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Chapter Seven
River didn’t seem to have a clue about the video, so I bided my time, waiting for the right moment to break it to him. I wasn’t sure how he would react. I decided it was best to put it aside for today and focus on his newly released singleBrown Eyesthat had just hit the airwaves hours ago.
Ari had emailed a ton of people in the music business for a listening party at his Bel Air home tonight. Rock, who was in charge of visual effects, would showcase a thirty-minute video of River through his writing process and snippets of him recording in the studio.
River surrounded himself with a group of artistic people. Manu produced one of his tracks. And I supposed this eventuality was bound to happen sooner or later, given that they liked to jam and belt out tunes whenever they hung out. This became a project his friends were a part of, and I couldn’t be more proud.
There were about two hundred people in Ari’s home. River’s manager had surprisingly been cordial and not hostile towards me. I had expected some type of confrontation after the whole Hailey debacle a few months back, but it seemed that was old news and everyone focused on the highly-anticipated album release. According to River, that day was approximately six weeks away.
While the garden and the entire floor filled with guests, Ari situated the listening party in his massive in-home theatre where people could go in and out without needing to specifically coerce to listen to all throughout the evening.
I actually hadn’t been in any type of listening parties, but Ari did things differently, so who was I to judge if this was an effective way to promote River’s music? I was sure that most of the guests were journalists. Reviews and articles would be flooding in the oncoming days.
River busied himself entertaining people from the industry, politely answering questions about his new career.
Phoenix, the second it was revealed he co-wrote some of the songs, was bombarded with questions about his connections to music and how the writing process came about with River. Since they had been friends for over a year now, vibing with one of his closest friends came naturally.
For the most part, I couldn’t very well stick to his side and seem like an insipid, less functioning bimbo, so Kells, Anton, and I made sure the drinks and food were properly filled.
“Did he say anything yet?” Anton whispered while we refilled our champagne flutes.
Peering at my friend, I guzzled the contents of my glass before shaking my head. “Not yet, no.”
He frowned, puzzled. “Weird. You’re, like, one of the recommended videos on YouTube, and last time I checked, you’re trending on Twitter.”
His revelation increased the anxiety that had formed in the pit of my stomach. I tried to quench it with another round of drink.
“He’ll be fine. It’s no biggie. It’s only a video of me dancing. It really isn’t that big of a deal.” Anton gave me a thoughtful look before he snickered. “Let’s just say that you’re going to be easily recognized these days. And your market value will sky-rocket like a bitch in heat ’cause you’re multi-talented. Viral videos would do that to you. People like all that shit, and it doesn’t hurt that you’re gorgeous and sexy as fuck. Not to mention the added perk you’re dating the man-candy River Ellis.”
Viral videos,, fuck. It was just a dance video; how could it garner so much attention?
“You exaggerate too much, babe.” I shrugged, not wanting to dwell on my impending doom. I couldn’t even appreciate the fact that people liked it because all my mind focused on was River’s furious reaction. There was nothing worse than awaiting that explosive moment, and time was closing in on me.
“You’ll find out soon. You heard it from my lips first.”
“Okay, now let’s get out of here and find where our friends are hiding.” Did they know, too? And if they did, they knew better than to mention it, knowing River won’t be pleased. Nevertheless, it was making me nervous. So much so that I couldn’t even dare look at the video in fear that it might be too revealing.
I didn’t do it to get popularity. On the contrary, I gave it my all because dancers couldn’t be one if they didn’t put their souls into it. Was that a crime?
Anton and I filtered through the crowd and headed straight to the theater where most of them were milling around before we sought the kitchens.
The second I reached River’s side, who was in company of Kells, Manu, Phoenix, and Rock, he didn’t seem at all pleased as he gazed at me, brows furrowing.
“What video are they talking about?” he asked with utter bewilderment.
Fuck.I’m screwed. My stomach dropped, panic seizing me, but before I could manage to respond, Rock tapped him in the back, vying for his full attention.
“I got you, bro,” he reassuringly stated, immediately breezing towards his laptop to surf the net. I had expected him to show the link and change from the contents on the screen projector. In a blink of an eye, River’s clips shifted to little ole me in the studio.
What the fuck, Rock? I wanted to growl and chuck something at him. Thanks for nothing.
“Babe, I meant …” Words vanished from my lips as I watched my boyfriend’s face change. I didn’t need to see what was being played, because River’s expression was enough to tell me how effective it was to anger him. His jaw was clamped shut, his undivided attention severely glued to the screen like everyone else in the Ari’s movie theater.
Personally, I hadn’t minded it at all. In fact, truth be told, I quite enjoyed it. It made me feel connected to my old self—that fun-loving girl who combusted with so much potential, with such feral passion within her soul that she had to perform. But even though that revelation left me ecstatic, I didn’t want to place a chip on my relationship, either. I wanted to preserve this solidarity we had. It was just like old times, and I would give anything so long as River and I didn’t revert back to our wretched treatment of each other. Seeing his stony expression, I might’ve just brought it back to Neanderthal era.
Once the longest three-minute clip of my life was over, laser eyes pivoted to me. It was cutting. It flayed me alive. Layer upon layer, it torched me inside out. The magnitude of its heat left me no doubts where his temper lied. It placed me in a very compromising position.
I was sure he wouldn’t have minded had I done it without having Carmen record me. Alas, the video was out there and even if it was taken down, it was all over social media now. There was no stopping it once it began trending on Twitter.
