Chapter 50

Teresa took the stage as the model, wearing a brown jacket, black jeans, and boots, strutting in the soft light of dawn in the park. Miriam was happy with the footage, but Sherry wanted more—they needed to make a splash.

“We need to hit the crowds to show off Teresa. Loads of vloggers are getting footage near the subway. A hot mom like Teresa with her cute son, Mike—that’d be a hit.”

“Not gonna happen.” Teresa’s one condition was clear—no public exposure for Michael. Everything else was up for discussion.

Miriam played the peacemaker. “Right, he’s just a kid. No need to attract extra attention. We can keep it to the adults.”

Sherry relented. “Alright, we’ll just focus on Teresa for now.”

They filmed one clip in the park and another at the subway station, uploading both. The subway clip got more traction, so they decided to invest in boosting that video’s visibility. Teresa was broke, and Sherry wasn’t in much better shape. Miriam pitched in 10 thousand dollars, ready to take a chance and see how things went.

This account was a team effort; they all had the logins and could manage it whenever they had a moment. Teresa was a mess of nerves. She had her resignation letter ready, but her friends advised her to hold off, to see how their account would do before making any drastic moves.

Two days slipped by without their videos making a splash. The team was feeling down, doubting if they had what it took for this gig. Teresa did her best to lift their spirits, telling them to hold on for a couple more days. She wasn’t free from the sting of failure, but she kept her chin up, determined to keep their hopes afloat.

After her shift ended in the afternoon, Teresa made a pit stop at the supermarket to pick up groceries before heading home. That night, after a refreshing shower, she took a deep breath and checked her phone, only to do a double-take. To her surprise, a third video had been uploaded to their account.

The video captured her walking back to her apartment with a basket of groceries, with one hand casually in her pocket, her hair tied up with a simple clip, and her coat highlighting her slender figure, exuding an effortless elegance. The first two videos, which they had poured money into, had barely made a splash, but this off-the-cuff clip had racked up over a hundred thousand likes in just two hours. Teresa was floored.

“Teresa, this is insane!” Sherry exclaimed, rushing over to show her the video and suggesting they pour more money into promoting it to reach an even bigger audience.

Teresa asked in surprise, “Did you upload the third video?”

“No, it was Mike,” Sherry revealed. Teresa was taken aback as Sherry explained that when she got home from work, she saw Mike filming out the window with his phone. Michael proudly said he was filming his mom because she was beautiful.

Seeing the potential in Michael’s footage, which had a soft, dreamy quality, Sherry decided to give it a shot, not expecting the massive attention it received.

At a loss for words, Teresa remarked, “We work our fingers to the bone for things that never pan out, but stumble on a jackpot when we least expect it.” Despite their daily efforts to brave the cold early mornings and filming for hours on end, all their carefully crafted settings paled in comparison to Michael’s spontaneous snapshot.

“Sweetheart,” Teresa said, going to Michael’s room and pinching his cheek. “You’re my lucky star.”

“What did I do to make you so happy?” Michael asked, sniffling.

Right then, Teresa’s phone rang, and she turned to answer it. Miriam had already invested all she could, putting 10 thousand dollars into the first two videos. The wealthiest person she knew was Jonathan, and her interactions with him were usually concerning Teresa.

Miriam texted Jonathan: Teresa started an account to attract followers. Could you invest some money to promote her third video and make it go viral?

Unbeknownst to Teresa, Miriam had messaged Jonathan. That night, Truman reached out to her and sent a screenshot of the video. Truman said he stumbled upon Teresa’s account while browsing through local users and had followed her. “I saw you’re selling clothes. I bought you some ad space for 3 thousand. No need to thank me,” Truman said.

Teresa laughed, replying, “I still have to thank you. Dinner’s on me next time.”

“Sounds good. I’ve been looking forward to that meal we never got to have,” Truman replied.

Then Teresa got back to her online store, which was buzzing with comments asking where she got her coat and pants—all compliments and requests for links. Teresa responded to each comment, letting them know the clothing links were in the showcase. Even a few vendors approached her for advertising, impressed by the simple clip she used to tie her hair.

In just two days, she had made over 15 thousand dollars, and the weight that had been hanging over Teresa’s heart finally settled. As the old saying went, “You can’t win if you don’t begin. Once you were off the starting block, the rest was a piece of cake.”

Miriam rushed over to Teresa’s house as soon as she got off work, exclaiming, “Oh my god, have you seen? Your video has over a million…”

Teresa replied, “I owe it to my friends and family who bought me ad space. Truman bought some ad space, and Benny stumbled upon me, too. The power of the internet is incredible.”

Miriam was puzzled, wondering to herself, “Truman? Who is that?” Teresa had never told anyone, not even Miriam, about her visits to the psychologist. During that difficult time, she didn’t want to burden her friends with her negative energy.