Chapter 12: Chapter 12
Karen brough Francesca next to the dressing rooms on the 1st underground level.
The hall was all white and on the walls were several images of famous artists signed with Ver Industries.
"So the lower floor is just like this, but this floor has the assigned dressing rooms." Karen explained as they approached a door with a name on it. "Sometimes, artists have events or shoots that don't provide dressing rooms or the dressing rooms aren't in a good enough state, especially for the more popular artists, so some of them come here prior to the event. There are also some photo shoots held in the function room so this place is a must."
"So I can use these facilities too?" Francesca asked.
"Yeah. But for the meantime you'll have to use the shared dressing rooms. Usually it's vacant, but sometimes you'll either need to share or reserve a dressing room in advance." Karen explained.
"What's with the tour?" A woman said behind them. "Karen, you know the policy against bringing outsiders in here."
Francesca turned to find an actress she recognized standing behind her. If she recalled correctly the woman's name was Gabriella Forest. She was considered a beauty due to her mixed race heritage.
"Miss Forest, I'm just showing our new artist around." Karen said as she took a step back.
She pulled Francesca back as well, almost making Francesca trip.
"How the giants have fallen." Gabriella commented as she shook her head. "Clearly Alvin has lost his touch. He was so much better at this when he was my manager." Gabriella said as she eyed Francesca from head to toe.
Francesca chose not to answer back, she wasn't naive. She knew that this woman was bullying her because in her eyes Francesca was inferior.
"Gabriella is talking to the two of you." One of her assistants hissed.
"Miss Francesca is new, I'm sure she will improve." Karen suddenly said, surprising everyone. Normally people didn't respond when Gabriella and her group mocked them this way.
"Don't be delusional Karen." Gabriella said with a laugh. "From what I heard Mr. Edward was forced to take her in because of a favor he owed a friend, and she's even distantly related to that friend. She's not some family friend of the Vernons, she's just some country bum, look at the way she's dressed, not a single recognizable brand on her!" Gabriella exclaimed.
"Don't." Francesca told Karen. She didn't want people to find out that she was a Rocci. If people knew then it would eventually reach her father's ears and if Martin Rocci found out, then her whole career would go down the drain.
"Hmph, at a loss for words now?" Gabriella's assistant asked. Francesca again stopped Karen from responding.
"Good. Now get out of our way." Gabriella hissed as she entered her dressing room.
"Why did you stop me?" Karen asked angrily as she and Francesca continued to walk down the hall of dressing rooms.
"I don't want trouble." Francesca told Karen.
"No matter what you do Gabriella will be trouble." Karen said as she walked ahead.
"If we fight back now we will only lose." Francesca explained as she caught up to Karen. "Even if Edward was a personal family friend I don't want him interfering. Him helping out would only prove my father's point."
"Fine, I won't do that again." Karen promised with a sigh as she pushed a door open. "So this is one of the dressing rooms that you will actually be allowed to use." Karen announced as they walked in.
It was bigger than Francesca expected. There were four mirrors placed against the wall, there were also two couches and a dining table inside. On one side there was a door that led to a bathroom that had a shower.
"It's nice." Francesca said as she looked around.
"It is. The Vernon family really take good care of their artists, even the small ones." Karen said as she smiled.
"So where to next?" Francesca asked as they walked out of the dressing room.
"I'll take you to some of the boring places." Karen said with a giggle as they headed for the elevator.
Karen brought Francesca up to the second to fifth levels of the building, it housed the finance, marketing, PR, and operations departments of Ver Industries. She introduced Francesca to many of the employees she knew, some were excited to meet her, others couldn't be bothered since they thought she was just some pretty face who would come and go as many did.
It was actually quite common in the industry for a woman to enter into acting one day and leave in less than a year. The industry demanded much from those that wanted to pursue it, one scandal, one rumor, one bad move, any of those could quickly spell the end for one person's career. So many of the employees chose not to be too attached to new artists, it was only after they survived one year that the employees would begin to warm up to them.
"Oh, I almost forgot." Karen excitedly said as she pressed a button on the elevator.
"What?" Francesca asked as she laughed at the assistants excited expression.
"There is one place I'm sure you'll love." Karen said with a grin.
When the elevator doors opened Francesca was once again greeted by a colorful hallway that seemed to be a trademark design of the building. Karen excitedly walked out smiling from ear to ear.
Francesca couldn't help but wonder what could make Karen so excited.
Karen stopped by a door and smiled. "This." she said as she pushed the door open. "Is the wardrobe department." Karen proudly announced as they stepped in.
"They've got everything in here, from costumes to ballgowns." Karen boasted.
The room looked more like a giant walk-in closet with a counter at the front.
"Hey Karen." A plump lady at the counter waved as she spotted the duo. "Is this the new artist? The one that had Mr. Edward dragging Alvin out of retirement?"
Karen grinned. "Yes. Francesca, this is Gina, she's the head stylist here at Ver Industries."
"I see Joanna did a good job in toning down your image." Gina said as she observed Francesca's fashion.
"She did it too well I think." Francesca said with a laugh as she recalled the insults the other artists had said.
"It'll be good in the long run. If you need to borrow anything just visit me here." Gina said with a wink as she went back to sketching.
"Manager Alvin should be done by now. Let's go back." Karen said as they left.
Just as Karen had predicted, Alvin was already packing up his stuff when they got back to the office.
"You girls are right on time." Alvin said with a smile. "Let's go."
-- Gift
received