Miss Americana and The Hearbreak Princess

Chapter Fifty Five - Delicate

"That's... awfully gracious, considering what you went through after that," Mei hedged, an uncertain set to her face as her shoulders went taut.

Becca could see the wariness brimming in the lines of her body as she shifted, trying to handle the topic lightly.

Even as she played nicely with Becca, friendly and amicable for the interview, as she had been over the years Becca had been on her show, Mei wouldn't want to risk implicating herself in taking sides.

Even after years passing, after it being put to bed on Becca's end, it wouldn't do to drag it up and pull other people into her mess.

Shrugging, Becca brushed her curls in a flippant manner and straightened in her seat with a haughty tilt to her chin.

"I think it was inevitable anyway. My great downfall. And as hellish as it was, in some regards, it was a well-needed break. For my mental health, my physical health, even my relationships with people. If it wasn't for the rug being pulled out from under me, I would've been pressed into releasing an album right on schedule for two years after the last, I would've been stuck in that cycle of treating myself badly while other people worried about me. Not saying that I was glad to be blamed for something I didn't do, but... well, once you've hit rock bottom, it's almost a relief."

"You definitely came back bigger and better from it. Was Reputation always your intention for your next album?"

Deliberating, Becca wrinkled her nose slightly, "I mean, it was and it wasn't. Some of the songs one there were on the original record I had envisioned, and then others were written after this whole debacle, once I'd had time to process it all. Some of the ones that didn't quite make the cut because of the change in direction are on my next album, which is going to be another direction entirely. I guess that's the fun about writing songs myself; life always throws things at me that I can't predict, but it makes for some interesting music."

"But... you could've done without the drama?"

"Absolutely," Becca said with a strained laugh.

Cutting her vacation short, much to her regret, Becca flew back to L.A. with her head ducked down, baseball cap and sunglasses as a disguise with her private jet arriving at an airstrip outside of the city in the middle of the night to escape any prying eyes, eager to catch a glimpse of her after the news.

She was under strict orders not to speak to anyone until her team had assembled to discuss the fallout of the public claims against her.

Exhausted and defeated, a private town car pulled up outside her Cornelia Street rental and she snuck in through the back, heaving her luggage with her and depositing it inside the back door at the bottom of the stairs.

The lights were already on, the bitter smell of coffee greeting her with the faint voices of Beer and Nam. Sighing, Becca dragged her feet as she walked upstairs, fiddling with her sunglasses as she neared the top.

Stepping into the bright light of the living room, the voices stopped and she looked at the two women with meek shame, an apologetic curve to her shoulders as she scuffed her shoe along the floors and waited for someone to break the silence.

They both looked at her with grim resignation, Beer's shoulders hunched as she braced her elbows on the knees of her trim slacks, Nam standing, phone in hand, both of them in the middle of strategising.

"Well? Are you coming in or standing there?"

Suppressing a sigh, Becca stepped in and pulled off her cap, moving over to the window to lean against the wall and look out of the glass as a light shower blurred the neon lights outside.