He suggested… something.”
“What is it?” Tom frowned. Zoe knew that he’d always thought Harry was a slimy business guy.
“Well…” Zoe clasped her elbow. “He said that this is a reputational problem. And that the tabloids were very interested in our wedding that didn’t have a date yet.” She swallowed. Her chest was pounding. “Harry suggested we get married as soon as possible.”
Tom blinked.
A silence.
Zoe took a deep breath. “We really don’t have to. You know how Harry is-”
“That is fucking brilliant.” Tom interrupted. He stood up suddenly. “This man’s a bloody genius.” He walked towards Zoe, a big grin on his face, and took her hands. “Let’s do it.”
“What? Tom, surely we should-”
“Zo, we’re gonna get married no matter what, let’s get it out of the way and wriggle ourselves out of this mess. It’s such a bloody stupid situation and it’s going to ruin this project I’ve been working on. I don’t want tabloid scandals to taint my dream project!”
“But don’t you think it’s all a little too… pragmatic?”
“Pragmatic?” Tom chuckled. “We’re business people, Zoe. It’s just that the business is ourselves. I’m wearing this jacket because a brand asked me to. Every pot, pan and plate in our kitchen comes from one of your sponsorship deals. What’s a little more or less pragmatism in our lives? It doesn’t change the fact that I love you and I want to marry you.”
Zoe squirmed at his last words. Of course, there were always feelings involved deep down, but how could something real be hiding behind something so fake? Every public interaction she’s had with Tom was carefully planned and managed to look perfect. At times, she’d had trouble knowing if she was showing affection to Tom or for the invisible audience that seemed to be watching them at all times. Tom was right, their wedding wouldn’t have been any different if it was now or in two months.
Zoe suddenly wondered how she and Tom would be like if there ever wasn’t an audience to look at them any more. Would they be different people? If there weren’t tabloids to convince and people to charm, would they still be together? Maybe all of this really had been pure pragmatism from the start.
Julie’s face kept popping into Zoe’s mind. For every interaction that felt forced with Tom, being with Julie was a natural thing. There was no audience to watch and judge them, there was no one that Julie was trying to charm or impress, except for Zoe. To be fair, Zoe didn’t even know if Julie had been trying to impress her. Everything had seemed so genuine. Julie listened when no one else did and she cared when everyoneelse was busy. She had held Zoe all through the night like she didn’t want to let her go. But now this was all done and it wasn’t coming back. If Zoe couldn’t be with Julie, would it be so wrong for her to just focus on her career? What was a little bit more pragmatism going to change? But again, she had to come clean to Tom about what happened in Belgium. Zoe’s cheeks were burning. She wasn’t ready to do this. Not just yet. She felt like she was standing on the edge of a cliff.
Tom broke the silence. “Listen, I understand it’s a big decision. Please think about it and let’s decide in the next few days.” He smiled at Zoe, his eyes as tender as ever.
Zoe forcedly smiled back and nodded.
Chapter 33
“Ilike dogs and walks in the park.”The profile said in big black sans-serif letters on a yellow background. Julie had no idea why she was still even trying these dating apps, but it was a way to get through her lunch break. While she was working, she was fine - she could take her mind off of Zoe, for the most part, as long as she kept busy. But the second her mind had a second to wander, it would automatically circle back to her. She hadn’t heard from Zoe in a little over a week, since she’d told her to get out of her life. At times, Julie regretted the decision and wondered what would’ve happened if she’d let Zoe explain everything to her. Usually, though, she was happy she hadn’t put herself through that and actually stood her ground for once. Her entire heart had burned out for Zoe twice and she couldn’t let it happen again.
Yesterday, though, she had lapsed. Who knew what had driven her to it, but she’d found herself searching for news articles about Zoe. Before she even knew what she was doing, she’d been hit with a tabloid headline talking about “Tom and Zoe’s dream countryside wedding”which had a“surprise date”which was “kept secret by the two lovebirds”but really“will be later this month.”She’d spent a good few hours unable to get the image out of her head of Zoe rushing home to Tom, falling into his arms, and begging him to marry her as soon as possible. Had she even told him what had happened at the wedding, or was shewillingly going into this marriage built on lies? Maybe Zoe was a much darker person than Julie had imagined. And now Tom and Zoe were going to walk down the aisle and into their happily ever after, while Julie was still swiping on a stupid dating app to try to forget what Zoe’s touch felt like on her skin. At least if they were getting married, it really meant that it was over this time.
