‘No,’ Laura says quietly, sitting upright, trying to find a comfortable position to sit in where her tiny dress isn’t rising up her arse. She’s still not really sure what she did tonight.
‘Huh.’ He looks at Curtis, smacking his gum. Jack’s expression is unreadable, but of course Curtis seems to understand it.
Then Curtis’ phone buzzes. He reads a message and his face changes in obvious shock, probably the first genuine look he’s had since he entered the room. ‘Jesus.’ He looks at Jack.
‘What?’
‘One hundred thousand views on YouTube already, of Lyrebird.’
‘What?’ Jack jumps off the counter and grabs his phone. Scrolls down. ‘It’s been, what, thirty or forty minutes since we got off air?’
Curtis nods. Really nods. An engaged nod.
Jack taps away at his phone for a moment, then looks at Laura.
‘Curt and I have a few things to discuss now but, Lyrebird, make sure they take good care of you, here, yeah? Tell me if you’ve any problems?’
Laura nods.
‘Keep me in the loop,’ Bo says, standing and going for her phone immediately, her shock and excitement obvious.
‘As ever, Bo Peep.’ He blows her a kiss and leaves with Curt.
Bo rolls her eyes but she grins. She takes a moment to compose herself and sits down beside Laura. ‘So …’ Instantly, she’s back to feeling how she’s felt with Laura all day: unsure of what to do or say, completely uncomfortable and unable to fill the time or form sentences. It’s not necessary, of course, for her and Laura to become best friends, she’d rather learn about her subjects when the camera is on, not off, and perhaps that’s what makes her anxious and unsettled around Laura. Like a chain-smoker who doesn’t know what to do with their hands without a cigarette, or a musician who feels naked on stage without their guitar, Bo wonders if she has lost the ability to connect with people when the camera is off, then wonders if she ever had that ability.
Another aspect of Laura that Bo is uncomfortable with, apart from her making the sound of every dead animal on the butcher counter, is Laura’s watchful gaze. Bo hates the feeling of being observed and Laura seems to drink everything in, every single little thing. If Bo sighs, Laura can imitate it. She feels under the spotlight, claustrophobic. She is normally the observer, when with Laura she feels instead like the observed and she hates it, it causes her to look at herself too much.
Laura looks at her now, seeing deep into her soul. She should tell her about the YouTube hits, she should talk to her about where they go from here, formulate a plan, but those green eyes make her feel so uncomfortable. They saw Jack blow her a kiss, they looked at Bo questioningly. They saw Bo grinning, Bo pleased by his attention. They seem to see everything she doesn’t want her to see, and nothing that she wants her to see.
‘Why don’t you go to wardrobe and get changed?’ Bo says, instead.
22
Solomon, Bo and Laura are restless that night after her StarrQuest performance. It’s as though they’re all on a high following the reaction. Solomon and Bo sit at computers and at their phones reading out messages on social media about Laura’s act. Laura curls up on the couch drinking one herbal tea after another, completely overwhelmed by the feedback from these strangers. By midnight there have been two hundred thousand views of Lyrebird’s performance and she leads the entertainment news online with the same simple headline on each: LYREBIRD.
Overnight the story grows and grows, gathers speed and gains momentum. Solomon left for his flight to Switzerland before Laura had woken which sends her into a disorientated spin. The internet hits keep growing. Tucked up in the apartment with Bo, Laura watches from her quiet room as her world appears to change without anything happening to her at all.