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I shut off the blow-dryer and examined my face in the mirror. I still looked tired, but at least I had managed to camouflage the dark circles under my eyes. Still, I had no idea how I was going to make it through the VIP experience, the concert, and the after party without passing out. I was just beginning to debate the possibility of having a quick, ten minute power nap when my phone began blaring Taylor Swift’s ‘22’.

“Figures.” I muttered as I retrieved my phone from the nightstand. I looked at the display and confirmed that it was, indeed, Hannah who was calling. I couldn’t imagine why she would be calling in the middle of a work day. Ground(ctrl) had a strict policy when it came to their employees making personal calls during office hours.

“Amy! Thank God you answered!” Hannah practically shrieked into the phone.

“I’m fine, thanks. How are you?” I laughed.

“Have you seen it? Have you seen the photo? Have any of the guys seen it?” Hannah continued, completely ignoring my sarcastic response.

“What?” I asked, trying to wrap my overly tired brain around her question. “What picture?”

“I’m talking about the picture that was posted on the forum. Jason caught it after it had only been up for a few minutes. He’s taken it down, but so many people must have seen it! It’s a nightmare around here! The Sacramento office has had to enlist Greg’s help.” Hannah ploughed on.

“Greg’s help?” I repeated. “For what?”

Greg Lee was Ground(ctrl)’s certified graphic genius. You needed help with web design, you went to Greg. You needed help removing a disastrous blemish from a live shot of Selena Gomez, you went to Greg. You needed help eliminating every trace of Taylor Swift’s most recent ex-boyfriend from her fan community, you went to Greg. You needed help determining the origin of a scandalous picture or video, you went to Greg.

“You haven’t seen it, have you?!” Hannah shrieked.

“I just got out of the shower.” I offered weakly.

I could practically feel the anxiety rising in my stomach. If another office had to call Greg it almost always meant that some media-related disaster had occurred.

“I’m sending it to you right now!” Hannah exclaimed. “Greg sent me a copy, because he knows that you’re on assignment with the guys. He knew that I would know how to get in touch with you.”

I immediately whipped the phone away from my ear and put Hannah on speaker, so that I could access my WhatsApp messages. Almost immediately, the little icon appeared signifying that I had a message waiting. I jabbed at the screen and promptly dropped my phone in shock.

“Amy? Hello? What was that noise? Did it come through?” Hannah’s frantic voice continued to carry through the phone as I shakily bent down to retrieve it from under the bed.

“Yeah.” I mumbled, picking up the phone. “I saw it. I don’t think that I’ll ever be able to un-see it.”

The picture was still on the screen and I immediately closed the application. I couldn’t bring myself to look at it again.

“You said that Jason has already removed it?” I asked, not even bothering to get up off of the floor. Instead, I leaned back against the side of the bed and shut my eyes. I felt like I had been punched in the stomach. He had lied to me. He had obviously been lying to everyone for quite some time.

“Yeah.” Hannah confirmed. “From what I’ve heard, Jason just happened to be online uploading VIP pictures. It was basically just luck that he decided to check the forums before he signed out. I think it was only online for a total of five minutes, but the team in Sacramento is going crazy trying to figure out how many times the picture was saved and shared. Who knows how many people have seen it...”

“So, why is Greg involved if the picture has already been taken down?” I asked.

“I’m not sure.” Hannah admitted. “Rumours are going around that he’s examining the validity of the image.”

“You mean it might be a fake?” I asked; well aware of the fact that hope was highly evident in my voice.

“Anything is possible, but I think it’s pretty unlikely in this case. I mean, how would someone be able to manipulate everything?” Hannah cautioned, stressing the word ‘everything’. “Even if someone has faked it, I’m not even sure how they would have gotten a picture of him in that ... state.”

“I know. I was just ... hopeful ... that there would be an easy explanation.” I replied as I reluctantly opened my eyes and hauled myself to my feet. “Thanks for giving me the heads up.”

“No problem. I figured that you would like to know before their whole PR team finds out and starts losing their shit. I know that Jason hasn’t had a chance to talk to the band. He’s been on the phone with Greg for over an hour.” Hannah explained. “We’ll talk later. Keep me updated”

“For sure.” I answered half-heartedly as she rung off.