Interview
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The jobs had been circulated in-house β two reporter posts based in London, working with the national news team. Now, several weeks later, the cream of regional TV talent were milling around practicing winning smiles and interview waffle. It had already been a long day β a round-robin of HR interviews, group sessions, mock reporting, feedback, and an informal chat with 3 of the nation's favourite newsreaders, Kate, Sian and Sophie.
Kylie slipped the 'phone back into her bag having just read Robert's 7th 'good luck' text of the day. After the 3rd she'd thought 'enough now', but they kept on coming. It wasn't hard for her to read between the lines β he was nervous that a move to London would mean the end of them and was trying too hard to become indispensable. He was right β nice bloke, but Kylie was ready for something new, something exciting and the capital city seemed the place to look for it.
She let out a deep breath, long and slow, cheeks slowly deflating. There was no denying that she was tense. At 27, after 5 years in the business, this was her first shot at national TV exposure. Opportunities like this didn't come along very often. Kylie felt she'd acquitted herself well so far β just the mock report and 3 legendary broadcasters to deal with. Of the two, she was absolutely dreading the informal 'let's find out about you' chat. Interviewees who'd already met the 3 women had nothing but positive things to sayβ 'lovely', 'friendly', 'funny' etc. but small-talk just wasn't her strong suit. So, she was sat outside Make-up Room 4 taking deep breaths and doing her best Blowfish impression.
The door opened and a woman swished past looking glamorousβ Alexa from the North-East region. She disappeared down the corridor, a long-legged, short skirted and high heeled vision drawing admiring glances from men she passed. 'God is that still how this works?' thought Kylie.
"Hi, I'm Megan β do you want to come in, or are you going to watch Alexa's bum until she's out of sight?"
Kylie laughed and looked up to the face at the door, then back to the dwindling Alexa β "It's a nice arse, but I'm all yours." She stood β "Hi, I'm Kylie. It's nice to meet you." and followed Megan into the room.
She was struck by the height difference between the 2 of them. Megan was bare-footed, while Kylie was elevated by 3 inch heels, but the make-up artist couldn't have been any more than 5 feet tall. At 5' 6" Kylie towered over her. Petite and pretty, with long dark hair tied back, dressed simply in black leggings and loose T-shirt, she was the first genuinely friendly face Kylie had seen all day.
She took the offered chair and they chatted about the minutiae of the day as Megan began the job of preparing her for the camera - selecting shades, applying powder and lip gloss, tweaking errant strands of hair into place. She was done in 10 minutes.
Megan knew this woman was one of 6 'special' recruitment targets for the day amongst the female interviewees and she could see why - tall, slim but curvy, long straight dark hair, striking blue eyes and a mouth that curved upwards in a permanent cheeky smile. Some of the other 5 'possibiles' had been more conventionally beautiful she thought, but all had proved to have equally conventional characters and Kylie was the last chance to find a new recruit that day. Mentally crossing her fingers, she began her approach once again.
"Kylie I'm finished, but if you don't mind me saying, you seem pretty tense." This was a no-brainer, all of the interviewees had been nervous to some degree. It was the biggest opportunity of their careers and completely understandable. It was a natural and innocent way to start the conversation.
"Shit, is it that obvious?" Kylie released the vice-like grip her hands had taken on the chair arms and laughed at herself. "I'm just dreading the chat with 3 news-reading 'goddesses' β I think I'm going to say something really stupid - or not say anything at all!"
"Look, I know them all pretty well and they're lovely, always really friendly and fun to be around, but if you're nervous, that's probably not much use β a 10 minute shoulder massage on the other hand might help you relax, if you're interested."
2 of the 'possibles' had declined at this point. They'd been polite, but the looks on their faces carried other messages β 'who do you think you are, I'm talent' and 'that's a bit dykey'. Or perhaps Megan had just imagined it.
Kylie smiled. "That's really kind of you" a pause while she looked at her watch "I'm not sure it'll help, but it can't hurt either I suppose and I've got 30 minutes before I'm due on set. So yes please, that would be fantastic."
"Ok, great. Now obviously I'm not going to use any oils, but I'm going to crease that silk blouse badly if you leave it on."
Megan left the 'Why don't you take it off?' question unspoken. 2 more potential recruits had given her slightly odd looks and raised eyebrows at this point and kept their blouses buttoned. They'd left looking distinctly rumpled.
Kylie simply stood, unbuttoned and un-tucked her blouse, hung it over a nearby chair and sat back down. The 5th 'possible' had got this far, then closed her eyes, clamped her hands over her chest and giggled through the massage. That had been Alexa. Mini-skirts promise much and so seldom deliver thought Megan as the North-East's young hopeful pranced out of the door.
Yes, it could be a tough job being Kate, Sian and Sophie's 'gopher'. Kylie eased back into the chair, picked some imaginary dust off her knee-length grey pencil skirt, placed her hands back on the chair arms and lay back a little, looking at Megan via the mirror in front of them. "Ok, work your magic." β But sometimes it was worth it.
The make-up artist moved to the door and turned the thumb lock. "I'll just give you a bit of privacy - you never know who might wander in." Resuming her position behind the chair, Megan's fingers caressed the back of Kylie's neck and shoulders whilst her thumbs started to work the tension from the reporters' muscles. They carried on their previous conversation β it was light-hearted and friendly, just what Kylie needed. Megan's thoughts on the other hand were another matter entirely:
'Yes! Serious points for that bra Kylie β I have the same one. You knew it was completely sheer but you didn't hesitate to lose the blouse. Round of applause! Are you wearing the matching knickers? Great breasts β what shall we say β a small handful and...oh my god your nipples are amazing! They're huge! Lovely toned stomach. What's that in your belly-button? β A little pearl stud β very tasteful. Please, please, please, be a wanton hussy. We need you!'
She worked skilfully and quickly, switching between Kylie's shoulders and her chest just below the neck, on each occasion allowing her outstretched fingers to move slightly lower. The chatter between them had subsided and the atmosphere in the room was charged with anticipation, at least from Megan's perspective. Both women had their eyes trained on the mirror, but they were oblivious to each other, focussed instead on Kylie's nipples that were now pushing against the sheer white fabric. Megan revised her assessment from 'huge' to 'gigantic'.