She gets ready. Blouse. Earrings. Shivers. A thick layer of foundation. Lipstick. Nausea. 

Washed and brushed hair, loosely tied back. Sweat.

She selects an image conveying calm, serenity, and to some extend, control.

The exact opposite of everything she feels: fear, panic, desperation.

The six vodka-tonic from the night before had reappeared in the wee hours. 

She spewed hot liquid and self loathing, punished herself with an ice-cold shower.

She forced down some scrambled eggs, hating their substance against her teeth eroded by the acidic vomit.

At 9am exactly, she turns her camera and microphone on, takes a deep breath, smiles to the unfamiliar faces, and starts talking.

B F Jones is French and lives in the UK. She has stories published in various UK and US literary magazines: Ellipsis, The Cabinet of Heed, Rejection Letters, Spelk, Idle Ink and Storgy amongst others. Her debut collection, The Fabric of Tombstones, was released in April 2020.