“Hey, Reese, sorry to bother you on your lunch break, but when you’re done, can you meet Aiden and me in his office?”
My stomach drops.No.I’ve been at lunch for twenty minutes—what could have shifted so horribly in twenty minutes?
The petrification I feel must show on my face as I nod, because Margie gives me one of her cool smiles. “Nothing bad, I promise. You’re a hit! See you in a few.”
That does little to assuage my fears. I look around for some magical cure to my worries and decide to chug my full water bottle. People are always preaching the benefits of water, and I never drink enough. Maybe it’ll purify my skinandcleanse me of the irrational shame and dread that seems to be embedded in my bones.
Aiden’s office is, naturally, in one of the far corners of the Friends of Flavor side of the floor. I haven’t been inside, but it was pointed out by Margie with more than a hint of envy when she gave me a tour on my first day.
I shouldn’t be surprised to see Benny sitting on the cushy leather couch when I walk in, but I am. I lift a hand in response to his warm, easy smile. Aiden and Margie sit in the two leather club chairs in front of Aiden’s desk, so the only seat left is on the couch with Benny.
Of course it is.
I settle into the other end, which leaves the middle cushion between us, and fold my hands in my lap in the hope that it hides their shaking. Aiden crosses one leg over the other and leans toward Benny and me, clearing his throat before he speaks.
“Benny, Reese. Thanks for coming.” As if there was another option? “And thanks for your participation in the most recent episode ofPiece of Cake.As you may have noticed if you’ve been checking in or if you’ve heard from Margie, it’s…Well, it seems like you two are a huge success.”
Benny’s head—covered in yet another backward baseball cap—jerks back in surprise. I guess this is the first he’s hearing of it. So he must not have spent the whole morning obsessing over the opinions of millions of people who woke up to our faces on the UltiMedia home page. Wonder what that’s like.
“Seriously, we don’t often get this much engagement withinthe first twelve hours, between views, shares, comments, and the like. Margie’s idea was a good one.”
Am I imagining the flicker of pain across Aiden’s face when he says that last part?
Margie takes over. “I told Aiden how smoothly filming went, too, and all things considered, we’ve been discussing the possibility of filming more content with you both.”
Now it’s my turn to be startled. They want us to makemore videos? On some weird impulse, I turn to look at Benny just as he’s looking at me. Having known each other for all of four days, our telepathy isn’t flawless, but what passes between us is something akin towhat on earth are they talking about?
That’s what’s going through my mind anyway.
“We still have a lot of details to work out, of course, but we wanted to run it by you, see where your heads are,” Aiden says. “The suits—er, our CEO and other company executives who approve decisions like these, they’re on board so far and pleased with how the first one went. We don’t know exactly what an ongoing series with you two would look like, but it would likely be under theAmateur Hourname and involve a lot of improvisation, because you both did so well with that and the chemistry was great. On a more practical level, since we know this isn’t what you signed up for with your respective internship roles, it would involve a change in day-to-day responsibilities and certainly a raise. You would still spend most of your time on your current duties, and we’d work filming newvideo content into your schedules here and there as we get the series planned out.”
“As we said,” Margie goes on, “more detail-oriented talks will happen down the road. But we want to hear any questions, comments, or concerns you might have. Do any immediately come to mind?”
Um…yes? Several?
I look at Benny again. He’s staring at our bosses with an expression of amused bewilderment that he might have if they’d just stood before us in their underwear and done the chicken dance. But he nods after a moment. “Sounds fun.”
Something is bubbling up in my throat that could be a laugh or a cry. I can’t determine which. This was not on my agenda for today. Nor for the summer, or my whole life, really. I’m a behind-the-scenes gal all the way. My gut instinct isno, No, NO!If I make it through one video with minimal public fallout, that’s more than enough. Why risk putting myself out there in a way that could do further damage to my life, my future, my psyche, for goodness’ sake?
But then Aiden says the one thing to get me reconsidering. “It would also, of course, be a good trial period of sorts for further employment opportunities.”
Oh good gravy. My ass is grass, isn’t it? Of course the fall internship is on the line. And therefore of course I’m going to say yes to this proposal.
But…
“What if I have conditions?” I say, then immediately feel my face flame red because who the hell do I think I am? Anyone other than the brand-new, green-as-all-get-out summer intern desperate to make a good impression, apparently.
Margie and Aiden look equally surprised by my question. Margie’s features settle back into a placid expression before Aiden’s do and she gestures for me to proceed. “Share them.”
Okay, brain, time to come up with your conditions.My main concerns, I guess, all center on being in the public eye and being privy to too many thoughts and opinions and critiques of me. And how I would rather not see any of them, if I’m going to stay focused on myself and my priorities.
So I improvise.
“See, I know that one of my main responsibilities is engaging with our audience on social media. But I was wondering if, possibly, in the case of videos that I’m in, I could…maybe not be responsible for reading and responding to those comments.”
Aiden looks perplexed, like he can’t understand why I’d ask such a thing, but Margie’s face gives nothing away. After a moment she says, “Right. I think I understand your concern, and I could have someone else in marketing deal with engagement on your videos. But I do wonder about how you’ll handle your own social media. Anyone who joins Friends of Flavor and starts appearing on our channel generally sees a substantial increase in their following on personal social networks. In other words, you would become a public persona and the public will want to follow your life off camera, what you post when you have anew episode up, et cetera. It’s part of why each of the Friends is so popular—viewers develop an attachment to them. Are you prepared for that?”
I feel myself fidgeting an uncool amount, but I can’t stop. “Um, well, it might not be as much of an issue since I don’t have any personal social media accounts.”
