"Good day to you, ladies and gentlemen, my dear audience who is me and are with me and of course, those who are watching online, welcome, welcome!"
An accommodating voice, high-pitched and energetic, reverberated through a black dome that was devoid of light but was filled with people lining up on their seats with a salivating sense of excitement. Some of them looked through the shoulders of the other people in front of them until their eyes reached down to the stage where a man in a hat and a black tuxedo stood. There, he welcomed them all like they were all his beloved audience despite them carrying the same face as him with a proud and endearing grin as he basked in their silence.
At that same moment, Nina emerged from her shallow dream with her body bound, limp, feeling heavy, and oblivious of what's around her. Her memory was left broken like a piece of a broken puzzle. All she was able to remember was her fighting a certain man who was now greeting an audience as he waved his hands like he was facing a camera as well.
"...I gotta say, our last episode was really special since we had a family who died of a car crash… but as if it weren't enough, we went ahead and crushed their love for each other too!"
After a signal from the director speaking through their headset, some of the technical staff who remained with the audience were put to work. They were told to focus their lights on the man speaking on the stage and soon, they turned the spotlight on so slowly, giving the man a bit of light that increased its intensity by the second to make it seem like he emerged from the darkness itself. He took off his hat, showing his slick hair that was pushed back up to his nape as he bowed to his audience, revealing a bit of a small sala set of dark green couches with one fit for a single person and the other being long and curved, which was separated by a circular glass table behind him. The setup set itself apart from the stage's wooden floor through a maroon carpet and a few pots of tall plants that pushed the audience to look at the huge TV plastered at the wall where the screen that said, "It's late at night but have a chat with Choir" emerged.
"...tonight though, we have something a little bit on that caliber… because remember how that family of four tore each other apart to get the ticket to heaven?" Stopping amidst the with the audience letting out a laugh, Nina saw the man on the stage dropping his hand to take a break, before continuing, "Well, for those who didn't watch, we had to get a new couch that day because I tell ya, that shit was dyed white at the moment those two kids mauled their mother. It was a perfect way to ruin a good couch which made it so unusable that even after the day, the moment I stuck my finger out there, their white blood would still ooze!" The crowd went out once more with some of them whistling this time and with a chuckle, the man on the stage added, "Now, now, that's the time when we learned how shitty that picturesque family was and how long it does it take it to ruin a one with a one-person ticket to heaven that condemns the others but now, I wonder what would happen if what they're gonna be fighting for is a second shot at life?"
The crowd cheered with awe and following them was Nina, who with a smile, chose to lay her back on her chair and relax as he waited for the man on the stage while watching his back to tell her more. So, with a gaze full of intent, she glossed through his words while letting his last to linger on her mind.
"...Now, keep it down everyone because what would be having tonight is a couple, and oh boy that is a fan favorite! Well, as usual, keep what you know to yourself because it'd be best for them to go in there blind and now that's done…"
The light went out and Nina saw the man stepping back to toss his mic at the couch nearby, letting this pin-drop silence permeate through their surroundings. Seeing the other personnel on the stage take their positions, she couldn't help but lean forward and swallow her saliva as she thought about what's to come.
"Three!"
The people shouted, accompanied by the set of lights turning on once more with a snap and putting up a spotlight that enabled her to see the back of the man on the stage. She witnessed his black cloak flutter the moment he spread his arms apart in front of his audience with his top hat of the same color in hand and the other being raised as if it was set to grasp the stars.
"Two!"
They followed with another set of lights that showed the entire stage he was in. It highlighted the waxed wooden stage that shone quite beautifully, almost glittering in front of that limelight that soon leads her to gaze upon the band complete with its own set of drummers, guitarists and a pianist as well as the choir on his left, standing at the back of a line of mics, smiling and waving to still, the unseen crowd in the distance as they waited for their cue.
"One!"
She wasn't able to hold it in and she shouted with them, carrying that same sense of anticipation to see what's beyond her and for that, the man on the stage did not fail to deliver. What engrossed her attention was the crowd in the distance because amidst that light emerged a dome filled with cameras and three huge monitors plastered on the wall in the distance. In it were hundreds of people wearing the same black clothes and carrying the same face as the man that she had fought, which she did see but failed to perceive, noticing only how passionate they were and how they clapped and shouted on top of their lungs like it was a new-years party.
"Let's have a chat with Choir!"
Following their upbeat roar was the sound of trumpets singing a triumphant song as the man on the stage started to dance that was followed by the drums hitting up a quick beat that soon became slower and slower until it met its end. The bright lights then died, setting a more intimate and personal mood, and what then came next was the notes of the percussion resurfacing that was soon supported by a piano carrying this sort of jazzy tone that had a tinge of darkness. It was then backed up a moment after by a set of saxophones that like the showman that he was, he matched with his movements that were graceful, precise and slow.
Nina smiled, starting to see the man as herself as he watched him go around and spin as if it were her face who was facing the ground. It became wider the moment she saw a group of backup dancers coming out from her back that walked, with the same sense of elegance in their steps, towards the man who to her seemed like he was having the time of his life on stage. They did their number along with that soothing melody that captured her attention more, entranced even, and it went on until she was left thinking when did the intermission number end and when did he get to his seat. She just found him spreading his arms across the back of his dark green sofa that was complemented by a glass table and a chair of the same thickness and color in front of it.
"Thank you… I tell ya' I do love performing once in a while but It is getting old!" He laughed it off and without much surprise, the crowd laughed with him along with her who gave as much as a light chuckle. "We'll see, we'll see if we would get the chick that went with us on this mission dance after helping us out… good job, by the way, Mary…"
The crowd laughed, urging Nina to turn her eyes to the monitors in the distance that showed a girl with short brown hair, seemingly shy as she covered her face with both of her gloved hands as the men around him cheered and waved at the camera.
"Amateur," Nina muttered.
"Mary, Mary, you have to say hi to the audience, we talked about this," the man added with a laugh, being one with the crowd and seeing her sway her head to say no, he followed, "Mary, just at least say hi, don't make me go there and put a bullet in your thigh, okay?"
The woman on the screen stopped moving and after taking a heavy breath, she dropped the hands that covered her head and while showing a crumpled freckled face in shame, she looked at the camera with a broken smile and waved herself hi. The man on the stage let out a hearty laugh and after the monitors changed its focus to him. Still, at the comfort of that couch, he leaned forward and his voice carrying a warm caring tone, seemingly intimate, he continued,
"Thanks for that, sweetie… but still, as much as I've liked to stress that this show was really titled as a chat with me, with us… the only things that keep this show as bright and as popular as it is are our guests!. So, with that being said, I'd like to introduce our first contestant out of two," he continued with a heartfelt tone. "She is… a wonderful woman who started as a child actress that had a blast growing up with commercials and all that but it was the challenges in her life that changed her, refined her to the bright diamond she is now. What happened was… of course, I'll keep it a secret for now because you guys would know, the moment I welcome…" He jumped from his seat and extended his hand towards her direction. "Nina Lauren!"
The crowd began to cheer and clap their hands and not a second later, she felt that the ropes that bound her were loosened along with a gentle tap on her shoulder. It made her look and there, he saw someone, a man with the same face as the host on the stage with a scissor on hand, giving him a nod along with a wholehearted smile as he urged her in silence that she should go and get her moment.
And she did. While still being surprised that she was the guest that the man was referring to, she thanked the one who freed her with the biggest smile that she could give. As though her dream was finally at reach, without minding the holes on her body dripping with her white blood and fooling herself that it was her outfit as what the director had intended, she ran and made her mark, smearing the floor with white as she dashed into the limelight.
"Nina! Nina! Nina! Nina! Nina! Nina! Nina! Nina! Nina!"
The crowd went on and keeping her smile as wide as her eyes while spreading her arms apart, she met the audience that adored her to the point that she could feel her heart melting, despite how they were like cardboard cutouts that carried the same face, just by seeing how passionate they were at her presence. They played an upbeat rhythm once more and soon, she found that the host was already beside her and was about to hand her a mic.
Nina grabbed it without another word and a shred of hesitation, she faced her esteemed fans once again. With a white tear dropping from her eyes that looked through them along with her voice that sounded so broken, still, with that awkward smile that left her teeth parted, she then muttered, "Hi, my name is Nina Lauren…"