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A spark of excitement flares in his expression as he grins from ear to ear. “Are you going to him? Are you giving him another chance?”
With a nod, I look down at my phone. What is it he’s said in his other videos that made the entire world tune into his message? All the people who have looked at me oddly since this morning were wondering the same thing. Is that the girl from the videos?
I click Em’s profile and go to his videos. He only made four and expected to go viral? The ChitChat pro in me tsks him silently. All posted at terrible times. He did everything wrong. Except that in the last video, the one I already watched, he said my name and gave it the right hashtags. He got lucky.
Chuckling to myself, I click the previous video. The only thing in the preview image is his sink.
And then a fast-paced dance music plays, and I grin as Em slowly stands up behind the sink wearing his suit and moving to the music. He gives the camera a grin and shakes his head.
Oh my God. Is he really doing this?
Reaching out, he touches the camera, and suddenly, his coat and tie are gone. Giving a fake look of surprise, he keeps dancing to the music, and then he shakes his head with another grin.
Emery Brooks made a freaking thirst trap video.
He touches the camera again, and the shirt’s gone. His wonderful body is on video for the world to see, and thousands of hearts appear on the side as every woman who saw it liked it.
The words “Help me find Madison Carter” appear on the screen, and then it loops back to the beginning, and I’m left staring at it in shock. Emery Brooks probably took his shirt off plenty of times at pool parties. It’s not crazy that he let the world see him like this, but by doing a thirst trap? That’s… Not professional, to say the least.
I take a breath. Em didn’t just break his chain by begging for help. He’s doing whatever it takes to find me, and he thought that just being a sexy guy on ChitChat would do it.
There’s no telling what else he’s done in the other videos. I can’t decide if I’m in shock or awe or on the verge of laughter, but the one thing I’m definitely sure of is that I’m going to watch all of them.
The next one is filmed in a library or bookstore, and the backdrop is shelves of books. When I click it, there’s a soft jungle background sound, and Em steps into the frame.
In a safari outfit. Complete with khaki shorts and safari hat. Instead of a giant gun, he’s holding a burlap sack.
In a terrible Australian accent, he says, “Today, on How to Win Madison Carter Back, I’m going to show you how to capture a bookworm or even a bookdragon. The first step is to go to their most native environment.”
Em looks around, spreading his hands. “This local bookstore and café seems to be the perfect hunting ground.” He leans in close and whispers, “The first step is learning your prey’s food source. To do this, you’ll have to pay special attention to the clues they leave behind. They’ll be tricky about their habits because a bookworm does not reveal their weaknesses easily.”
He gives the camera one of his extra-special grins. “Unless they’re in the company of another who dines on similar species of prey.”
He takes a step to the side where a pile of books has been stacked up inside a box with a cardboard sign with the words “Free Books” written in black sharpie. “It’s important to make sure that your bait matches the bookworm’s favorite food. In BookDragonMaddie’s case, it’s books like these.”
I laugh out loud at the titles he shows. They’re the books that I picked out on our date to the book signing. How did he even remember which ones they were?
The safari hat nearly falls off as he bends over, and he has to catch it before putting it back on haphazardly. With another grin, he points up to the ceiling. “This is the trap we’ll be using. Not a box or a cage, like many people think. No, bookworms are too smart for those.”
Hanging from the ceiling is an oversized chair just like the one at my apartment, and the complicated ropes lower it to the aisle between the shelves, to sit right next to the box of books.
“Now that we’ve set the trap, we wait,” Em says, and steps out of the frame.
And Dante steps in with a wild look in his eyes. Wearing a brown wig and a dress. He looks both ways before picking up a book from the box. Oohing and aahing, he makes his way to the chair and lays down just like I would.
It’s so ridiculous that I’m cackling in the cab's backseat. Then, Em jumps into the frame with a net and throws it at Dante, who just keeps reading. Em turns to the camera and says, “That’s how you catch a bookworm, but I need your help to catch Madison Carter. Please, if you see this video, let her know.”
It loops again, and I can’t get the smile off my face. That’s definitely Em and not Emery. Emery would never do something that silly. Though, how he convinced Dante to join in on the antics, I’ll probably never know.
There’s a warmth growing in my belly thinking about Em being silly like this. It’s the same way I felt about him before. Even watching the videos begins to fill in that hollowness inside me, but the ache in my chest hurts even more.
He didn’t give up on us. He did the impossible and changed. For me. I’m sure that there are still times that he has to be the important Emery Brooks, but I know just from these videos that he’s different now. He’s not hiding behind the mask.
“Did you watch the one where he catches the bookworm?” the cab driver asks with a grin. “That’s my favorite one, but my wife thinks the first one is the best.”
I just smile at him and look back at my phone. But then the cab stops. “We’re here,” he says.
I look up at the World Bank building. The place that I found myself in so many ways. It’s strange to think about coming back here. There are so many memories built around this place, nearly all of them good.
