Y/n is a friend of Artie's who often helps him and his crew of tailors. Now that Artie has required her help for the fashion show of one of the top icons of the moment, Cruella, she has to learn how to coexist with her and try and understand why her...
Heyy everyone, I'm back! Sorry for not updating on Friday, but after my exam, I just wanted to take a rest from university, and it felt really good, I came up with an idea for a future chapter, and I'm really excited! 🤩 Thank you so much for your support and for all the positive energies you sent me for my exam! ❤️ Keep giving me feedback, because your comments crack me up every time!
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You were sitting at the table where you worked every day for the last couple of days. You weren't really sure what this would entail, you followed Cruella to the elevator without knowing what would happen after, but to be honest, you weren't that concerned about it, actually, you found some form of comfort in it.
Cruella had gone upstairs to make tea and said, to be more precise, demanded, that you stayed put until she came back. You did as you were told, not really wanting to get on Cruella's bad side once again. You figured that she wanted to talk to you and tell you the whole story because if she wanted to threaten you to not tell anyone else what you now knew, you figured that she would've done it the moment you opened your mouth downstairs.
You heard the pantographic door of the elevator closing and you started to feel a little nervous. The elevator came to a stop and out came Cruella. One thing you loved about your little work spot, was the fact that you had a good angle vision for both the elevator and Cruella's workplace, so you were always able to see where she was. Obviously, at first, you just wanted to keep an eye on her to be able to see in what mood she was in from day to day. But now you found that you couldn't help but observe her every day, even if it was only once or twice each time. You didn't know why but it already was part of your routine.
Cruella walked towards where you were sat and placed the teacups on the table, gently to not make a lot of noise since Horace and Jasper were probably already asleep. You muttered a quiet "thank you" as she sat down on the chair on your left.
You weren't sure what to say, not even sure if you were the one that was going to speak up first. You grabbed your teacup with both hands, in an attempt to warm them. It was pretty dark outside already, you weren't really sure what time it was, but you weren't really concerned with that at the moment, the only thing you needed was for Cruella to say something.
"For years, I blamed myself for the death of my mother," Cruella said quietly, you glanced towards her, to make sure she was really speaking to you and you weren't making anything up in your mind, but she was staring intently at the table as if she was living it all again. "I thought that she had died because of me, and ever since then, I've been trying to be the person that she wanted me to be.." she then looked towards you, and you nodded your head, as in silently saying for her to continue. ".. sweet Estella, for the matter."
"Since I was a kid I've dreamed of being a fashion designer, and after a long time, it looked like the dream was coming true." she said emotion dripping from her words "Working for the baroness, one of the biggest names in the fashion industry, I was so excited." She scoffed, looking down at her hands that rested on top of the table.
"So you worked for the baroness? How did I not know that?" You said incredulous, she had worked for the woman who killed her mother, that was really messed up.
"I still work for her, darling." She stated, fidgeting as she glanced at you, while you stared back at her wide-eyed. "I discovered that she had my mother's necklace, the one I had with myself the night she died, I remember that I've must have dropped it while I was running away that night, and perhaps she found it... but she told me that an employee once stole it, which is not true, my mom was not a thief." Cruella said, her last words deemed with rage as the thought of the baroness calling her mother a thief. You saw now that there was a lot about Cruella that you had let it slide right past you. And the only thought on your mind was that she really was brilliant.
"I tried to get it back, the necklace, but the plan went sideways.." Cruella said. ".. I took the necklace and the plan was almost back on track, but then when she called her dogs on after buddy, I remembered hearing that exact same sound the night my mother died.."
You sat there, looking at Cruella, she didn't even seem herself. You wanted to comfort her but you weren't really sure how to do that, or most importantly, how she would react. You were cursing yourself in your own head to stop and show her that you would help her take down the baroness, help her with anything she needs, tell her that you'll be there for her. But as much as you wanted you still didn't find the courage to do it.
"It felt like it was happening all over again." She said glancing once again at you, her eyes were like two crystals, unshed tears that she was holding to herself, you thought. And that's what broke you. You reached for her hand and held it tightly, not sure how she would take this but you really didn't give a fuck about it anymore.
Cruella kept looking at you, and you were starting to become nervous. You gave her hand a squeeze as if to show her it was ok for her to be sad and cry in front of you, which it was, you would never think lesser of her, she would still remain the intimidating, brilliant and powerful woman she was, no matter what.
You gave her a small smile as she looked at you, and that was when the inevitable happened. Your body was moving on its own, you felt as if you weren't in control of it anymore. You leaned forward and hugged her.
You felt Cruella tense up at this and thought that you had messed up and perhaps this was too much for her. So you started drawing back from it, the word "sorry" was already out of your lips when Cruella hugged you back, forcefully. Her arms wrapped around your neck as her chin came to fall on your shoulder. Now you were the one to be surprised, once again, but this time you were relieved.
"You apologize far too many times, darling." She said and you let out a breath you didn't know you were holding. You had to admit that this felt really nice.
"Sorry." You said, cringing instantly as you came to the realization you apologized once again.
She let out a low chuckle and drew back from the hug. You did that as well, as this position wasn't in fact one that was considered comfortable. You were both still sitting and you weren't really sure what to do now.
"I should go." You said, Cruella looked at you and nodded. "It's getting pretty late and tomorrow we have to get everything wrapped up for the fashion show." You said standing up, Cruella got up as well. You grabbed your purse and the both of you started towards the elevator. You got in and wished Cruella a rest of a good night.
You weren't sure if it was your mind trying to play tricks on you or not, but you think Cruella looked kind of sad that you had to leave. It was probably your imagination, the lack of sleep from the night before was getting to you.
You closed the pantographic door of the elevator, with Cruella still looking at you. You smiled at her as she said "Goodnight, darling." Leaving you with butterflies in the pit of your stomach.
This day ended up, ending a lot more different than it was expected, in a good way. You were excited to see how things would enroll after this.
