Cyanica

PRIDE: 1

The middle of the day was always excruciating for Ceruli. The temperature soared above 90 degrees Fahrenheit, due to a record breaking heat wave. But even still, she wore her usual attire. A plain white top that ended just above the waist, a pair of black leggings that reflected her desire for comfort, and newly designed shoes from Prada that were so comfortable they would make Meryl Streep envious. And while her studio did have A/C, it wasn't working at the time, so she sat in her office with a fan pointed right at her face. The heat made it hard to focus on the project at hand, Amani Marino's wedding gown.
Ingrid was out that day as well, due to a bad plate of cazu marzu that she test tasted while the two were in Rome. So when the Duchess of Castelletto called about the dress, she did not have great news to share.

"Is this Ceruli Taquo's office? I'm calling about the wedding gown for my wedding, which is in October, by the way, so I hope you've made some progress", Amani said over the phone. Her tone was polite, but the words tore through Ceruli's psyche.
"Ceruli speaking. Is this Amani Marino", she asked over the phone.
"Oh great!", Amani exclaimed, "And what's the story on my gown?"
"I haven't been able to started yet", Ceruli admitted.
"Oh no! What's wrong?", asked Amani, voice still too loud for Taquo's liking.
"The A/C in the studio died on us, so we are putting up with this awful heat with a couple of office fans and ice", Ceruli explained.
"Well, why didn't you call me as soon as it went out? I'll have Giovanni run out there. He was an HVAC technician before he worked for me", Amani retorted.
"NO!", Ceruli yelled over the phone. The sudden burst of energy shook Amani's whole perception of the woman she was talking to on the phone.
"And why not?", Amani asked, her curiosity piqued.
"Because I wouldn't want him to drive all the way out to Milan for me just to fix an A/C unit", Ceruli replied. She figured that a good way to be able to focus on the project was to have no distractions, and Giovanni was the biggest of them all.
"Besides", she hastily said, "I already have a technician on the way. They should be here s-", she said as she was cutoff by the air coming back on.
"There, see? The air is back on, thank the Virgin Mary herself", she said as the whole studio erupted in a cheer as the heat finally started to let up.
"I'll get started on that dress right now", she said as she ended the call with no formal closing.

Amani was stunned. She had never seen an outburst from Ceruli, even on tour. Something was really bothering her, and Amani knew who.

"Giovanni", she called out, "What did you do when you saw Ms. Taquo off?"
"I've not the slightest idea, Mistress Marino.", he replied.
"What was the last thing you said to her, exactly?", Amani pressed on.
"I offered her a private tour of the property, for inspiration, nothing more", he replied, this time more nervous.
Everything was pointing to one thing. Giovanni had put the charm on Ms. Taquo. What Giovanni didn't know was that Ceruli hadn't been in a stable relationship since her debut in 2012. The main reason that Ceruli wanted to avoid Giovanni was because he had won her heart at first sight, without the slightest effort.
After thinking over the interactions he had with Ms. Taquo, he had realized that he too, had the charm put on him by Ceruli. As he stood in front of the Mistress, he had began to visibly blush at the thought of being with Ms. Taquo.
"Did I strike a nerve with you, Giovanni?", Amani inquired.
"No, Amani. I just need to get a bit of rest, is all. I shall take my leave", he blurted out.

Seeing the stammering mess that was unfolding between Ceruli and Giovanni, the Duchess of Castelletto figured she would use her royal status to push things along. After all, a hush-hush romance was right up Amani's alley, and she would do anything to be a part of the love story.
So she did the most royal thing she could think of, and decided to throw a Gala in Ceruli's honor. The Gala would serve as a front for getting Ceruli to show up, and Giovanni followed her every command, so there was no way they could not bump into each other and, at the very least, express formalities between each other.
The plan was in place, and neither party had any idea of what the Duchess had up her royal garments.

———

The gown was coming along beautifully. Ceruli had already figured out the patterns and material she needed. Next thing was to cut the fabric to shape, and then stitch it up roughly with push pins.
She first cut the fabric; 3 yards of high-grade satin, organza, and a lacey chestpiece that provided more than enough support for Amani's large chest. She had taken measurements before she started to sketch, and was shocked to find that Duchess Amani had a chest size of 36D, which was well above what a person of 5'1" should have.
As she started to fit the pieces together, she realized that she hadn't had enough fabric to cover the hoop skirt she was using to hold the dress out for a true ballgown feel. Rookie mistake, and one she wasn't planning to make again.
Ceruli decided to head to the nearest fabric store to pick up an extra yard of what she was using for the project.
"Oh, good afternoon, Ms. Taquo. What can I help you find today?", asked the shopkeeper, Marcus.
"Thanks for asking, Marcus. I'm actually looking for  another yard of the fabric like this", as she held up a piece of smooth bone-white fabric that had a little bit of texture to it.
"Ah yes, that's something special we keep behind the counter. Want me to bag it up for you, Ms. Taquo?"
"Yes, Marcus. And feel free to call me Ceruli. I'm in here all the time anyway.", she said.
"I'm quite partial to Ms. Taquo, and you may call me Marcus. I don't mean to sound rude, but I would rather keep a safe distance from my customers, and if you can respect that, I would greatly appreciate it", Marcus said. His explanation was well given, but she thought he was hiding more than he was letting on. But the dress was a more pressing matter. So she went back to the studio, wondering why Marcus was so touchy that day.
As she was walking towards the car where Antonio was waiting for her, she heard a voice call out to her. She turns to face the unknown person, thinking it was just the paparazzi wanting to catch a glimpse of her shopping for fabric. What awaited her instead was something far more sinister.
A man in the dark started to walk towards her at an alarming pace. She panicked and ran to the car as fast as she could, telling Antonio to speed off towards her studio. Who was that guy, and why did he have to be so creepy?
She arrived back in the studio and needed a minute alone, to process what just happened. But instead, she got a call from a number she didn't recognize. Hesitantly, she answered the phone, hand shaking from the anxiety building inside her.
"Hello?", she asked, pretending to be stressed from work instead of a potential attacker.
"Evening, Ms. Taquo. Giovanni speaking. How's the gown for Mistress Marino coming along?", he inquired.
"Oh, good evening, Giovanni", she said, a sigh escaping her lips.
"The dress is coming along beautifully, but I had to step out for a minute to grab some more supplies. I underestimated the size of the Duchess's chest.", she confirmed.
On the other end of the line, Giovanni tried to hold back a laugh, but a little chuckle escaped on its own.
"I apologize, Ms. Taquo. I must've had a lapse in maturity, and rest assured it will not happen again.", he said.
It would, in fact, happen again.
"I'm going to go out on a limb and say that's not all you called about, right, Giovanni?", Ceruli asked. She was secretly hoping he would ask to take her on a private tour of the property.
"Sharp as always, Ms. Taquo. The Duchess has decided that she wants to throw a royal gala, in your honor. Shall I tell her you will be there?", he said. He was hoping she would say yes so that they could be around each other for more than 15 minutes at a time.
"I'm a very busy woman, Giovanni. I just got the sketches for my upcoming 2024 winter collection, and working on Amani Marino's gown takes up most of my time these days. I have a reputation to uphold, and you can let the Duchess know that I do not intend on showing up, thank you", she concluded.
That was the end of the conversation. Amani was going to get the perfect gown, even if it means turning down royal invitations. And besides, a party alone with Giovanni was more than she could stand.
She hung up the phone and resumed her work on the project. And after staying up all night and not taking a break until 6AM, the initial stitching was finished.
As the gown caught the morning sun, the rhinestones that she had used to make the dress sparkle did their job. Ceruli couldn't tell if this was from sleep deprivation or the absurd amounts of caffeine in her system, but the way the gown caught the golden rays of the morning sun had brought tears to her eyes. Genuinely, this was the best dress that she had ever sewn, and the final step was cleaning up the construction and hiding the stitching so the dress appeared as one whole unit.
Ceruli had been awake for over 24 hours at this point, and she was feeling the effects. So she closed the studio and went back to her flat, where she could rest up for the night. With this gown, she would once again secure her place as the true Queen of Milan.