Saturday, January 10, 2009

Entry #43

The Interview
By Anks


She was nervous and fidgety as she rode the escalator.

What if he screamed, refused the interview and threw her out?

Don’t be silly. He won’t recognize you.

What if he did?

He wouldn’t. Celebrity Reporter Dianne Cooper’s stylized self bore no resemblance to the disguised, teenaged DeeCee he had met. She had ascended in life. But then, so had he!

For the last five years, she had carried the guilt of having used him. It had been a one off incident. But, its memory kept her awake at night sometimes.

She pushed the image of his beckoning, lecherous eyes out of her mind. Years ago when he was a starlet breaking into the mainstream, his producer hid him in a small town till the release. Just to get DeeCee out of his skin, the editor of a local paper promised her a permanent place if she got him a scoop with the mysterious new star.

The town had one big hotel. Finding him had taken her a week. Getting him drunk and to bed had needed just another hour. Her Dictaphone captured every slurred syllable of his drunken speech. The next day’s headline read “Confessions” beside a picture of his unclothed torso. The story was picked up by papers everywhere. DeeCee metamorphosed into Dianne Cooper overnight!

Success’s sweet memory boosted her confidence while she waited for the star to appear.

He appeared and broke into a grin. “DeeCee, I’ve been meaning to thank you for the last five years”

29 comments:

JaneyV said...

Ah the symbiotic relationship between reporter and celebrity! All exposure is good exposure when you're on the way up. How nice that he recognised that.

You packed a lot into your 250 words. I enjoyed reading it.

Anonymous said...

nice...i can imagine the look on her face!

Sameera Ansari said...

She deserves it!Nice one Anks :)

Lena said...

I surely enjoyed this one. Good work, Anks

Aniket Thakkar said...

Excellent chain of thoughts there Anks! I thoroughly enjoyed reading every word of it!

Rachel Green said...

Delightful.

laughingwolf said...

hubris... :)

Patsy said...

All publicity is good publicity, eh?

Good one.

Sarah Hina said...

Mutual using sometimes works out. ;)

Great premise for this one. I enjoyed the telling, too. Inventive take!

Anil Sawan said...

wow, so much in 250 words! beautifully written!

iLL Man said...

Nice catch at the end. Lots packed into the word limit.

Ewen

Anks said...

@ Janey,
As they say, any publicity is good publicity... thanks for liking it!

@ Harshad,
Ha ha... how do you suppose she reacted?

@ Sameera,
Thanks :)

@ Lena,
Thank you...

peggy said...

thats a neat take on the prompt, very cool!

Anks said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Excellent and so true. Made me laugh out loud.

Anonymous said...

ahh, the soft side of publicity...

Anks said...

@ Aniket,
Thanks... glad you did...

@ Leatherdykeuk,
thank u

@ Laughing Wolf,
Was it? :)

@ Patsy,
I guess sometimes it is! :)

Anks said...

@ Sarah,
I guess it does... thanks! :)

@Sawan,
Thanks... i wish the word count was a bit relaxed though.... :)

@iLL Man,
Thanks Ewen...

Anks said...

@ Peggy,
Thanks :)

@LittlesaintNick,
Interesting name! glad you liked it... :)

@One more believer,
the easy one... :)

The Preacherman said...

How the hell did you pack all that into 250 words???

Marvellous stuff old bean. Thoroughly enjoyed. Ta very much

Tiffany said...

You did pack a lot into that. Nice punch at the end. I enjoyed it.

bluesugarpoet said...

Great twist at the end! Loved the imagery created with "beckoning, lecherous eyes." Good stuff. - jana

Catherine Vibert said...

Nice job Anks. I'm glad she doesn't have to feel the guilt of that anymore.

BrownPhantom said...

Just how spineless was DeeCee!!
Did she smile ?
Nice Anks :).
-Prashant Dhanke

Esther Avila said...

Loved it! Nice writing. Loved the ending - apparently they did each other a favor. :)

Wished I could keep reading.
Nice writing.ex

Aniket Thakkar said...

I have written a spoof story of sorts on Ascension.... do read it when you get time! http://foolishnessofthings.blogspot.com/2009/01/fyeo-ascension-revisited.html

You are a character in it as well! :-D

ceedy said...

A perfect symbiotic relationship..

PJD said...

Despite the truth in the ending, it was not what I was expecting. I think you did a great job putting so much backstory into such a small package, keeping it intriguing, and building the tension.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for being a wonderful part of the contest!