Page 66 of Hot Mic

‘That makes total sense,’ Carrie agreed mildly. ‘Which brings us to Zoe Moore’s questions on one particular subject. In one of the dates, a kiss was recorded, which, under pressure, you admitted to. Do you want to walk us through that?’

Sienna didn’t flinch. She kept her posture relaxed, leaning in toward her desk microphone with composure.

‘“Admitted” is a rather sensationalist word, Carrie,’ Sienna corrected smoothly, waving a dismissive hand. ‘Look, the whole point of this was to create drama. Gemma wanted the live lesbian version of Love Island. She was trying to push a narrative that the listeners wanted. Unfortunately, I played right into her hands by denying it the first time I was asked. What actually happened in that corridor was that Robin gave me a brief consoling peck on the cheek. When Zoe pushed for a dramatic soundbite, I used the word “kiss” in its broadest possible sense simply to move the interview along and stop her from badgering us.’

Carrie tilted her head, her grey eyes glittering behind her glasses. ‘A peck on the cheek.’

‘Exactly,’ Sienna said. ‘A completely platonic, supportive gesture.’

‘I see,’ Carrie murmured. She locked her focus directly onto Robin. ‘So it was a misinterpretation, Robin?’

Sienna turned to Robin, willing her to understand that she’d been given an out. All she had to do was take it, and no one ever had to know that something real had happened between them. Robin could forget it. It couldn’t haunt her anymore, if indeed it was.

Fifty-Seven

Robin stared back at Carrie, her mind short-circuiting.

A peck on the cheek. A completely platonic, supportive gesture.

Beside her, Sienna’s eyes were willing Robin to catch the life raft she’d just thrown them. Play along.

Robin’s growing pleasure at being in Sienna’s company evaporated. Sienna was ashamed of people knowing they’d kissed, embarrassed enough to rewrite the memory in front of an audience and reduce it to a sympathetic pat on the head.

And if that was the case, their kiss in the rainy street meant to Sienna exactly what Robin had feared. Nothing.

Fine, Robin thought. If that’s how we’re playing it.

She wasn’t going to drag Sienna on air. She wasn’t going to destroy the carefully reconstructed reputation Sienna was building. If Sienna needed it to be a sexless peck on the cheek to sleep at night, Robin would give her that.

Robin forced her mouth into a smirk, leaning lazily into her mic.

‘Oh, absolutely,’ Robin said, her voice dripping with exaggerated charm. ‘Total consolation peck. Standard procedure when you watch your respective dates having a pash with each other ten seconds after they met.’

Carrie paused. Robin flashed back to Zoe Moore’s tactics and thought, There’s no way she’s buying this. She’s gonna call bullshit.

‘And that seems like a good place to pause right there for a quick commercial break,’ Carrie announced into her microphone, her voice smooth as silk. ‘When we return on Off the Air, we’ll talk about what happened next.’

Instantly, Carrie relaxed back into her leather chair, tapping her iPad to check her notes. ‘Lovely work, ladies. I’ll just grab my producer’s attention about the back-half timing.’ She slid her headset down around her neck and headed toward the glass booth.

The moment Carrie’s back was turned, the performative air in Studio D vaporised.

Robin dropped her grin. ‘A peck on the cheek, Vance?’ she whispered. ‘Really?’

Sienna shifted in her seat, leaning slightly closer so her voice wouldn’t carry across the glass. ‘Robin, be sensible. If we get into the truth, Carrie will spend the rest of the hour picking at the bone. It’ll be Head vs Heart 2.0.’ She paused, her eyes flicking away. ‘I didn’t think you’d want that.’

‘No, yeah, right, of course,’ Robin said under her breath. A bitter laugh escaped her. ‘Because God forbid anyone thinks you might have actually wanted to kiss me.’

‘No, wait,’ Sienna interrupted, her brows pulling together in that familiar old unification. ‘You were the one who walked away on the street right after our other kiss.’

‘I walked away from a pity snog,’ Robin said, her blue eyes flashing anger.

Sienna’s eyes widened in horror.

‘And today is all the proof I need that it was the right call,’ Robin said. ‘The worst part is that I can’t even leave this time. People will start calling me the runaway bloody bride.’

‘Robin—’

Before Sienna could continue, the studio monitors beeped twice.