The New Colour

 Cloe refuses to budge from the color. It's what all the female anchors at ATV News wear.

“What do you think?”

The Make-up Artist looks at Cloe's eye, “You know what I think, it doesn’t suit you.”

“No, about Gustave. He's that political activist.”

“Oh.” The Make-up Artist continues applying the color.

Cloe looks through the Make-up Artist and into the distance. “Anyway, it's stupid. Could you imagine a news correspondent and an activist together?”

The Make-up Artist pulls her head back to study Cloe. She says nothing.

 Bill, the station manager, approaches wearing a white baseball cap and glassless dark rimmed frames.

“Cloe, don’t freak out, but someone up there wants you to do Governor McNancy's interview.”

Cloe almost contains her excitement. “What?!” 

Bill uses his 'giving-away-free tickets' voice. “I'm not promising anything, but this could lead to a spot as anchor.”

“Really?” Cloe's eyes are wide. “Oh my god!” Her mouth fills her face. “Thank you!” Her face closes a bit. “When’s the interview?”

“An hour,” Bill says.

“What?!” She tries to keep her expressions from ruining her makeup. The Make-up Artist holds her bobbing head steadily.

“Take it easy. Use last night’s questions if you have to.”

“Last night? I interviewed Mickey Mouse about the Disney disaster!”

“Perfect,” Bill says, “Don't forget you still have the science interview about that new comet. Remember to try and keep the questions simple, don't lose our audience.” He adjusts his baseball cap and his frames and walks away.

 Cloe loses her composure and can't help gushing to The Make-up Artist. “Isn't this amazing? Oh my God,” she says wrinkling her nose, “I'll totally try to get you in.”

The Make-up Artist stops tweezing Cloe's face. “In?”

Cloe regains herself. “Yeah, as a correspondent. I'll have way more pull as an anchor.”

“That's OK Cloe,” The Make-up Artist says quietly and nicely.

Cloe raises, but tries hard not to roll her eyes. “Oh yeah, sorry, I forgot you just want to do makeup.”

The Make-up Artist takes a deep breath. Yeah, 'Just'.

As she ponders her luck, Cloe's eyes pitch and rest, as if playing on a musical staff in a song book. What is it in her personality that brought her into the running for anchor?The entire persona of a corporate news anchor is primped for 26 to 45 year olds, plucked for the 18 to 34's, brushed for the 'stay at home moms', waxed for the 'single and divorced'; and neutralized to the lowest common denominator for people who have no other purpose than to watch TV and buy things. What could it be in her that is pleasing 'someone up there'? To give Cloe the interview with Governor McNancy, an interview savagely sought after and saved for the most senior anchors was no easy decision. Does she have political geek appeal? Or is this a punishment for someone who has become less specifically generic and has fallen out of favour? All she knows right now is that she must figure out how to be herself. The one that is being nominated for this.

Richard Spectre has Bill his Station Manager at ATV News on hold, not because he is busy, but to make sure Bill knows his place. In this business, psychology is everything. He stands in front of his oak desk in his oak paneled office, waiting, sullen, sure in coined gestures which give him the look of a man with limited motions.  He flips through channels on his large video screen comparing protest coverage on various news networks. The main rival station's famous reporter stands on the street, in front of a crowd, with his trademark hat. “The voices were unheard at first, but are now ringing around the world, as protests pop up in city after city thanks to social media.”