Page 6 of Playing With My Heart Strings

We’re waiting for an Uber to take us back home when I notice my phone has been vibrating non-stop, which is extremely odd given that it’s eleven thirty on a Monday. I fumble through my purse to dig it out and look at the screen where hundreds of notifications for theHeart Stringssocial media await me.

Oh. No.

3

baylor

Damage Control

“SOMMERFELD!”Colette St. James releases her wrath on me the moment I step through the doors of the production building. Hell hath no fury like the executive producer of a TV show after seeing a drunkenly posted video on the company social media account. It’s the cardinal rule of social media management. Youalwaysmake sure you’re on the right account before you post anything. Better yet, you log out of the company account before a night out in case you, or apparently your coworker, gets drunk.

The video has since been deleted, but not before hundreds of thousands of likes and shares. In other words, my singing voice is currently all over the internet.

I take a deep breath, trying to calm my pounding heart.I will not lose my job today.

“You called, Colette?” I try to sound as collected as possible in hopes that she doesn’t notice the shake in my voice.

“What thefuckhappened last night?” She’s fuming, frown lines cutting through her skin. I can practically see the smoke coming out of her ears.

“I-I have no idea. I guess something accidentally got posted.”Obviously.I’m not going to throw Daniella under the bus, though, and get her fired too.

“No shit, Baylor. This type of thing is unacceptable.”

Here it comes. I’m about to lose my job. My parents are going to be pissed, and then they’re going to tell meI told you so. My pride is about to take a brutal hit, one I’m unsure I’ll be able to recover from.

“Wait, Colette! You need to see this!” One of the marketing strategists runs over holding out her phone.

Colette snatches the device out of her hand and scrolls, her face pinched in a permanent frown. She scrolls for what feels like an eternity and then hands the phone to me.

“Well, well, well. It seems as though the internet has saved you today, Baylor.”

I look at the phone, confused about what she means. And then I seeexactlywhat she means.

There are thousands of comments on just one repost of the video.

OMG, she better be on the show!

I don’t even know who this girl is, but I’m rooting for her so hard.

They posted this on the official social media. It has to mean something!

“Wait, you’re not firing me?” I ask, blinking in shock.

“No, although I should,” Colette mutters. “I’m not firing you, but only on one condition. You are going to clean up this little mess you made.”

I raise an eyebrow. “And how exactly am I supposed to do that?” I mean, I can handle a social media crisis. I’ve done it before. It’s just never involvedmebefore.

“You saw those comments, didn’t you?” She eyes the phone in my hand. “You’re going on the show, Baylor.” She flips her hair over her shoulder and takes off.

What. The. Fuck.

“Wait, Colette.” I’m speedwalking, trying to keep up after she dropped that absolute bomb on me. “What do you mean I’m going on the show?”

“Exactly what I said. You’ll be joining the other girls on the show.” She shrugs, barely paying me any attention.

“But—”

“Do you want to keep your job or not?” she snaps, to which I nod. “Okay, then you’ll do what I ask. As of today, you’re not part of Sparks Studio Productions, you’re part of the cast. Which means you should probably stop following me around like a lost puppy.”

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