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‘I only ask,’ Sienna continued, leaning back slightly in her chair, ‘because according to the edited broadcast, my personality made for exceptional comedic material.’

Robin winced internally. She had been bracing for this exact confrontation, furious at production for editing out the second half of that conversation. The part where she’d immediately walked it back.

‘Sienna, look,’ Robin said quickly. ‘I made a cheap joke to break the ice. But I swear, right after that, I took it back. But that part was chopped—’

‘Robin, please,’ Sienna cut in smoothly. ‘You don’t need to apologise. It truly doesn’t bother me. That’s what you think of me. You’ve always been clear about that. It’s water off a duck’s back at this point.’

Robin bit the inside of her cheek. A dismissal was worse than an argument. Whatever progress they’d made with each other vanished in an instant. Sienna was sliding right back into her ironclad armour.

As the show rolled on, Zoe guided them through listener feedback, talking through every tedious comment and flip observation. After about ten thousand years, the episode drew to its natural close.

‘We’ll see where the next chapter takes them. Until next time,’ Zoe said into her mic cheesily.

They went off air.

Robin and Sienna gathered their things in silence, the quiet in the studio thick and suffocating. Sienna grabbed her blazer without a word, stepping past Robin and heading out into the carpeted hallway.

Robin followed close behind, trying one last time to break through the wall now that the studio microphones were cold.

‘Sienna, come on, wait a second,’ Robin said, catching up to her near the breakroom. ‘I was being serious. I really am sorry about what aired. I hate that you listened to that and thought I was just—’

A quiet buzzing hummed from Sienna’s hand. She stopped, looking down at her phone as the screen lit up with a text preview. Robin, standing right beside her, accidentally caught the name. Her eyes lingered on it for one lethal second before she snapped her gaze back up.

Sienna swallowed thickly. ‘As I’m sure you saw, that was Claire.’

Robin immediately threw her hands up in dramatic, theatrical support, her face locking into a ridiculous, over-the-top grin. ‘Claire! Amazing!’ Robin nearly yelled.

Sienna searched Robin’s face, her brow lowering.

Hello, unibrow, my old friend.

‘She asked if I wanted to get dinner,’ Sienna said eventually.

‘And you should!’ Robin declared smoothly, turning on her heel and aggressively zipping up her jacket with absurd concentration. ‘I mean, why wouldn’t you? She’s great. I, for one, am practically weeping with joy for you.’

‘Robin—’

‘Honestly, I might buy a hat for the wedding,’ Robin added, offering Sienna a totally fake thumbs-up as she backed down the corridor. ‘I’ll leave you to text her back. Wouldn’t want to let her go off the boil!’

Robin offered one last absurdly bright smile, turned on her heel, and walked away, leaving Sienna standing alone in the hallway with her phone in her hand.

Thirty-Three

Claire looked good. She was wearing her work clothes—a tailored white silk suit—her dark hair neatly pinned up, her posture relaxed as she sat across from Sienna for their midday coffee date. She was a beautiful woman, Sienna thought. Perfectly symmetrical.

Sienna thought that was probably not a compliment anyone would love. ‘Both sides of your face match! Yay!’ But Sienna was trying to focus on what was good. She was trying incredibly hard.

She asked thoughtful questions, listened attentively to Claire’s business stories, and even laughed when Claire made a mediocre joke about corporate tax loopholes. She was being a good date.

It was just a shame it was taking all her energy to achieve it.

‘Honestly,’ Claire said, taking a small sip of her flat white, ‘most tech executives think an audit is a punishment. I try to explain that it’s just a mirror. It shows you where you’re leaking energy.’

‘Good point,’ Sienna replied smoothly, shifting her almond croissant on its paper plate.

‘That’s why I find risk analysis so satisfying. You look at the raw data, identify the weakness, and eliminate it before it causes a problem. You don’t need to bring emotion into it. That’s the beauty.’

Sienna nodded. Yes, exactly. That was why Robin was a no-no. The raw data said, ‘This woman is a hot mess who will ruin your life and possibly your credit score.’ Claire was safe, intelligent, easy to talk to. They understood each other. There was no friction. As it should be. Claire was a good choice.