Cyrielle cut the thread and took a few steps back. After a short examination, she nodded. The dress was finished.

  ‘I’m beat ! It was so hard reaching that point !’

  [You still have the runway left.]

  ‘It’s in two weeks, I have time. And I already sent the instructions to Julie, including my choice of songs and the order of the models. She’ll arrange things on her own.’

  [Does that mean you are ready to start a new project ?]

  ‘Later. Right now I want to rex.’

  Cyrielle put down her tools and went out of the atelier. She id down on her sofa, turned on the TV, and started searching for something to watch.

  [You are such a homebody. You could go out to drink and party.]

  ‘I don’t like things like that. I would rather spend time with friends at home.’

  It was still early in the afternoon, but she didn’t want to call on Julie or Coline, she knew they were busy. Especially since the blonde model’s activities had started in earnest, and she had a bunch of photoshoots to attend.

  ‘I also did a photoshoot yesterday. My bank account is about to explode with how much money I have.’

  It was an exaggeration, she was far from being rich, but she surely was part of the well-off side of society now.

  ‘I really want to go see my mom and my brother, but that would cause incidents if people see me. It’s annoying, I miss them so much !’

  Since Cyrielle was pying into the high society rumors, she couldn’t freely visit her family. It was a real pain.

  [At least nobody from your past has started to create troubles. You should be safe for now.]

  ‘Don’t jinx it. If the boy I was with in primary school comes out, it will be a mess !’

  [Did you do something bad ?]

  ‘Not really. It’s the only time I was in a couple, and we were both 9, what could have happened ? It’s just that I have a lot of cringey memories from childhood. I did and said some embarrassing things…’

  [Is it not like every human ?]

  ‘Sure. But I can’t help feeling ashamed.’

  Cyrielle never did anything really bad, but she did sp the boy when he had forced her into a kiss. She didn’t really understand what it meant at the time, it was just that he had bad breath and she didn’t like it. But it was so long ago that she wasn’t even sure he would remember. And even then, she wasn’t traumatized by it, and it was just a sp. What bad could it do ? It would simply be embarrassing if someone came out to say ‘I am Mademoiselle Cyrielle’s first and only kiss !’, it would be bad for her image.

  Other embarrassing things included peeing herself when the teacher didn’t allow her to go to the bathroom because he thought she was faking it, or lying about having a cat because it was cool at the time. Nothing of great importance, but Cyrielle didn’t want her past to be exposed.

  ‘Was I so unremarkable that people don’t recognize me now, or did they have that type of misunderstanding at the time ? I mean, I don’t see how you could look at a girl peeing herself and think ‘She definitely comes from high society’, but it doesn’t make sense that no one has come out to debunk the rumors. It’s strange.’

  [Maybe they just don’t want to destroy your reputation. Good people exist.]

  ‘Not everyone can be good.’

  She finally found a show she liked, it was in english but it didn’t concern her thanks to her ability. Cyrielle put a cushion under her head and started watching. She wasn’t paying much attention, she was getting really tired and her eyelids were closing. When suddenly…

  -Brrr Brrr

  She took out her phone from her pocket. The text message came from someone she hadn’t heard of in a while.

  [Hyena : Thank you so much, you are the best !]

  Cyrielle raised an eyebrow.

  ‘What’s this suddenly ?’

  She pressed ‘call the sender’ and waited to hear the man’s voice.

  “Hello ? Is it Mademoiselle Cyrielle ?”

  “Yes, I just read your message. What is this about ?”

  Hyena replied in an excited voice.

  “Manon Sarmer reached out to us, saying she discovered ‘Heavy Protector’ thanks to you, and really liked our music ! She helped us contact a music bel specialized in metal and rock bands, and we finally signed the contract today. We wanted to thank her because, you know, she is Manon Sarmer and she helped us, it’s like a dream ! But she said it was not because of her, we needed to thank you because it was your fault she got involved ! So, yeah, thank you so much. You and Manon Sarmer, you are incredible and so nice, you changed our lives.”

  After understanding the situation, Cyrielle exchanged a few words and congratuted the guys, then she hung up and id back on the couch.

  ‘Manon Sarmer… She seemed nice when I met her. I guess she is really passionate about music. Since she gave my name to ‘Heavy Protector’, I guess I should thank her, right ?’

  She sent a message to Julie.

  [Me : Contact Manon Sarmer's side and tell them I want to meet her. Nothing too professional, just a meal or something.]

  The answer came immediately.

  [Julie the best ? : What ???? What happened ? Did you talk about something when you met at the stables ?]

  [Me : Nothing serious, just have to thank her for something. Tell me when she is free. Also, about the magazine that wants to tour my house, it’s tomorrow, right ?]

  [Julie the best ? : Yes… But are you sure about it ? I don’t have a good feeling…]

  Cyrielle sighed. Julie had a tendency to be overprotective of her. The world wouldn’t crumble because pictures of her home were going to be made public. Besides, she had already filmed quite a few MyTube videos inside, it was nothing new.

  [Me : Nothing will happen. Just rex.]

  She trusted Julie completely in her business decisions, but when it came to her instinct… Well, she ended up drunk in a bar after a bad break up, so maybe her intuition wasn’t the best. The conversation over, Cyrielle turned her head to look at her apartment. It was a bit messy, after focusing on the collection for almost two months.

  ‘I should clean up for tomorrow.’

  The magazine was going to take pictures, as well as film the pce for their MyTube channel, she couldn’t let the whole world see that mess, she had a reputation to uphold.

  ***

  “Welcome to ‘Home star home’, today we are at Mademoiselle Cyrielle’s apartment. Can you tell us a bit about this pce ?”

  Cyrielle had opted for a typical ‘stay at home’ look, to fit the theme. She had a silk top and bck cotton pants, with a colorful kimono on her shoulders. Her hair was messily held up by a hairpin, and she had a delicate makeup that was almost invisible. The whole look screamed ‘I woke up like this but also I’m beautiful without trying’. She had spent two hours obtaining this effect.

  “This is my living room. When I’m not working, so very rarely, I lie on the sofa while watching TV. I like this rug, I chose it because…”

  She continued the tour while one person was taking photos for the magazine and another was filming for MyTube. It didn’t take very long, maybe two hours including a small interview, and soon the team was out of the apartment. Cyrielle sighed and turned to Julie, who had been hiding to not appear in the shoots.

  “You see, nothing bad happened.”

  Her friend scratched her head with a pout.

  “You’re right. Maybe I’m a bit sensitive. Coline’s manager has almost finished his training, so I’ll be able to rex more now. I may need a break.”

  Back outside, in the entrance of the building, the magazine team was talking excitedly while walking to the door.

  “She was truly elegant, and her home decor is so nice and colorful ! It really looks like the home of an artist, it’s different from those modern monochromatic apartments.”

  “I agree, it doesn’t look like a model home, but actually a pce where someone lives. I might take a few pointers for my own house !”

  Just then, a man ran to them.

  “Are you reporters ? You are here to know about that night, right ? Please, don’t write anything bad about Mademoiselle Cyrielle, she is really nice and doesn’t deserve for people to write all those terrible things !”

  The whole team opened their eyes wide. What was this man talking about, what was ‘that night’ ? The interviewer, who led the team today, cleared her throat.

  “We are not reporters, we are from ‘Life of stars’ magazine, we only came to tour Mademoiselle Cyrielle’s apartment. Are you a neighbor ? We are sorry if our presence surprised you.”

  The man seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

  “Oh, are you not journalists ? That’s good, that’s good… Mademoiselle Cyrielle is my upstairs neighbor, she is always so nice, paying to have the facade of the building cleaned, and one time she even came to help me because I didn’t have any hot water. Can you believe she is skilled in plumbing ? What an incredible woman, truly she was raised well !”

  The interviewer turned to her colleague with the camera. As soon as the man started running up to them, the cameraman began recording. It was a precaution in case something bad happened, but this unexpected footage could be really useful for their video. A celebrity that is also a nice person ? Now that was content that people liked. She was about to thank the man and ask for his permission to upload the recording, but he continued talking.

  “Can you imagine how shocked I was that night ? I heard a loud sound coming from upstairs, and I thought she had fallen. She isn’t an old dy, but it can happen, right ? You are not careful, you trip on the carpet, you hurt your head on the table… So I ran upstairs to ask if she was alright. And then, I heard her crying on the other side of the door ! And she started doing that thing when you can’t breathe, you know, like gasping and groaning ? Now, I have a daughter who is anxious, so I knew it was either she was really hurt, or she was having a panic attack.”

  The team froze. They were hearing something they shouldn’t have, they knew it. They weren’t reporters, their magazine only focused on fashion and lifestyle. And moreover, they had a contract with Mademoiselle Cyrielle’s side, they couldn’t say whatever they wanted in their content, and revealing that type of sensitive matter was definitely off limits. The interviewer raised her hand, ready to ask the man to stop, but it was in vain. The neighbor was a chatterbox.

  “But I couldn’t exactly call for someone, because she is a celebrity, you know, she is nice and I don’t want people talking about her badly. Thankfully, her friend Coline, the blonde girl, arrived after that, and she called someone from SOS Doctor so everything was alright. But I was so afraid someone was going to release that story, that’s why I didn’t say anything for two months ! But now it’s out, right ? That’s why you are here ? But you said you are not reporters, so you won’t be mean about it !”

  The cameraman looked at the interviewer. They had all of that on footage.