Chapter 2
Oak
“We did it!” Cash explodes, suddenly slamming up from the computer and sending the chair toppling backwards. It scares the shit out of me and I jerk in response, thinking we’re being shot at, or worse, doxed.
I press my hand to my chest and scowl at one of my best friends. “You scared the shit out of me,” I growl. “The hell did we do to make all that necessary?”
Cash spins and meets me eyes, a huge grin on his face. “Vanta Vyxxxen just signed on for a collaboration!”
Swayer straightens where he sits on the couch. “You got Vanta Vyxxxen? How?”
Cash shrugs. “She sent through some requests, but I jumped on it quick. I didn’t want her to change her mind. This is the breakthrough we need!”
“What sort of requests?” I grumble.
“Don’t know. Didn’t read ‘em,” Cash laughs.
“You didn’t read them?” I growl, standing up. “But you agreed to them?”
“Bro, Vanta Vyxxxen is big time. It doesn’t matter what she requests.
Just her being on our stream will blow us up.
She’s the gothic goddess of edging. Our clients are going to go nuts for her,” Cash continues excitedly, clearly not worried at all to what he agreed to.
He could have signed away our souls and the asshole wouldn’t even care.
“Jesus Christ,” I growl, coming over to the computer and clicking through the emails before finding the attached requirements.
I scan through it and swear. “You fucking idiot! You agreed to house and feed a team of four. Private housing.” I’m not worried about the NDAs.
That’s pretty standard for this kind of thing.
No one wants their personal information to get leaked online.
Fifty percent of the royalties isn’t bad and completely fair, though we usually get slightly more for hosting and providing equipment. “And she’s bringing a pet rat.”
“That’s wicked,” Cash exclaims. “Of course she’d have something cool like a rat. I expected something like a snake, but a rat is super cool, too.”
I read over the NDAs she sent and frown. “These NDAs say we literally can’t talk about her appearance, her name, her details, or even tell anyone she was here if someone comes asking. That’s a strange thing to include in there.”
“Her channel is all about anonymous mystery,” Sawyer shrugs. “It makes sense if you think about it, even if it is a little stricter than ones we’ve signed before.”
“Yeah. She’s been established for three years. She has her stuff set in stone. We can learn so much from her,” Cash adds, as eager as a puppy getting pets. Fuck. He’s always getting us into this shit without reading.
“And where exactly is she going to stay? She asked for private housing. Where are you gonna put her and her team? In the barn?”
Cash shrugs. “I can give up my little cabin temporarily. I don’t care.”
“And what about the food provided for a team of four? We’re gonna start off at a loss,” I remind him, shaking my head.
“We’ll figure it out,” Cash argues. “I promise we’ll make back all our money and more.”
“For fuck’s sake, if we’re going into the red—”
“We won’t!” he swears, grabbing my face and shaking it. “Bro, it’s Vanta fucking Vyxxxen! She’s big. Like big, big. If even a quarter of her clients subscribe to The Velvet Rodeo, we’ll be set for the year!”
I guffaw at his words. “She’s that big?”
“She is,” Sawyer throws in. “Her numbers are wild. Over a million subscribers last I checked.”
Cash rolls his eyes. “Did you not look into the list of people I sent you? You’re supposed to be in charge, which means being informed of stuff like this.”
“I didn’t have time to check out everyone you emailed,” I counter. “Ophelia was refusing to let down again.”
“Again?” Sawyer sighs. “She’s getting pickier.”
“Yeah, she is.” I eye Cash and sigh. “Fine. We do this, but you’re in charge of making the preparations. Also, you’re on tonight, too.”
“Aye, aye, Iron Buckle,” Cash says, saluting me.
I shoot him a glare and slip out the door. I gotta go get different cow feed and see if Ophelia wants any of that. I swear that dairy cow is gonna be the death of me.
If this Vanta Vyxxxen isn’t first, that is.