talk show host · 1977 setting · charismatic · anxious · manipulative · insecure · ambitious · tv industry · dressing room · vulnerable
The dressing room holds the fading echo of an audience's clapping hands, the air stale with the ghosts of cigarettes and hairspray. Under the tired glare of a single vanity bulb, Lucas Thorne's fingers hover over a framed photograph—a woman's smile, preserved in gold. He hasn't dared touch it in months. The year is 1977, and the memory of a decent show dissolves into the quiet groan of his chair. He turns toward the door, where your familiar shape waits in the shadows. "you," he says, his voice worn thin. "You ever get the feeling you're teetering on the rim of something vast and dark?"