"...please help me welcome pop sensation Bianca Sinclair!"

Bianca crossed the stage to her seat, all the while waving to the audience. She plopped down in her armchair and crossed her legs at the knee. Despite the harsh, blazing stage lights, Bianca appeared graceful. Her velvet shirt and black pants clung to her figure. She looked a bit like a modern vampire, and it worked very well for her.

"What, no hug?" James joked.

"If I hug you, I'm going to get my makeup all over your suit and I'm not ready for a scandal like that," Bianca retorted, laughing slightly. The audience chuckled. She shifted in her seat. 

James leaned over his desk. "Okay, so I saw on your Twitter - you were kind of fangirling over Tony Stark." 

Bianca groaned. "Oh my god. You could call me out a little less, James. Yes, I was kind of losing it over him. Tony Stark is like, one of the coolest people on the planet, super charitable, and his work in clean energy is amazing and then there's also the fact that he's a superhero." She decided not to mention that for the longest time, she thought he was just another rich asshole. It wasn't until she met Peter, who idolized him, that she saw another side to Tony. That was better left unsaid.

She gasped. "I just realized. Is he gonna hear me sing tonight? Is Tony Stark going to hear me sing? Oh wow, that's a lot of pressure." She fanned herself with one hand. The audience laughed. She relaxed ever so slightly.

"Yeah, I mean, he might not even be here yet," James said dismissively, playing with something on his desk. "He doesn't come on until later, so, he might not even be here when you perform."

"Oh." Bianca visibly wilted. "Oh, yeah, no that makes sense." She absent-mindedly twirled a lock of hair around a ring-adorned finger. Her features had settled into a bit of a pout.

James clapped his hands. "Alright, so, let's talk about your upcoming album." The audience cheered.

Bianca jolted, her eyes lighting up. "Yes! Let's please!" The album, surprisingly, brought up fewer memories of Peter than talking about Tony Stark.

"Tell us about it," James prompted. "It's uh, it's called Momentum, right?"

"Oh, Momentum," Bianca sighed, throwing her head back with a cheery grin. "Yes, yes! Okay, so my next album is called Momentum. It's 10 tracks. The first single I'm debuting tonight, it's called 'I Don't Change.' It's very different from what I've released before. My first album, Fever Dream, I recorded when I was 17, so it was a little immature. Momentum is a lot more mature and it's the sound I've always wanted for myself, so, I'm really excited for everyone to hear it." The audience applauded, whooping. James encouraged their applause. Bianca ducked her head shyly.

James gestured for the audience to quiet down, then turned back to her. "So, I heard you recorded Momentum while studying at Columbia?"

"Yeah," she confirmed. "I'm getting my bachelor's in music at Columbia College right now and then the plan is to get into Columbia University to major in composition with a minor in music theory." The audience applauded her once again, seemingly in awe that she was attending college. She was too busy giggling at the very obvious super-fans in the back of the room to notice James checking his watch.

"That's a lot to juggle," James commented. "A successful career as a pop star and college? For once, I don't envy you. What, do you learn choreo for tour while doing your homework? Like, when do you find the time to do both? Because you apparently do very well in your classes. Your mum tweeted you had straight A's."

Bianca laughed. "It's really not that hard to manage. I actually juggled more during high school because I was, I was dating and working at my grandparents' bakery and trying to get a start in the music industry and I was in the school band and the school musical and yearbook and culinary club - I've always been a super busy person, so this now, just college and writing songs, doing some interviews, it's like a vacation for me." James checked his watch again. A slight smirk curled his lips.

He suddenly became very interested in the floor by Bianca's feet. "Is that - I'm sorry. Is something glittering? Is that the backing of your earring or something?" Worry flooded Bianca's face. She bent down to search the floor, not bothering to check if the backing of one of her earrings had indeed fallen out. While she was patting down the floor, an instantly recognizable figure crept in from offstage. Both the figure and James signaled the crowd to remain silent. The figure snuck up behind Bianca's chair, leaned in, right beside her ear, and whispered, "Hi."

Bianca shrieked, nearly hitting the now laughing figure by her side. She twisted in her seat to see Tony Stark doubled over with laughter. He plopped down in the seat beside her. She looked back and forth between Tony and James, who was wiping tears from his eyes. The audience roared. She took a moment to catch her breath.

She massaged her temples. "I just almost cursed on national television." The audience's laughter started up again.

"When I heard you were going to be here, I wanted to surprise you," Tony chuckled.

"You know who I am?" Bianca's voice went up at the end into a high-pitched squeak. She was sweating now. All she could think about was Peter. How much Peter would love this. How jealous Peter would be that she got to meet Tony Stark. All of the questions he would ask if he was still in her life. Her hands curled into fists. Fuck.

Tony took off his sunglasses and tucked them into his suit jacket. "Of course. My intern plays your music religiously." She let out a girlish giggle, trying to relish at this moment without making it about Peter. Her life needed to stop revolving around Peter.

"What's your favorite song by her?" James asked.

"I really like, uh, I can't think of the name of it," Tony said, snapping his fingers like it would trigger his memory. "Oh! Uh, I think it's 'Flamethrower.'"

Bianca threw her hands into the air. "Yes! 'Flamethrower' is my favorite song on my first album. It's the closest to my real sound I ever got on Fever Dream."

"I can't wait to hear your new song," Tony gushed, laying a hand on Bianca's arm.

"Luckily, you won't have to wait much longer!" James exclaimed. "Bianca Sinclair will be debuting her new single 'I Don't Change' when we come back from this commercial break!"

*

this sucks but oh well