Influence

Chapter 6 - pt. 2

The Maldives EpiGold needed to be live on Goldie's channel before Glamour Days. Jasper bitched about the short timeframe, but Goldie maintained her position with a wide smile and eyes that refused to plead. He could do it. He'd gone to college for this stuff.

Tam watched their exchange, part boss versus employee, part sister versus brother, and part diva versus underling. She stifled a laugh when Jasper finally relented.

"Yeah, I can do it, but it means I won't sleep for the next three days." He lowered his head to the screen nearest his face, a dismissal from the school of Jasper.

Tam followed Goldie out of the production room. She motioned her to sit with her at the kitchen's marble island. "My vision—you said yourself I have that, and you were right! It's back, Tamara. Glamour Days is going to be darb!"

Goldie had recently watched a documentary on flapper culture, resulting in the incorporation of 1920s slang into her speech. "Soon, these words will be in wide use again. That's the power of in influencer like me," Goldie told her after Tam had asked what the fuck darb meant.

Goldie teased the upcoming EpiGold to her fans with cryptic posts. "Went to Paradise and all I got was this HOT chef!" with a picture of Johnny, posed shirtless next to the stove with a skillet held over the flame in one hand and spatula in the other.

"It's all fun in the sun until someone gets their creative (and possibly other) juices flowing," with a picture of Tam standing in her black web bikini holding a clipboard.

Tam stared at her image on social media. Behind her, Jasper lay in repose on a beach chair. He could be looking at her from behind his sunglasses—the photo implied this. As Tam recalled, however, when Paul snapped that photo, an argument with Goldie had been brewing about whether countries depending on tourists from wealthy countries perpetuated white supremacy. He couldn't have cared less that Tam was standing eight feet away nearly naked.

Jasper worked his around the clock magic. Less than twenty-four hours before Glamour Days opened, EpiGold 138 went live, and Tam became a trending topic.

Gritting her teeth, she read a few comments about herself. "No Jasper! You can do so much better!" "I'd fuck her too!" "What a slut. I bet she fucked them both." "OMG I hope Jasper knows he can come to me for comfort after ditching that whore."

She stopped scrolling, intent on tossing her phone across the room and reveling in the sound it made as it shattered against her painted brick wall. That's when she saw it—a poll someone with the username GoldieGirl01 had posted.

Tam Martin cheated on Goldie's beloved stepbrother. What should Goldie do?

Forgive her if she promises to leave Jasper alone

Fire her ass

Fire her ass AND make her life a living hell

Tam's finger hovered over the poll. The only way she could know what the masses of Goldie Girls and Guys thought before the poll ended in two days was if she herself voted.

Hand shaking, she pulled it away. No need to do this to herself. Maybe if she talked to Goldie about it, Goldie could set things straight, tell everyone they were just having fun. No one had been wronged, except maybe Tam herself if this got out of hand.

The morning of Glamour Days opening, Goldie pranced around her apartment, uttering a litany of requests she expected Tam to fulfill. Hair, makeup, wardrobe—all had people associated with them to make sure Goldie's glamour outshone every other influencer and fashion model vying for center stage.

"Everyone will be there. I can't look hideous. Where's Jasper? Are we running a bit late? I hope so."

Goldie understood punctuality and its downfall. "You can't be on time or they'll assume you're desperate and don't have the upper hand. But you can't be too late, or they'll think you're a total diva. You must walk the middle path, Tamara. Like you're a Buddha and you have to meditate to keep yourself grounded but not for too long a time because it's just so boring. It's all about moderation."

They achieved her goal of being moderately late, arriving at the venue under an hour from their allotted time. Tam waited for the right moment to have a serious conversation with her boss about the rumors circulating online. Goldie had moved on, already strategizing about the next EpiGold, which would focus more on Goldie and her preparations for launching Lucre. Tam would play a minor role in keeping with her job as assistant.

"About the last EpiGold, though," Tam finally said when they were in the car, a few minutes out from the venue. "People are talking about it. Like, a lot."

"See? I was right." Goldie checked her lipstick in her compact mirror. "It's all people can think about and that will raise my profile heading into this event."

"But it's me they're talking about, Goldie. I mean, you too. Everyone is guessing who you were with when you disappeared. But mainly, they want to know how I could betray the saintly Jasper."

Jasper, sitting across from them in the limo, perked up at the mention of his name. "Did you see the poll? It did not go in your favor."

"What poll?" Goldie asked.

Jasper brought it up on his phone and showed it to her.

"Jasper, you're so mean!" She hit him in the arm with his phone before handing it back to him. "You should see what he voted for Tam."

"I can guess." She glared at him.

"You wronged me. I'm a broken man. How else was I going to respond?"

Tam turned her gaze towards the window, taking in the cement and crowded storefronts as they made their way downtown. She expected this from him, but it didn't make it any easier.

"Don't worry," Goldie's chipper voice cut through her sadness. "People will love you again when they see how you help me with Lucre. It's only social media gossip. It'll blow over. Things on the internet always do, so try to live in the moment and have fun. We don't need you to be a cancelled stamp. Remember, you're being paid to look the part."

They exited the car to flashing lights and a roar of questions. Reporters from fashion magazines and entertainment outlets buzzed around them. Off to the side, a group of Goldie Girls, immediately recognizable from their sparkling gold headbands stood cheering for their idol. When they saw Tam, their expressions turned in unison, like robots being trained to mimic human emotions. Hatred. She felt a wall of it rise up, unstable but fierce.

It would collapse on top of her at any moment and she would be buried forever in its rubble.

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It's only social media gossip. It will blow over.... Is this true? Will it?

In our next chapter, we'll officially enter Glamour Days. It's going to be... something! Stay tuned, Goldie Girls and Guys!