Chapter 12
MOLLY
I drive to visit Kiki once school is over.
I called her soon after I found out that she’d called in sick. I left messages, but she didn't reply. She's been ignoring my calls all day.
“You?” she cries, as soon as she opens the door. Then she pulls me in, like she's hiding something. “Did Turlington send you to snoop on me?”
“No, why would she?” I hand over the basket of strawberries, and the bar of chocolate I’m holding.
“For me?” Kiki clutches them to her chest. “Thank you. My day keeps getting better and better.”
She doesn’t sound ill.
She doesn’t look ill.
I follow her to the kitchen. Her laptop is open on the table. Every second or so her cell phone buzzes with a notification.
“You were off sick today. What's wrong with you?”
“What's wrong with me?” Kiki cries. “Molly, you did me a huge favor!” She looks pleased with herself. “I've had the biggest sales day ever.”
“What do you mean?” I have no idea what she’s talking about. “What’s all this?” I ask, my eyes take in all the packages, the chaos, and the mess on the table. There are cameras, tripods, ring lights on it, and beauty products piled on every surface.
I can’t reconcile any of this with the big, smug smile on her face, or the idea that she’s sick.
“This is all thanks to you.” She pokes me lightly in my shoulder. “You sending me those clips from Venice was the best thing to happen to me.”
“That was an accident. I meant to send them to Miss T.”
She stops. Stares at me. “Well, they were a blessing because one of them has gone viral and I’ve done amazing because of it.”
“Viral? What do you mean it’s gone viral? Which video?” My words trail away and I’m suddenly scared. Going viral doesn’t sound good. I hope it was the clip about the canapés.
“Does it matter?” Kiki cries. “You going to Venice was my lucky break!” She grins widely. It’s infuriating.
“Show me the video.”
She picks up her phone and shows me.
It’s the video I took of Enzo when he was standing all by himself and I said he looks like he should be marking books.
I stumble back a step, gripping the chair to steady myself.
I can’t breathe. I can’t speak.
A video of Enzo has gone viral.
Enzo.
The man who hates being seen.
He never took his mask off so people are trying to guess his identity.
I take the phone from Kiki and watch the clip again before scanning through the comments. Someone identifies him, even though nobody ever saw him without the mask except for me.
Some comments mention the same name:
Enzo Knight.
Apparently, he’s famous. Not filmstar famous, maybe, but known to people. Some say he's from a rich dynasty.
My chest suddenly feels heavy.
I know how fiercely he guarded his privacy, how reluctant he was even to tell me his name or remove his mask, and now because of a terrible mistake, I've shattered his trust.
He will hate me.
And, much to my dismay, he's the son of a billionaire. I shouldn’t be surprised, given the event, but it disappoints me because I know that power and wealth often change people. I saw it in the people who sat at the table when we were having dinner.
“Has this gone viral for everyone?”
Kiki chuckles. “That’s what viral means, silly.” She continues to tap away on her laptop.
My insides hollow out.
Does Enzo know about this?
“What have you done?” I whisper. My lungs feel as if they’re gripped in a vise and it becomes harder to breathe. “You're not sick, are you? The food poisoning is a lie.”
Kiki folds her arms. “What's a little lie between friends?”
I taste bile in my throat. “They were my private film clips. You uploaded them to your account. You can't do that.”
How could she ever think it would be okay?
“Don’t go getting on your high horse again, Molly. You love teaching. I don’t, and those videos you sent me are my ticket out of Oakleigh.”
She opens the small box of strawberries and bites one off, leaving the stalk. She didn’t even bother to wash them.
I shake my head as I look at her. Kiki and I differ in lots of ways, but for the most part we get on. We like the same pizza toppings, and enjoy the same rom-coms, but this is the extent of what we have in common.
She starts typing and ignores me.
“Are you just going to sit there and pretend there isn’t a problem?” I snap.
She barely looks up at me.
“I'm stuck here teaching scummy, dirty little six-year-olds.”
“Don't call them that!”
“It's the truth. There's no money in teaching, and these kids give me a headache, but now …” She picks up her phone and taps it a few times. “I've gained thousands of new followers. Brands are contacting me, and management agencies.”
There’s a gleam in her eyes that makes me sick to my core. She sounds excited, almost intoxicated by the attention.
I scoff loudly. “For your fifteen minutes of fame?”
I'm starting to understand a lot of things all of a sudden. I sink into an empty chair and hold my head in despair. All I can think of is Enzo.
“You're making money off that poor man's misery. This isn't our story, Kiki. I need you to take the videos down.”
“Is he miserable?” She frowns, and stops tapping away on her keyboard. “I doubt it. I gave him ...” she pauses, then points the finger at me. “You gave him a lot of good publicity. He'll probably want to thank you for it.”
A wave of nausea washes over me.
Oh God, no.
I hadn’t thought about it like that. Enzo waking up to strangers watching him, talking about him, picking apart something that was never meant for them to see.
And I’m the reason they have it.
“They were private videos.”
She laughs. “They're not so private now.” She peers closely at her screen. “I’ve made another eighty dollars while I've been talking to you.” She picks up another strawberry and takes a bite. “I'm sure he's not as bothered by this as you are.”
She doesn't know what she's talking about. I spent enough time with Enzo to know that the man wants to be left alone. He doesn't want the glare of the spotlight on him.
I’ve broken his trust.
There's no point in staying here any longer. I won't convince her to change her mind, so I leave without even saying goodbye. I head for the door, then remember something. I fish it out of my pocket.
“I bought you a souvenir.”
I toss the fridge magnet onto the table.