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Roses and Thorns

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An eighteen year old girl with brilliantly colored bronze hair smiled as she looked at a camera. Behind her was the ocean, at a spot specifically picked out by the girl’s manager. She herself was dressed in a bathing suit, and currently doing modeling work for the people she worked for.

“Okay, lean forward and act like you’re examining a crab or something.” Somebody said. The girl nodded and complied. After a few seconds, there was the sharp CLICK! of a picture being taken. The cameraman had gotten slightly distracted. “And that’s all for today, so we can all go home early.” The same person said. “Good work, as usual, Ms. Helio.” He added gravely.

“Thanks, boss!” the girl replied cheerfully. A few grins appeared on the other men’s faces. The girl was married, and they all knew it, but she certainly hadn’t lost any of her energy in the two years she had worked for them.

“Mmm…” the girl’s manager replied. He was the same age as her, and the fact that he was currently in a managing position at a major company like Darian Outfitters was a major testament to the ruthless and efficient way he ran things. Darian Outfitters was known for two things; extremely high quality goods and gorgeous models, not in that order. Their monthly magazine certainly wasn’t sold just because of the clothes, swimwear, and other clothing items shown inside.

Arianna Helio, eighteen years old, was currently the leading model for Darian Outfitters, for the obvious reasons. She enjoyed working with her manager, James Aquarius, mostly because he wasn’t perverted and he insisted on taking pictures with real backgrounds; he had never used a fake background. When they needed swimwear photos, he went to the beach. When they were doing the hiking segment around summer, they headed to a mountain forest. Nobody complained; it did look better, and was much more fun then staying inside a studio.

The entire group headed into the large van they used as a transport, and soon the cameraman was in the drivers seat and bringing them back to the studio. A few other models, as well as more cameramen, were back with Arianna and James. The former was talking animatedly, the latter was instead typing up a report.

“Do you ever take a break?” somebody asked. “Seriously, Mr. Aquarius, you’ve never even taken so much as a sick day!”

“Why should a mild cold prevent me from doing my job? You people should know that we run a very tight schedule more then anybody else.” James replied, calmly continuing to type. Arianna, who had put on a shirt and some jeans before they got back into the vehicle, looked over to him.

“Say, um… Boss, what would you want your wife to give you for your wedding’s anniversary?” Arianna asked curiously. Everybody else suddenly stopped talking, wanting to know how their stone-cold manager would reply.

“First of all, I don’t intend to get married.” He said. There were a few groans. “But if I actually have to make a choice to stop you from bugging me about it… I’d prefer something practical far more then food or whatever. A PDA, maybe, or a new laptop. Something that actually means something, rather then just flowers or whatever.”

“Roses.” Somebody said.

“They’re still flowers.” The group’s manager replied, continuing to type. “And for your husband, Ms. Helio, I would recommend a kiss, a nice dinner, and something else you’ll have to come up with yourself. I believe he likes that sort of thing.”

Arianna nodded. Her husband and manager had only met once or twice, she couldn’t remember which, but it had almost scared her how easily her manager had understood her husband. He had the creepy talent of understanding people just by looking at them. It was nothing magic, but it certainly was creepy when he looked at you, told you what you wanted and where to find it, and was right. And not just once, but over and over.

The van rumbled onwards, bringing everybody back to the studio about four hours before it usually did. After saying goodbyes, everybody was dismissed for the rest of the day. Arianna quickly hopped into her car and began to back out of her parking space.

“A nice dinner, huh?” the girl said thoughtfully. “Yeah, he really would like that. Won’t be too hard to arrange, either.” She smiled as she drove away from the studio, glad her husband wouldn’t get home for about two hours after she did.

As soon as she got home, Arianna got to work, preparing everything. A few phone calls and her Credit Card number got her everything she needed, and soon it was all set up. The girl headed up to her room to shower and change into a suitable outfit, smiling happily the whole time.

Right at six o’ clock, the front door opened, and a handsome man walked in.

“She should be home in about an hour…” he muttered, flicking on the light switch. He froze as he was Arianna standing in front of him. “Uh…” he said, his eyes slowly moving downward.

“Welcome home!” Arianna said, wrapping her arms around his neck as she kissed him. “We got out early today.”

“I can tell.” Her husband replied. “I mean… Wow, Arianna… That outfit…”

“Like it?” Arianna purred. Her husband gulped and nodded. “Hee hee hee… I thought you would.” She giggled and grabbed her husband’s hand. “Now come on, I have something planned.” Before her husband could protest, Arianna dragged him outside, and brought him over to their chauffeur and limo. They could certainly afford such things; both of them were obscenely rich.

Several minutes later, they were being driven off to a place Arianna refused to name.

“Heh… I was going to set up something like this myself, but…” Arianna’s husband said. “Well, I suppose I can’t object to this.”

“Silly Ralph.” Arianna replied. “You do things for me all the time, so it’s time for me to return the favor.” She smiled happily. “Heh heh heh.”

“Oh, no…” Ralph groaned. “You didn’t…”

“Yup.” Arianna replied. Ralph sighed as the limo rolled to a stop outside of a massive restaurant. “Booked the whole thing!”

“That is so you.” Ralph replied. The two stepped out of the car and walked into the restaurant, where they were met by the entire staff, all of whom were bowing. “…Okay, what did you do?”

“Nothing.” Arianna replied. “I just sort of… Um… Said I’d recommend them.” Her husband blinked, then thought carefully.

“Considering how many fanboys you have, I wouldn’t be surprised that they thought that was a good trade.” Ralph said, nodding. “Not bad.” Arianna grinned as the two were seated by the fireplace. The staff kept discreetly out of sight, except for the two’s waitress, who would come by every fifteen minutes or so to see if they were done, wanted anything else, or both.

The meal was delicious, filling, and exactly what Ralph had been craving. His wife knew him very well by now. Or, at least, she knew his stomach.

“You know… The quickest way to a man’s heart is his stomach.” Ralph said, smiling. Arianna lightly bonked him on the head.

“I know.” The girl replied goofily. They continued to eat, enjoying the lavish meal that had been prepared for them. Arianna took satisfaction in knowing that it wasn’t costing either of them a cent.

Later that night, once the two had eaten the meal and gone home, Arianna quietly turned over and looked at her husband. They were lying on their massive bed.

“…Thanks.” Arianna said, kissing her husband on the cheek. “For putting up with me for a whole ‘nother year.”

“Believe me, it wasn’t hard.” Her husband replied, chuckling softly. “Wasn’t hard at all…” He wrapped his arms around his wife, and slowly the two drifted off to sleep. Just before she fell asleep, however, Arianna’s eyes noticed the faint mark of lipstick on his shirt. She didn’t pay much attention to it, since it wasn’t anything of importance.

The next morning, the girl had woken up fairly early, in order to be at the studio for another set of pictures. Or, rather, to get wherever they were going to take the pictures.

“I’m here!” the girl said cheerfully as she walked in the doors. A few of the other models, her friends, came over.

“Have a good night?” one of them asked, smiling knowingly.

“Yeah! We had a nice dinner, then we watched a movie, and then we went to sleep!” the girl replied. Somebody raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“You’re forgetting something.” One of the other models said. “Come on, out with it.”

“…Out with what? That’s all we did.” Arianna replied, confused. Somebody sighed. “…Oh! That’s what you meant! No, no, no, he was pretty tired. Had a hard day’s work, after all.” The girl said, laughing. “Come on, where’s the boss?”

“Right behind you.” James’ voice replied. Arianna let out a small scream and stumbled forward.

“Don’t do that!” the girl said, breathing heavily. “You scared me!”

“…I’d been waiting for you to move aside for twenty seconds.” Her boss replied, rolling his eyes. “The good news for everybody is that we don’t actually need to do shootings today; we got it all done yesterday. The bad news is that we have to stay here anyways.” He calmly walked past Arianna, heading for the gym area of the studio.

“Hey, isn’t all that stuff just props?” somebody asked. James shrugged.

“Of course not. Getting the real thing wasn’t hard, and the smarter people actually use them now and then.” He replied. With that, he headed into the room to begin a workout.

“Geez… I swear, he has more energy then you, Ari, he just doesn’t show it.” Arianna’s best friend, Sara, replied.

“You’re his sister, right?” Arianna asked.

“Half sister.” Sara corrected. “Same father, different mothers.” Arianna nodded.

“So… Okay, two questions. First, why do you think he has more energy then I do?” Arianna asked the green haired girl. Sara smiled.

“No matter how much work he does, he’s still giving out the same quality of work. That’s why I think he has a whole lot more energy then you do. I’ve seen him run a mile, do a workout, run another mile, and come ask me for a sandwich.” She explained. Arianna stared at Sara. “Yeah, I know, it’s crazy. What was your second question?”

“What do you think of making sexy poses in a swimsuit right in front of your own brother?” Arianna asked, unable to resist.

“Half brother.” Sara corrected. “I don’t really mind. I know he’s not perverted; he looks at us with an analytical eye more then anything else. And I know I can trust him to give me an honest response when I ask him how I look and stuff… I guess I’d rather have him be my boss then somebody like Mr. Dobelia over there.” The girl said, pointing to the group boss that everybody in the company knew was a pervert in a class of his own.

“True…” Arianna said, shivering. “He’s creepy. I mean, honestly, the way he looks at us… Glad I’m not working under him.” The girl discreetly moved into an adjacent corridor, out of Mr. Dobelia’s sight. Sara followed.

“My turn to ask questions. If you weren’t married, would you date our boss?” Sara asked. Arianna choked, thumped her chest several times, and took a series of deep breaths.

“W-why would I do something like that?” the girl asked. “I mean, sure, he’s nice and all, but I just don’t think that’d be right.” She looked at Sara suspiciously. “But if you’re asking me that… If you weren’t related to him, would you date him?”

“Absolutely! Assuming I could get him to come with me anywhere, of course.” Sara promptly replied. “As it is, every now and then I drag him to a movie or something, because he needs to have fun once in awhile.” Arianna laughed. There was a beeping noise, then the loudspeakers came on.

“Attention, all staff. The following people are required to stay at this studio until three o’ clock today for a special shooting. The rest may go home.” It said. What followed was a long list of people, one that Arianna, Sara, and James were not on.

“Okay… I guess we can go home, then.” Arianna said, smiling. “But first… Shopping!”

“Yeah!” Sara agreed. She grabbed Arianna’s arm, and began tugging her away.

Around noon, Arianna returned to her house, carrying two large bags of clothing.

“Hee hee hee… Ralph’s mind is gonna go into shock when he sees me in these.” The girl giggled. She set the bags on the couch, then began walking upstairs. She crept towards her bedroom, but paused when she heard some unusual noises emanating from it. “What…” the girl whispered.

“Mmm… Are you sure she won’t be home early?” a female voice asked.

“Oh, yes, I’m sure.” Ralph’s voice replied. “Arianna told me she has a photo shoot today, so she probably won’t be back until five.” The woman giggled. Pale, Arianna cracked open the door, and found two people on her bed. One was her husband, the other was a woman Arianna had never seen. While under the sheets, neither was wearing any clothes.

Thump!

“What was that?” Ralph asked, getting up. Arianna slowly backed up, then turned around and ran downstairs. Having grabbed a towel to put around himself, Ralph followed. “Who… A-arianna, wait!”

“No!” the girl replied, running outside. She headed to her car as quickly as she could, locking the doors before Ralph could get in.

“Wait… This is a misunderstanding!” Ralph pleaded. Arianna glared at him.

“You were in my bed with somebody else. What’s there to misunderstand?” the girl asked, tears flowing down her cheeks. She backed out of the driveway, and headed out onto the street. Once she was a good ways from the house, the girl fumbled for her phone, and speed-dialed the first person that came to mind who can help.

“Hey, Arianna!” Sara said cheerfully, having Caller ID.

“Sara…” Arianna croaked.

“Ari? What’s wrong?” Sara asked, noting Arianna’s tone. “What happened?”

“I…I need someplace to go.” Arianna burst out. “Can I drive over to your house? Please! Ralph—“

“Get over here.” Sara said firmly. She hung up, and Arianna continued driving.

Several minutes later, Arianna pulled into the driveway of a massive mansion, one even bigger then hers. Stumbling out of the car, she ran towards the door. Sara opened it before she got close, and ran over to her.

“Arianna, take a deep breath and tell me what happened.” The girl said, holding Arianna’s shoulders. Arianna complied for the first part, taking quite a few deep breaths.

“Ralph…” the girl said. “He was in bed… With somebody else…”

“He was what?” Sara hissed. “That slimy, no-good, two-timing—“ she broke off. “Come on, let’s get you inside.” She helped Arianna up, and brought her inside. “Okay, sit down. Do you want me to go over there and pummel him?” Sara asked, seating Arianna on a couch.

“No…” Arianna whispered. “I… I just…” she broke off, hearing footsteps come down the stairs. She turned to look, and saw her boss coming down the stairs, toweling his hair to dry it. The first thing she noticed, however, was that he had no shirt on.

“Is this a bad time?” he asked, pausing as he saw Arianna. The girl shook her head. Shrugging, the boy walked down the stairs and leaned against the wall, putting the towel around his neck so it would cover most of his chest. Sara explained what had happened. “I see…” the boy said quietly. “No wonder she’s so upset, even more so then would be normal.”

“What?” Sara asked, confused.

“Arianna is widely regarded as the single hottest woman alive.” James explained. “Or, at least, she was as of nine-thirty this morning, when they got the results from the latest poll. So, obviously, the fact that her husband is cheating on her is like an insult, saying that even with her great personality, impressive body, and everything else, she’s still not good enough.” He shrugged. “No surprise she’s upset, really.”

“But still…” Sara said quietly. “How could that… that… man do this to her!?” she hugged Arianna tightly. “I’m going to get him for doing this to you, just you wait. Nobody messes with my best friend and gets away with it.” James pulled out a phone, pressed two buttons, and handed it to his half sister. The girl noted, unsurprised, that it was dialing Arianna’s house.

“Ralph Helio speaking.” A slightly breathless voice said.

“Hello, Ralph. It’s me, Sara, Arianna’s best friend.” Sara said sweetly. “I’d just like to let you know that you are among the worst scum to ever exist for what you did to her, and that you’ll probably be getting several thousand calls, and more e-mails, because I’m heading right to the media after this call.” She was cheerful the whole time.

“W-wait! Let me talk to her and explain!” Ralph begged. “You don’t understand!”

“What’s there not to understand?” Sara hissed. “You’re cheating on my best friend. What about her isn’t good enough for you? She’s nice, her body’s great, she’s got all sorts of useful skills, and she’s funny when jerks aren’t doing rotten things to her.” Ralph was silent for a long moment.

“Tell him…” Arianna said. “Tell him to get out of my house. I never want to see his rotten face again.” Sara nodded, and relayed the message. She then hung up. “But… What am I going to do now? I can’t show my face at the Studio again…”

“Says who?” James asked, snorting. “I think almost everyone will be taking your side. He’s the scum, after all.” He thought for several moments, then headed towards the stairs. “Sara, don’t tell the media; I think I know something better to do.”

“But where are you going?” Sara asked, looking slightly hurt.

“…I’ve got a message to send.” James replied. Leaving the girls to ponder on what it was about, he headed up into his computer lab, booted up his computer, and used a phone mounted on the wall to call somebody. “Mmm… Yeah, Noga? Yeah, it’s me, James. …Mm-hmm. …Oh, the usual. Hey, are you still an Admin on that Celebrity Chat Forum that all the fans visit? …Nice. I need a favor, and I know you’ll find this interesting…” He talked to Noga for several more minutes, then began putting together a document, almost smiling.

Almost an hour later, James quietly headed downstairs and found Arianna sleeping on the couch, with Sara watching TV from the next couch.

“What were you doing?” the boy’s half-sister asked. James just shrugged.

“All I did was talk to an old friend.” He replied. “You know Noga, right?” Sara nodded. “Well, he’s an Admin on a major Chat Forum about supermodels, celebrities, and whatnot, so I just sent him a little info.” Sara slowly began grinning.

“You did something better then the media, all right. You told the fans directly.” The girl said, giggling. “Oh, this is going to be nice.” James nodded, looked at the TV, then headed towards another room. “Now what?”

“I’m hungry.” James replied. Smirking, Sara turned around and continued watching her TV, glad there was a good show on.

About fifteen minutes later, there was a rapid knock on the front door. Looking innocent, James went over and opened it. Several seconds later, he was tackled to the ground by a silver-haired girl.

“Hi, bro!” she said happily. “Rai’s on his way, he told me everything! So we need to get a support base and a few lawyers for that model who works for you, right?”

“Absolutely.” James replied, smirking. “Now let me up, Selene. We can’t give the guy what he deserves unless I can move.” The girl laughed and helped her brother up. “Now, let’s show the fool what happens when he decides to be scum.”

The End...?