Page 77 of Look In the Mirror
Oksana had wanted to get rid of that original house and the connection to the first designer anyway. After the repurposing all ties needed to be cut, for safety.
The game needed to move to new locations, expand, and Nina seemed a neat conclusion to that first house; to package her as its final guest seemed fitting. And there were eager buyers for the experience.
The girl on the screen now had a lot of interest from buyers too. Three separate viewers with view codes were watching in various locations around the world. She did not ask where. Other people dealt with logistics. They had shed a few low-level employees after Nina’s escape, and the various consequences of that, but everyone who mattered was still intact.
Nina was their best participant to date, garnering five viewers. The most any guest had achieved.
One viewer required refunding after the game’s unusual conclusion but the others were gratified by the ending. As was Oksana. Her little red-faced friend won. Oksana’s father would have liked that. He would have laughed.
Everyone loves an underdog, a surprise, a romance, a happy ending. Don’t they?
The girl on the screen is screaming now, tears streaming from her. Her mouth opening and closing in silence as beneath her on the screen an audio description scrolls on. Oksana winces. The girl is making threats; they often do. Coarse language. Sometimes it’s best to watch on mute.
Oksana downs the last of her ice-cold champagne and shrugs on a cashmere shawl. Up on deck the temperature tends to drop.
She lifts the remote and pauses the screen: the girl freezes, her fists mid-pound on the glass.
Oksana doesn’t want to miss her show.
She flicks off the lights to her suite and heads upstairs.
