The lighting had now changed. The chaos of the main floor now softened as Diana was led into one of the smaller, more personal stages. A simple set with a blank backdrop, a single stool, and a rolling camera.
She stood in the center of it, her arms stiff at her sides. Aressia leaned forward in her chair just beyond the set, heels crossed at the ankle, tablet in hand. Her face ever so unreadable.
From a distance, Andrew watched with his usual calm, seated to the side as his focus landed on Diana. One foot crossed over the other. A shadow of a smile ghosted his lips. The stylist clapped softly. "We're ready."
The assistant director approached Diana gently, voice kind. "Okay, just be yourself. The camera's rolling. You're going to give us three simple poses, move through them naturally. Don't overthink. Then, we'll have you walk."
Diana nodded stiffly. Her mouth was dry. The red light on the camera blinked on. "Rolling."
She turned slightly to the left, a bit too quickly. The stylist flinched as her hair swished across her cheek at an awkward angle. She froze for a second, correcting it with a small, embarrassed laugh. Then she brought her hands up too high on her waist. Her expression was worse than blank, it was concentrating.
Regardless she pushed on. Her first pose was stiff. Her arms stiff wooden, smile tight playing on her crimson lips.
The second pose was significantly better as she turned her chin slightly and relaxed her eyes. By now she started to get used to the moment.
In the third, something clicked in her mind. She exhaled through her nose, let her body sink into itself just a little. Her shoulders softened. Her stance widened slightly. The tension clunking her motions melted and in its place came something new, presence.
Aressia raised her brow in acknowledgement. Diana started her walk, her heels clicking on the floor. Her first steps were a hair offbeat. One was heavier than the other. But midway down the short path, she corrected. The stiffness faded. She became fluid. Still not polished but Aressia could tell that it was genuine.
Andrew gave a soft nod from his seat. She reached for the mark before pausing and looked toward the lens.
And for a split second second, she smiled. Not to the camera but to Andrew who watched from the sides. The light turned off as pure silence reigned. Aressia stood, tapping her stylus against her tablet once. Her eyes lost in thought.
"Rough." She started off, clearly enough for Diana to hear. "The first pose was stiff. Your hands were too unsure and your walk needs more balance to it but..."
She tilted her head, her mind running all kinds of statistics at the lady in front of her and Diana felt every second of it. Aressia gauging her worth. "There's something here. It's not experience or control but rather pure unfiltered rawness."
Diana held her breath. "You're not trying to be someone else. And that makes you valuable. We can teach poses and stances alike however we can't teach honesty."
She turned to her assistant. "Sign her. Small campaign to start. Give her time to learn. I want her in front of the camera twice a week for training shots."
Diana blinked in disbelief. "Wait, I got in?" Aressia's eyes flicked toward her. "Don't sound so surprised. You have a face that listens and a body that speaks. We need more of that."
Andrew got off hIs seat and closed the distance between the two. She turned as he approached. "Well done." He congratulated with his signature smile on his face. "That last pose you took, the breath you took. That was it."
"I didn't even mean to." Still dazzled that she passed. A part of her wasn't all that motivated to get the spot given how she lacked any experience or confidence. And besides if she did fail to pass, there were other alternatives on the fray.
"Exactly." He mused, his smile stretching further. She smiled faintly, her cheeks still glowing from the praise. "Andrew." Aressia's voice came like velvet from behind. He turned around.
"Join me in my office. Five minutes." She didn't wait for a reply. She never did. "Wait? What's wrong?" Diana quizzed wondering why Aressia would say so. "That's right, you weren't there at the time but don't worry, I recorded the whole thing."
Hector chimed in from the side, his phone in his hand ready to show Diana as Andrew took his leave. And then she saw it, the video. Her eyes taking in each scene as her mind drifted elsewhere. "I didn't think that Andrew was such a professional actor."
Hector praised as he watched the video with her. "Yeah, he's pretty good at wearing masks." However her tone wasn't as light as Hector's as a strange silence warped her figure. "Well come on, I'm sure that you're curious to see the magic that takes place at the esteemed Lunare Vogue.
Without waiting for a response, he tugged her arm forcing her to follow him. Even now, she couldn't shake what she'd seen on that stage with Gisela. The closeness, the intimacy. She didn't know whether to be proud, confused, or jealous. Maybe all three.
***
Arresia's office was nothing short of a fortress disguised in elegance. Stark whites, charcoal-black accents, and the scent of sandalwood curling through the air like a whispered promise. A wall of glass behind her desk displayed the skyline as puffy white clouds bruised past the sky.
Andrew stepped in. She was already pouring herself a glass of pale wine.
"No scotch?" He joked as his eyes taking in the room.
"You were something else out there." She said coolly, crossing to sit on the armrest of a black leather couch. "I've seen it all, actors cry. Seen models seduce but I've never seen someone blur the line so finely I forgot what was real."
Andrew didn't sit. Not yet as his obsidian beads preferred watching her with quiet interest. "I don't blur lines." His voice soft and calm. "I walk past them."
Her lips curled in amusement. "Is that a philosophy, or just another layer of your charm?"
"You tell me." He answered, finally stepping forward. She shifted slightly, just enough to make room for him, an unspoken offer of closeness. He didn't take it but rather opted to shift closer to the window and looked out across the city.
"You've built an empire." He mused. "But I wonder, does anyone ever say 'no' to you?" Her eyes followed him, careful and precise as ever.
"They've tried." She said, sipping lightly from her glass. "But most of them crumble before they finish the word." Andrew turned back toward her, the faintest glint in his eyes. "Then let me be the first to finish it."
The corner of her mouth twitched, not in anger but with intrigue. She now stood, inching her way closer to him with slow deliberate steps. Her fingers traced the edge of her wine glass like it was an afterthought.
"You're not what you seem." She murmured, her voice dropping a degree. "That calmness that hangs around you, that control you manipulate to your liking? It's simply too clean to be normal. It's just too perfect to be mastered by a regular human."
She was now inches from him. "And you." Andrew replied. "Are far too used to cutting people open without ever bleeding yourself."
Her smile turned razor-sharp. "Careful. I might think you're flirting."
"I might not deny it." He went on, stepping closer. The tension in the room thickened—smoke without fire, a hunger with no appetite. She raised her hand and lightly trailed it along his chest, fingers grazing the open collar of his shirt. But still—he didn't react. Not with breath. Not with blink.
That unsettled her more she would have liked to admit. "You're not affected." Her voice a whisper as her lips hovered just inches from his ear. "Why is that?"
"Because I'm waiting for the moment you stop trying to unravel me." He said, voice just as low. "And start realizing I've been watching you since the second we met."
She exhaled, her voice barely audible. Her hand slid to his waist. He leaned down his motions slow and his face unreadable as ever, he murmured. "You asked what I was. You don't want the answer." She smirked. "Try me."
To think that a person could have such suave was a fantasy to her. Even Sullivan, lacked this kind of air of mystery and intrigue. He was calm, honest and to her undeniably predictable. Andrew was an entirely new puzzle she had yet to decipher.
'To think that Hector would have such an acquaintance, it's a shame that we're meeting just now however there's time.' As the air grew thicker, the tension growing by the minute, she dared to close in for a kiss however he pulled back.
Not out of rejection but function. He had his reasons however Aressia was still in the dark. "Not into older women?" Her tone light. "Quite the opposite." His finger running across her jaw, tilting her head to face his. "Timing."
Her eyes narrowed, trying to decipher what he meant by that. To her surprise, he completely pulled back from her embrace and shifted his attention towards the city below them that came off as blueprints for an ant colony.
Just as she was about to question him, the door was barged open. "Oh hi mom, you won't believe what-" Hector paused as he could feel the unspoken dense tension still lingering in the air. "Were you two in the middle of conversation?"
Aressia sighed through her nose as if his presence hadn't completely shattered the moment. She turned with calm precision, straightening her jacket now realizing what he meant. Now only more questions than answers plagued her mind.
"Not at all," Aressia said with a smile so clean it could cut steel. "Just talking shop." Andrew met her eyes one last time something sharp behind his gaze, something unfinished. "We'll continue this later."
She held his stare, then nodded. As Andrew left, Aressia turned to pour herself another drink. And this time, she drank as her son made himself comfortable. 'Andrew, just what exactly are you?'
When he parted with her, his actions weren't rushed, they were slow and deliberate as if he meant it but the timing between his parting and Hector's barging was perfectly executed and that acted as another chip of block to the flame of intrigue that started to burn inside her.
"Hector, just how much of Andrew do you know, given that you two are close friends." Her tone simple, making Hector who was oblivious to begin with even more susceptible to answer her questions.