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Chapter Eighteen: Erica Harvey
Erica Harvey has never spent much time watching the games; she’s not interested in the matches or a contestants’ ability. She’s only interested in making a star.
Each year she’s responsible for crafting In Focus a peek behind the curtain to show the Station what the finalists are really like by asking some of their burning questions.
And with Ley and Ellis - the people are dying to know the truth.
She floats through the room, making sure that everything is perfect. It’s a simple set up: one chair in front of the camera for the finalist and one behind the camera for Erica and her pre-approved questions.
She knows the shoot by heart as she hosts it every year, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t opportunity for improvement.
It’s why Avery trusted her with the job.
Erica understands that there is always a way to enhance perfection. Which is why she double checks the lighting and holds a swatch against the backdrop to make sure it’s the perfect hue of Bone and not some other off-white like Mist that would muddle the light.
She busies herself with these refinements while the contestants prepare. She wants to show them how much she cares so they feel safe talking to her. Then maybe they’ll reveal more about themselves.
Avery asked for Ley to be interviewed second, which was unusual for Avery but she was more than willing to accomodate. Perhaps Ley needed more time in hair and makeup or an extra moment to settle her nerves. She doesn’t mind rearranging these things. Although she does wish that Voss would wait with them.
Instead he skulks in the corner, watching Ellis and his team like he’s planning to attack. It’s unsettling but she isn’t going to tell anyone in Avery’s team what to do and she refuses to let it affect her and the energy she’s trying to create.
When she starts with Ellis, he relaxes into his chair with ease, casually waiting for her to begin. Erica can’t help but smile; he’s a natural.
‘Are we ready?’ She asks.
‘Yes,’ he replies, fixing his smile into place. ‘Ready when you are.’
‘Great, so, Ellis, congratulations on making it to the final round!’
‘Thanks, Erica. It’s great to have made it, but you know, it’s not just me. It’s my whole team that got me here. I couldn’t have done it without them.’
‘Of course, one of which is the lovely Jin, who was the winner of the first games. What’s it like having him as a trainer - feeling the pressure?’
‘Absolutely,’ he jokes. ‘But seriously, Jin is fantastic. He’s not only a great guy but an insightful trainer. He’s shown me how to focus on my strengths and how to get the most out of the whole experience. I mean, there’s really nothing like this in the Station, it’s amazing, and he’s always reminding me that it’s important that I soak up every second.’
‘It truly is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. What’s your favourite part of the games?’
‘Well... Where do I start?’
If Ellis is the picture of comfort in his chair, Ley is the portrait of nerves. The poor girl looks like she’s about to sick. She shrinks beneath the lights as if they’re pressing down upon her. Erica could ask them to soften the lighting for their interview but it was the most flattering brightness for her skin tone. She might feel tired but Ley was going to shine on the screens across the Station.
‘You’ve had quite the journey getting to this point, have you enjoyed the Games?’
‘Yeah. They’ve been hard, for sure. But yeah.’ Her words lie dead on the ground between them. This was going to he harder than she thought. But Erica is a pro and Avery would have surely prepared her with some responses. Maybe she just needs a little guidance,
‘I can only imagine, what’s your favourite part? You have a lot of fans out there wondering what you love about it.’
‘... I don’t know. There is a lot of people. To go out there and see all those people and hear them cheering you on. It’s nice.’ Erica grimaces; she’s starting a morgue in her studio.
‘There certainly was a lot of cheering at your last match.’
‘Yeah, that was cool.’
‘How did you move all that water - did you plan on doing that?’
‘I can’t swim. It didn’t feel like a fair fight, and then my sponsor told me to get rid of it.’
‘Your sponsor is, of course, the great Avery Pangere.’ Ley nods,
‘She’s great - she’s not afraid of me using my power.’
‘She is amazing. But what about Tessa? What’s it like being trained by one of the original contestants.’
‘She’s not my trainer anymore.’ Erica sighs, she’s getting nothing from Ley. Each opportunity she hands to her on a platter and she slaps it down to the ground. The question about the Games were an opportunity for her to talk about her gratitude. Her favourite part should have been the fans. And Tessa? Everyone was curious about Tessa as a trainer. A near-champion coming out of obscurity to train a nobody? They could have spoken about it for hours and the audience would have been enthralled.
What was Ley doing? More importantly, how could Avery let her be so unprepared? It must be some tactic that Erica hasn’t thought of. But when she looks for Avery to ask, she only finds Voss staring back.
She swallows her confusion. At least she was certain about one thing: Ellis would have devoured the chance. When she asked him who do you think will win? He laughed, catching the question in the air like she’d blown him a kiss. Come on, Erica, that’s a trick question.
But now that she’s in front of Ley, she’s almost glad that there’s a camera between them. She should give her grace, she simply doesn’t understand the game. She smiles brightly and tries again:
‘Who do you think will become champion?’ Ley doesn’t leave time to think:
‘I will,’ she snaps.
There are many more questions that she could ask, so many avenues that she could play to try and build Ley up to a reasonable position but she’s giving her nothing. So Erica skips to the final one:
‘And now, for the most important question of all - ’
When Ellis was in the chair, he leaned forward with a mock seriousness as if he didn’t already know what the question was going to be and he wanted to give it all of his attention.
‘Ready,’ he said.
A journalists’ dream. Of course a professional could tell that he had already been walked through his response. The last question was always the same, one that Erica fights to keep every time. It might be the most benign one on the run sheet but it was always the most popular. It shapes the contestants from all-powerful competitors to real people that the audience can connect with. And Ellis and his team understood all that, but if Ley has been coached through a reply she shows no signs of it.
She waits for it like any other, hesitantly looking between the lens of the camera and Erica beyond. Would it kill her to crack a smile? Erica smiles wider herself, hoping to guide her into doing the same. But she remains unmovable in her seat. She heaves a sigh, determined to get it over with:
‘Describe your favourite birthday.’
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