“Are you sure you want to choose those models ? They don’t exactly look like professionals…”

  Julie was talking with an uncomfortable pout, while Cyrielle was saddling Ariane. They were at the stables where Coline and Cyrielle had ridden before. With all the administrative proceedings for her agency change, the blonde model had some time to spare, and Cyrielle was taking a break from working on her collection. The two friends had collectively decided to go to horse riding css, since it had been a few months and they missed it. Obviously, Julie had followed as their CEO and manager. They hadn’t found a personal manager for Coline yet, since all the employees in the company were fairly new and needed training, so Julie had simply decided to take care of her. It was, clearly, a lot of work.

  Cyrielle petted the mare’s head.

  “It’s not important if they look like professionals or not, they fit my vision.”

  Julie sighed and shrugged.

  “Well, it’s your collection. Also, here is your new phone. I transferred the data but didn’t touch anything else, it’s your choice to contact people and give them your new number or not.”

  “Thank you.”

  “But, baby…”

  Julie looked at her friend with worried eyes, but couldn’t get herself to finish her sentence.

  “No, it’s nothing. Have fun !”

  “Ok, see you ter.”

  ‘What’s up with her ? Well, if she won’t tell me, I shouldn’t pry.’

  Cyrielle put the phone in her riding suit’s pocket and took Ariane to the arena. Coline was already here, sitting on top of her chestnut gelding, who was also full of energy today. The riding instructor was looking at Cyrielle with a big smile.

  “You know, you could ride higher profile horses. Ariane is good for beginners, but she’s a little too tranquil to show high dressage performances.”

  Cyrielle made sure the stirrups were at the right length and the saddle was tightened before elegantly climbing up.

  “I like her, we have good chemistry.”

  As if to prove her right, Ariane lowered her neck and let her bottom lip hang, a sign of rexation. Seeing that, the instructor ughed.

  “I know, I have eyes. She really looks like your puppy. Too bad she already has an owner, you could have bought her.”

  “I wouldn’t have the time to care for her. She deserves a type of love and care I could never give.”

  Cyrielle affectionately petted the mare’s neck, who closed her eyes. At first, she had been riding only out of curiosity, to test her ability, but with time passing she gradually found the activity enjoyable. Feeling the warmth beneath her, giving gentle commands with her body, having a real link with another being… All of that was fascinating. People say you never forget your first pet, and it’s that same feeling she had towards Ariane. She could always meet better horses, gentler, prettier, faster, but Cyrielle would never forget the bay mare.

  “You could always leave her on board here ?”

  “What would be the point ? To only own her on papers ?”

  Cyrielle was firm. If she couldn’t take care of another life, what was the point of having it ? She dismissed Coline and the instructor’s remarks, and started walking Ariane to warm her up. The riding instructor was looking at the two celebrities with a light in his eyes.

  “You said that you two came here to rex, right ? What do you think about going outside ?”

  Coline immediately squealed and cpped, but Cyrielle only raised an eyebrow.

  ‘Outside ? What does that mean ?’

  She discovered it a few minutes ter, when the instructor came back on a grey horse and led them out of the arena.

  “What do you prefer ? The fields or the forest ?”

  Coline immediately raised her hand, making her gelding dance on the road in surprise.

  “The forest ! It’s been so long !”

  “Okay, let’s go !”

  Cyrielle was silently following them on the unbothered Ariane.

  ‘Are we going to ride in a forest ? I never knew that could be done ! Aren’t the horses going to run around ? Isn’t that why you need a fence around the arena ?’

  But contrary to her doubts, when they entered the forest trail the animals stayed on the road, following each other. They all had their ears perked up, looking around them in delight, and trying to snatch a branch when they were passing by a tree. It must have been a fun outing for them as much as it was for their riders.

  Since Ariane was st and followed the others obediently, Cyrielle loosened the reins and let her head fall back, closing her eyes and breathing the fresh air. Between Bordeaux and Paris, she was always surrounded by pollution and it had been a while since she had smelled fresh pnts. She felt her body sway at the rhythm of the mare’s steps, and heard the leaves crunch under her hooves. It was as if she was in a different world, a peaceful dream far from her desperate past or her busy present.

  Cyrielle opened her eyes and looked in front of her, taking in the sight. The trees were hiding the sun, covering the area with small yellow spots. Everything was green and brown, the vegetation was so thick that it could tickle your legs when you were passing by. In front of her, she could see a chestnut tail and Coline’s back, as well as Ariane’s ears, just below. It was breathtaking. Remembering she had her phone in her pocket, she took it out and snatched a picture. Feeling emotional, she immediately posted it on her Instantgram account with a caption : ‘Enjoying a break, a small parenthesis in a dream world’. Julie would probably scream at her, but she didn’t care. She wanted to share the joy she was feeling with as many people as possible.

  They arrived in front of a clearing, an area without trees and full of pits and bumps. It was probably a motocross field. With a big smile, the instructor turned to the two girls.

  “Want to have fun ?”

  Coline immediately nodded.

  “Yeah ! I’ll go first !”

  She guided her gelding, who was full of energy, into the pits and bumps, ughing as the horse started to gallop. Cyrielle looked at her with a smile.

  ‘She just never stops.’

  It was always fascinating to watch the blonde model, she had such a high level of energy, and a happy face that suited her so well. When she was smiling really wide, like now, Cyrielle could see little dimples on her cheeks. She was fun to be with and, without meaning to, Coline had become one of the pilrs of Cyrielle’s life. To give a metaphor, it was as if Julie was pushing her from behind, and Coline was pulling her from the top. With two fantastic friends, and a nice system to help, Cyrielle’s life was slowly taking form.

  She had first learned how to cut the bad parts like her father, then to trust people. After that, she had been shown the importance of having someone helping you, and she helped people in return. More recently, she had started to take a stand for herself, choose the values that were important to her, and not compromise on them. She had also set goals for herself, and for the first time she had tried to imagine a future. And the st thing she learned was to have people around her that made her feel good, Cyrielle’s own support system. Those were a life worth of lessons, and she could only gain all of them because she had amazing people by her side.

  ‘Hey, Path ?’

  [Yes ?]

  ‘Success is good, but I want to be happy.’

  [Happiness must indeed be the highest priority for a human. Success is meant to bring happiness.]

  ‘You know, you help me professionally by seeing the opportunities from the future. Could you also help me personally ?’

  She felt the confusion of the system.

  [How would I help you ?]

  Cyrielle scratch her chin. She hadn’t thought about it either, she had just asked in the spur of the moment.

  ‘Let’s say… If you see me unhappy in the future, help me to avoid the events that will make me this way ? Or tell me if you see my friends having a bad time, something like that.’

  Path of Destiny seemed even more confused.

  [But you already resolve all those issues on your own everytime, I don’t see what else I should do.]

  Cyrielle tilted her head.

  ‘What do you mean, I already resolved those issues ?’

  [I will use a small amount of karma to show you two videos. They will only py once, so be attentive.]

  She nodded and fixed her gaze in front of her. Immediately, time froze and images started to form. It was when she had brought Julie to the doctor, and had told her to live well. The next image showed her friend nowadays, gradually gaining weight and hiring more people for the company, giving her more time to rex, and she had even hired a chef to deliver her meals everyday.

  ‘She is doing well. I’m gd.’

  Then there was a bck screen, like when she had checked her positive karma. And another image appeared. This time, the conversation didn’t happen and Julie became skinnier and skinnier. When Cyrielle was finally called, her friend had already colpsed and was in the hospital. Thankfully, she recovered quickly, but she had gained serious eating disorders that she would need to battle against all her life. It despaired Cyrielle who completely abandoned her career and spent her days caring for Julie. It was a terrible end, where the former CEO beat herself up for not making her friend happy, and Cyrielle feeling guilty for Julie’s condition.

  ‘That’s horrible… You were right, helping Julie was a big deal.’

  The second video started. It showed Coline ending her contract and coming to Angel-Minet, then riding the horse happily. After the bck screen, the scene shown almost made Cyrielle scream.

  ‘Those bastards, are they serious ?!’

  After Coline had broken a bone while falling from a horse, she had been banned from coming near a stable by her agency. The manager took out her cast early, because she had a photoshoot coming up, and worked her until exhaustion despite the fracture. It ended with the arm healing badly, and Coline having a permanent injury, which signaled the end of her career, and prevented her from riding a horse ever again.

  [You are already doing everything, what could I ever help you with ?]

  ‘But I didn’t do anything…’

  Time flew normally again, and her gaze nded on the ughing Coline, her gelding galloping on a bump.

  ‘And yet, I saved my friends…’