Immaculate Spirit 32 :

"Nathaniel, try to be natural and you will be alright, okay?. You have the copy of the question that i'm gonna ask you and if you have a problem we can cut it in montage, this is not live so don't worry." Rea.s.sure Ellen while patting his shoulder.

"I'm good Ellen. A little stress and a little excited but good nonetheless." He smile.

With the experience of Marc engraved in his brain, he would need a lot more to stress or panicked. When you compared life and death experience in combat zone with a talk show with about a hundred people in the audience, there was really not a single reason to panicked. Moreover, he hoped in the future to go on tour and perform in front of thousand of people. If he was scared by a mere hundred, he needed to reconsider is entire future. That was not going to happen.

Not long after that, the show begun. He was waiting patiently in backstage with Maggie, talking to each other about the show. That was not long before he was ushered in by a staff member.

"h.e.l.lo Nathaniel, first of all thanks to be here."

"Thanks to have me, Ellen."

"I heard it is your first show and first interview, is that right?"

"Yes Ellen, you are my first. So be gentle alright?" He said almost timidly, which made her and the entire audience laugh at that double entendre.

"That lead me directly to my first question. Are you Taylor's boyfriend?" She ask with mirth, making him and the audience laugh.

"I don't have a girlfriend and Taylor is just my best friend. Moreover with our age difference, that is not possible."

"How old are you?"

"Sixteen."

Looking through the reaction of the audience, Ellen nodded her head.

"I know what you are thinking, i didn't believe it either until he show me is ID." Said Ellen while in the big screen behind them appear a picture of his ID who show that he was in fact sixteen.

*****

Maggie was in backstage and was looking through the return screen. She was currently looking critically at Nathaniel while he was engaging in front of the camera and she could not help to shake her head.

'That fu**ing brat is a natural at this." She thought.

They were talking for ten minutes with each other but the conversation was already flowing with jokes and humor. That little smile of his had already charmed half of the women in the audience while the other had a very good opinion about him.

Maggie was the agent in the past of huge movie star like Tom Hanks and Bradley Cooper but none of them was this good, especially not in their first try. He was an enigma to her. Sometimes he was as playful as a teenager and other he was talking like he was a mature, experienced old man. That was that dichotomy that leave every women he met drooling.

Feeling her phone vibrating, she stopped her line of thought and leave the backstage area to not disturb anyone. Looking at the caller ID, she could not help but frown.

"h.e.l.lo Jillian." Said Maggie in her business voice.

"h.e.l.lo Maggie. How is the music industry treating you?"

"Good enough. Why are you calling?" She ask sternly.

Her and Jillian worked quite often with each other when she was an agent of movie star. They were not enemies but not friends either.

"Direct as always. I know that you are in California, i would like to invite you and your new client to lunch."

"What do you want?"

"This is professional and personal. I know that you have no reason to come but i will owe you if you do." She sighed on the phone.

Things were getting weider. Jillian was renowned in the industry for her capacity to find talent and to keep her word true. A favor from her was extremely rare to have and Maggie knew that. She could not find out why she was requesting a meeting and that 'personal" things was even more puzzling.

"Okay i will talk to him about it after the interview is over and text you his answer. Where would you like to meet?"

"Home. I will text you the address."

"Home?" repeat Maggie with disbelief.

Jillian and her had some similarity and one of them was they separate their personal and professional life. They had worked in the same circle for more than ten years and she never heard of anyone who had come to her house.

"Like i said, personal. Thank you Maggie, i'll wait for your answer. Bye."

After hanging up, Maggie was still looking at her phone, frowning. The personal part of the call left her lost but the profession part get her bewilder. Jillian was the better casting director of Hollywood and work only on future blockbuster movie. Nathaniel has no experience whatsoever as an actor. Maybe she wanted to have him sing in the movie? No, that was not her job to find people like that. The personal side doesn't make any sense either, her client never been to LA, he had told her that himself and had no reason to lie.

'I need to make phone calls, something is not right here." She thought.

*****

"I heard something interesting, stop me if i'm wrong but you have two mothers, is that right?"

"Yes. My mom's are together for eighteen years and happily married since that it's allowed in NY." Nathaniel said with a brilliant smile, the audience applauding.

"I'm so pleased to hear it. This is a little personal but were you adopted?"

"No, no. My two mom had a childhood friends, he was a financial a.n.a.lyst. They did not want to go to a sperm bank so they asked him to make a baby with them and he agree. I was conceived thanks to friendship. Alas, he died three month after that in a car accident." He said with sadness.

"Sorry to hear that Nathaniel. Are you sad?"

"Yes. I'm sad that i never had the chance to meet him. But if your question is 'I am an unhappy in my life?' i would tell you no. loving mother are the best thing in the world and i have the chance to have two of them. Beside, do i look unhappy to you?" He said with a huge smile on his face.

"No, you do not." She answer, laughing. "Now, we would talk about something much more serious. Do you want to talk about what happen almost five years ago?"

"Of course. I just turn twelve at the times and we were walking with my mom when i was. .h.i.t by a drunk driver. I was badly injured and despite the heroic work of the doctor i fell into coma."

"How long the coma last?"

"Four years."

At that moment, on the big screen picture of Nathaniel were displays. He was on a hospital bed, he was emaciated and sickly looking. At that moment, everyone on the audience could not help to feel empathy for him, Ellen was no exception.

"What did you feel when you woke up?" She asked emotionally.

"Pain and guilt with a bit of joy." He respond honestly.

"How so?" Asked Ellen really puzzled.

"Pain because when i woke up, all my muscles were in an advanced state of atrophy. Everything was painful, even talking was. Guilt when i realised that i caused a lot of heartache to my family. You could tell me that it was not my fault and i was a victim in that case but in that moment that did not help. And finally joy because i was back to my loved ones." Nathaniel says.

"That's amazing what you have experienced and how you cope with it. I'm really impressed."

"Thanks Ellen. Despite all of it, that coma bring something very nice to me."

"What's that?" She asked perplex.

"I had an amazing excuse to dodge the entirety of middle school." He respond making the entire audience and Ellen laugh.

"'I'm starting to fear what you will come up to dodge high school." She joked right back.

"About that, i have an amazing plan for that purpose."

"Oh? What that will be?"

"Can't say for now, it's a surprise." She said teasingly.

"Okay okay, thing that we would need to look after, i like it. Back to the topic now. What did you do after waking up?"

"Lots of tests first of all. I think they had me take everyone that exist. From what they had told me, waking up from a long time coma was exceedingly rare. But talking right after waking up was unheard of so they wanted to understand it. Sadly they found nothing that could explain why i could but other can't. After that, i gone to physical rehab and learn much more about pain. I think i learn much more doing it about me and that's something i'm proud to have make without pain medication."

"You know, at that moment habitually we would show pictures of you shirtless to show off your workout but we didn't manage to find some. That's not kind for us you know." Said Ellen to lighten up the mood.

"Any? What about those that i sent you by text last night?" He said with a raised eyebrow while the audience started to make cat whistle.

"Those i kept for myself, they were sent to me after all." She answer mischievously.

The interview continue after that where they talk about his music and the single who had come out. How they had met with Taylor, he did tell everything like it happen with no regards for the camera. After a commercial break, the show resume with him singing while playing piano. Finishing the music he had an idea that Ellen follow without complain, she was far too experienced to stop artist from improvising on her show.

Nathaniel select three people in the audience, two womens and one man. He asked them to pick any song which he played while singing with them and Ellen who had joins. They had a lot of fun and if not for the director of the show telling them to stop, they would had continue. The interview and the show finished, he could finally wipe off the makeup that they put on his face. Meeting Ellen on the loge where they had put him.

"You were great! That was one of my favorite show! How was it for you?" she asked joyfully.

"I love it too but i hate makeup" He said which made her laugh louder.

They talked a little more before she had to leave. Before leaving she had given him her phone number and to come back anytime which he agree wholeheartedly. It was at that moment that Maggie finally appear. Seeing the expression on her face, Nathaniel knew exactly that something happen.

"Ok Maggie, tell me. What is going on with your face? I mess up the interview?"