a misty gashed aperture

shifting ground

A/N: Double update because you might kill me if Lisa and Rosie still don't get reunited...

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In a private mansion in the 8th arrondissement, only the VIPs among the VIPs were invited to the afterparty hosted by Ronald van der Kemp, the creative founder of demi-couture fashion house RDVK, his namesake label, that inspired the movement for sustainable change in fashion.

After dinner, Roseanne had been planning her exit since the guests entered the we are_ club mansion. The club, she learned from the tour Ronald was very passionate to conduct, served as the meeting place for artists and entrepreneurs to get to know one another, share ideas and create things that could solve the problems in the modern world.

All the talk about art only brought back Lisa and funnily enough, it was the topic the designer brought up to her just when she zoned out while observing a 72 x 36 inches painting mounted on the black wall, depicting an out-of-the-world realm with a mechanically powered creature as its subject. There was too much light in white and sky-blue strokes that she was uncertain if they were meant to be the background or the perspective through which the painting was to be seen.

"I take it you know Lisa Manoban?"

Hearing the name almost made Roseanne jump, she had to step back from the designer despite the practical space between them.

Ronald beamed at the supermodel and then shifted his gaze to the painting. "She's a member of this club, eh, and that painting was her donation when they first opened. Have you met her, eh, by any chance?"

Tasting the acid of bitterness that got stuck in her throat, Roseanne gravelly spoke, "I—I have."

"Heel goed (very well), heel goed! Say hi to her next time for me, eh, Rosie?" Ronald said in his low, guttural tone.

The blonde model nodded with a small smile. Ironically, just as she was in the process of forgetting about Lisa, Lisa's world was suddenly too close to hers, it felt suffocating. She spun around, finding Ashley and Irene who always brought alcohol with them. It was supposed to be an afterparty to drown yesterday's mistakes tentatively to get through the night, not a pity party to suffer the reckless actions and heedless decisions of the past. The ceremonious tour of the mansion was slowing down her moving on.

Lucky her, Ronald finally finished the tour, and they were heading outside to the wooden garden. Dragging Ashley and Irene with her, she headed straight to the revolving mobile bar at the center of the modular tent. While she was taking shot after shot, the designer joined and started talking about his project for next spring in Amsterdam to exhibit what he aimed to become his boldest confrontation yet with the fashion industry that seemed to be stepping backward and forward with his advocacy.

Not listening or participating in the conversation, Roseanne kept receiving the look from Ashley which she responded with an eye roll every time. She was grateful then to Irene, who kept the designer occupied, smiling more than usual, and dropping her alcohol intake. Good thing Ronald was one of Irene's few favorite people on earth.

Roseanne caught Stella Maxwell staring. Moving on from everything that had to do with Lisa meant going back to her life as it was. Her eyes had been trained to create intrigue and it always worked the second, third, and nth time with the same woman. So, she maintained eye contact, purposely broke it, and gazed back once more to rekindle what ignited the first time.