Julie put down the headphones with her brows furrowed. After some time passed, she suddenly turned to Cyrielle.
“It’s the most incredible song I’ve ever listened to.”
Cyrielle inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. Both friends were in the atelier, a few days after the TV recording. As soon as she had earned the ‘lyrics creation’ ability, Cyrielle had completed her songs and recorded her voice. It was a bit rough around the edges, since she recorded in her atelier instead of a professional studio, but even with that, the songs were good enough to be put on an album right now.
Julie shook her head, defeated.
“I was preparing a whole team for your first album, since the fans were asking for it. I started to list composers and lyricists, but now I guess it’s useless. Do you have anything else you need to tell me ?”
‘I don’t know, I can’t guess what my next ability will be. Sorry, Julie…’
To hide the presence of Path of Destiny, Cyrielle decided to lean on her concept.
“I can’t tell you everything, there are things I don’t want to expin, and others you wouldn’t understand. But I will tell you everytime I’m working on something, from now on.”
Obviously, this further deepened the misunderstanding.
‘I know that you have suffered a lot, and there are things that I, who have lived a sheltered life with loving parents, can’t even begin to understand. I’m just getting more and more worried. What pain have you gone through to master all these skills ?’
Julie rubbed the back of her neck, feeling a bit depressed about Cyrielle’s imaginary past. After thinking for a while, she took out her notebook and started writing in it.
“Ok, new pn ! On the 7th you have the Versailles photoshoot, and on the 10th the magazine where you did the designs for Coline will come out. Your designing skills will probably cause a stir, so we’ll ride on that issue and post a guitar cover video which will feature an announcement for your World Music Day concert on the 21st of June. Don’t say anything about the original songs, it will be revealed on the TV show that will come out ter this month. Between the two, I will rent a recording studio for a few days, so make sure to finish all your songs by that time, only your voice needs to be missing. I’ll prepare a photoshoot for your album cover, and contact manufacturers. The goal is to have your album out a week after the Music Day concert, to leave some time for the audience to feel they have exclusivity. It wouldn’t be too te to shoot a music video ter, or to keep it for your second album. You don’t know how to act or dance, anyway… Wait, do you ?”
Cyrielle didn’t reply. She genuinely didn’t know, maybe by June she would have learned those abilities. Feeling trapped, she opted for a change of subject.
“What’s my schedule like for this week ?”
Julie squinted, but didn’t pry any further.
“We are still trying to find pces to shoot interior design videos, so you will mostly be at home, filming guitar covers, and recording a few of your outfit creating processes. Those videos will be posted ter, when the magazine with Coline will be out and your designing skill becomes known. The Versailles photoshoot is in four days, do you need anything ?”
Cyrielle shook her head.
“They said they would provide everything.”
“Perfect ! Now that it’s done, I’ll let you work on your songs. I’ll call you when dinner is ready !”
Julie was so busy recently that Cyrielle had forgotten they were living together.
‘I hope she isn’t pushing herself too hard… She seems to have lost a lot of weight…’
***
On the day of the photoshoot, Cyrielle arrived with Julie in the gardens of the Versailles castle. They were early, and could take their time before the fitting and makeup process. Cyrielle saw Coline from afar, and approached to say hello. But the blonde model didn’t seem like her usual talkative self. She had a grim look, and didn’t respond when people were talking to her. Cyrielle walked to Coline’s manager, a man with a protruding belly.
“What is happening ?”
She was as elegant as ever, but her tone expressed a hint of urgency. The man wiped his sweaty brows and answered in a low voice :
“An online content creator said something very bad about her, and when she tried to defend herself, his entire community started insulting her and sending death threats…”
Cyrielle’s eyes widened.
‘What the hell ?! Who does this nobody thinks he is, to speak badly about Coline ?!’
She leaned further, a bad look in her eyes.
“What did he dare say ?”
The manager was shaking, but refused to open his mouth.
‘Don’t want to talk ? Ok, I’ll find out for myself.’
She took out her phone and started searching. It didn’t even take a minute, there were dozens of articles in her newsfeed. She tapped on a video, and a man started talking. The words he uttered were not just foul, it was a new level of disgusting.
“Coline Fntier ? You mean the model, right ? Yeah, she is so hot, she looks like a ****, I’m sure if I were in front of her, she would beg to suck my ***...”
He went on and on for several minutes, and each second of it made Cyrielle boil with rage. She heard a sob and turned her head. Coline had noticed her pying the video, and was looking at her with eyes full of despair.
Cyrielle didn’t say anything. She looked calm, way too calm. After checking the name of the content creator, she suddenly called someone.
“Hello, Bil ? Yes, I remember you asked me if I could appear in another of your streams, and I answered I was too busy. Well, it looks like I have a bit of time now, but unfortunately, something really bad happened. It’s such a shame, because it’s a problem that can be resolved by a famous content creator with a strong community. Such a shame indeed, without this problem I could absolutely come and appear on your stream…”
It only took a few minutes. It just so happened that the content creator that insulted Coline was one of those who had appeared in the general culture livestream, and that it was of a smaller stature compared to Bil.
Cyrielle put her phone back in her handbag. The matter was settled, in a few hours this content creator would see his word fall apart by the hands of Bil and his numerous connections in the online world.
‘You dared to touch my friend ? You will never see the light of day again, you bastard !’
Bil had assured her he would take care of the death threats and provide Coline with all the help she needed. To sum up, this matter would be over in less than a week. Cyrielle lifted her head to see all the staff, Julie included, looking at her with wide eyes. Coline ran in her arms, crying.
“Thank you, you are the nicest person in the world ! Thank you so much, thank you so much…”
Cyrielle was embarrassed, she didn’t expect to have been overheard by people. Clearing her throat lightly, she patted Coline’s head, who was smaller than her.
“We have the magazine where I made your outfits releasing soon, and this photoshoot, without even talking about the viral video of the riding css. Since we have a lot of projects together, any scandals would impact my career too.”
The blonde model burst into ughter.
“Of course, you only did that for you ! Let’s go with that.”
The staff smiled warmly. They had been intimidated by Cyrielle’s reputation, but were now sure that she was nice and caring. One person in particur was looking at her with shining eyes. It was the assistant makeup artist, a secret fan of Cyrielle.
‘I can’t believe that just happened ! The theory that Coline and Mademoiselle Cyrielle are friends must be true ! I need to post this in ‘Angel’s Horseboys’…’
The message appeared in the fan group during the photoshoot, while Cyrielle and Colline were modeling on two beautiful gray horses, under the direction of the photographer and the executive from the luxury brand.
-omg that really happened ????
-I call cap
?They even posted a picture of our angel getting her makeup done, it can’t be a hoax
-I saw the news about Coline Fntier and was a bit anxious because of the video of the horse riding css, but if they are friends, we must protect Coline too ! Let’s follow our angel’s exemple !
?I reported all the bastards I could find o7
??same o7
??same + I commented nice things on all of Coline’s posts ! o7
???You’re so smart for this, will do the same o7
In the afternoon, while the photoshoot was continuing, public opinion had shifted. Content creators from all over France had spoken about this situation, sending their support to Coline, and her social media accounts on all websites were filled with nice comments and loving messages. She received a ton of fanarts, and gifts were sent to her agency. The situation had grown so much that by the evening, professionals of the fashion industry had also posted on their accounts, talking about the dark sides of being a celebrity, and complimenting Cyrielle for standing up for her friend, while sending all their love to Coline.
The two women discovered it when the night was about to fall, and it made Coline cry again.
“Thank you so much… You really are my hero ! Can I call you Cyri ?”
Cyrielle didn’t answer. She simply walked to her van with Julie, muttering a low :
“See you ter, Liny.”
AmbreaTaddy