Chapter 21 #2
Fiona shakes her head, her pink tresses swaying.
“No asthma. He’s been really tired today though…
You might be right. Maybe I should go easier on him if he’s getting sick.
” She flicks a strand of hair out of her face.
“I don’t do well in tense situations. I’m not one of those people who becomes a courageous leader in emergency scenarios.
I shut down. But I don’t want to be like Piper either, pushing people away. ”
“Yeah…” I can’t forget about the golden bracelet, about swimming with Piper, about spotting the same bracelet on Elena’s arm in one of her Instagram pictures. “Looks like she’s dealing with something.”
Fiona sucks her cheeks in. “You’ve noticed her drinking problem. I’m not surprised. It’s getting worse. I keep telling Viv that Piper needs a break, maybe off the boat, but she’s insistent on keeping her close by.”
“Why?” I ask, leaning forward. “Why not let her get the help she needs?”
Fiona glances at my face and then quickly looks away. “Viv likes to be in charge.”
“You mean she’s controlling.”
“I didn’t say that.”
I cross my arms. “Did you know she was going to pull that stunt earlier? Recording me?”
Fiona exhales sharply and meets my eye for real this time.
“No. I swear. When I saw she posted it on the Empress account, I assumed she got your permission. But then I noticed you hadn’t accepted the collaboration request. It wasn’t shared to your page too, which was weird.
I realized she probably didn’t tell you.
She…she does that sometimes. If she has a good idea, she runs with it and explains later. ”
“I didn’t think it was such a ‘good idea,’” I grumble. “She blew up my life. I can’t imagine the kind of things I’ll have on my phone when we get service back.”
“I know it’s a lot,” Fiona says, and there’s a fragile and lacy apology woven in her words.
“But if there’s one thing Viv knows, it’s social media branding.
She’d never sabotage a girl who works for her.
It wouldn’t make sense. Especially not after hiring you so quickly.
It sucks, but if she did it, it means she thinks you can level up from it. ”
This is so similar to what Viv herself told me from her bathtub earlier that the remaining fight leaks from my body. The fists I didn’t realize I was holding uncurl and I slump back against the door, tilting my chin so I can stare up at the ceiling.
“I didn’t want the attention, especially after Sage’s death,” I murmur.
“I gave up. On getting justice. On the truth. On my own dream of getting published. It was too painful. And now that door has been blasted back open. Not everyone is going to believe me. What if Sage’s family or publisher comes after me? ”
Fiona shakes her head. “They can’t.” When I look at her quizzically, Fiona clarifies.
“My uncle handles a lot of defamation lawsuits. You can’t legally defame the dead.
At least not in this country. Slander, libel, all that stuff needs a living victim—someone whose reputation has been harmed.
I mean, maybe there’s an added layer of complexity due to Sage being a public figure who represents a publishing house, but really, no one is going to sue you for this. ”
My chest immediately feels ten times lighter. So much has happened since the internet went out; I haven’t had time to fully panic over the implications of Viv’s post, but now it’s clear that the apprehension was repressing itself in my lungs, heavy and waiting to immobilize me.
“Y-you’re sure?” I confirm.
Fiona gives me a half smile. “You’re going to get drama. But it’s unlikely you’ll get a lawsuit. Listen, Viv is smart. She wouldn’t have done it if she thought you getting in real trouble was a possibility.”
“That’s…a relief,” I concede.
Fiona cocks her head. “Do you have any proof that ASOSAS was yours?”
“That’s the whole point,” I say, frustrated. “If I did, I wouldn’t be here.”
“Then Viv must think you’re compelling and believable enough to stand on your own truth,” Fiona says, shrugging. “She takes care of her Empress girls.”
“Does she?” I ask, thinking of Elena. “You told me Piper needs help and she can’t get it because Viv won’t let her leave.”
“That’s different,” Fiona protests. “Piper’s situation is…complicated.”
I roll my eyes. “Doesn’t seem that complicated to me. And what’s the deal with the food? Why is there so little of it on this boat?”
Fiona’s shoulders rise toward her ears. “Viv is very strict about it, but it’s to keep us healthy. We have set eating times and customized portions, but Rachel keeps us well-fed.”
“That sounds like diet culture,” I press.
Fiona’s voice turns defensive, her hackles raising. “She only bans things that are bad for us! Things with sugar and fat, mostly. Oh, and salt. She does not like salty foods.”
“Fiona, that’s fucked up, you know that, right?”
“There are rules we all follow,” Fiona hisses. “You haven’t been here long. You’ll learn. You’ll see that everything Viv does, whether or not we like it, is for our own good. We’re a family.”
I’m sick of hearing that. Workplaces that call themselves families are always teeming with red flags and boundary issues, and I should have realized it sooner. Viv has a stranglehold over these girls, and knowing she’s banning certain foods and enabling Piper’s drinking makes my stomach sink.
“Why do you always defend Viv?” I ask.
Fiona shrinks back, shrugs. “You don’t get it, though you should. Viv saved my life by giving me this job. I was about to be kicked out of my apartment. My parents don’t live in Florida. I would have been in a bad spot. I owe her. We all do. She gave me a new life, and she did the same for you.”
So what? Viv feels ownership over us all because she happened to have a job opening?
Maybe Viv is the one who killed Elena. Maybe Elena didn’t try to leave Empress at all. She could have broken one of Viv’s weird rules and her punishment was death.
But even as I think it, the accusation withers away. That would be extreme, even for a control freak like Viv. Maybe it was an accident. A cover-up. Or maybe it was one of the men. Carl clearly doesn’t care about boundaries. Maybe he was cheating with Elena too.
Something isn’t right here. If I can quietly investigate, try to find some more evidence of what happened to Elena before the storm ends, I will.
It’s not okay that she just vanished and no one ever came looking for her.
I can’t change anything has already happened, but if I can help get justice for Elena, it’ll be worth all the bizarreness I’ve experienced so far.
But my generosity has a time limit. Ghost or not, I’m getting the hell off this floating prison the second the weather clears.