“Blake…what a gorgeous name for a gorgeous woman. Are you new here? I haven’t seen you around and I pretty much know everyone,” he says with a wink.
“Um, yeah. Second week here,” I said, wishing he would go away. I check my watch for the time. Where the hell is Hannah?
“Well, I’m the head of accounting. If you ever need anything, and I mean anything, you’re more than welcome to stop by my office,” he says in what he thinks is a seductive tone. I fight the urge to roll my eyes. I’d much rather douse myself in gasoline, set myself on fire, and stand in front of a high power fan than to go to him for anything. He’s about as creepy as Kevin; only difference is that he looks good so most women would give him a pass.
“Oh, Charlie, hi!” I hear a cunty voice call out. Madison walks over to the desk and hugs Charlie, waves at Juliet, and ignores me all together.
“And good morning to you, beautiful,” Charlie says to her. I clutch my stomach, willing myself to keep my breakfast down. Not only is Charlie a creep, the poor man is also blind and has a fetish for animals. Even more gross.
Madison giggles and blushes like the twit she is. “Oh stop it,” she says with a wave of her hand, though I’m sure she’s enjoying every bit of it. “I wanted to ask you if your brother still knew how to hack into things. I locked myself out of an account and deactivated the email linked to it, so I need some help getting in.”
“I’m sure he could. I could give him a call if you want,” he says, eying her up and down.
“Aww, you’d do that for me?” she cooed.
“Anything for a gorgeous woman such as yourself,” he replies, taking her hand into his. I roll my eyes. Geez, get a room while you’re at it.
By a pure miracle, Hannah and her publicist finally walk through the door. Large, dark sunglasses cover most of her face, her thin lips in a tight line. The oversized fur coat seems to swallow her small frame, making her look like a walking fur ball. I wonder how many animals died for that thing. I’m sure Silas will have a complete nervous breakdown when he sees it.
I walk over to them and extend my hand to her with a smile. “Hannah, hi. I’m so glad you could make it,” I say, keeping my voice inviting and welcoming.
Instead of shaking my hand, she leans over and whispers something to her publicist, leaving me standing there like an idiot. Her publicist clears his throat and turned his gaze to me.
“Hannah prefers not to be touched. She’s ready to get started with the interview,” he says, holding out his hand. “I’m David Harper, by the way; her publicist.”
“Right, I remember,” I say, shaking his hand. Hannah whispered something else to David.
“So, shall we get started on the interview?” he asks.
“Yes, right this way,” I say, leading them to the elevators while trying to ignore the snickering from Cuntbag as I pass her.
Baby Jesus, I don’t ask for much, but please let this interview be a successful. I’m pretty sure Madicunt won’t let me live it down if it turns out to be a disaster. Thanks in advance.
10:52 a.m.
In the conference room that we’ve transformed into our interview space
Caesar, Silas, and Kevin move around the room setting up lights and cameras as Hannah and I sit in our chairs. She finally takes off the huge coat and sunglasses, revealing empty, sunken eyes and a frail frame sheathed in a tight dress. I could damn near see her bones. Did she go to rehab for drugs or an eating disorder?
She whispers something else to her David, who then turns to Silas and starts saying something about the position of the lights. I pray that she doesn’t relay the answers to my questions to her publicist, otherwise this interview won’t go very well and I’m sure Gary would be pissed to have paid so much money and ended up with a shitty product.
After a few more minutes of adjusting the lights to “make her look less washed out,” we’re finally ready to get started.
“You ready, B?” Caesar asks behind the camera.
I look to Hannah. “Are you ready, Hannah?” I ask.
She looks back at her publicist, who nods at me. “She’s ready,” he says.
I take a deep breath. Please let this interview go well.
“I’m ready,” I finally say.
Here goes nothing.
11:00 a.m.
Interviewing Hannah Burgess
I look down at the cards I’d written my questions down on. Okay, Blake, you got this. It’s just an interview. This is your moment to shine and prove to Madicunt that she’s wrong about you.
“First and foremost, thanks so much for agreeing to sit down with us for this tell-all interview. I’m sure this past year has been very hard for you and we at Hot Topic are very happy to see that you’re home and doing well now,” I start with a smile.
She gives a small smile, the first time she’s shown any type of emotion since she walked through the door. “Thank you for the chance to talk. I just want to clear my name and allow my fans to understand everything that has been going on,” she answers. Well, at least she’s finally talking herself instead of having David talk for her. So far, so good.
“There have been so many rumors and speculations on what caused your breakdown. To most of us, it was shocking to see the girl that seemed to be in very popular blockbuster film and the new face of Covergirl spiral the way you did. So let’s hear it from you; what happened?” I ask, slightly leaning forward and squinting my eyes like I used to see the interviewer on 60 Minutes do when talking to a guest. Hopefully I don’t look weird.
Hannah releases a dramatic sigh. “There were so many things. I was overworked and tired, feeling as if I was being pulled in so many directions. It gets overwhelming after a while, you know?”
“I can only imagine,” I say, trying to seem sympathetic.
“Then my best friend Jamie Sparrow…he introduced me to a couple of drugs that would help me stay awake and alert when I was on set. I didn’t think it was doing any harm. I was able to still do my work and I thought I had it under control. It’s so easy to feel like you’re in control until you’re suddenly a slave of it,” Hannah continues, fiddling with the wad of tissue in her hand. “I started focusing more on my next high instead of my next casting call. Jamie and I spent more time partying and drinking and we spent more time in the tabloids for our behavior than we did in the media for our work.”
I definitely remember that. She and Jamie were headlines for weeks for DUIs, starting fights at clubs, traffic violations, and erratic behavior in public. It was a drastic change for Hannah to go from America’s sweetheart to America’s problem child and the tabloids ate it up. Their Bonnie and Clyde wild-child streak continued until…
“I stopped caring about a lot of things. My agency threatened to drop me and everything and I didn’t care. You know, it felt good to finally rebel and do what I want. I’ve spent my whole life being the person the industry thought I should be, so it was good to be free. Any problems I had, I solved them with a hit of whatever drug Jamie and I had on hand. Ecstasy, marijuana, coke, whatever. But then one night we took it too far,” she said, her voice cracking. You could hear a pin drop with how silent the room became.
She sniffles and wipes her nose with the wad of tissue. “Everything changed when I saw my best friend overdose in front of me. It was no longer fun. It wasn’t a joke anymore. I live with the guilt everyday knowing that I probably could’ve saved him, but I was so high that I couldn’t comprehend how real it was. My best friend was dying while I was riding the high of my life and that’s something I had to live with, something that I still think about. That should’ve been my wake-up call, but it just made me fall deeper into it. The drugs helped me forget the guilt and pain. They temporarily erased my nightmares and allowed me to sleep. But I was so far gone in this spiral that I hadn’t noticed how much weight I’d lost from not eating or what all of this was doing to my skin and teeth and my health. I just stopped caring about everything,” she says and goes quiet.
&n
bsp; Wow.
I definitely didn’t expect any of this. My heart breaks for her. I can’t even begin to imagine going through all of that, especially in the public eye at that. Here she was clearly depressed and practically screaming for help, but all the media did was tear her apart for her appearance and make sick jokes about her being a drug addict, even going so far to say that she was on the same track to end up like Jamie.
“I’m so sorry, to hear all that, Hannah. I’m pretty sure that was such a hard time in your life, even more so when you have the world watching you go through it,” I finally say.
She nods. “You know, everyone wants to be famous until they see what it takes to be famous. The things you have to compromise for and the person you have to become in order to be ‘successful.’ Sometimes it all becomes too much. Sometimes you get tired of changing who you are for people you don’t even know for the sake of a dollar. Maybe you don’t want to be the face of that company but you don’t have a choice because you’re under contract. And then what do you when your own manager was sexually assaulting you in exchange for the high profile movies?”
Holy fuck.
Talk about a true tell-all interview. That was something NEVER released to the public. Gary is going to be so pleased with me; I know it.
“I was just mentally tired. Tried overdosing on some pills I’d gotten from a party the night before, but my publicist found me in time and got help. Of course that turned into a media shit storm once word got out. I had dreams of Jamie while I was in the hospital and he basically told me to get my shit together. I didn’t need to end up like him. So I went straight to rehab to get clean and work on all the demons I have within me right now,” she says softly. “But when you’ve done so many outlandish things, it’s kind of hard to get back on the right foot and gain your footing. Everyone still sees me as this party-going, drug-using wild child and all I want to do is focus on getting healthy and getting my life back on track. That’s it.”
“So with all that’s happened, where do you see yourself in the future?” I ask her.
“I’m working on starting a foundation for girls who’ve found themselves in similar situations and are looking for help,” she says proudly. “It’s so easy to get caught up in drugs and the party life, but when it’s time to get help, sometimes it seems like you’re alone in your battle. I want others to know that there’s help out there if you want it.”
“What are your plans for your career?”
She thinks for a moment before giving me a small shrug. “Right now, I’m just focusing on my health. Being fresh out of rehab, jumping back into work wouldn’t be the best thing for me right now. I just want to spend time with my family and close friends and try to figure out what it is I want to do. At the end of the day, I just want to be happy.”
“With everything you’ve been through, you deserve to be. We here at Hot Topic wish you nothing but the best in your future endeavors. Thank you so much for sitting down with me and telling our subscribers your story.”
“Thank you for allowing me to get the truth out,” she says.
Did I nail this interview or what?
12:07 p.m.
Hot Topic lobby
“Thanks so much again for doing this interview, Hannah. Your story is bound to touch so many people,” I say to her when we reach the lobby. She whispers to David for a few moments and then puts on her sunglasses. Great. So we’re back to this again.
“She says thanks for allowing her. When will this interview be live?” he asks.
“I’m not sure since it has to be edited and all that. I can definitely email you when we’re sure on the date,” I say.
“That’ll be great. It was nice to—”
“Hey, Blake, hold on a sec!” someone calls behind us. I turn to see Gary jogging toward us with a digital camera in his hand. “It’s always tradition that when a celebrity walks through our door, we get their picture for our Hall of Fame. Mind if I snap a quick one of you, Hannah?”
She shrugs and takes her sunglasses back off.
“Okay, Blake, stand next to her, please,” Gary says, holding the camera up to his face. David stands on the other side of Hannah and smiles. Gary slightly lowers the camera a little and frowns at him. “Um…can you move a few steps over to your right?”
David takes three small steps. “This good?”
“Uh, a little more,” Gary says. David takes a couple more steps and Gary nods. “Perfect.”
“But I won’t even be in the picture!” David complains.
“Yeah, that’s the point,” Gary says and turns back to us. “Okay, ladies. Smile!”
Hannah and I both smile and Gary snaps the picture and looks at the camera. “Beautiful,” he says and extends his hand to her. “It was nice to meet you Ms. Burgess.”
“She doesn’t like to be touched,” I say, to which Hannah looks at me and gives me a small smile.
“Oh, sorry,” Gary says, putting his hand down.
We watch them leave the magazine before heading back to the elevator.
“That was good stuff you got today, kid. Really good stuff,” he says.
“Thanks,” I say, unable to stop the smile from crossing my lips.
Thank you, baby Jesus, for making this better than I ever could imagine.
1:45pm
Conference room
We all sit in conference and rewatch the interview. Madison of course acts completely uninterested and files her nails instead of paying attention. When it's finally over, everyone bursts into a round of applause. I can't help but blush. I'm still reeling that I managed to pull something that big off. I officially feel like I'm a real columnist.
“That was awesome, Blake,” Shayla says with a smile. “This is going to be a hit.”
“You never cease to amaze me, kid,” Gary said, clapping me on the shoulder. “That interview was nothing short of amazing.”
“Thanks, guys,” I say. I feel on top of the moon. Wanting to rub it in Madison’s face, I look over at her.
“What did you think, Madison?” I ask sweetly.
She stands and rolls her eyes without a word, walking out of the conference room before Gary dismissed us from the meeting.
“What’s her problem?” Gary asks, gesturing toward the empty doorway that Madison disappeared through.
I shrug. Who knows and who cares?
Blake - 5, Crybaby - 0.
How pathetic.
3:47 p.m.
At my desk
Taylor: OMG, CAROLINA!!! GET ON TWITTER RIGHT NOW! DELILAH HUTCHINGTON AND DERRICK KENNEDY ARE HAVING A NASTY BREAKUP FIGHT!
I quickly log into Twitter and search for Delilah’s page. If I can break this story on the website, that will be amazing. Man, I'm on a roll today.
“The girl you cheated on me with isn't even pretty,” Delilah tweets. “If you're going to cheat, at least upgrade, not downgrade.”
I screenshot the flurry of angry tweets from her page and move on to Derrick’s page. His timeline is filled with pictures of him and his new girlfriend, an up and coming fashion model trying to make a name for herself.
“When you ditch the zero and get a hero,” he captions a photo of him kissing his new lady.
“Hey Delilah, how about you worry about handling your reoccurring yeast infections instead of who I'm dating,” he tweets.
Delilah responds back to him, tweeting, “Maybe I wouldn't have to worry about that if you were fucking every dirty slut in Hollywood!”
Yikes.
They always say that the truth always comes from kids, angry people, or drunk people. Breakups can make people do some crazy things.
3:49 p.m.
Still at my desk feeling like I complete boss
As Told By Blake
By Blake Spencer
Is it laundry day?
It must be for one couple, or should I say ex-couple Delilah Hutchington and Derrick Kennedy. When Derrick posted pictures of his new arm candy, Delilah was NOT happy. She
's been airing out their dirty laundry, even going so far to say that his cheating ways are the cause of her yeast infections! Sounds like they both could benefit from a trip to the clinic instead of bickering back and forth on Twitter! Check out the screenshots below and leave a comment telling me who do you think won this Twitter dispute? We here at Hot Topic wonder how this will all play out! Stay tuned for any updates on this story.
Love and gossip,
B
4:23 p.m.
Still at my desk
“Well, I’ll be,” Carrie Jo said from her desk. “The views on our site are skyrocketing.”
“Really? What are they looking at?” Shayla asks, leaning over to look at her computer.
“It looks like…holy crappola! Blake, how in the world did you get the info on this to be one of the first to break this story? It’s just NOW become a trending topic on Twitter!” CJ says, looking at me over her computer.
“My friend texted me about it and I jumped on it,” I say nonchalantly.
“You’re on fire today, girl,” Caesar says from his computer. No sooner than he says it, Gary bursts through the door.
“Spencer, you’re hot, hot, hot today! I swear you’re always on top of things with all these great ideas!” he exclaims, clasping his hands together.
“Thank, Gary,” I say, catching Madicunt in the corner of my eye scowling at me as usual.
“You know what? Let’s make you a creative team leader,” he said, pointing at me.
“What?” Madison and I both say in unison, although she sounds pissed while I’m completely surprised.
“Yes, I want you to be the creative team leader, Spencer. Your ideas are fresh, your connections will get us the best stories the quickest, and you’re fast on your feet when it comes to brainstorming. What do you think, guys?”
Musings of a Gossip Queen: A Chick-Lit Comedy Page 14