"Let me know when you're ready," Stacy Lund, the journalist, said in a low and compassionate voice as she softly patted Vera on the back, and Vera sniffled.
Stacy was a middle-aged woman with a slender physique. She had blonde hair, dark skin, and grey eyes.
The two were inside Stacy's office, and though Stacy was a friend of Kim Morgan, Vera's mum, she was yet to know why Vera had insisted on seeing her.
"I want you to do an interview of me," Vera managed to say, and Stacy looked at her sharply before asking what exactly she meant.
"An interview! It should be live, please," Vera insisted, and Stacy inhaled deeply and looked around her small soundproof office, and asked, "Why do you want an interview? You know…"
"It's about a celebrity. Come on, Stacy, don't act so innocent. I know you thrive on celebrity news. You like controversy and will always post a story even if it isn't true, so why the exception right now?" Vera asked, looking intently at Stacy, who sighed and said, "because you're different. I know you personally, and I know the backlash you might receive because of this story, so if it isn't so damn important, we can…."
"It's about the Jacksons," Vera said, and Stacy gasped in shock.
"What did you say?The Jacksons!"
"Yes,"
Slowly, the expression on Stacy's face changed to joy as she flashed a wide broad smile.
"Call the cameraman. I will deal with the repercussions!" Vera said in a sharp, authoritative voice that was also dismissive of any other suggestions Stacy wanted to offer, but Stacy didn't have any more objections: she had a personal vendetta to settle.
A few minutes later, they were live with about 10,000 people streaming from Stacy's social media accounts.
Xxx
Steph and Amy were walking out of their respective classes when they saw each other.
Steph warmly waved at Amy and asked that she waits for a minute, a request Amy obliged.
As Steph rushed to Amy, she could feel so many eyes on her, and thinking they were still on her and Ivan's relationship, she ignored them.
"We're going for lunch, right?" Amy asked after thinking for a while, and Steph nodded and looked at her with a lot of expectations.
"I was hoping to talk to you privately," Amy said with a sigh, and Steph felt a weight being lifted from her.
Wouldn't it be good if they went back to how they were before? The time when there was no tension between them.
"Sure, let's go. I had missed being driven by you," Steph joked, and Amy chuckled softly.
They walked down the stairs, and when they got to the second last floor, they found so many students standing next to the notice board.
"Any news about what might be going on there?" Steph asked, and Amy shook her head.
"It might be gossip. These guys never have anything useful to do," Steph cursed under her breath. They had only taken one more step before they heard loud shouts, "she is here."
As curious as a cat, Steph turned to look at the subject of the talk, but there was no one behind her so she shrugged and continued walking but that she heard her name.
Was she really the one being talked about?
"Stepmother, or what is it?" One student asked, and the others broke into a loud fit of laughter that seemed to shake the entire building.
Steph looked at the students in confusion, as did Amy, and as if on command, the students started moving slowly away from the noticeboard. Steph could faintly make out the image of a drawing.
"A drawing?" Steph asked in confusion as she looked at Amy, who shrugged. "I'm afraid of seeing what it is, but I know I won't be at peace if I don't know," Steph whispered, and Amy breathed out heavily and held her hand, and together, the two friends slowly walked towards the noticeboard.
"What stupidity is this? Who the hell drew this? Have you people lost your mind?" Amy shouted when she saw the image before her.
It was a sketch of Ivan, Vera and Steph. Ivan was standing behind an expectant Vera and affectionately holding her tummy, and behind the two was Steph, who was looking at them angrily.
Her photo had the caption stepmother below it.
"Why are you barking like a dog when she should be the one yelling?" One student asked in disgust as he threw daggers at Steph, whose eyes hadn't moved from the portrait before her.
She felt all the energy and air in her body slowly getting drained. She felt suffocated and had an unquenchable need to grasp for air even though she was in an open space.
Her heart was beating faster without control, making her think that it could burst.
Her emotions were all over the place, and she wanted to be anywhere else, but her body couldn't move.
"Uh… so this is it?" Chloe said from behind Steph in a loud and victorious voice. "So it wasn't about love. He was using you to try and avoid responsibility for his child. How gross! How could you be so stupid?"