I'll Fight For You

The Visit To Madame Blaire's

Ava Silva sighed as the corset's straps were tightened around her torso, making her wince as the material restricted her airflow and left an uncomfortable pressure on her ribs and breasts. Of course, the shop clerks didn't seem to care or notice as they fumbled with the measuring tape, recording the size of her waist, legs, arms and so on. It was a very dull experience, made all the worse by the presence of the infamous manager of the shop, Madame Blaire. 

She was a rather tall woman, with pale skin that resembled the makeup people would've worn in the Elizabethan era. The makeup that was achieved by applying egg whites and ochres to people's cheeks. A mole―Ava could never tell if it was real or not, since Madame Blaire would never let anyone get close enough to her face to tell―sat near the upper left corner of her mouth, the paleness of her skin making the zit's dark colour stand out. A pair of old fashioned glasses with a golden chain that was looped around her neck were perched on her nose, rhinestones glittering in through the store's windows, making the stones sparkle. Her lips were decorated with a ruby red lipstick that drew everyone's eyes to her mouth, making the brunette cringe at how desperate she was. 

Ava and her fiancé would visit this store regularly whenever they were in need of new clothes, and her husband to be was very fond of the store's manager. Ava would never understand how he could be kind to such a ghastly being. Madame Blaire wasn't afraid to walk around London as if she owned it, and boy, did everyone know it. Still, the city's patrons respected her for her well known fashion. In Ava's opinion, it was far too old fashioned―the skirts and dresses looked as if they had been made centuries ago with their ruffles and bland designs―but her soon to be husband loved the dresses on her, so she didn't complain, even though she badly wanted to. 

"Too wide," Madame Blaire chastised her employees as they looked up from where they were knelt at Ava's feet, tape and other equipment littered across the floor of the large changing room. The clerks let out sighs of exhaustion, and Ava couldn't blame them. Madame Blaire―even though she preferred to be known strictly as 'Madame'―never bothered to do any of the work, she was really just there to advertise the business and boss others around. 

And boy, did she love bossing Ava about. She knew that the brunette hated her visits to the store, so she made sure to take an abnormal amount of time judging and fussing over her clothes. It was a non-violent but just as painful torture. 

"Seriously?" Ava scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Any tighter and you'll literally suffocate my boobs. With all due respect, Madame, I'll take the size I had thirty minutes ago. The one I could breathe in," she snapped before grabbing her clothes she had arrived in and storming out of the changing room. 

Her fiancée, JC, looked up from his phone as she dashed out. He was wearing a suit he had just purchased, one that he thought would be suitable―pun intended―for a dinner with some business partners next week. He had wanted his soon to be wife to be dressed in appropriate attire, but had not expected for her to dash out of the changing room whilst he was in the middle of a game of Candy Crush. 

He caught up to her quickly. She was standing in the middle of Hyde Park, lost in her own thoughts. JC took a moment to admire her beauty when she was concentrating before walking towards her. It was as he came into earshot that he realised Ava was on the phone, and he stopped short upon hearing the beginning of her conversation. 

"How is that possible?" Ava asks the person on the other end of the line. He can tell from her tone that she's biting her bottom lip, a nervous habit of hers. He badly wants to run up and comfort her, but then again, he wants to find out what this mysterious phone call is all about. So he stays put, watching from afar, but still within earshot.

The trees blow softly in the breeze, leaves swirling around the park. Ava's hair blew along with them, her lithe form shivering in the cold. It was the middle of summer, but for all the citizens of London knew, it could've been the start of autumn. JC was so lost in his thoughts about nature and the woman in front of him that he almost didn't hear what she said next. 

Almost. 

"How on Earth is Beatrice alive, Lilith?" 

Oh shit, he thought. I'm fucked.