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may 7, 2020
adele was set to appear on a popular talk show in new york, courtesy of her label who'd had no choice but to show her more attention than normal. she was to attempt to clear the air as much as she could, but focus on promoting her music nevertheless.
touching down in the city, adele hadn't even thought about the nerves she'd receive from the show. instead, she could only focus on containing her excitement to see brandon.
"god, i missed you so much." she murmurs into his grasp, pulling away to connect their lips.
"yeah, we're not all standing here or anything." zion mumbles, the boys resting in the corner with their bags.
brandon picks adele up from the ground, throwing her over his back as he makes his way to the elevators. "i'm ditching you guys!"
"fine, we don't need you anyways." edwin insists. "i guess i'll just go to that music store on my own."
brandon turns to narrow his eyes at him, "don't you dare. go with me in the evening."
he sets her down in the elevator as it closes, in which adele immediately sets her lips over his once again. "yeah that was too long without each other."
"barely two weeks and it felt like a year." he mumbled, leaning over her shoulder. "are you nervous for the show?"
"i'm trying not to think about it." she shrugs. "i'm just hoping i don't fuck up."
"you'll be fine." he insists. the elevator opens, and they set out to search for her room.
"what music store was edwin talking about?" she asks as they observe the room. adele finds the balcony, stepping outside and absorbing into the noise of traffic.
"this huge one in times square." he says, standing beside her. "i wanted to get some equipment for our home studio, broaden my knowledge on this stuff."
"you'll have to teach me." she smiles, and he mirrors it as they head back inside.
"maybe later. i've got something else on my mind right now."
adele's final moments before stepping into the show consisted of her being surrounded by her pr team. they rehearsed the things she should say, her responses, music, and beyond. as professional as she'd wanted to look, almost anyone could see that she had been ready to break down into tears.
she'd seen those segments where celebrities are torn apart on talk shows, especially steven greene who had no remorse for jabbing questions.
"everybody, please welcome adele rose!" the crowd erupts into applause as she steps out behind the velvet curtain. her heart had been racing and her mind had been moving a million miles per hour, though she'd kept herself together on the outside.
the older man stands to shake her hand, before sitting themselves down. "welcome, adele! i heard this is your first talk show in america."
"yeah, it is." she nods with a polite smile, her gaze flickering towards the crowd who'd been staring at her intensely. she looks away.
"how have you been?"
"i'm great." she says. "things have been a bit hectic lately, but i'm starting to get back to normal."
"well, of course it's going to be hectic." he laughs, and she'd seen a sign at the corner of her eyes demanding the crowd to laugh as well.
she lets out a nervous, forced laugh of her own. "um, yeah, i guess so."
a moment of awkward silence passes, until he speaks once more. "it's so hard to keep up with you, you know? are you single now? or have you moved on?"
she'd been caught off guard with the question being asked so early on, "i—"
"oh! here we go," she looks up at the screen behind him, displaying the pictures of her and brandon in los angeles a few weeks ago. "you cheated on abel reign with him, correct? or he's at least one of the guys."
her lips purse, "i have a new single coming—"
she crowd lets out a series of laughter, and she glances at them with confusion. "well, we can certainly detect some guilt here."
she begins to shake her head, "i'm just trying to talk about what should be relevant—"
"but it's not right now, obviously." he chuckles. she'd felt a burning rage of anger form for him and his ability to look right in any situation. no matter what, everyone would still be on his side. "have you seen the news, honey? not many are talking about your music."
hearing laughter once more, she looks over at them, "why are people laughing? what's funny?"
the producers begin to shuffle around, and next thing she knew, steven had been announcing a commercial break. "we'll be right back!"
the camera pans away from them, and adele stands from her seat. melanie approaches her in a panic, "adele, are you okay?"
"i don't think i can do this." she mumbles, smoothing her skirt over. "they're already going to shit on me, i'd rather save the little dignity i have left."
melanie shakes her head, "adele, you have to be persistent with your music. it's all you could do."
"airing in 3!" a producer calls, and adele watches steven freshen up with his stylists.
"just a minute or two of screen time left. ignore the shit he says, and get your message across as much as you can."
"places, everyone!"
adele had given her assistant one more look of desperation before she was left alone once again. "and we're back with adele rose!" steven announces.
she smiles through the pain enforcing her frown, blinking away the tears as she sits straight. "i'm sorry, adele." he apologizes, though she had sensed little to no sincerity. "everyone's just so curious, considering you have multiple songs about cheating and how terrible it is."
she'd been unable to come up with a response right away, in which he takes it as an opportunity to continue. "now you don't have anything to say! i thought you wanted to talk about music."
a sad smile emerges from her nervousness, "i have new music, as well. coming soon."
"let's hope it's not about cheating." he chuckles, receiving a reaction from the audience as well. a few seconds of painful silence pass, and steven looks at the camera. "adele rose, everyone! i'll be back after the break!"
she couldn't wait to get out of there, standing after the light above them had dimmed. "toughen up, honey." he tells her. "these are the consequences when you mess up in public."
"as if you're forced to ask these questions," adele spat. "fuck you."
"come on," melanie says to her, leading her towards the back and into her dressing room, where adele had drained her tears.
brandon had been waiting for her by the elevators of their floor, engulfing her into a large hug as soon as they'd met. she'd sulked in his arms for a moment, before making their way to her room.
"take this," she hands her phone to him, placing it in his hands. "don't let me go on social media."
"if that's what you want." he says, setting the phone on the counter beside him. "was it that bad, adele? i'm worried."
"fucking terrible." she murmurs, sitting herself down on her bed, putting her head in her hands. "i don't want to do this shit anymore."
"i thought you were expecting that, adele." he frowns. "i..i thought you knew what you were getting into. otherwise, why would i think it's a good idea for you to go on a talk show this early?"
"how am i supposed to set the record straight?" she asks him. "i can't throw abel under the bus like that. and i can't play the 'we broke up' narrative either because he posted a picture of us that same day. i made you look like an idiot, too."
"i don't care." he assures. "seriously. we still know the truth."
"but in this case, everyone should know the truth, too." she says. "i just don't even know what to do at this point."
"we'll figure it out." he tells her, sitting beside her. "more meetings with your label, finding yourself a good manager. you'll be on your feet again, adele. and i'll be there every step of the way."
adele pulls him into a tight hug, letting out a sigh of relief. "thank you."
"always."
•••
look who popped into my notifs last night 💆🏽♀️
yea i cried for three hours