17. Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Seventeen
Margot
A shower has never felt so good. After I peel the clothes off my disgustingly sweaty body, I assess the bruise damage. Thankfully, it wasn’t as bad as I’d thought it would be. I’d only been shot a few times, mostly in the chest and stomach where I had the most padding. I did have a bruise forming on my right shoulder but I’d just avoid tank tops for a few days.
I notice I’m not the only one with a few bruises as I sit across from Alex in the recording booth later that afternoon. “Someone got ya good there, huh?” I comment on the purplish bruise on his left forearm.
“Yeah, someone,” he replies with an eye roll and adjusts the headphones that Nathan gave him. “These aren’t the most comfortable things in the world, are they?”
“Blame the campus media budget,” Nathan says through the speaker connecting the recording studio and the soundbooth. “Okay, you guys ready to start?”
Alex had picked me up exactly at three and we went over the script on our way to campus. I know we are as prepared as we can be. Still, I can’t stop the nervous twitch in my leg. I bite my lip to keep myself focused on the task at hand and not at the insane public speaking anxiety I’m feeling. New York Times. New York Times. New York—
Alex puts his hand on my shaking knee. I hadn’t realized I shut my eyes until I opened them to look at his earnest expression. “We got this, sunshine. Piece of cake.”
I nod vigorously. “Piece of cake,” I say in agreement. “Piece of cake, okay. Let’s do it.” Alex pinches my knee with a wink and looks toward Nathan in the sound booth.
“You heard the lady.”
Nathan’s voice appears over the speaker again. “Okay, give me just a minute to make sure everything is set up correctly and then I’ll start recording.”
I look down at my outfit, suddenly regretting the striped sweater and skirt combo. I look like a sailor. I start to pull at the sleeves to bring them down over my hands.
“Hey,” Alex says, pulling me back from the brink again. “You look beautiful, okay?” He says and it’s not just a line he’s saying to keep me grounded. I can tell he actually means it. “Everything is going to be great. Do you think I’d let you fall, sunshine?”
My eyes bolt to his as the memory of my dream floods my brain. Even my subconscious knows to trust him. Now all I have to do is let my consciousness trust him too. With a smile, I nod at him again. “Okay.”
Alex whoops loudly in excitement and I giggle, looking toward Nathan to tell him to start recording.
Nathan gives us a thumbs up and above us, a bright red RECORDING light blinks on. Alex claps his hands loudly.
“Helllllllllllo, everybody! Thank you for tuning in to our show Ask Alex where you send in your questions and I answer them as best I can. I’m your host, Alex Prescott and here beside me is my lovely cohost, Margot Davis. Give everyone a wave, Margot.”
For a moment, I’m stunned by his showmanship. Screw whatever he’s majoring in, he’s made for the big screen. But as he says my name, my attention snaps back into focus. I give the camera a small wave and smile meekly.
“Hello, folks,” I say, my voice small. I see Nathan out of the corner of my eye mouthing at me to speak up. “Welcome to the show,” I say louder.
When I glance over at Alex, he’s grinning at me but not just for show. The pride shines on his face and it motivates me to keep going.
“Margot and I are super excited to start this podcast and connect with all you viewers slash listeners out there. You guys really came through already! We had hundreds of submissions on our website this week.”
“Be sure to go in and add more questions after this episode if you’re trying to be featured on our next one,” I add with a smile. It is starting to get easier to just sit and chat with Alex. We do this all the time, it shouldn’t be so different now.
Alex claps loudly in excitement and Nathan waves his hands up as if to say “Don’t do that.” Alex frowns. “Oh, was that loud? Sorry, guys. We’re still learning all this stuff,” he says, sheepishly.
“Let’s jump right in, shall we?” I say, pull up my notecards and bringing the conversation back in focus. “Our first question is sent in from Kelly B.”
“Thanks, Kelly,” Alex says with a wink to the camera. He really can be a ham when he wants to be and it’s all the better for me. If girls on campus want to get a personalized shoutout from him, they’ll be more inclined to tune in.
“Kelly asked ‘How do I get a guy to notice me?’ Alex, take it away.”
“The answer is simple, Kelly,” Alex says, folding his hands onto the table in front of us. He’s really a natural at this. I can’t help but be mesmerized as he continues. “You gotta be yourself.” He stops talking and a pit forms in my stomach. It can’t just be that? I resist the urge to raise my eyebrows at him, to urge him to say something more.
Alex takes a deep breath then speaks again. “And when that doesn’t work, you gotta make yourself unbelievably hot.”
“What!” I burst out, not able to control my reaction. “That’s terrible advice!”
Alex laughs. “No, it’s not. There’s no better way to get a guy’s attention than to be the hottest girl in the room. Trust me, I fall for it every time.”
“You just want girls to walk around dressed to the nines with pounds of make-up on their face twenty-four/seven?”
“I didn’t say that,” Alex says, his grin lingering. “I just said you gotta be hot. But listen, hotness can come through looks, but it can also be through personality. Being the hottest girl in the room could just mean you are exuding confidence like no other. Being confident is hot as fuck.”
For a moment, I’m shocked by his answer. He somehow took an insanely pig-headed perspective and turned it into an actual piece of good advice.
“Do you agree?”
With a grin, I nod. “I like it. You hear that ladies, confidence is key. According to Alex Prescott.” Glancing over in his direction, we share a look that says We’re killin’ it .
“In fact, that’s how Margot and I met. She confidently told me to fuck off.” Alex comments and shoves me playfully.
“It wasn’t quite like that,” I respond with a smirk before looking into the camera. “But more or less, yeah.” Then it’s my turn to wink.
I can’t believe it but I actually think I’m having fun.
Alex and I answer two more questions and the banter continues effortlessly. We actually sound like we have been doing this kind of thing for years. Before we know it, it’s time for the last question.
“And now, even though this is an advice podcast, we wouldn’t dare let our listeners and viewers down by not also giving them what they want.” I say, side-eying Alex. I know he’s most excited for this part. “We got a record number of questions asking about specifics on Alex’s life so here we go. Our last question, from Phoebe A.”
“Thanks, Phoebe,” Alex says with a wink again and I can’t stop my eye-roll this time.
“‘Tell us something that no one knows about you’. There ya go, Alex. Let’s hear it.”
Alex puts his hand on his chin in a pondering motion. “Something about me…” He continues to rub his chin dramatically. “Hmm…”
“Sometime this century, Alex.”
“Okay, okay. Something about me is…I hate olives.”
I pause. For a moment, we’re both completely silent. Then I snap out of it.
“You hate olives?”
“I hate olives.”
“And that’s a big secret?”
“Never asked for a secret, she asked for something no one knows. I don’t think anyone’s ever asked me my opinion on olives. I hate them.” Alex shrugs then leans back in his seat. I can only sigh.
“Alright, folks. It seems like you need to be a little bit more specific in your questions for Mr. Loophole over here,” I say with an eye roll and a thumb toward my co-host. Alex only laughs as he sits back up to close out the show. “That being said, we hope you’ve enjoyed our first episode and we can’t wait to get into more of your questions next week. Until then–”
“Adiós!” Alex cheers. With a side-eye of confusion, I just wave my hand in farewell until the overhead light turns off, signaling that we are no longer recording.
“Adiós?” I ask, gathering up my notes.
“I panicked,” Alex says.
I chuckle. “Clearly.” We grab our things and head back out toward the sound booth.
“That was a great show, guys, and I mean that genuinely,” Nathan says leaning back in his chair.
“Thanks, Nate. Any chance you can teach me some editing techniques? I’ve never really done any video editing before.”
“Sure, no problem. We can meet tomorrow and I’ll walk you through it.”
“You rock, dude,” Alex says, clapping his hand on Nathan’s shoulder.
“Uh, thanks, Alex,” he says with an uncertain grin.
“That went much better than I expected,” I say as we head toward Alex’s car. The sun is setting, which means we were in that room much longer than I thought and that is confirmed when the clock in Alex’s car reads 5:05. “Wow, that took two hours.”
“Time flies when you’re having fun,” Alex says as he pulls out of the parking lot. “But seriously, that was so epic. You totally crushed it!” Alex drives toward my apartment and I can’t help the blush that forms on my cheeks from his praise. I finally understand why his frat brothers love him so much, he is an incredible hype man. When Alex Prescott tells you you did well, he means it. And I hold onto that feeling all the way to the front door of my apartment.