“I don’t think so. You can recover from this, especially when the truth comes out. For what it’s worth, my fourteen-year-old niece thinks you’re up there with Jesus. I’m pretty sure she actually prays to you in church. My brother and sister-in-law have no issues with her continuing to watch your channel and they don’t even know it was revenge porn.”
“You didn’t tell them?”
“No, honey. I have a strict client confidentiality clause. I never speak about my work, especially on private cases like this.”
“You can tell them the truth. I don’t mind. And if anyone wanted to leak it to the media, that would be great, too.”
She chuckled. “I’ll keep it in mind. Listen, I’ve got an appointment in five minutes so I have to go. But think about it like this: you have a platform, Elle, and there are millions of impressionable teenagers and preteens who watch your every video. You could turn this around to be a teachable moment and educate people on revenge porn. Every cloud has a silver lining. This might be yours.”
That was an excellent point—and one I hadn’t thought of.
“You’re right. I’ll have a think on it. Thanks, Noelle.”
“You’re welcome, honey. I’ll have this report sent over to you so you can send it to your lawyer.”
“Thanks so much.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll talk soon. Bye!”
“Bye!” I hung up and put my phone down on the bed. Well, I was definitely awake now, so I was going to take a shower, then grab some Tylenol and hope it worked soon.
And continue wondering why the hell anyone would pay thirty thousand dollars to watch me get fucked against the wall of a broom closet.
CHAPTER TEN – THEO
My head was thumping at a million miles an hour, and now I had the worst possible thing for someone with glaring hangover: a nine-year-old talking non-stop.
I really should have thought going to the bar through.
It wasn’t the only thing from last night I should have thought through, either. I really should have considered the ramifications of going back inside to kiss Elle, but I hadn’t been thinking with my head.
No, I had most definitely been thinking with my cock.
My cock was a twat.
“Dad, what’s a sex tape?”
I jerked around, dropping the bread I’d just buttered for her sandwich. “I’m sorry, what?”
She blinked at me innocently. “What’s a sex tape?”
“Where did you hear that?”
She shuffled from side to side. “We watched some of Elle’s videos last night, and someone mentioned a sex tape in the comments. We tried to Google what one was but Amy’s mom has bans on the internet so we couldn’t find out.”
How the hell did you explain that to a nine-year-old?
“Go sit in the living room while I finish your lunch. We’ll talk then, okay?”
“Okay.” Unbothered, she skipped off out of the kitchen, humming whatever song she listened to on repeat right now.
I picked up the slice of bread—that had obviously landed butter side down—and tossed it in the bin. After fixing her sandwich and getting her fruit and a yoghurt, plus some Doritos, I took it to the living room where she was tapping at the screen of her tablet.
“This is the video. You see?” She shoved the screen in my face and pointed.
I set her plate on the coffee table and took it from her. Sure as shit, she was right. There was a comment asking her why she had a sex tape. Surprisingly, it was the only one, but I imagined she probably had people who would remove comments. That or they didn’t get through any filters.
Did YouTube moderate comments? I had no idea.
“Okay, well.” I handed Ari back her tablet and sat next to her on the sofa. “The reason Amy’s mum has controls on the internet is for the same reason I do. There are things that aren’t suitable for you to see.”
“But I’m not a baby.”
“I know you’re not a baby, sweetheart, but there are still things that are inappropriate for children.”
“Like whatever a sex tape is?”
“Exactly that.”
“But what is it? And why does Elle have one?”
I sighed and touched her knee. “Elle’s old boyfriend made a video of her doing… grown-up things… with him. Elle didn’t know he had videoed it, and then he shared it a week or so ago.”
“What kind of grown up things? Like what mommys and daddys do?”
“Exactly that. Very grown-up, private things, that you don’t need to know about yet.”
“Okay. Is that why she’s here? Is she hiding from the mean person?”
“Yes. And, you know, she’s really popular. A lot of people know who she is, so there are a lot of people talking about her. They want her picture and want to know what she has to say about it. So she’s here.”
“Is that why I can’t tell anyone she’s here?”
“You didn’t tell Amy, did you?”
“No. I didn’t want to make Elle mad at me. I want to be her friend.”
“I’m sure she’d like that, too.” I squeezed her knee. “But you don’t need to worry, okay?”
“Okay.” She looked down. “Dad, is Elle okay?”
I smiled sadly. She had such a big heart. “She’s okay, sweetheart. Why don’t I see if she wants to take a walk on the beach later? Then you can see for yourself.”
Ari’s face lit up. “That would be fun! Do you think she’d play in the sand with me?”
“You’d have to ask her. She might not want to, though, so don’t get too upset if she’s too busy.”
“I won’t. I promise.”
“Okay. Do you want to wait here while I run over and see if she wants to?”
“Uh-huh. I’ll be fine. I have food.” She grinned and bit down on a strawberry.
I patted her shoulder and got up. “I’ll be right back.”
“’Kay.”
I headed out the back door and down the deck. Elle was sitting on the back deck of her place with a towel wrapped around her head, and she looked up when she saw me approaching.
Her cheeks flushed pink.
I guess we both remembered last night.
“Hey,” she said softly.
“Hey.” I put my hands in my pockets. “How are you this morning?”
“Me, or my head?”
“The same as me, then. But you don’t have a nine-year-old talking constantly.”
“That is a blessing.”
“Don’t count on it. She wants to be your friend. That’s actually why I’m here.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Does she have you doing her dirty work? Wrapped around her baby finger?”
“Yes, and yes. It’s the occupational hazard of having a cute daughter.” I shrugged. “It’s fine. I’m used to it.”
Elle smiled.
“She watched your videos last night and apparently people have been leaving comments about… you know.”
Her smile disappeared in a split second. “What?”
“For what it’s worth, it seems like the comments are being moderated. There was only one.”