“Viv,” I call out, knowing she must be in here somewhere.
Her dark head pops up from the belly of the clawfoot tub. “Char? What are you doing up here?”
I walk to the doorway of the bathroom, ignoring the stupid mermaid. Viv is sprawled out in the dry, empty tub, which is so deep she’s not visible unless she’s sitting up. She’s got a glass of red wine in her hand and she’s wearing a silk robe, tanned legs stretched out on the bottom of the tub. Viv sinks back, her head coming to rest on a white inflatable pillow suctioned to the inside of the bathtub.
“I guess you saw it?” she asks, swirling her wine and sighing loudly, like I’m interrupting something important. She sips from her glass.
Viv’s phone is at the bottom of the tub, near her left knee. I want to grab it and smash it to pieces. The tub is so large I could easily climb in there with her and we wouldn’t even touch.
My voice is sandpaper. “Why? Why would you sabotage me like that? I thought you wanted to help.”
Viv sits up again. A drop of red wine clings to the bottom of her lip, quivering indignantly. Viv’s pink tongue snakes out and licks the drop of wine away like a frog catching a fly. “Oh my God, Char, I would never sabotage you!”
“What the hell would you callthisthen?” I ask, shaking my phone at her. “The Wi-Fi is out; you won’t be able to delete it now.”
“Good.”
“Good?”
Viv rolls her eyes. “Relax, take a deep breath. You should be thanking me. How many new followers have you gotten since that post went live? A thousand? Three thousand? Being associated with us brings attention.”
“You know damn well I didn’t get attention because ofEmpress.”
“Well, no, notjustbecause ofEmpress,” Viv concedes, sipping again from her glass and then leaning forward, her elbows resting on the edge of the tub. She stares at me with hooded eyes. “Because you were vulnerable. Because you were honest.”
“Well,yousure weren’t! You recorded me without my permission. And you fucking posted it online!” My chest heaves. “Viv, what if they come after me? Sage’s publisher or family? Try to sue me for libel or slander or something?”
“They won’t,” she insists. “Because it’s not either of those things. Right?”
“Vivienne,” I warn.
“Charlie,” she mocks, using my preferred name for once. “I know you’re mad, but you have to realize that I did you a favor. Stop whining.” This is the real Viv. The breathy friendly voice is gone.
I step closer, my shoulders tight and loaded. “I didn’t want to share that with the world! It was private.”
“I did you a favor,” she repeats. “You want to know why your account is stagnant? Because you’re not polarizing enough. I studied your page last night. You’re too middle of the road. People have strong feelings about influencers and strong feelings aboutEmpress. This is how you capitalize on engagement.”
A little scream of frustration breaks free from my lips. “There are going to be consequences! Who knows what might happen now that the truth is out there?”
Viv picks up her phone from the bottom of the tub and shakes it at me. “Did you look at the comments, Char? Yeah, there are some losers who are upset that their new favorite author turned out to be a fraud, but most of them are on your side.”
“Not from what I saw.”
“Then you didn’t look hard enough,” Viv spits. “God, you were sopatheticin that video. Sad and betrayed. And a class act. Humble.” She smiles at me, knowing and sly. “It was perfect. Refusing to point the finger at Sage after what she did to you—that’s the part that really swayed people over to your side, you know. You saying it would look ‘petty’ to come forward after her death. Not wanting to stir up drama out of respect to her family. People think that was a real classy move. After all, Sage can’t defend herself.”
“I’m going to get slammed,” I mutter.
“In a good way,” Viv corrects. “You’ll have reporters in your DMs; you’ll have readers asking you to write your own book. I gave you an opportunity. And seriously, you should have told the truth a while ago. But this is even better because you get to look genuine and unassuming. Hell, if you want, I’ll update the caption to make it clear that you didn’t know you were being recorded.” She strokes her chin, lowering her voice as if talking to herself.
“That might work even better. Make you look even more likable since you weren’t performing for the camera.”
I gawk at her. “This is psychotic.”
“No,” Viv snaps, slurping from her glass, and then glaring at me. “This is social media. Everyone is selling something to someone, and when you signed your contract, you agreed to sell yourself. Oh, don’t look at me like that. It’s not so bad. You’re going to get tons of opportunities from this. I promise.”
I don’t want to think about the opportunities Viv is promising. That is almost scarier than the video itself. Could she…be right? Now that the truth is out there, will people listen to what I have to say? Or will Sage’s family come at me with a team of lawyers and destroy the rest of my life? The idea of marketing myself the way Viv is describing tastes sour in my mouth, but I can’t help but consider the merit of what she’s saying.
I didn’t want the connection between me and Sage public and known. Especially after her death. But now that it is, what if something good could come from this? My desire to write has withered away since the betrayal, but that doesn’t mean I won’t have another idea someday in the future. Maybe that’s why my imagination is in overdrive right now, showing me things that aren’t real—perhaps my subconscious is finally ready to write again.
