Friday arrived quickly, and the cold weather too. It was already the 19th of november, and Cyrielle could feel that soon her simple stylish coat wouldn’t be enough anymore. She crossed her fingers, praying that at today’s concert she would receive enough tips to buy a nice sweater at her usual secondhand shop. Even just a jacket or a long-sleeved bolero would be enough.

  She had spent the st two days finishing the backlogs of videos which covered already a month and a half of content, and she had ‘studied’ all of primary school and collège’s programs. She was now finishing the integrality of public lycée’s lessons, including the different specializations and optional courses.

  Cyrielle entered the bar with Julie behind her, greeting the staff. It was still early so there weren’t any customers, she could rex a bit. Mentally, of course, because she still emitted a powerful aura that made people shudder in admiration or apprehension. But she felt better than before, maybe she was finally getting used to the attention. Or maybe it was because there were only two barmen, the owner, and ‘Heavy Protector’ who were installing their instruments on the small stage.

  The arrangement of this bar was really bad compared to ‘Bad Mother Breaker’ or the Irish pub. There were tables near the entrance, blocking the way, and the small stage was in the middle of the room, right next to the path the barmen had to take to bring the drinks to customers. It wasn’t just ‘bad’. It was incident inducing ‘catastrophic’. Cyrielle hesitated a lot. Was she the only one seeing the obvious accident that was about to happen ? If they had even half the crowd they had at the Irish pub, someone was going to the hospital tonight.

  She furrowed her brows. Hyena who was secretly observing her immediately asked :

  “Is something the matter ?”

  “It’s not possible.”

  With her lung capacity, even a sentence spoken softly could resonate in a room. Everybody in the bar froze. Even Julie was looking at her with eyes that were screaming ‘What are you doing ?!’

  But Cyrielle didn’t back down.

  ‘Someone will get seriously hurt at this pace, you absolute buffoons !’

  She gracefully raised her hand in the direction of the door.

  “The tables will block the path so people will get stuck at the door. If there are just one or two it’s ok, but we expect a crowd for this concert. You could create a panic movement and people could get hurt.”

  She didn’t stop, pointing to the wooden stage in the middle.

  “We’ll be in the middle of the staff’s path while pying. If an audience forms in front of us, the barmen will have to either walk in the middle of the stage while we are pying, which could be dangerous because of the cables, or the other option is to completely abandon this whole part of the room, which will be isoted and without access to either the outside or the counter, not even the bathroom. If someone tries to move, it would be by walking on the audience or in the middle of the stage which once again is dangerous.”

  She finished her assessment by looking the owner in the eyes.

  “Is it your first concert here ?”

  It sounded like an accusation. But in fact Cyrielle was really worried.

  ‘If you don’t know how to do it I can help you ! Should I say that ? No, be tough ! He could have killed someone ! And right now I’m a girl from high society, I can afford to be a little arrogant… Right ?’

  The bar stayed silent for a moment. Finally the owner confessed while lowering his gaze.

  “We started hosting concerts this summer, but it’s the first time since then that the weather is cold. So we took all the tables inside. I think it’s why it’s blocking the path, all of those are normally on the terrace…”

  Cyrielle silently nodded. So that was the problem. She quickly activated her ‘home design’ ability, scanning the pce. She then took out her sketchbook that Julie had gifted her after the video recording, and started sketching the bar. She then prepared three different arrangements, tore the page and handed it to the owner.

  “First one is for when you have a concert or a performance in one direction, second one is for a person that moves around like a dancer, a comic, or a drag artist. Last one is for days without any artist, or performers that don’t use the stage.”

  She then promptly turned away and went to check her mic.

  Everybody was looking at her like she was an otherworldly being, mesmerized by how effortlessly she resolved the problems. But inwardly she was screaming.

  ‘That was so intense, I almost puked ! I don’t want to do that ever again ! But this ‘mind and body linked’ thing is so amazing, the drawing came out just like I imagined. I really need to take more time to practice drawing, maybe I’ll really get better and acquire the ability alone ?’

  Unbeknownst to her, Julie had slipped in a corner of the bar where a man with bck hair and shiny chocote skin was observing.

  “So ? What do you think about her ?”

  The man narrowed his eyes.

  “I’ll have to hear her sing in person, but for now it’s definitely a ‘yes’.”

  “Did you see the video she uploaded today ?”

  The man shook his head.

  “The karaoke to my favorite song ? Please, Honey, I know very well you’re behind that. And yes, it was absolutely fantastic !”

  Julie broke into a mischievous smile.

  “Happy to know you like my friend, ‘Madame Fabergé’ !”

  The man shooed her with his hand, and she went back to the stage, watching the staff move the tables in a hurry. During that short time, Cyrielle’s drawing had been taped to the wall behind the counter.

  Suddenly, the bassist of ‘Heavy Protector’ emitted a hiccup while staring at the entrance. He looked like he had seen a ghost. Following his gaze, everybody’s head turned towards the door. Outside, people were waiting to enter the bar. And it wasn’t just one or two, a whole crowd was forming in front of the building.

  The owner turned towards Cyrielle, who looked unfazed.

  ‘If it hadn’t been for her, something regretful would have happened. She said it herself : ‘we expect a crowd for this concert’, even though it’s a Friday night and logically speaking we shouldn’t have that big of an audience for a small concert from an unknown metal group… Is she a celebrity ? Is that why people are flocking ? No, she wouldn’t sing in a bar with a small band. Maybe… Did she foresee this situation ? She is too calm for it to be a coincidence…’

  But inside Cyrielle was anything but calm.

  ‘What in hell is all that ? Are all those people truly here to see us ? I think I will puke… No, worse, I’ll faint. Yes, let’s faint right now to avoid this situation. There is no way on earth I can perform in front of such a crowd…’

  Julie, on the other hand, was excited.

  “I knew it would be like that ! You checked your MyTube channel, right ?”

  ‘No, I didn’t and I don’t want to know what else is happening ! Just leave me alone !’

  Then she saw the staff and ‘Heavy Protector’ looking at her with twinkling eyes and a grateful look. She couldn’t possibly hide when they were obviously having another misunderstanding.

  ‘I don’t know… I’ll just turn off my brain and sing, as usual.’

  As soon as they were ready, the doors opened and people started ordering drinks and gathering around the small stage. A lot of them decided to sit on the floor, to be the closest to the band without disturbing the audience behind them. The staff of the bar was very surprised. The concert wasn’t scheduled to start before another hour, but the room was already full. Some even had to stand against the wall opposite to ‘Heavy Protector’, bending their necks to have a better view. At this point, starting ter would be a bad idea since bored people in the front could walk on the others to leave.

  The owner tiptoed on the path Cyrielle had prepared and whispered something into Hyena’s ear. He immediately nodded and talked discreetly to the other members.

  Cyrielle was just standing in front of her standing mic, her mind bnk. She had lost her sanity long ago when more than a hundred people had assembled in front of the stage. She vaguely heard Hyena ask her if it was ok to start now and do the concert two times, but she nodded without registering what it meant.

  ‘Do whatever you want, just don’t ask me to move. I don’t feel my legs…’

  And so they started. From the first note that escaped Cyrielle’s mouth, everybody’s eyes were glued on her. Even Julie was staring in delight.

  ‘She’s so cool. How does she keep getting better ? Or is she usually like that but has been restraining herself all this time ?’

  The misconceptions were never going to end. On that note, since her friend seemed to trust her and come out of her shell little by little, Julie thought that she needed to do everything she could. She opened the big bag she had come with, and took out several signs simir to the one she had made for the first concert. With the help of the staff she put the signs on the door, near the counter, in the bathroom, and at several other strategic pces. Tonight, everybody was going to know who Cyrielle was. And in fact, it had already started. Julie looked at her phone with a sly smile. On the screen was 'Mademoiselle Cyrielle's Latest Video' with a comment highlighted. The comment was from a very famous American singer :

  -Wow, you sing so well ! Even though it’s my song, it suits you so much better ?