Laura Ziepe - The Morning After the Wedding Before

‘I got a message from a gym-wear company asking if they could send me some outfits for free if I tag them on my page,’ she’d told Charlie on their first date at a restaurant. ‘It all feels so strange receiving things for free.’

‘That’s great,’ he’d said passionately. ‘I’ve got some great ideas how you can get other things too. The more followers you have, the easier it is and you seem to just continue to get more and more.’

‘Really?’ Emma didn’t have any idea where to even start.

‘Of course. I’ll help you if you want? I like you, Emma,’ he told her without hesitation, taking her hand across the table. ‘Ever since I met you, I’ve started to fall for you.’

Emma felt her face suffuse with colour and her heart thump wildly in her chest. ‘I feel the same,’ she replied timidly.

After that first date, they became a couple. Emma would join Charlie on his morning workouts and they would train together. They met after work and spent any free time they had as well as the weekends together. Usually they were training, cooking healthy meals or visiting new places, always taking images for Emma’s Instagram. Charlie created a new email account for her page, and he dealt with any queries when Emma was too busy.

Emma began to earn good money. The first thing she was asked to do was promote a clothing brand. She was given her own code, so her followers could receive a discount and Emma got a percentage every time someone made an order using her code. It had been the easiest way Emma had ever made money, and she decided to treat Charlie to their first holiday together to Bali. It was the least she could do seeing as he’d helped her achieve so much, both with her figure and career. Charlie had taken tons of photos: one of Emma pretending to meditate in front of Mount Agung, a volcano, one of her in front of a waterfall laughing, one of her with her back to the camera by an infinity pool. The responses continued to come flooding in.

Oh my God, I love your dress. Where is it from?

Can I ask what foundation you use?

Where did you get your bag? I need this!

Posting to her Instagram became a daily ritual. Even if Emma was only going for a coffee she’d get a photo, a fake image of her scanning the menu or a sultry pout looking into the distance as she shopped in London. Her inbox was always full of people wanting to know what camera she used or what her favourite highlighter was. It became so crazy that Charlie suggested Emma start an online blog which she linked to her Instagram page. Before she knew it, she had more and more freebies starting to come her way. She was constantly being sent free make-up, clothes and swimwear. So long as she posted about it, companies wanted her to use their products. Emma became obsessed with social media, gaining more followers and likes. Trips away started to become about taking photos, rather than actually enjoying herself and there had been times when Emma had to remind herself why she was doing it. When she became a bit too obsessed with it, Emma gave herself a few days off. Charlie was always enthusiastic to start with, taking selfies of the two of them and suggesting she posted a bit about their relationship to see if they could get any free weekend trips away. Charlie became a part of her account and her followers were always telling Emma how they were the perfect match. Their first freebie was a trip to Paris and Emma had to pinch herself over how well she was doing.

‘Hopefully this is the start of many more,’ Charlie had laughed, clinking champagne classes with her on the Eurostar as Emma filmed it for her latest story.

Despite what people must have thought when they looked on her Instagram page, Emma didn’t want to appear like she was showing off, but she knew that in order to get the brand deals she had to be able to influence others. People had to want to buy her latest outfit, watch or lipstick she was wearing; it was the way she made her money. So she had to make herself look the best she possibly could. Emma just hoped that people would see past her flawless newsfeed, and understand that beneath it all she was just a normal, ordinary girl. She hated people who thought too highly of themselves, which was why she liked to sometimes post before and after images to show how far she had come. Emma hadn’t always been someone to envy or desire; Emma had once been a size eighteen woman, who was very self-conscious and insecure. Despite now being a trim size eight, Emma certainly didn’t love herself and she was very aware of how superficial and shallow social media could be. It was a fabricated world; Emma knew this. She wasn’t completely ignorant.

Emma was brought back to the present when Charlie opened the bathroom door with a towel around his waist. Eyeing her up and down, he narrowed his eyes and his lips curved slightly upwards. ‘You look nice. Trying to impress someone?’

‘Haha, very funny. You’re the only person I need to impress, and you’ve agreed to marry me,’ Emma replied light-heartedly. ‘When you’re dressed do you mind…’

‘Taking a photo of you?’ Charlie interjected abruptly. ‘Of course.’

‘Thanks,’ Emma smiled gratefully. She knew how much her photos had begun to annoy him. What he found so interesting at first, he now found tedious and dull. He didn’t mind as much when it was of the two of them; Charlie seemed to love the limelight, especially if he was sent free things. But it was mainly Emma who was earning good money through her lifestyle blogging, not only through the advertising on her website, but she was now signed up to several apps where she advertised the outfits she was wearing. She was doing better than she ever dreamed of and she was getting fed up with reminding Charlie that she wasn’t just taking photos because she enjoyed it. It was all part of her job and one that he had insisted she did when they’d first met. A job that he used to find fascinating.

Emma stood on the balcony, looking out into the distance of the strip moments later; she knew the lighting was perfect and angled her head in a way she knew would look flattering on camera.

‘Done,’ Charlie said dryly, after a couple of clicks.

‘Do you mind just doing a few more please?’ Emma asked him politely. He knew as well as she did she usually needed lots of images to pick from. She sometimes took over a hundred, just to get that one special shot. Not that she was expecting him to take that many at that present moment. She knew she had no chance from the way he rolled his eyes.

He sighed loudly as he took some more. ‘You may have to stop all this once we’re married you know,’ he stated moodily. ‘I’m not certain I can put up with sharing you with the world forever.’

Emma ignored him and did her best pose.

Emma felt in good spirits an hour later when they met their friends at the bar in their hotel. She shot Holly a huge smile and hugged her as they met.

‘You look lovely. Is Kim too tired?’ she asked, noticing she wasn’t with her.

Holly nodded. ‘All dressed in her pyjamas and ready for bed. I’m sure it’s just for tonight. By tomorrow she’ll be out and enjoying herself, especially seeing as it’s your hen night,’ Holly said enthusiastically, looking around the bar. ‘Wow, this place looks nice and so do you, Em. I love that dress,’ she complimented her. ‘I still cannot believe how much weight you’ve lost – you look incredible!’

‘Thanks,’ Emma replied, feeling a flush of embarrassment yet again. She would never get used to compliments, no matter how hard she tried. ‘I was going to ask if you and Kim wanted to come to look at the flowers with me tomorrow?’

‘We’d love to. Just text us the time and place and we’ll be there.’