I stood in front of the full body mirror checking out my choice of outfit for the awards show. I'd gone with a crossed halter top jumpsuit in white that would contrast perfectly with my standard cropped black leather jacket and the new black lotus tattoo. It also had a bare back, which makes me wish I'd had Liv put something there too! Maybe she could do that next time.
"Okay, you look gorgeous!" Miki assured me. "Trish is going to be a puddle when she sees you!"
I glanced over at her, resplendent in a red mini dress that showed off her shapely legs to the best degree. Liv had been here earlier helping us do our makeup, and I was happy to have had her. I was too nervous to do it myself, and I would have ended up looking like a literal clown. I had to admit, seeing them together was adorable, because while Liv looked tough with all her tats, she was cute as hell around Miki. But then Miki would flirt nonstop with her, or lean down and whisper something, and I was pretty sure that Liv was using all her willpower to not jump the little Japanese cutie. Miki must be much naughtier than her appearance let on!
I had a feeling that all bets would be off when they got home.
Liv was going to be waiting for us, and I knew that she and Miki would go have a fun night afterwards. I didn't think that would be in my cards tonight, since I had zero confidence in anything being repaired enough with Trish to have that happen in a single night. Hell, I didn't even know if I'd want that right now, or if my ribs would let me!
"Miki, you're going to get several sponsors and collaboration offers tonight, I'd bet anything on it!" I told her. She'd already boosted her subscribers to seven million, and I had no doubt that would keep climbing as she expanded what she was doing. She would be out of school in a few months, and that would allow her the freedom to go anywhere she wanted and review things in different cities.
"I can't believe I'm going to this!" She was a bundle of nerves, and I was wishing Liv had stuck around a bit to calm her down because she looked like she was going to fly away as much as she was flapping her hands.
"Next year you'll get your own invite, and you can take Liv as your plus one," I assured her. "Now that your channel has already blown up, I'm sure you'll be there."
"Is tonight going to be crazy? Am I going to have to keep you from killing Max?" she asked with a nervous grin.
"Oh, no way. I'm too sore to punch anyone." Liv had tried to talk me into putting makeup on my ribs, but I liked the bruise. I messed up my stunt, and when I was done editing the clip everyone would know how. If anything, seeing the bruise would make people want to watch! Humans have a fascination for people getting injured. Had Max been smart, he would have aired the clip of his wipeout on his channel instead of letting Jill hand it over to TMZ for laughs. "Besides, Max is probably too injured to worry about still."
"What will you do if he is in too much pain to go, and Trish stays with him?"
I stood still for a moment at that thought. I hadn't even considered that! "I guess if that is the case I'll have to see if Madison can reach out to Trish for me. I'd prefer not to be so formal, but I can't go on waiting like this." Madison had already confirmed the rumor about Juliette being Max's mom for me. Evidently, she had divorced his father a dozen years ago and gone back to her maiden name, so there was no connection at first glance. I was still upset that I hadn't suspected that though. Did Trish know? She had to know by now, right? I mean, Jill could tell, and Trish was with them a lot more than that!
"Well, we'll find out soon!" Miki looked up from her phone. "Our Lyft is here!" Yes, I know, everyone uses Uber, but we go with Lyft because it has the Lyft Pink option to help women get drivers that they're more comfortable with. That was a good option for us!
The movie premiere had been a smaller crowd than this award show, but they were also more famous. Well, to the general public. The streamer award show had some huge streamers from around the world showing up to party and mingle, and my channel suddenly seemed much less significant than it normally did to me when I saw people from multiple platforms that would have more than double my viewership, and in many cases much higher than that!
But I didn't care. I was only here to find Trish. The rest of the show didn't matter to me. The red carpet was a lower key affair, with everyone much more likely to be in shorts or jeans than in a fancy dress or something. Miki and I would be fine, neither too flashy nor too boring. Hell, Miki was a hit right off the bat, as one of the TMZ people recognized her as a future partner and grabbed us for a quick chat.
"Miki! Great to see you!" the man said. I recognized him from interviews, but I had no idea who he was. He seemed nice enough, not that I fully trusted anyone who did interviews for a living.
"Hey Steve!" Miki said brightly. "Do you know Lylah Hunter?"
"Of course! I saw the interview you did with her!"
"Hey, nice to meet you, Steve." I held my hand out to shake his. He had very soft skin, and a firm grip. Not too bad for a guy.
"Lylah, nice to finally meet you. You were great on camera, which makes sense considering your channel," He smiled genially, and I was put at ease by him. Damn, no wonder he was here! This guy was good! "Miki, you want to do another little interview with Lylah?"
She turned to me with a raised brow, and I just shrugged in reply. That was all we needed for that conversation, I guess. "Sure Steve, where can we go to do it?"
He directed us to a little area that was only behind a little barrier in the hallway that had a pair of directors' chairs in it. They already had it set up for anyone they could grab for an interview, and we were next. "Let's get you both set up, and we can whip something up. Get a little update if you will." He handed Miki a nice new microphone, and then clipped a small mic on my jacket so they could hear me too. "Okay, whenever you're ready!" They already had stationary cameras for both chairs, so there was no need to do anything for those. We sat down and got started.
Miki nodded, and then waited for Steve to backup a bit before starting. "Hey everyone! This is Miki Hisaki coming to you from the Streaming Awards here in LA, and I have my good friend Lylah Hunter here for a few moments before we get into the awards. Lylah, how are you doing today?"
I smiled at Miki, thrilled to see her handling this with amazing charisma and no visible nerves at all. She was a natural! "I'm doing good! Excited to be here and looking forward to seeing some friends."
Miki nodded slowly. "And the bruise on your ribs? Are you sure you're doing alright?"
"Oh yeah. Those are the hazards of the trade unfortunately. I had a little bit of a mishap yesterday doing something pretty stupid." Yes, she already knew that, but the viewing public didn't!
"Oh? How stupid was it?" She had a broad grin on her face, and knew this answer was coming.
"Extremely. But you'll have to watch my channel to see just how bad it was. I should have it edited in a few days, then everyone can laugh at my stupidity."
"Okay, I won't pry. The last time we talked, you were with Ava Santos. How is she doing?" Miki asked.
"She's doing well. Actually, she's on set shooting a movie right now, and hopefully it's going great."
"I hope so too! It would be great to see the two of you together again soon. Do you think that is possible?"
"I think that would depend on our schedules. We're both very busy. But I hope to see her again when we have some free time." That was absolutely true. She deserved a decision regardless of the outcome of the talk with Trish.
"You also mentioned seeing some friends here. Would one of those be Trisha Poole?"
I nodded after she asked. It was a logical question, and even if Miki knew what was going on she had to ask it. "Yeah, I haven't seen her or any of my old team since they left me, so it would be nice to get some clarity on what happened."
"What do you mean by that?" Miki wondered for the audience.
And that was the question, right? "Well, the girl I loved for years and the team that had been with me for a long time both left me on the same night with no warning, no calls, no notes. I was blocked on all social media, and I have no idea what prompted any of it. It would be nice to at least get some closure so I can move on at least."
"That does seem odd that they all left at the same time. And then went to one of your rivals, is that right?"
A loud laugh from outside the barrier interrupted, and there was good old Max Cox, his foot in a walking boot and hit knee in a brace as he hobbled in between us. "Yeah, they all upgraded to me!"
I couldn't help but laugh. I mean really laugh, to the point where my ribs were aching and I couldn't stop for a minute while Max just looked uncomfortable. "Dude, your mommy literally stole a year's worth of my ideas, and then you still fucked up your leg doing an easier version of one. Where the fuck is the upgrade?"
"Fuck you, Hunter!" he snarled. "And that was really mature putting the sign on the mountain for me."
"Hey, thanks for the views, that was sweet of you. Trying to see how the pros do it?" I snickered at him.
"Ha ha. Yeah, if I was looking for a pro it wouldn't be on your channel."
"Listen, Max, just go away dude. We're in the middle of something. Why don't you go track down your Twinkie?" I growled at him.
He leaned in close with a smirk. "Do you know why I call her that?"
Damn did he wear way too much Axe spray. What a dick. "I really don't care why you call her that."
He chuckled and then sneered. "I call her Twinkie because she tastes delicious, and she just loves it when I give her that cream filling."
I almost ripped his throat out at that. "Well, considering she's been a lesbian for years, I guess it makes sense that she'd end up with the dickless wonder."
"I won't be dickless for her tonight!" he stood up and limped out of the booth, throwing one more smirk my way.
Fuck, I felt sick. I was shaking all over as I staggered to my feet. "I have to go."
Steve grabbed my arm as I started to leave. "Hey, can we use that?" he unclipped the mic from my jacket.
"Yeah, go for it. Maybe the world can see his true colors."
Miki joined me, her arm linked in mine as we followed the hobbling dickhead, hoping he'd lead us right to his Twinkie.