Chapter 46
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
vote yes
REY
I wipe off the counter and rinse the cloth before hanging it up on the tap.
“All done out here, Sanchez,” I call to the back room, and hear a muffled ‘okay, see ya’ through the walls.
Being a barista is so far my favourite random job.
After moving in with my friends, I got one in Camden Town instead of Hackney.
It’s busy as hell, which I need, and the area by the canal is colourful.
I’m slowly getting the feeling that things might just become okay again one day.
That’s of course until I’m alone in my room or in the shower or on the bus and all the memories come crashing back down. I’ve become the woman who cries on the bus. I’ve also become a fucking master in silent crying for that reason. No more sobbing and gasping.
I put in my earbuds and turn on my Ramones playlist. It’s the least romantic music I can think of, and it’s upbeat. I need upbeat. I hang up my apron and gather my purse and phone from behind the counter.
It’s been three weeks and three days since I received that phone call.
Sometimes it feels like a year and other times just like yesterday.
When Xander told me Mark had come to the house a few days later, I was furious with him for having kept it from me.
What did Mark want? Why hasn’t he tried again?
Maybe he just wanted to ease his guilt and break up with me again face to face.
At least Mum has shown an inkling of regret.
Dad must have had some chats with her, because she messaged first about a week ago saying she’s sorry, and she’s working on herself.
Then again yesterday, saying she hopes I’m okay.
So she’s thinking about me, and I like knowing that.
We have a long way to go, but that helps.
I turn, closing and locking the front door to the coffee shop. A hand lands on my shoulder and I scream in fright.
“Oi!” a girl’s voice sounds through my loud music, and I find Kaia behind me.
I clutch my chest and pant. “Jesus fucking Christ, Kaia. You gave me a heart attack.”
“I was in the area, thought I’d come get a coffee from you.”
“I’m finished,” I say, pointing at the ‘closed’ sign on the door.
“Oh, bugger,” she says. Why does it sound like she’s joking?
“What’s up, Kaia? You don’t usually come this way?”
“Nothing. Hey, walk with me to the market, will you?”
“Okay?”
She loops her arm in mine, and I put my earbuds away.
“How’s the job hunt going?” she asks and leads me down the road towards Camden Lock.
“We live together, Kaia. I talk to you every day.”
“But maybe something new happened today.”
“I applied for the animation studio role this morning,” I say. My excitement feels genuine, finally. It seems like a legitimate route for me after everything I learned at Infinio. It’s a low-level role, but it could be a new start.
“That’s great.”
“How’s your big new secret project going?” I ask. Kaia and the others have all been working extra hours lately, and it makes me miss the office even more. But at least I’ve been drawing, which calms my mind, when I’m not studying for my job interviews.
“Oh, my, what is that?” Kaia says instead of answering me.
I follow her hand and look up.
There’s a new billboard above the Japanese restaurant on the corner of Camden Market and the high street. It’s an illustration of Robin Hood and Alice in Wonderland. I stare at it. Robin and Alice aren’t naturally together.
“What the actual fuck.”
I look at Kaia, but she’s picked up her phone and isn’t even looking.
When I turn back to the billboard, it changes to a man. An exquisite man who’s almost naked, except for what looks like thousands of tiny flowers in front of his private parts. He’s got a playful look on his face. That crooked smile makes my heart jump.
“Mark?”
I turn to Kaia again, and she’s pointing her phone at the billboard.
“What is going on?”
“Read the bloody billboard, lady,” Kaia says, and I look back. I hadn’t even noticed there were words on there.
The screen goes back to Robin and Alice.
“Should Alice forgive Robin for being an absolute twat?” I read out loud. “Can you write twat on a billboard?”
“That’s the part you care about?”
“I—” Before I can answer, my mind is all scrambled, the billboard switches back to the near-naked Mark. There’s a QR code on this screen, and it says ‘scan to vote and watch the flowers disappear—get a free teaser of our upcoming game World Builder’.
“No fucking way.”
“I’m voting,” Kaia says.
“Show me.” I watch her click through the website and confirm she’s over eighteen, then Mark appears on her screen. The words under his picture make my heart swell, and I take Kaia’s phone from her to read.
CEO Mark Becker has always avoided the public eye, but to win back the heart of the woman he loves, he’d do anything. Should she give him a second chance?
Vote ‘yes’ to remove one flower and donate ￡1 to ‘Save the Bees’ charity.
Vote ‘no’ to keep the flowers where they are.
Either vote gives you the key to download an alpha prototype of the game we are developing. Be the first to discover Infinio’s new style and take part in the journey.
I hold my breath and keep reading.
Infinio Games stands for infinite imagination and infinite possibilities. To be true to our vision, we need to accept and celebrate diversity, colour, and people’s differences.
Without our diverse Infinio team, without Alice, the world would be monochrome and dull.
We are no longer what we used to be.
Join the Infinio Games transformation.
Be part of the future of gaming.
“Only one flower disappeared,” Kaia says, clearly disappointed, but my blood rushes, pounding into my ears.
“He loves me,” I whisper. “Jesus Christ, I can’t believe he’s going to this extreme.” I look up at the billboard again, almost naked Mark playfully smiling down at me.
He’s the only person who could come up with a stunt like this. But I’d never expect him to put himself out there like that.
This is him sticking his finger to the board and putting them on their knees at the same time. I bet they’ll get a considerable number of players for this game—a whole new audience—because of him.
But I see it for what it is.
This is for me.
He’s making a fool of himself. For me. Showing me that he’s trying.
And it’s fucking working.
I’m going to have to vote now.
I open the website again, and even more flowers are gone. “Oh my God, I need to make him take this down.”
“No!” Kaia shrieks, and I hit her in the arm.
“That’s my man’s penis.”
“Your man?” she asks, lifting an eyebrow. “So you voted yes?”
“Yes,” I say and feel my cheeks heat. A flower disappears from his private area, and it says, ‘You voted yes’.
“And then what?” I look at Kaia, and it dawns on me… “Was this your special project?”
She grins.
“What am I supposed to do now?” I ask.
“He didn’t specify.”
What did I expect? Confetti to fall from the sky? Was he going to jump out from behind a bush and yell surprise?
I need to do something now I know he’s trying this hard to get my attention. My forgiveness.
We continue walking down the high street, and a bright yellow playsuit catches my eye.
An idea comes to mind.
I know what to do.