I would hate to burst her bubble, but I doubt it. If we aren’t competing with Bridgeport’s dance team, all our focus will turn on building our individual social media brands. That’s what brings in a lot of money, and I suspect that in the off season we’ll be asked to ramp that up.
The dining room is already crowded when we arrive. Between dancers and athletes,Pure Shinehas about twenty-five elite clients who get to live in the house.
Dad sits at the head of the table. “Everyone settle down.”
The chatter dies down and people take their places. I lower myself in one of the numbered seats at the table, while Aisha goes to stand against the wall.
Our place during assemblies is determined by our number of followers on three main social media platforms. The seats with the lowest numbers, reserved for the people with the most followers, are closest to the head of the table. Our assigned seat shifts with the number of followers we earn. The people with fewer followers don’t get a seat around the table, but have to stand.
“First of all,” Dad begins. “I would like to congratulate Kurt Priestly for leading our school’s hockey team in the playoffs. Under his leadership, the Frozen Four final is within our reach for the second consecutive year.”
Kurt is sitting closest to Dad on the right-hand side. He’s a tall, muscular center who rarely smiles. Today is one of the rare exceptions, and I understand the reason after everyone’s applause dies down and Dad continues with his announcements.
“Not only is Kurt the top scorer in our conference this year, we have even more exciting news. I’ve been in negotiations with several NHL teams and we’re delighted to announce that we just signed a two-year deal with the Hartford Heroes.”
Another round of applause sounds all around the room.
“Does that mean that Kurt won’t be here for his junior year?” Tyler, the hockey team goalie, asks when the applause subsides.
“Not at all,” Dad answers on behalf of his protégé. “The agreement with the Heroes is that Kurt will move to Hartford after graduation.”
Everyone is excited by the news.
Dad has quickly become one of the top sport agents in the country. Most of his athletes don’t even have to wait for the draft to be signed by top tier professional teams. Dancers usually aspire to join ballet or dance companies, butPure Shineis putting together its own dance company. Dad plans to keep the most talented dancers in his roster in-house.
“All right, all right.” Dad taps his hand on the table. “That wasn’t the only reason why I called this assembly. I have some very exciting news. As you all know,Pure Shineis always in touch with a number of potential sponsors and patrons. I have a surprise for all of you. Helga, come on in.”
Dad’s secretary comes into the dining room carrying a wicker basket full of rectangular boxes a little bigger than a deck of cards.
“I secured a sponsorship with one of the biggest cell phone manufacturers in the world. And one of the perks of this deal is that each of you, asPure Shine’s elite clients, receives their newest smartphone. This model doesn’t come out until next year, I believe.”
The news cause even more excitement than Kurt’s NHL contract.
“Thank you, Helga.” I say when she offers me one of the boxes in the basket. The box has my name on it in bright pink characters.
“You’re very welcome, Rebecca.” She smiles. “Please put your old phone in the basket.”
That is odd. “Why? Can’t we keep our old phones too? Like this one could be used for business and one could be a personal device.”
Helga’s smile fades. “The instructions I received are clear. Each person gets a new phone upon surrendering their old one to be recycled.”
I open my mouth to argue, but Dad intervenes.
“Rebecca, is there any problem?” his smile doesn’t reach his eyes.
Silence descends on the room, all eyes focusing on me. “No, I just thought we could keep our old phones. My whole life is in my phone.”
Dad’s tone is calm, but I can hear an edge to it. He’s never liked to be contradicted in public. “What would you do with a new phone but no contract? As an elite client,Pure Shinepays for your phone service. And as an incentive for all the hard work each of you does, your new phones come with a new contract with unlimited data. You don’t need to worry about losing any of the contents on your old phone. You all use the Wi-Fi in this house and the network is set up to automatically back up your phones and all your other devices every hour. Your new phones have already been programmed with all your content.”
I deposit my old phone in the basket, picking up the new one with trembling fingers.
A feeling of unease settles in the pit of my stomach. Does that mean that he gets access to the content of our devices? To our texts and emails? If the content is backed up to the cloud in a network he has the password to, what would stop him from potentially spying on each of us?
When Dad offered me and all his elite clients a room in thePure Shinehouse, I felt elated. Chosen.
It didn’t occur to me to question anything when I signed the new contract that came with our new living quarters. I mean, it’s my father we’re talking about, right? He might be old-fashioned in some of his views, and he has a strong personality, but I didn’t even think about there being any downside to moving into this mansion. I trusted him to look after my best interests. The last thing I would have thought is that when I was given the Wi-Fi password, that would open a door for him to see everything I do.
Maybe I’m overthinking this.
