Broken || Little Mix ||

Chapter 34 - E

"Gooooood morning New York, welcome to the Morning show with Carson. I am the aforementioned Carson. Today in the studio we have my lovely co-host Julia and we are joined with the girls of Little Mix!"

Carson stops briefly so that we can all cheer and applaud, surprisingly putting in a good effort despite our sleep deprived status.

"We've got Jesy, Perrie, Leigh-Anne and Jade!" he rattles off. Carson doesn't even have to look at his notes to know our names, an effort that not a lot of hosts take. "You girls are just past the halfway mark of your US tour. What's the plan after this leg wraps up?"

"We get a whole eight days off then we are heading to a writing camp for our upcoming album. We gotta get the ball rolling on that. Then we head back out to do the South American, Asian and Australian dates," Jesy says excitedly.

"Wow! A whole eight days! Very exciting. Any idea on when we can expect some new material?" Julia asks.

"Not for a little bit I'm afraid. Everything is still early, early stages and we're perfectionists so we aren't gonna put out anything until we are one hundred percent confident in it," Leigh answers.

"But what we do have is exciting. You can expect some bangers in your future," Pez adds, making us laugh.

"Yeah, we haven't even got a full song written but absolute bangers all day," I quip, making everyone laugh some more. Unfortunately, it seems to have shifted the attention onto me a bit.

"Jade, it's good to see you today. We know recently you've been having some health issues, battling the odd illness here and there. How are you feeling? Back to good health?" Carson inquires.

I plaster on a fake smile underneath the privacy of my cap. "Yeah, I'm doing alright thanks. Feeling a lot better having rested a few days and I'm excited to get back out there and be with my girls."

Jesy reaches over and grabs my hand under the table as I say that last bit. She gives it a small squeeze, an action I return instantly.

"You seem so close. It must be odd when one of you is missing," Julia notes.

"It's extremely weird. Not just because we have to rework the dances and the harmonies but because we are literally with each other almost every day. We feed off of each other and we have such a unique dynamic. When one of us is missing it throws everything off but we make do and I think we still do a pretty good job under the circumstances," Perrie answers.

I glance at the clock, relieved to see that we have completed ten minutes of the total fifteen this interview is supposed to run. I get pulled back into reality when I hear Carson say my name. With a mischievously charming smile, he clears his throat, glancing at his papers, slightly nervously.

"So Jade, do you have any comment on the reports of this guy Clarke Murphy that you've been linked to? Nobody knows who he is or what he does but according to my teenaged daughter he is 'quite the looker,'" Carson says laughing.

The air in the studio changes as everyone realizes that Carson has asked a question that was grossly out of bounds but also extremely direct to the point that it is almost impossible to deflect. I see Paul in the sound booth behind Carson. His face his fuming and he seems to be shouting at someone. All three of the girls glance to me, counting on my intricate mind to get us out of this mess.

"He's an old friend from school. Nothing to the rumors. That's why they call them rumors," I say tightly.

"Honestly, the stuff they put out in the press these days, it's laughable, isn't it? I saw one the other day that said Perrie hates animals. Like come on!" Leigh adds on top, doing her best to steer the conversation in a different direction. Julia catches wind and jumps on board.