Behind the Puppet Master

"Good morning. It is 8:00AM and today is Friday, April Sixth 2036. The weather will be in the beautiful high 80's with a low of 65. Beautiful sunshine all throughout sunny Southern California. Reminders for today: appointment with Juniper King, 11:15AM. Meet Nicholas Fay at-" I turn off my alarm, and press the button that automatically opens up the curtains. I let out a yawn with a stretch and welcome in the morning sunshine. "What a long day ahead of me." I think to myself as I get out of bed. I press another button which begins making the bed for me as I begin my morning workout. 45 minutes later I'm sweaty, fully awake and ready for a shower. The touch screen outside the shower door lights up as I turn it on, and input my preferences. I set the water to 78 degrees Fahrenheit, power rain shower head, turn on some music, and my shower comes to life. As the water starts warming up, I grab my toothbrush, put it under the automatic toothpaste dispenser and it dispenses the perfect, pea-sized amount. I start brushing my teeth, jamming to the music when the touch screen turns green, beeping to let me know the water is at my desired temperature. After my teeth are brushed, I jump in the shower, and already dread the day ahead, feeling ready for the day to be over.  It's about 9:15 when I finish my shower, and as Miss Juniper ordered me to do, I get changed into a loose flannel and sweatpants for today's special occasion. Next, it's time to make myself some breakfast and a smoothie so I head to the kitchen. My phone rings as I sit down, it's my driver, Wayne.  "Hello?" I answer. "Good morning Ms. Monroe, just checkin' in. I just dropped off your father and I'm on my way over. Should be about an hour or so until I get there." "Okay, thanks Wayne." "No prob, I'll let you know when I'm five minutes out." he hangs up. I finish my breakfast and take my smoothie to finish it on my back porch, looking onto the beautiful ocean. I live in Malibu, California with the beach right in the backyard. I breathe in the lovely air and take it all in. This wasn't always my life. My father is Henry Monroe and he was a five-star general of the United States Army during the 2012 War to end all Wars; which forever changed the hierarchy of the world. He was only 34 when he attained that status and at the age of 35, I was born to him and his wife Elaine Monroe. I hardly saw my father during my childhood, but when I did, all I can remember was his stern, no-funny-business, straight-to-the-point attitude. He had a commanding presence that demanded respect, and from a young age I knew to be obedient. The war ended when I was about two years old, and my father came home an honorary hero. Soon after, he met the visionary William Fay and together they founded Fayroe Global in 2015. It started as a small company but bloomed into a multi-billion dollar empire. Today, they're about to sign the biggest deal in the company's history. My phone starts ringing again. "Hello?" I answer. "Hello again Ms. Monroe. I'm about five minutes out." "Okay, thank you, Wayne." "You're welcome." I quickly go inside, put the dirty dishes into the dishwasher and as I head out, I say "Okay, Cece, I'm heading out. Lockdown the house." "Yes, Alina. Proceeding with the lockdown protocol. Have a nice day." replies my artificial intelligent house assistant.  I walk out just as Wayne pulls into our driveway. He comes around and opens the door for me as I walk towards the car. It's brand new, and not the usual car we use.  "Sweet ride." I say jokingly.  "I know right?" he replies, "it's the latest model of the Fayrocious Mosaic."  "Fancy that." "Lets hit the road." He says as I get into the car. The car is solar powered, and like Wayne said, the newest car model. The car must have been charging all day, because it appears Wayne has closed the solar panels since I can see the sky through the roof. The engineers have really outdone themselves this time. Fayroe Global is a giant company that has many branches, one of which is transportation. This car won't be on the market for a couple of months; one of the perks of being part of the company, I guess.  "GPS says it'll be about an hour and twelve minutes. Should be arriving at about 11:10 depending on traffic. You can sit back and relax, or I can put on a movie or something?" Wayne says as he drives down the driveway and out the gates.  "Uhm- no, no thanks. I think I'll just enjoy the ride for a bit, but I'll let you know." "Sure thing." He replies then he presses a button, which lifts a divider from a hidden compartment and gives me complete privacy.  I look out the window and think of how this day is going to be. What the big contract is, how the after party is going to go, what I'm going to wear- my eyes start feeling heavy and I press a button that reclines my seat back. This car rides so smoothly, that I wouldn't know I'm in a moving car. I drift off and the last thought that goes through my mind is how excited I am for the party. Suddenly, I hear a faint voice calling out to me- "Ms. Monroe- Ms. Monroe!" I stir awake, "huh, wha- what? Sorry, I must have drifted off." "It's alright," he says, "we're going to be arriving soon. Just thought you should be awake before we get there." "Thanks, Wayne, you're the best." I reply with a yawn.  "You're welcome." A few moments later, we pull up at The Beauty Bar, and as I get out of the car he calls to me,  "So, I know I can never get a definite answer, but when do you think I should come back?" "I'll let you know when we're almost done." I start closing the door but then I stop, "I just remembered I still don't have anything to wear tonight." "Don't worry, young Mr. Fay is having me pick something up." "Oh- I- I can't wait…" I reply with the best smile I can muster and then close the door. Wayne drives off and I turn to face the salon. "Alright, here we go." I think to myself as I open the door.  Miss June runs up excitedly, "As I live and breathe, child! Come in, come in! We gotta big, big day ahead of us, don't we?" "We sure do, Miss June." I go to hug her but she practically swallows me up in a big embrace. "Oh child-" she starts, almost a little disappointed, "you gon' reeeally make me work hard for that dough aintcha?" I give her a confused look and she stares me up and down. She shrugs it off and laughs, "Well, dontcha worry about a thing, baby, once Miss June is done witchu, you're gonna drop jaws and turn heads!" she says excitedly. "Mmmhm, it is a big day after all, and we got lots of celebratin' to do." I let out a little smile, looking at how excited Miss June is for today. I don't blame her either; she's my stylist and has been my stylist for years. Normally, when I come by, she just does something simple to get me ready for a day at work. There's an occasional haircut here and there, some light makeup on other days. However, today, she gets to style me the way she deems fit, and do what she does best. As much as I don't enjoy getting dolled up, Miss June always seems to find a way to make it fun. She walks over to one of her salon chairs and ushers me after her. "Come on, child! We ain't got all day, ya know?" I sit down in her chair and she starts working her magic on my hair. I have long, chocolate brown hair that goes halfway down my back. I usually have it up in a messy bun, so it isn't in the best of shape. Maybe this is what she meant about having her work cut out for her. She sprays something into my hair, brushes it out and starts shaping it into a super adorable, yet formal updo. We make small talk as she keeps working on my hair and thirty minutes later my hair is done. "So? Whatcha think?" "Wow- it's- it's" I can't find the words. "I know, honey, I know." she says confidently, "we ain't even halfway there yet-" she pauses as if an idea just popped into her mind. I can never know what goes on inside her brilliant mind. "You know what? I'm actually gonna cover up them mirrors so you can't peek no mo'." she grabs some capes from a drawer and drapes them over the mirrors.  "Is this really necessary?" I ask with a bit of a giggle. "Mmmhm, how else are you gonna get blown away by my masterpiece?" she says enthusiastically, "now you hush now, baby, cause you know I’m gonna take good care of you!"  I laugh and shake my head, "Alright, I can't wait to see it." She grabs her giant collection of makeup and starts studying my face as if she's never seen it before. She looks at my eyes, follows the curves of my lips, my face shape. She mutters an occasional "mmmhm" and "yes, yes." Then she gets to work.  She starts by tweezing and shaping my eyebrows. I wince occasionally and she shakes her head, muttering under her breath that if I don't want it to hurt so much, I should maintain it better. She applies some ointment on my lids that instantly relieves the pain. She picks up a little machine, places her hand under my chin, lifting my head up, and holds it up to my neck. I hear a little beep and she looks at the small screen and nods her head. She practically hops over to this bigger machine, inputs some numbers, making sure to copy the exact sequence from the little machine. I’m not sure what is happening, but it’s doing something. I have so many questions but I know better than to ask. We continue making small talk as she squirts some clear cream onto her hands. She rubs it around her palms and lathers it onto my face, gently slapping my cheeks, here and there until my face feels tacky. It smells of coconut mixed with vanilla cake, and the smell transfixes me. “Smells good.” I compliment it. “My own secret concoction, baby, ain’t no one gonna ever have this in their homes or stores.” she says proudly. “I wouldn’t doubt it.” “Now hush up and don’t move.” she orders.  She goes back to the big machine, opens the hatch and I notice that some liquid has been dispensed into a small flat plate. By the looks of it, it seems like a foundation. She comes over to me and grabs a big, flat, foundation brush and starts painting it on my face. It feels kind of warm, but other than that I don’t actually feel the product on my face. She uses her fingers to point to where she wants me to look, and soon my whole face is covered in foundation. “So perfect.” she says with a huge grin. Next, she moves to the concealer, then the contour, which smells like chocolate, and then she stares into my eyes. The way she stared I’d swore she was trying to search for my soul. I almost get a little uncomfortable, until she smiles excitedly as if she discovered something amazing and begins the eyeshadow. Just as she’s about to put the first color on, she pauses and looks at me as if I ran over her cat.  “What?” I ask worrily. “Do you even know what you’re gonna wear, child?”  “N- no, I don’t,” She doesn’t seem pleased with my answer. “Bu- But Nick is the one choosing my dress for tonight. He- umm wanted it to be a surprise.” I say trying to save myself. She sighs and says, “alright, I’ll be right back.” And off she goes to make a phone call. She comes back after a few moments and seems happier. She proceeds with the eyeshadow and by the looks of all the different colors she’s using, I’m definitely not going to look like myself. Some time passes and I think she’s satisfied enough with the eye look to stop. She smiles like she’s so proud of her own work and does some finishing touches on my eyebrows. She opens a drawer that reveals rows of false eyelashes and I’m trying my hardest to not get intimidated. I’ve never gotten along with falsies before. She picks a couple of samples and holds them close to my eye. The first six were not good enough. The look of relief when she finds the perfect lashes is like a child on Christmas morning. She applies some lash glue and I think to myself, ”here goes nothing.”  “Alright, now close your eyes and try not to breathe none of this stuff in, okay?” She says once the lashes are on. I close my eyes, take a deep breath in and she sprays something onto my face. It’s so cold that it sends shivers down my spine. She grabs a fan and starts fanning my face to dry it off quicker. “You can open your eyes now, child.” I open my eyes and look at her. She seems so satisfied with her work that she doesn’t do anything but smile.  “Can I look now?” She almost seems offended that I asked. “Nevermind.” I say. “Patience, sugar, patience, Wayne should be here any minute now with that fancy dress of yours.” “Oh.” Is all I can say. As if on cue, Wayne walks through the salon door holding a dress that’s hidden under a black garment cover. “Young Mr. Fay had this dress specially designed for you, for this occasion.” Wayne says with a smile.  I smile and the voice in my head keeps saying, “which probably means it won’t suit me at all and I’m not gonna like it.” But instead I say, “I can’t wait to try it on.” Miss June shoos Wayne out of her salon after grabbing the dress, and ushers me to the back of the salon where there's a dressing room. She’s so excited she basically shoves me into the dressing room and I begin undressing. I take the dress out of the cover and try not to scream as I look at the dress. It’s a long, baby pink dress with crimson streaks that spreads like vines to the bottom of the dress. The vines start at the waist and become more predominant at the bottom. It has crimson fabric, shaped like rose petals that are stitched on to the vines creating a 3D effect of falling rose petals. “Oh dear god, I hate the color pink so much.” I groan as I put the dress on. It’s a flowy dress which is a plus, I guess, but it seems that Nick wanted people to be staring at my breasts. “Hopefully my breasts can distract from the rest of this disaster.” “I’m not gettin’ any younger out here, child!” she says impatiently. “I’m almost done, I just need help zipping this up.” “Well get on out here then.” I open the dressing room door and by the look on Miss June’s face, I can tell she isn't too thrilled. She’s trying so hard to find the words to say, and all she can say is, “Well- isn’t that-” she pauses again, “somethin’ else.” I internally facepalm, “I knew it, Nick doesn’t know me at all.”  I turn around and she zips me up. “Alright, lets go see the transformation.” she says, no longer feeling too enthusiastic. She takes me to the full length mirror that’s still covered with the cape.  “You ready, child?”  “As ready as I’ll ever be.” She pulls the cover off and I stare at the mirror, trying my best to ignore the dress. Instead, I look at my face and can’t help but stare. The foundation perfectly matches my skin tone. The way Miss June used the colors of purple, blue, and browns brings out the beauty of my hazel eyes. The crimson red lipstick she used brings just the right amount of attention to my full pouty lips. My face looks older than 24, but the person I see in the mirror is gorgeous. The way she contoured my oval face brings the perfect detailing and shadowing. I’m blown away by her makeup; I hardly recognize myself. She’s beautiful, but she’s not me. Despite all that, I still love it, and at least my face will take away attention from the dress- I hope.  “Well?” “I- I love it Miss June!” I exclaim and hug her. “You’ve really outdone yourself this time.” She hugs my back even tighter, “I know, honey, I know.” I grab my purse to take out some money, but she pushes my purse down, “don’tchu worry about a thing, child, he already took care of everything.” she says.  “Thank you so much Miss June.” I look at myself up and down the mirror again. I still think the dress is hideous, but I can’t lie and say I don’t look glamorous.  “Of course, honey. Now you go on out there and turn some heads!” she ushers me out the door. She hands me a bag with the clothes I wore this morning. “See you soon, child.” “Bye, Miss June.” I say and give her one last hug. Wayne is waiting for me outside and he lifts his sunglasses up and stares me up and down, raising his eyebrows. I know what he’s thinking, he knows me too well and knows that this whole thing just is not me. “Not bad, Ms. Monroe.” he says. “Don’t remind me- it’s only for today, Wayne.” He lets out a small chuckle, “shall we be on our way then?” he asks. “Please.” I get in the car and place the bag in the back.  “Should be about 15 minutes to Costa Mesa,” he starts, “young Mr. Fay will be excited to see you.” “Thank you.” I reach into my purse and spray some perfume on myself. “At least today is getting closer to being over.” I think to myself and stare out the window. I don’t hate Nick, I just wish he wasn’t so narcissistic and actually wanted to know me as a person. Last year, I didn’t even know that Mr. Fay had a son, and now everyone thinks we’d make the ultimate power couple. I know I could do a lot worse than Nick, but I just can’t seem to bring myself to want to be with him. He keeps trying to win my affection with extravagant gifts and lavish jewelry, but I can’t be bought. We can’t hold an intelligent conversation, and being around him makes me want to scream. I know he so desperately wants to be with me for the good publicity, but I can’t deny what my heart truly wants. I lose myself in thought, and before I know it, we’re pulling up to the corporate headquarters. The building itself is giant and magnificent. Truly a symbol of the enormous corporate empire William and my father built. This doesn't include the fifteen acres of land that has other branches of the business in different buildings. There still remains some empty land space but that's for whatever new business ventures William decides to make. In fact, they are already constructing a new building. I can't really describe the main building in words because it's so architecturally advanced and sophisticated. At the top of the six story building, you see the giant sign that reads Fayroe Global with a huge globe that hugs the word.  Wayne pulls up to the front of the entrance and opens the door for me. I thank him and walk towards the main doors. Normally you would have to scan your badge to gain entrance, but the security guard at the front desk recognizes me and buzzes the door open when he sees me.  "Hello Ms. Monroe, Mr. Fay should be coming out of the meeting shortly." he greets me. "Thank you." I tell him with a polite smile, and with that, he presses a button that allows access to the elevator at the end of the hall. I press the button to the top floor and as the elevator moves up, I see everyone scrambling around on different floors, trying to finish whatever work they have. The new contract should be final and signed any minute now. The elevator reaches the top floor and I hear a ding. A female voice comes on and says "Welcome to the Top Floor."  I exit the elevator and am immediately greeted by two female assistants. They are both wearing black business skirts, white button up shirts, and black heels. One hands me some water, while the other is holding a clipboard.  "I can take your purse for you, Ms. Monroe." The first assistant offers with her hand reaching out. "Oh yes, please, thank you." I tell her as I hand her my purse and she leaves. "Ms. Monroe," the second assistant begins, "here is the itinerary for tonight. The meeting should be ending momentarily. Mr. Fay will meet you soon after. Is there anything I can do for you in the meantime?"  "No, no thank you. I'll just wait for him out here." I tell her. She nods and before she leaves she says, "let me know if there is anything you need." I thank her again and she leaves to take care of other matters. I turn around and walk over to look out the giant glass window that towers over the rest of the property. I wonder if William ever gets used to seeing this every day. I admire the view and can hear people leaving the conference room. I turn around to see my father shaking hands with the new general of the United States Army, and William is talking with the president. Some laughter erupts and they seem extremely satisfied with the contract. It's been a huge secret and not a lot of people know what the new contract is, including myself. I watch as the president and general head out the door, which leads up to the roof where the helipad is located. The presidential helicopter takes off and I see it fly away as I walk to my father. "Hello, father." I greet him with a quick kiss on the cheek. "Alina," he begins, "you look beautiful." He cradles my cheek with his hand, and I hold it. "You remind me so much of your mother-" "Thank you. I miss her every day." I say, trying to fight back any sad thoughts.  "Me too-" he says. He clears his throat, "Anyways, William and I have some important matters to attend to before the party. Make sure to say hello to him, and we'll see you later. I love you." He pulls me in for a hug. "I love you too, daddy." I whisper in his ear.  He lets me go with a pat on the shoulders. He smiles and starts heading to the elevator. I approach William just as he finishes his phone call. "Hello, Mr. Fay. I trust the deal went accordingly?"  He chuckles, "It could not have gone any better. Big things are coming and that's all I can say right now!" He seems really excited about this. "My son should be heading out any moment now. I'll see you at my estate later tonight, I just have a few things to take care of first. Excuse me." And with that, he joins my father and they head down on the elevator.  I walk to the rails by the elevator, watching it go down and keep looking until I see my father and William leave the building, where Wayne was still waiting out front. I watch them drive away and that's when I feel his arms wrap around my waist. "Hello, gorgeous." "Hey, Nick- how did everything go?" I turn to face him. "Oh no biggie, I knew everything would work out. I don't see what the big fuss was about." "Of course you didn't." I think to myself. "Thank you, for the dress. I- I've never seen anything quite like it." I pretend to compliment it; partly to be polite, but also because I don't know what to say.  "Well, of course you haven't, I had designers at Bottega Veneta specially make this dress for you. It's one of a kind and no one else will ever have it. Nothing but the best for you, my dear." He brags.  "So-" I'm struggling so hard to find anything to talk about, "when are we heading to the estate?" "Oh our private chopper should be here in an hour or so. We just gotta wait until most, if not all the guests are there before we make our grand entrance." "I hate making a big scene and being the center of attention." I really do wish Nick knew me at all- but instead I say, "Seems exciting."  "Yeah, you hungry? I can have food delivered here before we head back to the estate." He says checking his watch. "I could eat, yeah." He gives me a quick peck on the cheek. We decide on a restaurant to order from, and I look up the menu on my phone. He suggests I order a salad and I shake my head. He calls out to the first assistant when we both decide on what we want. “Go to Chez Ramone and order a Lasagna for me, and,” he turns to face me, “are you sure you don’t want a caesar salad or something?” I try to fight back a dirty look, “yes, I’m sure.” I turn to the assistant, “Can you please get me a Porterhouse steak, medium rare, with a side of veggies?” “Sure thing, ma’am” she says. “Don’t take too long.” Nick says and he rudely dismisses her. I roll my eyes and take deep breaths. Then I try to make small talk with him but it doesn’t go too well. So we sit in silence and even though she comes back in thirty minutes, the minutes crawled by like years. She sets up an area in his dad’s office for us to eat. I thank her politely, and we sit down to enjoy our meals. I try to ask him about the contract but instead he keeps talking about himself. He tells me how set for life he is because he's the heir to the company, to which I remind him that my father also founded the company. He talks about all the vacations he plans to take, all the places he wants to go and I sit there internally screaming. Eventually we finish our meals and I hear the helicopter approaching.  "Finally, and at least a helicopter ride would be shorter than a car ride." I think to myself.  We get up to leave and we go up to the helipad. He quickly gets in and gets on his phone; leaving me on the helipad until the pilot comes out and helps me onto my seat. He reminds us to put the headsets on to protect our ears, and after getting air clearance, we take off and head towards Beverly Hills. “I can’t wait to finally see the Fay Family Estate.”