Hoax

Chapter two

Estelle Adler 

"Estelle!"

"Estelle, Congratulations!"

"Miss Adler!!"

"Estelle!!"

Heckles greet me as I enter the room full of the media, ready to do my acceptance interview with the press.

I take a seat, placing my award proudly on the small desk in front of me. 

I try to ignore the desperate pleas from the men behind the cameras, all trying to get the first scoop on my glorious win.

A production manager hushes the press before pointing at a bald man, sat at the front, insinuating he can ask his question first, when I'm ready.

I quickly pull my dark hair from behind my ears, suddenly very aware of the cameras which are undoubtedly rolling, so I make sure I look my best before signalling over to the manager that I'm ready.

"Miss Adler, how are you feeling about your win this evening?" The bald man asks.

I shoot him a strategic smile – "I am completely elated; I can't quite put into words what this means to me"

"Would you say your hard work paid off?" He asks.

What a stupid question. Does he seriously expect me to say 'no'?

"I would like to think so, yes" I answer with a breathy laugh at his rather silly question.

Next, a blonde-haired lady speaks – "Miss Adler, how has playing Elizabeth Bennet helped prepare you for future roles?"

"Well, I've learnt a lot from playing her...I've learnt more about historical dialects, and it has taught me more about 'method acting' which I hopefully can apply to my next role" I answer, to which the lady nods and smiles.

A ginger haired man, who I recognise to be from 'The Daily Mail' speaks up next – "Miss Adler, how does it feel to be the youngest person to win a Golden Globe for best actress, at the age of 21?"

"Well, I think it shows that age is just a number!" I joke, causing many of the men to snort a forged laugh. "But no, I am very honoured, and it shows, rather like I said in my speech, that anything truly can be achieved if one puts their mind to it..."

Seemingly not satisfied with my answer, the Daily Mail man pipes up again. This time, with a more pressing question – "And, how was it working alongside James Oakes?"

Fuck.

My heart lurches slightly.

Composure, keep composure Estelle.

"It was wonderful, he's a brilliant actor..."

"Since he was playing Mr Darcy, you undoubtedly needed great chemistry, no?"

The man smirks slightly.

I hold myself back from swinging a punch at this guy.

How dare he bring up my ex, on what should be the happiest day of my career.

"We sure got on well, yes..." I shoot back, keeping a smile fixed to my face, and doing what I do best...acting like I'm fine.

The man goes to ask another question, but my publicist, Lucy, steps in – "Miss Adler will not be answering any more questions for this evening, thank you"

Indistinct chatter starts up again in the room, but before long it turns into shouts of 'Sam! Mr Deacon!'

Thank the Lord for the arrival of Sam Deacon, tonight's best male actor winner. With all the attention on him, I manage to slip away with Lucy behind the curtain and into an empty corridor.

"I hate that guy, why the hell did he have to bring up James?" I say as soon as it's only Lucy and me.

"You know what these people are like" Lucy says, whilst looking down at her phone. "They'll do anything to get a tiny piece of gossip out of you. That said, you handled that extremely well"

"Thanks" I respond, tucking my hair behind my ears. "I appreciate you jumping in"

"You're welcome" Lucy responds. "Don't let it get to you, Estelle. You've just won a Golden Globe for Christ's sake! You should be celebrating!!"

Lucy's totally right.

What am I doing, thinking about James?

He wasn't even nominated for his role as Mr Darcy. So, hopefully, I'll never have to see him or talk about him ever again.

Tonight is a night for celebrations and that's what I plan to do.