A week passed before I knew it.
It was Monday, and today's schedule was packed. First on the schedule was the interview with Vanity Daily.
Because Dean had other business to attend to, I went alone with the girls. Thankfully, with Dean knowing I couldn't drive, he booked us a private van with a driver in advance.
"Hmm~ A little to the left, please. Yes, that."
We were in the makeup room, and the girls were putting on their makeup.
The one who seemed to be the most excited was Mia who hovered around the others while chirping about what they could do better and what looked bad.
"Joana. Your face is a little pale, give it a bit of flash and pop some color. We don't want you looking like a zombie out there."
"This bitc..."
"Olivia... Heii~ What am I going to do with you? Remove that scowl from your face or we'll really look bad in front of the cameras."
"I swear..."
"Lyla. Well, you're a child so it doesn't matter."
"...And Sarah."
Mia paused and frowned. She was stumped. Not that anyone could blame her given Sarah's looks.
She patted Sarah on the cheeks.
"Your makeup looks good. Well done. I'm proud of you."
"...I still haven't put on my make—"
"Hai~ Hai~ It's so hard being the group's stylist. What...?"
Seeing how quiet the room was, Mia turned around. Only then did she realize that everyone was looking at her with even looks.
"What is it? Why are you all looking at me like that?"
She seemed to shiver under their collective gazes, and just before things could turn ugly, I intervened. Checking my watch, I urged them.
"Girls, you have two minutes. It's time to go."
"Oh? Is it already time?"
Perhaps noticing how precarious her situation was, Mia jumped at the chance and immediately darted for the door. The other girls looked at each other for a brief moment before coming to a consensus with one another.
What it was, I wasn't particularly keen on finding out.
As I followed the girls out of the changing room, I moved to stick closer to Sarah who noticed me rather quickly.
"Manager?"
"...Are you nervous?"
"I'm okay."
"That's good. Just don't think about it for now and focus on your interview. We'll handle what's next when the time comes"
"Mhm."
Sarah quietly nodded her head. I made sure to check her expression to see if she really was okay, and only when I saw that there was nothing unusual about her did I finally take a deep breath.
Right after this, we had to go to Sarah's auditions at Windsol-Enterprises. I couldn't stress enough just how important this project was for her, and I knew she understood this as well.
That's why I wasn't nervous.
It had only been a week since I started training her, so I knew exactly what she was capable of.
The current Sarah was different than Sarah from a week ago.
She could do it.
Rummaging through my pocket, I took out three pieces of candy.
"Here, take this."
"Ah...?"
Sarah's feet slowed the moment her gaze fell on the candy. Looking around, she reached out for my hand and took two. I cocked my head at her action.
"What about the last one?"
"You eat it."
"Yes?"
"Take it."
"Oh."
Though I was confused, I eventually ended up eating the candy.
It was a little too sweet for me.
*
"Thank you very much for coming. I'm Dyrk Connoway. I'll be leading the interview today."
A man who looked no older than fifty came to greet us the moment we appeared on the set. He had short black hair neatly arranged into a middle split, and he wore a set of square glasses.
My first impression of him was that he seemed to be quite extroverted as he shook hands with all of us.
"I've heard a lot about the five of you. It's a pleasure finally seeing you here. We will begin the interview in a couple of minutes while we wait for the other groups to attend. Please make yourselves comfortable for now."
"Thank you."
The girls replied politely to the man as they all bowed their heads. But what attracted his attention, and the attention of the staff was Lyla who bowed her head the most. About 60% degrees.
"How cute."
"Look at how cute she is..."
I could hear the whispers of the staff next to me as they all took in the sight in front of them.
Then...
"Who is she?"
"She's really pretty."
"They're all pretty but, she's..."
Everyone finally caught sight of Sarah who was standing a little further back. Her looks were undeniable as everyone found their eyes drifting in her direction.
"Cough."
Coughing, I locked eyes with the staff, and it was only then that they realized their mistake, hastily returning to their work.
How troublesome...
"Girls, come here."
I called out for the girls who huddled near me like baby chicks.
"Are you guys ready for the interview?"
"Yes, don't worry manager. Vice-Director lectured all of us this morning."
"Ugh. I can still hear the sound of his yapping in my ears."
"That's rude, Olivia."
"But am I wrong?"
"Still..."
Seeing how Mia and Olivia were bickering, it didn't seem like I needed to be worried about them being nervous. I was kind of glad.
The less nervous they were, the less likely they would slip up and make any errors. Although they weren't the only group that was being interviewed, a single misstep could be quite troublesome.
"Excuse me."
Right then, someone tapped me on the shoulder. Turning around, a girl with long black hair and a mole right underneath her right eye met my gaze.
She seemed familiar.
Where did I...
"Excuse me? Is there something wrong with my face?"
"Ah, oh. I'm sorry."
Shit, I got caught staring.
I quickly made up an excuse.
"I was spacing out for a bit. You see, this is the first interview for the girls so I'm a bit nervous."
"Haha, that's very understandable."
The woman laughed and as I caught sight of her face, another one overlapped with my vision and it was then that I finally understood why she felt familiar.
Elizabeth Smith.
She was the same girl from my first vision. The woman who interviewed me in the vision. The only difference was that she was a lot younger, and her hair was long.
That was the main reason why I couldn't recognize her instantly.
"Will you also be interviewing us?"
I asked out of curiosity. From the vision, it seemed as though we had some sort of working relationship.
The questions did seem rather rehearsed back then.
"Me? Interview?"
Elizabeth seemed stunned by my question, and so was I when I saw her react the way that she did.
"Is there something wrong with my question? I thought you were..."
"Ah, no."
It seemed as though I touched a sore spot as the woman smiled bitterly.
"I'm... not exactly an interviewer."
"You're not?"
Shaking her head, she recomposed herself.
"Anyways, I just wanted to tell you that the interview is about to start. If possible, can you have the girls attend the mee—"
She paused halfway through her sentence and looked up. Her face stiffened.
"Excuse me?"
"Manager."
And then a voice reached my ear.
When I turned around I saw Sarah standing right behind me.
When did she get here?
"Yes, Sarah? Is there something you need?"
"No."
"Then..."
"I was curious."
Curious?
"It looked like you wanted to kill her so I was curious if she was your enemy or something."
"Ah."
I finally realized it then and looked at Elizabeth.
"Is what she said true...? Did it really look like I was going to kill you?"
"Haha... no."
"Ah."
So it really did look like that.
Fuck, me and my bad habit.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. My face just does that."
"Ah, no. It's okay. No problem. No problem."
Elizabeth waved her hand flusteredly. To be honest, the current version of her was throwing me off as her image kept overlapping with the serious woman from my vision.
Was she really the same stoic woman from the vision?
"Anyways, please get ready. The interview will begin shortly."
Then, as if she felt too pressured by my gaze or Sarah's presence, she hurried away.
"She got scared."
"I think so too."
I nodded my head and turned to look at Sarah.
"Is my face really that scary?"
"Mhh."
Sarah tilted her head slightly. Then, she tilted it to the other side, and once more to the opposite side before finally breaking into a smile.
"Maybe?"
"...Very helpful."
I waved my hand at her.
"Alright, go. Follow the others and make sure to keep yourself composed. You never know with these people."
"Mhm."
Sarah extended her hand, and I knew in an instant what she wanted.
Rummaging through my pocket, I handed her another candy. She then unwrapped the paper and handed me the candy.
I was stunned on the spot.
"...Yes?"
"Your face is less scary when you eat candy."
"Is that true?"
"Yes."
"Ah..."
That was something new.
"I'm going."
"Good luck."
Staring at her retreating figure, I shifted my gaze to the candy in my hand before placing it in my mouth.
"Um."
It was still too sweet, but...
It didn't taste so bad.
***
The interview was formatted like a Talk Show. One host, Dyrk Connoway, interviewed the guests with some questions about their personal lives, thoughts on some matters, and light banter.
There were four other groups present in the studio, all of whom were popular Tier 1 Star Chasers.
It wouldn't be a lie to say that Blue Daisy was the least popular group within the studio.
"Is everything ready?"
Dyrk asked one of his assistants as he read through the script for tonight's show.
"Yes, everything is ready. All the guests are seated, and we're just waiting for you."
"Okay. Tell them that I'm coming."
With a light sigh, Dyrk placed the script down and massaged his forehead.
"What's the projected viewer rating for this?"
"...0.1%"
The assistant replied after some hesitation.
"That low?"
"I'm sorry, but there just isn't that much interest in Tier 1 Star Chasers at the moment."
"What about the new group that we've brought in? Blue Daisy was it...? They still seem to be rather hot because of their recent success."
"About them... It's true that they're hot right now, but their fame still lags behind some of the other groups here."
"Is that so...?"
Dyrk closed his eyes.
"...If things go at this rate, we might have to cancel our show. We need something."
"But what can we do?"
"I don't know."
With a bitter smile, Dyrk shook his head and shrugged. Adjusting his glasses and suit, he straightened his back before taking his first step toward the studio.
"We can only hope that something happens today."
He closed his eyes and put on the most brilliant smile he could muster.
"...And even if nothing exciting happens, we can make it happen. Who knows, maybe we'll witness the birth of a new star."
And with these words, he left.