Julie and Cyrielle arrived at their adjoining hotel rooms. It wasn’t a luxurious establishment, but Femme Frenchie had saved face by booking a fairly good three star hotel. After wishing Julie a good night, Cyrielle opened the door with the security pass, and froze at the entrance.

  ‘It’s really a room with a king size bed… Am I dreaming ? Is it really for me ?’

  She took a step, then another, and had to stop herself from running to the bed. She needed to wash up first. Paris’ air was filled with pollution, dust, and a kind of cold wind that dried up your skin. It was a densely inhabited city with a lot of cars around, simir to Bordeaux but even worse, and there was a smell of gas when you walked on the sidewalk. It made Cyrielle’s hair a bit greasy, and she wanted to take a nice shower.

  She closed the door with a ‘Do not disturb’ sign, put her luggage down, and entered the bathroom. It was fairly small because the giant bathtub was occupying most of the area. With a squeal of delight, Cyrielle took her clothes off and immersed herself in a hot bath. She didn’t need to care about the price of water, the room had already been paid for, so she could enjoy that bit of luxury, right ?

  Cyrielle turned her head to examine the little bottles of beauty products that were provided with the room. They may be sample sized, but each was of better quality than the cheap ones she owned. She put soap in the water, creating a bubble bath with a fragrant scent of vender, and closed her eyes. She nodded off for an hour, totally rexing her sore muscles. When she finally rose from the water and washed properly, it was already night time. She draped herself in the hotel’s bathrobe which was as fluffy as a cloud, and put her feet in the slippers. She had a photoshoot in two days, so she needed to do a bit of skincare. She may not have a lot of products, and none were of luxury brands, but she still had made an effort to buy some common brands that worked well with her skin. After completing her skincare routine, she finally fell on the bed and set up an arm for two days ter in the morning.

  Cyrielle slept like a log for twenty hours straight. When she arose the next day in the evening, she felt like a new woman. She took her phone and looked at all the missed messages. Birthday celebrations were the majority, a few missed calls from her mother, and text messages from various acquaintances. She answered appropriately to everyone, and checked Julie’s texts.

  [Julie the best ? : Rest well ! I know you are sleeping, so call me when you wake up. I’ll bring something to eat.]

  Cyrielle answered and got up. She stretched for a long time, savouring the sensation of well rested muscles, and went to the bathroom for another round of skincare. When she was finished, she heard a knock on her door.

  “Coming !”

  Putting on some fresh clothes, she opened the door to discover Julie with her hands full of shopping bags.

  “Good morning, baby ! Oh, you didn’t have to get dressed, I want you to continue resting until tomorrow. By the way, I brought a few things !”

  She came into the room and put all the bags on the bed.

  “First of all, take this. It’s a big sandwich. If you are still hungry, we can order something ter.”

  The sandwich consisted of an entire baguette split in two, with lettuce, tomatoes, chicken pieces and whole grain mustard.

  ‘What do you mean ‘if I’m still hungry’ ? Will I ever finish this by myself ?’

  But after an entire day of sleeping, Cyrielle was starving, so she gratefully accepted and took a big bite off the sandwich. Julie was watching her with a satisfied smile, and continued opening the bags.

  “I bought you some birthday presents. But before you start to feel guilty about it, look at your paycheck I negotiated with Femme Frenchie !”

  She showed Cyrielle a paper.

  ‘Wait… I must still be sleeping, I’m reading five thousand, that can’t be right…’

  Seeing Cyrielle squint, Julie giggled.

  “I know, right ! I did a really good job, if I do say so myself. You do realize it’s half a year worth of rent for my apartment, and you earned that with a single day of photoshoot ? It helped a lot that they seemed to have a misunderstanding about you being a former model that quit because of the dark sides of the fashion industry, and they wanted to help you come back for the world to see, or something like that… I wonder where they got that idea. But honestly, if it’s you…”

  She looked at Cyrielle’s stoic face, who was really just frozen in shock because of the big paycheck.

  “I wonder if they are right. Tell me, were you really in the fashion industry at one point ?”

  Cyrielle didn’t answer, continuing to munch on her sandwich.

  ‘I have no idea where this misunderstanding is coming from, but if it means I’ll earn more money, I’m all for it ! Thank you, unknown person, for your service !’

  A young photographer in Bordeaux suddenly had an itchy ear.

  ‘Is somebody talking about me ?’

  ***

  The next day, Cyrielle was dressed in a fancy red suit with a white and crimson cape attached around her shoulders, flowing until it reached her lower back. A golden hairpin in the shape of a rose was holding her hair in an elegant chignon, and red glittery accents highlighted her eyes and cheeks. It was the first outfit for the photoshoot.

  She was standing against the background representing a concrete wall full of graffiti, truly fitting the image of ‘underground celebrity’. The photographer couldn’t take enough of her, simply admiring as Cyrielle modeled under the yellow light simuting a warm afternoon.

  -Papapapak

  The studio was filled with people who had stopped in their tracks, admiring the girl who made posing look so effortless. A strict looking woman, in particur, was observing the photoshoot with a greedy shine in her eyes. She was the editor-in-chief for Femme Frenchie, who had come to observe the session. It was not that she didn’t trust Cyrielle, she was simply curious as to who this former model was, and how she would act in a professional setting. She wasn’t disappointed.

  After changing the lighting a few times, Cyrielle was given the command to change her outfit, and she calmly walked to the changing room with her manager. At this moment, the assistant in charge of bringing coffee tripped, almost bumping into Cyrielle and spilling the drinks. But she was quicker, dodging the boy and catching him by the back of his shirt, making him recover his bance. The assistant apologized profusely, but Cyrielle simply nodded and entered the changing room.

  “Wow, how can she move like that ?”

  “She was so calm too… Do you think she knows martial arts or something ?”

  “Mademoiselle Cyrielle is nice, I would have been angry.”

  “How can she be so elegant even while dodging coffee ?”

  “Well, she saved my tte, so I’m grateful for that.”

  However, inside the changing room, Cyrielle was simply…

  ‘Is it the effect of ‘mind and body linked’ ? I thought about dodging, and I was out of the way in a blink ! Is the guy alright, though ? If I made a mistake like that, I would be feeling so embarrassed… I should be nicer to him.’

  She had to change into six different outfits, which took most of the day, and then reply to an interview for the making of team that had been recording the whole session.

  “You did a really good job ! Oh, before we start the interview, please tell us if there is any topic to avoid, we wouldn’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

  Cyrielle elegantly tucked her hair behind her ear.

  ‘The misunderstanding is good, but if my family gets to know this, they will surely refute and break my image, right ? I should be careful.’

  She answered with just the right amount of bravado, embracing her persona of a mysterious high society woman.

  “I would prefer it if there weren't any specution about my past. It would be better to just stick to the facts.”

  The interviewer nodded eagerly.

  ‘Seeing her in front of a camera, it’s definitely not her first time. But since we didn’t find any mention of her when we were investigating, something must have happened. We shouldn’t dig into potential trauma.’

  After the interview, Cyrielle thought she was finally done and could go back to her hotel room to sleep on that perfectly soft bed, but she was stopped in her tracks by the strict looking woman.

  “Excuse me, can I have a minute ?”

  Cyrielle didn’t know who she was, but she had noticed that woman during the day. Judging by the way people spoke to her, she seemed to be an important person. Cyrielle was flustered, wondering why someone like her would try to make conversation, but she put her most ‘elegant high society girl’ face on, and turned to the woman.

  “I’m not in a hurry. What is it ?”

  “I’m Bernadette Dupuit, the editor-in-chief for Femme Frenchie. I was impressed by this photoshoot, you truly are a natural when it comes to modeling ! Oh, not that I am devaluating the hard work you put into this, of course ! I was simply wondering if we could have dinner together tomorrow.”

  Bernadette was clearly losing her countenance, intimidated by Cyrielle’s aura. But the girl in question didn’t notice.

  ‘A one-on-one meal with a big name in the fashion industry ? What is happening again ?!’

  Not letting her inner turmoil show, she simply nodded.

  “My train is in two days in the morning, so I can attend if it doesn’t end too te.”

  Bernadette fshed a polite smile.

  “Of course, I would not want you to miss your ride back. I’ll come to pick you up at the hotel around 7pm, will that be okay ?”

  And just like that, Cyrielle made pns to eat with a fashion editor.