"Now here is a show that will change your life."
Terry looked down at her hands to see Jake stuffing a USB stick into her hands. Her eyes half-closed from sleep, she blinked and yawned at her apartment door. She tried to compose herself while her mind tried to wake up.
Jake, an older man in his late thirties compared to the barely twenty-year-old standing half-asleep at her apartment front door, grinned. "You're only now getting up?"
"Time change," Terry said, stretching. "You're supposed to get an extra hour of sleep. Not be awoken by neighbors shoving new television shows in your hands."
"You asked for it," Jake said. "And, also, cute neighbor."
Terry rolled her eyes. She looked at the USB stick. "So, this is the show. Lola."
"All of it. Got it last night for you."
"Thanks," Terry said, rubbing her eyes. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to have a nap before I wake up."
Jake chuckled. "Sorry, I had to drop it off now because I'm out for the rest of the day. Enjoy the show! I hear it's very addictive."
Terry nodded, yawned, and closed the door. She leaned against it and stared at her USB stick.
"If he wasn't cute, I'd be mad," she said to herself, putting the USB stick down on the table by the door. She walked back to her bedroom and checked her phone. She sighed.
"Yes, yes, I'm getting to it," she said to her phone, scrolling past advertisements for 'Lola', paid posts about 'Lola', and some of her favorite content creators shouting the show out. "It's like you wait until I'm home to besiege me with reminders to watch this show."
She flopped down face-first on her bed. "I have it now! Leave me alone!" She shouted into her pillow.
***
Terry yawned and stretched. She checked her phone. Two hours since Jake showed up at her door.
"Now, I'm ready."
She got out of bed and started breakfast. Her eyes kept glancing over to the USB stick on the table.
Terry finished making breakfast and snatched the USB stick. She took it to her laptop and placed it on a TV tray on her couch. She slipped the USB stick in and saw six episodes on the stick.
"Wow, that's not a lot. I guess if it's any good I can binge-watch the whole damn thing today," Terry said. She flipped on the first episode, sat back, and ate breakfast.
EPISODE ONE
The episode started. A slight high-pitched whine emitted from the speakers as the show started.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Terry said, leaning forward. She tried to fix the problem with no success.
"Maybe it's a bad file," she said to herself. The show's credits faded and the whine seemed to dim. She leaned back. "Huh. Well, guess it's not that bad."
She ignored the whine as the show started.
"Weird."
She noticed the low-budget look of the show. "I thought this was supposed to be a big show. No way everyone enjoys something that looks like this."
Even worse, she noticed, barely, white flashes every so often.
"Great, the file must be corrupted."
Lola walked onto the screen. As Terry went to turn off the episode and see if the next one suffered the same fate, the screen flashed hard and fast. Terry blinked, overwhelmed. Her fingers went lax against the keyboard and then slipped off entirely. She sat back.
"It's probably fine," she said to herself. "Besides, Jake is out all day. I can't get another copy. This is fine."
She watched the episode while she ate. She barely noticed when she finished breakfast, her spoon clanging against the empty bowl.
"Oh, guess I'm done," she said. She looked at the screen. Lola was meeting a new boyfriend. Terry felt the characterization was good. She really felt she had something in common with Lola.
As she kissed the boyfriend, the show faded to credits.
"Darn, that episode went quick," Terry said. She moved the empty bowls of breakfast to the floor and quickly switched to the next episode. She paused, and instead set up a playlist of all the episodes back-to-back.
"This does seem like a bingeable show after all," she said as the second episode started.
EPISODE TWO
Terry noticed the difference immediately. The soft, velvet-like music. The tasteful blur and glow of the frame. The slow motion.
"Starting with a sex scene? Okay, then," Terry said, a little excited. As Lola and her new boyfriend made out passionately, Terry realized how much time passed since her last erotic entanglement.
Terry watched with fascination. The colors seemed to swirl on screen. The moans of passion came through her laptop speakers. She heard the whine, saw the white flashes, but did not care about any of that compared to the action on screen. Terry sat cross-legged, transfixed by the action.
