March 1, 2023

West Hollywood, CA

TomTom
 

Ariana Madix glanced down as an object was suddenly shoved into her hand. It was her partner, Tom Sandoval's phone. Her eyes narrowed in brief confusion, which was quickly swept away by unexpected clarity. She glanced up at the stage where Tom and his band, Tom Sandoval and the Most Extras, were still playing. 

It had been a fairly good night, starting with a viewing party for the couple's reality tv show, Vanderpump Rules. Tom and his band had been set to play a set afterwards, while guests could mill around, enjoying the bar's drinks and food. There with them had been Ariana's close friend and Tom's ex girlfriend, Kristen Doute. They'd all cheered along and sang with his band up until that moment. Things were going pretty well... Maybe too well. 

"I'll be right back, I have to go to the bathroom," Ariana said to the friend who'd given her the cell phone. She wasn't the type to go through a partner's phone. She wasn't the jealous type. She did her best to stay even keeled, despite the chaos the cameras could often bring around. She would have considered herself a pretty great girlfriend. 

Walking into the restroom, the blonde quickly ducked into a stall, locking it swifty behind her. It was just her and Tom's phone now. Her fingers quickly tapped in his passcode, pausing as she considered where to look. In the past few months she'd been getting strange gut feelings... And looked through his phone a couple of times. He was always where he said he was going to be. There was nothing in the text messages... She checked again. Still nothing there.

Pursing her lips, Ariana leaned against the bathroom stall wall, thinking to herself. If she were hiding something, where would she keep something...? She couldn't answer that. She didn't hide things from Tom. Maybe there'd be something in his screenshots...? Secret account information...? As far as she knew, Tom wasn't that tech savvy... She clicked into his phone's gallery... And that's when something hidden in his saved videos gallery caught her eye. Her hand clasped over her mouth, she clicked downward on the phones volume before pressing play... Only to be completely disgusted, floored and furious about what she saw.

There in the video was her so-called good friend, Raquel Leviss... Engaged in FaceTime sex with her partner. "WHAT THE F***?!" Ariana shouted, momentarily forgetting that she was in a public bathroom, at an event. She heard a couple of voices outside of the stall, her eyes widening. "Sh*t," she murmured, quieter now. But then... Then she decided, why should she care if people knew...? What did she have to lose here? 

Pushing the stall's door open, the woman made her way to the sink, washing her hands. "Sorry about that. Weird night," she said sheepishly as she left the washroom. Where was he...? Ah, yes. She caught his eyes as PageSix was getting a photo of him. It was clear he was feeling himself that night, the sweat of his performance still dripping off of him as he posed to show off his arms. Even so, as their eyes met, Ariana could see it in his eyes. Fear. What did she know? Too much, at that point.

"I need to talk to you," Ariana said as the PageSix photographer moved on to take more photos. "I found your phone..." She held the phone up in her hands, nails tapping on the case. "...I found what's on it..." She added, an edge to her voice. How dare he do this to her, after everything they'd been through? Sure, there'd been Miami Girl... But that was so long ago. He was so much younger then... Plus, that girl hadn't been a friend. 

The color drained from Tom Sandoval's face. "Okay, hang on, dude, let me... Let me just wrap this up... Then we can dip out, okay?"

"I'm not your dude. Meet me outside, or I'm going to start confiding in Kristen what I know," She replied coolly. That put some urgency in the cover band singer's steps. She led the way, stepping outside the restaurant. It wasn't long before she'd turned and was confronting him. "So how long have you been having phone sex with my 'friend'?" She spat, her fingers curling at the word friend. 

"Woah, woah, woah... We're not going to talk about this here alright? Do you want other people to know?" He snapped, his body language suddenly conveying anger. Anger? Anger with who, Ariana?  For what...?

Confusion briefly swept over the blonde's features before she steadied herself. "Like I give a sh*t what people think about you now, you giant f***ing piece of sh*t!"

This got the attention of a few of the guests. It was only a matter of time before it caught the attention of PageSix. "F***, dude, okay, okay..." Tom was rapidly tapping on his phone, quickly ordering an Uber for the two of them to go home. To their home. The one they'd bought together when she thought she was in a relationship with a functioning adult. She felt completely duped. She was furious. 

As Ariana took this in, waiting for the Uber to arrive, she noticed Tom tapping away on his phone. Her eyes widened with anger. "Are you serious? Are you texting her right now?!" She pulled out her phone, typing a cute little message for her former friend herself. "You are DEAD TO ME." F***ing RATS.

The Uber pulled up and the two got inside, with Tom suddenly holding up the phone to his ear. He was calling her... HER! Didn't he care how he'd devastated Ariana? Didn't he know how badly he'd f***ed up? But no... There was no remorse. "Why the f*** are you calling her?" 

On the other line Ariana could hear Scheana Shay; Another cast member of the show and a mutual friend of all three of them, though she was closest to Ariana, as her best friend. "WHO ARE YOU TALKING TO?" Suddenly Scheana's voice could be heard. "F*** her, I'm throwing this phone into the street, then I'll call you back."

As the phone line went dead, Tom turned on Ariana. "You had no right to go through my phone. You knew this was coming... You..." She could barely hear him over the roar of everything falling out from underneath her feet. "Can we stop at this liquor store....? I need some cigarettes."

She dug through her purse and handed him a fifty dollar bill. "Get me some and something to drink too." It was definitely one of those nights.

As Tom exited the vehicle, Ariana looked up, suddenly realizing all of this had been going down in front of the Uber driver. She was silent, but only momentarily. "Can you believe this sh*t...?" She asked, looking up at the stranger in the driver's mirror.

"I don't know man... This is a lot..." The guy offered, clearly unsure of what to do or say. In all honesty she kind of felt bad for him, what an awkward situation to be caught in.

"I'm sorry about this," She offered. She was only sorry he had to deal with it though, she was not sorry for calling Tom out. 

"Don't worry about it," The Uber driver replied as Tom returned with the cigarettes and alcohol. 

Ariana turned back to Tom as the car took off towards their house. "You have some kind of nerve to try and spin this on me, when you're the one who messed up. You know I'm not the jealous type, and you took advantage of it. So did she!" She was shaking, angry. How dare he? HOW DARE HE?

"We've been going downhill for a long time now, Ariana... You know that..." He replied, clearly some part of him still thinking about Raquel. 

"No, actually. We've been working on our relationship for months, and we have been doing so much better. Or so you led me to think. right? So you could have your gooey eyed fangirl and a ride or die? Aren't you a regular hipster Hefner," She snapped mockingly. Her tone was absolute venom, the betrayal was giving her an adrenaline rush like no club drug had ever given her before. "F*** you, you f***ing f***er."

"YOU'RE THE F***ING F***ER! LOOK HOW YOU TALK TO ME!" Tom suddenly burst, as the car rolled to a stop in their driveway. Their was a beat of awkward silence, then, "Uh... Alright guys, you... Have a good night...?" The poor guy didn't even know what to say to them.

Tom quickly turned on the charm, patting the guy on the arm as he exited the vehicle. "Hey thanks, man. There's a good tip in this for you. Have a good night."

"Have a good night," Ariana repeated weakly... Shutting the door and heading up to her house without waiting for Tom. She opened the door with her key, shutting it before her soon to be former partner came through the door. Their pets came running up to them, a sigh falling from the woman's lips. All of this would be gone soon. The shared pets, the shared life. With a series of horrible choices, Tom had crushed their future without even considering how she would feel about it.

"I don't understand how you could do this... After everything I have done for you. I always stick up for you. I always do things according to plan... Why, Tom?" She reached for a drink, her hands trembling. 

"You didn't want to be intimate anymore... You made me feel like you didn't want me..."

Ariana's earnesty quickly turned to anger. "I asked why you did this, Tom. Not how you plan to spin this on me."

"Who says it's a spin? We were barely initimate, and it took a lot of work for that to even change."

Her stomach suddenly turned at the revelation. "...You were sleeping witth both of us at the same time at one point, weren't you...?" He'd been treating her like an object, an accessory. And internally, she'd acknowledged this, pulling away. Intimacy is not just physical. 

Tom wouldn't meet her eyes, reaching for a drink himself. "I don't think you really want to talk about this..."

"That's where you must think I'm stupid. You are the one who doesn't want to discuss this. Don't treat me like I'm Schwartz..."

"Fine, yes! YES! WE WERE SLEEPING TOGETHER WHEN YOU AND I SLEPT TOGETHER!"

Manicured nails scratched at her eyebrow as she hid her face. She felt like she couldn't breathe. "There's nothing you can say now that will ever fix this. We are done," She said more coolly than she would have figured she'd manage in a situation like this. But he lived for a reaction, and she didn't want to give him that.

"Oh, I'm the one saying we're done!" He bit back. F***er. Even in the demise of their relationship, he made it all about him.

The couple would argue into the early morning hours, fueled by the betrayal, narcissism and alcohol. By morning Ariana had decided the only way she could make him learn from this was by not rescuing him from it. She had contacted production about it, as well as the press, and all of their mutual friends.

She wasn't going to keep his secrets anymore. And she would never protect a bad man ever again.
Not if she had anything to say about it.