11. Alex
11
ALEX
A s soon as I reach the end of the last of the three videos Nora emailed me, I pick up my phone and text her.
They look amazing! You did a great job with the editing.
Do you really think so? What about the music at the beginning and end, too corny?
Nope I liked it. It’s upbeat and catchy.
She really did do a great job. The finished episodes look smooth and professional. You’d never know she hasn’t done anything like this before.
When are you going to upload the first one?
If you think they look good then I guess now?
Do it! Let me know when it’s live and I’ll start sharing it.
A few minutes later, she sends me the link. I peruse the caption and the logo she designed, impressed by her creativity. The logo features a spud wearing sunglasses and lounging on a couch with the name of our show circling the image in purple lettering. I copy the link and send it out to all my immediate family members, telling them to watch it, share it on social media, and subscribe to her channel. I post it myself and take a screenshot that I send to Nora.
Now you can just sit back and watch the views explode. It’ll go viral, I know it.
I don’t know about viral, but I hope it reaches a few people, at least.
I respond with a fingers-crossed emoji. I know from our text exchanges that she spent a ton of time over the last few days—when she wasn’t editing the videos—researching the best ways to monetize these videos. The ability to run ads and secure paid partnerships comes with a certain minimum number of subscribers, and I’m going to do all I can to help her hit her goal as soon as possible.
I love how passionate she is about this project. She might have been hesitant at first, but now that she’s decided to do it, she is all in. Her plan is to upload the first three recipes we recorded within a few days of each other to fill out her feed, and then move to weekly releases after that, which means we need to record again soon. We should probably go ahead and schedule that, so I pick up my phone again.
When do you want to make another video?
My next day off is tomorrow, which isn’t great since you have to work. Maybe we could do it in the evening?
How about if I take a short lunch and come home early? That way we could get started around 5pm. Should still be plenty of light at that time.
I know she prefers to shoot during the day to take advantage of the natural light that comes in the French doors and the window above the sink.
That works for me if it’s not too much trouble for you. Maybe we could squeeze in two recipes if we hurry?
I think we can make that work. And I’ll give you the code to my garage keypad so you can get there early and set up if you want.
That would be great. Thank you for trusting me to be there without you.
I do trust her. I’m sure Grant would tell me I’m trusting her more than I should for how long I’ve known her. Logically, he’d be right. We both know all too well that people aren’t always who they say they are. But I’m not worried. Even if she robbed me blind, the only thing I’d really miss is the friendship that is developing between us. I can always replace a TV or an appliance, but I haven’t met many people who make me feel as at ease as she does. After spending the whole day with her on Saturday, I feel comfortable being myself around her.
That comfort gives me mixed feelings since my trusting nature has gotten me in trouble before. Thoughts of the great wedding debacle crowd in, but I push them away, refusing to let those memories drag me down today. I can trust Nora, and I can trust myself. I need to remember that.
I shake my head and lift my phone again.
No worries. Don’t forget your bathing suit so we can swim this time!
She replies with a thumbs up, and I sit back and smile at my empty office. Even though it’s only been four days, I’m very much looking forward to spending time with her again.
Tomorrow can’t come soon enough.