ELARA~
The studio lights were too warm, the kind that made your makeup feel like it was sliding off your face in real time even when it wasn't.
Marlene Cross sat across from me, legs crossed, microphone angled just slightly toward herself the way hosts did when they wanted the audience to know who was really running the room.
I had thought she'd be rude, but to my greatest surprise. She wasn't.
"We are back live on Thursday night with Marlene." Marlene Cross said, turning to face me with a perfectly practiced look of deep concern. "If you're just joining us, I'm sitting down with the phenomenal Lara J." She looked at me then the audience. "Before the break, we touched on the undeniable storm surrounding your career right now."
I kept my posture flawless. Back straight, hands resting in my lap. I wore a tailored, soft-white suit—Ernest's choice to project innocence and control.
I wasn't feeling it. I was innocent but I definitely had no control over my life right now.
