Make the calls

We stayed on the couch.

Veronica pulled her legs up underneath her, still wearing nothing but my hoodie. She tucked the fabric around her thighs and looked at me.

“Want to do yours first?” she asked.

I nodded. My mouth was dry.

I hit Sarah’s number and put the phone to my ear. Veronica stayed close, one hand resting lightly on my knee. She didn’t say anything, just stayed there while the line rang.

Sarah picked up on the second ring.

“Tom. Thanks for calling back so quickly.”

Her voice was professional, but there was a tightness underneath it I hadn’t heard in the first call.

“We’ve had a chance to review the material that was brought to our attention,” she continued. “The video in question appears to show you engaging in explicit sexual activity that has been shared publicly. Given the nature of the content and the fact that it is now circulating online, we’re moving this to a formal investigation under the company’s social media and conduct policies.”

I closed my eyes for a second.

“You’ll be placed on paid administrative leave effective immediately while we conduct a full review,” Sarah went on. “We’ll need you to come in for a formal meeting tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. You’re entitled to have a support person with you. Until then, we ask that you do not discuss this matter with other staff members.”

There was a short pause.

“Do you have any questions at this stage?”

I looked at Veronica. She was watching my face carefully.

“No,” I said. “I’ll be there tomorrow.”

“Alright. We’ll send a formal letter to your email shortly with the details. Take care, Tom.”

The line went dead.

I lowered the phone slowly.

Veronica didn’t ask what was said. She could already see it on my face.

“Administrative leave,” I told her. “Formal meeting tomorrow morning. They’re treating it like a conduct issue.”

She squeezed my knee once, then picked up her own phone.

“My turn,” she said quietly.

She put the call on speaker so I could hear. It rang three times before a woman answered.

“Veronica? Thanks for getting back to us.”

“Hi, Lisa,” Veronica said. Her voice was calm. Professional. “I saw you called.”

“We’ve had some flags come through regarding a stream that went live on Saturday,” Lisa said. “It looks like there was a technical issue and the stream was public for a period of time when it shouldn’t have been. We’ve received a number of reports.”

Veronica glanced at me.

“Yeah,” she said. “I know. It was an accident. I was trying to do a private recording and the settings glitched.”

There was a pause on the other end.

“We’re not looking to punish you for a technical error,” Lisa said carefully. “But the content was explicit, and it has now spread beyond the original stream. We need to understand what happened and whether any policies were breached. We also want to make sure you’re safe and that this isn’t something that’s going to escalate into harassment.”

Veronica took a slow breath.

“I’m okay,” she said. “It was consensual. The person I was with is… someone I trust. We didn’t mean for it to go public.”

“Understood,” Lisa said. “We’re going to need you to submit a short statement explaining what happened from your side. We’ll also be reviewing the VOD internally. In the meantime, we strongly recommend you don’t stream again until we’ve finished our review. We can put your channel on a temporary pause if that helps.”

Veronica nodded even though Lisa couldn’t see her.

“Okay. I can do that.”

“Alright. We’ll send you the details for the statement. And Veronica… if anyone starts harassing you or if this gets worse, let us know immediately. We take creator safety seriously.”

“Thanks,” Veronica said. “I appreciate it.”

She ended the call and set the phone down on the coffee table.

For a moment neither of us spoke.

Then she looked at me.

“So,” she said quietly. “You’ve got a meeting tomorrow. I’ve got to write a statement and probably won’t be streaming for a while.”

I let out a slow breath and leaned back against the couch.

“Yeah.”

She shifted closer and rested her head against my shoulder. The oversized hoodie she was wearing smelled like me and coffee.

“We’re still okay,” she said after a second. “Right?”

I wrapped an arm around her and pulled her in tighter.

“Yeah,” I said. “We’re still okay.”

Outside, both our phones had gone quiet for now.

But we both knew it wouldn’t last.