When the 10th of May came, people were woken up by the Internet going crazy.

  -Am I dreaming ? Did Mademoiselle Cyrielle really design the outfits ????

  -I saw the cover and was blown away by the apple green dress, but you’re telling me our angel designed it????

  -That’s what she was working on with Coline when we saw the horse riding video, right ? I think they met during this cover shoot

  ?Yeah, and they became friends really fast ! Good for them honestly

  ??Don’t you feel they are perfect when working together ? I mean, look at that cover !

  -No but it doesn’t make sense !!! Singing, horse riding, interior design, guitar, a genius brain, a nice personality, looks, and now she knows how to design and sew clothes ???

  -everyone is going mad mdrrr

  -why the fuss, she just made a dress… can’t understand people going crazy over her

  ?Go back when you master even 1 of her skills, hater

  And it didn’t stop here, because at 10am, a new video popped up on Mademoiselle Cyrielle’s MyTube channel.

  [Designer Eye] Introducing all the outfits I created

  Inside, Cyrielle showed her closet, introducing the clothes, with the original sketch that she based it on, and expining the process of making it. The video blew up instantly, and articles appeared on the newsfeed.

  {Mademoiselle Cyrielle revealed to be a talented designer ? The Internet on fire}

  {All outfits created by Mademoiselle Cyrielle | Original sketch + Photoshoot result}

  {Mademoiselle Cyrielle revealing her hidden talent : Designing}

  {Voice, manners, looks, skills, what does Mademoiselle Cyrielle ck ? Netizens say : It’s not fair !}

  Just as Julie had expected, the issue was steaming hot. Angel-Minet was buried in phone calls and offers sent to Cyrielle, to the point that Bernadette sent her assistant to help. They had just hired new staff, but it wasn’t enough to face the tidal wave. Thankfully, Yannis was very good at his job, showing the quality of an experienced secretary by fending off the reporters and the prank calls, organizing neatly the offers and contracts for Julie and Bernadette’s assistant to review. On her hand, the new accountant was quick and precise, ying out the MyTube paycheck they had just received, and the fees for the opportunities Cyrielle had taken on. Louise was also diligently editing the videos and moderating the social accounts, despite all her compining. To sum up, it was a hectic first week for the new hires, but things were settling down nicely.

  “People want to buy the clothes. They are going crazy, asking for the release of a collection.”

  “We don’t have time for that ! The photoshoot for the album cover is tomorrow. Did you contact Mademoiselle Cyrielle ?”

  “Yes, she said her outfits were ready. By the way, I received an ad offer. What do I do with it ?”

  “What ? We received our first ad offer ? Let me see it !”

  Julie ran to Yannis’ desk and looked at his computer screen. It was indeed an offer to appear in an ad for a well-known cosmetic brand.

  “It would surely be a good opportunity… I’ll have to negotiate properly, though. Yannis, can you research their usual paycheck for other models ?”

  “On it !”

  The man with a tall frame started typing furiously on his keyboard. Julie let him work and walked to her office.

  ‘An ad campaign… If I do things right, this could be amazing !’

  ***

  Cyrielle entered the recording studio, Vincent behind her. He had his camera in hand.

  ‘He is taking his role very seriously, filming every second of my life. It’s a bit suffocating, I can’t rex at all !’

  It had been a week since the meeting, and they both had to prepare materials for the docuseries. Cyrielle had to work on her computer, pretending to compose a song when in reality the tracklist was already finished, and even the photoshoot for the album’s cover was recorded. Today, she would once again be filmed, while recording the final singing parts. It was truly exhausting.

  Cyrielle greeted the musical engineer who would be operating the equipment while she would sing. They had a short briefing on the phone, but they needed to be on the same wavelength to have a perfect result, so they spent some time chatting and listening to the songs while giving their opinions. Julie was at the studio’s door, observing with a wide smile. Of course, she was Cyrielle’s manager and would follow her everywhere, but she wanted the docuseries to be only about Cyrielle, so she tried to appear as little as possible.

  After a whole day of singing, they could only finish four songs. Each of them needed a baseline, harmonies, echos, and other parts, so it was only logical that they couldn’t record an entire album in one day.

  While she was getting back in the van with Vincent and Julie, her friend turned to her.

  “The video announcing your concert for World Music Day is out. Want to check the reactions ?”

  “No, it’s okay.”

  Cyrielle wasn’t tired, thanks to ‘fortitude’, but mentally, she couldn’t take it anymore.

  ‘When I said I would do anything to have a house and a bed, it wasn’t what I had in mind. I just want a day off, please…’

  But Julie misunderstood once again.

  “Of course, you don’t need to check, you were probably expecting something like this. I was shocked, but an entire concert hall sold out in an hour wouldn’t faze you that much. It wasn’t a big one, but still ! You should pretend to be happy !”

  ‘What ? The concert is sold out ?’

  The event hall wasn’t a big one by any means, Cyrielle had chosen it before all her parisian events exploded, and it could accommodate five hundred spectators at best, but still, being sold out in an hour ?

  Pretending to reply to a text, Cyrielle took out her phone and discreetly looked up the concert. The newsfeed was full of articles talking about this.

  ‘Crazy… My concert is really sold out ? People are coming from all over France to see me ? Wait… It’s not just France ? Why do I see foreigners posting screenshots of their concert tickets ?!’

  At this moment, a blue chat bubble popped out in front of her eyes.

  [A new opportunity is coming your way ! You never rest, huh ? Acquiring ability : ‘English’.]

  ‘Don’t mock me, I’m dying out here ! And what is this ‘english’ thing ? I already speak english !’

  Like any french person, she had learned two foreign nguages in school, including english. She was pretty good at it, enough to read books and hold conversations, even if her french accent was thick. She would need to try activating the ability to really see the difference, but Cyrielle thought that it was a waste to learn an ability that wouldn’t improve her skills that much, especially when she now only had 14 left in reserve.

  She sighed inwardly and leaned against her seat, looking out the window.

  ‘It’s starting to not get fun anymore. I love singing, designing, sewing, drawing… But all the technical and promoting stuff is getting tiring. I don’t want to get out of my way to get contracts. I don’t want to spend my days trying to get views. It’s just not who I am.’

  After thinking it over for a bit, she suddenly opened her mouth.

  “Julie ?”

  Her friend stopped at a red light and turned to her, armed by the serious tone.

  “Yes ?”

  “I’m not a product to be sold.”

  Silence took over the van. Vincent was looking at her with big eyes, slightly shivering in the icy atmosphere.

  ‘Did I do something wrong ? Was I filming too commercially, not in accordance with her aesthetic vision ?’

  Julie was also surprised, but slightly nodded.

  “Could you expin your thoughts ?”

  Cyrielle spaced out for a bit, but she finally developed her idea.

  “Even without doing anything, we will be buried in offers. That’s how hot I am on the current market."

  It was not bragging, it was a fact. Cyrielle took over both the fashion and music industry in the span of six months, that fact alone was sending the professionals in a frenzy.

  “I want to focus on my craft. Finishing my album, and designing outfits. Maybe do the ad and a few photoshoots if it’s a good magazine. I don’t need to be pumping out videos like my life depends on it, or to appear in interviews.”

  Julie nodded again, it was a reasonable demand. She had pushed Cyrielle due to her own greed, and because she needed money to hire more people for the agency. But if Cyrielle was tired and didn’t want to do it, then she would follow her will.

  “Which matter are you ready to compromise on ?”

  It was now becoming a serious business discussion, and Vincent didn’t feel like he should hear that. But they were in a van on a parisian street, he could not hide anywhere.

  “No interviews or TV appearances unless it’s necessary, or if I give my consent beforehand. Stop with the covers on my channel, either way my original songs will soon fill up that spot. I can do an outfit design video once or twice a month, but I want to give myself a bit of leeway in case I want to start a designing project in the future. No interior decor video for now, I want to focus on having professional projects in that domain since I haven’t yet. Same for the handicraft content.”

  Julie was silently writing in her notebook, keeping an eye on the red light.

  “And I don’t want to do a lot of concerts or shows, keep it as a unique and rare event. Photoshoots, only if it is a really good opportunity. Now, I am ready to film ads if it doesn’t take most of my time, and I should also appear in one of Bil’s streams to thank him for st time with Coline. Of course, I should also accept the opportunities Bernadette gives me, since she has done so much for us.”

  The light became green, and Julie started driving again.

  “Your terms are perfectly reasonable. It will make you a bit more mysterious since your social accounts will slow down and you will appear less in public, but if you do all of that to focus on your craft, I’m sure projects of great quality will appear.”

  Cyrielle nodded. She wanted to do great things, be rich and swim in luxury, but not at the price of her happiness. If sewing made her happy, then she wanted to sew. If singing was her thing, then she wanted to produce a good album. She was not poor and homeless anymore, it was time to stop going with the flow, and to actually set goals for herself.