The List

Chapter 21

Regina's P.O.V.

Talk shows always made me nervous, because I had to improvise on the spot, yet I had a whole list of things I wasn't allowed to say. I always tried to find the boundaries of what was still okay to say, much to the dislike of my media trainer.

"Please welcome Regina Mills," the host said. His name was George and he looked like a George, too. He was in his sixties, for sure, almost bald and with a crooked smile, but from what I'd seen, he was quite kind. And lots of people watched his show, so it was good publicity for me to be here.

One of the crew members gave me a nod, telling me I was supposed to walk on stage. When I did, people started roaring and clapping even louder than before. It was overwhelming, but I enjoyed it, too. People were happy to see me, which meant I was giving people five minutes of happiness, which made me feel good. I wanted to make people happy.

I was wearing a low-cut, red cocktail dress with a slit and I felt people gazing at my bare legs and chest. I sat down opposite George and showed him, and everyone, my usual smile. Lips curled up, showing teeth, forcing a wrinkle near my eyes and squint them just the slightest bit.

Even though I was genuinely pleased to be here, I couldn't muster up a natural smile, I was too nervous for that. "Welcome, Regina. What an honor to have you here."

"It's an honor to be invited," I replied and I let out a giggle. I wasn't sure for whom of us the honor was bigger. His Ten o'Clock Teas with Celebrities talkshow was the most famous in America at the moment, but I was increasing his views for certain. It was a win-win situation.

He handed me a cup of tea - the joke of the talkshow - and smiled. "How are you doing?" I knew he only asked this out of politeness, but it still was nice to have someone seem interested.

"I'm doing very well, dear. How are you?" I formally replied and looked at the man. I wasn't really sure whether he liked me, but I didn't need him to like me.

"Me, too, thank you for asking. So, Regina, right now you're working on a new TV show. Can you tell us anything about that?" he asked. Now it started to become risky, because I had to find the balance between intriguing the public enough into wanting to watch it, yet not spoil anything and neglect my contract.

I briefly explained the synopsis of the movie, the same way one could read it online. He asked some follow up questions, but I knew it was leading somewhere I didn't want it to go. George was known to publicly exploit the drama surrounding a celebrity at the moment and I was certain Emma would come up.

Perhaps I wanted him to ask about Emma, because that would give me a reason to think about her. I'd spent the past days without her and even though we'd started to call each other daily, I still missed her.

New Year's with my mother had been great and I didn't regret not celebrating it with Emma, but I did wish we could continue our night from a few days back. She'd confessed she wanted to kiss me, too. I knew she'd liked me for a while when she was younger, but when she was with Killian and after she got so angry with me, I figured she didn't anymore.

"It's clear you've been enjoying yourself in the little town. First you kissed this guy," he always showed photos, too. I didn't like having my kiss with Graham on such a big screen. The crowd erupted into gasps and laughter, with a lot of applause. "Then you had a moment with this blond lady before she started calling you insane. People suspect the man you kissed was her boyfriend and she resents you for doing so." The last photo appeared. I was in my character's clothes and hair, the person who'd taken this photo had disobeyed the rules. As a bystander, you weren't allowed to take pictures, due to privacy of the storyline. "What happened to America's Good Girl?"