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“But Lurpak’s now the currency that rules throughout the land,”replied Kai through his auto-tuned microphone.
They laughed and rewarded each other with a much-deserved fist-bump, rounded off with a high five and a hug.
“How much money do we get for that?” asked Leo, grinning and almost dropping his phone.
“Twenty big ones, baby.” A satisfied grin plastered Kai’s face.
“Grand? Say grand, please.”
“Er… pounds, actually. They’re big ones to us, though, right?” said Kai, with a sheepish blush.
“Shite. I’d better pull something else out of my arse, then. What rhymes with Dairylea?” Leo stared into the empty fridge, but only a triangle of cheese and tub of empty butter stared back at them, and Kai startled Leo by pulling him in for a kiss. “Wow, what was that for?”
Kai shied away, looking unsure of what to say. Leo had known Kai since they were six and seven years old respectively and had been through every major life milestone with him. They’d lived together for years, been kicked out of apartments together, found an apartment, became TikTok sensations, and now… they had kissed. And what a kiss it had been, come all the awkwardness in the aftermath.
“For being a genius,” Kai finally replied, seemingly shrugging off his impulsive move.
“You’re the one who started singing about the superiority of pyramid tea bags. That, I believe, was the catalyst to our success.”
“True. I’ll take it, then.”
Leo lost himself in Kai’s eyes for a moment and brought him in for a hug, prompting Kai to brush his nose gently against Leo’s cheek, but sadness seemed to come on the back of it until Kai composed himself, and Leo shook it off.
“It feels like a good day today. I think we’re onto something, you know?” said Kai.
“Is that it, then? You’re just gonna brush over the fact that you just kissed me?” Leo grinned at him, not wanting to make Kai feel anymore awkward but not really able to stop himself either.
“Sorry, I don’t know why I did that. I just-”
“I know. You got carried away in the moment. That was all, right?”
That blush of his again. “Right.”
Leo knew that when it came to emotions, Kai found it difficult to express himself, particularly romantically. There had never been any sexual chemistry between them except for a bit of harmless flirting now and again, so that kiss really threw Leo, but he knew not to push anything with Kai, and he let the heat dissolve into the heat of the moment. He kind of envied whoever Kai did let go with, though. Being held in those huge, tattooed arms, well…
With it brushed under the carpet as a mistake, Leo decided to switch to professional mode. “You’re right, though, we’re gaining some serious traction.” He pretended to be transfixed with his phone to hide how he hadn’t really let the kiss go. Kai was one to keep close. His idea of making Leo break down the social media barriers was working. Every idea that Kai gave made their views, shares and likes snowball. It was like some kind of Midas touch. Leo bounced off his every move, and together they seemed to be an unstoppable duo.
Three months ago, Leo had nothing. Now he had, well, half of twenty big ones and a lot of potential.
Another of his videos, one of them weighing up the financial disadvantages of making pesto from scratch had just gone viral as well. He’d never have thought that mixing the sound of their mini blender with a dubstep beat would make an informative but catchy little ditty about fresh pesto.
Leo’s followers loved it, and this was the style that he was becoming known for: turning everyday mundane chats about everyday things into songs. It was all funny, relatable stuff, which made it all the more popular.
Although making some more money out of this endeavour would have been the cherry on top, Leo was gaining attention from the right people, including a certain Kris Proud from Wrap’d Records, who it seemed was performing an about turn. Kris had revived the pulse of their email chain, which was a great sign.
For that reason, it seemed that Leo was now the one in control. Kris would reply to every email he sent promptly this time around, sometimes within seconds. It felt good to finally be gaining some kind of traction.
“Is that him?” asked Kai, also hearing the unmistakable ping of a delivered email as he mixed himself an orange squash.
“Yeah, funny how he replies straight away now we’re ‘influencers’,” replied Leo, benefitting from the exercise his fingers were getting from his over-emphasised air quotes. “Says he wants us to go down to London for an informal chat. He might be able to put an offer on the table we’d be interested in.”
“Any offer would be good at the moment. Shirley’s been on my arse about the rent again,” grumbled Kai.
“It’s a bloody good job we look after this place and she likes us.”
Kai shrugged. “Better the devil you know, eh? Ah, we’ll be okay. The universe is always looking out for people like us.”
“Right on, man. Anyway, Friday afternoon. That’s when he wants to have a meeting—in London. Maybe we could make a weekend of it?”
