I couldn’t believe it. I started doubting my eyes at this moment because of the sheer amount of shock I felt.

Inside Tina’s room, was a huge poster of one of the anime shows I loved! I can’t believe Tina likes anime! I was stupefied on the outside, but inside my head was a party because I discovered that a fellow fan was closer than I thought.

I walked inside her room, shut the door, and turned the lights on. She was a really big fan from the looks of it. Posters lined the walls and figurines were on her shelves.

Despite Tina having a massive collection of anime merch, her room was really clean as well. No one would guess this side of Tina, even if their life depended on it. I lived with her for months and I didn’t know about this. 

Last year, there was a note on her door to not go in it, so I left it alone. Who knew she’d be binging anime? No wonder she stayed in her room all the time.

I finished cleaning the house and had 20 minutes before I had to get going. I turned on the TV and clicked onto Netflix. I used Tina’s account because why not, and started one of the anime shows on there.

An episode passed by and I needed to leave.

‘Helmet? Check. Jacket? Check. Gloves? Check. Sketching tools? Check. I’m ready to go. No, no wait, do I have my keys? Yes I do. Now let’s go.’

I found my bike parked in the parking garage and started her up. I wore a big smile on my face because every time I look at Raven, my bike, I think of Tina, who got me her. And each time I thought of Tina, I was grateful. I promise to pay Tina back tenfold.

With that, I sped away to the commissioner’s meeting place.

It took me an hour to get there. I had arrived at a coffee shop. I pulled out my phone to look at the description of the commissioner. He was male, and had short green hair. Shouldn’t be hard.

Seeing the description, I looked around and saw one person in the corner with short green hair, wearing a black coat.

I walked to him and sat down across from him and his coffee. Then, I spoke.

“Hello. Are you er…” I looked at my phone again and read the name of the commissioner. “E-Eos?”

“Who’s asking?”

“Me.”

“Who are you?”

“Oh. I’m Shay.” I put my business card on the table, tilted my head, and smiled like the innocent child I was.

“Oh, nice to meet you! Shall we get started?”

“Yes. What can I do for you?”

“I’d like you to design something for me when I go to my cousin’s wedding.”

“Okay. Do you have anything in mind?”

“Yes. The wedding colors are sky blue, seafoam, and royal blue. I want to wear a tie that people will be impressed by. I heard you design clothes from a friend of mine. I wanted to test you out to see if you’re someone I can rely on in the future.”

“Of course. I’m guessing the wedding will be by the beach?”

“Good guess! You hit the nail on the head. Unfortunately, I haven’t seen the tie I’ve been looking for.”

“Okay. Do you mind if I sketch it out?”

“No, go for it.”

I took the sketchpad out of my backpack and started drawing with the pencil I brought.

“Okay. So the colors are… And the tie looks like…” I mumbled to myself.

“How about this?” I showed him the sketchbook. It was a suit with a tie. I then drew lines to explain my design. They were defined and you can clearly see the color separation. I wanted to include all of the colors of the wedding because I thought it’d be cool.

“That looks good, but not quite the design I’m looking for. Can you do something more soft?” He said.

“Soft? In color or texture?”

“Color.”

“So a gradient would be better?”

I drew another tie and shaded from dark to light. Confident with the idea, I showed it to Eos.

“Yeah, that’ll be perfect! Can you do it?”

“Yes! It’ll be done in two hours. I’ll contact you. May I have your number?”

“Sure thing, it’s…”

When I put his number, I used my work phone, since it’d be weird to have a customer knowing my personal number.

We finished the conversation and I got to work. Thankfully, near this cafe, was a mall. And in malls, there are fabrics! I immediately went in to hunt for the fabrics I wanted.

The store was called Winter’s Fabrics. I walked right in and looked at their collection. The store had a wooden floor and tons of colors. There was one in particular that I was looking for… It was called Life on the Beach. It was a gradient of the wedding colors, coincidentally. Of course I’d make the fabric myself, but I haven’t learned how to yet, and it would take so long to complete. I bought the amount of fabric I needed and thanked the owner.

At the store, I asked them if they knew a place where I could make a small piece of clothing.

“Right here. Although it’s for employees only, I’ll let you rent it out for a couple hours. It’ll be $20 for two hours.”

“Okay, thank you so much!”

“Don’t mention it.”

I hurried into the back room and started making the necktie.

The camera equipment I brought with me was a small tripod that could fold. I took it out and put my camera on top of it. Then, I started working.

The owner, whose name was Holloway Winter, was standing a few feet behind me, watching me work.

“So, you’re making a tie?”

“Yes ma’am. I’m being commissioned to do this. It’s actually my first time doing this seriously.”

“Well, I wouldn't have guessed since you’re working like a pro. You said you’re doing this for real? What were the other times for?”

“Practice.”

Miss Winter’s jaw dropped and was left agape as she tried to grasp the situation at hand.

“Practice? What do you do with your life?”

“Work.”

“What kind of work?”

“Hm. Too long to explain. Here’s my business card.” I took one of the cards out of my pocket and placed it at the end of the table without looking up from my work.

“Oh. So you’re Shay. Pleasure to meet you.”

“The pleasure is all mine, Miss Winter.”

“We are acquainted now. So, did you get a commission to design a tie?” She asked.

In my head, I thought something along the lines of, ‘Were you even paying attention to the last few minutes of our conversation? Or, what part of this is a commission don’t you understand?’ But I’d never say it out loud.

“Yes ma’am. It’s for a nice young man who is going to a wedding.”

“I see, I see. You’re doing a fine job there. Are you looking to be a designer?”

“No ma’am.”

“Then what do you want to do when you grow up?”

“I haven’t chosen specifics, but I’d like to do something in the fashion industry.”

“That’s good!”

She stopped bothering me with her Q&A and let me work. An hour and a half passed by quickly. The tie was finished and I walked out to the main part of the store. Before doing so, I made sure to stop recording and put my camera away.

“It’s done.” I stated.

“Can I see it?” Miss Winter asked.

“Sure, but I don’t know why…”

“Amazing!! Truly amazing!” She cut me off.

“Thank you. I must be on my way. I’m going to be late.”

“Wait!”

“Yes ma’am?” I looked back at her in confusion.

“What do you think about working here?”

“I humbly decline, since I’m only here for the summer, but you can commission me anytime. If it’s work I can do remotely, then feel free to ask.”

“I have your business card, so I can contact you. Do you know how to make fabrics?”

“No ma’am. I can only make things with fabrics. I will, however, become a regular of your store.”

“That would be great!”

“However.”

She froze on the spot and I continued on. “In exchange, if you find someone who needs clothes to be designed, write my card contact info down and hand it to them.”

“Seems fair. You pay me and I let people know about your abilities.”

“Deal!” she said.

“Great. It’s a pleasure doing business with you and I hope to keep a positive relationship with you during our time as business partners.”

“Likewise!” She was very happy at the fact that she gained a regular who would buy multiple fabrics from her store and use them.

I left the store, let Eos know I finished, and scurried around the mall to find a thin box I could put the tie in. I found one eventually and raced back to the cafe, barely making it on time.

The man named Eos was waiting for me in the same corner where we met this morning.

“Sir, your order is ready.”

He looked up from his phone and laid his eyes on the box I had in my hands.

“It is. May I see it?”

“Yes sir.” I handed the box to him.

He took the box from my hand and opened it.

“Wow! This is well done! Where did you get the fabrics?”

“A small shop called Winter’s Fabrics. Great place filled with different pieces of cloth.”

“I should visit one day.”

“You should. It’s not far. Anyways, do you like the tie?”

“Yes, I do. Here’s your commission fee.”

Eos held out a thin envelope and I took it from him.

“Thank you. Pleasure doing business with you.”

“Likewise. Good luck on your business.”

“I’ll need it. Have fun at your cousin’s wedding.”

“Have a good one.” He bade goodbye.

“You too.”

I left and headed out to my next appointment.

Thankfully, it wasn’t far from OmniBeauty HQ. This way, I could grab my things and head over without any problems.

When I reached OBHQ, I immediately switched the tools I needed in my bag and went to the commissioner’s house.

It was located in a moderate neighborhood. They weren’t rich, but they weren’t poor. Just in the middle there.

Soon enough, I was at their doorstep. I knocked and waited for the owner to open the door.

“Hello! You must be Shay! Welcome in.” A man who was my height opened the door and welcomed me inside his house.

“Yes sir, thank you so much.”

“You don’t need to be so stiff. Just call me Adam.”

“Okay. Hello, Adam. I am here for your appointment?”

“It’s my wife. She wants to look her best today.”

“Really? What occasion is it, if I may ask?”

“It’s our 25th anniversary.”

“Congratulations!”

“Thanks.”

“Of course! Where is she now?”

“She is in the bedroom. You can go up and meet her.”

“Okay. Uh, where is the bedroom?”

“Upstairs, down the hall, the last one on the right.”

“Got it. Thanks so much. We’ll be ready in a couple hours. Would you like me to leave your suit outside the room when you need to change?”

“Why?” He asked with a change in his expression.

“Because I’m going to be doing her makeup and hair today.”

“But why would I not get dressed in my wife and I’s room?”

“Because a surprise is better when you see her.”

“You won’t touch her, right? Do I need to keep an eye on you?”

“Don’t worry. I won’t touch her other than when I’m doing her makeup and hair. I don’t swim in those waters.”

“I’ll trust you, so get going.”

“Got it.”

The stairs were wooden and I found myself admiring them a small bit as I ascended them because they were very clean and polished. The bedroom door was closed, so I knocked on it.

“Hello? Miss? I’m here to do your makeup and style your hair for today. May I come in?”

“Sure, come in.”

I did as I was told and walked into the room. It was a very nice sized master bedroom. I was thoroughly impressed.

Turning to the left, I saw Adam’s wife.

“Hello, Mrs. I’m Shay. I’ll be doing your cosmetics and hair styling for today.”

She looked me up and down a few times. “You deserve to be a model. What a gorgeous face.”

“Thank you ma’am. Seeing as you said that, you have my card, right?”

“Yes I do.” She said with a bright smile, filled with pride.

“That’s great! We’ll start on your makeup. However, you’ll need to wear your outfit beforehand. Is this okay with you?”

“Yes, it’s fine. I’ll be right back. Please stand outside while I get changed.” She saw me out and closed the bedroom door.

A few minutes later, I heard her call. “I need help, can you help me with the zipper?”

“Yes ma’am. I’m coming in.”

“Okay.”

I walked into the bedroom, where she was, and averted my eyes from the mirror’s reflection out of courtesy. I looked down at the zipper and zipped the rest of the dress up for her.

“Do I have your consent to record you while I do your makeup?”

“Yes. I’m subscribed to your channel. I’d love to help in any way I can.”

“Thank you so much! Let’s begin.” I put the camera on its tripod, faced it towards her, and hit record.

The base makeup was already out and ready for use. When I finished applying it to her face, I started looking at the foundations I brought with me.

“Do you know what foundation best suits you?”

“Yes, it’s…”

“Okay. I have that one with me, coincidentally. The powder as well. Before that though, I’m going to leave Adam’s suit outside so he can change when he wants.”

“That’s good, and okay.” I put Adam’s suit in the hallway and returned to the bathroom once again.

After finishing up on her foundation, I put the setting powder, and blush on her. It was now time for eyeshadow.

“Well, I should match it for your dress, so how about this blue?”

“It’s beautiful! I don’t have any design made up, so I trust you to make one.”

“Yes ma’am. I’ll do my best.”

“I’m counting on you.”

I took a white and lined the bottom of her eyelid, then increased the richness of the blue as I went up. I then used a larger brush to blend them all together and create a gorgeous gradient. Adding onto that, I drew a thin blue line on her lower eyelid. However, no eye makeup is perfect once you finish applying for the first time, so I had to use a cotton ball and makeup remover to sharpen the line I wanted to make on mer eyelid. After doing that, I used eyeliner and gave her a winged style.

Once everything was done, I sprayed a setting spray and allowed her to open her eyes. I also stopped the first recording

“Done, you may open your eyes.”

“Wow! This is amazing. Next, my hair? Do you need me to do anything?”

“Uh, sitting still would be great.”

“Okay.” She replied with a laugh.

The camera that was once facing her was now on my head. 

“How does a braid crown sound?” I asked.

“Perfect!”

“Then shall we?”

The second recording started when I pressed the rec button again. Making sure that the red light was on, I started brushing her hair. After doing that, I began working on her crown.

I finished in 15 minutes, leaving us 10 minutes to spare.

We finished and she was ready. I packed up all my things, stopped the recording, and walked downstairs.

“Adam.” I called.

“Hm?” He turned to me and was waiting for my instructions or statement.

“Do you mind if I film your reaction?”

“No, go ahead.”

“Okay, thanks. Then to get both her, and your reaction, I’m going to film her coming down the stairs and then your reaction.”

“How are you going to do that?”

“Well, you’re going to have to go into another room first so I can film her walking down the stairs.”

“Oh, okay. Be quick please.”

“Yes sir.”

I ran upstairs to tell Lily, Adam’s wife, that she would descend the stairs twice.

“Mrs. Lily, my sincerest apologies, but can you descend the stairs twice?”

“How come?”

“Your husband gave me approval to film his reaction.”

“Okay.” She said.

“So this is how it will go. You’ll descend the stairs once, and I’ll be filming at the bottom of the stairs.”

“Okay.” She agreed.

“Then you’ll go back up with me, and I’ll help you down the stairs. Adam will be where I was filming and I’ll hand you off to him. You both will exit and I’ll stop recording once the door closes.”

“That sounds like making a movie.”

“It will look like one.”

“That sounds amazing! Okay, let’s do it!”

“As you wish.”

Adam was in the other room, minding his business.

“And…. (Dramatic pause inserted here) action!”

The door of the bedroom opened and Lily walked down the stairs. I recorded her, then helped her up the staircase to do it again. I kind of felt bad about making a woman in a long dress walk up and down the stairs multiple times.

I then ran down the stairs to tell Adam he could come out. By then, Lily was in the room, behind the door. I walked up the stairs again with my camera and put it on my head.

As we started walking, I kept my right arm out for her to hold and walked down slowly.

Adam’s face had a hopeful smile, but as Lily descended the stairs, his face turned into that of a lovestruck idiot. It was as if his flow of time had stopped and it was only those two in the world.

When we reached the bottom of the staircase, I handed Lily to Adam and they exited through their front door.

I stopped recording after the door closed and exited with my things as well.

Outside their house, I collected my fees and bade them farewell.

After getting this footage, I couldn’t wait to get back to Tina’s apartment and edit it. I bet people would love it!

The ride back to OBHQ wasn’t long, so I thought of many ideas along the way.

When I reached the living room, I immediately opened the computer and put in the memory disk.

The videos of the tie commission were imported and edited accordingly. I added in some music for the background as well and clicked upload.

It was simple and quick. I had to fast forward, of course, and add descriptions like I usually did so people would understand what I was dining and why.

The second video, I put more energy into it. First off, I imported the videos and placed them in order. I adjusted the speed, length, and volume of each one. After that, effects were used.

For example, I faded to the next video instead of cutting right to it. This way, it wouldn’t look as choppy.

At the end, where I filmed Adam and Lily, I added music and some sparkle filters. I also slowed it down a bit to emphasize how Adam felt. I concluded this was the best way to show the viewers what Adam was feeling at the moment.

When it was completed, it was uploaded to YouTube.

Because I had no other commissions today, I had a few hours of free time.

I decided to watch some anime because why the hell not. I was about 2 episodes into watching a show, when Tina opened the door. At the time, I was in the living room, so Tina clearly saw what I was watching.

She was two steps into the penthouse when she heard the familiar sound effects from the TV. Tina dropped her things and ran over to the couch where I was sitting. She sat down next to me and watched the scene with me.

The episode ended and I paused the start of a new episode. Tina looked at me slowly, as if she were caught committing a crime.

“You..” Tina started to talk, but couldn’t form a sentence because of the emotions that were overflowing.

“You what?” I asked.

“You like anime?!?!” Tina finally got the sentence out and looked at me like I was a treasure.

“Hm, I didn’t know what it was, so I looked the name up on Netflix..”

“I can’t believe this. You went into my room, didn’t you?” She accused me.

“You took the sign off the door.” I defended myself. I then continued on explaining my position.

“Well, I had some time to kill, so I thought I could do some cleaning..” Tina looked as if her heart had stopped for a moment there.

“Okay, so what now? You’re not going to tell anyone, right?” She was prepared to bribe me, I bet.

“Hm, I wonder… Imagine, the CEO of OmniBeauty, the world famous beauty brand that monopolizes the cosmetics industry, likes anime, which is the home country of your biggest competitor.” I spread my hands apart in front of me, like I was picturing a news headline.

Tina was very wise and quick witted as well, so she caught on to what I was thinking.

“You wouldn’t dare!!” Her tone and words had a vicious hint to them.

“You’re right.”

“If you tell anyone about this, I'll-- what did you say?”

“I said that you’re right. I’d never tell anyone about your obsession with anime.”

“Huh?? Why?” She was genuinely curious.

“Why, you ask.. Well isn’t it good if we otakus stick together?”

“...” She was stupefied. It must be shocking to find someone who shares the same likes for television to be so close to you.

“You mean it?” Tina’s eyes sparkled.

“Yes. But, on one condition.”

“Almost anything.”

“Almost?” I challenged her.

“Okay, okay. Anything you want.” Tina submitted, looked away from me, and pouted like a child.

“Then, we’ll have an anime marathon every Saturday for the rest of the summer. Deal?”

“Huh?” Tina deadpanned.

“Are you serious?” She asked.

“Is that it? I thought you would ask for something more unacquirable, like jewelry, cars, fame, etc.”

“Would I ever do that? I’m not unreasonable.”

“But are you going to blackmail me instead?”

“Gosh, do you really think that low of me? I’m not a monster either.. Plus, it’s illegal.”

“...”

Tina looked unconvinced, so I tried to reassure her. “Look, why would I want more if you’ve given me so much already? If anything, I’m in debt to you.”

“You’re right. Fine, deal. This Saturday, we’ll start.”

“Okay.”

“Now that this matter is solved, grab my bags for me. I’m lazy. Also make me a salad tonight.”

“As you wish, your highness.” I bowed my head.

Tina lightly chuckled and laid down on the sofa.

The bags that were dropped a few minutes ago were still there, so I put them in Tina’s room.

Afterwards, I started to make a salad for both Tina and I.

It didn’t take long. However, usually when I made food, Tina would be already at the bar waiting to stuff her face. She wasn’t there.

It was my habit to look at the bar first because every day, she would be there. I looked at the couch where a black lump was seen. 

Immediately, I sensed something wrong. The first clue was her behavior. She could fake it all she wants, but it won’t slip past me.

I carried the bowls to the living room and set one of them on the coffee table. Tina’s silver hair could be seen from under the black fluffy blanket. I’m not very good at comforting people, but I tried to the best of my abilities.

I put my hand on the blanket where I assumed Tina’s back or shoulder was, and spoke.

“Sis, what’s wrong?”

“Mmh.” 

“Did something happen at work?”

“Mhm.”

“What happened?”

“Mmh.”

“Please talk to me. I can’t help you if I don’t know what’s wrong.”

“You pulled that right out of a movie, didn’t you?”

“Well, there may be a line in a movie like that, but it’s true I want to help you but can’t because I don’t know the problem.”

“Fine.” Tina moved her head out from under the blanket and looked up at me. She was laying down next to where I was sitting.

“It’s because some investors are thinking about selling their shares and stocks in OBHQ.”

“What? Why?”

“I don’t know. There’s a rival company, as you know, from Japan who makes beauty products.”

“And they are offering benefits to the investors if they sell your shares and sign with them?”

“Yes. You’re smart. If we lose the investors, then the company could be in grave danger.”

“I see. It’s a big problem. It must be a headache, right?”

“Yeah. And on top of that, I’ve got to manage everyone else’s work. The CFO is sick and no one is capable of doing his work at the speed I need.”

“Okay. Where does the CFO live? I could help him get better faster so he can start his work again.”

“Hm. I’ll leave it to you. But..”

“Hm?”

“By any chance, are you good at numbers?”

“Uh. Well I would consider myself better than average.”

“Can you add something real quick for me?”

“Sure, let me know when.”

“Go into my bag and get out the blue folder.”

“Okay.” I went into Tina’s room and brought back the blue folder she asked for.

“There should be a list of numbers. I need the sum of everything per page. Can you do it? I’ll need it by tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

I had just finished my salad and started working on the numbers while Tina started eating her salad.

When Tina finished her meal, she put the dishes in the sink and started washing them.

It took around an hour for her to finish eating and doing the dishes.

“Thanks, sis.”

“No problem. I should be thanking you.”

“Yep.”

The show was paused and when Tina came back to the couch, she resumed it and started watching.

Roughly 2 hours later, I finished sorting, adding, and labeling each group’s finances. I closed the blue folder and handed it to Tina. Although she didn’t tell me what I was doing exactly and what it was for, I” had a pretty good idea.

“Done. I need to work out before going to bed though, so I’ll be in the gym room.”

“Okay.”

“Oh, by the way, sis, can you write the CFO’s address on a paper? I’ll visit there after my workout.”

“Sure.”

Tina pulled a blank half sheet of paper used for side notes and wrote his address down.

“Thanks, sis.”

“No worries.”

I proceeded to the workout room and started my daily workout routine. Squats, bench press, abs, curls, tricep extensions, lats, all of it. Time flew by and I finished in an hour and a half.

Just as I was about to leave the room, the door swung open and a flustered Tina stormed through.

“Tina? What’s wrong?”

I was in the corner of the room, putting the dumbbells away when she walked in. Tina said nothing as she neared me. By the time I stood up, she was directly across from me.

BAM! Her hand was on the wall to my left side, blocking my path. 'Is this what I think it is..?'

‘Kabedon..’

“You..” She started to say..