The Experiment © [Completed]

Chapter 38 - The Plan

"Matt said there's still hope, depending on the response of the followers, which so far had been great since the live feed ended." RJ said as they sat eating on the kitchen counter. "Thank you, Dei. I didn't expect that but I was so happy when I heard you say it."

Dei blushed. "I didn't expect it too. I was overwhelmed by your performance earlier and the words just fell out of my mouth."

"Now I can tell the world how much I love you," RJ said, smiling at her.

"Aren't you worried at all that they would send you back home once you start doing that?" Dei asked, looking at him.

"No. I told you I won't let that happen, especially now that I know that Christine's the one behind this." he said darkly. He had told Dei about the conversation he and Christine had in the conference room, and although completely livid, she was actually not surprised. It wouldn't be beyond Christine to do something like that, and just like RJ, she wanted to make sure that Christine's plan won't work.

"What if they pushed it though? Matt said they had wanted to do that even before Christine came. Maybe they really want you back there." Dei said, playing with the pasta on her plate. "You were sent here to just pioneer the first batch after all, and it had been three years. Maybe they really need one of their best assets back," she added, looking at him with sad eyes.

"Don't you trust me? Do you really think I would leave you here?" RJ said, matching her gaze. "If they really insist, I'm pretty sure there are other media companies here that would be happy to have me."

Dei studied his expression, trying to see if he was kidding, but he looked dead serious. "You're crazy," Dei said, letting out a small laugh.

"Yep. Crazy in love with you Dei," he said earnestly. "Have you forgotten the words on the song I sang for you? 'Not even the gods above can separate the two of us' - that pretty much sums it all up. And I'm serious, I'm not going to let anyone come between us. Besides," he added, sitting straight. "I don't think I would ever have a hard time finding a job I like. I'm young, I'm a genius, I'm hardworking and oozing with charm..." he said, grinning.

"You're very modest and humble too." Dei said laughing.

RJ chuckled. "Come here," he pulled Dei off her stool and drew her towards him with his arms around her waist. "It's you and me, Dei. Nothing else matters," he told her, brushing strands of hair away from her face.

She nodded and kissed him lightly on the lips.

+++++

You are chatting with Matt Bellasai and Dei Mendoza...

Matt B: IMPORTANT! I need you both in my office now!!!

+++++

"Isn't it possible for you to at least say a bit on the chat about what you wanted to talk to us about?" RJ asked as he and Dei took a seat in front of Matt's desk. "Your messages are going to give me a heart attack."

"I can't. It's hard to summarize everything... but I have some great news for you!" he exclaimed, clapping his hands excitedly.

"Okay...?" Dei said, waiting.

"Remember when I told you yesterday how the HQ's decision would depend on the fans' responses? Well I have been working hard on it since last night and until an hour ago, gathering the statistics from your page and TrendBuzz too, and here's what I found out --" Matt turned his laptop screen around and showed them a graph.

"This is a daily graph. Can you see the spike on the comments and interactions on your page since yesterday?" he said excitedly, "Look at this hourly graph. You made the announcement at around 3PM yesterday... Can you see this? They have not stopped talking about you since. There was even a spike around late evening. They were raving about it nonstop. Your fans are very happy!" Matt said and his face was shining with glee.

"Wow," Dei said, looking at the number of comments and page views they had gotten in the last twenty hours. RJ was looking at them with an amazed look on his face too.

"So here's the plan," Matt began, holding both his hands up in front of him as he took a deep breath. "We need to keep this up. We need to keep your fans happy. This is going to be a teamwork between you, me and your fans. Your social media accounts need to be busy. Snapchats, twitter. Don't post like you are doing it for fans. Make it personal, just do your thing. And then do live feeds at least once a week so they can see you. Can you do that?"

RJ smiled. "I've been wanting to do that for a while. I have no problem with it," he said.

"I'm ready to do that too," Dei said. "Whatever it takes to keep RJ here."

"This time you are free to post and say anything. You are free to show what you really feel," Matt said, looking like he had just received the best Christmas present.

"Does that mean we're free to be more showy here in the office too?" RJ asked, a hopeful look on his face.

"Nice try, RJ, but no." Matt said rolling his eyes.

Dei laughed and looked at Matt gratefully. "Thanks, Matt. Thank you so much."

Matt waved his fingers at her dismissively and smiled. "I'm the captain of this ship, of course I'd do everything to save it. Love wins, baby!"

"You're the best, Matt." RJ said.

"Oh and there's something else..." Matt said, the corners of his lips twitching as he tried to suppress his smile and contain his excitement. "A variety show in one of the big networks have contacted us to invite you to guest on their show!"