"Miss Tesni you will not be walking through the main door. The underground lift has been prepared for you. You will rise onto the stage from below. Then you walk," he said.
"Understood," she replied.
In the audience Elora leaned forward. "The theme is incredible. Every single model is representing something connected to water."
"Absolutely," the crowd around them agreed.
Then every light in the arena went out.
Complete darkness.
Fog rolled across the stage slowly, thick and low, swallowing everything it touched. Then the stage opened from the centre and a figure rose from beneath it.
Tesni.
Every step she took forward brought a light with it, blooming from the floor beneath her feet one after another. Then the bubbles came, pouring from her costume and rising into the air, filling the entire arena from floor to ceiling. The lights all flooded on at once and she turned, the bubbles spilling outward in every direction, her white hair catching everything.
The arena erupted.
In her seat Aine sat completely still, her eyes fixed on the stage.
"Sh… e looks fam… iliar," she said slowly. "I have to meet her."
Outside the models gathered, cameras flashing from every direction.
Within minutes the internet caught fire.
Tesni Mendoza, who disappeared from the public eye, has returned. And she came back as something entirely new.
"Tesni Mendoza, what a stunning comeback," the journalist said.
"I never left," Tesni replied, looking directly into the camera. "I was simply preparing for my second phase."
In the crowd Aine tugged at Elora's arm. "El… ora can I meet one of them. One of them looks fam… iliar to me."
"I am not sure but they are walking toward the crowd now. Some are signing autographs," Elora said.
Just as she said it the models moved forward, pens out, fans pressing close. Aine moved with the crowd, her eyes fixed on one figure. She reached out and her fingers closed gently around Tesni's arm.
"Miss Tesni," she said softly.
Tesni turned.
The moment her eyes found Aine's face the world contracted to just the two of them. Every sound fell away. Every person disappeared. Tesni's eyes filled immediately, the tears gathering and threatening to fall, everything she had been holding since Paris flooding to the surface at once.
"Miss," Aine said carefully. "Do I kn… ow you? You feel fam… iliar. Are you fam… ily or a fr… iend?"
Tesni looked at her sister's face. At the bandage still visible beneath her hair. At the eyes that held no recognition whatsoever.
"I am sorry Miss," she said, her voice steady only through sheer will. "You have the wrong person."
She removed Aine's hand gently and turned away.
And walked until she was out of sight.
Tesni walked directly to the washroom, slammed the door behind her and locked it. She slid down against it until she reached the floor, her costume still on, her white hair falling around her face as the tears came down without stopping.
Outside Elora watched Aine's face carefully. "What did she say?"
"She does not kn… ow me," Aine said quietly.
"Do not worry about it. Let us go shopping. You are looking pale. Are you feeling alright?" Elora asked.
"Just the weather," Aine replied.
"Celine it is then," Elora said, taking her hand.
Inside they moved through the floors, the racks of coats drawing Elora immediately upward.
"Let us go up for the coats," she said.
They stepped onto the escalator.
Then Aine's foot slipped.
She fell sideways and a pair of arms caught her before she reached the ground, firm and immediate, as though they had been there waiting.
"Aine!" Elora's voice cut through the noise of the store.
She pushed forward. "Give her to me."
The man holding Aine looked up.
"Elly." Lucien's voice was calm and certain. "We need to help her first. My car is outside."
One second. Five. Ten. It felt like an eternity, as though something behind her eyes was trying to open a door that had been locked from the other side.
A phone buzzed. Elora glanced at the screen. "Our driver just called. He has arrived."
"Before you leave." Lucien reached into his jacket and held out a card. "Take this. I would like to see both of you on set tomorrow."
"I do not think that is necessary," Elora began.
But before she could finish, Aine's hand had already closed around the card.
Elora looked at her.
Aine looked at the card, then at Lucien, and did not let go.
She chose a sleeveless white dress. Curled her hair carefully. Unwrapped the bandage from her head and replaced it with a small plaster. Light makeup. One last look in the mirror.
Then she slipped out of the house alone.
She reached the gate.
The security guard stepped forward and studied her. "Ma'am, may I know where you are going?"
She pulled out the card and handed it over.
"You are the guest we are expecting. Please, this way," one of them said and led the way.
"Boss, she is here," he announced.
Lucien turned.
"Bon… jour," Aine said.
She looked deep into his eyes. Everything seemed to stop. Even the air carried their hair in slow motion around them.
"Elora did not come?" he asked.
"N… o. She c… ould not," she answered.
"Have a seat," he said.
Across the set Elodie narrowed her eyes. "Who is that?"
"He invited her himself. She is only here to observe for the day," Chloe said.
"Everyone, please welcome our scriptwriter, Miss Tesni Mendoza," the director announced.
Tesni stepped out in the latest dress in town, her white hair tied in a neat bun.
Aine turned toward the sound.
And the whole set seemed to hold its breath.
"Thank you everyone. Without all of you my script is nothing. I am very proud of what we have built," Tesni said.
"You can take the seat by the young lady," the director said.
She walked over and sat down beside Aine, watching her face closely, waiting for any flicker of reaction.
"Hello," Tesni said.
"H… i," Aine said.
"Do you remember me?"
"Y… es. A m… odel," Aine answered. Then she tilted her head. "Wh… at are you d… oing h… ere?"
"I am the scriptwriter," Tesni said.
"Th… at is am… azing," Aine replied, and meant it.
Tesni held her gaze a moment longer. Nothing. Only polite warmth from a stranger.
Behind them a murmur rose across the set.
"The coffee man did not come today. He called in sick," Chloe said, setting down an empty tray. "Nobody here can make coffee…"
She sighed.
"To match everyone's preferences."