"Hello," Natasha said, smiling at the camera, "Welcome to Simple Living. I'm Natasha Simple, and I'm your guide to feeling good about yourself, or at least better than you usually do. If you only feel good once a week while watching my show, then that's better than nothing I'd say. I'm happy to be of some sort of service."
Natasha sighed and leaned forward on the couch, clasping her hands and thinking. "You know, it's an unusual week this week, because it's the annual birthday show I do," Natasha said, "and as such, today is my sisters birthday. Actually, the birthday show was created as a way to honor my sister, because, as those of you who have siblings are likely aware, having a sister is a real blessing. Sure, sometimes they can be a nuisance, but in the end its always worth it isn't it? Have you ever had a fight with a sibling? You can admit it, it happens, we all know it. Well I had many fights with my sister growing up, but we always wound up coming together again even stronger because of them." Natasha stood up and walked around to the small table beside the couch and smelled the flowers in a vase atop it, before exhaling, smiling widely and looking back at the camera. "...relationships are important, and all relationships have their hard times. Not everyone needs them, granted, plenty of people leading perfectly full lives without the companionship of others romantic or platonic. Some people cut off their family for being toxic, or chose their friends wisely because of poor past interactions. All completely valid things to do, honestly. There's no room for undue negativity in your life. Lord knows we get plenty of negativity we can't escape so no reason to openly invite more in if you don't have to. But I always found my relationships to be worthwhile, especially my relationship with my sister. And her birthday was always one of those special days, hence why I created an entire episode based around it." Natasha walked across to a wall on the set and gently dusted then straightened a painting hanging somewhat askew, before sighing and looking back from the painting to the camera. "This episode was once a loving tribute, and an open love letter itself, to the girl I so luckily got to call my sister. Someone who was always there for me, even during a fight, someone who never questioned me, even when I likely warranted questioning, someone who simply understood that being a sister meant just being there. Understanding and accepting, helping and loving. And my sister was extremely good at loving, moreso than I thought apparently, because she was so adept at it that she wound up stealing my husband." The air in the room got sucked out as Jay gritted his teeth and stayed in focus, trying not to think about whatever Natasha was about to say or do. "I can remember my sister hosting my wedding her own backyard. A small personal wedding, and she hosted it herself, because that's how happy she was for me. She was thrilled to see me finally find someone I wanted to settle down with. Well, to be fair, my husband and I had been together for ages by that time, but still, she always wondered if we'd ever finally tie the knot, so to speak, and she was so happy when he finally proposed that she offered to organize the shindig herself. I can't imagine that she could go from appreciating my husband to be to stealing my husband to be, but that's how it worked out I suppose. Sometimes in life crap just happens and it hurts, a LOT, but you deal with it. Now it's her birthday, and she's spending it with the man who will be my ex husband, and all I'm left with is this annual birthday episode, created for and often dedicated to my sister. The very same sister." Natasha sighed and walked back across the stage and sat back down on the couch. She pulled her hair back and tied it into a messy bun, then cleared her throat and grinned. "I know sibling rivalry is a thing that exists, but I think stealing your sisters husband might be taking that concept much too far, don't you? When I got pregnant with my daughter, Violet, I thought about how sad it was that she wouldn't have a sister. My husband and I never planned to have another child, we only wanted the one, and I thought about all the great things she'd be missing out on by being siblingless, but, in hindsight, perhaps I inadvertently saved her. Who can hurt you more than those who know you best, and who knows you best other than a sibling? I think that maybe my daughter got off easy in that regard, as I didn't set her up for a lifelong disappointment of having what you think is a best friend so easily become your worst enemy. I'm not even that mad at my husband, that's the sickest part. His betrayal? I'm over it. I'm mad with my sister." Natasha leaned back on the couch and ran her hands down her blouse, straightening it. "Men cheat. It's just a universal thing we all have accepted, terrible as it is. And, so as I don't come off as a misandrist here, plenty of women cheat too. It isn't a thing only men do, lots of women have been known to break up marriages, relationships, whatever by cheating. But it's a universal thing we all have accepted is that men generally cheat for one reason or another. Sometimes the reason is, understandably, somewhat valid. I know that may shock you to hear come out of the mouth of someone who was cheated on, but let's be honest, ending a relationship is hard and scary, and sometimes the easier thing to do for some people is just cheat, and hope that eventually that's what ends it instead of owning up to your unhappiness with one another and ending it willingly. I'm not condoning cheating, for the record, I'm just saying that there's layers to this sort of thing. But, because men cheat, it didn't come as that much of a shock to me when it happened. No, the shock came when I learned who he cheated with." Natasha looked at the nails on her hand and took a long breath. "And that's what hurts the most, honestly, is when someone you trust, someone you've dedicated a portion of your work to, decides to turn around and hurt you. I gave her a part of something that is from my soul, this show, and she tainted it with her cruelty. This show, which was always only ever meant to be helpful and loving and full of kindness, now has this stench of irrevocable hatred to it, and that makes me so sad. And that's the weirdest part of all is finding out what matters most to you in these sorts of times. I was upset my marriage failed, I was mad my sister hurt me, but really I'm most upset that she damaged my show forever, something that was meant to be so pure and good and now will forever be tinged by this moment." Natasha sighed heavily and rubbed her face with her palms, clearly trying to keep her cool, before dragging the ottoman from the couch over to the edge of the stage and sitting as close to Jay's camera as she could. She smiled again and continued. "I guess what I'm telling you is that you can absolutely do things for those you care about, those you love, even let them into your innermost personal and private projects and desires, but don't be surprised when they throw them right back in your face. And don't feel bad if you don't want to let people in because of that. There's absolutely nothing wrong with keeping what you love the most close to your heart and for your eyes only, especially if its something you made, that's important to you. I created a thing for beauty, and she, with a simple decision, turned it into a thing of ugliness. I will never forgive her for that. I started this show around the time my daughter was five or so, and it's been a very personal and important aspect of my life since then. It's almost like a second child. And I feel like the people I maybe help are my friends in a way. You obviously like me enough to take what I say to heart." Natasha breathed heavily and wiped the tears rolling down her face before shaking her head and soldiering onward. "And that's what makes me happy. Knowing that even without her, the birthday show still has meaning. It's a rebirth. It can be the birthday of something new now. Something better. Something she had no say or part in. Something that no longer represents her or her incredibly unspeakable act of pettiness and selfishness. Now the birthday show belongs to all of you. All my viewers, my friends, the people I've somehow managed to help, the people who might have turned to me in a time of need. This is our episode now. Your episode, and nobody can ever take that away from you." Natasha stood up and walked over to a picture hanging on the wall behind the couch with two women in it, one of herself, and the other, presumably, of her sister. She touched it before taking it down from the wall. "A lot of people will tell you that cutting out family members isn't right to do, but toxicity isn't specific to any one kind of person, nor is it specific to any one kind of toxicity. It comes in many shapes and sizes, many colors and forms. And you're perfectly fine if you decide you don't want your parents to know your children, or something to that effect. This photo of my sister and I on my first day of shooting has hung on this wall on this set since the day it was taken. It was meant to commemorate our bond, as sisters, as friends, and - with the addition of the birthday show - as creative partners of one kind or another. But she doesn't deserve that anymore, so let's destroy relics of the past so we can welcome icons of the future." With that, Natasha started smashing the photo against the small table beside the couch, as Lawrence watching off set ran his hands over his face in both disbelief and incredible appreciation of her growth and acceptance of her situation. Jay shook his head and exhaled, grinning himself as he tracked her movement back across the stage. "So if you're at home, and you wanna celebrate this new birthday show, your birthday show, dear viewer, then help me with a special birthday chant we can say. I'm thinking something along the lines of 'Dear Ashley, screw you!'. Come on, we can all shout it together at the top of our lungs! Or, if you'd prefer, substitute my sisters name for the name of a relative you personally have cut out of your life or hurt you in the past! Fuel your growth with the ashes of your burnt bridges! 3 times we'll shout it!" With that Natasha cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, 'Dear Ashley, screw you!' three times, each time with members of her crew joining in even, surprising her by their support. Afterwards she looked at the camera and she smiled, looking happy as can be. "You may have taken my husband, you may have been the favorite, but you know what you'll never have? My show. MY show, and now OUR show, mine and the viewers. Let's read some birthday mail, shall we?" she asked, sitting down and beginning to open a small pile of letters on the couch beside her. The television clicked off in a household, and Natasha's image faded from the screen, leaving only Ashley and Stephen to stare back at the now black television screen ahead of them. Stephen exhaled and ran his hands through his hair as he stood up and began to pace. Ashley chewed her lip and looked at her shoes. "I...I didn't expect that," Stephen finally said, "That was, uh...something else." "...I can't even blame her," Ashley said quietly, "...I really can't. What I did...what we did...was just awful. You left a daughter, not just a wife. You left a whole ass family for me." "You'd think someone would take that as a compliment," Stephen said, sliding his hands in his pockets. "I mean, I...I do, and I love being with you, but she's unraveling on television, and she's gaining more and more popularity. Can you imagine what might happen if someone picked her up to do a national show? She's becoming unhinged." "I don't think she's unhinged, Ash, I think she's just extremely angry," Stephen said, "As she has every right to be." "...I need to lay down," Ashley said, standing up and heading to the bedroom, leaving Stephen to stand there alone. He turned the television back on but put it on mute as he watched his soon to be ex-wife go through fan mail, and he sat back down on the couch. He covered his face with his hands and sighed heavily, shaking his head. "...this is not going to end well," he said under his breath.
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Public Access follows Natasha Simple, a self qualified "self help" instructor with her own show on local public access. But when she makes a sudden and surprising statement on air, her entire life changes, for the better...and the worse. Archives
December 2022
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