Then Things Went Dark, page 23
“The allegations,” Theo finishes softly, staring at the letter aghast. “Should we even finish reading it? I don’t want to give those bastards a single moment of a platform.”
He can barely keep a straight face. He gave those bastards a platform for days before the allegations came out—as though he didn’t know, as though he didn’t come in here to distance himself from it when it all hit the fan.
“Well, I,” Araminta hesitates. “I think if anything that makes reading it more important.”
“Oh, you are absolutely reading it,” Rhys encourages. Sitting opposite Theo, they can hardly see each other for the flames of the pit.
Araminta reaches for her drink before continuing. “You will not believe what is happening out here. We’ve been booked for Coachella, we’re up for seven Turntables, and last week we performed on It’s Friday Night. The phone hasn’t stopped ringing—though obviously you are very much missed—even if you aren’t missing us, you grumpy bastard. Hurry back and let’s turn all these tensions into chart success—Al, Dante, and Tyson.”
“I hope they all rot in a prison cell,” Theo seethes.
Rhys dramatically unfurls his scroll.
He freezes for a second before the lazy grin falls back in place.
“You know, surely the whole joy of this is watching someone else react—and you don’t really get that with me reading it, so let’s just move on.”
Isko is quick to his feet and quicker at yanking it from Rhys’s fingers.
“So I’m guessing we’re over. Valerie,” Isko reads.
“What?” Araminta yelps.
“PS, I left your shit in a garage. You’ll need to pay the bill.”
They stare at Rhys and his eyes flit around them all like a cornered animal.
“Something to tell us, Sutton?” Theo asks.
Rhys is caught, hesitating for longer than he ever has before.
Araminta keeps her eyes on the scroll, blinking quickly. “You have a girlfriend?”
Kalpana: You could hear the lump in her throat. It was fucking heartbreaking.
“Had, clearly,” Isko says, turning the scroll over like there might be more, but that’s it.
“No, well yes, I have an ex,” he turns to Araminta. “You know my crazy ex—I told you about her. This is her. She must have convinced AHX we were still together so she could write this and they could have a dramatic TV reveal. I swear, I’m many things, but I’m not a cheater.”
Isko has to turn away before he says something Rhys will want revenge for.
Araminta glares at him, unsure whether to believe him.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she says.
“What do you mean? I told you about this—about her!”
But he hadn’t. Rhys has made it very clear how he feels about discussing exes.
Araminta shakes her head. “I…I need to be alone right now.”
In the confession booth, Araminta clutches a tissue, her eyes red like she has only just stopped crying. But now she sits straight, like she has come to a resolute decision.
Araminta: I believe him. AHX should have done better checks on this girl. As far as I’m concerned it didn’t happen. Rhys and I are happy—that’s all that matters.
@KylaPayne
“I’m many things but I’m not a cheater” RIOTS! RIOTS IN THE STREETS! WE RISE AT DAWN!! If you too hate Rhys Sutton, may I direct you to my etsy for public enemy number one shirts #Iconic
@EmptyRoomBlues
Okay but the fact we all know Al wrote Theo’s letter just because of the coffee comment! Please, this band will be back together again in no time and it will be amazing #TheoToWin #Iconic
@ErikaDolson
@EmptyRoomBlues are you just…seriously ignoring the allegations?
@EmptyRoomBlues
@ErikaDolson oh sorry didn’t realize allegations were the same thing as a verdict in a court of law. Innocent until proven guilty. And maybe with deepfakes and AI photos you shouldn’t believe everything you see on the internet
@RealiTea
‘AHX asked me to encourage Araminta to date Rhys on that phone call and I really wish I hadn’t listened to them’—Araminta’s Bestie Binki Rose speaks out on behind-the-scenes secrets www.realitea.com/iconic/binki-rose-speaks-out #Iconic
Cloutier’s swearing so quickly the words are blurring together and Kennard just keeps staring at Maes. This is it. It’s over.
He gave up everything for this, gave up Cloutier for this, and it didn’t even matter.
“Well?” Maes demands.
Cloutier’s phone rings in his hand.
“It’s Steiner. I need to take this,” Cloutier says, answering the call and running from the room.
“That was a year ago,” Kennard finally manages.
“And you expect me to believe it’s stopped?”
“Yes.”
She slams the laptop closed. “You know what, fuck both of you. A man’s death will be aired on television because of you two, and worse, a murderer could walk free. At best, you haven’t given it your full attention, and at worst, you’ve given any defense lawyer immediate grounds to have the case thrown out! You’ve just spat in the face of every single person working on this.”
“I didn’t, I…look, we haven’t done anything. We’ve even interviewed separately, tried to avoid each other—”
“Tried to avoid your partner! Do you hear yourself? You should have told them you couldn’t work this case the minute you were both assigned.”
“I thought it wouldn’t impact it.”
“How could it not impact it?” She stands from the desk and goes to storm from the room but Cloutier reappearing blocks her way.
“Well?” Kennard asks.
Cloutier can’t even look at him. “We don’t have time for them to take us off the case—a new team wouldn’t get here quickly enough. So we have the day, and then we’re suspended. There’ll be an investigation and a disciplinary hearing.”
“Shit.”
“We can still do this,” Cloutier says.
Kennard can’t even think.
“We need to act—to prove that we can manage this.”
“To deflect, you mean,” Maes sneers. “To get the press focused on something else.”
“That, yes, but also to pressure AHX not to air the episode. To maybe get the world focused on the fact a man died, horrifically, and maybe someone caused it.”
Cloutier and Kennard both go to the room, police stationed outside the door, but they can’t imagine there will be need for the extra manpower.
“Francisco Andrada,” Cloutier says. “You are under arrest in connection with the murder of Rhys Sutton.”
Season 1, Episode 15
The scene opens in split screen: Araminta asleep on the sofa and Rhys wrapped in the linens of her bed. He’d practically moved in, his suitcase on her floor, his pills on the bedside table, his products all over her bathroom.
After all that happened last night, he still felt like he could exist in her space.
Araminta: I do trust him. I do. But I couldn’t face it last night. I needed time.
The scene jumps to Rhys and Araminta together, clutching mugs of coffee in the morning light. The camera manages to find the one angle where they are framed by palm trees and exotic flowers, rather than the beige pool patio or the firepit still littered with the glasses and mess of last night.
“So what happened?” she asks.
Rhys sighs. “I dated Valerie for a few months about a year ago. She’s been obsessed with me ever since. She’d call me at all hours and message my friends on Instagram to find out where I was. When I did A Doll’s House, she booked a ticket for every single show. It must have bankrupted her. And she’d throw things on stage, notes or flowers or her underwear. I ended things with her in October last year, but I guess she managed to convince AHX that she was still my girlfriend—I mean, she never even was my girlfriend. We were never exclusive.”
Araminta nods, drawing her knees to her chest. “That’s…a lot.”
“Yeah.”
“You never mentioned her though.”
He turns to her sharply. “Yes, I did. Nice to know you can’t even remember my crazy ex-girlfriend stories. They’re some of my better ones.”
“You didn’t.”
As Rhys turns to her, something about his gaze is inquisitive and something is hideous. “I’m not the only one with crazy exes, Kalpana attacks me every other day about you.”
Araminta: One stupid, drunken kiss.
“We don’t need to bring Kalpana into this,” Araminta says bluntly. “We’ve covered that.”
“Really?” He snorts. “Do you think she’s somehow going to not say something about last night? And are you going to be on my side when she does?”
“Of course,” she snaps. “I don’t care about her. I care about you. And I don’t give a shit about your ex-girlfriend, even if the letter was true. You love me and I love you. It’s simple.”
“‘Even if the letter was true.’ Oh, I’m sorry—do you not believe me?”
“Yes, I believe you. I’m just saying,” she adds, shrugging. “I’ve had crazy ex-boyfriends too. The best of mine wrote songs about me. The worst…there was this one guy I dated for a few weeks who started turning up to all of my art shows, even followed me home a couple of times. One show he turned up with a hammer and started smashing a sculpture to pieces, and I just knew he wished it were my face.” She shudders. “Actually, it wasn’t even just terrifying when it happened; it’s terrifying now. I still have to triple-check the security on my events.”
Rhys gazes across the pool, toward the dip of the beach. “Valerie…it’s ridiculous. How the hell did she manage to convince AHX we were together?”
Araminta falls silent, her knuckles paling around her coffee cup.
“So last night,” Kalpana says.
Isko: Do I have the energy for this ordinarily? No. Do I have the energy for this before I’ve even had coffee? Absolutely not.
“Yes, that sure was a night,” Isko replies.
She doesn’t pick up on his mocking tone. “I can’t believe Rhys has a girlfriend—on the outside, I mean.”
Isko: I can!
“It’s not fair on Araminta,” she continues. She has to—she can’t back down now. “He treats her terribly anyway and now this.”
“How exactly does he treat Araminta terribly?” he says, before immediately regretting encouraging her.
“Oh, I don’t know—the insults, the controlling behavior, the gaslighting.”
“Gaslighting? Oh, there’s a term people love to throw around. Where’s your proof?”
“He literally did it last night, saying he told her about his crazy ex—which, by the way, do not even get me started on. That phrase is—”
“Please save the feminist rant,” he says. “Rhys is simply bringing entertainment. If it bothers you so much, why don’t you say it to his face?”
“Because I don’t want to cause any conflict.”
“Then why are you here? For god’s sake, woman, actually do something about it rather than bitch to me because as I believe I’ve made very clear—I don’t care.”
Isko: Look, to be honest this Valerie thing is a relief. Now Araminta’s been shown who he is, she can decide whether she still wants him, and it has nothing to do with me.
Kalpana tries the same thing on Jerome later.
“What the hell is wrong with people nowadays?” he asks. “Abuse is being hit, Kalpana; it’s being hurt. Not lying or telling slightly mean jokes. Stop devaluing actual abuse victims by saying shit like this counts.”
And with Theo.
“I say this because I like you—you just have to let them get on with it. You’re only hurting yourself.”
And all she wants to do is talk to Araminta, but she can’t. Every time she so much as looks at her, the other girl pointedly ignores her or glares so viciously it’s a wonder no one turns to stone.
Araminta hadn’t realized how tiring pretending to be fine was. All she has left are her feelings for Rhys, and she is manipulating them so she doesn’t lose them. Because what is she without them? Without him?
She feels like a person whose edges are diametrically opposed—like the parts of her that are at war might split her open in their haste to race apart.
It feels good, his kisses, his hands, feeling this wanted in the face of everything, and it feels gut-wrenchingly awful to think, but she cannot stop her racing mind.
“Rhys, something else about Valerie—”
“God, can you not, please?” he begins harshly, but as he carries on speaking, he softens. “Please, Araminta, I know it’s messy, but this woman stalked me, hurt me, and now she’s trying to ruin the best thing to ever happen to me. Just…I know you have questions, but my ex-boundary exists because of her. Thinking about her is traumatic for me. Can’t you respect that?”
“I…” she starts, confused. She doesn’t want to needle at sensitive parts of himself that he has so bravely shared with her. “Of course, I don’t want to hurt you. Excuse me—I’m just going to the bathroom.”
But she goes instead to Isko.
She’s not sure where she stands with him. It seems to fluctuate. She thinks he’s more loyal to Rhys than to her. But mostly she thinks he’s not loyal to anyone, which works for her purposes.
“He says she’s an ex,” she says.
Isko had been in the middle of mixing a drink, but now he puts the soda he had been about to pour down and shoots the rum straight.
Isko: Have I, somehow, made myself the emotional support for everyone here? I cannot tell you how terrible a decision that is.
“Do you believe him?”
“Yes,” she says instantly.
Isko: I guess this is my opportunity to tell her without telling her, you know?
Isko looks at her shrewdly. “Darling, you know better than that.”
“You don’t believe him?”
“I don’t believe anyone. But he has a thousand reasons to lie and none to tell the truth,” he says. “But then again, what harm is there in believing a lie if it makes life easier.”
“I’m not interested in making my life easier. I want the truth.”
“No, you don’t,” he says. “You wouldn’t be talking to me if what you wanted was the truth. There’s nothing wrong with easy, Araminta. Isn’t everything hard enough anyway?”
She considers, but part of her is distracted: How much longer until Rhys wonders where I am? What would he say if he found out I was speaking to Isko about this?
“What would you do?” she finally asks.
“Me? Christ, don’t come to me for advice. A boy like that? I wouldn’t believe a single thing he said and I’d love him anyway. I’d lie to myself a thousand times for a single chance at happiness.”
“This is deep.”
“I know.” He unscrews the rum. “Let’s not do it again, hmm? We’re in paradise. Go act like it.”
“Can I just—”
He smashes the bottle back onto the counter. “For fuck’s sake, I’ve answered your questions, haven’t I? Why is no one on this damn island capable of talking to each other. I’ve tried to be polite, but frankly, I don’t want to talk to you about the man who—” He is desperate for breath when he catches himself. “I’ll talk to you about a lot, okay? But I don’t want to talk to you about this.”
Isko: I tried. My conscience is clear.
“Has Kalpana spoken to you?” Rhys demands.
Isko: Busy day for me. I’d better be getting screen time.
“Yes,” he says.
“About me?”
“Yes.”
“This is ridiculous,” he says, fuming. “Jerome just told me she’s telling everyone I’m abusive.”
Jerome: Of course I told Rhys. He’s my boy.
“Yes.”
Rhys swears and kicks the trash can. It falls and rolls across the floor. They both stare at it.
Rhys takes a deep breath. “Araminta doesn’t think that, does she?”
“I didn’t get the impression she did, no.”
“So you’ve spoken to her too.”
“She asked me what I thought of last night.”
“And you said?”
“That I thought your excuses were bullshit but I’d believe them anyway for an easier life.”
“Mate, what the hell?” Rhys turns on him.
Isko just sighs. “Oh, I know you’re not trying to convince me you don’t have a girlfriend. Do you think I was born yesterday?”
Rhys just shakes his head. “Araminta is something else. I…everything I left behind, it’s not her, you know? It’s not like I could grab a phone and call Valerie and tell her it was over.”
Isko: Pretty sure he slept with me too, just before any of you go buying his whole “Yes I have a girlfriend, but then I met Araminta” excuse.
Isko feels that rope lassoing toward him, an opportunity to pull Rhys further into the flames. The world thinks they hooked up, after all.
Isko wouldn’t put it past Rhys to out the truth if he did, but to say nothing and pretend it never happened is equally as suspicious. And what if Rhys realizes it was he who sabotaged him yesterday? Has AHX even enacted whatever they had planned? He feels like he’s unraveling, panic seizing his chest at the idea that, whichever way he falls, Alex could be hurt. The wrong decision feels so easy, even accidentally, to make.
“I think Kalpana is getting to her,” Rhys says, filling the silence with more anguish. “Araminta was accusing me of stuff earlier today.”
“What stuff?”
“Of being like her ex that stalked her.”
“What?”
“I know,” Rhys says. “Apparently, he smashed her art at a show. Apparently, that’s what this situation is like.”
Isko takes a sharp breath. “That’s not the same thing at all.”
Rhys goes to run his hands through his hair, but they still, grasping at the strands instead as though in anguish. “Maybe I shouldn’t have started all this. Maybe I should have just carried on pining for you.”
