Thomas began stacking the dishes.
“It’ll be quick.”
Mila stayed seated.
Sanne noticed.
“Mila.”
“I don’t want to do the bedroom one.”
Sanne gave her a patient smile.
“Why?”
“I just don’t.”
“That’s not a reason.”
Mila looked down.
Thomas said, “What’s wrong?”
“I want to watch cartoons.”
“We can do that after.”
“You said that yesterday.”
Sanne’s expression changed slightly.
“We’re not doing this today.”
Mila said nothing.
“Mila?”
“I don’t want to.”
Thomas leaned against the kitchen counter.
“Okay. What exactly don’t you want to do?”
“The video.”
“Which part?”
“All of it.”
Sanne put the phone down.
“We already agreed.”
“You agreed.”
The room went quiet.
Thomas looked at Sanne.
Sanne looked back at Mila.
“What does that mean?”
“You said we’re filming.”
“Yes, because this is what we do.”
“I don’t want to.”
Sanne folded her arms.
“You wanted the new bicycle.”
Mila looked up.
“What?”
“You wanted the blue bicycle.”
Thomas said quietly, “Sanne.”
“No. She needs to understand.”
Mila stared at her mother.
Sanne continued.
“Things cost money.”
“I know.”
“The trips cost money.”
“I know.”
“Your dance classes cost money.”
Thomas stepped in.
“Let’s not make it about that.”
But Sanne was already irritated.
“I am not making it about anything. I’m explaining reality.”
Mila looked frightened now.
“I didn’t ask for Spain.”
Sanne stopped.
Thomas rubbed the back of his neck.
Nobody spoke for several seconds.
Then Sanne picked up the phone.
“Upstairs. Ten minutes. Then you’re done.”
Mila did not move.
“Ten minutes.”
“You always say ten.”
Sanne stared at her.
Thomas said, “Let her eat first.”
“We don’t have time.”
“We have time.”
“The sponsor wants the post before noon.”
“They didn’t say noon.”
“They said Saturday morning.”
“So post at eleven.”
Sanne looked at him.
“You know Saturday morning performs better.”
Thomas sighed.
Mila sat between them listening.
That was another thing that had changed.
Her parents increasingly argued in words she understood individually but not together.
Retention.
Engagement.
Deliverables.
Conversion.
Brand suitability.
Upload window.
Usage rights.
Whenever those words appeared, the answer was usually that Mila needed to do something again.
At 7:03, they went upstairs.
The next video was supposed to be a “surprise bedroom makeover.”
But there had been no surprise.
Mila had watched her parents change the room the previous afternoon.
Now she had to wait outside her own bedroom while Thomas filmed Sanne pretending to whisper.
“She’s going to lose her mind.”
Mila sat on the landing.
After three minutes, Sanne opened the door.
“Ready?”
Mila shrugged.
“No shrugging.”
Mila stood.
Thomas positioned the camera.
“Okay, you walk in, look at the bed, then look at Mum.”
“I’ve already seen it.”
“We know.”
“So why do I have to act surprised?”
Sanne crouched.
“Because viewers haven’t seen it.”
“But I have.”
“Yes.”
“So it’s lying.”
Thomas looked at Sanne.
Sanne replied quickly.
“No. It’s entertainment.”
Mila frowned.
“It’s lying.”
Sanne stood.
“Can we not do philosophy at seven in the morning?”
Thomas almost smiled.
Mila did not.
They filmed the entrance.
Mila walked in.
She looked at the new bedspread.
“Oh my God.”
Sanne stopped recording.
“You sound bored.”
“I am tired.”
“Again.”
Second take.
“Oh my God!”
“Too fake.”
Third.
Mila forgot to look at Sanne.
