"Welcome back, contestant Ari. I'm so glad to see you. Also, happy belated birthday and welcome to adulthood."
"…Thank you?"
Ari could only give PD Emily a suspicious glance, especially when she was kindly greeting him with a gentle smile on her face.
She never, ever smiled.
Ever.
So seeing her smile so kindly, somebody was clearly in for it, and he hoped it wasn't him.
"You came nice and early, so we have some time to get some house cleaning out of the way. Why don't we have a personal interview first? I have some things to update you on. There's some content for you to film, and then you can rejoin the contestants. Understood?"
"Sure."
Ari followed along behind her, wondering what kind of questions he would be asked and whether he should follow Grace's nagging advice to be more palatable to the public or just continue being himself.
