Gab, You Got Burned--Twice

'Dixie, you're a genius,' Gabriela whispered, trying to stay calm. Indira hadn't really seen her yet; there was a man sitting in the chair opposite her—a bodyguard? That might prove problematic.

'Oh, yeah, great—um, a whipped milk-shake please? What do you mean, you don't serve that! You served it yesterday.'

Dixie had gone over to the counter, obviously not noticing who was sitting right in front of them. This left Gabriela alone—ready to do what she had to do.

The perfect opportunity.

Gabriela didn't know what to do with herself. She couldn't just stand here, could she? Now that she thought of it, she didn't know how long she'd been stationary. Hopefully not too long.

Right—it was time to bite the bullet.

'A-hem.'

Indira glanced up. So did the bodyguard. Gabriela became very conscious of how her teeth had clamped together into a forced smile.

'Hi, I'm Gabriela Sica, from the Debens Falcon. I was just wondering if I could—'

'Not interested,' Indira growled. 'I'm on my holidays, I'm not giving any interviews.' She turned to her bodyguard. 'You said you had it all arranged; you said we'd be in-and-out—'

'Yes, I know,' he snapped, taking one good look at Gabriela's blouse, stained with ice-cream, and her thick dark hair, which had escaped from its plait and was sticking out all over the place. After a brief, whispered conversation, they got up to leave—Indira glared at her as she put on her sunglasses (Gabriela had seen them before, in the latest Carmentes campaign) and her bodyguard warned Gabriela, in no uncertain terms, that the police would get involved if she was caught harassing Indira again.

She was left standing there by the door, in shock—and in fury.

Meanwhile, Dixie was just finishing up at the counter.

'Can you believe it? They only serve milkshakes on Sundays! Wait, Gab—you look funny. Are you okay?'

'Oh, yes—I'm fine. In fact, I'm better than ever.'

~

Gabriela had promised herself she would not go into what happened with Dixie. Half way across the Argenta Plaza, she broke that promise.

'Like, who the hell does she think she is? She's only famous because she's friends with Arbor Dove.'

'Mhm-hmm,' said Dixie, and Gabriela couldn't tell if she agreed with her or not. In fact, Gabriela couldn't tell whether or not she agreed with herself.

Could she really blame Indira Chaudhuri? Had she expected her to be anything other than a complete diva? In fact—and now she really had to be honest with herself—if she were Indira, would she be any different?

She mulled it over as they passed excited tourists on their way to the parade; it wasn't long before they'd reached di Rossi's grocery shop—Gabriela gave Dixie strict instructions to stay outside and not move: you never knew with Dixie.

Inside, it was shady and cool; a reprieve from the heat. Being a creature of habit, there wasn't a single Monday when she missed picking up her groceries here. It was the one grocery-shop in the city that

As she waited in line, something caught her eye. It peeked out of the newspaper rack; she read: ARBOR DOVE reveals her five back-to-school essentials—

Of course. They'd all be heading back to Coelis soon.

Gabriela looked away. The truth was—these people were everywhere; inescapable.

~

It was a strange coincidence that the Big Two, those superstar rivals, had the Debens outlets side-by-side.

To her left, the intimidating baby-pink of Honeyfoor Beverages. To her right, the shimmering, glassy exterior of Arbor Dove's Pond store. Gabriela was just about sick of this day, but her PondMirror had a massive crack on its surface and the Pond store did free repairs.

She'd gotten it as a birthday present last year, from her parents out in the countryside beyond Debens. Even looking at it brought back good memories—the heady scent of lavender and of the medlar tree in the garden, the vista of the stark hills beyond. As she entered the shop, followed by Dixie, she was momentarily blinded by all the mirrors on the wall—it was high noon, and the sunlight flashed in them all. Their low chatter filled the air:

'Very pleased to announce—'

'I visited the centre recently—'

'Great progress in terms of reducing livestock-poaching—'

If you looked closely, you'd see that the mirrors weren't mirrors at all. They all reflected the same beautiful face—deep blue eyes, white-blonde hair, peaches-and-cream skin. All these devices were set to different broadcasts: some broadcasts that had occurred today, some yesterday, some a week beforehand.

Unfazed, Gabriela headed over to the shop-assistant.

'How did you break it? Dropped it? Ah. Well, I have some fairy dust in the back, I'll probably be able to do something with it...'

Gabriela waited as the assistant carried it off into the back of the shop. Dixie, who had been listening to Arbor thank the international coast guard for their efforts in alleviating the Cape Canza food-shortages, sidled over to her.

'Can we go into H. Beverages? Come on, please!'

'No,' said Gabriela firmly. 'I'm going home. I've had a bad enough day without having to deal with the horrible waiters in there; I've barely gotten any work done—Carlo's going to be furious tomorrow.'

'It'll be just for a second—and you know how good the sodas are.'

No-one could deny it: Brooke Honeyfoor made the best damn sodas in the world. She gave in, and by the time the shop-assistant returned with Gabriela's newly-repaired PondMirror, Dixie was already heading next-door.

Grunge-glamorous, shabby-chic, gloriously pink—all words that captured the essence of any Honeyfoor Beverages outlet, with the chequered pink-and-white tiles and matching diner booths. They sat down by the window as the waitress by the counter haughtily looked on. She took her sweet time coming down to take their orders. Gabriela barely listened as Dixie hummed and hawed over the menu.

When the waitress left, Gabriela, bored and sick of listening to Dixie, took out her repaired PondMirror. She turned it on, and Arbor Dove's face appeared where Gabriela's own reflection had been just a moment ago.

'—As you probably know, I'll be returning to the Coelis Academy for my third year in a couple of weeks. I want you all to know that that doesn't mean I won't be working hard on Lyasée's behalf while I'm there. We've been listening to the concerns of the citizens of Lyasée—and beyond—and we know what your focuses are: rural development, employment—'

'Excuse me.'

The waitress was back with their drinks, decked out with straws and parasols in their cocktail-glasses, and she was wearing a big scowl.

'We don't permit PondMirrors inside H. Beverages premises.'

'What?'

'That's right,' she replied snootily. 'That's our new policy—came down the chain from Brooke Honeyfoor herself. She—does—not—want—PondMirrors—in—her—cafés.'

Gabriela just sat there with her mouth hanging open before the woman snapped at her that she'd better put that PondMirror away, or she would be asked to leave. Reluctantly, Gabriela did what she was told.

Angry as she was, she couldn't help but wonder what it'd be like to go to Coelis with them—the Big Two, and all the rest—were they really like that, or was it all just a big performance for the cameras? Even if she hated Brooke Honeyfoor in that moment, even if she hated all Brooke Honeyfoor's stupid employees, she would do anything to attend Coelis with her and all her friends and rivals.

In fact, she'd kill for it.