Chapter 02 - Hey, it's not a one-shot after all!

"In Current Events this morning, celebrity-watchers around the nation went berserk when celebritywatchers dot com reported what may just be the biggest scandal this decade; a report from model Arianna Helio on the fact that her husband has, in fact, been cheating on her! Sheesh, what's wrong with the guy?"

Selene turned the TV off and smiled at the little war group.

"Well, it's going to be hard to ignore this one." James said pleasantly. "Sign these." he handed a small packet of papers to Arianna. Sniffling slightly, the girl looked at them, then picked up a nearby pen and scribbled her signature on each document.

"Excellent." Rai said, stretching widely as he took the papers and signed below Arianna. "You, milady, are no longer a married woman, though it probably won't be that way for long." Arianna smiled slightly. It had been a long, hard night. She hadn't learned the details of what had traspired, but apparently her manager's little brother, the first lawyer she ever liked, had been extremely persuasive in getting her ex-husband to sign the divorce papers.

The girl followed her manager quietly as he lead her out into the garage, and from there, to the studio. As soon as she walked through the doors, the emotionally scarred model was mobbed by co-workers who were all trying to be the first to express their support for her.

"We've all told our fans to pester that Ralph!" Sara yelled over the crowd. "You should see the stuff they're doing! His new home's already a miniature war zone!" At that, Arianna had to grin slightly. There was nothing in the world quite like having all of the rabid celebrity watchers after your hide.

"Okay, okay!" James roared, manager personality taking over. "We have work to do, people! Let the girl through; you can talk to her later if she feels like it!" there were more than a few groans, but responding to the authorative tone, the other models dispersed. In a relatively short amount of time, the halls were clear. "You, too, girl." he said, thumping Arianna on the head with a sheaf of papers. "We're heading to another beach for the Cherry Blossom Bikini shoot."

Arianna nodded and moved off, letting her body move on automatic.

00000

Two hours later, Arianna stepped out of the van and onto the beach, looking like she felt slightly better. This was normal. She stretched in preparation for holding her body stiff later, then peeled off her shirt and shorts to reveal the outfit that would be worn that day.

It was her manager's policy to have the models wear the clothing under what they normally did (or, depending on what it was, as the normal outfit) so that it would look like it had actually been used a little. There was no point, he had said, in giving too much of a false image.

True, this was the world of fashion, where image was everything. He managed a group of abnormally beautiful girls to help the consumers think that the swimwear (or whatever) would make them look good, too. The company, however, wanted to hold up to its customer's expectations so that it would have a reputation of giving exactly what it claimed it would and then some. Therefore, things needed to not look just good, but good and real.

"Okay, let's start." the manager said. "Come on, girls, it's work time!" the giggling girls broke apart their group and stood in a line in front of him, each wearing a different pattern of the Cherry Blossom line. "This is a minor line, which is why we don't have the full crew with us, but your support crew are ready as always." he indicated a group of men who were waiting near the van with bottles of water, snacks, and most of the other things the models might spontaneously desire. "Who wants to go first?"

"I will." Sara said cheerfully. James nodded curtly as the other girls scattered and picked up his camera. Another tenet of his philosophy: Do the work yourself regularly so you can keep in touch with what everyone else is doing and actually understand any problems.

The work of the day began as the group manager took photo after photo of his own half-sister in her various seductive poses. Thirty minutes later, a break was announced, and Sara immediately stretched her own limbs.

"Hey, boss..." Arianna said quietly, walking up to him as he downloaded the pictures and inserted a new memory card. He never erased pictures, claiming it was good to have the originals handy in case the copies got lost. The girl crossed her arms in front of her chest and waited until he was done. After a few moments, the strange man looked at her.

"You aren't feeling comfortable about posing or exposing your body because your husband was cheating on you." he observed. Arianna shivered slightly; he was so creepy when he was right like that! "Yeah, thought so. Well, your fans are in an uproar about all of this. A few of them requested nudes so they could spam that git with them and say 'you lost this because you're so selfish'. Sad thing is, I think they really meant it."

"I've... I've never done nudes." Arianna said, coloring slightly. It wasn't unusual in her profession to do that sort of thing, but she had always avoided it.

"Yeah, well, that's because you have morals and don't take your clothes off for anybody who asks." the manager replied dismissively. "All of the girls in this group are like that; it's why they're still here."

"You mean when that interviewer asked me if I'd do nudes when I applied for your group..."

"If you'd agreed, I would have denied you right then and there." James agreed. "I don't like girls who don't have morals." Arianna smiled slightly. She had the weirdest boss on the planet, that was for sure. The girl stretched widely.

"I'm feeling better." she said cheerfully. "Let's get this show on the road! You'll get such good pictures that he'll throw himself at me, begging me to take him back! I'll deny him, of course."

"That's what I like to hear." James said, raising the camera.

00000

As evening approached, a tired but happy group rode back into town. Instead of returning directly to the main building of the company, however, the vehicle came to a stop outside a ice restaurant.

"Nice." Arianna said approvingly. "Hey, all, my treat!" With the enthusiastic response to this, the girls, their manager, and the support crew headed into the building. The waiters were already waiting for them, the arrival of the group having been announced nearly an hour before.

"Welcome." the head waiter said, bowing deeply. "Please, your tables are this way." he led the entire group to a banquet table, looking pleased at the manners of the support crew, rough-looking individuals that they were. Though they dressed and acted casual, years of working for their company had taught them that sometimes, being polite was very good. Especially for their paycheck.

"Let's see..." Arianna said, perusing the menu. "I think I'll have the... oh, what do I want?"

"The Fruit Syrup wine, a whole bottle, and a small salad." her manager said without even looking up. Arianna thought for a moment, and had to agree, that did sound good. Fruit Syrup wine was a special type of wine, very expensive. It was made by leaving the fruits on the vine until winter, so the ice could be easily removed, leaving only the ultra-sweet nectar of the fruit. It was truly delicious stuff. With it, a salad sounded about right.

"And once again, he knows everything..." Sara whispered. Her half-brother only shrugged and ordered the same meal Arianna was getting. Displaying his customary relaxed eating style, he popped the cork out of the bottle and drank directly from it. "Wow... you know, James, you're going to rot your teeth if you keep doing that!"

"Sure." he replied, setting the bottle down. "I just needed a boost of energy."

"For what?" Sara asked, grinning. "Does it actually take effort for you to behave yourself when so many gorgeous girls are posing for you?" she slid a little closer to him, only to receive a smack on the head from his papers. "Ow!"

"No, really. It's just that while all you did was sit around and make a few sultry positions, I had to be on my feet the whole time doing the work it usually takes a team of ten to do." the young man replied. "You've got the easy job." Sara laughed. Being a model was hard work; you had to watch what you ate, exercise a lot, and lose your sense of modesty. As soon as you messed up, you were out of the business, replaced by the next hot young girl. Her company was unusually nice; it let all of its models move to another job within the company after they were out of the spotlight.

Arianna devoured her salad and drank most of her own bottle of wine before relaxing in her chair, tired out by all the recent events. "This' better..." she whispered. Her manager just shrugged. The lead model of the group fell asleep a few moments later.

00000

"Mmm... Where am I?" the girl asked the next morning, opening her eyes. A very unfamiliar ceiling met her vision. "...This isn't home. Who kidnapped me?"

"Don't be stupid." her manager's voice replied. "You're at the my house again; you fell asleep after stuffing yourself. How you managed it on salad and wine, though, I don't know..." Arianna nodded slowly and sat up, then realized she was wearing a nightgown. She pulled the blankets back up as her manager came into the room, already dressed and ready to go. "Get over it already. I've seen you in less." he said, snorting as he tossed some clothing to her. Arianna thought on that one, and conceded that he had a point. She pulled the clothes under the blankets and dressed herself before standing up and wobbling.

"Oh... I drank too much wine." she muttered. "Either that or I'm coming off a sugar-high. Maybe both." she waited for a few moments as she steadied herself, then bent down and touched the floor before straightening and looking at her way-too-serious manager.

"Are you done yet?" he asked, crossing his arms. "We've still got work to do." Arianna nodded and followed him out of the door, still slightly groggy. Thus, she didn't pay much attention as she got into his car and they made their way bak to their second home - the main studio of Darian Outfitters. As usual, the place was already going wild; there was no time to waste. The general philosophy was 'if you have time to chat, you have time to work'.

Arianna watched sleepily as people bustled back and forth, busy with their own insignificant little lives. It was kind of funny, really, watching them move. A thick sheaf of papers came down on her head a moment later.

"Make yourself useful." James said as Arianna rubbed her head, looking hurt. "Go serve coffee or something."

"You don't drink coffee." the girl pointed out. "You're always saying you hate the smell."

"I do." he replied. "But some people atually like it... freaks. And since you have nothing better to do, I should know, I think it would be fine if you went and cheered them up. These support staff guys rarely have good-looking girls being very nice to them, after all. It should be a good experience for you. Just don't wear anything TOO revealing."

Somewhere, Arianna knew, there was a flaw in what he was saying. She didn't feel like searching for it, though, so with a nod, she took off her jacket, grabbed a tray and a lot of cups, and headed to the design room.

She knew her popularity level, but never anticipated the reaction that occured as she came into the room. The designers, who had been morbidly clicking their mice as they arranged pictures and text, perked up as soon as the first whiff of coffee reached their noses. Every eye in the room was instantly on her. Arianna smiled inwardly; she was beautiful! She was, no matter what that rat of her ex-husband thought!

"Hey, boys." she said, putting on her best sultry voice. "I thought you could use a little... pick-me-up." There were cheers as she passed down the rows, handing out mugs of the liquid substance that practically kept their company running. Two cups remained on her tray afterwards, both hot chocolate (which the designers wouldn't touch, claiming it was sacrilege), so, smiling, the girl bid farewell to the much-happier designers and headed back to her group's main area. Her manager was shifting through stacks of paper as he talked to a figure Arianna couldn't help but reognize; Mr. Dobelia.

"-could be bad." the man was saying.

"Hey, boss!" Arianna said, determined to remain cheerful in spite of the presence of a pervert. "Does hot chocolate sound good?" she smiled as she walked forward, but as she passed the other manager, the girl tripped.

Almost instantly, the mugs fell off the tray, hit the ground, and shattered. Her shirt was promptly ruined as she hit the floor, the sharp fragments cutting her arms open.

"Klutz." her manager said as he got up and knelt down beside her. The girl looked up at him as he helped her to her feet. She opened her mouth. "KLUTZ." he said firmly. "Edward, would you mind leaving? I've still got a lot to do." Mr. Dobelia smirked and left.

"He tripped me!" Arianna hissed. "The little rat tripped me! He just wants me out of the way so that... that..."

"Slut." James supplied.

"Yes, that slut Francine in his group can rise to prominence! Wait, how'd you... Oh, nevermind." the girl said. Her manager idly got out a roll of gauze from somewhere and wrapped it around her upper arms. "Thanks..."

"It's my job." he replied calmly, finishing up. "Now, I presume you have no objections to me watching the camera footage of that?" Arianna shook her head, and with a few swift keystrokes, her manager accessed the camera logs. Arianna watched as she entered the room, moved forward, and tripped over a suddenly outstretched leg. "He chose a really bad angle for that... I guess I'll send this off to Management and let them handle it." Arianna wrapped her arms around him from behind.

"Thanks..." she murmured. "It's... hard, right now."

"If you get too sentimental, you'll lose your image." he replied, sounding vaguely amused. "Now, are you going to change that shirt or not? There's a bunch of extras hanging up in the storage room, but they're last year's line, so..."

Arianna laughed. "I can look great in anything." she replied. "Even if it is out of date." she wandered off as her manager sat at his desk, patiently twirling a pencil around is fingers. This was starting to become interesting.

00000

"Excuse me..." a quiet voice said. The front-door guard of Darian Outfitters looked up to see a surprisingly good-looking man standing in front of him. He seemed oddly familiar. "There is... ah... someone I would like to see, but one of your receptionists informed me that I would need to make an appointment here."

"S'fine." the guard replied. "Head on in." the visitor nodded and passed through the doors, walking up to the receptionists.

Forty feet away and two minutes in the future, Arianna emerged from the storeroom looking stunning in a green-and-brown outfit that accented her hair. "I told you I could look great in anything." she said, sounding very pleased. Her manager made a noncomittal noise and continued typing. "What?"

"Nothing." he replied, sighing. "You have a visitor." Arianna turned to look at the door and found someone who definitely didn't work at Darian Outfitters standing there, giving her his widest grin.

"...And you are?" the girl asked, despite the fact that she knew perfectly well who he was and why he was there.

"That's mean..." the visitor replied, looking hurt. "You're telling me you've forgotten me?" Arianna smirked. "...Oh. You are a cruel, cruel woman. But I like that about you." he walked towards Arianna, still smiling disarmingly. "When I heard the news, I came as fast as I could."

Arianna just stared at him. "Spit it out, Apollo. What do you want?"

Apollo held up a hand and turned both sides to her, one after the other, then clenched his fist. When he opened his hand again, there was a rose in it, and without hesitation he offered it to her.

"Why, I want you." he replied smoothly. "And why wouldn't I? You are gorgeous in every way, posessed of wit and wisdom, body and brains..."

Arianna just kept staring, and not in shock. "Not interested." she replied. The flower crumpled. "There's something... else... I have to be doing right now." Apollo shuffled away, and Arianna ran a distracted hand through her hair. "I knew the vultures would be swooping in about now." she grumbled. "They all think I'm a prize to be won."

"You're not?" her manager replied, sounding confused. The girl looked at him. "It's a guy thing. You're certainly prized around here; you're our best model. And you wouldn't believe what I have to do to keep management from moving you to one of the front groups." Arianna winced.

The group she was in, though very good, was too small to qualify for ranking as a 'main' group to the people who ran Darian Outfitters. The people in those groups were paid a whole lot more and tended to be the ones who ended up on the covers of the magazines. They were also the ones the porn magazines wouldn't leave alone.

"Umm... point." she agreed. Suddenly feeling a bit self-conscious, the girl took a seat in one of the chairs and watched her manager as he continued working. "I don't ever want to have to give up my morals for money or fame. That just... doesn't attract me at all." she looked at her nails; they needed a manicure.

"Well, relax already." James replied. "I have ways of making sure you get to stay right here. Management can't deny that photos with you in them produce profits, and our crew has enough experience working with you to prove that others couldn't do as good a job." Arianna nodded and, on impulse, hugged him tightly.

"Ooh!" Sara said. Arianna immediately pulled back to find her friend there, eyes sparkling with delight. "Oh, wait until everyone else hears about this!"

"N-no!" Arianna said. "It's not what it looks like!" she felt the cold stare of her boss on the back of her neck. "It's a non-romantic one!" Sara looked slightly put out, but walked over and eyed both of them carefully.

"Hmm... Well, James doesn't look any different from usual, so I suppose." she muttered, disappointed. "And I was hoping for a juicy bit of gossip, too." the manager of the group threw an eraser at his half-sister's head; a smack sound greeted it on its arrival. "Ow!"

"Don't you have work to do?" he asked, saving a document on his computer and exiting out of it. The girl shook her head. "Oh?"

"Finished all of it." the girl explained. "There wasn't much to that, just more sexy poses to show the new girls how to do it." her manager nodded; Sara was quite social, so it made sense she would be able to do that partiular job quickly and efficiently. "They were all a little jittery, but they got over it. It's business, after all."

The manager of the girls looked like he didn't quite know how to respond to that one; he always maintained that some things you shouldn't do. Money was not as important as having a heart.

"Oh, and the Paparazzi's here, looking for an interview." Sara said. Arianna sighed.

"I was wondering where they were." she muttered. "Let's go; they don't give up, so we may as well throw them a scrap and pretend it's a choice steak or something." she got up and, with a shrug from her manager, led the small group out to the stage of the press room. As all three had expected, they were greeted by dozens of camera flashes and several dozen questions from the crowding reporters.

"One at a time!" the girl's manager roared. "Give each other a little room and raise your hands or something!" Sheepishly, the reporters did as they were told. Arianna smiled slightly, recognizing his tone of authority. Every reporter's hand was in the air. "Well, have fun."

Arianna indicated one near the back; she always tried to start with the back first and make her way forward, just because everyone else did it differently. "Thank you." the reporter said. "How do you feel about your ex-husband?"

"Well, there's a lot to say..." Arianna began thoughtfully. "But mostly, now that my anger's died down a little, I want to know if he's mentally incompetent." There were quite a few chuckles. "Next!"

"Do you approve of the actions of your fans in regard to what they are doing to your ex-husband's house?"

"Well, if your husband was sleeping around, wouldn't you? Besides, I didn't ask them to do it or anything; they're doing this of their own free will. I believe in free speech." The reporters all nodded at this; so did they. Sometimes a little too much. "Next!"

And so it continued for twenty minutes or so as the paparazzi got part of the juicy gossip information they wanted from her. Arianna was smiling slightly the whole time; people cared about her and how she was doing. How could you not like that?

"Naturally enough, rumors are flying about what you will do now." the most recent reporter said. "There have already been some attempts at snatching you up; have you seriously considered any of these offers?" This reporter was right in front, so Arianna bent down and gave him her widest grin.

"No." she replied. "Because there's only one guy I like enough, and he hasn't asked. You can tell everyone else to drop any plans they have."

"Who is it!?" the reporter replied instantly, scribbling furiously.

"Well... that's a secret!" Arianna replied, standing back up. "Heh heh heh... It wouldn't be any fun if he knew."