“He messed with the right one.”
“Good,” I say. “He obviously has no intention of stopping on his own. He deserves everything bad coming his way.”
Ari and Mya nod in agreement.
“I just wonder what brought it all about so quickly. From what I’ve heard, Mz. Ellyn only brought about her harassmentclaims after his channel had already been taken down by YouTube. There had to be something or someone who was working behind the scenes with some influence to get his channel snatched so swiftly.”
“I haven’t heard anything,” Ari says. Since she has millions of subscribers across her various channels and has more than one YouTube executive on speed dial, she’s often the first of us to hear about news in the social media world most aren’t privy to.
“Surprising, but whatever.” Mya shrugs. “I wouldn’t be surprised if more news about illegal shit he’s done over the years comes out. People like him always have more skeletons in their closet,” she continues.
“As long as that fool is gone for now,” Ari says.
“I agree. Let’s hope he doesn’t try to crawl out from underneath whatever rock he’s been shoved under.”
“Amen to that.” Ari lifts her cup of saki. “Cheers.”
Mya and I clink our cups with hers before downing our drinks.
“Next rounds on me!” I yell before raising my hand to get the waitress’ attention and pointing to our empty cups.
“Someone’s got a little extra sass in her tonight,” Mya hums.
“Yeah, and I bet it’s not just about that Dennis piece of shit getting what’s coming to him. Spill.” Ari elbows me.
I roll my eyes. “There’s nothing to spill.”
“Bullshit,” Mya says. “You’re dating a whole Hollywood star. Open up.”
My stomach muscles tighten as I think about what Andreas and I did in his trailer the other day.
We still haven’t had that talk since he’s had more late-night shoots and I’ve been back and forth between the set and the studio office helping with other upcoming projects.
“It’s going well,” I draw out.
“Stop it,” Mya insists. “That man is sprung off of you.” She turns to Ari. “That man was asking me for security codes so he could pack her and that damn cat up to stay with him for the night.
“Asking me about your favorite foods and what the cat likes to eat.”
“Not Ms. Shelby’s preferences, too,” Ari squeals.
“Yes!” Mya responds. “Now she’s trying to act like it’s not that serious.”
I laugh, in part because it’s true.
“It’s just …”
“What’s going on?” Mya asks.
I push out a breath. “The night I spent with him was great, fantastic. I had this giddy feeling all in my chest and put on my new dress … and thenbam, my mom pops up. Then I have another panic attack.
“And I can’t help but to think that whenever anything good in my life happens, or when something I really want is finally in reach, it’ll be taken away from me.”
“Oh, Vee.” Ari takes my hand into hers.
“You know that’s not true, though. That’s just your fear talking,” Mya reasons.
“I know, but … well, logic and fear don’t exactly communicate well.”
