Page 2: Leading a Double Life

After that short wholesome sense of victory, we had at my dressing room earlier, Mr. Kim noticed in his watch that it was getting late and so he instructed Dave to drive me back to my apartment already. I protested saying it was fine that we had to plan more about this upcoming shoot with Heiress, but then he said I was still on strict Queen underage curfew despite being Queen's MVP since I joined three years ago. Mr. Kim, being one of my guardians as I had already abandoned my biological family other than my mother, was set on keeping me intact until the day I graduate from Junior High. We discussed a little bit about my arrangements with Heiress as I changed to a more casual attire that serves as my disguise as well. A hoodie and a tattered overall paired with sneakers sounded a lot comfortable than the fluffy angelic fur dress that I had on during my shoot. After changing, we proceeded immediately to the underground parking lot for my ride home. It's gotten quite dark already no wonder Mr. Leopard pants was fussing about me getting home, not that I wasn't used to being out so late. There were shoots that I had to stay out for the sake that it needed to have a real shot of the night. Mr. Kim is the type who wants to avoid green screens as much as possible. But lately, he's been setting up my shoots for a better schedule wherein the latest I have on ends at seven in the evening.

"Mr. Kim had always treated you as his daughter you know." said Dave who was minding the wheel.

"Isn't he just an unmarried forty-year-old claiming that he's married to his job?" I said with my chin resting on my hand as I look out the window, sitting in the shotgun.

I hear Dave chuckle, "He's gonna cry if he hears that from you."

"Then I suppose if we're going to play house with Mr. Kim being the father, you'll be my mother."

I hear him choke, "How come I became the mother in this?"

"Well, you made sure to live in the same apartment complex as I am, having your unit beside mine, being the overprotective mother you are,"

"That's just for security reasons." he defended

"Next, you wake up earlier than I do just to cook my meals and make my lunch."

"Why do you make it sound like I am a nanny?"

I snort quietly. He just realized that?

"And most of all, you nag at me all the time when I'm being too engrossed with my revenge operations." I said counting off a third of my fingers.

Dave sighs, "That's because you tend to go overboard with all your plans. You're too eager in everything you do that you forget yourself and end up keeling over."

"And when did I ever go overboard and keel over?"

Dave looks at me, his eyes glaring at my very soul like I didn't have to ask that but I did anyway. I was asking something rhetorical to him. I feel my face heat up.

"Okay fine, sometimes." I stumble upon the words.

"Don't 'sometimes' me. You know very well your body is weak and yet you always abuse your health."

I pout, "Can we not talk about this now? It's not helping."

Not that what he said wasn't true, but I just don't want to think about it...for now.

"Why aren't you taking off your wig? The car is tinted, no one will see." he looks at the long wavy red locks on my head.

"I'll take it off when we get to the apartment complex." I replied, blankly staring at the dazzling city lights.

I usually take my bloody wig off the moment I get into the car, but this time I just didn't feel like it. This thing is heavy since it reaches down to my torso and it's really irritating to maintain. But then, because of this, I am able to become Hera, the extraordinary model of Queen. With this and my temporary blue eyes, I am able to resemble at least a part of my mother while I become a completely different person, when I'm not a nobody.

Dave casually tried to start a conversation with me along the way, his usual banter and a few reminders about school. He told me how I shouldn't let my modeling cause my grades to drop. He said that he wants me to pursue a degree and be bigger in life. I didn't respond to that anymore. I let him talk me out of it, but it was deafening. I know that I should at least have an ambition for the future, but I don't even see myself succeeding in something other than modeling. I grew up looking at my mother's posters, magazine covers and watching all her television advertisements and interviews. Modeling isn't really my passion. I'm even blessed to have inheritance money from my mother, enough to get me to college. But because it's my only way to clear my conscience, I pursued it. It's not even a matter of not seeing myself with another job in the future, it's more of 'do I even see myself in that future?'

Dave parked the car close to the entrance of the apartment building but not directly under a lamp, good for hiding appearances. I start to unclasp the clips of my wig, but I notice Dave staring at me.

"It's rude to stare at a lady you know." I said continuing my task.

"I was just wondering," he paused, "Your mother was a platinum blonde."

"I best describe it as a hair of moonlight rather than making it sound like some CD recording, but go on."

"Why did you choose to be a redhead? Didn't you want to at least to look like her?"

I stopped, my hands dropped to my lap, "That's because I know he'll recognize me." then I continued, "Besides, my blue ocean contact lenses are enough proof that I'm my mother's daughter."

"That and your bad eyesight." he chuckles.

"Hey, it's not my fault I have a grade L-R of 450-500." I yank the wig as soon as all clips were off throwing it to Dave's face. I heard him yelp as he was covered with thick hair.

"Would you stop throwing your hair at me? These things are expensive and hard to maintain," he complains.

"But you maintain it anyway." I sarcastically replied all smug.

Pulling off the wig cap, my long dreadful black hair drops to my chest. I immediately tie it into twin braids, brushing down a little of my baby hairs from the side having this cute parted string bangs look, my usual look off cam. I was supposed to take off my contacts but then I realized it was too dark and there is no way I am poking my eye in the dark. Thankfully, Dave was all too familiar with the situation and had some tinted fashion specs prepared for me. I thank him as I grab the non-prescriptive glasses, immediately putting them on.

I quickly pulled the door lever, sliding myself out the front seat. I was about to leave when Dave called out to me.

"Hera! Don't forget to drink your vitamins by nine. I'll be at your apartment tomorrow at breakfast."

I scowled at him. He's such a mom. Thank god there were no people other than us at the parking, or else hell would have broken loose.

"Hey!" I whisper at him leaning over the car door, "Didn't I tell you not to call me that anymore once my wig is off?"

"Oh, sorry. Habit." he giggles bashfully.

"It's Eve, remember? Ishioka, Eve!" I whispered in a yell and stormed away.

Hi. As you've heard, my real name is Ishioka, Eve. I am a regular fourteen-year-old Junior High School student whose manager is a total clutz at remembering my name. For security purposes, I adapted my paternal grandmother's' maiden name to avoid the issues of show business and public alike. I did propose to use my mother's maiden name as my surname, but the people of the Ishioka main house opposed it as it would only cause chaos and misfortune in my life. Truly, 'Louvre' is a very fragrant name in the industry of fashion and modeling. Using such a name would cause confusion as I'm probably the only one who doesn't even look like a true Louvre with their blue eyes and glamorous hair glimmering under the spotlight. I inherited most of my East Asian genes from my father's side making me not resemble my mother at all. But the folks at the main house were glad enough that I didn't look mostly like my mother. They said I'd have the hardest time of my life if I did. But thankfully, my small but tall nose, my milky white skin, my exquisite long arms, my astonishing long legs, and my small doll face is something I inherited from her. It may not be much to compare to, but I'm happy that I resemble parts of my mother that only I can recognize.

Although, the hardest part might also be because I resemble my father so much that it makes me want to hurt myself looking at the mirror. And the fact that I inherited this damned eyesight from that old goon that never again showed himself even at my mother's funeral.

"Why do I have to be damned to look like you?" I said staring at myself at the mirror while I bathe. Sleek black hair and a pair of monolid black pearls reflected on the glass, exactly like my father's. How I wish my eyesight was bad enough that I seeing myself would be impossible. Even when I've lived with this appearance for fourteen years, I resemble him more and more as the years pass by. This face is just too much for me to handle. "I'll just have to live with a wig and colored contacts for the rest of my life." I said splashing myself with cold water, then drowning myself to the depths of despair in my bathtub.

Drying my hair was never easy. Because I have dense strands, drying was always tedious work. When I felt like the water particles are gone, I quickly put on my glasses and pajama set. For tonight it'll be a bunny hoodie top and fluffy tailored shorts, both in baby pink. I grab my toothbrush from the cabinet by the lavatory, put on some mint toothpaste and fell in a daze as I moved the bristles in circular motions.

"Tonight is a school night, yet all I can think about is my shoot for the next four moooonths..." I hum, when my phone suddenly buzzed. I look on the lit-up screen to check who it was, it was just Dave checking up on me if I had eaten and bathed. He's such a mom. I groan as I type my response, sending it the moment I finished. I was sure I just sent my message, but it buzzed again. How fast can he type? I ignored it and quickly finished brushing my teeth and turned off the lights of the bathroom. I walk past the living room thinking if I should watch TV for a while but decided to turn in for the night. I turn to my desk opening my pill case, flipping it on my hand for the three colored tablets and one capsule to fall, shoving it in my mouth and chugging a mouthful of water from my tumbler. I hear another vibration on my phone, louder now that it's lying on a wooden table. I slide my phone open to check what Dave wants now, when I was faced with an unexpected situation where I almost choked my pills back up the moment I saw who just followed me on TeaDiaries.

"HOLY CRAP." I scream seeing the name 'Cherry' with a cherry icon after the name has followed me and is asking me to follow her. I check the time and she added me exactly 8:45pm, tonight, 20 minutes ago. I start to freak out, not of excitement, but confusion to what has led her to create such a scene where the whole world could see.

Okay, let me explain, I have two active accounts on TeaDiaries which is EVErlasting and QueenHera. The one I was checking earlier at the studio was my EVErlasting account. The one Cherry with a cherry followed is my verified QueenHera account, so it's fine. But for Cherry with a cherry to follow Hera on social media is a huge thing for influencers such as us. It's definitely going to create an uproar in the showbiz news tomorrow knowing that the top models of the hottest fashion magazines Queen and Heiress are interacting in the virtual world. A virtual marketing facade to be exact. Just thinking about it is making me shudder. I guess I can assume that Cherry received news of our upcoming collaboration and decided to play the good girl card since she's the one who approached first. The lion taking her first kill.

"Alright," I said clicking the follow back button, the hollow circle changing to a bright green checkmark beside our names showing that we are following each other. "As the saying goes, keep your friends close and your enemies closer enough that I could take you down with my eyes closed."

I close TeaDiaries and immediately went to my inbox about to message Dave, when he took the chance out of me messaging me of how he saw that Cherry and I are mutuals on the social media platform.

I quickly type in, "They're making sure that the collaboration won't look staged so they had their Cherry do some rapport building for them." and send.

Dave replied in a second, "This is going to be in the morning news."

Oh for sure. I would be shocked if it wouldn't. This is them saying 'Your move' in their own little sly way.

"Don't make any more unnecessary moves without Mr. Kim's knowledge." he adds.

"Was I wrong to follow her back immediately?" I send.

Another bubble comes in, "No, that was a smart move. Any later than that would seem as if you were ignoring her or you didn't want to be acquainted with her."

Heiress always ends up using me as live bait. Well then, too can play at that game.

"I'm gonna sleep now," I type, "I'll have to forget that I'm Hera for tomorrow and be on my regular Junior High character. I'll try to restructure myself tonight. This was such a bomb I don't think I'll be able to shake it off that easily." and send.

Dave replies with a "Goodnight." and I pressed to lock, shutting down its screen. I look around thinking about what might be the best way to restructure myself for the night. I glance to my shelves full of books, pondering whether I should read before I sleep. Then I realized how my eyes are gonna go worse if I don't let it rest considering the number of camera flashes I faced today and the stress my eyes experiences when I wear contact lenses for too long.

"Let's head to bed." I sigh as I turned off the lights and dropped on my mattress, shuffling the sheets, slipping underneath it. I lay my head on the pillow and stare at the dimmed ceiling thinking what might have been. It's the start of a new trimester tomorrow, first one to boot. I can already see what's going to happen this year knowing it'll be the beginning of my acquaintance with Heiress. This'll either be a nightmare as I try to prove myself against Cherry or a successful revenge plan for the justice of my mother's death. I sigh. I just hope the class I'll be in starting tomorrow won't be such a pain in the neck.

"Screw it. Sleep." I said and my consciousness slowly fades away.