Sketch

73 - Sam

Dedicated to HiddenBehindABook :)

This chapter sort of came from nowhere this morning, but I like it. Vince is back on top form :P Enjoy!

I manage to keep a calm and collected façade during the whole interview.  Not only for my sake, but for Emmy's too.  She hasn't said anything but I know she's convinced herself that she's going to mess up somehow.  I feel guilty, like it's my fault for mentioning messing up in the first place.

I can only squeeze her hand reassuringly a couple of times before I know Yazmine's hawk-like gaze will pick up on it being anything more than friendly.  I notice something's up when Emmy rushes over to the snack table, joining Ollie and I mid-conversation about whether a flying pig would make a better pet that a donkey on roller-skates.  Mum would say it's a brotherly bonding moment, but I'm almost too glad when Emmy interrupts it.  I need to ask her what's wrong.

"Hey!" she says, diving straight for her second sausage roll, the first having been scoffed on the snack table closest to the set. 

Ollie and I have hung back on purpose, the bright lights hot and stuffy.  It's cooler near the back where the interns appear to be hanging out.  They're all chatting in excited whispers and one blonde girl in her early twenties keeps looking over at me and giggling to herself.

"Hello," Ollie replies, giving Emmy a chocolate coloured smile, a half-eaten cupcake in his hand.  "You haven't fainted yet then?"

Emmy shakes her head a little too forcefully just as the guy wearing the headset calls us back over in a panicked tone.  Vince is already back in his seat, twirling his fingers in his lap.  I'm guessing Alex hasn't text him back yet.

"We're on in five." 

The producer counts back on his hands again and then the little light on the camera closest to me starts to flash just as Ollie's finished rubbing the back of his hand over his mouth to get rid of cake crumbs.

"Thanks once again for joining us on this very special edition of LZ TV."  Andrew looks more relaxed now.  Less, 'fake and scary' and more 'showbiz king'.  The showbiz queen in this situation flutters her eyelashes at me as she turns to face us again.

"So guys, during the break I had a little girly chat with Emmy."

I feel Emmy physically tense beside me.  My stomach plummets to my feet.

"Did you now?" Andrew says, waggling his eyebrows in interest.  "Do explain."

Yazmine titters, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.  "We were just discussing relationships, weren't we Emmy?"

Emmy nods ever so slightly, but then seems to remember she's on live TV and nods a little more convincingly, even flashing a quick smile. It makes me nervous.  I seek out Tanya quickly, spotting that she's stopped tapping on her phone and her eyes are set on the sofa.  Mainly focusing in on Emmy.

"Now, do you wanna tell the folks at home what we were saying?"

Yazmine's voice is patronising, like Emmy's a little puppy or a child who doesn't deserve to have her own say.  I know that Yazmine's going to fill the audience in on the subject of their secret conversation whether Emmy wants her to or not.  I don't care if Yazmine's just doing her job or not.  My like for her has just gone down another couple of notches, leaving her chilling with the cockroaches and dust-bunnies on the floor.

"You asked me about relationships within the band," Emmy says, her voice sounding surprisingly calm and strong to my own ears.  My heartbeat is thrashing wildly in my veins.  "And I said there's nothing to tell."  Emmy ends with a sweeter than sugar smile and Yazmine's lips purse.

"But what about you and Vince?"

Vince lets out a choking sound from the other end of the sofa.  "Excuse me?"

Yazmine's gaze whips to him.  "You and Emmy are dating, yes?"

Vince looks from Andrew to Yazmine and then to us, looking lost for words with eyes wide and mouth hanging open.

I bite my lip, feeling the tension hanging in the air.  Everyone's waiting for an answer. 

"Of course we aren't dating," Vince says with a slight laugh that sounds almost exactly the same as his choking sound just now.

"And why not?" Andrew asks. 

Yazmine looks unable to talk right now, her eyes focused in hard on Vince's face.  His cheeks are flaming a little but other than that he looks surprisingly at ease all of a sudden.  Like he's come up with the most brilliant response ever. 

I breath in deeply, praying he doesn't say something stupid.

"Because," Vince starts, looking to me with a strange sort of satisfied expression on his face.  "Emmy is gay."

Yeah.  Well done, Vince.  That really helps.