She’s right. “It’s just a Monday thing, I guess.”
“This is not a Monday thing. Something is going on. Spill.”
“Nothing!” I say too loudly. “Gotta go! I’ll call you later!”
Good God. I tell Steffi everything, not that I usually have tons of crazy stories to share. But this? No. I simply cannot tell her. The best approach is to pretend it never happened. There is the looming issue of having to face Esben in the next few minutes, but I will simply pretend that there is no Esben. Easy.
It turns out that I didn’t need to worry. I get to the lecture hall and hunker down in my seat, but Esben is not here yet, and he does not come in late. A wave of relief should sweep over me, but I’ve been anticipating this moment for a day and a half, and now I’ll have to go through this again on Wednesday. In no way am I disappointed that he’s not here today, of course. Not in the least.
On Tuesday night, Steffi video calls me while I’m up late, typing up notes from the day.
As always, she looks impeccable; even the loose bun with stray blond tendrils falling out is perfect. Her tight pink tank top shows off her long neck and full cleavage. If I didn’t adore her so completely, I would be riddled with envy. As it is, seeing her face on my screen always makes me happy, and I smile at her. “What’s up? How are you?”
It’s then that I notice she’s leaning back in her chair, arms folded, with an undeniable smirk on her face.
“Steff?”
She bunches her lips together and cocks her head. “‘What’s up?’ Seriously? What’s up withyou? Is there, oh, any chance you’d like to share something massively huge and crazy with me?”
I freeze, my smile vanishing. I cannot get myself to say anything. Something very bad is about to happen; I can tell.
Suddenly, Steffi flails her hands about wildly, and she begins talking with such a shocking level of delight that I can hardly follow what she’s saying. “Did it occur to you to tell me that you’d become a viral-video sensation? That you’re plastered all over the Internet, getting all schmexy time with the one and only Esben Baylor? Ohmigod, could he be any freakin’ hotter? How was the kiss? What the hell was that? Oh wait! Is he there right now? Am I interrupting anything?” She claps her hands together and leans in to the camera, pretending to peer around my room.
I can’t process this. “I’m a what?” I ask flatly.
“You’re a viral-video sensation! All over Facebook and Twitter and BuzzFeed! Upworthy!” She’s screaming and laughing, and I feel as though I might pass out.
“No. No, no, no.” I start shaking my head. “What are you talking about?”
“Hold on.” She starts clacking furiously on her keyboard and messages me a link.
Hesitantly, I move my mouse and click.
Oh hell, no.
I don’t know what this BuzzFeed thing is, but even I can tell that the site is huge, with links to stories about celebrities I know nothing about and lots of headlines and exclamation points. And smack at the top of the page is a video with the headline, “180 Seconds: Interactions between Strangers That Will Make You Melt.”
I clap a hand over my face in horror and scream in protest. “Nooooo!”
“Watch it! Watch it!” Steffi demands with delight.
I glance at the chat window and roll my eyes at the way Steffi is bouncing around idiotically.
“Have you seriously not seen this?” She is obviously in disbelief. “If I were you, I’d be throwing this around all over the place!”
Of course she would. She’s gorgeous and confident and loves nothing more than to be the center of attention. I shake my head and hit the “Play” button, peeking out between my fingers. Music begins, and I barely make out the words that scroll by in what’s presumably some kind of introduction. Then a video of Esben seated in an all-too-familiar chair begins to play, and the camera pans to an older man in the chair opposite him.
“This cannot be happening,” I whisper.
“Jump to the end! It gets better!” Steffi squeals.
“I bet it doesnotget better,” I say angrily, but I drop my hand from my face and click to a later spot in the video.
Esben is smiling and nodding at a middle-aged woman dressed in business attire as she gets up from the chair and leaves. The screen goes black, and more text appears:Sometimes, the unexpected happens. Sometimes, someone makes you break your own rules.And suddenly, there I am on-screen. I watch the moment that I first see Esben.
“Nooooo!” I yell out again. “Oh God!” I hit the “Stop” button. “I am not watching this! Steffi, what am I going to do? Why is this online?”
“Do you really not know who Esben Baylor is?” she hollers, while looking way too happy.
