Chapter 114: Like Paris Hilton?

[Chapter 114: Like Paris Hilton?]

On an ordinary morning, Trey woke up to the sound of her alarm. She lay in bed for a moment, and when the alarm went off again, she reached out and hit the snooze button. Stretching, she sat up, feeling a heaviness in her chest.

After all these years, she had grown accustomed to this weight, even though it often caused inconveniences in her life. For instance, she always had to shift to the side in the shower just to see her stomach. Her ailing father consumed most of her energy these days, and she found returning to Nashville for work was the only time she felt a sense of relief. This time, she had the responsibility of directing the music video for Taylor's second single, a promise Trey had made long ago.

Yet, there was one thing that constantly left her feeling empty: Ryan was becoming busier, and Trey lost track of when he last cooked for her. The thing was, food was like men; after you had a really amazing experience, everything else seemed bland in comparison.

Oh right, hadn't he given her an activation code yesterday to register for some fan forum? That thought suddenly crossed her mind. She got up, rummaged through her bag, pulled out a crumpled note, and logged onto Ryan's official site to complete the registration.

"Serial Number 12? What does that mean?" Trey wondered aloud as her eyes swept over the forum's homepage.

[Ryan and Taylor's 1 hour and 50-minute detailed recap, ultimate information summary.]

[High-definition photos of Ryan live!]

[A report to the ladies who didn't come in last night, Ryan gave out some benefits last night.]

[I calculated Ryan's measurements based on the photos; call me the first on the forum.]

...

The forum was buzzing with various posts, all seemingly pointing toward one thing. Trey scrolled through ten pages of discussions until she figured out what had happened while she had slept the night before.

"Do all the celebrities promote themselves this way now?" Trey shook her head with a smile, clicking on the measurements post. It wasn't that she was actually concerned about Ryan's size; she was just curious how someone calculated that. Pure curiosity.

She opened the chatroom and saw people chatting excitedly. It was still early, and these folks had presumably been talking all night.

[5854: Just woke up, thanks to Ryan, I experienced joy I haven't felt in ages!]

[22222: I've got to go to work; the store needs to open.]

[5854: Five 2s, so you run a store.]

[22222: I opened a thrift shop in the community. (offline)]

[16: You guys are so idle.]

[167: Another short code, are you a friend of Ryan's in real life?]

[16: I filmed the first video for Harlem Shake.]

That confused Trey; she vaguely remembered the first video for Harlem Shake was from New York University. So, she typed.

[12: You go to college in New York?]

[26761: Wow, Serial Number 12, that's ahead of Taylor!]

Her comment drew attention, and many began guessing Trey's identity.

[5854: Found her! Ryan's first sugar mama during his modeling days in New York has appeared!]

[16: Are you serious? But thinking about it, it's not too surprising.]

[12: No, I'm not. Don't guess blindly. I'm a friend of Ryan's mom.]

[5854: Got it, liking your friend's son is pretty normal.]

[12: (smiling) I like your son.]

[5854: Then come along; the three of us will go together.]

[12: Nope!]

It was a strange conversation. Trey chuckled to herself; this was hardly a fan forum, it was practically a gossip thread.

Was Ryan trying to engage with his fans this way?

...

"I didn't know things would end up like this," Ryan commented, shaking his head when Trey asked about the situation.

The unexpected turn of events had drastically changed the tone of discussions on the forum; it seemed unlikely that things would shift anytime soon.

"What do those short code IDs mean?" Trey pressed on.

"Any three-digit number is someone I know. You're number 12, Taylor is 13, Abigail is 14, and the rest follow in the order I know them," Ryan explained.

Number 15 was Elizabeth Debicki, number 16 was Elizabeth Olsen, number 17 was Irina, and number 18 was Daddario. To keep any of them from feeling slighted, he had spread out activation codes evenly. As for that model, Karlie, Ryan wasn't particularly close with her.

Taylor asked me for ten more activation codes today. Ryan gave her around 40-50; she said she wanted to share them with her friends for now, treating the forum like her chatroom hub.

"Aren't you afraid that Taylor will find out?" Trey felt nervous for Ryan.

"Honestly, if someone genuinely wanted Taylor to know, they wouldn't need this forum for that," Ryan shrugged.

Just then, Trey spotted Ryan's assistant, Daddario, coming over, handing Ryan a phone while quickly planting a kiss on his cheek.

Trey knew Taylor was just next door getting her makeup done; it was quite bold of her. Trey had noticed Ryan and Daddario seemed to share something special when she saw them at the nightclub before. She wondered how Taylor would tolerate it; after all, she was not Abigail!

...

"Yeah, I know, I'll come back after filming..." Ryan answered on the phone, giving Daddario a stern look as he walked towards the studio next door.

"Just watch it; don't treat this like a joke. If it blows up, you'll be the first to go," Trey warned.

She feared that if this all came to light, Taylor would impulsively take out a gun and shoot the couple.

"Ryan spends so much time with her; can't I sneak a kiss? Besides, Taylor's right next door; it's just you here, right? You won't spill anything, right? Or are you jealous?" Daddario laughed.

"Look, you have to remember, life isn't just about men. You know Ryan well enough by now; you can find someone else," Trey advised.

Daddario replied without hesitation, "I can't leave him right now, and he doesn't want to leave me either."

Is that so? Trey scoffed quietly, realizing Daddario was deep in it. Once a woman fell into such matters, nothing anyone said could get through to her.

...

On the other side,, Ryan stepped into the next room and felt a jolt of excitement at the sight of the "transformed" Taylor.

At that moment, Taylor wore a cheerleader costume, complete with a brown long wig, and her makeup was more pronounced than usual. A crew member was instructing her on how to embody the persona of a school cheerleader.

"Remember, when you speak, add a hint of a California accent and infantile tone," the assistant director instructed.

"Like Paris Hilton?" Taylor suddenly thought.

"Exactly! If you can capture Paris's demeanor, you've nailed this music video," the assistant responded.

"Really?" Taylor glanced at Ryan as he entered the makeup room.

She got up, swayed her hips gracefully as she walked toward Ryan, and then squinted her eyes in a playful pout, looking haughty. The attitude she embodied strongly reminded one of Emma Roberts, with an air of someone who was brimming with sass.

"Perfect!" the assistant director squealed in excitement!

*****

https://www.patreon.com/Sayonara816.