24 June 2012
-MOLLIE-
"Tiffany! Please don't interrupt" her mother stated in a shocked and angry tone. Tiffany turned to her mother and gave a fake smile and gestured for Mimi to continue. Even my heart had sunk by this point, when would this girl just leave Tiffany and Nate alone? I reached across to squeeze Tiffany's hand: to reassure her that she wasn't going mad, and unlike the rest of the room, I wasn't going to ignore this. Mimi finished talking, and we both quickly realised we hadn't heard a word of what she'd said. Tiffany looked at me in a state of shock and confusion, as we both felt we should have listened to our instructions. This is Vogue after all, Victoria or no Victoria! "Any questions?" Mimi finally asked, glancing around the room. "No, I think it's all pretty self explanatory!" said Tiffany's mother. I hated the way she always took centre stage like this, so I spoke out: "Would you mind just recalling the key points for me? Sorry, I was miles away!" I said, laughing gently as the rest of the room followed suit. All of the room apart from Victoria, who was frantically trying to put a name to my face. "Sure, basically, we need to meet in our age groups at separate times tomorrow for the shoot. You're at 7pm, I thought I'd get some night shots of you and Tiffany, so get back here at about 5.30 or 6pm for makeup and selecting outfits. We'll provide everything, so don't worry about it, Mollie." Mimi ended. When she finally said my name, you could visibly see a switch in Victoria's brain suddenly turn on, as she made the link between what Isabelle had supposedly told her about Tiffany and I's close relationship. As this connection was made, she smiled widely, bearing her white teeth that were slightly stained by her incredibly bold red lipstick. I narrowed my eyes, and shook my head slightly, making sure she knew that this would never be over. I felt like I had more competition with Victoria than Isabelle: Isabelle and Tiffany were the main rivalry, but Victoria and I were like the 'number two's' for each corner of the boxing ring. "Right, I'll see you all tomorrow, but would Tiffany and Mollie mind staying behind for a second? There's some final things I'd like to sort out, like locations and that sort of thing" Mimi said, as the people who had once surrounded us dissolved away, all parting with a single kiss on the cheek from my mother at the door. We were indicated to move into the courtyard again, and Victoria stayed inside. "Mollie, you're a beautiful girl and clearly from a well to do family, but I really won't be able to work with you if you're going to look at my staff the way you just did" Mimi said, as Tiffany edged towards me, and cleared her throat. "Let me explain," Tiffany finally said, "Did you read about what happened about four weeks ago at my prom? It was in most newspapers and society columns, unfortunately" "Yes I did, but what's this got to do with anything?" "Well, Victoria, your employee, is my attacker's sister. We know because my attacker used to be one of my friends. I'm sorry about all this, I really am, and it must be such a nightmare situation for you right now, but I really don't think I can work with her right now. Nate won't want to either--" "And neither will I" I cut in, quickly. "And neither will Mollie, so if you need to recast or whatever then I totally understand" Tiffany finished, looking fragile and weak, like remembering those events had totally taken it out of her. She'd gone quite pale, and had started to shake a little, but my hand in hers stopped the erratic movement. "I'm sorry, I didn't know. But you know, it would be so hard to employ anyone if you totally avoided people that have had small tiffs with clients" "A small tiff?" I started, totally flying off the handle "Your employees sister has gone to jail for 10 years for what she did to Tiffany, and it would have been a whole lot longer had Tiffany not pulled through. She was in a coma for three weeks, and you call that a small tiff? I'm sorry, but I don't think we'll be working with you. Come on T, let's go" I said, turning sharply on my heels and pulling Tiffany along behind me around the house to the front lawn. "Wait!" Mimi cried, rushing behind me. "Yes?" I said, turning sharply again to face her. "Work with Victoria. I know it'll be hard, but it'll give you an opportunity to get your story out there, exactly how you want it. You can even slate Victoria in your interview if you want, but I really see an opportunity here for all three of you. It's an opportunity not only for my magazine, but also for you. I know there are many misconceptions around and about regarding what happened, so you could put those straight in an elegant and classy manner. It wouldn't be like a trashy magazine feature, you three can have the cover and the main article, plus 6 pages of photographs, taken by Victoria but under my constant supervision. What do you say?" Mimi said, almost pleading with us. After moments of deliberation, Tiffany looked at me and nodded, still pretty frail. "We'll have to ask Nate" I began, "but I think we're in" already plotting my own personal take down.
Love You Too: PART TWENTY TWO • Opuss № I