Page 80 of Viral Affair

Half an hour later, I walked down to the bar and ordered myself a bottle of beer. I felt rested after sleeping for almost two days, but I woke up in a shitty mood. The flight was long and I had an economy seat, so I hadn’t really gotten a chance to sleep on the plane. I’d travelled here like any normal guy who was looking to take some time out of his busy schedule.

I deactivated my old number and got a pay-as-you-go SIM card at the airport with a phone that could only take calls and send text messages. I refused to go online. I didn’t know, maybe I was going through some sort of crisis, but I was aware of what would have happened if I’d announced I was going away. My mother would have freaked out, and then she would have begged James or Spencer to talk me out of it. I didn’t need any fuss or special treatment. I loved my mother, but she was too overbearing sometimes.

I drank my beer and glanced around. A group of young lads with backpacks walked in. They must have just arrived.

“Hey, mate, can you take our picture?” one of them asked me. He sounded like he was from Australia.

“Sure. Line up, boys,” I said as four of them stood closer together. I managed to snap several good photos of them. These guys were much younger than me.

“Thanks, mate,” he answered then he sat next to me while his mates ordered some beer, too. “Are you on vacation?”

“Sort of. I just had to get away from London. The weather was bad, so I took the first available flight here. How about you? What are you guys doing here?”

“We’re from New Zealand and this is our first stop. Our friend Damon broke up with his girlfriend a few weeks back, so we’re trying to cheer him up. He hasn’t been doing well lately,” the guy explained, shaking my hand. “I’m Jack, by the way.”

“Rupert,” I introduced myself. “I recently broke up with someone, too, so I know the feeling.”

I didn’t even know why I’d said that—maybe I wanted to be relatable. My heart was still rotting, and I needed to do something with myself to forget about Veronica because so far, nothing had worked.

He eyed me with interest.

“Yeah, then you know how it is,” he said, clapping me on the back. “We’re going to stay in one of the huts for a couple of days here, so we can chill.”

“Great, so I’ll probably see you guys around,” I said.

He nodded.

A few minutes later, all of them joined me and we had a few beers together. I ended up hanging out with them for the rest of the evening. When we were done, they walked with me to my hut then went to check into theirs. I decided to go for a dip in the ocean then had a quick shower. After that, I finally felt more like my old self. Maybe I could mend the broken part of myself by the time I was ready to return to my old life… Yep, maybe?

The lads from New Zealand invited me to hang out with them in the morning as they were planning to go scuba diving in another part of the island. I ended up saying yes because I had no other plans, and they seemed like a good bunch of guys who treated me like I was one of them.

Later that evening, I ended up walking at least a mile from my resort to a restaurant that came highly recommended. It was November, but the weather was great. It wasn’t overbearingly hot—just humid, which I could deal with. When I finally got to the restaurant, I knew something felt off.

The whole place was packed, but this wasn’t what felt odd. It was the fact that everyone was suddenly staring at me once I sat and ordered a drink. The establishment was located in a busy part of the island, and a few people I’d chatted with earlier had claimed they had the best Pad Thai they’d ever tasted, so obviously I wanted to try it.

For a moment I thought that maybe I was being paranoid, but people were really staring, and everyone seemed to have their phones out, too, which was unusual. I had no bloody idea what was going on, but I was starving and the food here was excellent, so I decided to stay.

After I ordered from a short waiter, I pulled out my phone and scrolled through it. Since I had a new number, I decided to install a few social media apps on it. Nothing had changed. I still liked not being on any of them, but in a way, I craved to know what was going back to London since I wasn’t in contact with anyone.

Deep down, I knew I was lying to myself. I’d installed TikTok and Instagram on this new phone because I hoped to spy on Veronica’s new profile. I had it memorised, and yes, it was pathetic, but I was happy she was doing well, getting thousands and thousands of new followers every day. She’d been very active on all her socials since we’d broken up and she’d ended up working for the Cashmere brand.

I scrolled through TikTok first, wondering why millions of people in the world found it so addictive. I watched all sorts of videos, going from adorable toddlers and their cute families to the wildest shit I had ever seen. This app was wild, and I could see the appeal.

Then a video of me suddenly popped up and I paused on it, tensing up. It was the video Veronica had posted a few months back—the one of the two of us meeting for the first time in Greece. I stared at myself, looking positively smitten in it, seeing her for the first time while she danced… then the camera rolled back to her as she started talking. The surroundings shifted. Veronica was now standing in the middle of a busy street, talking to the camera.

““Hey, guys, you remember that video? Long story short, I found my Rupert and after some initial problems. We started dating, then we fell in love … but now I need your help again. He left London after we had a disagreement, and I don’t know how to find him. I promise you, Rupert, I never lied to you except when I told you I didn’t love you. Despite what I said, everything we had was real. Our love was real, and all these crazy coincidences, too, so please come back to me. I love you and can’t live without you. Guys, please help me find him. I know you can do it, TikTok.”

I ran my hand over my jaw as my heart accelerated, then I went to her profile. The video I’d just watched was from three days ago, from Saturday morning, and there had been no update since then. Moments later, a notification popped up that Veronica was now live. I clicked on the screen instantly as she came into view. She was walking on a beach.

“All right, guys, I’m here and I think I’m very close. Oh God, I’m so nervous. I never thought I would do something like this. There are literally thousands of you watching me right now, and I hope he’ll forgive me. I truly do.”

Sweat broke over my forehead as I rubbed my chin, watching her and suddenly recognising where she was.

“Excuse me, but I think this girl is talking about you,” someone said.

I turned to my right. A woman smiled at me. She was dining with a man as she pointed at Veronica’s live stream.

“She’s walking towards this restaurant.”

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