BLACK DIAMOND

30 days of writing by Chiharu Tanaka

02 accusation.

Previously on Black Diamond: Naminé is sought after for an internship by a man named Riku for her make-up skills.

"Is this an interview?"

They had just finished lunch at the posh-looking cafe at the Harrington Apartments when Naminé's question popped up. Riku smirked before casually sipping on his coffee. She appeared curious, perplexed even - at the whole situation.

"You can call it that if you want to. You see, we sent you the internship letter because we already wanted you from the very beginning."

Naminé raised an eyebrow - apparently his statement just gave her another million set of questions. "I guess I should explain. You see, Naminé, I own Dawn Modelling Agency, but we're still a pretty small company as of now. And since you're not a newbie yourself to the world of fashion, we need make-up artists just as much as we need models. Well, we need more models, but I think you get what I mean."

"But how did you find me?"

"The same way engineering companies find their interns in universities," he explained simply. Convinced, Naminé continued the conversation by discussing the terms of the internship. Apparently, not only do they do make-up for models, but also clients consisting of the rich and famous. As her first task, she had to visit the wife of an affluent CEO in the Big Apple.

"Madam Ursula is a good friend of mine," said Riku. "She also adores new talent, and since my other staff are busy, I think it'd be the perfect opportunity to test out your capabilities. Are you up for it?"

Naminé nodded. Anything's better than sitting around at home doing nothing.

"Great. I'll pick you up at six p.m. tonight, and then we'll make our way to Broadway."

"Broadway?"

"I forgot to mention that one bit - she's a splendid singer."

xoxoxox

It wasn't until precisely six in the evening did she see him again, at the lobby of her apartment building. Of course he knew where she lived, but they had to be a really small company if the owner himself had to come get her. She sat, albeit a little uncomfortably, in the passenger seat of Riku's top-of-the-line Mercedes sedan, and he did most of the talking over the soothing piano music playing in his car.

'I never guessed him to be a piano fan,' she mused, and half an hour later, they pulled up into the parking lot of a grand theatre situated in Broadway. He led her upstairs and through a series of corridors where people were going up and down, as busy as ants, for the night's gala performance.

Ursula, the star herself, was an overweight - perhaps obese - lady in her 50s, dressed in an elegant black gown filled with Swarovski crystals. Her dark hair was pulled back into a complicated bun, and Naminé noticed she had barely any wrinkles on her face. Botox, she deducted, before putting on her sweetest smile.

"Ursula," said Riku with a devillishly handsome grin, approaching the woman.

She looked irritated when Naminé first saw her, but her expression immediately changed to one of relief and delight as she saw him. "Riku!" she exclaimed in return, and they gave each other what Naminé could describe as a 'posh hug' - where two rich people hug each other and give air kisses. Well, Riku didn't do the air kiss bit, but took her hand to plant a gentlemanly kiss on it. The rings on her fingers were studded with all sorts of jewels.

"I'm sorry we're late," he said. "New York traffic at it's worst."

"That's quite alright, darling," said Ursula with a leering smile - what exactly was her relationship to Riku, the blonde wondered. "Is your make-up artist here?"

"Yes, she is. C'mon, Naminé, I'd like to introduce you."

Naminé approached the woman rather warily - there was something about the way her dark eyes twinkled and narrowed when she gave Naminé a top to toe glance. "Ursula, this is Naminé; she's the new intern at my company. Naminé, this is Ursula, one of the greatest singers Broadway has ever seen."

Ursula chuckled, her deep voice resonating as she slapped Riku on the arm. "You tease," she chided. "It's nice to meet you, young lady. I hope your talents shine well under Riku's supervision."

"Thank you, madam," said Naminé, surprised at her remark.

"So I'll leave you ladies to it, then?"

They nodded, and Riku soon took his leave. Naminé was left with the diva songstress, but surprisingly she didn't say much as Naminé applied make-up on her face. When she was done, Ursula was impressed with her results - smokey, mysterious eyes complimented with a shocking red lipstick that was just right for her pale skin tone.

"Riku was right, you do have some talent," said Ursula. "But don't go off thinking you're so great just yet - otherwise you'll never get better."

Now she was truly surprised - the woman was giving her words of wisdom. "Thank you," she said. She could say nothing more to the diva as the event coordinator came in and whisked her away - they had ten minutes left before the first song began, and Naminé put away her things to perhaps try and catch the performance from the sidelines.

She ended up sitting between a couple of sound-proof panelled walls draped with black curtains, hidden in the shadows as she watched the songstress at her best. 'I must admit, I've read her completely wrong,' she thought as she tapped her make-up box sitting next to her. 'Maybe not all the rich people are as bad as they seem on TV.'

Naminé was called in after the second song to redo Ursula's makeup to fit the new dress that she changed into. In total, that night she had done her make-up three times, and watched the final performance from backstage. When the performance was over, the entire theatre echoed with thunderous applause and Naminé felt amazed at her talent.

But the night was not over yet.

A loud, shrill scream came from Ursula's dressing room just as Naminé was about to leave the backstage area to try and call her new boss. "My jewels!" Ursula screamed as she ran out onto the backstage area, looking frantic and suspicious towards all the staff members who was looking at her. "Someone here stole my jewels!"

The event coordinator came over to calm her down, and soon they narrowed down the number of people who had accessed Ursula's dressing room that night - which were her dress coordinator, the event coordinator herself, Ursula's bodyguard and Naminé.

Everything was still under control, until she let them search her make-up box.

"My jewels!" Ursula screamed as they lifted the last layer of her box. Naminé gasped; how the hell did an array of expensive jewellery - diamond rings, gold bracelets, jewelled necklaces and studded earrings - end up in her box of all places?! She had her box with her this whole time!

"You!" the diva pointed a finger at her. "How dare you, you…thief!"

"This must be a mistake, I didn't…"

"Her jewels are in your make-up box, and you dare to deny that you did it?!" the event coordinator retaliated. All the eyes of the production staff were on her now, and one of them was already on the phone and calling the police.

Naminé's heart dropped into her stomach. How did this happen?!

TO BE CONTINUED

A/n: Yes, this is Ursula from The Little Mermaid...sort of a mix of her human form and sea-witch form. Review please?

P.S. I haven't beta-ed this story because it's a pet project; will do so in time.