"Carmilla, Laura has been waiting for you for over an hour. What the hell could be holding you up so much that you're late to the filming of your own documentary that's already fitted to your own schedule?" Melissa grouched as she came through the door. She stared at the heap of blankets bunched up on the couch and sighed. She went over to them and yanked them forcefully to reveal a surprised Carmilla.
"What? How did you know I was here?" she giggled, rolling onto the floor.
"Get up," Melissa snapped, tugging on the singer's arm and trying to get her off the ground. It was useless. "Get up now, Carmilla."
"You know what, Melissa?" Carmilla asked slowly. "I think you should call me Ms. Karnstein too."
"I think you're drunk and you need to get off the floor this instant," Melissa insisted. Carmilla looked up at her with glossy, unfocused eyes.
"C'mere," she whispered, and Melissa reluctantly crouched to her level. Carmilla then blew a long breath into Melissa's face.
"Thanks," Melissa responded flatly and rolled her eyes. "Thanks a lot."
"No alcohol," Carmilla declared sloppily, and despite her current stupor, she seemed to be right. Melissa could not smell any alcohol.
"Yeah, okay, well I didn't ask what it was," Melissa grumbled, eyeing an empty bottle with leftover red droplets. She picked it up and tossed it into the trash. "You're late and you need to get to filming. You gave Laura a two-hour lunch break, and you—"
"Ms. Hollis."
"Ms. Hollis a two-hour lunch break, and you need to get on with filming. You're forty-five minutes late, the poor girl has been standing around for almost an hour."
"Oh shit..." Carmilla slurred lazily, stumbling as she scrambled to get up. "That long already? She's gonna hate me!"
Carmilla chuckled loudly as she said the last bit.
"Who am I kidding? She already does!" Carmilla laughed hysterically. Melissa rolled her eyes, but grabbed Carmilla to steady her as the two of them walked out of the room and toward the recording studio.
"Hey there, my favorite little rockstar! How ya doin'—" Mitch began, but stopped suddenly when he noticed Carmilla's exaggerated steps. He looked to Melissa for answers, but the publicist only shrugged and rolled her eyes.
Laura, who'd been standing in the corner, trailed Carmilla with her eyes. And judging not only from Carmilla's off-kilter stature and the looks being exchanged between Melissa and Mitch, something was wrong. She didn't dare move from her spot.
"Welcome... to my abode!" Carmilla exclaimed, wildly swinging her arm out to gesture to the studio. Her eyes found Laura and she staggered over. "This is where... the magic happens!"
"Ms. Karnstein," Laura began.
"This is where I open my mouth, and my heart pours out," Carmilla interrupted. "This is—"
Laura grew impatient and grabbed Carmilla's arm, forcing it down at her side.
"We haven't even started filming yet. Be quiet and wait," Laura told her sharply. Carmilla frowned.
"Well that wasn't very nice," she whispered loudly to Melissa. Laura rolled her eyes, having heard the comment.
"Roll film," Jeff mouthed to Laura. She looked at Carmilla, who'd begun rambling to Melissa about manners and etiquette and the like.
"She's... clearly impaired," Laura protested, but Jeff came over and turned he camera on anyway. Laura couldn't help but just stand and watch.
"Because back in my day," Carmilla declared passionately, "your boss was talking, you didn't interrupt. Back in my day, it was 'Yes, Sir' or 'No, Sir.' 'Please and thank you, Sir.' I was a countess, you hear? A countess!!! I had power! I had everything you could've ever..."
She went on and on as Laura looked to Melissa for help, but the publicist only closed her eyes and shook her head as she pinched the bridge of her nose with disapproval.
"You liked a girl? You gave her flowers!" Carmilla continued ranting. "You took her out. Chivalry! Chivalry was the thing! You liked a girl? You went out on a starry night and fuckin' looked up at the stars. We might not have known everything about them, but we appreciated them as best we could. Hell, Galileo had only just built his fuckin' telescope a few decades earlier!!! But that didn't matter! Up close or far away, stars were stars, and stars were lovely!"
Laura cringed at Carmilla's tangents and made a note to scrap the material later. The poor girl must've been high! Or on some horrendous cocktail of drugs at the very least. Laura didn't know exactly.
"And the church? What the hell did they care?"
Carmilla asked before being distracted as she looked around for something.
"Where's my drink?"
"Ms. Karnstein, if you would quit worrying about your Gatorade for one second—" Melissa tried.
"You! Laura! You'd believe Galileo, wouldn't you?" Carmilla demanded to know. Laura was dumbstruck. "Wouldn't you?"
Silence from Laura.
"Me? I believed Galileo. I told him that myself, you know. I said to him, I said... 'Fuck, Galileo. I'll be damned, Galileo. That telescope really works! And you know what? I bet you're right about this earth.' And you know what he said? He said, 'That doesn't mean much coming from a young, uneducated girl.' And you know what I said? I said to him, 'Maybe so.' Because what else could a young girl like me say at that time? And you know what, I even tried... to use my status to protect him. You know, when the church came after him, banging on his doors, torches in their hands and all... I tried to protect him. He had such a mind. Such a fuckin' mind. He was on some next level thinking, I tell ya. I tried. But my parents feared for their reputation, and I was silenced. It was bullshit, absolute bullshit."
"Ms. Karnstein, they started filming several minutes ago," Melissa informed the seemingly intoxicated starlet.
"Well shit and no one told me?" Carmilla asked, though it didn't seem to bother her. Jeff went for the door.
"I can't work like this," he muttered.
"Jeffrey, come back..." Carmilla feigned disappointment. "Don't go..."
As soon as the door closed behind him, she smiled, pleased with herself.
"Sure glad we finally got rid of that guy," she declared. Melissa rolled her eyes. "Keep rolling your eyes like that, Hellissa. Maybe you'll find a brain back there."
Laura snorted before she could help herself and Melissa gave her an icy glare.
"I'm going to... leave you two," Melissa sighed as she, too, went for the door. "This is stressing me out, and quite frankly, I don't want to deal with this any longer. Ms. Hollis? Good luck."
And with that, she left and closed the door behind her.
"You know what, I bet you would've sided with the church," Carmilla accused Laura. "You would've played it safe and said Galileo was wrong and the church was right. But you'd know in your heart that Galileo was right, right?"
"Ms. Karnstein—"
"You can call me Carmilla. That's just a formality for the idiots," Carmilla paused. "Can you get me my drink? I can't seem to find it anywhere here."
"Where would some be?" Laura asked with resignation.
"The fridge."
"That's down the hall."
"So?"
"I'll be right back," Laura sighed and exited the room to go fetch the drink. When she returned, Carmilla saw the cap had been removed and was held in Laura's other hand. "What's this?"
"It's my drink," Carmilla answered dumbly.
"The Gatorade you live on?" Laura asked flatly. "I'm not buying it."
"Of course you aren't," Carmilla sighed. "I am. It's expensive, but in yearly bundles, it's not so bad."
Laura raised the bottle to her mouth, but instead of taking a sip, she sniffed it. It didn't smell alcoholic, but it did have a peculiar but familiar smell, though Laura was unable to place it. Carmilla watched the whole thing.
"That's... mine," she commented quietly, trying not to sound anxious about Laura's next move being possibly to drink the liquid.
"And I'm sniffing it," Laura argued. It smelled metallic, Laura decided, though she still couldn't pinpoint where she'd smelled it before. She handed Carmilla the bottle reluctantly, and instead of guzzling it like she normally did, Carmilla simply set it down.
"Thank you," she remarked calmly, and Laura nodded.
"Carmilla, would footage would you like to shoot first?" Laura asked.
"I just want natural," Carmilla sighed. "Typical stuff. Me stuff. I thought you'd decide all that. That's part of your style and why I wanted you."
Laura stared at her before chuckling and saying, "So Galileo, huh?"
"What about him?"
"You really spoke to him."
"Yes! Of course," Carmilla nodded vehemently, earning another laugh from Laura. "My father was good friends with him, absolutely adored him. Not enough to offer him sanctuary, but... politics, you know?"
"No, I can't say that I do," Laura giggled. "So tell me something."
Carmilla looked at her with seriousness and Laura straightened herself out as she prepared herself to ask her question.
"What was Galileo's favorite food?"
"He had two favorites," Carmilla answered sincerely. "Pastello de poma cotogne and torta di ricotta con fiori di sambuco. So in English... Quince pastello and... Ricotta cake with elderflowers. They were eh, but the guy loved them."
"Okay," Laura replied, unsure of the correct response to that.
"I have an idea. Why don't you film me—" Carmilla stretched out on the couch. "—sleeping and just whisper something like 'Hard at work,' or something like that? Sound good?"
"No," Laura answered, but picked the camera up off the tripod and positioned herself. She waited for Carmilla to close her eyes before she began approaching and narrating. "After a long day..."
Laura walked slowly over to Carmilla, keeping the lens on the "sleeping" singer. Without warning, Carmilla sprang from the couch and grabbed the video camera, using it to pull Laura in closer.
"I know you have a girlfriend, but... it shouldn't be her," Carmilla whispered.
"I know," Laura whispered back, taking the camera back and no longer paying attention to its orientation as she videoed the floor. "And the only reason I'm admitting this is because I know you're not going to remember any of this later."
Carmilla blinked dumbly.
"I thought you wanted a shot of you sleeping," Laura commented quietly, changing the subject. Carmilla took the video camera and set it on the coffee table before lying back down on the couch.
"Join me."
"Carmilla, I can't—"
"Can't?"
"Shouldn't."
"Laura..."
Carmilla was interrupted as Melissa burst into the room, looking like she was perturbed about something.
"You have a visitor," she announced, looking over at Laura as if she were trying to send a telepathic message. "Shall I bring your guest in?"
Laura stared back at Melissa, trying to decode what the glance meant, and Melissa mimed a cranking motion. Laura jumped and picked the camera up just as Melissa left to go fetch whoever the mystery guest was.
Within a few minutes, the door swung open to reveal Dylan Mane, looking as gorgeous as ever (Laura noted), and wearing a stunning smile (as usual).
"Carmilla!" she exclaimed as Carmilla got up off the couch. "I was in the neighborhood and heard you'd be here, so I thought I'd stop in. I hope I'm not interrupting anything."
"No, nothing," Carmilla shook her head, struggling to appear normal. She stunned her toe on the coffee table and winced.
"Good, I brought you lunch," Dylan announced, taking her hands out from behind her back and revealing a brown paper bag. "Hope you like caviar."
"I love caviar," Carmilla crooned and blinked with dreamy eyes. She watched as Dylan turned to shoot Laura a look. It wasn't an unfriendly look, but more of a look pleading for privacy, and Laura could understand and respect that. She turned the camera off and said a quick goodbye before leaving the two of them alone.
"What's this..?" Dylan asked with an accusatory tone as she picked up the bottle of red liquid and turned to Carmilla. Carmilla didn't respond, and Dylan sighed as she tossed it into the trash.
"I was drinking that," Carmilla protested weakly.
"I can tell," Dylan rolled her eyes.
Carmilla watched as Dylan approached the couch and set the bag of food down on the table.
"So, what's Laura up to?" Dylan inquired as she opened the brown bag and took the food out. Carmilla could feel the heat radiating from the food and as soon as Dylan opened the container, she could smell it.
"She's got a girlfriend," Carmilla reported, watching Dylan take some food out for both of them. "Danny."
"Is she cute?"
"Mm, but she's no you," Carmilla flirted, and Dylan rolled her eyes.
"Oh stop it," Dylan shook her head as she took out some plastic forks. "You don't really mean that."
"Actually, I do..." Carmilla admitted sheepishly. "You're a solid twelve and she's like a solid... six."
"And you're unbiased in that judgement?"
"Completely."
"If you say so."
"I do," Carmilla gently insisted.
"So Laura has a girlfriend, and she doesn't mind working with you?" Dylan asked before putting some food in her mouth.
"Who? Danny? She's not here," Carmilla answered with a mouthful.
"No, I mean Laura," Dylan swallowed. "She doesn't mind being around you? Like... all the time?"
"I don't know, I never asked."
"Do you mind her?" Dylan inquired as she ate some more.
"I mean... it sucks and it doesn't," Carmilla shrugged. She swallowed her food.
"And what do they think? The media?"
"They... haven't caught wind of it yet, I think."
A pause.
"No one's said anything," Carmilla finished. She took another forkful.
"Because I can't have a drama right now," Dylan sighed and wiped at the corners of her mouth with a napkin. "I'm on a list for some TV show, and I'm waiting to hear back from them. They're not going to want me if they think I'll be an over-the-top diva or if I've got baggage."
"I'm not following," Carmilla admitted as she swallowed her food. "A drama?"
"A scandal," Dylan replied as she set her plastic fork down. "I mean, you tell me how it looks when your alleged girlfriend has her... number-one fan with whom she's had incomparable chemistry, flirtations, and possibly more, working on her movie and spending tons of time with her. It looks... suspicious. Bad."
"Oh," Carmilla nodded in agreement.
"We're only in this situation because of them in the first place. The media, that is."
"Right..." Carmilla trailed off.
"I mean, you're a great friend, Carmilla. And I hope I'm as good to you as you are to me," Dylan admitted. "But let's be real with ourselves here. There is nothing going on, and there never has been."
"It's our publicists and the media, yeah," Carmilla nodded again.
"We have a public image," Dylan went on. "But Laura is a threat to that. So how would you like to proceed?"
"Well... it seems we have two options. 'Break up' or one of us has to fake our deaths, never to be seen again," Carmilla joked. "If we go with the latter, I'm the one dying. No negotiations."
"We're going with the former," Dylan decided. "So how would you like to do it?"
"You said you don't want to look like you've got baggage, right? So you'd have to break it off with me."
"Why though?"
"I've got baggage?" Carmilla shrugged, setting her plate and fork down. "Dylan, I'm literally a teenager with a bad attitude. That's my public persona. And quite honestly, it's my actual personality too, at this point. It's not hard. Tell them I'm hard to be with."
"Sounds good, except that makes me seem bitter."
"I'm hard to be with, but we'll still be friends because we've figured out we work better as friends than as... lovers," Carmilla revised the statement. "It's diplomatic, it's sweet, and it's believable. And it preserves both of us."
Dylan raised her eyebrows with surprise at how smooth the whole thing seemed.
"We go out once or twice more, as friends, we have a good time, and they can't say shit about us," Carmilla shrugged and put her feet up. "End of our story."
Two knocks on the door interrupted the conversation, and Dylan looked at Carmilla quizzically.
"It's probably Laura," Carmilla whispered. "Melissa doesn't knock."
Dylan nodded, and sat back.
"Come in," Carmilla called through the door and just as she'd guessed, in walked Laura.
"I forgot the camera," Laura shyly told her as she leaned over and picked up the camera from the table. She apologized and left the room quietly.
"Okay, you go first."
"Well, what happened was our careers and our own personal drama kinda got in the way," Dylan remarked with sorrow in her voice. "I'm in movies, she's on tour... and admittedly, sometimes she was hard to be with. I think she still has some things she has to deal with, and I still have some things to work out myself. In the end, we figured out that we would probably work better as friends than as lovers, and... I can't tell you how much of a relief it is for the both of us to finally be on the same page about something. We've hung out since then—you've probably seen—and we had a blast every time. We ended amicably, and I'm so happy about that. And of course, I wish her the best in all her endeavors. I might even see her this weekend! Who knows? But yeah, that's all I have to say on that."
"That sounds really good!" Carmilla exclaimed with an impressed facial expression. "Okay, my turn."
She paused, and Dylan waited patiently for Carmilla's performance.
"Dylan Mane is a cold-hearted bitch who broke my fucking heart. I hate her with every cell of my body, and I hope she rots in that hole her career is falling into," Carmilla feigned dramatic weeping.
Dylan burst out laughing and responded, "Imagine! The media would have a feeding frenzy."
"Dyl and I split because we felt we were going in separate directions. We both talked about it, and we both agreed it was time for a break. We're still close friends, and we plan to continue this friendship in the future because of how well it works for us. If I'm being honest, it works better for us than our relationship ever did. The fact that she's just recently landed a new role and I've just left to go on tour... it never would've survived this anyway. But yeah, we're still friends. I'm meeting her for a drink this evening."
"Ooh, a nickname? Nice touch," Dylan nodded with approval. "Wish I'd thought of that."
She paused and Carmilla watched as a horrified expression took over Dylan's pretty face.
"What?" Carmilla asked.
"The tape!" she hissed. Carmilla gave her a confused look. "The camera—Laura took the camera— I think I saw a red light flashing on it. That means it was recording! That camera has all of our conversation on it!"
"Fuck," Carmilla breathed as she realized what Dylan meant. They looked at each other for a panicked moment before lunging toward the door. Carmilla yanked the door so fast, it flew off its hinges, and Dylan jumped out of its way before following Carmilla in hot pursuit.
"Laura should be in her room," Carmilla panted. They stopped abruptly as they found Laura's door closed tightly.
"You think she'd answer it for you?" Dylan whispered.
"I don't know," Carmilla answered truthfully. They both hesitated before Dylan gently knocked on the door.
"Laura? It's Dylan. I..." she trailed off, trying to think of a reason she'd want to see Laura. "I need to talk to you about something."
Carmilla heard Laura walking towards the door, and she backed up a few steps to give her space.
"Yes?" Laura asked upon opening the door for Dylan. She dared a look at Carmilla before focusing on Dylan again instead.
"I'm going to come clean," Dylan sighed. "Carm and I were... having a private conversation, and I hadn't realized that the camera was still on. Would you mind deleting the recording?"
Silence.
"I know that goes against your artistry as a director, and if it were of extreme importance, I wouldn't even ask such a thing of you," Dylan told her apologetically. "But Carmilla and I really need that privacy right now. I'm sure you understand."
"I... I gave the tape to Jeff," Laura confessed. "I'm sorry... If I still had it in my possession, I'd let you delete the footage yourself just to give you that peace of mind."
"So we'll have to go to Jeff?" Dylan inquired.
"Yes, unfortunately..." Laura nodded. "I'll go with you, if you'd like."
"I'd love that," Dylan smiled kindly before Carmilla could object. So the three of them walked to Jeff's office in a dead awkward silence.
"So..." Dylan remarked delicately.
"So..." Laura echoed. "How's shooting?"
"Oh, it's... great," Dylan nodded a little too enthusiastically. "It's really fantastic. I love my co-stars. Sometimes you get a job, and it's not really all that fun working with someone—"
"Yeah, I know what you mean," Laura interrupted. She shot a look at Carmilla.
"But this one feels like it's gonna be a great work environment and an even greater show," Dylan concluded. "I don't know, it's just... it's new for me, you know? Most of the time I'm in more serious roles, but this one's a comedy. I get to test out my sense of humor. And it's really interesting because the writers and directors let us all improvise, so the day is never dull."
"I always thought it was cool when a scene or line was unscripted and made it into the final cut," Laura agreed. She stopped in front of a grey door and pointed. "Here's Jeff's office."
"Thank you so much," Dylan grinned and opened the door to reveal Jeff sitting and talking with some other man, who was holding an envelope.
"It's been a pleasure," Jeff smiled at him, standing up and and shaking his hand.
"Please," the man responded. "The pleasure is mine."
The man then turned to leave and nodded at all three girls on his way out.
"Jeff, this is Dylan Mane," Laura introduced her. "She says we filmed something without her permission, which is true, so we have to delete the footage."
"Oh, yes!" Jeff nodded and picked the camera up off his desk. "I'd just reviewed the footage and was about to come and ask you if you really wanted that saved."
"You're too kind," Dylan breathed a sigh of relief as she watched Laura pull up the footage of her and Carmilla and their conversation.
"Did you want to delete it yourself, or do you want me to do it?" Laura asked.
"I trust you," Dylan shrugged. She watched Laura delete the footage from the camera's memory and thanked her.
"Why don't you keep the camera?" Jeff suggested to Laura.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah," he nodded. "I don't want you to have to worry if something like this happens again."
"Thank you," Laura offered a small smile.
"Well, I'll see you around, Carmilla..." Dylan cooed before leaning in and giving the singer a tender kiss on the cheek.
"Bye, Dyl..." Carmilla called after her. She and Laura watched as the actress left. She turned to Laura and said, "Ready to start getting usable footage?"
Laura nodded hesitantly, turned the camera on, and began recording.
"Follow me," Carmilla said, and led Laura back to her room. Through the camera, Laura watched as Carmilla went through some of her things before producing two small display cases. One case held two albums, the other case held one album and still had room for one more. "These are the first copies ever of each of my albums."
Laura zoomed in on the cases.
"As per my own tradition, these have never been played, nor have they even been taken out of the case," Carmilla went on. "I plan to do that with my upcoming album, Back Together Again."
Laura videoed the display cases for a few moments.
"You can talk," Carmilla murmured to her. "I think that brings out the authenticity of this whole film."
"So you've never played any of these?" Laura hesitantly asked.
"No," Carmilla shook her head. Laura zoomed in even closer to the albums to show that they were still in their original plastic packaging. "My producer Mitch sends them straight to me as soon as they're made. He'll probably be sending me Back Together Again within a few days."
"That's a cool tradition you have," Laura remarked. She didn't hear Melissa come up behind her.
"Alright, Carmilla," Melissa declared. "It's time for your hair and makeup. Your next show is in five hours."
"This is Melissa, my publicist-slash-manager," Carmilla commented flatly, rolling her eyes as soon as Melissa's back was turned. She walked up close to the camera and whispered, "I call her Hellissa because she came straight from there."
Laura chuckled, and the camera shook slightly.
"I'll be in my office if you need me," Melissa informed her. Carmilla nodded, and the two split ways, with Laura following Carmilla.
"So this is my least favorite part of the day," Carmilla told the camera. "To be primped, poked at, and prodded... it's not glamor, it's a nuisance. Let me roll out of bed and show up like that."
Laura followed Carmilla with the camera as they made it to the hair and makeup trailer where the stylists were waiting.
"Fishnets?" Jacob asked, holding them up to Carmilla.
"No," Carmilla shook her head. "Leather."
"And that is why I love you, girl!" he exclaimed.
"That's Jacob. He's in charge of my wardrobe. He means well," Carmilla smiled. "And this—"
A blonde woman walked into frame wearing a friendly expression.
"—is my hair stylist, Jen. She knows I don't like too much done, so she keeps it minimal," Carmilla explained. She turned to face Jen. "And I thank you for that every day."
In the end, Laura set the camera up so that it filmed Carmilla sitting in a chair as her beauty team worked on her. Laura planned to speed it up later in production so that it was a time-lapse shot. While she just sat and watched them, she couldn't help but notice that Carmilla really didn't need all that much done to her. She was just naturally beautiful.
She loved the way Carmilla's dark, wavy hair cascaded down her shoulders, resembling satin whenever the light hit it a certain way. Her hair always had a beautifully glossy sheen. And the eyeliner around Carmilla's eyes was devastating as it enhanced their already sultry look.
At this precise moment, Carmilla was biting her lower lip, deep in thought about whatever answer she had to the question that her makeup artist had just asked.
"I think some people are just miserable and there's nothing you can do about it," Carmilla answered frankly. "No matter what you do, you can never please them. But don't make that your problem. It's their problem. Just because they're never going to be happy shouldn't mean that it should affect you and make you miserable too. Sure, it sucks that they're always in a bad mood, but you don't have to be."
Laura could feel herself falling deeper and deeper into a hole as she thought about what Carmilla had just said and watched the makeup artist line her lips and fill them in. She thought about how soft Carmilla's lips must be.
"You're all set!" the makeup artist declared, allowing Carmilla to rise from the chair. "Melissa just wants you to get changed, and then you'll be up and out there in no time."
Laura jumped up and picked up the camera before following Carmilla to where she kept her garments. Carmilla watched Laura for a moment before wearing the sexiest, flirtiest smirk Laura had seen on her in a while.
"You, uh... gonna film me getting undressed?" Carmilla asked coquettishly. Laura felt her face grow hot.
"Uh..."
"It's fine," Carmilla chuckled. "Fan service, right?"
"Yeah," Laura nodded vigorously. "Yeah, that."
Laura kept the camera steady as Carmilla unbuttoned her shirt and let it drop off her body before pulling her pants off. Laura swallowed hard and tried to think about literally anything other than Carmilla's matching black lace bra and panties combination.
After what seemed like an eternity, Carmilla had changed into some ripped black jeans and a vintage Joan Jett t-shirt paired with some black combat boots.
"You're to be up in five minutes!" Melissa shrilly shouted from the doorway. Laura hadn't even seen her open the door to poke her head in. "Are you mad!?! Why do you always leave everything to the last minute? Get on the lifting platform and go!"
Carmilla jogged out with Laura on her heels, and stood on a platform that was ready to go up on her cue. Carmilla began her pre-show swearing ritual.
"Fuck, why do I do this?" she muttered to herself. "Why do I always do this? Fuck..."
The small square platform underneath her began to vibrate as it was switched on. Soon it would lift her to the stage and she would make her entrance.
"T minus thirty! Up on five!" a crew member announced to her, tossing her a microphone. Carmilla caught it, despite her sweaty palms.
"Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!" Carmilla hissed to herself.
"Fifteen!" the same man called.
"What the fuck are you doing, Karnstein?" Carmilla harshly asked herself. "What the fuck are you doing? You wanna die?"
"Carmilla, would you cut that out?" Melissa scolded her. "If they ever turned that mic on early—"
"You wanna fucking die!?!" Carmilla shouted at herself, ignoring Melissa.
"Ten!" the man yelled to her.
"Yeah! Time to fucking die!" Carmilla responded to herself.
"Five!" he yelled. "Up!"
Once again, the screams of the audience hit her like a brick wall, and she ran up to the mic stand positioned at the front and center of the stage. Laura went around to a set of stairs and made her way to stage level before setting up on the sidelines to continue filming.
"Do you guys wanna meet my band?" Carmilla asked the audience, who cheered in affirmation. "The first guitarist is Matt. He enjoys traveling, trying new foods, and long walks on the beach—as long as you're holding the leash."
The crowd cheered at her last statement and she smiled with amusement.
"The next guitarist is 'The Other Guy.' He's afraid of the dark, heights, and his mother when he hasn't cleaned his room in the house that he still lives with her in."
A roar of laughter from her fans.
"The drummer is Will," Carmilla went on. "As a drummer, he loves to bang on things. The table, the couch, the backseat of his car..."
More laughter, including from Carmilla.
"And last but not least... Casey, The New Girl—she likes to hold the leash," Carmilla smirked and winked at her bassist, who waved and blew her a kiss. Carmilla paused to adjust the height of the mic stand before talking again. "So as you all probably know from my Twitter account, I'm in the middle of filming a movie."
The audience cheered once more.
"And I can promise you that it's not gonna be a bullshit movie like the one Katy Perry put out," Carmilla declared, which drew more laughs from her fans. "You actually know the director. It's Laura Hollis."
A pause.
"Laura?" Carmilla turned to the side of the stage and beckoned her. "Come out. Bring the camera."
Carmilla turned to the audience with a mischievous look in her eye.
"Wow. Not the first time I've said that," she informed them all with a smile just as Laura joined her onstage. "So, Laura. How has it been, working with me? And be honest."
Laura shrugged, and the crowd laughed.
"Thank you for your honesty," Carmilla nodded with approval. "And now the for show—Laura, you can stay up here with me the entire time, or you can film from the side of the stage. Whichever you think looks better."
"I've had Jeff set up cameras in various locations so I can get different angles," Laura told Carmilla, who nodded. "I'll stay on the sidelines."
Carmilla watched Laura take her leave before turning back to the audience.
"You've all waited long enough, who's ready for a show?"
The roar of the crowd told Carmilla all that she needed to know, and with that she kicked off her concert.