I wait at the bottom of the stairs for Anya to come downstairs, I hear footsteps then someone squealing then the sound of whispering.
Anya comes downstairs with Heidi coming closely after with a subtle excited lining her lips. I stand up then hold out my arm to her as she comes downstairs.
Two steps away from me, Anya begins falling forward so I catch her. I help her up then our eyes meet and she turns scarlet red, from the maids amusement it seems, I've also turned a similar colour.
"Come on," I say. "We're going to be late."
I help her stand up straight again then lead her into the dining room, to find Father, Demetrius and his wife, Hildegarde.
"Demetrius!" I exclaim.
He nods at me ever-so slightly then motions to us to sit down, Anya tenses up as she follows me to her seat.
We sit down and I watch as Anya stares at Hildegarde, she'd met Demetrius before we got married but she hasn't met Hildegarde because she and Demetrius had been staying in her Maternal home for the past couple of weeks because she'd had a disagreement with Father.
Demetrius had still been managing things at work, which is the Magazine company I model for, Mode Fabrics & Prints LTD, but our paths haven't crossed since I got married.
I notice that Anya seems to be in awe of Hildegarde rather then shy, to be fair, Hildegarde is also a model. This isn't known to the public but Mode Fabrics & Prints LTD was originally Hildegarde's idea, all the drawings of the dresses in the first edition were drawn by her, Demetrius published it for her.
After that a failing tailor's shop visited Demetrius and Hildegarde after they got engaged and insisted on exclusively making Hildegarde's dresses and selling the magazine in their shop. Demetrius told Hildegarde that if she likes the idea it'll be an engagement gift to her.
She loved the idea and that's how it got started, they were married the next month and two months later they become the best selling fashion magazine.
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Father doesn't fund them, Demetrius sold his foreign car in order to fund the company for the year, using just Hildegarde to model a few of the dresses every so often then after that year he hired me and some other young men and women to work as models.
Of course I was the most popular.
I think my popularity has risen even further since I married Anya but there hasn't been issue yet with our pictures, that's what we've been modelling for.
Father begins eating then Demetrius, then I, then Hildegarde and Anya. We mostly sit in silence until Hildegarde looks at me and says "When is the Madame returning?"
"In a few..."
"Wilhelm said in a few days," Anya chirped cutting me off. She must have been thinking how to make conversation with her.
I wince, she knows not to talk at the dinner table.
I look over at Father but he stays mute.
He must still be annoyed at Hildegarde. "You're Anya, right?" Hildegarde asks the pink haired girl in question.
She nods eagerly, "How was the new camera crew..."
Suddenly Anya puts her finger on her lips and shakes her head frantically.
Now Demetrius is concerned, "Is there something wrong with the new crew."
Her eyes widen as Demetrius speaks then she mutters "No."
"Then why..."
Again she starts shaking her head frantically.
Ah... she's being cautious in case I get mad again.
How to deal with this?"
"The new crew is much better," I say. "They're more easier going and prepared for all-outcomes, especially that assistant Baer."
Anya turns to me in surprise as I continue, "He's very good to Anya, he even brought her some sunglasses to avoid the camera flashes."
"Do you want to keep them on?" Demetrius asks me.
"Camera crews are far and few, let alone ones this sensitive to their models," I say. "No alone should you keep them you should pay them more as well."
Demetrius nods, "I'll keep that in mind."
After dinner, Heidi informs me that Anya was spending the evening in Hildegarde's room.
I wait a while, knowing she'd probably come here to talk to me afterwards then end up getting into my pyjamas, giving up on waiting until I hear a rap at the door.
"It's me!" she calls.
I open the door, "It's not going to be Father is it," I say dryly.
She comes in her, hair in an entirely different style then it was this morning, "Hildegarde is amazing!"
"Really?" I say amused as she collapses onto my bed.
"Yeah," she says in awe. "She's so pretty and smart, she even designed me a dress."
She shows me a sketch of a Wild Willow swing dress with pink peony's decorating it.
"What inspired it?" I ask, Hildegarde doesn't draw personal designs without inspiration.
"My hair," she says absently. "And your..."
"Hmm?" I ask. "My?" "You're eyes?"
"It was to make you forget you were mad at me this morning," she whispers.
"I wasn't mad at you," I say sitting down on the bed, next to her. "You didn't do anything wrong."
"So are you actually really jealous of Baer?"
"No comment." A big smile appears on her face, "Were you really?"
"I think it's time for bed now, Anya," I say. "Are you going to your room or is the feet end of my bed alright for you?"
"I can sleep anywhere, and you know it," she huffs as she gets up. "But yes I am going to my room. I'm going shopping with Hildegarde tomorrow."
"Have fun with that." She leaves and I hear her giggles as she heads to her room.
