Chapter Text
Nothing got shot that day at the studio. Shadowguys, Pippins, Zappers, all of them having their anxiety grow more with every time they had to cut. As such, the host got more and more frustrated as well, her tight-lipped smile soon turning to a full scowl. It was only a matter of time before this powder keg went kablooey. Everyone anticipated it, but it was just a question of when it would happen. Midway through a more successful attempt, one of the stage lights switched off after someone tripped over the cord to it. Everyone braced for impact in the loudest silence all of them had experienced. After a couple seconds… kablooey.
It was a spectacle to see. Ms Ann Tenna was known to have a firey side to her, but this was a full on blaze, nothing like the crew had ever seen the likes of before. A slew of incomprehensible shouting emitted from her mouth, her words getting scrambled in sheer frustration. She threw her trademark red suit jacket and yellow tie to the ground, forming a sad little heap in the middle of the stage floor. She stormed off with heavy-footed strides, keeping her hands balled up in fists. Disappearing behind the curtains, she shouted with her mic peaking, “I CAN’T TAKE THIS!”
Seemed like she was having a bad day.
Nobody knew where Tenna whisked herself off to, but everyone decided it was best not to disturb her, out of fear of being yelled at or fired. The set was packed up – no use keeping it out after such a spectacular meltdown, there was no way in hell Tenna was going to film again today. So, the crew members retreated to the green room for the rest of the day. It was a lot calmer than that fiasco, being able to play video games and snack away on TV Dinners. It wasn’t the best food, but it was decent enough.
Much later that night, after almost everyone had gone home, Tenna finally emerged. She was much smaller than normal, a clear sign she was upset. She had retrieved her discarded jacket and tie from the stage, the tie loosely hanging around her neck, and holding the crumpled jacket in her hands. The way she was still snivelling showed that she had spent a good amount of time crying while she secluded herself. She was the most popular and dazzling celebrity in TV World, yet she looked – and felt – so pathetic.
The only crew member left in the building was Ramb, stood at his bar like he always did, polishing a glass. Ramb was always the last to leave the studio, staying behind to clean up the messes the Pippins left behind, while also getting some quiet time. With how chaotic TV World was, quiet was hard to come by. When the studio was off the air and everyone had gone home, it was almost silent. It was peaceful. However, Ramb wasn’t alone this time. His quiet time was interrupted by Tenna pulling a chair up to the bar.
“Tenna, luv. Everyone’s wondering where you got to.” Ramb mentioned, looking up from polishing the glass. Tenna had unceremoniously dumped her jacket on the bar, leaning over with her arms folded.
“That’s none of their business.” Tenna scowled in return. Despite Tenna’s frosty demeanour, Ramb remained patient with her. Placing his glass down, he asked, “You want anything to drink?”
“Something strong. I don’t care what it is, just make it strong.” Tenna replied directly.
Ramb nodded thoughtfully and scoured the bottles in the back, before picking a bottle of brown alcoholic beverage. As he poured it into the glass he was just polishing, Tenna could tell how strong it was from the smell alone. As soon as Ramb placed it on the bar, Tenna took a long sip from it, letting the liquid fall clumsily down her throat.
“Easy there. This is the strongest stuff I have.” Ramb advised. Tenna seemed to ignore this advice, drinking it all in one sitting and slamming the glass down once she was done.
It didn’t take long for the effects of the beverage to take hold. Whenever Tenna got drunk, all of her emotions became ten times stronger. Her anger from earlier had mellowed out to sadness, and now that she had alcohol in her system, she was now sitting with her face against the bar, tears forming and falling onto the wooden surface, creating two puddles by the sides of her head. Ramb now not only had to contend with emotionally volatile Tenna, but drunk emotionally volatile Tenna. What a treat.
“Lanino and Elnina seemed pretty worried about you.” Ramb mentioned. “They knew how things went in the studio and… well, they just wanted to know if you were okay.”
“Ramb. Does any of this look like ‘okay’? Does it?” Tenna sarcastically answered, her voice muffled by the bar. With a sigh, she moped, “It’s my fault. I kept getting distracted, messing up my lines, tripping on air…”
“Tenna, luv, don’t blame yourself. You’re not doing yourself any favours.” Ramb knew how much Tenna shifted blame around, especially when she was in a mood, so he hoped some comforting words would help things.
“Well, who else am I supposed to blame?” Tenna countered quickly, still not lifting her head from the bar. “Well, I suppose there was the Zapper who tripped on the lighting cable, the Shadowguy who wouldn’t stop with the saxophone and messed up the recording, the Pippins who-“
“Tenna.” Ramb said firmly, stopping Tenna’s rant in its tracks. “What happened today? This is way more different than your normal outbursts. Something must have set you off. Tell me, I can’t help you if I don’t know.”
Tenna slowly lifted her head, staring at Ramb. Her face now had a thin layer of static over it, typical after she had been crying.
“Do you not remember?” Her voice was clearer, but also sounded shaky. “It’s the anniversary of the day… the day… she left.”
The realisation hit Ramb so suddenly. How could he forget? Tenna always acted out of the ordinary on this day. She had clung so tightly, so bitterly to this memory, and she refused to let go of it, as much as it ate at her on the daily.
Tenna could remember how happy she was with her. How much brighter she made her days, the laughs they shared together, and how the friendship grew and blossomed and changed to something different, yet something she desired since the moment they met. All those good times, it just made the day she left sting so much more.
“Top me up, Ramb.” Tenna ordered, pushing the glass across to him. Apprehensively, Ramb replied, “Are you sure?”
“I just want to forget everything for tonight.” Tenna replied bitterly, holding her head in her hand.