Chapter 37: Television Star

Sara yawned loudly. She tried to contain it, but it just came out with no control. She quickly stifled it, hoping as not to annoy Denman sitting next to her in the car. She was tired, but there was no way she could quit now. The second presentation had gone even better than the first, with even more reporters cramming into the stands surrounding the pool. Each trick she did was met with roaring applause. And, when she was done, Sara was full of confidence and optimism, the highest it had been since she was revealed by Marian the day before..

ABN had sent out a car to pick both her and Denman up and take them to the studio for filming their interview for Australia Tonight. It was going to be a special broadcast featuring the one and only mermaid. Sara merely sighed at hearing at the marketing cheesiness behind it.

"How are you feeling?" Denman asked Sara.

"Considering all that's happened, not completely terrible. But, it's only the first day too. It was only last night people found out about me, and we've been extremely busy since then," Sara replied. "So I am tired, but I'm still determined to see this through."

The rest of the ride continued in mostly silence, as Sara was happy for some peace and quiet, if only for a moment. It wasn't too much longer before the car pulled into a back alley next to a taller glass and steel building in downtown. The driver held up the security pass at the entrance to an underground garage. Then, they pulled smoothly into the parking garage, plunging the interior of the car into darkness.

The driver swung left before stopping the car next to an inconspicuous entranceway, with a tall woman with brown hair tied tight into a bun standing in front of them. She held a tablet in her hand and had on an earpiece. She looked like she was all about business and not someone to be trifled with. She stepped forward when the car was fully stopped, opening up the side door for Sara, who stepped out cautiously onto the ground. The woman looked Sara up and down. "You must be Sara Meyer," she stated excitedly, trying to still sound stern and businesslike.

"Yeah. That's me," Sara responded, shaking the woman's hand. She felt strong and powerful. Sara only hoped she could trust her.

"My name is Helena Montgomery. I'm the Executive VP of Operations here at ABN. It's a pleasure to meet you," the woman introduced herself.

"Good to meet you. I'm surprised a high-up executive like yourself is meeting me down here instead of a simple page," Sara noted.

"You are our honored guest. And, we are expecting impeccable ratings from your broadcast. It's only necessary that I welcome you in person. Walk with me."

Sara stepped quickly to keep with Helena's stride. Denman tagged along behind. She was to have a smaller part in the broadcast, talking a bit of the scientific research Sara had done with her, but other than that, most of the attention would be focused directly on Sara, the mermaid.

"How is this interview going to go down?" Sara asked.

"Basically you walk out on stage, smile, wave, answer the questions from our hosts, and you go home. It's piss easy," Helena informed nonchalantly.

"But… That's it? I feel there should be more to it than that," Sara questioned.

"Ha… My dear, you're a celebrity now. You just have to say whatever is on your mind and people will love you," Helena added.

"I guess I can do that…"

"Excellent! Then you're going to do well out there. Don't you worry. You're going to be a television star," Helena encouraged. They wound their way through the hallways of the studio, passing various technicians, assistants, and workers, each of whom stopped to stare at Sara as she passed by. I hope I'm not gonna have to deal with this for the rest of my life. I can't stand people staring at me. I can tolerate it for now. But, I don't know how long that will last. Sara thought to herself.

Helena stopped in front of a large door with Sara's name on a board about eye level. Sara raised an eyebrow, but Helena didn't notice. She opened the door and entered in, with Sara following right behind. "Ok this is your dressing room. We'll send in wardrobe and makeup people in here eventually to prep you for the show. Your manager will be in a different one a few doors down." Helena informed.

"Alright…" Sara trailed off. It was a normal brick room, with a lit up mirror against one side and several racks of clothing against the other. A couch with a coffee table lay at the back of the dressing room.

"We'll send someone soon for you. But, for now, just sit back and relax," Helena added, before disappearing out of the room as quickly as they entered, leaving Sara alone.

Sara sat down at the desk, staring at herself in the mirror. Her piercing blue eyes stared back at her, although there was a sense of weariness in them. Her long blond hair hung loosely, but a few stray ends fluttered about, reminding her of the stress of her long and busy day. Ever since being revealed by Marian the night before, her life had become a non-stop rollercoaster. She wondered when, if ever, life would return to normalcy.

It was not five minutes later, when a succession of knocks sounded on the door. Sara turned quickly, surprised by the sudden interruption of her thoughts. "Come in," Sara announced.

A short girl, around the same age as Sara entered in. She had a wide-eyed look about you, staring at Sara. "You're S-Sara Meyer… The mermaid… I was told you'd be here.. But to actually see you… This is… Wow…" The girl stammered.

"Who are you exactly?" Sara questioned, somewhat skeptical.

"Oh! Sorry… So… Sorry, I should've explained that first. I'm… Lizzy…Lizzy Wright. I'm going to be your personal page and assistant while you're here at ABN! This is amazing! Can, I get you anything? Anything at all. Don't hesitate. I'd go to the moon and back if that's what you wish. Would you like water? A Coke? Coffee? You don't need seaweed… right?" Lizzy rambled. Sara could barely keep up with all that she was saying.

I mean, I don't really want or need a servant. But, she seems nice enough if not a bit too energetic Sara pondered. "Ummm… If you could just get me a black coffee and a glass of water with a straw, that would be awesome Lizzy," Sara stated.

Lizzy beamed. "I'm on it! I'll get that to you right away." And with that, she sprinted out of Sara's room.

Sara just groaned and shook her head. First Laurie, and now Lizzy. The amount of people getting starstruck by me is only going to get worse from here. I just feel it. Luckily the VP lady treated me like someone normal-ish. But that's mostly because I'm gonna make her wallet fatter. It was only a few minutes, and Lizzy returned, seemingly frazzled. She was obviously nervous, most likely intimidated by Sara. "I… got your coffee and water! Just as you wanted. Black coffee and a straw with the water too!" Lizzy stuttered.

"Thanks Lizzy. You can just put it down on the desk," Sara instructed, trying to sound genuine.

"Right away Ma'am!" Lizzy ambled quickly over, but her nervousness made her clumsy. The water was too full in her hand, and at her sudden stop, the top inch of water in the glass launched outward, landing all over Sara.

Sara stood up instantly. A feeling of adrenaline exploded in her. Gotta get out of here! Wait… The adrenaline immediately turned to annoyance and apathy. This was the place for her. It didn't matter if she changed in front of Lizzy, because everyone already knew about her secret. Not much of a secret anymore.

Sara rolled her eyes before sitting down on the floor as to not fall over. It didn't take long, and with a shimmering sound and flash, her tail appeared. Sara looked up at Lizzy, whose eyes were wide and mouth open in shock. "I...I...I… M-ms. Meyer…. I…. So.. Sorry. I didn't… I mean…" Lizzy stammered, unable to get the words out of her mouth.

Sara held up her hand to silence her. Lizzy shut her mouth promptly. "Lizzy, it would be really nice if you brought me a towel right now," She spoke sincerely.

Lizzy nodded quickly. "Ok. Towel. Got it," And she raced out of the room. Sara sighed, resting backward onto her elbows. At least I don't have to hide myself anymore. So, that's one good thing about what has happened. Sara chuckled to herself, trying to remain positive.

Lizzy returned in less than a minute, clean white towel in hand. "I found one!" She exclaimed, tossing the towel down to Sara. Sara began annoyingly rubbing herself down with the towel, attempting to dry herself off. "Wait…" Lizzy spoke, summoning up courage. Sara stopped and looked curiously up at Lizzy. "Do you mind if I take a picture of you like this? It would be really awesome."

Sara pondered for a moment. Could it be really that bad? Just one picture. "No." Sara stated flatly. The answer caught Lizzy off-guard, who didn't have a response ready, and instead stayed quiet, afraid to say anything. "Lizzy, do you know why I'm doing all of this? The press conference, this TV interview, the demonstrations, everything?" Sara asked politely.

"I… I'm not sure…" Lizzy stammered, still nervous.

"I want to show the world I'm more than just this," Sara gestured down to her tail. "I want people to understand my humanity. I'm not just a circus freak or a zoo animal. I'm a real person with thoughts, emotions, likes, dislikes, and personality. You don't know what it feels like for me lying on this floor right now. You don't know what it felt like when I was lying on the floor last night when I was revealed. I felt so helpless and afraid. I just can't have people use that to their own advantage. It would slowly degrade who I was as a person. I wish you were a mermaid so you could understand my pain. But, since that is impossible, I can only explain my feelings and hope you understand my humanity."

Lizzy stepped backward. She had never meant to offend or hurt Sara. Sara saw remorse in her eyes. Lizzy wasn't a bad person. She just didn't understand. Maybe that was the first step. "I'm so sorry Ms. Meyer. I… I think I get it now."

"Please, call me Sara," Sara spoke as she began drying herself off again. It didn't take long, and the last of the water was cleared from her. Her legs reappeared once again, and she stood up.

"That is so cool!" Lizzy exclaimed, a wide-eyed and eager look expressed on her face.

Sara smiled. "It really is, isn't it. Tell you what, give me your phone number, and I'll text you sometime. Then, we can actually have a chat instead of being in this more formal environment."

Lizzy beamed. "Oh that would be awesome!" Sara felt good inside, being able to make Lizzy's day like that. Maybe they would be friends, the first one outside of Team Mako in months. And to Sara, that made it so much more worth it.

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Some time later, Sara was getting fitted to be on the show. The head of wardrobe had given her a dazzling red dress to wear which seemed to fit Sara perfectly, as if it was specifically made for her. Then, in quickly came the hair and makeup team, taking time and effort to make sure Sara looked extremely beautiful for television. When they were done and left the room, Sara took a moment to relax. She knew that soon she would go out to national or even international broadcast. Sure, she had done the press conference and demonstrations earlier that day, but that was absolutely necessary. This, was something else entirely. It felt like something only celebrities did. And seeing how Laurie and Lizzy acted earlier that day showed how much of an actual famous person Sara had become.

Sara sauntered over to the long mirror positioned in her dressing room. Her breath caught when she saw herself. She was more beautiful than she ever thought possible. Her hair was kept in a long golden braid over one shoulder, with her makeup causing her to look mysterious, with highlights of gold in the shadow. She twirled once in the dress, admiring the way it hugged her body. Ok… Maybe it's not so bad to dress up and look pretty from time to time. Besides, I'm so different from the shallow girls that do this like Marian...

Thinking of Marian made Sara shudder. This was all her doing. It was the first time Sara had time to actually think about what had happened. How did she find out about me? And what does she want? What could she hope to gain from revealing me. Nothing came to Sara's mind. Her only guess was that Marian revealed her to get back at Katy for taking away Mitch. But that was at least a few months ago…

Sara's thoughts were interrupted by a knock on her door again. It was opened to reveal Helena, tablet still in hand, looking quite impatient. "Good. Hair, makeup, and wardrobe have all been through here. I'm going to take you to set right now. We'll run down what's going to happen and then we'll get to filming. Ready?" Helena spoke.

"Roger that," Sara responded, skipping over to Helena.

Helena nodded and guided Sara back through the winding maze of hallways. The two of them emptied into a large stage with a grand stand to the back, slowly filling with people. Cameras and technical equipment were strategically placed all over. Technicians scattered about, prepping the stage for the filming. "This is where it'll all take place," Helena stated, before leading Sara through to the backstage area where Denman was waiting.

"It's good to see you again," Denman smiled, patting Sara on the back.

"Likewise," Sara stated back quickly.

Helena quickly gave instructions to both Sara and Denman on when to enter, what to do, and how the cameras would be aligned. It was only a basic crash course, but it would suffice for the moment. "Alright, the filming will start in five!" Helena announced to the cast and crew, who scurried about, making sure everything was prepared exactly perfect for the shoot.

The two co-hosts, James and Ruth, stood out in front, ready to begin filming. Sara and Denman stood backstage, ready for their cues to come out. "Nervous?" Denman asked Sara.

"Not as much as before. I was definitely for the press conference earlier today, but now I'm feeling a lot better," Sara answered.

"Good. Now, it'll be easier. People are starting to love you. You just gotta keep being you, and everything will fall into place easily," Denman informed.

Sara was about to reply, but the lights began to dim. "Ok people, get to your places!" Helena shouted. "We are filming in 5…. 4….. 3…. 2…." Helena pointed at the hosts who began immediately.

"Welcome back to Australia tonight! I'm James Joyce."

"And I'm Ruth Bailey. Well, you may have heard the news from last night which has been indeed confirmed this morning. Mermaids are in fact real."

"That's right Ruth. Your childhood dreams might just be true after all after Sara Meyer, a seemingly normal teenager from America, now living in Australia, was revealed to be an actual living mermaid. Something that we only thought lived in fiction and fairy tales."

"Would you like to meet her?" Ruth asked to the audience. A roar sprang from the studio audience, cheering loudly. Sara forced herself to put away her smile for the moment. "Well, we would like to introduce to you our special guest, the mermaid herself: Sara Meyer!"

This was Sara's cue. She steeled herself, and walking as smoothly as possible, strut onto the stage. The blinding lights hit her instantaneously. She couldn't see the audience behind them, but she could hear them clapping clearly and loudly. Acting on instinct, she raised her hand and waved toward the audience and cameras as she continued her way to the couch opposite of the two co-hosts.

With all the grace and charm she had, she sat down on the couch, crossing one leg over the other, staring out into audience with a big smile on. When the applause died down, Sara moved her gaze over to the two hosts. "It's good to have you here Sara." Ruth spoke.

"Thank you Ruth. It's a pleasure to be here," Sara spoke calmly and confidently.

"How have you been dealing with the media firestorm over the past twenty-four hours?" James asked.

"It's been hectic to say the least. But, I'm still feeling great right now." Sara responded. "Even so, I felt it was time to talk about who I am and what I can do."

"Wonderful to hear. It must be difficult to live as the only mermaid in existence. How have you coped with it this long?" Ruth questioned.

Sara sighed. "Well, for a time it was lonely. I had no one to even talk to about my secret. Eventually I gained friends, and eventually my boyfriend, and I could at least talk about my gift with them. And, that made it so much better than feeling lonely."

"Your boyfriend, Farley is his name? He must be very lucky dating you as a mermaid."

"Well, he'd be lucky dating me even if I wasn't a mermaid," Sara quipped. It was a stupid joke, but the hosts and the audience laughed at it.

"Have you been living well here in Australia? I understand you recently moved here from America." Ruth asked.

"I definitely have enjoyed it. And not just because I became a mermaid here. Being from small-town America, thousands of kilometers from any ocean, there's really not much to do. My hometown had less than 2000 people. And the next actual city was close to two hundred kilometers away, and that city only had barely 250,000 people. Here, I feel like there's so much more to enjoy in my life and more people to be around. I definitely feel like living in Gold Coast has treated me so much better than if I stayed at home."

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The rest of the questions went by smoothly, and Sara rather enjoyed herself answering them on TV. Denman watched her in the wings, admiring Sara's charisma. "She's doing really good out there," Helena stated to Denman.

"You think so? I just want people to accept her for what she is. I'm willing to do whatever it takes to make sure that happens," Denman responded.

"Are you kidding? People are going to love her! And, she's gonna make all of us very rich in the process. She's a celebrity now. And that probably won't go away any time soon." Helena beamed.

At least my conscience will be clear after this from what I did all those years ago to Cleo, Rikki, and Emma. Denman thought to herself. She looked out to Sara smiling and laughing just like she belonged on TV.

"Now, Sara, I understand you have brought someone important with you today," Ruth stated.

"Yes. I brought Dr. Linda Denman, my scientific advisor as well as one of my co-managers," Sara put in.

"Let's bring her out and see what she has to say," James announced. Sara watched as Denman stepped briskly out onto the stage, quickly waving to the audience. She seemed slightly uncomfortable about being on television.

Denman strode over and sat next to Sara on the couch, looking across at Ruth and James, trying to ignore the cameras as best as possible. "Hello, I am Dr. Linda Denman, marine biologist," Denman stated.

"It's so wonderful for you to be here," Ruth stated. "How did you two meet by chance?"

Sara floundered. That memory brought back the pain and anxiety she felt in Denman's net. But, she put it away. Denman stepped up right away when she saw the look on Sara's face. "It's actually an interesting story. We had cast the nets out on my research vessel. We were doing fish counts on the reefs off of the coast. Much to my surprise, and Sara's as well, she swam right into my nets by accident. Probably the most interesting catch I've ever had as a scientist."

Sara regained her composure and spoke up. "At first, it was one of the scariest moments of my life. When Zane and Farley found about my secret, they were at least people I was somewhat acquainted with. But, at the time I had no idea who Dr. Denman was. As well, I found out she was a researcher. I was certain she would do terrible experiments on me like a mad scientist. But, we talked about everything. She wanted to work with me to uncover what my abilities were, but still treat me like a regular person."

"I wanted to give her closure and understanding. At the time, Sara didn't know much about her condition, being the only mermaid in the world and everything. We agreed to work together, and we eventually became good friends in the process." Denman added.

"Wow, that sounds like a shocking turn of events. For both of you," James spoke.

"I'm glad the two of us were able to work through it," Sara spoke. "Through Dr. Denman, I want the public to understand who and what I am. Yeah, I'm a mermaid sure, I get it. But I'm also human. And the research I'm doing with Denman is so people get to see that."

"People are sure to love you," Ruth stated. "You're kind, caring, strong, and beautiful."

Sara beamed at the compliment. It felt as though everything was finally fitting into place. And twenty-four hours after she was revealed, people didn't seem to be scared of her. Her only fear was how to live life as a sudden celebrity. But, that would be ok for now.