NICKI POV
We opted not to meet the cast ahead of the interview. Instead the stage crew directed us to a dressing room and asked us a few questions. Then had us give them a few photos and what not that we could find on our phones at the moment. They hooked us up with mics and pointed us to a TV screen where we could watch the show up until our cue to head on stage.
"I'm actually kinda bummed we didn't get to meet our guests before-hand" Paula admitted.
"I'm sure there was probable cause." Sunny replied.
"You're on in 5." A crew member whispered to us.
"That being said, our guests for today are two of the most well-known, anonymous women who've agreed to debut their very first public interview.. here on the View." Raven introduced.
"Ladies and Gentlemen please welcome, Lydia Colvin and Onika Maraj." Whoopi concluded.
I held Lydia's hand as we made our entrance. The live crowd who'd been clapping before, were now in an illuminated uproar as we made our way to the cast. The cast themselves were on the verge of flipping out themselves. I felt my cheeks burning as I greeted each of them ahead of Lydia.
"You two look stunning." Candace complimented.
"Are either of you wearing anything from the line?" Sara asked.
"Yeah, actually." I replied. "My accessories are all from the line, and this little one piece could potentially be added this season."
"My dress and shoes are." Lydia replied.
"Do you guys wear clothing from the line often?" Jedediah inquired.
"Yes. Most definitely, I often design my outfits, wear them, then decide if its worth adding to the line. If I'm uninspired or low on time, my wardrobe is primarily from the line." I explained.
"Which one of you is Lydia and which is Onika?" Whoopi asked.
"I'm Lydia. She's Onika." Lydia put her hand on my shoulder.
"Just call me Nicki." I insisted.
They guided us to sit in the chairs between them.
"We're actually going to try something different, and allow members of the audience to come and direct questions to either of you." Joy explained.
"Okay." Lydia agreed.
Several people stood and formulated a line to ask questions.
"Hi Nicki, Hi Lydia." A woman said into the microphone.
"hi." we waved simultaneously.
"So.. your decision to remain unknown, was there something you were hiding that the public shouldn't have known about?" she asked.
"um.. no." Lydia responded.
"So we can expect a recap on what we've missed..?" Paula intervened.
"What like a full back story? Or just the stuff starting with when we started the line?" I squinted.
"We all love a good celebrity back story every now and then." Sara's fingers intertwined in inquisition.
"My back story is kinda basic. But I personally found Nic's to be really inspiring for myself and I'm sure other people would feel the same way." Lydia put me on the spot.
"Well then I want to hear it." Jedediah perked up.
"I think we all do." Raven added.
All eyes were on me, I took a deep breath before speaking.
"When I was very little, I had your average family... mom, dad, and I had 3 siblings. By the time I was 8 we were orphans." I took a break to figure out how to sum the events up, "My eldest brother was murdered, my other brother passed away shortly after and my sister committed suicide that year. Since then I had drifted in and out of every living family member in my family tree. Each person, someway or another managed to die within a year."
"So you have no living family members?" Whoopi clarified.
I shook my head, "My last aunt sent me to college, where I met Lydia. She died of breast cancer when I graduated with my undergraduates degree. I nearly quit school if it weren't for Lydia and her mom."
"Yeah, we basically adopted her." Lydia aided.
The studio was completely silent from the time I had begun talking, to a few long minutes after we'd finished.
During the commercial break the cast began asking additional questions.
"What got you into fashion?" The next audience member asked.
"Is that for both of us?" I asked, referring to Lydia and I.
"Yes." the guy clarified.
I motioned for Lydia to speak first.
"Well... I guess I got interested in it just by looking through a bunch of magazines and stuff like that when I was younger. I hadn't considered pursuing it as a career but I minored in Fashion Design in college nonetheless." She summarized.
"I stumbled upon fashion by accident." I crossed my legs in my seat, "I didn't have much money growing up, but one of my neighbors taught me to sew. She was known around the neighborhood for fixing people's clothing.. you know, replacing buttons and resizing. But she said she needed a successor- me." I lectured, "Eventually I taught myself to sew my own clothing using excess fabrics she had given me. People would always stop and ask me where I got my clothes."
The questions continued until finally someone asked: "Who's the lucky guy?"
Raven reached over and took my hand to exploit my engagement ring.
"Oh yeah.. I am recently engaged to Aubrey Graham." I admitted.
There was an unanimous gasp that echoed throughout the studio, I felt my cheeks burn bright red.
"And she's expecting." Lydia added.
"You're pregnant?" Whoopi asked.
I nodded, "triplets."
Another person approached the microphone, "This is.. the best day of my life."
"Yeah? Mine too!" Lydia played off of her emotions.
"I've always dreamt of meeting you.. and now here you are, you're both so beautiful and your stories are amazing." The woman raved. "I always felt like there was something about your line that was personal to you.. is that right or is it just me?"
I repositioned myself in my seat, "Before anything is added to the line, I make hand-make it." I began, "Usually my biggest inspiration is whatever is going through my mind at the time. And I explained earlier, that I've been through quite a bit and I get upset a lot. So I definitely think that my emotions are poured out into the pieces."
"In addition," Lydia jumped in, "I usually dictate the aspects of the photos for magazines and posters and whatnot of the clothing. With Nic and I being so emotionally tied, I definitely can admit that that is a huge factor in how I want the clothing represented."
"I feel like the advances we make in the line are what really tell our stories the most." I resubmitted, "Our transition from college to working, was when we added the business casual aspect to the line."
"So now that you're pregnant, can we expect maternity clothes added to the line?" Joy asked.
Lydia looked to me before responding, "We've definitely discussed it."
"We did, the first time around.." I said mainly just to her, "But I think I'm considering it a lot more this time."
"You were pregnant before?" Sara pieced together.
As Lydia and I explained us and OJ and Omarion and everything surrounding the matter, I noticed the pictures the crew had asked from us had been displayed for everyone to see.
"Now, we could all sit here and talk to these women all day, but we are out of time." Whoopi began a conclusion.
"But if you would like to keep up with them, you can follow their social media accounts." Raven added.
After the full conclusion we headed off-stage. Outside the dressing rooms the cast approached us, thanking us for letting the View be our debut as far as publicity was concerned. We took a few pictures before we left.
There was a crowd of people outside waiting. After a million pictures, autographs, and bits and pieces of conversations, we made it into the car... on the road headed back to the office.
QOTD: They've officially publicized EVERYTHING.. your thoughts?
AOTD: I feel like adding social media and stuff is really boutta fck up my story :/