I rubbed at my chest, wondering at the odd, fluttery feeling there. I’d had very little to do with her success, but this felt strangely like pride. For what though? Providing her a platform to fulfil the desires of many thousands of people? I wondered if these performances fulfilled a desire within her, too.
I shook my head, pushing aside the odd thoughts. Clearly I’d spent too long in front of a screen, trawling through pornography of varying levels of depravity.
Half an hour in the warm, surging water of my swim spa would help to clear my head. And if that didn’t work, there was always the cannabis vape in my bedside drawer. Sometimes, it was the only thing that could quiet my brain. But I always tried exercise first.
I was taking a long inhale on my vape when Atlas strode into the owner’s suite.
“Sharing is caring.” Atlas flopped onto my desk chair.
I handed it across reluctantly. “You know you can get a much stronger high from going and buying weed.”
Atlas shrugged, taking a pull on my vape. “Yeah, but that requires effort that I don’t want to make, when it’s right here, and legal.”
“Legal for me—the person with the prescription.”
Atlas shrugged, blowing the vapour out and handing it back to me.
I wondered, as I took another pull, if I should confront himabout not sending me the final guest list for approval. But by the time I blew that lungful out, I’d decided it just wasn’t worth starting an argument.
“So,” Atlas began when I set the vape back in my bedside drawer. “I think we’re all set for Friday. I have a high-profile DJ coming, and TechRaker is sending a correspondent to get an exclusive. We’ve got an event team on décor, and the catering team will need access to your galley for prep. Give your crew the night off and let the professionals take charge.”
I blinked, nonplussed by the high-handed way he was issuing me with commands. “My crew will remain in attendance. They’ll be required if we’re cruising the harbour for the duration of the party.”
Atlas waved a dismissive hand. “Whatevs. The more the merrier, I say. Oh!” He leaned forwards, eyes glinting, grin white and wide. “Speaking of the more the merrier, I heard through the grapevine that River Riley is in town this week!”
“Who?” I asked on an exhale.
Atlas rolled his eyes. “River Riley …The Rileys of Emu Grove?”
I shook my head, shrugging.
Atlas gaped at me. “They’re a famous YouTube family, they’ve been vlogging for years about building and running an off-grid eco resort up in the Gold Coast Hinterland! River literally grew up on YouTube. He’s an ecologist now, but he’s also YouTube royalty, and he’s just about to launch his own sustainable clothing brand. He’s hot shit, and I’ve invited him along on Friday night.”
I shrugged. What was one more person I didn’t know and would likely never meet again? “Never heard of him, but okay.”
“Fuck me, Chewy, you live under a rock! Maybe you need to broaden your pop culture horizons past that bloody kids’ book series you still reread every few months.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Hey! I won’t tolerateHunger Gameshate around here. I’ll set Abernathy on you, and he doesn’t hold back when he bites. Besides, they’re not just for children. They’re technically young adult, but the themes in them are pertinent to all ages.”
Atlas chortled, raising his hands above his head. “I forgot how touchy you are about it. Anyway, I just wanted to reassure you that Friday is gonna go off without a hitch, and all you need to do is try toact like you’re not wishing everyone would fuck off ten minutes after they arrive.”
I threw a withering look in his direction. “Iamcapable of pretending, you know.”
Atlas snorted. “You’re not as good at it as you think you are. You have a very expressive face, mate. And other people are not as terrible as you are at reading body language.”
“Okay, you can go now,” I grouched. “I’m trying to relax; I don’t need you highlighting the things you see as flaws in me.”
Atlas stood. “Look, Chewy, you’ll get through it. And then you’ll be able to go back to your little computer nerd life as if nothing ever happened.”
TheGirl on Firebumped gently against the dock at Darling Harbour. It was the only gentle thing happening around me.
The DJ blasted a tuneless, thumping bass from speakers that I couldn’t escape from. Crowds of people lined the wharf, camera phones at the ready, hoping to catch a glimpse of someone famous.
And the stream of people shuffling their way up the gangplank—after being subjected to a thorough security check by Lucian and his team—poured onto the main deck until it was almost impossible for me to raise my arms without hitting four other people.
And still more arrived.
I took a deep breath, and then another. And another for good measure. I had a job to do. This was an unfortunate side effect of being rich and successful. I just had to suck it up.
