Famous for a Living by Melissa Ferguson

Author:Melissa Ferguson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 2023-05-16T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

The Lie

He did it.

I stare at the teeny-tiny little notification among a thousand letting me know that @zaiahsmith1234567890 (only the most horrendous handle ever) has liked my picture. A notification I could have so easily missed, had I not seen how he had methodically liked every single picture of mine back to 2021.

Me. The only person he follows.

I don’t know how it is possible, but this makes me flush more than the rather surprisingly moving poem by @catcranwellfan4eva (followed by a request to send a few concerning pictures, which promptly landed him on the blocked account list for life).

I look at the profile picture Zaiah has chosen. It’s not of his face (surprise, surprise) but of a moose standing with head high among a smattering of trees. Not the same one we saw at the hot springs, but I can’t help wondering: Did he do it on purpose, as a little reminder of that moment?

A little gesture saying, Hey, I think about that moment late at night too.

I swipe out of the app.

“Do you think I have a problem?”

“You have several,” Serena says on the other end. “One being that you just encouraged everyone in the entire universe to visit you and become your BFF at that little park of yours. That problem?”

“No.”

“Then you’re going to have to elucidate.”

“With my phone. Or technology in general. Do you think I’m”—my lips shift their hold on a couple of bobby pins as I pull one out and use it to pull back another strand of curled hair—“obsessed?”

“Sweetie, of course you’re obsessed. Everyone in the world is obsessed. It’s a universally accepted fact. We’ve all taken a vote and decided we’re okay with it.”

“Not everyone.” I grab another strand and pull the second bobby pin from my mouth, watching myself in the bathroom mirror. “Zaiah openly said he doesn’t like it. He said he doesn’t like what it ‘does to people.’ But it’s not all bad.”

“Certainly not.”

“I have to have it for the GPS, of course.”

“Of course.”

“And then phone conversations.”

“Naturally.”

“Texting.”

“Without question.”

“Shoot, look at Mina’s business. Social media’s been a game changer.”

“Not to mention you’ve just used it to open up the gates to your run-of-the-mill psychos waiting to make a wig out of your hair.”

“I’d rather not dwell on that part, thank you.” I pause. “The point is, I’m using social media to get people here, and there’s power in our globally connected generation, and it’s absurd not to use it to better yourself and others.”

I hear Bobby’s words spill from my lips before I realize it. But this part, at least, is true. The connectedness and profits that can come from social media are unreal. I’ve gathered enough about Mina’s current financial situation to know what a thousand, much less ten thousand, dollars can do for her. And where else could she build up that kind of business and opportunity for herself in this town? For that matter, name one way she could build up that kind of opportunity for herself with an after-hours side gig in addition to her true passion for the national parks?

This is good.

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