North America / United States / New York / Manhattan (Vogue Studios, Condé Nast Building): April 1st, 1993.
(Crystalline's POV)
"3…2…1." Said a fat white man while gesturing at me from behind a huge camera.
I slammed the clapboard
*PAK*
The room was completely silent.
"Did I do it right." I asked with confused look on my face while throwing the clapboard over my shoulder.
*BOOM*
*Crash*
I waved my left hand and said calmly "Send me the bill."
TIMESKIP: Minutes Later.
I spread my arms wide and said with a high bell like whistle note and bright smile, holding the note longly "HI VOGUE."
"Crystalline here and today I will be answering the 11 most unanswered fan questions." I said with a bright smile.
The fat white man signaled for me to continue.
I smiled brightly at the camera.
A white card appeared on a large screen in front of me.
QUESTION 1: WHY HAVEN'T YOU DONE A INTERVIEW IN OVER 13 YEARS?
I stared at the question for a moment and said calmly "Because I didn't want to."
The room was silent.
The fat white man sighed and quickly shook his head.
I crossed my legs and said "I don't like sitting in front of strangers while they ask me questions about things they probably already know and then get surprised when I answer honestly."
I smiled.
"Neeeext…dah'ling." I said with a dismissive wave of my left hand, my tone with the utmost bougieness.
The screen changed.
QUESTION 2: WHO WAS CRYSTALLINE BEFORE THE FAME?
I became silent for a moment and said "Alina. Fabulous, gorgeous, took nothing from no one."
The room became quiet.
I leaned back and said calmly "I was somebody's daughter. Somebody's granddaughter. Somebody's sister. I sang because I liked singing and then one day people started paying attention."
I shrugged and said while pointing at myself "Crystalline didn't replace alina. She's just louder but most of all...better, remember that."
I smiled brightly.
"Much richer and gorgeous too…hah…I'm so beautiful." I said with a sudden sigh.
The studio went completely silent.
The crew started laughing.
QUESTION 3: DO YOU ACTUALLY ENJOY BEING FAMOUS?
"Not at all, how dare you ask me such thing." I said calmly with the most unserious and fake offended look on my face that you would ever see in your entire life.
Hahaha…the oscar's would love me.
The room was absolutely silent.
The fat white man almost choked.
Nobody moved.
I spread my arms and said with the utmost boring tone "Neeeext…dah'ling."
…
QUESTION 4: WHAT DOES MUSIC MEAN TO YOU?
My smile slowly disappeared.
I looked down at my hands and said as fake tears streamed down my face "Everything. I can act. I can sing, I'm beautiful and I'm wealthy."
The room became completely silent.
"But in all seriousness. I've been singing longer than some of my fans have been alive. Music gave me a voice before I even understood what having one meant." I said calmly as the makeup and hair stylists rushed over and tidied up my appearance.
A crew woman that shall not be described or named because of my lazy narration brought over a small fan and sat it on the table while turning it on as the stylists fixed my fixed up my appearance
I stared at the camera for a moment and said while pulling out a new lipstick product.
Crystal luxury lip color.
I leaned close toward the camera and applied it on myself and said while slashing it across the lens and said with a rich auntie tone "See…your gorgeous my dah'ling, just fabulous."
"Clean the camera, whatever your name is." I said calmly to the director as I sat my lipstick product aside.
The fat director rushed over with bleach and a towel.
I grabbed the clapboard and slammed it.
*PAK*
…
QUESTION 5: HOW MUCH MONEY DO YOU ACTUALLY HAVE?
I stared.
The room was silent.
I looked toward the camera crew and pointed at the screen and asked "Who asked this."
Nobody answered.
I leaned forward and narrowed my eyes at the camera and said with a slow and patient special needs tone "How many teeth do you have, why is your hairline so far back, are you currently present mentally..."
Several people immediately started laughing.
I chuckled and said "I don't know. Ask my accountants. Every time I think I know they tell me I bought something, something made money, something lost money or somebody owes me money."
I shrugged and said to my fan in the camera "Just know that I'm not broke. That's all I care about."
The fat white director laughed.
I looked at him and said calmly "It's not that funny, calm down."
He immediately stopped.
I sighed and said while pulling out the clapboard.
I did a bright smile face card with my bright white teeth as I held the clapboard up.
*Click*
A picture was taken.
I slammed the clapboard.
*PAK*
…
QUESTION 6: WHY DID YOU BECOME A BUSINESSWOMAN WHEN MUSIC ALREADY MADE YOU RICH?
"Because people can become poor just as easily as they became rich, you can't limit your hand in one area, let your fingers wander." I said calmly with a serious look on my face.
The room became quiet again.
I grabbed a water bottle from a random woman and said while looking back at the camera "And because I don't like depending on one thing."
I know you all are reading, let me explain myself.
Crystal.
My catalog.
Property.
Companies.
Investments.
Things that existed whether I stepped onto a stage or not.
"I love music, but I wasn't about to spend my entire life singing for every dollar I made." I said calmly with a genuine smile forming on my face.
Some crew members smiled.
The screen changed.
QUESTION 7: WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN YOUR LIFE?
"My family, why even ask that. Next question." I said with a roll of my eyes.
The room was silent.
Several people laughed.
QUESTION 8: WHAT WAS THE HARDEST MOMENT OF YOUR LIFE?
My eyes immediately stopped moving.
The room became still.
Silence.
I looked away from the camera for a moment and said with a serious look on my face "I'm not answering that, next question."
The screen quickly changed.
I was thankful for that.
QUESTION 9: DO YOU THINK YOU'RE THE GREATEST SINGER ALIVE?
My eyebrows slowly rose.
I stared directly into the camera and said "Yes. I'm just that great."
The entire crew started laughing.
I chuckled and said with my guard let down a little "That was a good comeback I'll write that one down."
Someone behind the camera screamed laughing.
I crossed my legs again and said calmly "But being great doesn't mean nobody else is great."
Whitney.
Mariah.
Luther.
And countless others.
"There's enough microphones for everybody." I said calmly but my tone carrying a lot of genuine weigh.
I paused.
"Unless I'm performing…neeext." I said slowly.
The room laughed again.
QUESTION 10: DO YOU HAVE ANY REGRETS?
I became silent.
That one took longer.
"Yes."
The room quieted.
"I regret doing this interview. I regret that I'm not drinking wine and getting in my hot tub this morning. I have alot of regrets." I said calmly as I tried to remember more.
I looked toward the ceiling and said "Not many."
Someone laughed.
I smiled and said "But to be serious I regret missing moments because I thought work was more important…don't ever prioritize your work over moments that should matter more. I regret not telling certain people I loved them and saying thank you more."
My fingers slowly rubbed together.
Mia crossed my mind again.
I breathed slowly.
"But I don't regret becoming crystalline. I don't regret being difficult." I said while looking directly into the camera.
My smile grew.
"I don't regret telling people no." I said calmly as my fingers interlocked together.
I leaned forward.
"And I damn sure don't regret surviving people who thought they could control me." I said while putting one finger up as a lesson to all.
The room was completely silent.
The screen changed one final time.
QUESTION 11: WHAT'S NEXT FOR CRYSTALLINE?
I stared at it.
For a long moment.
The fat white man behind the camera waited.
Everyone waited.
I slowly smiled.
There it was.
The question.
The one question I hadn't been able to answer for myself until recently.
I leaned back into the chair and crossed my legs and said calmly "Nothing."
The fat white man's eyes widened.
Several crew members glanced at each other.
I chuckled.
I looked directly into the camera and said "I'm not dying and I'm not retiring either."
The room remained silent.
I paused for a brief moment and said "But after my remaining commitments are finished…"
My smile slowly disappeared.
"I'm stepping away from music." I said calmly with a serious but look of finality on my face.
Complete.
Utter.
Silence.
That was how I would describe the moment in this studio.
The fat white man's mouth slowly opened.
Someone behind the camera dropped something.
*CLANK*
I moved my hair out of my face and said calmly "No albums. No tours and no recording schedule."
The room remained frozen.
The fat white man finally lowered the camera slightly and asked with shock "Are you serious, this interview will be big."
"You only had 11 questions." I said with squinted eyes.
He immediately raised the camera again.
I smiled brightly and stood up from the chair.
Then stopped.
I looked directly into the lens one final time.
"Oh."
My smile widened.
"And before the media starts writing that I've lost my voice, gone crazy, joined a cult, got pregnant, went bankrupt or died." I said calmly while getting the clapboard.
I raised my middle finger and said "Buh…Bye."
*PAK*
The camera suddenly cut to black.
…
Across the world.
Televisions.
Newsrooms.
Radio stations.
Record companies.
Fans.
Executives.
Everyone heard the same final sentence before the vogue logo appeared.
I'M STEPPING AWAY FROM MUSIC.
And within seconds.
The world lost its fucking mind.
…
THE END…