“If you say that one more fucking time, I’m gonna lose my shit.” Ricki’s stock response sent Blythe into orbit every time, which was probably why she continued to say it.
“I’ll ask you again. Why don’t you block her?”
“And miss all the bullshit stuff she’s doing? No way.”
“What’d she do this time?”
What hadn’t she done? It started with stealing Blythe’s handle. While not identical, @The_Dykonic_One and @Dapper&Dykonic were too similar to be a coincidence. Ricki reminded her often that Dykonic wasn’t a trademarked word; still, she’d felt robbed.
Blythe jabbed at her phone. “She stitched the same video I stitched last night. That’s six in a row.”
“Um, don’t creators stitch videos that are trending?”
“Yeah.” Blythe narrowed her eyes. “So?”
“Was it all lesbian content?”
“I suppose.”
“So your algorithms likely give you the same stuff in your feed.”
Blythe didn’t like the direction Ricki was leading her, so she crossed her arms over her chest. “But she didn’t need to stitch the same ones. Fucking Gen Z.”
Ricki snorted. “Now you’re gonna condemn an entire generation because of one creator?”
“Millennials wouldn’t do that shit.”
“You know those are arbitrary designations, don’t you? You’re thirty-two, she’s like what, twenty-five? I don’t think there’s a huge generational gap.”
“Then there’s an enormous ethical gap.” Blythe glared at Ricki, daring her to challenge it.
Ricki picked up her book and slid her fingers down the bookmark and between the pages.
“Are you going to sit there and read when I’m trying to talk to you?”
Ricki sighed and dropped the book onto her lap. “I don’t know what you want me to say. You’ve been complaining about her for months.”
“Maybe it’s time I take the first shot.”
“I’m telling you. Don’t do it. Nothing good can come from it.”
Blythe knew Ricki was right since she’d seen other creators go down in flames when their feuds became public. People took sides, and often both creators lost more followers than they gained. Unless one garnered sympathy. Blythe needed bulletproof evidence she was being wronged. If she didn’t, it’d appear she was bullying another creator.
“I’ll stay away from her—for now.”
“Good.” Ricki picked up her book.
“What are you doing home from work so early?”
“I used flex time this afternoon.”
“About time. You’ve been putting in obscene hours.”
“Tell me about it. But if I want to get ahead…”
“Get ahead in a job you don’t like for a company you can’t stand.”
Ricki smirked. “When you say it like that.”
