Sealed With a Kiss

Ten

X: Bare

MY HEART FELT LIKE IT WAS GOING TO POUND RIGHT OUT OF MY CHEST. I was sick with nerves, my palms sweaty and my fingers fidgety. Standing backstage with a microphone hooked onto the back of my designer pants and anxiously tapping my feet clad in heels, I was recounting the lines D.W. wrote for me.

Darcy Woods was the publicist God of the Upper East side. She was as ruthless as Zeus, as intelligent as Athena, and as feared by all as Nemesis.

And as a result of all her connections, D.W. was able to get me on the Good Morning Show, a comedic gossip talk show.

"Stay tuned," I heard the host, Jesse Lane say, "up next we have Sam Smith's newest video release and we'll be joined by Poppy White, New York City's newest heiress."

The producer cut the camera to a commercial break and the woman on the set sighed, finally letting the smile slip off her face. Jesse stood from the couch on skyscraper heels and dropped her cue cards onto the coffee table.

"Hair, makeup!" She shrieked and immediately a crew of four men and women rushed over with sponges and brushes and hairspray to touch up the already flawless woman.

"Live in sixty seconds!" The hostess rudely slapped the many hands off of her and smoothed down her blouse. Placing a sickly sweet smile on her lips, she crossed her legs and resumed her role as soon as the producer counted down to one.

"Welcome back to the Good Morning Show!" Jesse paused to allow the audience to applaud. "Let's give a warm welcome to Poppy White."

With shaky legs, I walked onto the set with a small smile frozen on my lips as the thunderous applause rang in my ears. The hostess raised and pulled me into a short embrace.

She gestured for me to take a seat next to her, "Poppy, you look fantastic!"

It was kind of ridiculous. Dressed in clothes I would have never bought for myself and my face and hair made up in a way I would have never been able to do, I looked like a different person told to memorize lines. I was playing a role just as much as the hostess of this stupid show.. "Thank you for having me."

"Now, I understand this your first public interview. How does it feel?"

"Oh," I said looking up shyly into the sea of people. "Pretty daunting, I'd say."

"You seem to be taking it in stride. Not just this but your entire new life. One day you woke up and you were a billionaire. What was your initial reaction?"

"I was..." I paused, not sure what to say. This question wasn't on the list Darcy had given me. Was I supposed to answer truthfully or like the person who hired a publicist to clean up their image would?

"Surprised," I finally said. "It was all very sudden and so soon after Mina's passing."

"Wilhelmina Richmond, you mean?" she said with a glimmer of interest. I nodded. "I know the case is closed and you can't reveal any juicy details, but did you anticipate to lose the trial?"

"The judge ruled in my favour. Really that's all there is to say, " I said reciting my pre-rehearsed answer.

She gave me a mock flirty wink, "Touché. Fine then let's talk about the dress you wore to the Wilhelmina Richmond Foundation gala. I didn't think it was possible, but you might have worn it better than J-Law!"

The dumb, mindless commentary continued, and each time I responded like Darcy and Felicity had prepped me to. That is, until the end.

"I have to ask, of course I have to! Everyone has been drying to know: are you and Cole Richmond an item?"