Three's a Crowd: Quitting My Couple Channel novel · Chapter 1 of 24
Chapter 1: Seventy Million
On the night the channel hits seventy million, Emmett removes himself from it and accepts a job in Iceland; Cecelia texts that she has a proposal for him.
The livestream ended at nine forty, and the whole backstage started screaming.
"Seventy million!" someone shouted.
"Happy third anniversary, Hearthlight!"
Two grips wheeled in a sheet cake with a photo of Cecelia Hartwell and Cormac Eames on top.
The channel name was piped across it in blue icing.
I stayed at the control desk with my headset on.
The monitor in front of me was frozen on the last shot of the stream.
Cecelia was looking up at Cormac, and he was smiling down at her.
The light fell across both faces exactly where I had marked it that morning.
A technician slapped my shoulder. "Em, that eye-lock is perfect. It's going to blow up the second we post it."
"I'll cut the clip tonight," I said.
Out on the floor, Cormac was holding his arm over Cecelia's head to block a spray of streamers.
"Careful," she said. "Don't get any on his jacket."
She said it like she had been guarding that jacket for years.
Everyone cheered when it was time to cut the cake.
Cormac looked at Cecelia. "Together?"
She put her hand over his without answering, and the two of them pressed the knife down.
The room applauded.
I looked down to coil a cable, and the metal end scratched my thumb.
It stung for about a minute.
Six years ago, Cecelia had promised that when we got big, I would come on camera with her.
At thirty million followers, the day came.
I got up at five to be styled, and I tried on more than ten suits before I picked the grey one.
Cecelia met me at the door of the set and stopped me with a hand on my chest.
"Em, let Cormac do this one. He photographs better. The fans will go for him."
Cormac was my best friend since the ninth grade.
I stood in the doorway for a long time.
Then I said fine, and went to set the lights.
That was three years ago, and he had been on her arm in every video since.
Tonight, in the final minute of the stream, the host had asked them, "What was the moment your hearts raced the most?"
They'd said it together, in the same breath.
"The day we first appeared on camera together."
The comments exploded, and I read every one of them from the dark corner behind the desk.
Cormac came over now with a paper plate and cake on it.
"Hey. You haven't had any."
"I'm good."
"It's all just work, Em." He set the plate by my keyboard. "You know that, right? It's the show."
"Sure," I said.
He squeezed the back of my neck and went back to the party.
Cecelia was at the long cake table with her back to me.
I walked up to ask her which clip she wanted first.
She jumped, and a small velvet box in her hand snapped shut.
"Sponsor stuff," she said, and slid it into her bag. "Don't look at me like that. You're the one person I can't surprise."
She turned around and kissed me on the cheek, quick, with a smile.
"You're my favorite part of tonight," she said. "Stay a minute. Then cut the clip."
I stayed a minute.
Then I went back to the desk, and I opened the channel dashboard for the last time.
Under Admin, my name sat at the top of the list.
It had my login, my edit rights and my script folder, all of it.
I scrolled through the permissions one by one, and I removed myself.
The screen asked, "Are you sure?"
I clicked yes.
So I stepped out.
Then I opened my email.
An invitation had been sitting there for half a month, from a documentary company in Reykjavik.
They needed a camera operator and editor for eight winter weeks in Iceland.
I had told myself I would answer when this night was over.
I typed, "I accept."
The reply came before the cake was cleared.
"Good. Welcome to the crew, Emmett Quill. Your flight is on the twentieth. Bring warm socks. Sunna."
A second message arrived right after it, from Cecelia.
"Big news tomorrow. 10am at the agency. Wear the grey suit. I have a proposal for you."
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