“You know, I actually checked”, the man said and chuckled. “Seems like she does have quite a fan base”.
“Of course she does”, Kevin smiled. Esther kept looking from one man to the other. Neither was really looking at her and she started to feel excluded.
“And the image she has suits what we have in mind”, the man noted. “It fits with the general theme. Shrinktech! Bring ‘em down!”
Esther immediately tensed up. She glared at Kevin as he laughed. “For sure”.
“Kevin”, she said, but he didn’t react.
“See, she’s a bit of an icon for some”, Kevin said. “A minor one, but still. She has this good defiant thing going, a girl that doesn’t let being shrunk define her life…” he chuckled. “So, filming her the way you suggest…”
“Kevin”, Esther repeated, standing up. “Listen to me!”
“Yeah, exactly”, the other man said in the meantime. “She’s pretty enough, too. She’ll look good when my brother does his thing…”
“KEVIN!”
The men finally gave her a look. Both of them. Kevin shook his head, reached for her and pushed onto her shoulders, settling her back into her chair. “Quiet”, he said.
“What the fuck!? You don’t tell me to be quiet, Kevin, I…”
She couldn’t finish because his fingers moved towards her face; one hooked around the back of her head, the other pressed over her mouth, muffling her. Mortified, Esther tried to push him away, but her arms were far too weak. She remained seated and he wasn’t letting go.
“Sorry”, Kevin apologized. “She can be a bit annoying”.
“My brother will tame her”, the man replied. “They never get fussy with him.”

That cryptic promise ringed in Esther’s ears as she stayed down there, muffled in a humiliating fashion, and listened to the two men making a contract on her next little gig. She tried to fight, but Kevin simply never let her go. He negotiated everything for himself, making promises on her behalf, agreeing to terms she hated. Selling her. She told herself she’d fight him on this later, but would she even be able to do much?.. She was afraid that she would not. He had the power over her contracts, he has been running her little personal brand for long enough that she could not really stand up to him anymore. The sheer ease with which he shut her up just now proved it; he knew he could get away with it. What would she do? Fire him? What if he simply laughed and flicked her in the face? She'd never felt this helpless in her entire life...