She felt an unbidden shiver run down her spine as the studio's makeup artist touched up her face a few more times with blush, the tips of the brush seeming to sting at her cheekbones.
She reached to tuck her bangs back behind her ears, only to find—for the umpteenth time that day—that she could not with her newly-shortened locks, her hair barely reaching past the middle of her neck.
The sense of loss strangely made her feel even sicker than she already was.
It's been two hours.
Relena checked her phone again, but the result was the same:
There were no new notifications from Une.
Her eyes closed tightly, and she could feel the tiredness in them as she struggled to maintain a front of professionalism in that moment.
She remembered his face—hard, cold, but determined—and some of her confidence returned, if only briefly. She glanced up with a more natural smile, if only to soothe her own frayed nerves.
The host gave her an encouraging look before turning back to the camera, wary of his producer in his ear giving him his countdown to broadcast.
She was familiar with his show, but this was her first one-on-one with him. However, seeing his smiling, generous face, she felt a bit more at ease.
Finally the makeup girl retreated, and Relena relaxed again in her chair on the side of the main anchor's desk, awaiting her cue.
"Welcome to the ESUN-TV Evening News with Casper Strickland."
Music filled the studio as the titles for the broadcast played, the host smiling perfunctorily as the cameras focused on his tan face.
"Good evening, and welcome to the ESUN-TV Evening News. I'm your host, Casper Strickland, here with the latest news on Earth and the colonies. As you're all aware, tonight is a special broadcast of the Evening News, as it features our long-awaited, exclusive interview with the recently re-elected Vice Foreign Minister Relena Darlian. Here with us now is the Vice Foreign Minister."
He waited until the cameras had panned over to her, and she smiled at the news anchor pleasantly in spite of her nervous mood.
"First of all, Minister Darlian, congratulations on your resounding re-election victory last week."
She bowed her head a little. "That's very kind, thank you, Mr Strickland. I was so overwhelmed by the support the Foreign Minister and I received during the campaign, and I feel very blessed to serve another term in this great office. I only hope I can live up to everyone's high expectations."
He smiled kindly. "I'm sure that you will, Minister Darlian." He paused briefly, and she guessed that his producer had prompted him to ask the first question. "Now, if we could proceed to the first question: What is on the immediate agenda for your second term?"
Having prepared her answers well in advance, Relena rattled off her to-do list in a calm, diplomatic fashion, though she hardly felt as composed inside.
Whatever confidence she had summoned before the interview felt as if it were fading away with every passing minute that she did not hear from Une; resisting the urge to look at her phone required more willpower than she had anticipated.
He must be alive.
She had received word in the early morning hours of a raid on the suspected headquarters of the rebels in Bangkok involving several Preventer agents, and furthermore that the ensuing melee had resulted in an unconfirmed number of serious injuries and possible fatalities.
YOU ARE READING
Slow Burn
Fanfiction[Gundam Wing A/C; a 1xR series of vignettes post-Endless Waltz.] He had always been conscious of the fact that she—Relena Darlian Peacecraft, Queen of the World—loved him, and him alone. And yet that was the problem, since he could never give her wh...
