Sketch

114 - Emmy

I'd love to know if you like this chapter as it's a pretty big deal when it comes to Michelle and the band's ongoing dispute.  Hope you enjoy!

There are no niceties.  No false smiles.  It's straight down to it.  Accusations, finger pointing and, of course, the water works.

Michelle is on the defensive from the off, ignoring Yazmine's questions about her life after Sketch in favour of pelting us with things that have obviously been pent up inside of her for quite a while.  She is tactful though, careful not to make herself out to be the crazy psycho that she is.  Instead she goes for the woe is me approach, centring the majority of her speech on having her mum ripped away from her by us.

Michelle turns to face Yazmine, eyeliner smudged and nose sniffing as she holds back more tears.  "I mean, how would you feel, having your mum spend more time with your ex-bandmates than you?"

Yazmine, for once, looks speechless; her lips unmoving and her eyes wide.  I have a feeling she'd been expecting animosity between us, but it's almost as if the pace in which Michelle has been building her argument against us has knocked her for six.  Her eyes flit over my face, almost in a plea for help, before she remembers that she's supposed to be interviewing us.  She's the one in control.

"So you believe that Sketch as a whole are responsible for you losing contact with your mum?"

No-one can miss the way Michelle's eyes move to me, silently singling me out as the reason her and Tanya are barely speaking.  I'd like to point out that if Michelle wasn't such a horrible person, she'd find no issue between her and her mum, but I don't.  Instead I swallow my words and stay silent.  It's the decent, and smart, thing to do.  I'm holding off until the cameras stop rolling.  Then when Michelle carries on this argument, which she most likely will, I'll have my say.

"Yes," Michelle says finally, in answer to Yazmine's question.  "I have no time with her anymore.  She's always with them."

Them is said with a bitterness that echoes around the room.  All eyes in the studio are on Michelle and that's just the way she likes it. 

"She's our manager," Ollie says, much to everyone's surprise.  This interview was becoming one sided and hearing someone else speak is a welcome change.  "Tanya's not with us every second of every day.  You have plenty of opportunities to see her.  Don't pretend otherwise."  Ollie's last words are harsh, but he keeps his tone even.

"Work is all she cares about," Michelle counters. 

"She's said that?" Sam asks.  I can feel his pulse racing where his thumb rests on my palm, his fingers laced with mine.  "Have you asked her if that's true?"

Yazmine seems to be taking a backseat, letting the conversation bounce back and forth.  I wonder if she sees how much of a spoilt brat Michelle is coming across as, or whether she has to keep a level head, not taking sides.

It's obvious that the producers were expecting fireworks on stage, but apart from the odd reply from us Michelle is the only one talking.  It's not going anywhere.  Michelle is accusing and we're denying.  We're not fuelling Michelle's fire and it's almost as if Yazmine has given up stoking it too.  She's caught on that we're not going to take Michelle's bait and within ten minutes of the interview starting, it's over.  It's a flop.  Nowhere near the dramatics that everyone had been waiting to witness.

As we get up to leave I can feel how angry Michelle is.  The air around her seems to be thick with tension and it makes my stomach drop and my palms sweat.  She doesn't scare me as much as she used to but there's no denying that I still get nervous around her.  It's a constant feeling  of walking on eggshells mixed in with the knowledge of knowing that whatever you say can be, and most probably will be, used against you.  And wrong.  No-one but her is ever right.