Becoming a YouTuber?!

Chapter 23: Midsummer Night's Gleam party

As if the entrance to Cliveden House wasn't enough to take my breath away, I found myself staring into five gigantic letters. They seemed like the full version of the type that so many YouTubers had in the background of their videos, I knew at least Nate, Marcus, Alfie and Zoe all had some. They cost a small fortune for being an oddly shaped lamp with multiple light bulbs

They spelled out GLEAM in at its glory and I clenched my teeth instinctively. This was so surreal. I had attended Gleam events before, because partners had been allowed. Gleam had grown so much over the last year that I doubted that I knew more than a third of the people. Of course, it wasn't a problem now as I was signed to Gleam as "Talent".

It still felt weird knowing they'd hired out so many rooms and venues here at this beautiful place. Nate reached over and squeezed my hand. Emma gawked out the window and looked even more star struck than I.

"This is so fucking cool," she muttered. "Look at that place."

I smiled shyly at her optimism. I had always admired that aspect of her; she rarely doubted herself. She felt comfortable in most situations and I had no doubt that she'd be off completely fine, even though she had been unable to bring Megan.

We were in casual clothes as we had rooms to change and stay in. I was just in my comfy sweats as was Nate but Emma had showed up to our flat in a lovely summer dress that she'd undoubtedly change out of before the evening's festivities. She liked to look good and prepared all the time. She said it made her feel more in control.

It didn't work like that for me. I was far better off in my normal comfortable clothes than parading around in fancy wear.

I parked the car on the huge parking space in front of the main entrance and we stepped out. We had borrowed his sister Sabrina's car, as we still did not have one of our own. It didn't make sense to have one as long as we lived in London but I missed driving and was scared I was getting rusty by never practicing it. Emma hadn't even gotten her permit yet, despite having turned 20 this summer.

Other YouTubers, blogger and Gleamers were outside chatting and of course, we went around and said hello to everybody. As usual, Nate seemed to know everybody and Emma was enthusiastic about introducing herself.

I knew a few of our friends would be here like Zoe, Alfie, Marcus, Caspar, Joe and Niomi, but we met none of them outside.

"You're being extra quiet today," Nate remarked as we were escorted down the hall to our room after parting ways with Emma briefly.

We were walking arm in arm, and I looked up at him and smiled.

"You know how I feel about big gatherings. It doesn't seem like so long ago that it was so much smaller and I knew everyone on the team, you know? Or didn't know them personally but I knew everyone's names."

"I'm pretty sure the first Gleam event you were at must have been the Christmas party in 2014. A lot has changed since then. The whole American branch of Gleam is here tonight as well. It's a rapidly growing business."

We entered our room and I plopped down on the bed. A beat later, Nate imitated me.

"You know back in the day it was just Dom. He predicted that people who found a voice online would need management help. He knew Sam and Nic and they were his first clients followed swiftly by Tanya and Jim. It's crazy to think how much it's grown over the years, so I get what you mean," Nate said and sighed. "But it's for the better."

"I'm not sure if bigger and better is always accurate, love," I added. I didn't actually know that Gleam had started out that small. I knew Dom was an amazing guy but to think that he had built all of this, on his own at first, was incredible.