Chapter 6: The Talk Show Gambit

The green room at The Tonight Show felt like a holding cell for beautiful people. Elara sat in a plush velvet chair, her hair and makeup team making final adjustments while she tried to calm her racing heart. In exactly twelve minutes, she and Liam would walk onto one of the biggest stages in entertainment and convince millions of viewers that they were head-over-heels in love.

"Stop fidgeting," her makeup artist, Sasha, murmured, touching up her lipstick. "You're going to smudge everything."

"Sorry," Elara replied, forcing her hands to still. She wore a stunning emerald dress that brought out her eyes, her honey-blonde hair styled in soft Hollywood waves. She looked like a woman in love—now she just had to act like one.

Liam emerged from the adjacent chair, his hair perfectly tousled, wearing a charcoal suit that fit him like it had been sewn onto his body. His left shoulder was still tender from the accident two weeks ago, but he moved with his usual fluid grace. Only Elara noticed the slight stiffness, the careful way he held himself.

"Ready for this?" he asked, settling into the chair beside her.

"Are we ever ready to lie to thirty million people?" she replied under her breath.

"We're actors," he pointed out. "Lying to millions of people is literally our job description."

Despite her nerves, Elara found herself smiling. Over the past two weeks, their relationship had shifted into something she couldn't quite define. They were easier with each other now, the sharp edges of their mutual antagonism worn smooth by shared experience and, if she was honest, growing respect.

The accident had changed something between them. Not just the moment when he'd risked injury to protect her, but the quiet aftermath—the way he'd texted to check on her later that evening, the way she'd brought him coffee the next morning without being asked. Small gestures that felt more intimate than any of their staged public displays of affection.

"Five minutes!" called a production assistant, poking her head into the green room.

Miranda appeared at Elara's elbow, phone in hand as always. "Remember, you've been together for about a month officially, but there were feelings building for longer. You're still in the honeymoon phase—can't keep your hands off each other, finish each other's sentences, that whole nauseating routine."

"Got it," Elara said, accepting the small mic pack that would be hidden under her dress.

"And if Jimmy asks about marriage or babies, deflect with humor," Miranda continued. "You're taking things slow, focusing on your careers, all the standard responses."

David Chen joined them, straightening Liam's tie with practiced efficiency. "Remember, the internet thinks this romance saved you both from a destructive feud. Play into that narrative—you brought out the best in each other, learned to see past surface impressions, et cetera."

"Touching," Liam said dryly, but Elara caught the slight tension in his voice. He was nervous too, though he hid it better than she did.

"Two minutes!"

Miranda gripped Elara's shoulders. "You've got this, darling. Just be natural."

"Natural," Elara repeated. "While lying about everything."

"While telling a different version of the truth," Miranda corrected. "You do care about each other now, don't you?"

The question caught Elara off guard. She glanced at Liam, who was adjusting his cufflinks with laser focus. "I... we're friends now. Professional partners."

"Good enough," Miranda said briskly. "Channel that friendship. Let the audience see that you genuinely like each other, and they'll believe the rest."

The production assistant reappeared. "Showtime!"

---

The Tonight Show studio was a beast of bright lights and overwhelming energy. The audience erupted as Jimmy Fallon introduced them, and Elara felt the familiar rush of performing for a live crowd. She and Liam walked out hand in hand—his palm warm and steady against hers—waving to the cheering audience.

"Please welcome the stars of the most anticipated movie of the year, Aetheria's Echo," Jimmy announced as they settled onto the famous couch, "and Hollywood's newest power couple, Elara Vance and Liam Blackwood!"

The audience's enthusiasm was infectious. Elara found herself genuinely smiling as she waved, and when Liam's arm settled around her shoulders, pulling her slightly closer, it felt natural rather than performed.

"So," Jimmy began once the applause died down, "I have to ask what everyone's dying to know. How did you two go from having one of Hollywood's most famous feuds to this?" He gestured at them with obvious delight.

Elara felt Liam's fingers tighten slightly on her shoulder—their agreed-upon signal that he'd take the lead on this question.

"Honestly, Jimmy," Liam said, his voice warm with what sounded like genuine fondness, "I think we were both just scared."

"Scared of what?"

"Of how much we actually liked each other," Elara jumped in, the lie coming easier than expected. "All that antagonism? It was really just... unresolved tension."

The audience made appreciative "aww" sounds, and Jimmy leaned forward with obvious interest. "So the famous Golden Globes incident where you, Liam, made some pretty cutting remarks about romantic comedies..."

"Was me being an idiot," Liam said immediately. "I was trying to get her attention in possibly the most immature way possible."

"Like pulling pigtails on the playground?" Jimmy suggested.

"Exactly like that," Liam agreed, and the way he looked at Elara made her breath catch. For a moment, she could almost believe he was telling the truth. "I'd been watching her work for years, admiring her talent, and when I finally had the chance to meet her, I completely choked and said the exact opposite of what I meant."

"And what did you mean to say?" Elara asked, genuinely curious about where he was going with this.

Liam's dark eyes met hers, and something passed between them that felt entirely too real. "That you were the most naturally gifted actress of our generation, and I was an idiot for not recognizing it sooner."

The audience "aww"ed again, and Elara felt heat rise in her cheeks. The compliment sounded sincere, stripped of the performative quality she'd expected.

"That's so sweet," Jimmy said. "And Elara, what was your first impression of Liam after you got past the whole public feud thing?"

Elara took a breath, drawing on the strange new dynamic between them. "That he was nothing like I expected. I thought he was going to be this pretentious, difficult person, but he's actually... he's incredibly thoughtful. And protective."

"Protective how?"

She glanced at Liam, remembering the accident, the way he'd literally thrown himself between her and danger without a second thought. "He takes care of the people he cares about. Sometimes in ways that are completely reckless and terrifying."

Something flickered in Liam's expression—surprise, maybe, that she was referencing something real. "She's not wrong about the reckless part," he said. "I have a tendency to act first and think later when it comes to her safety."

"Speaking of safety," Jimmy said, "there are rumors about an on-set accident where you, Liam, heroically saved Elara during a stunt gone wrong. Is that true?"

Elara felt Liam tense beside her. This wasn't part of their prepared talking points, but the footage had leaked online, and the internet had gone predictably crazy over what they saw as proof of his devotion.

"I wouldn't say heroically," Liam said carefully. "A wire rig malfunctioned, and I just did what anyone would do."

"Anyone would risk their own injury to protect their co-star?" Jimmy pressed.

"Anyone would risk their own injury to protect someone they love," Liam replied, and the words hung in the air with startling weight.

The audience erupted, and Elara stared at him in shock. That wasn't in the script. That wasn't part of their carefully constructed narrative. That was...

"You love her!" Jimmy crowed, clearly delighted.

Liam's cheeks actually colored slightly. "I... yes. I do."

The admission seemed to surprise him as much as it did Elara. She could feel the cameras zooming in on her face, capturing what she was sure was an expression of complete bewilderment.

"And you, Elara?" Jimmy prompted. "Do you love him back?"

Every eye in the studio was on her. Millions of viewers waiting for her response. Liam beside her, his dark eyes unreadable but somehow vulnerable. This was the moment that would define their fake relationship, sell their movie, and determine the trajectory of both their careers.

"I..." she started, then stopped. Looking at Liam—really looking at him, seeing the man who'd texted to check on her after long filming days, who'd learned her coffee order without being asked, who'd literally put his body between her and harm—she realized the answer was more complicated than their contract allowed for.

"I love him more than I know how to handle," she said finally, and it was the most honest thing she'd said all evening.

The audience exploded again, and Jimmy was practically bouncing in his chair. "This is amazing! You two are amazing!"

As the interview continued, moving on to lighter topics about the film and their characters, Elara felt like she was floating outside her own body. She and Liam fell into an easy rhythm, finishing each other's sentences, sharing inside jokes that were actually based on real moments from their past few weeks together.

When Liam mentioned her habit of stealing his coffee when she thought he wasn't looking, she countered with his tendency to perfect every line delivery until he drove the entire cast crazy. When she talked about how he'd surprised her with his sense of humor, he described her work ethic and dedication with what sounded like genuine admiration.

"You two are absolutely adorable," Jimmy said as the interview wound down. "Before you go, I have to ask—any wedding bells in the future?"

Elara felt Liam's arm tighten around her again. "We're taking things one day at a time," she said smoothly. "Right now we're focused on making sure people fall in love with Aetheria's Echo as much as we've fallen in love with each other."

"Perfect answer," Jimmy said. "Ladies and gentlemen, Elara Vance and Liam Blackwood!"

As the cameras stopped rolling and the audience continued to cheer, Elara became aware that her hand was resting on Liam's chest, that they were sitting closer together than their contract required, that something fundamental had shifted during those twenty minutes under the bright lights.

"Good job," Liam murmured in her ear as they stood to leave. "Very convincing."

But as they walked off stage together, Elara couldn't shake the feeling that the most convincing moments had been the ones where they'd forgotten they were supposed to be acting at all.

The scariest part wasn't that they'd lied to thirty million people.

It was that some of it hadn't felt like lying at all.