Riiiiiiight, so my update took a little longer than I thought, but I did say all these chapters were going to quite long, didn't I? Anyway, thank you so much for all the reviews, favorites, and follows! I really and always appreciate them! And that's all I have to say, so I hope you all like this next part of A Fashion Disaster.
Enjoy!
A Fashion Disaster: Part 2
Lelouch looked through the rack of outfits with a disdainful look upon on his face. He turned to his assistant and waved his hand. The woman sighed in exasperation and wheeled the clothing rack back with the other clothes in storage. He turned around after she left but not before getting a face full of a magazine.
"Who the hell?!" Lelouch shouted in anger, snatching the magazine from his face before he let out an annoyed sound at the site of his tall, beautiful, raven haired mother glaring at him. "Good morning, mother."
"You didn't tell me you had a new model?! What happened to- Oh, why should I even ask? You fired her, didn't you?" Marianne Lamperouge was not a fan of her son's infamous image among the public as a fashion designer. Somehow her name was always grouped with his and she was starting to really NOT appreciate it.
"It just wasn't working out."
"Lelouch Lamperouge-vi Britannia-" At the sound of his second - actually legal - last name, Lelouch cringed. "You have other models who have contracts with you. Why could you have not used any of them? Instead, I have to find out through the damn media that you found a new model. One that no one has ever heard of. I thought you hated irrelevancy?"
Lelouch shrugged in reply as he looked down at his board. "I do."
"Then, who is this girl named C.C.?"
"She's new."
"I get that, but how new?"
"New as in she's never modeled in her entire low class life."
"Lelouch!" Marianne gaped. "Are you looking for the public to make fun of her?!"
"Oh, she's going through training. She'll be a professional model in no time. No worries." Lelouch was pretty confident in himself that C.C. would walk even better than his mother by the time he was done with her. "Besides, I wanted to start with someone new and fresh."
Marianne pinched the bridge of her nose. "This is your new line."
Lelouch shrugged again. "I'm well aware of that, mother."
"Do you know how risky this is?"
"More risky than the fact that you slept and had three children with a bastard known for having many mistresses and wives, and not actually being married to any of them and putting your whole career on the line?" Lelouch shot back with his eyebrows furrowed and his arms folded across his chest.
Marianne let out a tired sigh. "Lelouch, not again."
"Then don't question what I do with my career."
Deciding to ignore her son's harsh tone with her in favor of having a peaceful morning instead, Marianne asked, "Where is this girl, anyway? I want to know what she looks like."
Releasing the tension his body had, Lelouch looked down at his watch. "She should be arriving in five minutes. Hopefully."
"Hopefully?"
"Hopefully."
The model let out another tired sigh and took a seat near the double doors. If this girl was great enough for Lelouch to pick a random person off the street, then she was going to be one of the first ones to meet her.
"Mother, what are you doing over there?" Lelouch narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
"Waiting for this girl," she smiled.
"Ugh, M-"
"Good morning," a soft voice cheered.
"Morning, Euphemia!" Marianne smiled widely at her oldest child's half-sister; the first second youngest daughter of her former lover's children.
Euphemia gave Marianne a smile while taking off her jean jacket. "Pleasant to see you, Marianne. I hope you're doing well today?" she asked.
"I'm doing quite fine, dear. Your brother is just stressing me out as always."
"Oh, yes, Suzaku told me you had a new model that you found in a coffee shop?" Euphemia knit her eyebrows together as she turned to Lelouch. "What an odd place. He said she's quite pretty."
"Is everyone going to question my decisions?" Lelouch bit out in annoyance from his seat at the desk.
"I just said it was an odd place," Euphemia smiled sheepishly. "I respect all the decisions you make, Lelouch. Even if they're odd at times…"
Lelouch sent his younger sister a flat look and she only let out an amused giggle. "What are you doing here, anyway? My new model should be here by now, and I don't want you here. She's not ready to meet any family members."
"You say that like you're marrying her," Euphemia told him.
"She's marrying into my brand. She might as well be."
Marianne and Euphemia sent each other looks before turning back to their relative. "Is she-"
Euphemia was interrupted by the double doors to Lelouch's office opening. In came his new model, C.C., in light blue jeans and a short, white suit jacket with a black top underneath. Completing her look was a pair of black flats that Lelouch scrunched up his nose at.
"You're late," was all Lelouch stated.
"Some people don't have cars," C.C. shot back. A smirk then crept across her pale face. "Of course, someone with tons of money like you wouldn't understand that, though? The pain of we, as you said, "poor people."
"Oh, she's definitely a rarity," Marianne whispered to Euphemia who nodded in agreement.
"I have no time for a witch as yourself. Let's start the tour," the designer grumbled and with a roll of her eyes, C.C. followed him out of the office.
"Well, she is pretty," Euphemia complimented once they left the office all together. "Lelouch has great taste in women."
"Hmm." Marianne crossed her arms under her chest as an amused smile made its way upon her face. "I think she's gonna stay. With the number of models that have fired or quit under Lelouch's contract, I think she's gonna make it through. Don't you think?"
If a model could get rid of her son's attitude, she'd appreciate them for the rest of her life and find someway to make them apart of the family.
"Everyone, meet Cera Li. My new model."
The women inside the room stopped running around and glanced for a few seconds before going back to work. Lelouch let out an sigh full of annoyance. "I'm going to take it that you all either didn't hear the news or, as always," he bit out," have decided to ignore me."
"It's because what's the point when we know you're just going to fire her," one of the women spoke up.
"I thought you would've known we're tired of your shit, Mr. Lamperouge. It's a miracle that you even have employees," another one joined in and Lelouch sent her a glare, which completely unfazed the woman.
C.C. snorted.
"Girls, that's enough." A voice joined in, and around the corner, a woman with orange hair and green eyes smiled at C.C. "Good morning. It's nice to meet you, C.C. I'm Shirley Fenette, Lelouch's long time assistant." She looked her up and down. "I take it he did do a good job of finding a model. You're quite pretty."
"Ah, that's what he said," C.C. chuckled. "Hmm, maybe if you had been with him, then I would've actually believed him at first."
"What?" Shirley turned to Lelouch, who looked the other way and stuffed his hands in his pockets.
"In that case," Lelouch interrupted quickly, not giving the two women room to talk to each other anymore, "How about you give her a tour of the place, Shirley? And when you all come back, I'll start her lessons."
The orange haired woman gave her a boss a small nod of acknowledgement. "Of course. Just give me ten minutes." And with that, she walked away.
C.C. turned to her new employer with a cheshire grin upon her face, and Lelouch inwardly groaned, already knowing what was coming. "I take it you didn't tell her how you found me? Because what an amusing story would that have been to tell her."
"How I found you and what I did to get you is exactly none of her concern, witch" Lelouch said.
"Ah, there goes that nickname again," C.C. chuckled in amusement. "Do you give all your models nicknames?"
"If they deserved it. You're in full deserving of one."
"I'm building a name for myself already. How fun."
Lelouch snorted. "You're far from having a name for yourself here."
"Oh, yes. I have to run on "asshole" twenty-four-seven to have one, is that correct?" C.C. questioned him.
"Watch it, witch."
"I'm starting to warm up to that name, but since it's so rude to call you a bastard, even though you're very deserving of being called a bastard by everyone," C.C. started up. "How about I call you- what's the opposite of witch? A warlock."
"I'd rather you call me a bastard."
C.C. gave his arm a small pat. "Oh, no, darling. Calling you a bastard just secretly rises your ego. I'm fully aware of that already."
Lelouch opened his mouth to reply but closed it after realizing he had nothing to say to that.
At that, C.C.'s grin widened. "You have work to do on yourself, warlock."
"Witch, you're asking to be fired," Lelouch grumbled, but it was an empty threat.
"And if you do that, there's no one else to save your show. A poor fashion designer like yourself with no one else to turn to," C.C. smirked before starting to walk off. "I think I'll go introduce myself to the lovely women I'll be working with."
"Did you just quote The Little Mermaid?" was all Lelouch asked.
"The warlock knew that?" C.C. made a face of mock surprise.
"I have five younger sisters."
"That explains a lot."
"Wh-What does that mean?!"
"Bye, bye, warlock."
Lelouch decided C.C. would, in fact, give him gray hairs by the time this was all over.
…
"How can you do a walk more wrong?" Lelouch told C.C. a day later.
"Well, I'm sorry I've never modeled before in my life. Is that an issue?" C.C. replied, taking a shaky step in her six inch stilettos. She held onto the pole nearby to hold herself up.
"Very funny." Lelouch snapped his fingers. "Alright, from the beginning again."
With a groan, C.C. wobbled to the back of the stage. "It's just so convenient how there's a room with a stage for practicing on the runway," she muttered to herself.
Before she could even take more than two steps forward, her boss clapped his hands very loudly, startling her and causing her to almost fall over. If he made her break anything, she was going to sue. "What is it now?"
She tried to sound as pleasant as she could.
"You're doing that all wrong," Lelouch said.
C.C. narrowed her eyes. "You didn't even let me take more than two steps forward."
"You didn't have to take more than two for me to know you were completely going to ass that walk." Lelouch shrugged, getting up from his seat to stand in front of the stage. "Keep your back straight, sway your hips but not too much, and walk with confidence. Remember that and it might help."
C.C. gave him a small nod and took two steps backwards. She'd only known Lelouch for four days, but she already knew why his models probably wanted to murder him. He purposely made things difficult for them and himself, and he didn't seem to care at all about what other people thought as long as his goal was reached.
It was a strange way for him to do things.
The green haired woman looked over at Lelouch with both eyebrows rose, and he signaled for her to go on. This time, she got eight steps forward before his loud clapping once again almost made her trip over her feet.
She crossed her arms under her chest, letting Lelouch know that he could, in fact, speak because she had nothing to say to such. She was sure he let out a laugh that sounded almost evil. He's enjoying this too much, she thought.
"Less hips. You were doing great until about the 8th step." C.C. made a face, which Lelouch ignored. "Now try again."
Walking back to her original spot, C.C. took one step forward and-
"Stop! Just stop it!" Lelouch yelled in horror. "That was the most hideous walk of all walks I had ever seen. That was almost worse than Monica Krushevsky's walk."
"Who?"
"Never mind that!" Lelouch hissed, joining her on stage and looking her straight in the eye. "Watch me, and watch me closely."
"Are you about to walk?" C.C. asked with a smirk on her face.
She didn't expect this, but it was going to be an amusing sight.
"Well, who else is going to show a non-professional, weak, below average model like you to walk?" Lelouch said in reply to her with a sneer. "Definitely not any of those women and men outside that door, so watch and learn."
C.C. watched as Lelouch flipped his hair out of his eyes, stood straight, and put his arms to his side. He took a step forward, then two, and more. She watched mesmerized as Lelouch walked exactly as he had told her earlier.
Back straight, hips swaying but not too much, and with oozing confidence.
He was impressive.
He stopped at the end of the stage and posed for a quick second before turning on his heel, and walking back towards her perfectly. He stopped in front of her and pointed to the end of the stage with the most serious face she had seen on him since their first meeting. "Can you do that?"
"Can I?"
"C.C."
"Maybe I can, maybe I can't. It all depends."
"You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?"
"It's what I live for."
"You won't be living for anything if I fire you right now."
"That's the second time this week you've threatened to fire me while knowing you can't risk doing that."
A wry smile crossed Lelouch's face. "You're clever, aren't you?"
"Hmm, how so?"
"This innocent fr-
Her boss was interrupted by the sound of loud clapping - that indeed sounded much like Lelouch's clapping - coming from the doorway. There stood Marianne Lamperouge with a proud look on her face. She walked up to the stage and smiled brightly at her son. "You walked."
Lelouch rolled his eyes. "I did."
"You can model," Marianne smiled.
"Of course, I can."
"On stage?"
"No."
"Lelouch, that walk was amazing. Just go on the runway once and I'll leave you alone about modeling for the rest of your short life that you have to live."
"Mother," Lelouch grit through his teeth in annoyance,"What the hell are you doing here? I'm working with my model."
"I'll choose to ignore your language towards me, but I came to formally introduce myself to your model. I missed the opportunity to do so yesterday and I'd like to do it today before I become busy again," Marianne told Lelouch and C.C. suddenly felt really nervous.
She didn't get nervous.
But this was Marianne Lamperouge.
One of the fashion world's top models until this day.
She felt Marianne's eyes turn on her and hesitantly, she met the model's eyes, who smiled at her brightly. The raven haired woman walked up the small set of stairs and pushed Lelouch over, now standing in front of her.
C.C. never paid much attention before, but Lelouch and Marianne looked just alike; tall, raven hair, purple eyes, and white peach skin. Even their stances were similar to one another.
Maybe it's why their names were always mentioned with one another.
"C.C.?"
"Oh, yes?" C.C. turned her full attention back to Marianne.
"You know this already, but I'm Marianne Lamperouge. Also, as you can see, Lelouch's mother. I know his decision to make you his model was rather… rash, but I'm hoping that you enjoy your time here and my son doesn't do anything else stupid to cause you any inconvenience," Marianne told C.C. with the brightest smile upon her face. "It's wonderful to meet you."
"Are you done?" Lelouch growled, clearly offended at his mother's statement.
"No." C.C. answered for Marianne before saying, "It's also nice to meet you, Ms. Lamperouge. I won't be going anywhere soon. Trust me."
She ignored the low growl Lelouch let out.
The smile on Marianne's face widened. "I know you're going to be amazing once Lelouch is done working with you. I saw him demonstrating a wonderful walk for you, so I see you're struggling, but with much practice, you'll be amazing in no time. Won't she, Lelouch?"
C.C. knew from Marianne's voice that she expected an answer.
"You'll be nothing less than amazing when working with me," he answered.
He really carried an attitude for no reason at all.
"Now can you kindly leave and let us get back to work, Mother?" Lelouch asked and Marianne waved her hand in dismissal.
"You know," she started to whisper, stepping closer to C.C., "He really is a nice and gentle person once you get to know him. He's just bitter and…"
"An asshole? A bastard? Either one works really," C.C. finished for Marianne and the raven haired woman chuckled.
"Well, yes, but he has a bad attitude and the media loves it. I think he knows they do, but never does he let them or anyone outside of his friends and the family see his gentle side, so don't take his asshole behavior to heart," Marianne explained. "But from what I saw yesterday, you seem to be able to hold your own against him."
"It's quite easy," C.C. smirked mischievously.
"With that, I think you'll be here for awhile," Marianne chuckled before stepping away and turning back to Lelouch. "I'll be on my way now. I hope the both of you enjoy the rest of you evening."
"You too, Mother," Lelouch mumbled barely loud enough for the raven haired woman to hear, but C.C. saw the small smile across her face as she exited the room.
Once Marianne left, C.C. said, "You should be nicer to your mother. She birthed you."
"I am nice to her."
C.C. tilted her head, the smirk from earlier reappearing. "I forget your definition of nice is not what's in the dictionary."
Lelouch chuckled at that. "You're right. It isn't."
"Hopefully it'll change. I think if you learn to go by the dictionary definition of 'nice', you'll learn to treat others better. " C.C. smiled when Lelouch let out a scoff that wasn't full of scorn as usual. "It'll help your name."
Lelouch rose an eyebrow. "Why would I need help with my name?"
"Maybe you want to be famous rather than infamous. It's just an suggestion."
"So the witch knows what she's talking about?"
"I just know common manners, my dearest warlock," C.C. smiled "Now let's get back to work, shall we?"
She pat the side of his cheek.
Lelouch walked back down the stairs and sat in his original seat. "Do the same walk I showed you earlier."
"I'll attempt to."
"Attempt?"
"It's all I can do for now."
"As expected from a non-profession model."
"Lelouch?"
"What?"
"And you wonder why you have no models."
"Just walk down the damn runway."
A week later, Lelouch was sure C.C. had her walk down. It just still didn't look…
It didn't look like his walk.
But it would do.
Now, he was with her while she was getting her hair and makeup done for a mock photoshoot and honestly, he could stare at her all day without the makeup, but he never knew what she'd look like with it.
"Here's your coffee, Lelouch," Shirley said while handing it to him. "Also, the photographer is almost ready, so C.C.'s photoshoot should start in five to seven minutes."
"Very well."
Shirley looked down at her clipboard and then back up at Lelouch, who paid her no heed. "Lelouch?"
He didn't spare her a glance. "What?"
"Are you sure you can get C.C. to model professionally in time for the show in three weeks? I mean, she's actually been progressing quite quickly, but the time left isn't long," Shirley explained. "After this, you don't need her anymore, correct? This has to be perfect."
Lelouch turned to his assistant with a glare. Shirley sighed, knowing that she was already in for it." I'll have you know that C.C. is going to be perfect up on that stage. Also, I forgot to mention, her contract has been extended to six months."
"S-Six months? Lelouch-"
"Is that a problem? My business, my decisions."
The orange haired woman let out a small sigh. "Yes, Lelouch."
The silence afterwards was interrupted by the loud voice of his makeup artist and hairdresser coming around the corner. "Lelouch, Lelouch, Lelouch!" the blonde woman yelled in excitement.
"Milly-"
"She looks amazing! Rivalz, bring her out!"
C.C. was pulled around the corner in a red, glittering dress that fell behind her in a train at the back and short in the front right above her knees with four inch white heels. Her hair was put halfway up and the rest falling down over her shoulders in curls. Her makeup consisted of red lipstick, thick black mascara, firey red eyeshadow, and light blush.
Lelouch's mouth unconsciously fell open.
Milly smirked at the raven haired fashion designer's reaction. "She didn't need a lot of foundation, but I applied some BB Cream to her face. Other than that, she's quite the masterpiece, isn't she? She was already pretty before, but now she's just gorgeous."
"I-"
Lelouch didn't know how to form any words at the moment.
"Cat got your tongue?" C.C. asked mischievously. She started to walk forward until she stood directly in front of Lelouch. "You might want to close your mouth or a fly will definitely go in."
"..."
"I've… I've never seen him like that before. It's like he's frozen," Shirley joined in, waving a hand over his face. "He's not moving. That means he must think you're drop dead gorgeous."
A blush crossed C.C.'s face, but she didn't let the smirk that appeared on her face falter. "Aww, the warlock thinks that?"
That seemed to put Lelouch out of his stupor. "No, you look amazing. You're my model. Of course, you're going to look nothing but amazing," he coughed.
The green haired woman tilted her head, rose an eyebrow, and took a step back. "Is that so? So, individually, do you think I'm pretty? Without the fact that I'm your model in mind?" she fired at him.
Lelouch knew what she was trying to do. "I picked you out for a reason, didn't I? Not all women have the luxury of being scouted out on the street by a fashion designer."
"Huh." She let out a low chuckle. "Then, what was that frozen stupor you were in?"
"I was just surprised you could even pull that look off."
It was a bad excuse, but she was cornering him.
"Oh, you're so sad." She walked around him, and without turning around, she said, "We should start our photoshoot, shouldn't we?"
Lelouch took much offense to that. "Sad?"
"Milly, I like my nails. How much does that designer charge just for a manicure and clear coating?" C.C. asked instead, completely pretending she didn't hear Lelouch.
She was ignoring him.
"Um, Lelouch?" Shirley pulled on his black cardigan.
"What?!" he snapped, causing his assistant to jump. After realizing what he had did, he frowned. "I'm sorry, Shirley. I didn't mean to snap at you."
She shook her head, giving him a small smile instead. "Just in case you didn't notice, I don't think that's what C.C. wanted to hear."
"She's a model. Nothing else."
He already knew he was telling himself otherwise.
Shirley gave him a blank look before letting out a sigh. "If that's what you insist."
…
"These are amazing!" Marianne squealed, looking at the pictures of C.C. from the model's mock photoshoot that Lelouch had given her. "She's a natural at this!"
"She could do better," he critiqued.
"Oh, hush, Lelouch. Maybe taking her off the streets might have been a risky move, but when she's modeling this naturally… This has to make the cover of a magazine. Let's publish them."
"No, Mother!" Lelouch didn't want that. "C.C. isn't set to make her public debut until the fashion show. There's still too much for her to work on to even be considered being in a magazine."
"I'm not saying she should be the front cover, Lelouch. "Marianne rolled her eyes as she got up from her seat. "But these are worthy enough to at least be published in an online magazine. Maybe we could even give them to a small fashion magazine company to start her off. It'll give her a start."
Lelouch hated doing things that weren't on his time, and publishing a mock photoshoot in a magazine was not on his time. "No. We're not doing that."
"Please!" Marianne begged her son. "Just this once!"
"I know you, Mother. Once will turn into many more. We're not doing this and that's final."
"I'm just saying this is a lost opportunity, Lelouch. Think about it."
"What is there to think about when I said no?"
"That's the problem. You didn't think," Marianne smiled.
"Mother-" Lelouch started, but was stopped when his brown haired best friend walked in with his younger sister. "Suzaku? Euphemia?"
"Hello, Euphemia and Suzaku!" Marianne greeted the duo.
"Good evening, Marianne and Lelouch!" Euphemia greeted in a happy tone.
"You look like you aren't happy," Suzaku observed his best friend.
"He's more than likely not," another voice joined in.
"C.C."
Ignoring Lelouch, C.C. strolled up to Suzaku and Euphemia. "It's nice to formally meet you- what was it? Suzaku?"
"Yes," Suzaku smiled at the green haired woman. "And this is my wife, Euphemia Kururugi. You might know her better as Euphemia li Britannia."
C.C. gave her a small bow. "Yes, I've heard of you also. Nice to meet you, Miss li Britannia."
The pink haired woman smiled down at the other model. "Just call me, Euphemia, please. It's quite alright."
What C.C. hadn't expected was to be engulfed into a tight hug by Euphemia, who rubbed her cheek against C.C.'s. "You're so cute! I love her, Lelouch!" she squealed.
"Euphy-" Suzaku started but was cut off by Lelouch who had grabbed his hand than had reached out for his wife.
"Don't. She needs friends," Lelouch mumbled.
Suzaku let out a small chuckle. "Ah, so you care for her well being?" he questioned.
Lelouch shot a glare at his best friend before his face softened as he watched his model and younger sister. "The fashion world is a hard place to be in and she has yet to experience the difficulties that comes with it, so Euphemia is good for her. Euphemia has still kept the pure heart she has, so I think if C.C.'s with her, it's going to help," he explained.
The brown haired man nodded in understanding. If his wife could have someone to talk to more than him when she was on the go, it'd give him a break and her someone to confide in. "I think… That's a good idea," Suzaku agreed.
"Oh, you're Britannian-Chinese?!" Euphemia blurted out in surprise. "Oh, did you grow up in Britannia or China? Or-"
"Um, I grew up in Britannia until I was about thirteen before moving here to Japan," C.C. answered the pink haired woman, which Lelouch had noticed was laced with no trace of annoyance.
Much different from their first meeting.
Then again, he did suppose he bothered a random stranger trying to go on with their day.
"Is that so? I've lived here in Japan my entire life unlike my oldest sister, Cornelia, who grew up in Britannia until the time I was born. If that confuses you, my older sister is 11 years olders than me," Euphemia rambled on. "I don't think Lelouch has mentioned it, but I'm the second youngest in the family. Then, it's Carine, Rolo, Nunnally, and Laila! Though, Marybell is older than me by only a few mon-"
"Wait, how many siblings do you even have?" C.C. interrupted with a face full of confusion.
Euphemia let out a nervous laughter. "Well, I think there's 8 mistresses and wives… Mother, Marianne-"
Lelouch decided at that moment it was definitely time to intervene. One of the things that highly annoyed him was his family history and he was not looking to hear it all over again. "Alright! Enough of that! C.C. and I have some work to do, so if you'll leave Euphemia and Suzaku. You too, Mother."
From the desk, Marianne rolled her purple eyes and stood up, deciding that arguing with her son was a loss. "Fine."
As all three of his family members walked out, Euphemia called, "I'll call you, C.C.! Maybe we can go shopping one of these days!"
C.C. nodded with a small smile and Euphy turned around in giddy content.
When his family exited the room, C.C. said, "Sounds like you have lots of younger siblings close in age. Charles zi Britannia made himself quite busy."
"Please, don't remind me that bastard is the father of all of us," Lelouch growled. He balled his fist until they turned white. "He's nothing but a greedy, cheating, lying, bastard of a whore."
"Oh, I can feel the bitterness in that statement, "C.C. stated in amusement.
The fashion designer shook his head before going to take a sit at the desk his mother was originally sitting in. "Come on. We have to go over your schedule for the next month until the fashion show. My bastard of a father is the last thing I want to talk about."
"If it makes you feel better, I'm pretty sure the whole world knows Charles zi Britannia isn't shit. He's never had a good name among the public except for his company products," C.C. told him, knowing it wouldn't do much.
The deep frown on Lelouch's face turned up slightly into a tiny smile. "I know exactly why he isn't shit, though. It's the downside to him being my father."
"I would hope he's more infamous than you," C.C. smirked.
"You're asking to be fired."
…
During practice the next week, Lelouch was quite glad C.C. was getting better at her walk. She had progressed greatly in just two weeks with their constant practicing and the more mock photoshoots they did, the more natural she started to become in front the camera.
Though, the many complaints to having to wake up early, wear high heels, and how he never gave her any mercy when it came to her mistakes was constant. She almost even lost this job by purposely spilling cold coffee on his very high priced shoes one morning when she was irritated.
It was in front of his employees and she was aware that as much as he yelled at every single one of them, he wouldn't dare lose his cool in front of his employees over shoes. Instead, he slipped them off and kindly asked Shirley to bring him a new pair from his clothes closet in his office.
Why he didn't fire her on spot?
He was desperate.
At about twelve-thirty pm, Shirley entered the room with his coffee and a magazine in hand. "Lelouch." She handed him the coffee and flipped through the magazine. "I think you might want to see this."
Lelouch rose an eyebrow in interest, and hoped that it wasn't anything that would piss him off not even into the afternoon yet. Shirley shook her head and slowly handed the magazine to him. "It seems like this is your mother's doing."
"My mother-"
In his face was a picture of C.C. from her mock photoshoot; the picture where she was lying on the floor in her red dress, white heels missing, and red roses surrounding every inch of her body. A calm look rested on her face as one of her hands rested flat over her collarbone. On the page next to it was a small, one page article.
"What the hell?!" Lelouch mumbled under his breath, snatching the newspaper out of his assistant's hands and standing up from his chair in lightning speed. His outburst caused C.C. to stop in the middle of her walk and cast a worrying glance to Shirley. The orange haired woman shrugged with a sigh. "This new issue just came out today, which means mother- Ugh!"
"What is going on?" C.C. finally question, crossing her arms under her chest.
"Mrs. Lamperouge haas decided that you'd make your modeling debut in the newest issue of Zero Magazine instead of the set debut date at Shinjuku's Girl Fashion Show in a week," Shirley explained for her seething boss. "You're officially a model now, C.C. Congratulations."
C.C. looked over at her boss's seething face and smirked. "So, is this how it is when someone defie's you?" Lelouch shot her a glare. "Hmm, well, this is good news for me, don't you think?"
"The only good news is that his paper is going to be-"
"Not so fast, Lelouch," Shirley stopped him. "You also might want to see this."
She took out her tablet and showed him the long list of unopened emails. "These are all offers for C.C. to model for their products. Also, we're even still getting calls in. We've been been getting them since this morning."
"I-" Lelouch wasn't quite sure what to say. This hadn't been done on his own time, yet the photos of C.C. in only her mock photoshoot had garnered attention. He then frowned. "We can't. She isn't ready. Not yet."
"What do you mean not yet? This will give her plenty of practice while making preparing for her official debut on the runway, Lelouch. Give her this opportunity," Shirley argued.
"No, I can't. She isn't good enough."
"I might not be good enough yet," C.C. intervened, walking off the stage easily in her four inch heels," But I can take these opportunities to give me more experience. I might be your model and I might work for you, but I'm also doing this for myself. Besides, my contract has been extended to six months, has it not? You'll just ruin your image among the public more because you couldn't even keep me as a model for less than a month."
"C.C." Lelouch hissed.
"Yes?"
"God, I don't know what's stopping me from firing a witch like you."
"My dearest warlock, you know it's my good looks, and the fact that someone standing up to you turns you on," she grinned mischievously.
Lelouch choked and Shirley giggled, not being surprised in the least if that were to be true. "Cecilia!"
"Well, does it?" she continued on, batting her eyelashes innocently.
"God help me…" Lelouch muttered to him while dragging a hand down his face.
"He's hesitant, don't you see, Shirley?" C.C. said, glancing at the other woman slightly. "He just won't-"
Lelouch threw his paper down in defeat. "Fine," he grit through his teeth.
C.C. turned her attention back to him with a smirk even wider than her last. "What was that?"
"I said fine."
"Fine what?"
"You can… You can accept the offers…" Lelouch admitted in a louder voice. "But-"
C.C. rolled her eyes.
"You have to do everything up to my standards, and nothing but my standards. Anything anyone else says is invalid."
The green haired model tilted her head. "Lelouch, I don't think you can-"
"I can and I will," Lelouch interrupted her. "Anything else?"
"Hmm, I think your an ass," C.C. added for a last thought.
Lelouch could do nothing but roll his eyes at the woman he regretfully decided to make his model. "The media and my family thinks the same. Join the party."
"And that you don't deserve half of the praise you get."
"Wait, what?"
"So, let's get back to practicing then, shall we? Shirley, just send me the schedule when your finished going through the offers Lelouch wants you to accept." With that, C.C. gracefully walked back to the beginning of the stage to once against practice her walk.
"You witch! What the hell does that mean?!" Lelouch yelled after her.
"It means exactly what I said."
"Wh-"
"Do you think my walk earlier was good before Shirley came in? I think it looked almost good as yours."
"Shirley." Lelouch hissed, turning to his assistant with his right eye twitching. "We're gonna work her ass off."
The orange haired woman could only let a tired sigh escape her lips. "Oh, boy," she muttered.
Shirley had come to the conclusion that she was in for one hell of ride with her boss and his new model.
And that's it! If you all noticed, I'm quite horrible at describing things and I would give a reference for C.C.'s eye makeup, but I'm too lazy to do so lmao. I'm also sure you all have noticed that Lelouch already kinda likes C.C. (that was evident in the first chapter). He just refuses to tell himself that. Soooooo I really have nothing else to say except that I hope you all enjoyed this read.
Read and Review please!