Theo Archer squinted at the script in his hand, every exclamation-point-heavy sentence gnawing at his patience. “Good morning, lovelies! Today, we’re turning ‘basic’ into BOLD, because why live beige?” He resisted the urge to set it on fire.

Poppy Laurent, influencer extraordinaire, had somehow turned her inability to stay still and complete lack of shame into a thriving career. He, on the other hand, had turned his life into… this. Reading her scripts while ignoring his parents' voicemails.

His phone buzzed again—another call from his mom, probably to ask if he was “alive and making good choices.” If only she knew. Golden-boy Theo-the-Sound-Engineer hadn’t just crashed; he’d burned, then smoldered, then landed here, babysitting an internet celebrity who genuinely thought life was bold.

“Theo!” Poppy’s voice carried from the kitchen. “The dishwasher’s broken or haunted or something.”

He groaned, dropping the script. “What now?”

The scene that greeted him was biblical. Water streamed out from the dishwasher’s base, pooling around two sneakers. On closer inspection, they were stuffed with water bottles. Poppy sat on the counter, grinning like the chaos was intentional.

“What the hell am I looking at?” Theo demanded.

“A metaphor,” she said brightly, gesturing at the puddle.

“For what?”

“I haven’t decided.”

“Did you—” he paused to steady himself, “did you put water bottles in shoes and leave them here?”

“It was an experiment.”

Theo stared, socks dampening with every second. “I had dreams. I had a life. Now I’m mopping up influencer art projects.”

The dishwasher gurgled and released another wave onto the floor. He let out a sharp, annoyed groan, jabbing at the buttons. Behind him, Poppy popped the cap off a bottle of sparkling water—fizz spilling everywhere. “Oops,” she said cheerfully. Theo dragged a hand down his face. “I’m going to walk out, Poppy. One day, I’m going to leave and never come back.” “You’d miss me,” she said. “Not in the slightest.” He didn’t look back at her grin, knowing she was right.