Pepper and Reynaldo exchanged a wry smile. That really wasn't up to her.
But Pepper stopped Reynaldo. He didn't know why—but he felt the same thing he did when he first met Mei.
"We've got a producer here. If you've got time, you can talk to him."
Reynaldo shot Pepper a look that clearly said: Have you lost it, Pepper Saltzman?
But Pepper didn't meet his eyes.
I followed Pepper and Reynaldo to the producer. All of the tech was brand new. Pepper was the type—if he liked something, he got it. If he wanted something, he made it happen.
"This is our producer, Samuel," Pepper said.
"Hey," Samuel nodded.
"Oh, hey," I replied.
"Samuel, she's here for a casting evaluation. She has a track prepared—please take a look and give us your professional assessment. And determine whether it's suitable for production."
"Well, get in the recording room. Let's hear what you've got."
I got inside, put on the headset, and held the script.
[Search it up Ariana Grande - God is a Woman]
...
Pepper stared at the monitor, listening to Sheryl sing through the speakers. Reynaldo sat beside him, just as focused. It was only a demo—the raw take wasn't fully polished—but they could already hear the potential.
Samuel nodded along, watching the waveform on the screen as the audio played.
"What do you think, Samuel?" Pepper asked.
"It's good," Samuel said. "Even raw, her voice carries. I can build the production around this—refine the arrangement, add layers, and shape the final mix." He glanced at Pepper. "Where did you find her?"
Pepper smiled faintly. "Reynaldo, you'll be in charge of her. Handle her coordination—schedule, communication, everything."
"I know," Reynaldo replied.
...
I stepped out of the recording room. "What do you think?"
"Great," Samuel said. "Honestly, the raw file is already solid. I can clean it up, add background elements, and we're good." He smiled.
"Good." I smiled back, then turned to Pepper and Reynaldo. "I'll send you my number. Please contact me. As for my address—" I handed it over. It was the next apartment unit beside Mei's.
I didn't stay any longer and left.
I had to make it seem like the apartment was actually occupied, so I grabbed some essentials and moved into my new place. Yeah, I know what you're thinking, why get an apartment close to Mei? It just makes things easier.
I can just switch between Mei's apartment to Sheryl's. As for my apartment as Philip. It looks like I won't be going home for a few days.
Besides, I like this apartment.
I put the clothes I bought into the closet, then made myself dinner. I ate and drank.
This time, I'd be managing my own social media account as Sheryl—unlike Mei.
I mean, influencers are supposed to interact with their fans. Though right now, my account has zero followers.
I logged into Mei's account and followed my Sheryl account.
If anyone noticed, they'd probably be confused, after all Mei doesn't follow anyone in social media. Duh, I'm drawing attention to myself.
I collapsed onto the bed after dinner and fell asleep.
....
"She followed someone."
Bianca was washing her hair, casually scrolling through Mei's account. She mostly kept an eye on it out of habit. The "0 following" had suddenly changed, so she paused and checked who it was.
Her eyes narrowed.
"Sheryl Nome? Who the fuck is that?"
...
I spent the next few days going back and forth to the agency. I'd been working with Samuel for a while now. This was the first time, being in a woman's body, that I actually felt refreshed talking with a guy.
As Mei, I mostly get perverted looks—and, well, some form of harassment. But this guy, Samuel? He's the GOAT. He's focused on his work, and he treats me with respect.
Not only that, he's really good at what he does. He understands what I'm trying to say, and "God Is a Woman"? That would've taken weeks—we actually finished it in about a week.
My vocals were solid, and for the beats, we had already planned everything out. We were listening to the demo now.
"It's good," Pepper nodded.
"We can publish this," Reynaldo said excitedly. "We could even make a promotional video for it."
"I agree," Pepper said. "But let's release the single on SoundCloud first." He paused, then chuckled. "Oh right, I'll ask Mei to help with the promotion." He immediately left the room.
I smiled, then looked at Samuel. "I have more music. Maybe we can start working on some of it too?"
Samuel's eyes lit up. "Oh? What do you have?"
After that, I went home.
I gained 2k followers on Instagram just because Mei followed me. Also, my profile is kind of amazing.
I took a few pictures. Damn—every angle, I'm hot. I posted them and tagged Mei.
Then I logged into Mei's account, reposted the post from my other account, and left a comment.
Just like that, the flames were fueled. Another wave of followers came in.
Also… something happened. Tony Stark is missing.
Wow. Not that surprising. He'll be fine. Besides, I'm busy building my own fame.
It's kinda suspicious, though. But hey—I could earn some points from this too.
[+1 fan point]
[+1 fan point]
[+1 fan point]
[+1 fan point]
[+1 fan point]
[+1 fan point]
Sheryl isn't even famous yet, but because of Mei, I've been getting a lot of attention. Though… I've also been receiving some strange messages.
[Bitch! Stop editing your posts!]
It was from an alt account.
And yeah… I already had a guess who it was. It was one of my juniors—someone I slept with.
This is awkward.
So I blocked her. Kinda embarrassing to know she's doing this.
Bethany… you're hot, and as your senior I'll forget about this.
Anyway, Reynaldo told me we had to wait for the initial reaction.
Social media at this point is kind of insane. Advanced, too. I mean, Tony Stark already has AI—do you think the world is just going to stand still?
AI hasn't fully been developed yet, but Instagram, YouTube, and other platforms are already on the rise.
Most singers upload their songs to YouTube anyway—VEVO-style.
Anyway, Reynaldo said the music would be uploaded today, so I waited.
A few minutes later, it went live. I immediately shared it across my social media accounts, then switched to Mei's account and posted it there as well.