Bab 18: Celestia's Meeting
Aaron had arrived at my house, quiet and sulking. He said not a word to me as I got into his vehicle. Which was fine with me. I was still angry about the surprise reveal as well. I always dreamt the day that I would have the chance to be working with the Dragon Eye's, but after seeing that billboard showing he was working with our competitor, I really lost all respect for him. I know it was childish to have this mindset. It was unbecoming to sulk when his company was a partner to many competitors. I guess my anger was mostly directed at the fact he constantly likes to push my boundaries.
As much as I wanted to focus all my anger on Damien, I couldn't allow it to ruin my perfectly good afternoon with Celestia. I couldn't help letting a small pitiful sigh escape my lips as I watched the heavy woods fly by in a blur. It was starting to make me feel drowsy the longer I stared out the window. After my cat nap with Leo, I ended up working into the late hours, trying to make up work from the last few days I missed. If the bags under my eyes didn't tell you how hard I was working, then the fatigue as I dragged myself out of Aaron's car would have told you instead.
We arrived shortly at a small café just outside of the city. It was in a secluded place with very few buildings surrounding it. Carol's Sunshine Café was a very small family business that honestly served better coffee than most fast paced coffee shops. It wasn't popular because they didn't make their name known. They like it better that stragglers would come find them on their own and experience the best tasting coffee's for themselves.
Outside this small building, was small eating areas with large umbrellas covering most of the surface of each table. Seated at one, was Celestia and her agent. Upon our arrival, Celestia's face lit up like a child right before they opened Christmas presents. Celestia was a very pretty girl with long blonde locks she kept down her back. Two large pink butterfly clips kept loose hairs from invading her face. She wore a bright pink sundress to match, with flats to complete the look. Although she was no longer in school, she still liked to dress like a middle schooler.
The look suited her, but it was just so funny to watch people treat her like a child when she wasn't. She would always complain too, but the whining just added to her child like look. It absolutely irritated her when acting companies would only offer child characters to her. But because she was still up and coming, she took everything she could get.
Celestia rose from her seat at the table and ran towards me. Aaron, who was normally so docile and charming, reached out and arm to brace Celestia from touching me. I was surprised at the reaction, but he was also in a bad mood, and I never told Celestia about my wounds. I watched as she collided with his unsuspecting arm. She looked hurt and turned to him, stamping her foot in the process. I just want one day to go right, I better smooth this over before a fight breaks out.
"I am so sorry Celestia, I forgot to tell you I was in an accident, and I am still recovering. It was my fault I apologize that Aaron was looking out for me. Please don't take offense to his actions." I said casually rubbing my head. Celestia turned to me, but not before passing a dirty look Aaron's way. I inwardly sighed, wishing this child in an adult body would start acting her age one day.
"Why didn't you tell me you were hurt? I would have just came over to your house. I feel bad now that you came all the way out here in your condition." Celestia said with a pouty lip. I chuckled and gently poked her nose. Something we often did when meeting each other.
"Ah, don't worry about little old me. I wanted to get out, it gets so stuffy and lonely when you are the only one living in your home." I waved her apology away, not wanting to ruin this meeting because of a small and stupid injury. Not to mention, Aaron was still in a very sour mood from our meeting earlier. Reading from his stoic expression and rigid posture, he probably would continue to be for the rest of the night.
"Very well Rosaline. I know you don't do what you can't handle. Why don't we have a chat about this modeling opportunity?" Celestia said wrapping her arm around mine and guiding me towards the table. Her agent waved, a brimming smile on her face. She was a small petite agent with short black hair, cut into a pixie style. She wore black squared glasses and a black suit to match. We took our seat across from them and chatted idly while we waited for a waitress to come to our table.
In that time, I discussed our new theme idea, and what we would possibly wanted her to model as. Celestia still has the child like frame of mind and was all but more than happy to poise as our Princess fairy. I would have to be careful on what dress I picked for her to model. After all she was petite, her skin was a porcelain white, so anything she would wear would of course be clashing with her skin. Unless we could dress her in some kind of light blue fabric. That would make her eyes stand out more as well.
Then we could have her wear lace arm sleeves and maybe a lace skirt on top of the blue under skirt. The look alone would be magical. We could top it off with some pearl powder of the skin to finalize the appearance of magic. I would have to ask our costume department to mold some fake long ears along with a matching wing design to match the dress. I could already see it coming together on her, and she looked marvelous in my head.
"Earth to Rosaline? Are you still with us?" Aaron waved a hand in front of my face, and I flinched away. I sheepishly grinned at him, knowing that I was far away in my thoughts while they continued to chat.
"Ah yes, sorry about that. I was forming her dress design in my head, and I guess I got carried away. I am glad I brought my drawing case with me to sketch it out. You should tell me what you think Aaron." I said pulling my small sketch book out from my purse. With a steady hand I carefully drew the vision in my head. The more it came to life, the more in love I became with it. For the wings, I decided to make them long on the top, and the bottoms where large round circles with a long tail. It almost looked like a Luna Moths wings, but more in a butterfly shape.
"I think the blue would definitely look better on her than the white. She is light toned and we don't want her clashing with her outfit. She has long legs as well; I don't think wearing heels would benefit her. Maybe we could make her a matching pair of silk slippers." Aaron remarked. I nodded my head in agreement. We couldn't make her taller than our Queen. The Queen needed to look Majestic and elegant. I couldn't overdo Celestia's design.
"I should call the team and let them know that I changed one of the designs. They won't be happy, but I know they can get it done. I think maybe on the next dress, maybe instead of all white, maybe we can add some blue to the other outfits as well, so she doesn't stand out completely. That and all white would just be way to boring." Aaron sighed, pursing his lips as he nodded his head.
"You always make more work for me. But I understand what you're saying and completely agree. Give me a minute to talk with the head of our designing department and send me a picture of that design while you're at it. I will handle them." Aaron said as he rose from the table and took his phone from his pocket. I watched him walk away, head down as he dialed their number. Normally I was the one who was in charge of making these changes, but since the accident I have been given less responsibility.
I didn't like this change, it made me think that I was incompetent in my role. I knew they were just giving me time to heal, and that stress would hold me back. But nevertheless, it still hurt. I hoped they wouldn't continue to baby me like this forever, otherwise I might just quit and let them handle things for themselves. After all, this was never something I was ever truly invested in to begin with. I just couldn't bear to go after my other dreams after my mother and father died.
"Are you alright? You seem to be really out of it today? Is there something you would like to talk about?" Celestia nudged me with her finger tips, coaxing my attention towards her. "Are you perhaps in love with Aaron?" She grinned widely, her teeth bright and clean. I scoffed and waved a hand towards her. Never once had I had any romantic feelings for Aaron. If anything, he was more like a twin brother than anything else.
"You are clearly dreaming. Aaron has a wife and child. He is the closest thing I have to family, so of course I treat him differently than others. We have worked so closely together for the past eight years that I don't think either one of us could possess a romantic feeling for one another." But even with that explanation, she still sat there, smiling and sipping at the cup of tea between her hands. I suppose it was like a child to dream of romance, but I couldn't muster up such thoughts. Love has been dead for me for so long I don't really think I could feel anything more than friendship towards the other party.
"You are such a pretty woman with a great sense of talent in the fashion industry. You must have feelings for someone? Is it maybe you are secretly dating and don't want to tell anyone?" Celestia asked, bending over more on the table. I snorted in response. I have never been asked out by anyone. Those in their right minds stay away, calling me heartless and ruthless. At least those who are not close to me. It was better this way.
"Celestia, no man has ever shown an interest in me, and I am okay with that. I would prefer the quiet life and not having to cater to someone else. Besides, I am way to busy. Relationships require time and that is not something I have. All the friends I have made, either work with me, or work as hard as I do. The only times I go out are for meetings. Other than that, I live a solitary life and mostly spend my time at work. There is no need to waste my time trying to find someone when I don't have the energy for it." My answer didn't please her because her smile faded and turned into a small frown.
"That sounds awfully lonely Rose, how do you do it?" She asked, barely a whisper. I pasted a lopsided smile to my face because the answer wouldn't really make her any happier either. Her heart was so bright and pure, she would never understand. The pain I felt over the years, had finally became numb, and the feeling of wanting to be loved, went with it. Nothing more than a whisper in the back of my head.
"I've been lonely almost my whole life. You get used to it and the world moves on. Don't do that, I am happy with how my life is." I said reaching over and brushing tears from her face. She sniffled lightly as I passed her a tissue from my purse. As she wiped her face from the tears, Aaron came over. His face set into a grim tight line. I raised an eyebrow at him, wondering what his sour look was about.
"Bastion wants us both at the office immediately. Apparently, Damien wants to go over somethings with us before our next show." Aaron grumbled. Celestia's eyes went wide, the tears practically vanishing.
"Well, this sounds urgent! Tell him Celestia says hi for me, will you?" She asked beaming. Aaron and I passed an uneasy glance towards her, not exactly sure where the excitement was coming from. I sighed loudly, showing my great sense of displeasure at the thought of facing Damien so soon after his arrival.
"Very well. Let's get this over with. At least this is a good excuse to also meet with the team about the design changes." I grumbled getting up from my seat. I waved a last good bye to Celestia, who beamed cheerfully and waved as well. Her Agent on the other hand, pursed her lips together, almost like she had something to say but wasn't sure if she should. It gave me an ominous feeling, but I couldn't put my fingers on it.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone