Meanwhile, Elsewhere (April 13, 2026)

Cheryl’s mission is doomed - and not just because of Daisy’s personality.

To be clear, Daisy Butler is not straight. She is also not a lesbian - or on another note, aromantic. She is bi, but not the typical kind. 

You see, Daisy gets turned on by androgyny. This is about external appearance by the way; she does not care for whatever’s in between the legs or on the chest. Nonetheless, her personal attraction field is pretty firmly limited to those who are solidly not quite masculine or feminine in expression. Obviously, this heavily restricts her dating pool - and she knows it. She has sworn off romance for a long time, and probably won’t change her mind anytime soon.

Her public relationship with Marcus is also a farce on both sides. It was set up by Daisy’s manager - Spencer Isaacs - after they realized no amount of claiming Daisy to be straight could ever quell fan speculation about her sexuality or romantic orientation. Daisy does tolerate Marcus, but they don’t have much to bond with each other over off-camera beyond their vaguely similar circumstances.

With the two finally having a day off outside of half-day Sundays from having to lie in front of a screen for over half an entire day while dressed in overlayered fits, Daisy has resumed working on a bonus song for Gemrock. An R&B influenced tune, it is intended to hint at her alter-ego phase for her next album, which she isn’t quite sure about the actual content of yet. For now, she’s just in the songwriting phase for Gemrock’s extra track - and she is tired.

“I’m stuck…” Daisy groggily complains, head on desk.

“Maybe if you wrote more clearly about men,” Spencer snarks, “you’d get out of your rut.”

“Ugggggh,” Daisy replies, “You know I don’t wanna.”

Spencer sighs and adjusts their hair.

“Daisy,” they state, “you are playing a fictional character.”

“Yeah…” Daisy mutters, “but I still prefer unisex shit…”

Daisy attempts to fall asleep. Spencer won’t let her, though.

“Listen,” Spencer starts, “this is the only day you’re gonna get to work on anything of yours for a while.”

“Yes,” Daisy quips, “that’s why I wanna have fun…”

Spencer facepalms.

“You will have fun once Mistletoe Blue is done,” Spencer responds. “I already got your hours down from 18 to 16 for most days. I can’t go any further.” 

Daisy weakly smiles.

“Fine,” Daisy says. “I’ll write het, just this once.”

The recording people are out for a ridiculously long lunch, giving Daisy ample time to write and revise. After about three hours, they return. 

“Got anything down yet?” a cameraman asks.

Daisy forces a grin.

“Yep!” she exclaims. “Let’s go!”

Daisy sings into the microphone with a melismatic vibrato. It is soulful, but rather showy. Two minutes in, the cameraman tells her to stop.

“What are these lyrics???” he is baffled.

“Well,” Daisy replies, “I was trying to write a perfectly straight song!”

The guy clenches his teeth.

“Whatever you’re doing ain’t working,” he snarks. “I’d go back to my normal stuff if I were you.”

“That’s what I want to do,” Daisy retorts. “But apparently, it’s why half my fans are delulu and go nuts whenever they see me next to a woman.”

Spencer is about to take Daisy aside, but the cameraman interrupts them.

“Alright,” the cameraman says, “do what you want. I don’t like working overtime.”

Luckily for the recording crew, they get to go home early with full pay.

(Wattpad version: https://www.wattpad.com/1650806673-the-daisy-theory-chapter-8)

(Tumblr version: https://www.tumblr.com/talesfromasnarkylisa/824930642688180224/the-daisy-theory-chapter-8?source=share)