novelraw Chapter 146: Passive-Aggression
Chapter 146: Passive-Aggression
The next morning, Riley Perry and Rocco grabbed their suitcases and went to the meeting point the director had given them. This time, filming for the show would start at the airport.
When they arrived at the airport, Victoria Koenig and some of the others were already there.
They’d been told there would be two new guests for this episode. Riley Perry knew one was Holly Summers, but she hadn’t expected to know the other one too.
Holly Summers was busy trying to get chummy with the other guests, but she spotted Riley Perry the moment she arrived.
She immediately stood up and waved enthusiastically at Riley Perry. "Riley, quick, over here! Why are you so late? Out of eight guests, we were just waiting on you!"
As soon as the guests arrived at the airport, the live stream began. Every word Holly Summers said was being picked up by the recording equipment.
’...All right, all right,’ Riley Perry thought. ’So this is how you want to play it, right from the start of the show.’
’Throwing shade at me for being late?’
Riley Perry dragged her suitcase over and said hello to Silas King and the others. Chloe Sterling ran right up and linked arms with her, then turned to Holly Summers. "The meeting time Director Warren gave us is eight o’clock. It’s still fifteen minutes to eight. How is that late?" After speaking, she turned back to Riley Perry. "Riley Perry! Aren’t you surprised to see me? Totally unexpected, right?"
"I really am surprised. You’re a new guest for this episode too?"
Riley Perry pulled Chloe Sterling down to sit next to Silas King. "I had a summer job once. It was pretty miserable. The manager was a workaholic who was there from dawn till dusk.
Coincidentally, there was this one super-ambitious female coworker in the office. Every day, she’d make sure to get there before the manager, then grab a rag and pretend to be cleaning his office. During the day, she’d just paint her nails, read novels, and play games. But once it was time to clock out, she’d scramble to work overtime. And it wasn’t enough for her to work late alone; she had to make the entire office stay with her.
The manager saw all her ’outstanding’ efforts and praised her several times. He even gave her the Employee of the Month award.
Because of her, everyone in the office had to start coming in half an hour early and stay for two extra hours of overtime before they could go home.
Do you know what happened to that coworker in the end?"
Chloe Sterling played along perfectly. "Don’t tell me she got a promotion."
Riley Perry glanced at the camera that was now right in her face and pursed her lips. "In her dreams. Stealing credit from the cleaning lady was one thing, but she never should have been so passive-aggressive about it. In front of the manager, she told the cleaning lady to come earlier next time so she wouldn’t ’disrupt the manager’s work.’
The cleaning lady got so mad she dragged her into the bathroom and beat her up, scratching her face all over. Then she went and complained to the manager. After checking the security footage, the manager fired her the next day."
Holly Summers’s expression froze instantly.
’What is Riley Perry trying to say? Is she threatening to beat me up just because I said she was late?’
’What’s even more infuriating, is she implying she’s going to get me kicked off this show?’
"Riley, are you still mad at me? It was my fault. I’m sorry, okay? Please forgive me."
Riley Perry held up a hand in a ’stop’ gesture. "Don’t come any closer. I have trypophobia. Seeing people who are full of schemes makes me want to lose my mind. For your own safety, please keep your distance from me!"
Holly Summers was stunned by the comeback. Her eyes welled up, ready to burst into a pitiful stream of tears.
"I know you really want to cry right now, but hold it in. The whole damsel-in-distress and innocent victim act is out of style. You should probably try a new persona."
The tears were already shimmering in Holly Summers’s eyes, but she forced them back down.
Live Comments: [LMAO, what kind of woman is Riley Perry? This is a live stream! She’s not even trying to hide what she’s thinking. She came out swinging!]
[This Holly-something-Summers person is already stirring up trouble. Does she have any idea who she’s messing with? Riley Perry is the kind of person who wouldn’t even give Miles Ford the time of day!]
[I’ve met people like the one Riley Perry described. They’re so damn punchable. We’re all just trying to make a living on five or six thousand a month. Who wants to come in early and work overtime every single day? It’s good enough that we get our actual work done.]
[Riley Perry: I’m just here to do a job, why the hell should I have to work overtime!]
[Hahaha, in her head, she’s probably already killed off Holly Summers, that corporate bootlicker, a hundred and eighty times.]
[What’s going on? Riley Perry and Holly Summers don’t get along either?]
[Is there something wrong with this Riley Perry? Why is she shading our Susie right from the get-go?]
[Our Susie used to interact with Riley Perry on Weibo! They’re supposed to be best friends, so why are they acting like this in person? Is Riley Perry going to bully our Susie?]
[So I guess you guys are just completely deaf to your Susie being passive-aggressive from the moment she opened her mouth, huh?]
Silas King used to hate it when women caused drama in front of him. But seeing Riley Perry, with her foxy face, expressionlessly throwing shade at someone... he found it incredibly interesting.
Of course, with the cameras rolling, he wouldn’t ask about any of that. "You’ve worked a summer job before?"
Riley Perry shook her head. "Nope."
Her family wasn’t exceptionally wealthy, but they weren’t poor either. She never reached the point where she needed to work a job to save for college tuition. Besides, as soon as her college entrance exam scores were announced, she became the richest person in her village. Why would she need to toil away to earn money?
Of course, calling her the "richest person" was a bit of an exaggeration. But as for someone who could earn hundreds of thousands just by getting into school, she was the one and only in her village!
"I was just learning from someone how to subtly shade people."
Silas King was floored by her answer!
Seeing the ugly expression on Holly Summers’s face, everyone’s lips twitched. They suddenly felt that maybe being too honest wasn’t always a good thing!
At eight o’clock sharp, Director Warren finally appeared. "To our audience in the live stream, welcome to this episode of *Go on an adventure together*! This time, we’re welcoming two new guests, Chloe Sterling and Holly Summers! Come on, let’s give them a warm welcome!"
Chloe Sterling and Holly Summers stood up and bowed to the camera.
Everyone applauded in unison.
"Next, we’ll be heading to the filming location for this episode. Your assistants won’t be coming with you this time, so look after your own belongings. It’s a three-day live stream. I hope everything goes smoothly for all of you."
Riley Perry’s eyes darted around for a moment before she took the backpack from Rocco’s hands.
Chloe Sterling also knew they had only ended up with one backpack last episode, so she had packed light: one suitcase and also one backpack.
After grabbing her things, she stood next to Riley Perry, looking for all the world like she intended to stick to her for this entire episode.
Of course, Riley Perry was more than happy to let the little cutie stick to her.
Victoria Koenig quickly squeezed in on Riley Perry’s other side. After the last episode ended, his manager had practically twisted his ear while ordering him: ’You have to latch onto Riley Perry. She’s your ticket. Even if you don’t get put in the same group, just talking to her a little more will get you more screen time!’
He knew that for as long as he’d been in the industry, he’d always had to pay to get on the trending topics list. But after participating in the last episode of *Go on an adventure together*, he’d hit the trending list three times in a row—all high on the list, no less—and had gained over a million followers!
In his manager’s words: he had hit the jackpot!
So, he made up his mind. For the next few episodes, he would do everything he could to get into a group with Ria!