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TEN
GABRIEL
Kenneth clicked through the slides on his laptop, controlling the large screen at the other end of the conference room. The slew of men and women he highlighted all appeared to have the same aesthetic—modern white spaces, blinding smiles, and enough filters to make it impossible to tell one from the next.
When I made no response, he nervously clicked his keyboard, moving on to the next. Tensions were high. This was an emergency Saturday meeting after all.
“Glitter Galore would be a great catch. She recently won a competition reality show and her star power has been skyrocketing since.” Kenneth grinned at me with the same desperation for approval as the influencers he was trying to sell me on.
I recognized Glitter. She had been on the same reality television as Layana. “FromWhat the What?”
She purposefully covered her body in glitter. I’d find it under my nails, in my hair, contaminating my work. No. Glitter Galore was as unfit to help me as the rest.
“Do you like her?” Pamela tilted her chin, seemingly picking up on my recognition and taking it for approval.
I waved a dismissive hand. “Pass.”
“That’s…she was my last one,” Kenneth dropped his head in defeat.
“Keep searching, Kenneth. Good work,” Pamela said. “Moving on to Kaylee.”
Kenneth looked at her like a puppy both pacified but fearful of its owner’s praise.
Kaylee gave me the same nervous look Kenneth had. “Hi, I’m Kaylee.”
I knew this. I made it a point to know everyone’s names. They spent their lives devoted to the same cause I did; why would I not learn who they are?
“Hi,” I said.
Sheeeped.
“Tell us about your idea,” Pamela said, with a curt nod.
“Right.” Kaylee stared at her laptop and talked in a rush. “I was thinking since Mr. Stryker looks so much like a younger Justin Theroux, we could try to capitalize on that.”
I didn’t look like Justin Theroux.
“How so?” Pamela asked.
A wash of red climbed up Kaylee’s neck and over her face. “I was thinking it could be perfect if we could convince people that they had more in common than looks. Like maybe even mannerisms and that cute smile and….”
A different kind of coaching. It was far from the worst idea that we’d heard during the meeting.
She sank lower into her seat, hiding herself more thoroughly behind her laptop so I could only see her hairline.
“And then I thought it would be even better if we could just replace him with Justin Theroux, you know for media stuff,” Kaylee said. “Pretend they’re the same person.”
She wanted to replace me. People had said I’d already been replaced, that I was a lizard person in a flesh suit masqueradingas Gabriel Stryker. That’s what Kaylee wanted to sell me—that I’d be better off as a fake.
A cold gust swept through my veins, momentarily freezing every thought. My heart hammered a beat too loudly, its rhythm echoing my surprise.
“Did I just hear that correctly?” I asked, in a cool, even voice.
Every head in the room snapped in my direction.
The inch of Kaylee’s forehead I could actually see turned bright red. She squirmed.
I had definitely heard her properly. My initial reaction to her proposal was premature. Hers was the worst idea I’d heard so far.
