Turning to Stone (Heart of Stone: Book 2)

Chapter 24: Compromise

"Is Sammie still on your payroll, then?"

Helen leaned back in her chair on the opposite side of the desk and crossed one leg over the other.

"We needed a guaranteed positive reaction," she said, "but the overwhelming majority of articles are also positive. I'm not entirely happy that you went off-piste on your first public appearance together, but clearly it paid off."

Our interview with Alisha had gone viral. Or at least part of it had: the part where I'd sliced an unimpressed stare towards my hot-shot, elusive boyfriend and then suggested I'd soon be bored of him. Taken out of context, Helen pointed out, I'd have looked rude and dismissive. Luckily, the clip had included my modest, and rehearsed, remark beforehand, as well as Ed's teasing, and unrehearsed, follow-up, so my reaction had been taken the way I'd intended: as a dry joke to humble a cocky boyfriend.

Then there were the red-carpet photos. One in particular had accompanied the viral video: Ed's mouth against my ear, my lips twisted in nonchalance and my head tilted away from him, with the creases around my eyes indicating playfulness rather than hostility. At least that's how the good people of the internet had interpreted it, and the narrative had spread like wildfire.

I couldn't ignore the irony of how the two things gaining the most attention were the two things that hadn't been staged. We'd rehearsed a lot with Helen, determined to portray a happy and uncomplicated relationship that couldn't be scrutinised. Instead, thanks to our failure to resist banter and point-scoring, I came across as a grounded civilian who wasn't fawning over her celebrity boyfriend.

Everyone had gone mad for it. Apparently they'd expected me to stand pretty next to him the whole evening, and instead they thought they'd scored intimate glimpses into our relationship. Not too far from the truth, really.

"I'm clearly a natural," I said, shooting Helen a grin. Then I cast my eyes over to Ed's tense frame several feet away, arms folded over his chest and long legs crossed at his ankles. "Should have asked me out months ago, Teddy."

His jaw locked but he didn't look at me. "If you were my real girlfriend, Sophia, you might have respected my advice a little more."

"It wasn't to do with respect. I wanted to make one final choice of my own before the privilege is stripped away from me."

Arms falling down to his sides, he spun in his chair to face me, irritation slicing across his face.

"It's not about choice. It's about risk."

"There was no risk. I took precautions and stayed out of trouble. Although, admittedly, I did go home with a very hot guy."

I swung my gaze onto Mark and tossed him a teasing smile. Not sharing my sense of humour—no idea why—Ed shook his head and folded his arms again, returning to the silent treatment.

"Okay," Helen said, her voice weary. "It's a miracle you two managed to pull this off last night. We do need to start taking it seriously, though."

"I'm sorry, okay, Ed?" I pushed aside the playfulness in exchange for sincerity, but when I tried to catch his eye, he stared straight ahead, face sombre. "Listening to that song three times in one evening, pretending it wasn't tearing me apart inside... It was intense and draining. I just needed to do something for myself, and I wanted a dose of reality after spending hours putting on a fake show while mixing with people whose lives are in a different league to my own."

He pressed his lips together and breathed out a sigh through his nose, his eyes briefly fluttering shut.

"And just so everyone in this room is clear on where I stand," I continued, "I'm happy to make some sacrifices or compromises, but the day I lose all my freedom is the day this charade ends. So tell me now if that's today, and we'll save ourselves a lot of time."
Silence engulfed the room. The large clock hanging off the wall behind Helen's head punctuated each uncomfortable second that passed.