Influencer (Influencing Trilogy Book 2)

by Daniel Hurst

  And then my phone rang...

  I had been sitting at my desk at work at the time, so technically wasn’t supposed to answer personal calls. But, intrigued by the fact that it was from a private number, I had scurried away to answer it in the office corridor where there were fewer people about, just in case it turned out to be something important.

  And thank god that I had because it was Zack’s agent, who told me that I had won the competition that would take me and one friend to Miami to party like rock stars!

  Of course I had screamed.

  Zack’s agent had told me that he would be in touch shortly with more details but that I had to reply to him as soon as possible with the name of the person who I would be inviting to come with me. But I had given him the name there and then because it wasn’t as if I needed to think about it.

  Kelsey Tanner has been my best friend since high school and is the girl who will be my maid of honour one day when I eventually get married, because I love her just as much as I love my family. There was no question that I would invite anyone but her.

  Giving her the news was as crazy as I had expected. She had screamed loudly and told me that I was the luckiest bitch in the world. But then I had told her that she was the one I was picking to come with me, and the screaming had got ten times louder.

  God I love her.

  The next day we had left chilly Oklahoma and flown down south to tropical Florida and after an incredible night in the best hotel that either of us had ever stayed in, we are finally here in the harbour and ready to party.

  So many fancy cars are arriving now and so many famous faces are getting out of them. So far, we have seen Trey Squires, a mega-hot influencer from LA, who looks even sexier in real life than he does in all his PhoGlo photos.

  We have also spotted Harriet Harper, who is known for being a fashion icon and hadn’t disappointed today, stepping out of her limo in a show-stopping red summer dress with killer black heels which were completely unsuitable for walking onto a yacht. But of course nobody cared about that.

  And we even saw Mason Manor, who looked like a goddess with her dark hair flowing down the back of a black sarong that no doubt contained the kind of bikini body that would put the rest of us on the yacht to shame.

  Mason is the second most followed influencer on PhoGlo after Zack. But where is Zack? I can’t wait to see him in the flesh. But it’s his party and I guess he will be the last one to turn up. Fashionably late of course. Who cares, he can do what he wants. He’s the king of PhoGlo and we’re all here because of him. As long as I get to have a photo with him at some point today then I can die a happy woman.

  Kelsey taps me on the arm and tells me someone else is arriving, so I look up from my phone and see a Miami taxi driving past the rows of screaming fans.

  The car comes to a stop nearby and everyone turns to see who will get out. Because it’s just a taxi I presume it will be one of the yacht’s employees or an assistant making a last-minute dash to get something done before the party begins.

  But then the doors open and the camera phones start clicking, and I see that it is somebody famous after all. Kelsey sees her too and excitedly pulls on my arm as the woman leaves the taxi and waves to the fans.

  ‘Oh my god, it’s Emily Bennett!’

  #PartyGirl

  Emily Bennett

  I can’t believe how many people have turned up to see us board the yacht. There must be at least 200 people here. If I’d known that then maybe I would have come in something a little more extravagant than a local taxi that I had flagged down outside my hotel. Mason has already teased me about it. Of course, she came straight from the airport in a limo after flying in from Tokyo in her private jet.

  Classic Mason.

  It’s so good to see her again and I can’t wait to get on the yacht, get a drink and hear more about her week. We are all ready to board now but we are still waiting for the arrival of the birthday boy. So are the crowd and word must be spreading online because I can see even more people running down to join us by the water on this gorgeous day. I’m guessing Miami is the number one glowing subject on PhoGlo right now.

  I take my phone out of my handbag but it’s not for a little hit of social media. I just want to see if Ryan has messaged me back yet. I still haven’t heard from him since tonight’s show was cancelled and although he’s probably sleeping off the hangover from last night’s show, I just want to know he’s okay before we set sail today.

  I don’t know what the signal will be like on the yacht but I’m guessing we will have zero coverage when we are out at sea, which is a pretty crazy thought when you consider that the boat will be full of people who all make their livings by being online at all times. But I’m sure there will be a signal when we arrive at the island and it’s no big issue if he doesn’t text me before then.

  ‘So how’s Ryan?’ Mason asks me, as if she knows that the reason for my momentary silence is because I’m thinking about him again.

  ‘Yeah he’s good’ I tell her, putting my phone back into my handbag and vowing not to take it out again for at least another five minutes.

  ‘I watched one of his shows on my flight from Tokyo last night. The one he did in Boston, you know, with the wedding jokes. It was hilarious’ Mason says, smiling at me.

  ‘Yeah that’s a good one’ I reply, biting my tongue so I don’t mention the fact that I’ve watched that very same show online at least five times since I met Ryan and only one of those times did I watch it with him.

  Okay, so I was crushing hard as soon as I met him.

  ‘God, I hope there are some hotties on board today’ Mason says, looking around at the large crowd of young and beautiful people that, like us, are waiting for Zack to arrive so we can set foot on the yacht.

  ‘I think you’ll be okay’ I reply. ‘It’s hardly slim pickings.’

  ‘Yeah but I’ve already worked with half of these influencers and I’ll probably work with the other half in the future. I don’t like to mix business with pleasure.’

  I laugh because I know for a fact that Mason has definitely mixed business with pleasure on several occasions.

  ‘Yeah sorry I forgot about how professional you are’ I say. ‘Like that time you slept with your photographer on the photoshoot in Cuba.’

  ‘Hey that was one time and I was drunk’ she replies, laughing and shrugging her shoulders. ‘He’s not here today, is he?’

  She scans the crowd quickly as I laugh.

  ‘No he’s too busy screwing some other model in Rio’ I reply, and she playfully hits me on the arm.

  ‘Let’s change the subject. I haven’t been with a guy in weeks and just talking about it gets me hot and bothered’ Mason says, biting her lip and eyeballing a tanned blonde guy in a singlet standing nearby.

  ‘Yeah I know what you mean, I haven’t seen Ryan in nearly a week’ I reply, shaking my head and imagining being with him in his Brooklyn apartment right now.

  ‘Oh please, you two lovebirds will be fine. Have some sympathy for the singletons of the world. We never know when our next night of passion will come along.’

  I laugh again. Mason describing herself as a singleton is just hilarious. Like she couldn’t have any guy in the world if she wanted him. A magazine voted her into the world’s top ten most eligible bachelorettes last month. With her looks, fame and fortune she is definitely in high demand with the male population, but she still enjoys playing the innocent and dateless ‘girl next door’ type.

  ‘I’m sure you’ll survive. Besides, it looks like blondie is keen’ I tell her, referring to the blonde guy she was ogling a moment ago who is now gazing longingly in Mason’s direction.

  ‘That guy? Please. He looks like he spends more time in front of the mirror than I do.’

  ‘It’s a party for influencers. I don’t think there’s a single person here who doesn’t spend half their day in front of the mirror.’

  ‘That’s a good point actually. Do you think there will be
enough mirrors on board?’

  We both laugh together now, smug in the fact that even though we have the same careers and lifestyles as all the vain people around us, we still don’t take ourselves too seriously.

  Another limousine arrives and everybody strains to catch a glimpse of the person getting out but it’s another false alarm. Zack still isn’t here. He definitely is going for the fashionably late option. The yacht was supposed to leave twenty minutes ago yet we’re still on dry land waiting for the birthday boy to make an appearance.

  Suddenly we hear the sound of a helicopter approaching and everybody looks to the clear blue skies. It’s not clear where it is at first until it suddenly comes into view from behind the row of high-rise apartment buildings that line the waterfront and hovers above the large crowd at the harbour.

  ‘Is that him?’ Mason asks me, shielding her eyes from the sun as she looks up at the rotating blades of the chopper high above us.

  ‘I think it might be’ I reply, as the helicopter begins to descend towards us, and hundreds of phones are pointed towards the skies to capture the cool moment.

  ‘That’s one way to make an arrival’ Mason says as the helicopter touches down on a landing patch nearby. ‘Not as good as coming in a taxi but still impressive.’

  I laugh at her joke as I squint my eyes from the sun. The chopper’s doors slide open and the birthday boy himself steps out onto the scorching tarmac below.

  The crowd goes wild as Zack raises a hand in the air and waves to them all and even I have to admit that it’s a thrilling entrance and one that certainly befits the kind of occasion we are all going to be a part of today. It was certainly worth the wait, that’s for sure.

  Zack makes his way along the crowd, posing for a few photos and signing a couple of autographs as he goes, and it’s clear that every part of this day has been set up to make him feel like an absolute superstar. But he’s the owner of the most followed account on PhoGlo, so he is basically a superstar.

  He finally reaches his guests and gives us all a warm welcome and a thank you for being here today. Then he tells us the plan for the first part of the day, which will involve us all boarding the yacht and posing for the cameraman who will be in the helicopter above.

  He wants to get the crowd of screaming fans behind us in the photo too. It’s obvious that every part of today is going to be one big choreographed show that will only serve to enhance and grow Zack’s online following even more.

  But nobody cares. We all know the world we are in and we all know how important it is to keep growing your brand. Therefore, we all just smile and nod and feel grateful that we are a part of it. If someone had said to me a year ago that I would be standing in Miami waiting to board a yacht with all of the biggest influencers in the world around me then I would have told you that you belonged in a hospital ward for patients with head injuries. Yet here I am, at Zack Reynolds’ party, standing beside Mason Manor and having my photograph taken by a crowd of starstruck fans.

  I would pinch myself right now, if I weren’t so worried about leaving a mark on my skin for the photos.

  ‘Okay guys we’re ready to go. Everybody on board’ Zack shouts to us all, as the two burly security men unhook the velvet rope that was preventing us all from walking onto the yacht before him.

  As I make my way onto the enormous yacht alongside Mason and the other lucky guests, I see Zack turn back to the sea of adoring fans and scream at the top of his lungs;

  ‘LET’S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!’

  #ThePartyStarter

  Anna Akari

  I was starting to think this yacht was never going to leave the harbour. There have been a multitude of selfies, group photos and even a cameraman hanging out of a helicopter above us but now finally we have set sail and are heading out into the open seas.

  The yacht is packed but through the crowds I have been able to get a visual on every single one of the people on my list and so I will be able to complete my mission. I could have just sneaked off the yacht before it departed and blown it up as it sailed away but I’m going to wait to do it in Bimini, where there will be fewer witnesses than in Miami. It will also be easier for me to make my escape from there than from the busy American city.

  I am doing my best to avoid having to hand out champagne to all the obnoxious guests and so far, I have been fairly successful. None of them have noticed me standing about in my uniform as they are all too busy either looking at their phones or the view of Miami as we leave it behind. I have also managed to avoid the stressed-out man who is in charge of all the hospitality staff today and as long as I do that, I will be able to keep to myself and maintain visuals on all the targets that I will soon be eliminating.

  As I watch Mason Manor and Emily Bennett sipping their champagne, I see a young man slowly approaching them from behind. It’s the same guy who boarded the yacht before the rest of the guests and it had seemed like he was trying to hide as everybody else arrived.

  He had remained below deck as everyone had walked on together and he has only just resurfaced. Whoever he is, it seems he is sneaking up to Mason and Emily in an attempt to surprise them.

  I maintain my position by the large, canapé-filled table, and watch as the man suddenly wraps his arms around Emily and kisses her on the neck. The girl is so shocked she almost drops her champagne over the side of the yacht, but when she turns around and sees who it is, she seems delighted. They kiss and hug and it becomes clear that this guy is in a relationship with Emily.

  How sweet. He snuck aboard to surprise her. At least they will get to die by each other’s side now.

  Mason doesn’t seem as pleased to see him as Emily is although to be fair to her she is doing a very good job of hiding it. She was probably looking forward to a day with her friend but now has suddenly been relegated to being the third wheel to their loved-up romance. She is definitely drinking her champagne quicker since the mystery man had arrived and surprised Emily and she is also paying more attention to the many men who are standing in her vicinity.

  I look around the rest of the yacht and see all the other partygoers in various states of celebration. Some are sunning themselves on deck, some are guzzling champagne and munching on canapés and others are sprawled out on the sofas under the shade of the yacht’s roof. But they all have one thing in common.

  They all have their mobile phones in their hands.

  I’d known that this was to be a party attended by many social media celebrities but now that I am here standing amongst them all it is eye-opening to see how many of them treat their mobile phone like it is literally an extension of their body.

  Barely a single one of them can hold a conversation without their eyes going back to their phone screens. Nor can they simply enjoy the view without taking photos and recording videos. Many of them are missing the waiters and waitresses passing them by with loaded trays of canapés and champagne because they are too engrossed in their devices. Even those that do accept refreshments are struggling to hold them whilst trying to upload their next posts to their silly online accounts.

  As I stand here watching them all, it strikes me that I am possibly one of the few people in my generation who isn’t entirely caught up in this culture of sharing absolutely every single thing that happens to me with the rest of the world. I have always enjoyed privacy, even before I became an international assassin. I always found more comfort alone than I did with others and the thought of posting photos of myself online in a bid to attract attention just doesn’t appeal to me at all.

  But there is obviously good money in sharing every single part of yourself with others. The fact that a guy decides to spend his birthday taking all his friends to The Bahamas on his yacht tells me he must have a lot of money and everybody else on board seems to be well off too.

  I saw all the fancy cars that dropped them off in the harbour and I notice all the jewellery, handbags and sunglasses. All these people are making a fortune out of the fact that the world needs role mod
els and they are only too happy to be those role models if it means people will follow them.

  I might be young but even I know that is wrong. Role models should be doctors or nurses or firefighters or charity workers. Not someone who takes a hundred selfies a day and spends three hours deciding which hashtags to put with them.

  Somewhere along the way, the world has gone wrong, but at least there will be a little course correction today. Soon all these people will be gone and, while I’m sure there are millions of other people out there who will eagerly take their place at the top of the social media tree, it might be enough to get one person out there to put down their phone and pick up a book instead.

  Tomorrow there will be fewer meaningless posts in the world, countless fewer selfies and 200 fewer people saying “LOOK AT ME.” Hopefully that will at least give somebody the chance to do something more meaningful with their life than scrolling through an app just so they can keep up to date with what their friends are talking about when they see them.

  ‘Hey, we’re not paying you to stand around and stare.’

  I turn around to see the man who thinks he is my boss today. He’s sweating and sunburnt already and we’ve barely left the harbour. He picked the wrong place to work if he doesn’t do well in hot weather.

  He picks up a tray of canapés and thrusts it into my arms.

  ‘Go. Now!’ he orders me, and I feel like killing him right here and now. I could smash the canapé tray into the side of his head and beat him to death with it as he lay cowering on the ground. But that would be messy, not to mention a waste of what look to be quite nice canapés, so I force a smile on my face and turn back towards the crowd. He’ll be dead soon enough when this yacht is on fire and, judging by the colour of his face, he has already started to burn.