Chapter Eight Asher #3
The effect is instantaneous. She cuts herself off mid apology, and stares at me with wide, slightly teary eyes.
‘It’s fine,’ I say softly, and I mean it too. ‘It’s just a shirt. God knows I’ve got enough. And this was the plan, wasn’t it? I’d say we sold the whole “exes who hate each other” thing really well. So, tonight was a win, wasn’t it?’
Imani gives me a shaky nod. ‘I know, I know. It’s just I’m so embarrassed. I didn’t even give you a heads-up on what I was about to do. You didn’t sign up to be humiliated in front of all our peers like that. And then, the way you looked at me?’
A dry laugh claws its way out of my throat. ‘The way I looked at you? What about how you looked at me? I’ve spent the last two hours sure that you actually do hate me.’
She shakes her head furiously. ‘No, not at all. Of course not. I guess it was just the shock of it all? Hearing you say—’
‘I was just playing the part,’ I say, cutting her off before she can repeat the cruel words I spat at her – I don’t need to hear them again. ‘Believe me, I didn’t mean a word of it.’
A little bit of tension seems to ease off her and she relaxes slightly. My hand is still on her thigh, and I can feel the way she seems to relax underneath my touch. ‘Sorry,’ she says again through a weak grin. ‘For the dramatics, I mean. You must think I’m such a mess.’
‘Never,’ I say, matching her grin with one of my own. Mess is simply not a word I’d ever associate with Imani. Even with tears pricking at the corner of her eyes and her fingers picked raw, she’s still as bright and beautiful as she was when I first laid eyes on her this evening.
Sloane clears her throat and we both jump.
I hadn’t realised how close we’d got to each other.
Imani’s shifted in her seat, leaning in so her bare arm is brushing against my jacket sleeve, and my hand is still on her thigh.
I snatch it away quickly and Imani clears her throat and scootches a little closer to the window, putting some space between us.
‘Now we’ve got that over and done with,’ Sloane drawls with a slight roll of the eyes.
It’s been less than five minutes, but I’m beginning to learn that Sloane has one setting, and it’s sarcasm.
‘Can we hurry up and debrief so I can get home and out of these?’ She wiggles her feet, showing off impressively high heels.
‘Right,’ Imani is suddenly all business again. She sits up a little straighter. ‘You were right, we absolutely sold the whole “we have a history and hate each other” story. Emmy wouldn’t stop probing.’
At this, Sloane pretends to gag. ‘What else is new with her?’
‘Emmy?’ I ask.
‘The blonde girl I was sitting next to,’ Imani explains. ‘She’s like the queen of high-society gossip.’
‘A bonafide modern Lady Whistledown,’ Sloane says.
I have no idea what that means, but Imani nods seriously so I assume it must be an accurate descriptor.
‘Really, all I wanted to do tonight was get on her radar,’ Imani continues. ‘And we definitely did that. Sloane, can you check the—’
‘Already on it,’ Sloane says, phone in hand.
‘What’re you looking for?’ I ask.
Sloane doesn’t respond right away. Instead, she taps at her phone and then scrolls for a few seconds. ‘Damn,’ she whistles, ‘I have to hand it to her, she is fast.’
Sloane flips her phone around and shows us the screen. The Instagram app is open and she’s paused on a recent story from an account called @TrustFundTea.
I frown. ‘Trust… Fund… Tea? What is this? Someone rich reviewing all the tea they drink?’
Imani bites her bottom lip to hide a smile. ‘It’s a gossip page.’
‘Called… what? What does tea have to—’
‘Oh my God,’ Sloane snorts. ‘Do you live under a rock? Actually, don’t answer, I guess you do. Just read the damn story.’
I glance back at the phone and squint at the words on the screen:
@TrustFundTea
Well, well, well… It wouldn’t be an event packed with high-society glitterati if there wasn’t a little drama, would it? Tonight’s tea involves two parties who aren’t normally found at the scene of the crime, which makes it even more juicy, amIright?
Tempers flared tonight when former lovers, Imani Davies and Asher Vouvalis, crossed paths… The air was thick with tension and let’s just say… words and fluids were exchanged
Long story short, the airline heiress tossed a drink in the hotelier prince’s face and he stormed off, but not without sending some particularly icy words her way. Brr! Who knew the baby Vouvalis had such a mean streak?
If anyone got any photographic or video evidence of the fight, or some tea on why they broke up (who even knew they dated?!?!), send it my way! DM or shoot me an email (in bio)*!
*all sources will remain anonymous
xoxo TFT
I reread the post several times, feeling a different emotion every time. On my last read, I settle for thoroughly confused. ‘What the hell? Who wrote this? Who runs this page?’
‘We’re not sure,’ Imani says with a shrug.
‘Emmy,’ Sloane says definitively.
Imani shakes her head. ‘It’s probably Emmy, but no one can actually trace it to her so she has plausible deniability. But anyway, this is good.’
‘What’s good about this?’ I ask, scanning over the post yet again. ‘And you didn’t throw it in my face.’
‘Emmy, or whoever it is who runs the page, doesn’t care about accuracy,’ Imani says. ‘It’s all about what’s going to generate the most drama and get the most comments. She’ll probably have a photo or video on the feed by this time tomorrow.’
Sloane swipes to the @TrustFundTea account page.
416 posts 173k followers 1532 following
Realisation quickly dawns on me: 173,000 people are following this account. 173,000 people will soon be reading all about what happened tonight between me and Imani. And by tomorrow, if Imani and Sloane are right, there will be photographic evidence for them to look at as well.
‘Your father isn’t going to like this,’ I say.
Imani blinds me with a grin that stretches from ear to ear.
‘That’s an understatement. He’s going to lose his absolute mind.
If I’m being honest, I thought it’d take us longer to get to this stage, but I’m not complaining.
If we’re lucky, this will be it. My father will take one look at the photo or video of me throwing a drink at you,’ she winces apologetically, ‘and he’ll call the marriage agreement off.
There’s no way he’ll risk the business’s reputation if this is what he’s going to get from us. ’
Somehow, her smile widens even more. ‘After tonight, we’ll probably never have to see each other ever again. Isn’t that great?’
‘Yeah. Great.’ I do my best to match her smile and try not to think too hard about why the prospect of never seeing Imani ever again makes my stomach twist.