Page 11 of Heartbeats and Hashtags
“Nope.” She shakes her head confidently and shrugs. “Unlike you, I’ve been on the internet since I was a kid. I’ve grown up learning about my online footprint. I’m not stupid enough to post where I live.” She crosses her arms. I ignore her subtle dig at my age. I'd guess I’m about a decade older than she is.
I stifle a smile, not missing the challenge in her voice. She has no idea who she is up against. I am good at what I do and have already noticed some mistakes on her social media.
“Not stupid enough, eh?” I dare.I love it when people play themselves.
She shakes her head confidently.
“Alright then, let me show you something.” I reach for my phone. Unlocking the screen, I pull up a picture of her social media, scrolling then slowing down on a video of her showing her morning routine and pausing it at the exact right moment. I screen grab the still imagine and zoom in until I can clearly see the street address of her home.
“How did that …” she exclaims, jaw nearly hitting the floor.
I raise my brow, waiting for a witty response. She averts her eyes and slumps a little in the seat. For a moment I feel bad for her, then I remember her sass with me.
Tucking away my phone, I hold her eyes with mine “And that, Everly, is why youneedme to check the content. I know what to look for. I know how to keep you safe. And I’ll have you know that I’ve also been on the internet for quite a while.”
She almost flinches at the word “safe.”
“I had no idea I’d included that,” she whispers, remaining still.
On a whim, I decide to offer her a chance for a do-over.
“Would you rather we go over this in the morning? Let’s get some rest tonight, and then we can get a fresh start tomorrow.” Her lips finally curled upward, a hint of a faint smile.
“Yeah,” she confirms, “I think that’s best.”
She makes up a sofa bed for me for the night, and we say an awkward goodnight.
“Canyou ask her to give me a shoutout?” the high-pitched voice calls out to me, cracking lightly with some bad signal. I’ve not even been working with Everly for a full day, and she’s already causing me headaches.
I sigh and hide my reaction off camera. What hope are we to have for the next generation of young people if they look up to people likeEverly Ford?My research so far on the woman reveals that her entire rise to fame had been about getting fit, which I guess could be motivational. But now her content seems to be more about staying lean, vapid photos of her “beautiful life,” and selfies.
I plant a smile on my face. Lily is the only person who I will fake happiness for.
“I’ll try. She’s averybusy lady though.” Luckily, the twelve-year-old on the other end of the video chat doesn’t pick up my sarcasm. I nearly snort at the thought of Everly Ford being busy. If socializing, working out, and posting a few pictures online constitutes busyness, then I suppose she is very,verybusy.
“I miss you, Cole.”Lily instinctively frowns, her cheerful expression momentarily fades off her face – but she quickly rearranges her features back into a smile. A lump forms in my throat.
“That’sUncleCole to you, missy!” her mother, my sister-in-law, corrects in the background.
“Can I have the phone, sweetie?” Clara asks Lily softly. Clara, or C to me, is a great mom. She coped so well after the accident that took my brother and has kept both herself and Lily afloat. I couldn’t even look after myself for months after, but C seemed to summon some strength and managed to toughen up and get her and Lily through it. I admired her for that more than anything.
I continue packing my things into a small suitcase. I left Everly early this morning, trusting her to supervise the locksmiths changing her locks and the team to install an upgraded home alarm system with motion sensors and video monitoring in case of a breach.
“So…are we still good for family weekend?” Clara asks, a small smile playing on her lips. Her face fills the screen as Lily's heavy footsteps run away and a distant door shuts.
“Ithinkso.” Her smile falters. I am always hesitant to make plans while I'm on the job, which can be so unpredictable. “I’m sure it will work out. We can spend the whole day together. There are a few spots IknowLily would love.”
Clara's face visibly relaxes, and she takes a breath, raking her hand through her hair. I notice the diamond on her left-hand sparkle in the light and swallow.My chest tightens at the reminder of her late-husband,my brother.
“That’s great. She’s so excited to see you, Cole. I am too. It’ll be nice to hang out again.” I wince a little at the insinuation in her tone. We did spend a lot of time together, especially when Lily was a baby. I made sure to be around to help out as much as I could and fulfill all uncle duties. But after the accident, I justcouldn’tdo it. I’m ashamed to admit it out loud, but it hurts too much. Lily has his bright green eyes. My eyes.Looking at her smiling, I see him and the smiles he never got to share with her.
Quickly ending the call, I give the excuse of needing to finish packing, even though I folded my last t-shirt a few minutes ago.
Before I makemy way over to officially move in and begin this job, I review the dossier. This time to think to myself is crucial for a successful job. In order to protect someone, you mustknow them.Know their strengths, weaknesses, habits, friends, family,everything. And to know them, you have to take some time to study them. Of course, most of this is done on the job, especially with a quick start like this one, but it can't hurt to have another quick look over the notes before I see Everly again.
Miss Everly was brought up with a silver spoon in her mouth.No surprise there.She doesn’t appear to have encountered a single hardship. Everly went from being Daddy’s little girl, Daddy being a real estate mogul based in Florida, to being the nation's most loved fitness influencer.
Every article I find on her gushes about her kind-hearted nature and positive attitude. But I’ve met people like her before. This isn’t my first time working with a celebrity, and I’m sure this new wave of influencers are no different from the movie stars and pop stars I’ve worked with before. They are all nice and sweet when the cameras are on, but off-camera they are demanding, vein, and downrightinsufferable.
