Mousey: Who called me names?! [many live chat warnings]
Caleb Ross suddenly realized there was a problem.
"What did you say?! Lex Song is a fae too???"
Lex Song was two years older than Ollie Blake.
Although Ollie could be a handful sometimes—Caleb and the PR team loved and hated him in equal measure—that chaos wasn't usually his fault. Most of the time trouble just found him.
Lex was different. The scandals and hot searches tied to him were almost always self-made.
Like the time during filming when he stayed up half the night singing karaoke in his room and kept several actresses awake for nights. They finally snapped and posted about it on Instagram.
Or the time on a variety show set when he threw a tantrum at his assistant and the other team filmed it—then the backlash drowned him for days. He didn't even pull back; he personally got into arguments with trolls and astroturfers.
Once on a reality show he suddenly had some kind of hysterical episode and smashed a cameraman's camera. The cinematographer ran; Lex lunged and pinned him to the ground and nearly beat him up.
Lex had so many hysterical episodes he should have been a public-relations nightmare, but he was a cash cow for Starline Entertainment, so the company simply couldn't drop him.
The recent quiet stretch was because Caleb had finally had enough. He'd gotten Lex onto the Wilderness Survival project—a reality show that sends you out into the wild—essentially shipping him off for two weeks of "rehab." The rest of the cast finally enjoyed some peace.
"Yes. And his situation is a bit unusual. I didn't plan on telling you, but since you already know… uh, don't be so hard on the kid. It's not easy for him either."
Caleb felt his own patience fraying. He suddenly pictured Ollie coming down the mountain earlier: even though he'd told himself a hundred times that this hamster had powerful backing and no one could really wrong him, Ollie had looked heartbreakingly fragile the first time they'd met.
When Elliot said Lex had it rough, whatever immunity to fae Caleb had developed from being around Ollie long enough helped him swallow his fear.
"What kind of fae? Has anyone bullied him before?"
Elliot went quiet and wouldn't speak up.
"Ahem—when he's back, ask him yourself. We don't reveal a fae's true form to others without permission as a rule."
Elliot was counting on Caleb's lack of deep fae knowledge to buy time. Lex's tragic backstory could be stretched into a convincing tale for a while; he just hoped to keep it vague long enough to avoid trouble.
"Fine. We'll talk then." Caleb glanced at the cat teaser wand that had been shoved into his hand by a gold-and-black leopard that refused to act like an adult, and he couldn't hold back. "Boss, can you change back? We have business to discuss—this is ridiculous!"
Why were fae always so unreliable?!
Ollie's brother was sitting right there and you were playing with a cat wand—what kind of impression did that leave with the family?
Elliot looked wounded. "We're all so close already…" as if small details didn't matter.
Caleb slammed the table. "Are you going to behave like this in every meeting? Fine—then next time you go alone. I'm not coming."
Elliot, finally behaving, switched back to human form and sat where he belonged.
Zane West watched in admiration. Humans could be impressive—this man had practically trained that shameless golden leopard into acting obedient. He almost shipped them as a pair.
If not for some long-forgotten history he knew about, Zane might've been low-key shipping them right now.
"About the online chatter these past two days around Ollie Blake and Shane Keane—these and the attached plans are our PR proposals. Mr. West, do you have any additions? Anything you want to suggest, we'll consider."
Caleb was neither obsequious nor defensive; he didn't grovel just because Zane was who he was. That steadiness earned some respect from the fox spirit who could see through people.
Zane read Caleb's plan straight through. He had to admit: maybe because Lex and Ollie were both unpredictable, Starline's PR team had been thorough—top-notch, actually. Zane could find almost no fault. And from a window into the public relationship between him and Ollie less than two hours ago, Caleb's team had already included contingencies for Zane himself.
"We recommend that, beyond that one post, you don't reply to anything else about this matter. Ollie messaged me with inside info—Shane Keane's situation is about to collapse. Given your status, if you over-engage in this, even after an official statement comes out some people will claim you're using influence to pressure others."
"True, that's a small faction, but it's not flattering. If it can be avoided, better to stop it at the source."
Everyone knew Zane West's company was huge. Zane wanting Ollie defended and slapped down had been achieved; what remained was entertainment-industry posturing.
"Fine. I see your sincerity." Zane's eyes had a strange light—Caleb could hold his gaze but it made him a little dizzy. "I came for another reason too. Little Star is actually Jiji's cousin. He'll release a single in a month or so and wants Jiji to appear in the music video. You know he's overseas competing right now; his manager went with him, so I thought I'd ask about your interest."
Zane West's only signed artist was Zane West. When he debuted people guessed at nepotism because of the shared surname, but they didn't look alike. Zane acted, Zane wrote songs. He didn't seem to have an endless resource of favors to give—but his talent was real, and over time the rumors had faded.
Caleb felt like he'd been fed scoop after scoop today—so the two were actually relatives.
Elliot couldn't get a word in edgewise, but at the mention of "Zane West," he finally perked up.
"Is Little Star locked to win the competition? Throw him a victory party when he's back."
Little Star—Zane West's artist—was overseas at a piano competition, a very prestigious one. He and another pianist from the same country were neck and neck. Elliot had been following; they were fighting for first and second.
"Sure. Not just here—plan something in Northridge, too."
Zane really did look pleased. He didn't contradict Elliot.
Caleb felt like the villain. He poured cold water on the party idea. "Sorry to interrupt: from what I can see, Zane West's schedule is tight. After coming back from overseas he has two music shows lined up. I don't think there's time for a celebration."
Zane: "…" Humans are annoying!
Elliot: "…" That was a bummer—he'd hoped to use the party to go back to Northridge. He hadn't been home in almost five years since an incident with Zara that had left him chased by flames.
"And since the new song needs an MV, shouldn't you prepare that too? Honestly you're cutting it close. If you could email a draft script and character notes to our business inbox, we'll evaluate and ask the artist before replying."
A victory party? No way. Parties like that shouldn't exist.
"Let's not do it yet. Little Star's head's a mess—he can barely remember things. If you're going to throw a party, it'll have to wait until he comes back to himself."
Though disappointed, Zane dropped the idea. That last line sounded like a face-saving addendum.
Ollie was going back home and Zane couldn't keep tabs on him. Human-form Ollie didn't gain weight, but as a tiny hamster, Jiji would—if he stuffed himself, he'd get fat.
"Ollie, you're a hamster—why don't you like exercising when you're in hamster form?" fans joked.
The little hamster sneezed a few times and Grace Jiang and the others rushed over.
"Ollie, are you sick? Was it too cold last night?"
It was already 4 p.m., less than two hours left in the competition. Only the eight guests on the show probably didn't know the chaos outside.
Ollie hadn't replied to Caleb's message. That message was from the night before, left after he returned from the woods, so even Ollie didn't know what had happened out in the world.
"No." The hamster rubbed his nose. The little fae's sixth sense told him someone might be cursing him. "I feel like someone's calling me names. Oh no—what if Caleb found out… uh!"
Ollie remembered he was live and clamped a paw over his mouth, but it was too late.
[LOLOMG baby you're such a dummy. If you don't say it Caleb might not know—but you said it and now he'll definitely figure something's up. You're doomed!]
[It's okay, baby's got a brother now. Bro looks so protective—he'll back baby up for sure.]
[But FYI, everyone—baby's brother was introduced to the public today, not born today. Bro's been there forever and baby's been getting punished that whole time, so bro might not be able to save baby.]
[It's fine baby, go rest. Mom's been missing the Jiji wheel stream. She'll get to watch in a couple days.]
Everyone knew that whenever Ollie did something bad and Caleb caught him, Caleb would use the "hamster leverage" on Ollie—forcing Jiji to livestream running on his wheel.
[Quick question—is Jiji that weird big roach-rat creature? Kinda cute—anyone have a link to the stream? I want to watch.]
[Stop it folks. Let's not bring that up if we want to remain friends. Ollie, you're out—mom unfollowed. When did we stop liking your roach-rat? When can we be friends again?]
[Uh… did they give up? Ollie's team has 25 points now; Jade Hayes' group has 34. They're almost ten points behind and they're not even trying to find stuff. Why does it feel like they're just taking a walk?]
[They gave up. There's no point struggling. The biggest single-point value known is 5. To catch up, they'd need at least two 5s, but higher points mean harder to get. Those four people can't climb that high—they've got no tricks.]
[There are no little animals left. Looks like team Physical Training wins this round. Beastmasters' weakness is obvious: no beasts, no advantage.]
[Anyone else bored? This episode's too chill—no fights, no drama—two rivalry teams, and nothing happens.]
[Maybe because the rivals were split up.]
[IDK, I came from the trending page. Memory Tour is wild—despite everything going on, they're still airing.]
[So what? Shane's almost done for. Because of him, this episode's ratings will rebound from the cliff it was about to fall off. Citrus TV should thank Shane Keane lol.]
[I hereby name this Shane Keane's final encore. *dog head emoji* *dog head emoji*]
(Note: omitted the rest of the author's note and announcements)
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Half-Summer Novels, stay happy.