Chapter 11-
The luxury satomobile headed back into the city and towards the base of the mountains. Shinju and Asami went through downtown, past city hall, the park, and Central City Station. The apartments disappeared and the streets started to become lined with mansions in their place but after driving a little farther, even the mansions disappeared and the Sato estate came into view.
To call it a mansion was an understatement. Shinju categorized it as a palace. It was built on many levels and seemed to climb up with the mountain. The satomobile entered through a secured gate but it still took them 2 minutes to reach the front entrance.
Once inside, Shinju continued to be awestruck by the grand staircase. It filled the entire room and was engraved in gold with detailed decorations on the sides. There was so much to take it was overwhelming. A butler suddenly startled Shinju because she didn't notice him from being so deeply hypnotized, "May I take your things, madam?"
Shinju didn't know what he wanted with a dress, but her kneejerk reaction was to give it to him anyways, "Oh, thank you sir!"
"Now I would give you a grand tour of the place, but seeing as we're short on time, I'll just show you to a shower room were you can wash up," Asami led Shinju up the stairs to the second floor and to the left, down a hallway. She opened a door to a room twice the size of Shinju and Zina's dorm rooms combined with a tall window on the farthest wall and a large shower in the opposite corner, "I'm going to wash up in my bathroom so ask a butler to take you to my room when you're done and we'll work on makeup."
"Sounds good! Thank you again, Asami," Shinju gave a gentle bow.
"No problem! Okay, I'll see you soon."
Shinju couldn't stop wasting time by staring at everything around her but she had to kick herself and remember they were crunched for time. She started running the shower and then stripped down completely. It felt so good to be bathing in hot water because usually when Shinju took a shower in the dorms, all the warm water was already used up.
She was then distracted by all of the different shampoos and soaps that lined the wall of the shower and couldn't completely tell which ones were for men and which were for women. Shinju just decided to go with anything in a pink container because that probably meant that product was for women.
Her shower ended up finishing quickly because she was so excited about the night's events. Shinju got out of the shower and reached for the towel and looked where she had left her clothes but they weren't there. Instead was white robe with the Future Industries logo embroidered on it and a pair of red, silk slippers. It felt awkward to walk around a strange mansion wearing nothing but a robe and it was an experience Shinju couldn't say she had had before until now.
A butler was waiting at attention right outside the door and gave Shinju a bow as she exited the bathroom, "Follow me, miss."
The butler took her up to the third floor and towards the back of the mansion to Asami's bedroom. Shinju noticed her door was larger and stood out compared to the others in the hallway as the butler knocked, "Miss Sato, Miss Shinju is ready for you."
"Come on in!" Asami's voice came muffled through the thick door. The butler opened the door and Shinju had realized a new level of lavishness and luxury. The ceiling reached higher than her eye could see and vanished into darkness. The panoramic view of the mountains from the towering windows put the sight from Shinju's dorm room to shame. A large bed with a veil canopy hanging above it sat in the corner and soaring bookcases lined the walls, filled with what seemed like every book known to man.
Asami was sitting in front of a mirror brushing her hair when they came in but got up to meet them when they entered, "Thank you, Devadas!"
"My pleasure, Miss Sato," Devadas then left the room.
"So, Shinju, I picked out some makeup that will look amazing on you with your gown," Asami lead Shinju over to the mirror where palettes of blush and eye shadow and lip color in greens, blues, whites as well as natural tones. They were next to a larger set with every hue imaginable.
Shinju could only imagine how her sister would react if she was in the situation she was in of being surrounded by such indulgence. Asami actually reminded Shinju a lot of her sister, being a girly girl but also staying grounded and down to earth. That probably wasn't as hard for Intan though because they didn't live in as much luxury and because she was an earthbender but Asami sill didn't seem to let all the money she had control her.
Shinju tied her hair back so that it wouldn't get in Asami's way while she was putting on the makeup. She took a brush for the skin toned blush and went to apply it on Shinju's face until she was stopped by the notice of her scar across her nose. Asami was nervous she would offend Shinju by asking but she felt the need to, "Is it safe for me to put makeup over this? I don't want to infect it."
"Oh… no, it's actually really old. It should be fine," Shinju lied and tried not to flinch from the stinging as Asami continued to brush over the scar. Once she was done with the base coat of makeup, Asami added a light pink on Shinju's cheeks for blush, a white below a blended blue and green on her eyelids, and a dark red for the lips.
Shinju looked at her reflection in the mirror when she was done and was very pleased with what she saw. It made her wonder if maybe she should try and put makeup on a little more often.
"Alright, we have fifteen minutes till Mako and Bolin get here. Your dress is in my bathroom so put it on quickly," Asami's bathroom was almost as extravagant as her room but it didn't surprise Shinju all that much anymore. Her dress was hanging on a hook on the wall and looked like it had been steamed to take out any wrinkles it may have had.
Shinju always loved and treasured the dresses that her mother had made for her, but it was close to impossible not to feel like royalty in this gown. Asami had done such a wonderful job with her makeup that it fine-tuned her appearance flawlessly. Shinju felt beautiful.
"Shinju, are you ready yet?" Asami's voice broke her hypnosis on herself.
"Uh… yeh, just one second." Shinju took her hair tie on her wrist and put her brown hair half way up like she usually had it. She walked out of the bathroom and saw what Asami was wearing. Her gown was a deep red with a similar shape to Shinju's and a large gold pendant for a necklace. It made Shinju feel a little bare without any jewelry, "Asami, you look amazing!"
"Why thank you. I've already seen you before in your dress, but you look even more stunning with your makeup. Sorry I couldn't cover up the scar though."
"Oh, it's okay. I don't even notice it half the time anymore. Your pendant is beautiful too!"
"Oh… thank you," Asami's face seemed to drop, "It was my mother's. She passed away when I was young."
Shinju felt bad but couldn't believe she had met yet another person who had lost a parent," I'm sorry. I lost my father last year."
"Oh no! I'm so sorry."
"It's okay."
A bit of an awkward silence fell between the two girls until the butler, Devadas interrupted through the door, "Miss Sato, Masters Mako and Bolin have arrived."
"Oh, great! We're coming right now," Asami snapped out of her frown, "Well no sense frowning now. Our parents would want us to enjoy tonight, right?"
"Right," Shinju broke into a smile as well.
The girls headed back to the main staircase and down three floors to the main entrance. Mako and Bolin were standing there just as or even more dumbfounded as Shinju had been earlier by the extravagance. Both were wearing a very formal and handsome black suite. To highlight their element, Mako was still wearing his usual red scarf and Bolin wore a dark sage green vest underneath that Shinju's dress certainly matched with.
The boys' attention was then shifted from the architecture to the sight that was making its way down the stairs. They held their bewildered expressions as Asami and Shinju came down to meet them. Mako was able to break out of his trance, "Wow you both look stunning."
"Why thank you," Asami walked over to Mako and took his arm to hold as he offered it to her.
Bolin was usually very smooth and calm around girls, but he couldn't help but blush furiously as Shinju came closer to him. She couldn't say she had any less butterflies in her stomach either, "You look very dapper in your new suit, Bolin."
"You do too... No! I didn't mean you look dapper…," once Bolin started stumbling over his words, he couldn't stop, "No! Wait! I didn't mean you don't look dapper… I didn't mean you look like a boy! You look like a girl! A very, very dapper girl… wait, what's the girl word for dapper again?"
"You mean pretty, Bro," Mako couldn't stand to see his brother struggle any longer.
"Right! Pretty! But more than pretty… beautiful," Shinju was now really blushing, her cheeks were hot. Bolin then suddenly remembered and went into his pocket to search for something and came up with the blue-stone necklace that he made earlier, "It's not a diamond, but I thought it was it was really pretty and that you might like it 'cause it's blue and you're a waterbender and all.
Shinju couldn't believe her eyes, "These are the same kind of stones in the rivers and streams back home in Anshon!"
"Really? I found it in the bay outside the arena."
"I wonder how it traveled all the way here?"
"All on its own after many years by flowing with the river out to the ocean and then eventually washing up in Yue Bay," Asami explained the most plausible journey.
"Wow. Thank you, Bolin. It certainly means more than a diamond," Shinju held her hair up as Bolin put it on for her.
"Alright, now I wish we had more time, but we have to leave to pick up my father at the factory and then get to gala. Let's go everyone," Asami led the way with Mako still glued to her side out to an even more luxurious satomobile than the one they had driven in earlier that afternoon. They all piled inside with still plenty room to spare.
So over the past month, I got a summer internship/job which takes up most of my free time and I know that's no excuse but also I was going to make this like one big 10 page chapter but then I decided I should just cut it in half to what I already have to finally update. So I hope I still have some readers out there and most of all I hope you enjoy! =]
