Followers

by Raziel Reid

  Yasmin has replaced Idris’s mom, Nadia Morcos, on Platinum Triangle. Nadia wasn’t asked back by producers, but she didn’t seem to mind—she’d gotten what she wanted out of the show: a divorce from Ghalib. She only had the confidence to leave him on TV. It was so performative that Idris didn’t fully believe his mom was leaving until she was gone. Greta fell in love with him the moment he realized.

  Nadia bought a penthouse at The Century. Greta and Nadia are close. Sometimes they go try out crazy L.A. fitness classes together, like yoga with goats jumping on your back as you pose.

  Idris hasn’t been answering Greta’s calls. She hates that it drives her crazy. It’s not like Idris has ever been monogamous. He’s all about that freshman pussy (follow him on Snap). But they have fun together. He makes her laugh. Like, so hard. When Greta is with him, she forgets about everything else, and that’s enough.

  Yasmin tells her that Idris is in his room and Greta goes up. She finds him on the couch in front of his TV, playing Fortnite. She stands at the doorway and opens her Stalvey top-handle handbag, pulling out Idris’s keys. The jingling sound makes Idris glance over, but he looks right back at the TV.

  “I brought your keys,” Greta says.

  “What about the car?” Idris asks. He pauses the game and goes over to his pet albino Burmese python. He lifts the lid and feeds it a live mouse.

  “Did you see how many views the video got?” she asks.

  “You’re some extra shit, you know that?” Idris turns around to face her.

  “I’m sure I can make it up to you somehow…”

  Greta walks up to Idris and kisses him, pushing him against the snake tank, which rattles. She playfully shoves Idris onto his bed and pulls her Givenchy Paris tee over her head, tossing it at his face. Greta lifts the lid off the snake tank and coils the snake around her neck before climbing onto Idris’s lap. She can feel him getting hard when they hear a ping. Greta reaches into her back pocket and pulls out her phone.

  “That bitch!”

  “What is it?” Idris asks.

  Bea just sent Greta a link. “An anonymous source told Nicki Swift I forced Hailey into your car at gunpoint.” Greta shakes her head. Hailey’s more of a snake than the python around Greta’s neck, which hisses as she jumps off Idris’s lap and replaces it in the tank. It can finally swallow the mouse whole.

  “That’s it,” Greta says. “If she wants war, I’ll give her war.”

  Greta calls her source at Radar Online. Hailey introduced her to the writer when they ran into him one night at TomTom. Hailey has a direct line to practically every gossip reporter in town. Greta was wasted and told the writer how much wine her mom drinks, and it was headline news the next morning.

  “I thought you were about to apologize to me?” Idris asks.

  Greta holds up a finger.

  “Hi, Justin? It’s Greta Strom. Boy, do I have an exclusive for you…”

  beagetty

  11m followers

  beagetty So happy and excited to share my new @voguejapan shoot !!!! Thank you so much my friends @luigiandiango @yumilee_mua @juliavonboehm for another favorite xxxx Check out my insta story (highlights) to see the video !

  Bea’s mother, Olympia Miller, was the muse of Jean-Paul Gaultier in the ’90s and the mistress of Bea’s father, a Getty oil heir. Bea’s last name was Miller until two years ago when her mom decided to change it so that Bea can claim a share in the Getty family fortune. It caused quite the scandal in the press, considering her dad’s other family and everything…Bea opened up about it in “73 Questions with Bea Getty” for Vogue.

  The press propelled Bea’s modeling career and got Olympia cast on Platinum Triangle. Bea shot to fame and was suddenly all over the internet, and then she was all over Tom Ford, and it just keeps getting bigger. She’s everywhere.

  Bea’s the waif version of her amazon mother. Olympia quit Platinum Triangle before the second season started shooting. She had a rough first season (Shondra Johnson accused her of sleeping with Sean’s dad, Christoph, and literally almost drowned her in the Johnsons’ pool—it’s MKTV’s most viewed YouTube video). Olympia sold their apartment in the Sierra Towers and moved to Europe. She’s still modeling, and lives in Paris with her boy toy. Bea now lives in a bungalow at the Chateau Marmont.

  It can get kind of lonely on her own. Lately, Bea’s been spending a lot of time at the Cadogans’ estate in East Gate Old Bel-Air. Bea likes being around a family, and the Cadogans are a larger-than-life American dynasty. It makes Bea think of what her life might’ve been like if she’d grown up with her dad. She used to see him when she was little, but she didn’t know he was her dad then. He’d come to take her mom out and would bring Bea flowers. He traded Olympia in for a younger model when Bea was six, and Bea hasn’t seen him since.

  Brandon’s dad, L.Y., is a banker who runs the West Coast’s largest steel company and, like, owned 20th Century Fox at one point. Bea is scared to death of him. Brandon’s mom, Morgan, basically runs Los Angeles society, and all the Platinum Triangle wives are jealous because she’s such a rich bitch.

  Bea is hanging out with Brandon in his room when L.Y. FaceTimes Brandon from Switzerland. He doesn’t even say hello; he just starts screaming at Brandon about his behavior on the United Airlines flight from Hong Kong. There are several passenger videos floating around the internet.

  “If I had my way, I’d ship you off to military school!” L.Y. screams. “But your mother is against it. Lucky for you, I’m prone to making her happy at this time. I’m sure even you can understand.”

  Brandon doesn’t say anything.

  “You’re a disgrace, Brandon. I’ll have my secretary issue a public apology on your behalf. You’re to lie low. I’m taking away your toys. No cars, no allowance, no more little parties while we’re away. No more bastard heiress Instamodels holed up in your bedroom.”

  Brandon looks at Bea over his phone like he thinks it’s a big joke, but Bea knows it’s a defense mechanism. Brandon would give anything to make his dad proud, but he never seems to manage it, which is why he’s so self-destructive.

  “Do you know why your grandfather left most of his estate to charity and nothing to you?” L.Y. asks. “Do you think it’s because he suddenly felt pious on his deathbed? You think I’m bad? You should’ve been raised by my old man. Ruthless doesn’t begin to describe him!”

  Sometimes, after the glow of the party has faded and she and Brandon are cuddling in bed together, Brandon opens up to Bea. He has told her that L.Y. was so remote during his childhood that Brandon turned to his grandfather for affection and absolutely idolized him. So much so that he used to mimic his granddad’s mannerisms—walking with one arm behind his back, gesturing with his right forefinger, clasping his hands for emphasis, and pushing up the sleeve on his left arm. He was so hungry for approval.

  Brandon’s grandfather returned little of Brandon’s affection, but then Brandon started posting all these #richkid photos on Instagram. Like, on the first day of school he’d take a photo of a stack of money and a Rolex and caption it, “School supplies,” or he’d pose doing a handstand on the wing of the family jet, and his grandfather thought it was vulgar. He came from the generation that believed your name should appear in the newspaper only three times: when you’re born, when you marry, and when you die. The fact that Brandon was getting so much attention for his wild antics and lavish displays of wealth led to them falling out.

  Brandon speaks quietly on the phone. “He left Conrad a trust.” The way he says it makes Bea feel so guilty. She’s not going to answer the DMs Brandon’s older brother sends her late at night ever again!

  “And not you,” L.Y. says. “Because he thought it would be put to better use elsewhere. He even had it put in writing! Your grandfather saw you for what you are.”

  Brandon is always being compared to Conrad, the golden son who is currently in Chile working for Raleigh International. L.Y. has plans to make Conrad the next JFK.

  “You
r mother is fighting to cure her cancer and this is what she has to deal with?” Once L.Y. starts going he can’t stop. There’s an epic scene on Platinum Triangle where he lost his temper when Brandon accidentally spilled soda on L.Y.’s stamp collection. “If this stress in any way sets back her recovery, so help me, Brandon…”

  L.Y. loses his shit for a while longer and then finally lets Brandon go.

  “I don’t see why he’s so upset,” Bea says. “Isn’t your mom faking cancer for the show?”

  She regrets it as soon as it comes out of her mouth. Brandon flinches like Bea just slapped him.

  “That’s a fucking lie!” He jumps up from the bed, his face instantly red, the vein throbbing on his forehead. “That’s just Whitney Paley and Kathy Strom’s way of creating a storyline!”

  Bea quickly nods and doesn’t press the issue. Brandon can be as explosive as his father. But Bea is pretty sure the gossip is true. The other day Bea saw Morgan swimming laps in the Cadogans’ seventy-five-foot swimming pool. She looked the picture of health. Then, later that same day, Bea heard her with her stylist getting a gown fitting for some charity gala. But when L.Y. got home from work, Morgan was suddenly too weak to even come downstairs, so L.Y. brought her dinner in bed.

  Brandon paces beside his bed, his fists clenched. Bea’s worried he’s about to blow. But then he suddenly stops, facing her, and takes a deep breath.

  “Well, you heard the man. No more little parties while he’s away…” Brandon smirks. “But he didn’t say anything about a big one!”

  paleyhailey

  1m followers

  loivaire_pst You and Lily are literally twins

  Hailey’s up in her room when she receives a Google Alert. A new story on Radar Online. Greta wasting no time with a counterattack?

  Hailey holds her phone so tight the screen almost cracks. The story is all about Lily’s arrival in the Platinum Triangle and how she’s already caught the attention of Joel Strom. The article makes Hailey sound like a loser who hasn’t gotten the guy all season. Again!

  Greta’s out for revenge because of the whole “held at gunpoint” thing. And Greta knows the best way to get to Hailey is through Joel.

  If it wasn’t Greta who planted the story on Radar, then it was Platinum Triangle production. It’s almost hard to believe because it’s happened so fast. Lily has landed in Hailey’s pool house and already gotten herself a storyline…. Everyone loves a classic love triangle.

  This is all Sam’s fault! Whitney’s elaborate plan for sympathy Likes should’ve never been indulged. It’s gone too far. But Sam has wanted to spice up the teen storylines all season. Valeria and Sean have been playing it safe. Sometimes when they’re all filming together, they fall into the trap of never saying what’s really happening. Hailey knows that Sam is playing her mom just as much as Whitney is trying to play Lily. Sam didn’t bring Lily in to make the Paleys look good. She brought her in to cast a new nemesis for Hailey.

  Hailey’s connection at Radar answers on the first ring.

  “I hope you’re not calling to try and get me to reveal my source,” he says.

  “Actually”—Hailey twirls a strand of hair around her finger—“I have another story I think you’ll be interested in…”

  Just wait until Lily sees what kind of headlines she makes next!

  After planting the hit on Lily, Hailey grabs a Tiffany’s shopping bag off her dresser and goes down to the pool house.

  She finds Lily sitting on the couch in the dark. She’s on her phone, and the glow of the screen lights up her face. She looks so lost. Hailey almost feels sorry for the girl. She has no one. Hailey’s Aunt Erin is the worst mom ever. How could she just abandon her own daughter? Hailey would be so devastated. Hailey and Whitney are best friends. They went to Burning Man together last summer.

  “I snuck off today while we were shopping,” Hailey says, turning on the light and passing Lily the Tiffany’s shopping bag. She sits next to her on the couch. “It’s my way of saying thanks for taking the fall for me this morning with my dad. It was really cool of you.”

  Lily pulls out a small box. “You really didn’t have to do this,” she says, genuinely touched. Inside is a charm for the bracelet Hailey gave her for her tenth birthday, a Tiffany-Blue-and-white enamel Bon Bon Candy Charm. “Oh, wow.” Lily holds it up. “It’s…” She puts the charm back in its box. “I love it.”

  “I’m so glad. And I’m so glad you’re here, Lily. L.A. is a cutthroat town and it can get so lonely. I could really use a friend.”

  A few months back, Hailey gave an interview to Paper magazine where she said she wanted to escape it all and live on a horse ranch in the Pacific Palisades one day. No more social media. But it was a lie. Hailey could never leave it.

  “You have no idea how much it means to me to hear you say that.” Lily gives Hailey a hug. “I always thought we would’ve gotten along if we’d known each other better growing up. If our moms weren’t such adversaries, I mean,” she says as she pulls away. “My mom was just so jealous.”

  “And you?” Hailey asks.

  “I never thought you were happier than me just because you had more,” Lily says. “I was never that naive.”

  “Money and fame aren’t everything.” Hailey struggles to keep a straight face. “I’m glad you know that. I’m glad you know what’s really important.” Hailey touches Lily’s hand. “Family.”

  Lily looks embarrassed, but she’s buying it—Hailey didn’t bring a camera crew into the pool house with her for a reason.

  “We’re going to have the best end of summer ever!” Hailey gushes. “I hope you’ll be here for the premiere! And how do you feel about being on the show?” she asks. “I feel like we haven’t had a moment alone to really talk, you know? It’s just been, like, one giant shoot since you got here.”

  “Apparently it’s going to be like that all week,” Lily says. “Sam cornered me when we got back from shopping. They’re going to film me lifeguarding at Zuma, and I guess some scenes with your dad’s fancy lawyer…”

  “Shapiro,” Hailey says. “He’s a total psychopath; you’ll be fine. The question is, are you willing to air it all on television?”

  “I’m still getting used to the idea,” Lily admits. “Any advice?”

  “Just be yourself. The audience can always spot a fake. And no matter what—never believe the press.”

  “I take it you read that Radar article?” Lily asks. “Where are they getting this stuff?”

  “There are always going to be leaks,” Hailey says, rolling her eyes. “Some people have no morals.”

  “Well, for the record, there’s nothing going on between me and Joel. I just met him last night. If you two are…I mean, I know you have history. I’ve seen the show and—”

  “Girl, stop!” Hailey laughs, cutting Lily off. “If I wanted Joel, I’d have him.” Hailey hides behind her phone. “Do you want to come to a party with me tonight?” she asks. “Brandon Cadogan has a Gatsby complex.”

  “Sure.” Lily smiles. “Sounds fun.”

  “You should wear your new Hervé Léger bandage dress!” Hailey looks up at Lily over her phone. “It’s so slimming.”

  realvalerialeon

  3.3m followers

  instavon237 @andcrmarvel basically in the comics Kang doesn’t have any superhuman powers but he’s ‘the master of time’ and has armor that gives him advanced strength and the ability to fire lasers from his hands and chest

  “Kang does not give up, primitive,” Patrick says. He’s determined to make Valeria come.

  Patrick is covered in blue makeup and wearing his purple-and-green costume after a day of filming. Some of the makeup is rubbing off on Valeria’s skin.

  Kang is ruthless and egotistical. His ship alone could destroy the moon. Not to mention he can time travel. Although Valeria doubts there’s anywhere he’d rather be than between her legs.

  Valeria’s face turns red and her breathing becomes jagged. She tightens her thi
ghs around Patrick’s head and her body shudders. She’s legit going to win an Oscar tonight.

  Patrick sent a car to her house to bring her to the Avengers set. She had to get in the trunk. No one can know. It’s obvious to Valeria that a part of the turn-on for Patrick is the thrill of how dangerous she is.

  “I have something for you.” Patrick gets off his knees as Valeria hikes down her skirt. He reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out a Cartier box. Valeria has already evened her breathing. Already forgotten.

  “What’s this for?”

  She opens the box to reveal a pair of Panthère de Cartier earrings. They’re sparkling and iconic.

  “I wanted you to have something just for you,” Patrick says.

  He must know that her mother is taking all of the money.

  “Something special.”

  brandocadogan

  325k followers

  staciekiimmills Wavy

  theefrankee_ “LOVE HUMILIATES YOU…HATRED CRADLES YOU.”

  samanthaberns Oh my god, Brandon, I LOVE your shirt! Is that new?

  margarita_i_am Russia loves you

  k.smanos @ryancarr3 Gucci

  timlana2231 Desperate for attention is what you are…

  guesstancrel We all are

  Brandon uploads a photo of his shirt to IG. It has “Blind For Love” written on the back. But actually, he’s blind drunk.

  He’s bored at his own party, which always happens. Brandon has to liven this shit up. Everyone else thinks his parties are so legendary, but within an hour Brandon wants to unfollow the DJ and kick everyone out. He’s seen it all before.

  Two topless girls drag him into the hot tub and he’s entertained for a fleeting moment. It never lasts. He sees Bea through the crowd, rocking a bright yellow Giambattista Valli tulle dress.