Page 4 of Shatter

I struct over to the older man, whose hair is completely silver now. When I first interviewed with him, I was eight, and he still had some pepper to it.

I hug him like we're long-lost friends, even though I couldn't tell you anything about the man. It's all for show. He knows it. I know it. But we're selling a bit. The audience cheers, the band plays the trailer music for the new movie. That's a nice touch.

He grips me by the upper arms and holds me out so he can look me up and down. He's going for a proud uncle look, but he's turned sideways from the audience so they can't see how his gaze lingers.

I grip onto my smile and refuse to cringe.

"It's fantastic to see you again, Mel. How have you been?" he opens, and it's a softball. He motions for me to take the seat closest to his desk, and I do, tucking my dress underneath me and crossing my legs at the ankles.

"I've been great, Andy. Thank you so much for having me on your show again. I feel like it's been too long." I turn to the audience, who I can't see at all because of the stage lights. "I don't know if your audience remembers, but you were the first interview I did at the start of my career. Do you remember that?" I turn back to the man and give him a charming smile.

"I do. At first I thought the producers were high for bringing on an eight-year-old fledging actress but look at you now."

Okay, I guess it's late night so we can talk about drugs, but that last comment felt predatory. Like he was just waiting for me to turn legal.

I let the comment sit, and he's quick to pivot.

"So, tell me about the latest movie you just wrapped up. Your male costar was Parker Eli, right?"

I smile at the mention of my best friend.

"It was. It's been a joy to work alongside Parker and watch his skill grow with every new movie and every new scene. I'm really excited about how the movie turned out," I say. I'm about to continue singing Parker's praises when he interrupts me.

"Will we get to see some of the in-person chemistry you two have on the screen?"

My smile dims, but not so much that anyone would notice. He's asking about our sex life. I need to steer the ship somewhere else. Anywhere else.

"I think working together for so many years has given us a second sense with each other. Like I can read his thoughts, and him mine."

I watch Andy's bushy brow dip slightly, unsatisfied with my answer.

"And will we be hearing any wedding bells for the two of you?"

Are we only going to talk about my love life? Ask me something about the movie! Ask me something about my career! What I like, what I find challenging, where I'd like to go next!

I blush, fiddle with my fingers in my lap, but it's all fabricated.

"I think we're both a little too young to be thinking about marriage. We're both so career-driven. We have a lot we want to accomplish before settling down."

Again, a microscopic frown because I didn't give him any juicy details he can use for clips.

I will my muscles to relax, I will my breathing to even out, even if I'm crawling out of my own skin. I loathe this surface-level shit.

This interview is the equivalent of dryer lint, and he knows it. So, being the smart man that he is, he pivots. Except, instead of asking me anything of substance, which might actually get him the clips he's looking for, he remains surface-level.

"Well, the early critic reviews are all very flattering."

I open my mouth to reply graciously, but he interrupts me again.

"If you were to give aspiring actresses one piece of advice, one key to your success, what would it be?"

Okay, that's more thoughtful than I expected. But I fight a wince. Because I know what the expected answer is. And if I don't say it, I'll never hear the end of it.

"The biggest key to my success has been my support system. No matter how good at acting you get, it's your support system that will lead to your success. My parents..." I look off stage. I have no idea where my mother is, but that's not the point. I give a cute little wave and sidebar. "...hi mom..." because if I don't credit her directly, I'll get hell for it.

It's all part of the Melody Snow brand. Single working mom who worked two jobs so that her daughter could get acting classes and be ferried around for auditions, until that daughter's big break, starring in The Garden of Princesses. That first royalty check where we went first for ice cream and then put a deposit down on a nicer apartment.

It's all fabricated. Yes, my mom was a single working mom, and yes, she signed a six-figure contract for me for The Garden, but the ice cream and apartment and two jobs were part of our "branding story": a feel-good story we could tell the public to increase favorability with the public.