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I went back home some time after really having a single beer with the guys, and you know? I think I might be starting to understand the appeal a bit. Beer is still bitter and all, but it hits a certain spot that sugary drinks don’t. I still don’t see myself drinking it often, though.

I had planned on having a quick chat with mom, but I found her busy in the kitchen, talking on the phone and going over some documents in her laptop. It seemed urgent, so I just announced my presence and left. It’s not often that mom brings work home, but it does happen. Most of the time, though, it’s her fixing other people’s screwups.

Cake had been following me since I arrived, so I decided to be nice to her for a change and picked her up as we went up the stairs. She pushed her head against my face while purring.

“...How would you react if I took you to meet a huge dog, I wonder.”

Cake sometimes looked like she understood what we said, so I half expected her to slap me across the face. She didn’t and neither did she look like she understood.

I walked by Isabelle’s room, and with her door open I saw that she was there on her computer, reading something. At least the lights were on. “Hey sis, how do you think Cake would react to a dog?”

Isabelle turned to me and squinted her eyes before giving them a serious rub. “Crap, I don’t think I’ve blinked in the last five minutes…”

“Are you editing?”

“Just finished. It’s rendering now. No, I was reading comments.” She grinned. “Did you notice we have regular commenters now?”

“Ah, yeah, I did. Most of them are Cake’s fans, though.”

“Yeah. They’re asking us to open a donation page so they can buy her toys.”

“I don’t know how to feel about that.”

“Me neither. If anything, I say we wait until our channel is big enough to open memberships.”

“If it ever happens, sure.”

“Hah. Just give it time, brother. Most of the people watching are there for Cake, but they stay because of you.”

“Not sure I believe it, but thanks.”

“By the way, I saw you leaving with Thomas and the guys today. Where did you go?”

“His house. We talked about… stuff.”

“Can’t tell your sister about it?”

“Believe me, you don’t want me to tell you.”

“Women. Got it.”

I flinched. I didn’t know if it was obvious or if Isabelle just had a nose for this stuff. Probably both.

I went back to my rook with Cake. I threw myself on my bed and the cat sat on my chest and curled on itself. Curious, I grabbed my phone and began to browse our list of videos.

At this point, we had about 33 videos. 15 of those were just Cake doing cat stuff, 10 were short 1-minute videos of me playing the main part of some known songs with Cake by my side, 4 were full guitar covers of known songs I liked, 3 were full guitar covers of lesser known songs I liked and the last video… was an original melody.

When it came to views, it was as you’d expect. Cake’s videos had the most, with the most popular at 20K views, but that one was an outlier. Then came the short music videos with an average of 3K. Then there was a huge drop for my covers that didn’t even reach 1K. My original melody came last with barely 150 views.

I was happy that 150 people would even give the time of day to listen to a thing I made, but I admit it was just a little depressing to see the number 150 so close to the 20K views of Cake getting scared by an aluminum foil in the kitchen. Still, that’s just how things work and I’d always known that. It’s not gonna stop me from playing music.

I clicked on my original video. This is the only one to not feature Cake, which might explain the low views, too. I don’t know, I just wanted to keep it… mine, somehow. To know that people didn’t just watch it for the cat. In that sense, I was satisfied with the results.

I scrolled down and saw three new comments, which were also the only three comments on the video. My chest tightened as I nervously read them.

NightRider226: This has been stuck in my head for days. I’ve been humming it and people ask me what it is. I feel so underground knowing a song no one else does. lol.

TheBlackSwordsmanXX: Is this your first original? It’s good, but I’d like to see better in the future.

JustColors: I like it. I hope you post more originals.

Encouragement. Just from three people and in different ways, but… It felt good. I set my phone aside, grabbed Cake and sat her on the bed then went and picked up my guitar.

I played whatever came to mind, not looking for anything in particular. When I heard a short string of notes that felt good, though, I kept them and started from there. I ended up turning on the recording on my phone just so I wouldn’t forget it. And so about 30 minutes went by until my phone buzzed with the sound of a text.

I winced and… was surprised to find myself a little pissed that it broke my concentration. After a groan, I shook it off and checked the text. It was… five pictures from Mila.

One of Grace, Sarah, Alice and Diana checking out bras at a lingerie store, a selfie showing the six of them eating ice cream, one of Alice checking the engine of Diana’s car with her standing next to her, one of Noelle and Diana lively talking about… something, and the last one of six bags from that same lingerie store.

-Mila: You’ll have to wait to learn what’s inside those bags.

My heart was pounding rapidly and a small, hopeful smile crossed my lips.

-Oliver: So… Things went well?

-Mila: Yes, so you can go to sleep at ease tonight. This is just a start, but it was a good one. She reminds us of you, actually. She’s cute.

Oh thank GOD. I don’t know if I can express the relief I felt at that moment. My eyes even felt itchy. I didn’t cry, but I felt like tears would’ve fallen if I hadn’t rubbed my eyes.

-Oliver: Thank you. I love you girls.

-Mila: We know. We love you too. Also, sorry but we already made plans to steal her again this Saturday.

-Oliver: Seriously?

-Mila: Actually, it’s more like she’s stealing us. We’re going to her house while you work. You can join us when you get off.

-Oliver: Yes, of course.

-Mila: Awesome.

Just then I got another text, this time from Diana herself.

-Diana: Hey. Are you busy?

-Oliver: No, I can talk. How are you?

-Diana: Relieved. The girls were very welcoming, maybe more than I deserved.

-Oliver: Was it hard for you?

-Diana: At first, but we were able to bond over something we have in common.

-Oliver: Oh? And that is?

-Diana: You, obviously. Sorry, but I learned a few embarrassing stories about you.

-Oliver: Only a few? Less than I expected.

-Diana: Hahaha. Only because we ran out of time.

-Diana: Oliver… I want to see you again soon.

-Oliver: Me too.

-Diana: We want to get together again at my place this Saturday, but… could we meet again before then? Even if just for an hour or two?

-Oliver: Yes, let’s. Does Wednesday work for you?

-Diana: Yes, it does. Thank you.

-Oliver: Don’t thank me. I want to see you just as much.

-Diana: Alright. Just… don’t forget about the others, okay?

-Oliver: Oh, don’t worry. They won’t let me.

-Diana: Hahaha. Goodnight, Oliver. Sleep well.

-Oliver: You too. Goodnight.

Well, it was good to hear the same story from both sides. It seemed like the girls had a good time, and I hoped I got to hear some more tomorrow. I texted Mila goodnight, too, and went back to playing guitar for one more hour before getting ready for bed.

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