Old Flames

‘Come on,’ Austyn said. ‘Fire away. No one has been granted an exclusive interview with me before. You’re the first.’ He had suggested the interview in jest, but now he found himself getting into it. Newspapers, TV stations and even radio had grovelled for an interview. Austyn turned them all down. But doing a one-on-one with her appealed to him. Kira couldn’t believe her ears. ‘He’s joking, right?’ she thought. Doing an interview with him, right now, right here? She was in her PJs. Her hair was uncombed. She hadn’t even brushed her teeth yet! This was not how she imagined her first celebrity interview would go. To be honest, she’d rather that he bestow this first-time honour on someone else. Austyn stood in front of her with an erect bearing, looking every bit like the high-powered, no-nonsense president that he was. Except that he was wearing only a towel and going commando. He waited. Oh well. Kira shrugged. Opportunity only knocked once. She couldn’t get back to her group chat right now, so she might as well help herself to the proffered free lunch. She looked him in the eye. ‘You asked for it. No backsies.’ ‘I never go back on my word.’ ‘Okay. Here’s the first question—who’s your first love?’ Kira was no snoop, but nor would she pass up a golden opportunity for juicy gossip. Besides, wasn’t an inquisitive mind a requisite for top-notch journalists? Austyn was the top dog, the head of the pack. Wealth, status, power. He owned more things than most men could dream of. Who owned his heart? Kira couldn’t wait to hear the answer. But she drew a blank. Austyn had gone quiet. The slightly upturned corners of his mouth were down. His eyes had gone cold, his face impassive. Uh-oh. She had struck a nerve, hadn’t she? Her question had put his back up. Kira could see her first interview going down in flames. She stammered, ‘Uh…you asked me to do the interview…’ After a minute that felt like a century, Austyn finally said, ‘Why do you want to know?’ Kira shook her head vigorously and clammed up. He was the one who volunteered to be interviewed. Then he got pissed at her very first question. What if she blundered again and antagonised him more? Silence is golden, Kira reminded herself. ‘Answer me,’ Austyn said with an impatient scowl. His voice was firm, in the same tone he used when issuing orders to subordinates. Seeing that stalling was not an option, Kira mumbled, ‘You were drunk on our first night. When you held me, you called out the name—Deborah…’ Austyn’s face darkened as soon as she uttered that name. A storm gathered in his eyes. Kira felt the room temperature drop by several degrees. ‘I didn’t mean to bring it up,’ she said in a quavering voice. ‘But you refused to let it go without an answer.’ Austyn was thrown when he saw her on the verge of tears. ‘I did not call out any name.’ ‘Bullshit,’ Kira thought. ‘His eyes were red that night. I remember it like it was yesterday.’ ‘Then why did you look like you were going to punch me in the face for saying that?’ she asked out loud. Austyn massaged his knitted eyebrows. ‘I wasn’t angry at you. I was…’ He took a breath. ‘You must have misheard me. I did not call out any name.’ Kira stuck out her lower lip. He just repeated his statement word for word, a telltale sign of not telling the truth. She rolled her eyes when he wasn’t looking. ‘Could be an ex-girlfriend or something,’ she said. ‘Not that I care.’ He didn’t have to lie to her. Her ears were in perfect working condition. She knew what she heard that night. Austyn gave her a long look, his face hard to read. Kira shrugged and spread her hands. ‘Don’t look at me like that. I mean it, I really don’t care. You are in your thirties. You must have dated before. Maybe fallen in love once or twice. If I spend all day feeling jealous over your old flames, I’d have no time to get any work done.’ A little peeved, Austyn said sarcastically, ‘Thank you for being so understanding.’ Kira returned the snipe with a sweet smile. ‘I aim to please.’ Austyn stared at her for a long second, his thin lips pursed. Then he got dressed and left the room without another word. Kira heaved a sigh, relieved. She sat on the bed for a while longer before heading into the bathroom. The bedroom was abandoned to silence, as if the jesting interview never happened. Kira knew the two of them could banter and share an occasional laugh, besides sharing a bed. But her head was clear. She had never lost sight of her goal. Austyn was more of an employer than a husband. He was paying for her to play the role of his wife. She would perform her wifely duties. But the contract did not grant her the same rights accorded to a wife in possession of her husband’s heart. She knew Austyn didn’t love her. She did not have the right to be jealous. There was nothing she could do if he brought Kayleigh home and kissed her in front of Kira. Tantrums were a privilege of the pampered. Kira swore as she checked her reflection in the mirror. It was not just her neck that was covered in hickeys. The only part of her body remaining untainted was her face. Anyone who saw her in her birthday suit would assume she was getting mistreated. Kira scrubbed her body vigorously with a loofah. It was better to remove a layer of her skin than to look like a victim of domestic abuse. But Elsie had sharp eyes like an eagle. The housekeeper smiled knowingly as Kira sat down for breakfast. Kira wished there was a hole in the ground she could hide herself in. Elsie plonked down beside Kira. ‘So? How was it? Did you manage to get any sleep last night?’ Elsie asked with a gleam in her eyes. Kira’s journalistic instinct kicked in as she detected something in the housekeeper’s tone. She narrowed her eyes. ‘Elsie, what did you do?’