Once again, thank you again for your reviews! Here's chapter 9! I hope you like it!
Disclaimer: I don't own Repo! The Genetic Opera.
Chapter 9
Shilo shifted nervously in her seat in the car. Jillian had just picked her up and they were now on their way to the opera house for the press conference. Jillian noticed as Shilo twiddled her thumbs and the worried look in her eyes. 'She's a pretty nervous kid." she thought to herself. 'I can't say that I blame her though.' Jillian tried to think of something comfort Shilo.
"You don't have to be so nervous, Shilo." she finally said. "It's going to be okay." 'Okay that was lame.' she thought to herself.
"I'm not nervous." lied Shilo "I'm perfectly fine."
"You've been shifting around in your seat and playing with your nails ever since I picked you up from your house." noted Jillian.
Shilo averted her eyes away, embaressed. "I just don't like being the center of attention." she admitted. Those paparazzi people don't ever stop. It took me forever to get away from them last year at the opera. They just keep asking and asking all of these questions all at once and kept flashing their camera's at me."
"Believe me, the press can be overwhelming. Even the Largo's don't like dealing with them. Luigi says that they're all a bunch of vultures."
"Oh, really? I would have thought that Amber would love all the attention."
"Well she does but only if it'll ultimately make her look good. Secretly I think she's afraid of the press will air more of her dirty laundry."
"As if they don't have enough already."
"Very true."
"What about Pavi?"
"What about him?"
"Does he like media coverage?"
Jillian shrugged. "I guess." 'I wonder what the media what think if they knew what he was doing to their precious singer.' she silently thought to herself. "Anyways, the paparazzi won't be a burden if you know to handle them. I'll give you some pointers."
They arrived at the opera house within 10 minutes and were lead straight to the dressing room for make-up and wardrobe. If Amber was going to present this girl to the public, she would make sure that Shilo would look fabulous. As she and her brothers stalled the media, a group of genterns struggled to make over Shilo. She winced and turned as they attempted to apply false eyelashes. "Ouch" she said as one of the eyelashes fell and poked her.
"Please, try and hold still." said Dena, the head gentern as she attempted to re-glue the false lashes.
"Honestly, Dena, if you insist on putting falsies on her don't you think they should be a little less exaggerated?" said Jillian who was already finished with her own make-up.
"Fine." Dena said. She held out her and hand and signaled her assistant genterns. The blonde one, Kirsten, handed Dena another pair of false eyelashes except they were much shorter than the previous ones. Shilo relaxed a bit more and allowed Dena to apply mascara. Meanwhile the other gentern, Erica was putting extentions in Shilo's hair making it only a couple inches longer. Finally they finished and allowed Shilo to rise from her seat and handed her the dress Amber selected her to wear. Shilo went behind the curtain to change. When she came back out, Jillian smiled.
You look so pretty, Shilo." she said. It was true, the silk spaghetti-strapped dress with the silver cherry blossom branch design at the side brought out Shilo's figure nicely. The extentions also added a slight curl to her hair.
"Thanks." said, Shilo, smiling bashfully as she pulled on her thin neck choker.
"So, ready to go?" asked Jillian.
"As ready as I'll ever be."
"I'll be right there behind you." Jillian reassured. "Don't worry."
"I'll try." said Shilo. Jillian nodded and began to escort Shilo out to the front and cued the genterns to inform Amber that they were coming.
"Miss Sweet! Please tell us what your surprise is! The folks at home are dying to know!" said a representative from FACE magazine.
"Of course! Thank you for all your questions! Now, the moment you have all been waiting for! Last year, this young woman managed to capture quite a few hearts at the last opera. Then suddenly without warning, she seemed to vanish into thin air. Now, a year later my dear brothers and I have found this girl and helped her rise from the ashes. Please, help me in welcoming, Shilo Wallace!"
When Shilo appered through the curtain arm-in arm with Jillian, the crowd went wild. The crowd of reporters quickly pushed closer and held up their microphones and notebooks and began to bombard Shilo with questions.
"People, people. Please, give Miss Wallace some air." said Amber, flashing a toothy smile at them and placed her arm around Shilo. "She'll be more than happy to answer all of your questions." She lead Shilo to the podium and Shilo tried her best to smile as she looked to the crowd. They stared back at her and gazed with anticipation.
"Um, hello. Thank you for being here." she began. "And thank you to Miss Sweet and the entire Largo family for having me here. Last year, after the loss of my father, I had nowhere to turn to. I was alone and a bit frightened...but thanks to the Largos, I was able to get back on feet and emerge from the shadows. They have my gratitude." lied Shilo, trying her best to sound convincing.
The audience roared in applause and Amber smiled, pretending to be modest while Luigi just nodded and looked at his watch and Pavi continued to smile and flirt with the genterns. Shilo turned her head and looked at Jillian who smiled and urged her on. "You're doing fine." she mouthed. Shilo gulped and looked back to the audience.
"Miss Wallace! Where were you hiding all this time?" asked the FACE representative.
"Well, I was wandering around the city for a while, trying to find a job...but no one would hire me because of my age. Eventually I was able to to find one that barely paid minimum wage. Not nearly enough for a place of my own. I had to live on the streets for a while, trying to get by." The crowd looked on with curiousity. They seemed to be believing her story. "One day I was attacked by a group of zydrate addicts, who were clearly high. They attempted to rob me when the Largos happened to be driving by and stopped the junkies with their own hands."
"Miss Wallace where did this attack take place? What is near Crucifixus? That place is known to be the usual junkie hang out." asked a reporter
"No, it wasn't near there. I can't quite recall the street name. It was a bit deeper into the city. A place that should be avoided."
"Can you tell us what job you obtained get by? The name of your employer?"
"I'm sorry, but I would prefer not to talk about it."
"Miss Sweet, a question for you? What were and your brothers doing in such a sketchy part of the city?"
"What an excellent question. Shilo, would you care to explain?"
"Yes, well,..It was a part of Miss Sweet's Zydrate Support Network. She does her best to try and reach out to all her citizens."
Jillian smirked. 'Nice save, Shilo.' she thought.
"Miss Wallace would you care to comment on the events that occured at last year's opera?"
"I'm sorry but I have no comment on that night. Most of it is a blur to be honest."
"Miss Rosette? A question for you? You arrived here with Miss Wallace, can you tell us why?"
Jillian walked up the podium and stood next to Shilo. "Thank you for your question, well you see when Amber introduced me to Shilo, I knew she had potentional. So I suggested that she should offer her a job at GeneCo. Originally I had planned to make her my personal assistant however, I've decided to give her a job that more suits her. I'm proud to announce that I've decided to make Shilo my assistant songwriter."
The audience clapped, congratulating Shilo. Shilo was just as surprised as everyone else. Jillian never shared this idea with her, not that she opposed to it. She wondered how Amber would react. Sure enough Amber looked just as surprised but maintained her smile, trying not to show her irritation.
"Thank you to Ana for her fantastic news." said Amber. "Now, I too have an announcement to make of my own. GeneCo will be holding a fabulous charity ball in honor of Miss Wallace which will include a very special performance from Miss Rosette."
Once again the crowd cheered and reporters jotted down their notes. Amber turned to Jillian and gave her a look as if to say. "Two can play at that game."
"Wonderful! When will this fabulous event take place, if we may ask, Miss Sweet?" asked an excited reporter.
"The ball will take place a week from today. Tickets will be available tomorrow. All funds will go to the Zydrate Support Network of course. Once again, on behalf of GeneCo we would like to thank you all for being here today. That includes today's press conference. Any final word, Shilo?" said Amber, addressing her by name for the first time.
"Um, I would just like to say thank you again to the Largos and to Ana. I look foward to working with her." The audience gave one final applause as Amber grabbed Shilo's left hand and Jillian grabbed her right hand. The three young women took a bow and smiled and they retreated back inside the opera house, followed by Luigi and Pavi. A voice came from out the intercom and told the audience to exit in an orderly fashion and to look out for the new "Zydrate Juice" advertisement.
Once inside, Amber addressed Shilo and Jillian. "Nice work, ladies. You handled that better than I expected." she said, directing the statement at Shilo.
"Um, thanks." said Shilo, skeptical of Amber's sudden change in demeanor.
"That was quite a cute little stunt you added in there, Ana." she said, her expression still seemingly friendly with a dangerous undertone.
"So you aren't mad?" asked Jillian
"Not at all. You gave us the oppurtunity to raise more money for GeneCo and ultimately made more work for yourself. I expect that you'll be able to write new material by next week?"
"I'm sure it'll be no problem for my new partner and I." smirked Jillian she said, placing her arm around Shilo. "We can handle it can't we, Shilo?"
Shilo nodded, not knowing what else to say.
"We'll just see about that. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to head back to my office. I have a lot of paperwork to do. You girls can go home and start working. I'll call you later and inform when I expect you back at GeneCo headquarters will your set of songs so you can begin rehearsing." Amber turned on her heels and her bodyguards followed. She then turned her head and addressed Shilo. "Oh, and tell Graverobber thank you for all his hard work. As a reward tell him that he's to get double order of zydrate by later tonight. That's all."
Jillian rolled her eyes and Shilo felt sympathy for Graverobber and anger towards Amber. Luigi yelled at his latest assistant that his coffee didn't taste right and held up his knife saying that if he didn't make it right next time that he would kill him for sure. Pavi just continued to check out both Jillian and Shilo as the genterns hand their hands all over him.
"Are you two coming or what?" yelled Amber.
"Yeah, yeah. Don't get your panties in a wad!" Luigi yelled back. He took a sip of his new coffee cup, satisfied. "That's more like it. Looks like you've lived to see another day." he said to his assistant. "Pavi! Quit fucking around and lets go!"
"I'm sorry, ladies, it seems that my brother is jealous of all the attention that the Pavi is recieving from you." Pavi broke away from the genterns and they whined. Jillian held back from gagging. What did those airheads see in him, she wondered. "Buon vioge, for now mi bellas." he said as he left to join his brother and sister, but not before he turned to Jillian and Shilo. "I look foward to hearing what beautiful music you two bellas have in store. Hope to see you soon." he said, looking directly at Jillian with a Chesire cat smile.
Shilo watched curiously as she watched the masked man leave to join his brother and sister. She turned and looked at Jillian. "What was that all about?"
"What do you mean?" Jillian replied, pretending to be oblivious.
"He sure seems to like you. Pavi, I mean." Shilo observed.
"He likes all women in general." stated Jillian. She then attempted to change the subject. "Anyhow, what do you say we head back to your house and start working?"
"Sure but, just out of curiousity, why did you decide to name me your co-songwriter? I mean your original plan was to make me your assistant right?"
"Yes, but that was just a quick idea to keep Amber occupied. I never really wanted an assistant anyhow, at least not one that I would bark orders at. I thought it would be something fun for the both of us. Or do you not want to do this? If not I could always-"
"No, no! It isn't that. I appreciate you giving me this job but why me? I don't know much about music, not professionally anyway."
Jillian shrugged. "I noticed that you had a piano in your room and assumed you were musically inclined at least a little. I could teach you and since you're such a fan of Blind Mag I figured you had good taste." Jillian smiled.
Shilo returned the smile. "Well, I do play piano. I mean, I haven't in a while obviously but I'm sure I could manage. And I'd be happy if you taught me."
"Good, then its settled. This will be a good experience, I can tell. I'm not sure exactly why but I see a world of promise in you, Shilo."
"What? What did you say?"
"Nothing, just that I have a good feeling about this."
"No, I mean after that. You said that...you saw...a world of promise. That sounds...familiar. Like, I've it somewhere before."
"Oh. It's just something my mother used to say to me. It always encouraged me when she said it so I thought it may do the same for you."
"Oh." Shilo repeated the words in her head over and over. She couldn't quite put her finger on it but she knew she had heard the expression somewhere before.
"Anyways, shall we go then? Utilize that piano of yours?"
"Yeah, sure."
Jillian nodded and began to walk back in the direction where the car was waiting. Shilo watched as the other girl walked with her head up. There was something oddly familiar in her movements as well. Graceful yet focused, as if she were concentrating on something. She wondered what it was. Alas, Shilo decided to shrug it off and began walking off after her, excited both to see Graverobber again and be able to create some music while she was at it.
Meanwhile, the three Largos watched as the two young girls stepped into the other car and drove off. Luigi looked with mere indifference and slight irritation while Amber and Pavi's gazes were more focused; although the thoughts in there in head were completely different. Pavi was merely thinking of when he could get some alone time with his "bella" again, while Amber smiled and thought it was time she reminded Jillian of who she was dealing with. She hated the girl's defiance so. It reminded her of her mother who she had despised. Yes, Amber decided that she would call the girl into her office later and teach her lesson. This was going to be fun.
So what do you think? Like it? Hate it? Please review and let me know! And look out for next chapter because I promise there will be a lot that will happen!