Super Blogger

18. NEVER LIKE BEFORE

                 JASON'S POV

•That Same Day
•18:00 EDT_

Gina's shoulder brushed my right shoulder, and Nic's shoulder brushed my left shoulder. Together, we sat on a bench in Lake-Vew Park, sandwiched to get a good view of my phone's screen.

Even though the recording was taken two days ago, it was never fully aired on the news; only in parts. As the 'victim' of the interview, however, I had the liberty of receiving the full recording under a 'non-disclosure agreement'.

"I can't believe I'm about to watch the full interview with the smoldering Elise Sally and the witty blogger boy." Gina's voice teemed with excitement. She had never been this close to me. Her scent was like roses and our skin touching gave me goosebumps.
Technically I was wearing a black t-shirt and she was wearing a pink one so our shoulders weren't exactly touching... but regardless, I was on cloud nine.

"The screen is tilted more towards Gina." Nic whined, alerting me to my subconscious bias.

"Oh, sorry. My bad." I frantically readjusted it so it was as in-the-middle as possible. "All good?"

"Yep." They both said. I took a quick look at the environment from behind my dark sunglasses.
It seemed we picked the right time to meet at the park. The sun was dipping below the distant horizon, giving all the shadows one last stretch before the night fell. The only people aside from us that were in view were the rangers who were way in front of us, at the gate side. Between us and them was a stretch of wind-tussled grass and a nice tall water fountain. Along with a few other benches which formed a kind of 'U' pattern with ours.

"Just so you guys know, I signed a no-disclosure policy."

"Then why are you disclosing?" Nic asked.

I barely shrugged. "NC-Desk are jerks."

Gina laughed. My heart melted at the mirth of the sound. "Was the interview that bad?" She inquired.

"See for yourselves." I pressed the play button.

- -
Elise Sally: (sitting ramrod straight but maintaining a mellow voice) Good afternoon Jason, glad you could have us today. Are you ready to answer a few questions for the fans and enthusiasts back at home?"

Me: (using everything within me to try not to scowl, also with a mellow voice) Good afternoon Miss Elise, you may proceed.

Elise: Alright! Let's start with your mind-blowing net worth trajectory. According to several trusted bodies, you are now officially a billionaire! With a whooping net worth of 2 billion dollars!
A spike that happened overnight following your latest blog post with an HD clip of the rooftop battle between Tekeon and the crimson monster. Your subscriber base seemingly tripled meaning three times more profit.

(I tense while maintaining a forced smile. All the while thinking; where would I be without Blitz and his impromptu uploads?)

Me: Well... that's one way to put it.

Elise: Ah, the billionaire modesty. But if I recall correctly, you weren't spotted at the crime scene yesterday, let alone assumed to have somehow made it to the rooftop. So to whom do we owe the footage on your subscription-only website?

Me: All the credits go...to Jason Leo McLean. Miss Sally, I don't want to call out your narrow-mindedness but it's kinda necessary.
- -

"No way!" Gina threw her head back in laughter. "Someone got burned."

"Shhh." Nic kept his focus on the screen. "Gina, not everyone wants to hear your sweet voice interrupt their binging."