Prompt : Hey, I have a prompt which isn't even movie related. So I'm ready to wait a long time. :D I was listening to Lorde's Love Club and it sounded so Capitol to me and as if it could be about Effie. So can you write something where Effie meets friends from her past who can't accept that she changed and likes to spend time with Haymitch? I still imagined it around Games time though. Thaaaaank you. I love your writing so much!
I couldn't make that work around Games time so you got post MJ instead… This one took forever too… It took me a while to find an idea. I hope you will like it anyway.
On another note… I kind of like this hc that Effie opens her own shop after a few years… I don't know what you think about it. I can't see her being idle and I can't see her working at the bakery forever so… It goes with my hc that she sketches clothes and that she would have become a stylist if she hadn't happened to go into modeling.
Surprise Visit
Effie was crouching under the counter when the shop bell rang and she didn't bother standing up immediately, busy as she was picking up the ribbons she had dropped and hastily placing them back in the box.
"I will be just a moment!" she called out.
No familiar voice called back for her to take her time and that made her frown. She had her customers now, mostly women from around town who weren't afraid to brave the Capitol escort to get good clothes for themselves, their husbands and their children. Not all of them were interested in being friendly but they all had their habits and everyone always at least said hello or called her name when they came in. It was a small District and she was well known.
The voices were whispering but so loud there was no point to secrecy in there.
"Do they really call this a shop? Why, I don't think there is a upper floor!"
"What sort of clothes do they sell? Look at this! No famous brand at all… What are those rags?"
"Oh, this is just… I can't wait to tell Estelle."
Effie stood up abruptly and placed the box of ribbons down on the counter, not quite being so rude as glaring at the newcomers but not particularly welcoming either.
She happened to be proud of her shop. Was it small? Certainly. Although she preferred to think about it as cozy. She didn't sell brands but her own designs and, truth be told, even though there were some beautiful dresses on display, her work nowadays was more everyday wear. There weren't so many racks. Everything she did, she did by herself and the demands weren't high enough for a big production. She took orders and she discussed what the customers wanted before putting it together.
It had started as a bit of a joke. She sketched designs – and it had taken a long time for her to show them to Haymitch and the children, never mind anyone else – Katniss had asked her for a new pair of pants one day. Some people had liked them and had asked where she had gotten them. It had started with one request or two that she had fulfilled without making anyone pay, simply happy to help the community by making practical and yet fashionable clothes for them. Then the requests had kept coming and Haymitch had declared it was ridiculous and she should make them pay for her work. It was supposed to be a hobby but it had turned into a job. One she liked just as much as her little shop painted in bright colors – it had taken Haymitch and Effie three days to paint it and he had complained all the while but after that he had gifted her with a lovely hand carved sign with her name on it for the front and she had kissed him right there, in the street, for everyone to see.
It had taken her four years in Twelve to find the courage to open the shop, she had worked mostly at home before that. It used to drive Haymitch crazy with all the people coming and going, he perceived it as an invasion of their privacy.
"Oh, Effie, there you are!" one of the women exclaimed with a tinge of too much cheer. "How lovely it is to see you again! Did you do something to your hair? And your dress! How… original."
"You have gone native." the other added lightly, a little too mocking.
They were both Capitol, that was plain to see. A couple of Capitol people had moved to Twelve in the last years, Panem wasn't as it used to be and there opportunities in Twelve. It probably still was one of the poorest District but things were better now with the factory and the reopening of the mine – under stricter safety conditions that both Twelve's officials and the government kept keen eyes on, cave-ins were still a thing but it wasn't due to deficient equipment anymore and they were all better prepared, there hadn't been any casualties so far. It was a good place to start again and take chances, open shops, start a business… It was a growing District – much to Haymitch and the children's dismay.
It took Effie a moment to place the two vaguely familiar women.
"Adelais." she said at last. "Gilda."
The names felt foreign on her tongue, the people they belonged to almost forgotten in the recesses of her memories. She hadn't spared a thought for those women in years.
And they used to be her best friends.
"We are only passing through." Adelais explained, walking closer to the counter, apparently a little put out that Effie hadn't yet stepped around it to embrace them properly. She picked up a blue ribbons from the box, made a disapproving face and dropped it back inside. "We were on our way to The Old Ruins resort, do you know the place?"
After the war people had explored Panem a little more thoroughly and had discovered ruins of old cities that had been almost completely swallowed by the ocean, not too far from Twelve and Thirteen. They had immediately claimed the place and built a resort, it attracted a lot of people.
"I have been there as a matter of fact." she smiled.
"Truly?" Gilda asked, looking up from her inspection of a rack of woolen dresses – practical for Twelve's harsh winter but still colorful and fashionable. "The prices are rather high."
"And I can afford it." she retorted, her smile becoming strain.
She had been dying of curiosity about the ruins and a resort with spa and a private beach had seemed like heaven on Earth. Haymitch had refused to go. She had dragged Annie and Johanna with her, leaving it to Peeta, Katniss and Haymitch to babysit Finn – suffice to say next time Haymitch would follow her when she asked, that lesson had been learned.
"She didn't mean it like that." Adelais hurried in tempering. "Do not be cross. Anyway, we were on our way there but the train needs some repairs and they said it would take two hours so we thought… Why not visit Effie? You have been buried in here forever, darling! No calls, no letters… Why, I was starting to think you had forgotten about us."
She almost reminded them that after the war none of her friends had wanted anything to do with her. She had been shunned from Capitol society and regarded as a traitor and barely tolerated by the rebels. Even now, her social position was still precarious. So-called journalists liked to publish papers about her now and then. Her official pardon after the rebellion was still a matter of wonder, so were her relationship with Haymitch and her decision to exile herself in Twelve.
"I am afraid I have been busy." she answered with more tact than Adelais probably deserved. She didn't think Adelais had any unkind intentions though. Gilda was another story but Adelais had always had a sweet temper.
"We can see that." Gilda commented, finally giving up her inspection of the clothes on display to join them by the counter. Her green eyes passed over Effie, dismissive. "Is your business successful?"
She forced a smile, hiding behind a mask she had never quite been able to relegate to the past. "I cannot complain."
"It is lovely." Adelais cut in cheerfully. "And so brave of you to become a shop woman. Why, Effie, I wouldn't know where to start!"
That, at least, was probably true. It wasn't just designing and putting clothes together. There were finance books to keep to date and calculations to be made. Thankfully, it wasn't so different from trying to balance empty sponsors accounts and her experience as an escort had come in handy. She hadn't had much money left after the war, everything had either be seized by the new government – pardon only extended so far and the rebels had needed money – or spent trying to cover new arising debts. She would have made a loan in a bank but Haymitch had actually purchased the building and invested money in the shop, always distrustful of banks and big organizations. Between his monthly stipends and the profits she made, money wasn't a problem they often stopped to contemplate. The investment had paid off.
"I would rather take my husband over owning a shop though." Gilda chuckled as if it was a good joke, making sure Effie had a good view of the huge ring on her finger. That was new – or maybe not so new she had been in Twelve for six years now.
"It is certainly less work." she offered with diplomacy. Although if she knew Gilda, her husband must have been a lot older, rich and probably happy to parade around with a pretty wife on his arm. She didn't envy her having to go to bed now and then with such a man.
"Well." Adelais huffed. "Not everyone can catch a good husband, Gilda."
Effie glanced at her left hand and found a sapphire there as well as a wedding ring.
"I would say it depends of your definition of good." Effie commented, distractedly closing the box full of ribbons and putting it back on the shelf behind her. "I like to think I didn't do so bad for myself on that account."
She felt their stares burning her bare hand and for a brief second she was ashamed of the lack of ring. Living with someone without being married wasn't proper – even District people were frowning about it – but after everything they had been through, she didn't need a piece of paper to prove to herself what Haymitch felt. The fact that he had let her move in and that they had been doing tolerably well since then told her everything she needed to know.
"You have no immediate plans to come back to the Capitol then?" Adelais asked and she sounded almost sincerely disappointed. "I do wish you would. I could introduce you to some friends of my husband if you would like. I am sure we would have you married before the end of the year. Wouldn't that be grand, Effie? You could have tea parties with the rest of us every week! Estelle and the old gang are still living there you know? It would be just like it used to be."
"Nothing will ever be like it used to be." The words were out of her mouth before she could tone them down or think them through.
"Isn't that the truth." Gilda snorted and it was amazing the amount of resentment the last six years hadn't been enough to erase.
"Nor should it be." she snapped.
Adelais looked sorry she had even mentioned it, her eyes darted from her to Gilda, probably sensing the building storm.
"Who are you and what did you do with Effie Trinket?" Gilda taunted, pretending to joke but really aiming to hurt. "The Effie I remember would have cut her hands off before willingly working in a shop. Never mind a place so… picturesque."
"The Effie you remember didn't know better." she retorted.
"Didn't she?" Gilda challenged, lifting her eyebrows. "Although if the rumors are true perhaps you are right. Because I cannot conceive the woman I knew having an affair with a District man never mind dabbling in treasonous plots."
"Gilda!" Adelais chided her.
"Oh, please!" Gilda huffed. "Do not act like you do not think the same thing. She always lorded over her us with her holier than thou attitude and her fancy jobs. She was famous and so she acted like a queen and now look at where it got her. Oh, I can't wait to tell Estelle and the others. I can't wait. Effie Trinket behind a counter in a dusty clothes shop, selling awful cheap clothes and not only that but wearing them. That will be a tale! How does it feel to fall from the top of the social ladder to the very bottom, Effie?"
Effie waited for the anger to appear but she felt calm. She almost pitied them. She used to be just like them, avid for a piece of gossip, eager to mock friends who had been less fortunate… That had been a long time ago though.
"It feels great, actually." she shrugged. "It certainly must feel better than having to sleep with a husband I don't love just so he will sign my next check. I wonder which one of us is at the bottom. Me, who never has to simulate an orgasm or you who whore yourself out?"
"Effie!" Adelais gasped. "How…"
"Rude? Uncivilized? Shocking?" she offered with open amusement. "Perhaps you are right and I have gone native."
"That's rich coming from you." Gilda scoffed. "I hope you are aware all Panem knows how you escaped the Purge with your life. How dare you call me a whore?"
"Most of Panem thinks I owe my life to Haymitch, yes, I am aware." she retorted. "A little scoop for you, they are not wrong. For what it is worth though, I didn't have to spread my legs for his help, he actually gave it willingly." The shop bell rang as two women entered, laughing about whatever they had been talking about. The greeting froze on their lips and they looked uncertain faced with the Capitols. Mentalities were difficult to change and strangers weren't always immediately welcomed. "If you will excuse me, I have work to do." Effie told her former friends. "Adelais, it was nice to see you again. I hope you will have a good time on your holidays."
She left them there, not caring about how rude it was, walking around the counter to greet the two customers properly. They were regulars and they were always nice. She didn't look up when Adelais and Gilda left the shop.
She felt no anger or shame. She didn't feel much of anything. It was as if ghosts of a past life had glided in and out without her managing to be truly upset about it.
Around five the bell rang once more and she didn't have to turn around from the rack she had been arranging to know who it was. She always knew. Arms wrapped around her waist, stubble rasped against her neck and a kiss was pressed under her jaw.
"You're ready to go home?" he asked.
The smell of pastries clung to his clothes and she figured he had been at the bakery. Peeta had mentioned he needed help with new shelves for the kitchen. She turned her head and captured his lips, deepening the kiss just enough to tease him.
"Or you could lock the door…" she hummed.
"Something's got you in a mood…" he snorted.
"A reminder." she explained, leaning against his chest. "A reminder that I love this life very much."
"'Cause you forgot?" He rebuked her by nipping the tender flesh of her neck. "Maybe I should remind you, sweetheart…"
"As long as you lock the door…" she laughed. "I had enough surprise visits for today."