𝑻𝐇𝐄 𝑵𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒━━ 𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘯𝘢𝘱

22

i stayed up the whole night planning our vacation. nick and dream normally preferred to stay home and let me travel alone, but i wanted them to go with me this time, and they weren't about to deny me that request. plus, i was financing everything- all they had to do was go with me.

the next day, the boys were doing a stream and invited me to join again. they wanted to invite more people to the town we had created a few weeks prior. i agreed, knowing the fans wanted me there. to be honest, the fame was getting to my head a little.

"hey, chat!" i said, extremely excited. "i'm back with sapnap and karl for another stream."

"guys," nick said to the chat, "thalia is convinced if she started a channel, you guys would desert me and karl to watch thalia."

i laughed as comments about that being true started to flood in.

"unfortunately guys, that's just a joke. i'm not built for the streamer life," i said. i fiddled with my mouse, waiting on the world to load. i realized suddenly i was going to have to redo my whole house since someone had blown up half of it.

once i was finally loaded in and george joined, i set off to get more even more wood. i was humming under my breath as i ran along the path to my house and stopped short when i saw that my house was completed. there were even pretty flowers around it.

"who fixed my house?" i asked, glancing at nick and karl. "i know it wasn't dream or george, so it had to be one of you."

"lover boy did it," karl said, giggling madly. george and dream joined in on calling nick lover boy, and i couldn't help but laugh. without thinking, i leaned over and gave nick a light kiss on the cheek.

"i think i should have married you instead of karl," i teased.

"hey! i would have done if it dream weren't trying to kill me," karl argued.

"i'm kidding, karlston," i said quickly. "i would never break my marriage vows to you."

"we could always just all three be married," karl suggested, joking with us.

"quackity would be so jealous," nick commented. "and probably dream because he's already mad thalia doesn't love him like she loves me."

"that's not true," dream shouted over the call. "thalia is a disgusting worm. i would never marry her."

"you would if you lost all your money," i threw in. "you would beg me to be your sugar momma."

"thalia's on her rich horny arc again," dream said with a sigh.

karl looked at me with wide eyes. "again?"

i started to talk but nick quickly cut me off. "every so often, thalia mentions being a 'sugar momma' since she's rich, and me and dream think it's just because she's horny and doesn't know how else to get a man."

"joke's on you guys because i already have people blowing up my dms now," i said smugly. i glanced through the notifications, showing karl some of the funnier ones. i wouldn't show nick, though. he was being a butt and didn't deserve to know the horny things people sent to me.

"i literally rebuilt your house for you," nick protested. "i added flowers! and a bookcase!"

"and you told everyone i'm horny."

nick rolled his eyes. "i'm not having this conversation anymore."

"fine," i said. i went back to building the courthouse, grumbling under my breath about nick being a meanie. halfway through the finishing touches, my phone went off. it was an email from one of the department presidents. "guys, i have to check this. no one blow up my house or the courthouse please."

i pushed my chair back from the computer and opened up my email. there was only a link to an article there. i saw nick glance worriedly back at me as i clicked the link.

IS THALIA MONROE UNFIT TO BE A CEO??

"guys, the articles are back," i said quietly. when i had first become ceo, the press had slammed me about it over and over. nick and dream had stayed up many nights sending angry emails to the publishers and comforting me while i cried or screamed. it was days after my dad had died, and i was not in a good place to deal with hate from mass media.

dream quickly left the call, and nick turned his camera and microphone off. seconds later, the three boys were crowded around my computer as nick pulled up the same article i was reading on my phone.

in an interview last night, thalia monroe, ceo of monroe marketing, said that her company was all inclusive. she stated that "all the employees have been able to work together to create a harmonious work environment that doesn't dwell on things like ethnicity, gender, sexuality, etc".

however, an inside source met with me late last night to spill the beans on what it's really like working at monroe marketing. "it's not all inclusive," source said. "thalia monroe took a company with no problems and created problems. she removed all men of any position of remote power and gave said power to women without the proper qualifications. it's a miracle the company hasn't fallen apart."

now, i'm all for women in power, but has thalia taken it too far? is she so focused on feminism that she doesn't realize a man in power is better than an unqualified woman? only time will tell if her company can survive...

"can i please be the first to say that this is absolutely ridiculous?" karl asked. "i mean, i literally met all your department presidents yesterday and half of them were men!"

i turned my phone off and buried my head in my hands. "i have to go to work," i said through my fingers. "i know exactly who wrote this and i need this fixed before we start losing our new clients."

"i'll go with you," dream offered. "i am your bodyguard, remember?"

i moved my hands off my face and smiled weakly at him. "just please don't punch anyone or we could both be sued."

"i make no promises."

word count: 1046