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Aimes realizes she’s been staring at her phone for ages. The world feels like it’s hushed, waiting for her to hit Post. There’s that anticipation she’s come to love and hate, the moments before posting new content, wondering if this is the one that will go viral. Enough of her posts have gone viral for Aimes to crave that endorphin rush. It’s too bad that the rush lasts shorter and shorter each time. And right now, with this particular post, Aimes wants it to sink into obscurity, though for a large part of her, it’s become second nature to hunger for the next viral post. God, she is such a mess. She squeezes her eyes shut and presses the Post button. When she next opens them, the post is live, and the likes and comments are already trickling in.
OMG Aimes you poor thing!!!
Babe call me, I’m here for you. xoxo
Holy shit, I just saw this, this is crazy! He was so young!
Aimes can’t possibly feel more disgusted about herself. She tosses the phone onto the carpeted floor and trudges to her bedroom. She’ll take a nap, sleep the day away, and when she wakes, this will all have blown over. Right?
Twelve
TJ
The numbers are not looking good. Have they ever looked good? Well, yes, actually. TJ can remember a time when he’d looked at the numbers and they’d looked back and gone, “Yay! You did it!” They did that enough times until he gained the confidence to leave his old job and start up his new firm. But right now, the numbers are not saying, “Yay.” They’re saying, “Welp. You had a good run. Now run.”
TJ buries his head in his hands and massages his temples. He’s going to have to close up shop. There’s no way around it. My god, but how did it get so bad in such a short time? He’d really thought— well, he hadn’t actually given it any thought, but he’d hoped—that when push came to shove, he’d have enough saved up to at least keep things running for a while. But nope. One viral post was all it took to make this house of cards crumble.
He should have done the responsible thing and put an end to this farce of a business before it got him into debt so deep it jeopardized Robin’s future. He’ll have to let Kit, Lomax, and Elsie go.The thought sickens him. Quite literally. He feels like he needs to curl up on a bed, clutching his head and moaning gently.
“—without an appointment,” Elsie says right as the door swings open.
Vera stands there, looking like a triumphant warrior. Behind her, Elsie stands with an apologetic expression, holding a half-eaten bun.
“Vera.” TJ sighs. “You can’t just show up here unannounced.”
“Sorry, boss,” Elsie says. “She distracted me with a pork bun.” Then to Vera, she says, “It’s really good.”
“I have more,” Vera says, handing Elsie a big paper bag. “You share with those two outside, okay?”
“Ooh,” Elsie says with a smile. “I’ll just leave you two alone, shall I?”
That little traitor, TJ thinks as Elsie takes the bag and shuts the door. He can hear her out there going, “Hey, guys, pork buns!” And happy murmurs from Kit and Lomax. He should be grateful for small favors.
TJ regards Vera wearily. “If this is about Xander Lin again, I don’t think—”
“No, not about Xander Lin.”
“Oh.” He hadn’t been expecting that. “Okay. Well, what can I do for you?”
“I am looking for representation,” Vera says with her chin up.
“Um…representation?”
“Well, that is what you do, yes? You represent influencers online?”
“Uh, yeah. But you’re not an influencer.” God, did that come out sounding as callous as he thinks it did? He really doesn’t mean to be a jackass. “And I mean that in the best possible way,” he adds.
In answer, Vera takes out her phone, taps on it, and shoves it in TJ’s face triumphantly. TJ leans back, squinting at the phone screen. “What am I looking at here?” he mutters.
“Over one million views,” Vera crows.
The screen shows Vera brewing tea. “Oh, sorry, I forget volume.”
She taps on the phone and the volume turns on at maximum power, blaring in the small office. “WHAT HAPPEN TO XANDER LIN?”
“Oops, sorry,” Vera calls out, tapping at her phone until the volume goes from deafening to somewhat manageable.
TJ watches in horror as Vera narrates the mystery around Xander Lin’s death while brewing tea. The comforting footage accompanied by the chilling narration makes the whole thing feel so surreal that you can’t help but stop and watch it, which is probably the reason why the damn thing has gone viral.