by Charles Mead
VLOGGER BOTHER
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CHAPTER ONE
James Scott’s phone vibrated on the bedside table and he picked it up in annoyance as well as anticipation. He quickly silenced the alarm and launched his YouTube tracking app. Another 800 subscribers gained yesterday to add to his over six million total. James had long since forgotten about his subscribers being his audience and simply saw each of them as money. Each one of them alone was not worth much, but together he was raking in over eight hundred thousand pounds a year. Pretty good for a twenty-year-old. He lived in a luxurious three-bedroom penthouse apartment in London and really only worked a couple of hours a day now. He had it easy. Almost.
The only downside to it all for James and his colossal ego was having to share the apartment with Chris Leep. He had very little in common with the guy, but it was only after meeting Chris and starting to produce videos together that they’d both started to get a lot more subscribers. Chris was extremely generous and easy-going, and his calm manner and comic banter with James made it unusual for any video they produced not to get at least a million views. This all translated into money. Lots of it.
As it was already 10 a.m., James decided to get up and open the curtains to see what the rest of the world was up to. His penthouse apartment overlooked the London 2012 Olympic park, so the views of the city on a clear day were amazing. It was summer, and unusually sunny with little haze, so the view was clear skies with the trees moving slightly in the breeze. James could see quite a few people out jogging along the paths and wondered for a moment why so many people were out at this time of day on a weekday. He checked his phone again—it told him everything and encouraged his laziness—and realised it was Sunday. He turned away from the window and stepped into his luxurious en-suite bathroom. It was time to get his game face on.
His routine was always the same each morning. He stared into the mirror and played with his messy light brown hair. The right “natural” look was required, and that certainly was not how he’d looked minutes ago in bed when he’d woken up. He ran the water and ran wet hands through his hair to the base of his neck. That was better. Almost. He then reached for his gold-plated hair dryer and dried his hair again to a messy style. Next he reached for his concealer and applied it to his several spots, and then followed this with some real skin foundation which he carefully blended in. A girl at a make-up department store had showed him how to do all this under the guise of helping him pick products for his non-existent twin sister’s birthday.
Everything was now perfect and the world, he thought, was now ready to see his immense talent as a content creator on YouTube. Before he left the bathroom he took the medical bottle by the side of the sink labelled Prozac and took the recommended dose. He got back into bed and turned on the camera on his phone. One final check of how he now looked, a practice of a yawn, and he was ready. He thumbed the record button.
“Goooooooood morning, guys. Hope you are well this morning, or whatever time you are watching this. It’s about 10 a.m. and as you can tell from my hair and generally gross appearance I have just woken up. As I am a daily vlogger, I was thinking about what to share with you today. Chris and I will be filming a main channel video for you a bit later, we’re doing some crazy stuff in Grand Theft Auto Five. At some point today I have got to go to the gym downstairs, even though some of my muscles are still sore, as I am starting to get a bit fat, but otherwise no big plans. Anyway, I am going to take you along with me as I go about my day. You guys pretty much know my life and how crazy things can get sometimes, so stay watching as you never know what might happen.” Chris thumbed the record button to end recording.
James walked out of his large room into the kitchen area where Chris had finished his breakfast and was tidying up. The pair of them might be fully independent but they were still typically messy twenty-year-old guys. Despite their wealth, they only agreed to employ a cleaner one day per week.
“Morning,” said James.
“Well, it was when I got up,” replied Chris sarcastically.
“That never gets old, Chris. We need to clear up this area today as the cleaner is not coming. I will be filming my daily vlog in here a bit later and it needs to look okay for the viewers.”
“By ‘we’ do you mean me?”
“No, I didn’t actually, but you can do it all yourself if you like,” replied James.
There was always an undercurrent of bickering between the two, similar to a couple who had been married years and years. Chris thought he was so great; thought he was so good-looking, and so cultured with his “cool” Manchester accent. Ridiculous. James may need Chris for the subscriber bump, at least for now, but it’s not like he wouldn’t have been able to make it without him. The only reason they lived together as far as James was concerned was to keep the illusion of friendship alive to the viewers, and James liked the convenience of not having to travel to ‘work’. Chris, on the other hand, probably genuinely thought of James as a real friend. What a complete idiot.
“Okay, fair enough. Do you want to have some breakfast first then and get ready and I will do some tidying up?”
“Sounds good.”
“While you are getting ready I will do my daily vlog channel video in my room and you can finish off out here,” said Chris.
“Alright. I will be in the ‘zone’ after some food and a shower followed by a Jacuzzi bath. My muscles are so sore from the gym workout challenge video you made me do the other day.”
“It was quality content though, James. We’ve already had two million views. We should do more.”
“I was feeling so sick…”
“Yeah, I know. You should read the latest comments. The audience loved it.”
“Anything for the fans. Our immense talent is clearly on the ascendency to the next level,” said James.
“It most certainly is. We are both awesome... but this is becoming a bit too much of a bromance conversation, and we’re not even filming anything!”
“Well, let’s work it into the main channel video later, use it the right way. The viewers will love our banter,” said James.
“I think stuff works best for us when we’re natural. I’m sure some good things will come up when we do the video.”
“Perhaps. I just think it is easier to be able to remember things and then try and reproduce them. I really want a Bentley,” said James.
“I don’t follow how the two things are connected, and since when do you want or even need a Bentley? We live in London. There’s no point having a car like that here just to sit in traffic,” said Chris, exasperated.
“It’s just the next thing I want. We’ve got this apartment and my mini-Cooper is an okay car…”
“Which you hardly ever use,” interrupted Chris.
“I know, but that isn’t the point.”
“Okay, so what is?”
James sighed. “It’s hard to describe. I have been thinking about what to get next and a Bentley just seems like the natural choice. You know, like proof to everyone that I am a success.”
“Because living in a penthouse apartment in one of the most expensive places in the world at age twenty means you are a loser along with me?”
“No… well, perhaps you are the loser,” said James, only half-joking. “A Bentley’s kind of the natural complement to my Rolex Submariner.”
“Where’s all this coming from?”
“Look, I just want it, alright? Is that such a bad thing?”
“No, you can spend your money as you want. I just think it is a
bit weird to spend all that money on a car you will spend more time looking at than actually using. Anyway, back to the original point of how that relates to our videos and being natural…?”
“I just think it will translate to more views.”
“Sure, but one video isn’t going to be enough in terms of revenue to buy even a second-hand Bentley.”
“I don’t want a second-hand one, Chris. I want it brand new.”
Chris raised a quizzical eyebrow. “Are you okay?”
“Fine, nothing wrong with me.”
“You know you can talk to me about stuff, right? Life isn’t always like a YouTube video, you know.”
“Sure, I know, of course I do,” said James. He was not ever going to tell Chris he was taking anti-depressants, nor anything else truly meaningful, for that matter.
“Okay. But I don’t understand though, you must be able to get a brand new Bentley now with what you have saved up. Why wait?”
“Well, I have bought a few smaller properties in London to rent out. My dad said I needed to think of the future and have a more reliable stream of income, so I bought two apartments off-plan. They’ll be finished in about six months, so then I can rent them out for a bunch of cash, this being London and everything.”
“Are you insane? The prices in London are crazy. Think about what we paid for this place a year ago. It’s now worth even more and we’ve done nothing to improve it in any way.”
“I know, right? Best investment ever!” said James.
“Wow, this just keeps getting better,” mumbled Chris.
“Perhaps. I just really want that car. I have another plan of how to get it was well.”
“Tell me more,” said Chris.
“I am going to write a book and sell it to the audience,” said James.
“You don’t even like reading! So, what on earth are you going to write about?”
“When I say write, I am not actually going to write it, you know, myself. I am going to get a ghost-writer to do all the hard work for me. No way I am doing it.”
“So just another way to get money, rather than something you are interested in?” asked Chris.
“I can be interested in anything for money Chris. Especially when it means a Bentley.”
“I know our audience demographic is largely younger people, but they are sharp. They’ll probably notice you’re just doing it for money.”
“No they won’t,” answered James. “Lots of other vloggers have already done it, gone on book tours to promote to their fans, and it’s worked. It can work for me too.”
“So you don’t think you are late to the party on this revenue stream?”
“Not at all, and when it does well, that automatically means a sequel. Then just a case of rinsing and repeating. I think I could do it three to four times before the audience gets bored of it,” said James.
“You have thought most of it through then, apart from what on earth the story will be about.”
“Well…”
“Don’t tell me you are going to get the ghost-writer to do that for you as well?” asked Chris.
“No, no. Not unless I get really stuck.”
“So, what’s the idea?”
“Well, I am not going to go too far away from my own experience. So, I’ve been thinking something along the lines of two vloggers become outrageously successful and live a life many dream of,” said James.
“So, an autobiography then?”
“No, I want some action and other stuff in there to mix it up a bit and give the audience an entertaining read.”
“You’re literally going to give that idea to a ghost-writer and expect them to come up with something fantastic?”
“You are so negative, and of course not. I would expect them to take my idea away and then come back with a full concept for me to basically greenlight or revise.”
“That’s not much for a ghost-writer to go on. Why don’t you try and develop it a bit more?”
“I have already had a word with our management, Chris. They’re going to set up a meeting in a week or two to discuss it.”
“Okay, but that doesn’t stop you thinking of potential story ideas in the meantime.”
“No, I guess it doesn’t, but that’s time I don’t want to use for that, and as I say, if it’s worked for other vloggers who have no writing talent of their own, it will work for me. Always best to copy what works, Chris!”
“Yes it is, but what can also work is writers writing their own stuff and publishing it.”
“True, but that’s too much work for me.”
“Right, well, if you want we can sit down and use the whiteboard in my room to come up with potential plot ideas later,” said Chris.
“I am not paying you any of my commissions.”
“I wasn’t asking to be paid, I was offering to help.”
“Oh,” replied James sheepishly. “Well, that’s very kind of you, so yes, perhaps we can do something later today after we have both finished our own vlogs.”
James had no intention of doing that unless he absolutely had to, and hoped something would come up to get him out of it. Just at that moment his phone started vibrating in his pocket.
CHAPTER TWO
He reached into his pocket and glanced at the display. It was his management team calling. Perhaps they had moved the meeting with the ghost-writer forward, he thought.
“Hello… yeah, Chris is with me. Hang on, let me put you on speakerphone.”
James pressed the button.
“Boys, how are you both?” said lead talent manager Mark at Dream Talent. “I have very exciting news for you both.”
Chris looked at James for some indication of what it might be, but James just shrugged in response and shook his head.
“We’ve had some news over from America. Las Vegas specifically. They have a convention about this time every year, everything to do with gaming, and are inviting both of you over to do a one-hour presentation.”
“Sounds interesting,” said Chris.
“Yes it does, tell us more.”
“Well, as I said, you just have to talk for an hour. You know, about vlogging and gaming, how you became successful and all that jazz. The organisers know it’s not a short trip from the UK and with hotel prices in Vegas at this time of year, it works out better for them to pay your expenses for the entire week.”
“So, just a talk for an hour and the rest of our time is our own?” asked Chris.
“It is indeed. You can of course vlog it, and we would expect you to do the usual stuff like hotel room tours, trips, time by the pool. You know, the stuff to show your respective audiences you are successful and to keep you in their minds so they don’t forget about you.”
“We have a bigger problem if our audience will forget about us in a week,” said Chris.
“Perhaps, but anyway, you know the drill.”
“Yes we do,” answered James. “Tell us more about the trip.”
“Well, there is a piece of bad news,” said Mark.
“We’d better not be flying economy,” said James. “If we are, I won’t be going.”
“No, not that. The organisers will give you return flights in Upper Class on Virgin Atlantic.”
“Oh yeah, that’s what I’m talking about,” said James.
“So what’s the bad news?” asked Chris.
“The flight’s tomorrow if you accept to go,” replied Mark.
“Tomorrow? When are we supposed to be talking? As soon as we get off the plane?” asked Chris.
“No, you will have two full days there first, and you talk on the third day. The organisers think flying you Upper Class and giving you two full days in Vegas is more than sufficient time to get your speech planned,” said Mark.
“It doesn’t give me much time to get a tan,” said James.
“Perhaps not, James. If you’re that bothered, get a spray tan when you get there. The organisers are covering all your expenses.”
“Sw
eet,” said Chris.
“So, can I say yes for both of you then?” asked Mark.
James and Chris looked at each other for a second.
“Yes,” they both replied.
“Excellent. The flight’s tomorrow morning. I’ll get the ticket details and other paperwork sent over to you. Car will pick you up at seven a.m and take you to Gatwick. If you have any other queries let me know, otherwise I will give you a call once you are in Vegas,” said Mark and then he hung up.
“Wow, Vegas. We’ve got to see a show or two,” said Chris.
