VANITY FAIR PRESENTS, a lie detector test, ft. arabella mann.
let's begin. what is your first name, and what bar are we in?
"arabella. we're in bar manhattan." predictably tight-lipped, expression perfectly coached into something neutral and indifferent.
great, thank you. and what is today's date?
"last i checked, it was march 13th."
just one more: what is the name of the gossip column currently trending in manhattan?
"robin hood. a bit offensive to the outlaw himself, if you ask me." or wishful thinking, maybe, that they think themselves on par with the folk hero himself.
good enough. let's jump right into it.
do you have a secret social media account?
denial blooms and dies on her tongue, hyper-aware that any lie she's caught out in could end up blasted across tabloid headlines, spun out of control and exaggerated beyond belief—so she takes a breath. shifts a little in her seat. crosses her legs, and then crosses them the opposite way. "i don't know if it's secret, per se, but i have a private account, one that just my friends are following."
no chance of us getting that handle, then? worth a shot. alright, changing direction here a little bit: we've heard you're a mobile game connoisseur. is it true?
"it's not untrue." aren't you meant to be a politician's daughter, arabella? "i like block blast, and royal match, and, uh ... homescapes." cheeks take on a reddish tint as operator confirms it, spying their up-turned thumb out of the corner of her eye, and wondering (yet again) why she agreed to this.
do you care what the public think of you?
"i try not to," she volleys off immediately, only to be met with an obvious pocket of silence that's followed with a murmured we're picking up some deception here. jesus, that's embarrassing. "it's difficult, of course. my mom may be the elected official of the family, but we're all in the public eye, and it's important that we all hold ourselves to the same standards that she holds herself to." talk about a non-answer. interviewer looks imploringly at her, and it's with a wearied sigh that arabella acquiesces further. "i care about what people think of me more than i would like to, the public especially." is it a little sad that she's striving to get a good grade on the vanity fair polygraph test? maybe so, but she's trying not to think too long or hard on it.
do you wish that robin hood would pay more attention to you?
"god no." quick and precise, the little upper-body shudder she gives emphasising just how strongly she feels. she's telling the truth, pipes up the deep voice off to the side, and arabella has to fight against the urge to smile.
okay, okay, moving onto a juicier field now. have you ever slid into someone's dms?
she pretends to wrack her brain a little, acting as though she needs to think about it—she's done it more than once, in reality, but only when she was pretty certain that it would work in her favour. it helps when your mom was the favoured mayoral candidate of most nyc celebs, after all. "yeah, i have. my last relationship came out of it, actually."
would that have been with a certain veteran theater actor and activist, by any chance? yes? do you prefer to keep your relationships private?
"ordinarily, i do." pointedly does she answer that one, already envisioning the comments that are going to arise from her confirmation of a relationship that was no more than rumour before, but there's no doubt in denying it when she's hooked up to a polygraph. "i may be used to the scrutiny and attention, but not everybody that i date is."
have you ever worked with someone you couldn't stand?
quick, someone call the papers: it's the first time this whole interview that arabella has laughed! "that's basically a given in the hospitality industry." maybe it's to be expected, that she only perks up when line of questioning turns professional in nature. "i've been working since i was fifteen, so that's ample time to have worked with an asshole chef or two. it's just the name of the game, really."
what are you currently working on?
"for the time being, i'm really just focusing on the restaurant. i want to make sure it's stable and capable of running itself before i start working on anything else." it is the truth, and she is so affirmed (albeit vaguely), but it's not the whole truth. it's too early in the negotiation process to even dream of mentioning six-part tv series brainchild, though, so any mention of a potential presenter role in the future goes unvoiced.
there's light at the end of the tunnel—we're almost finished, i promise! could you see yourself in manhattan for the rest of your life?
she hems and haws for a moment, wondering what sentiment would be the best received by her mom's current staff and her future campaign staff; but when the voice of reason stirs from beside her (let's try that one again) she decides with a heave of a sigh that there is no point in trying to be coy or overtly diplomatic. "i like manhattan, and i think as long as my family are here i'll keep coming back to it. but i spent a lot of my childhood in brooklyn, and there's something special about it. it's more peaceful, i think. and i'd like to live abroad for a time, properly. paris, definitely, and maybe tripoli."
to finish up, we have a little rapid fire round of this or that. sound good? okay, let's go!
gold or silver / coffee or tea / cook or order in / penthouse or brownstone / love or money / early bird or night owl / winter resort or coastal town / opera or ballet / give up caffeine or give up dessert / sweet or savory / plan ahead or live in the moment / bad haircut or bad dye job / disney world or las vegas / books or movies / saturday or sunday / pilates or running / vacation or staycation / tourist hotspots or hidden gems / horse track or race track / wine tasting or bar hopping / concert or comedian / superbowl game or halftime game / charity gala or charity work / book smarts or street smarts / logic or emotion / forgiveness or justice / truth that hurts or lie that soothes / follow tradition or pave your own way / private success or public recognition / always understood or always feel appreciated
vaporwave
yousharknotpass