Victory Is Mine (Velvette x OC)

5 - Always Look On The Bright Side Of The Afterlife

12pm soon arrived, which meant that lunch was being set out.
"You guys can eat your lunch at your usual places. Gimme a bell before you get back, though." Velvette explained.
We looked at each other with confusion.
"Let me know when you're coming back, I mean." Velvette corrected herself, before muttering, "I need to teach you guys British slang."

The other two designers left in front of me, but before I could set foot out of the door, Velvette stopped me.
"Actually, Nora, mind if you stay behind a sec?" she mentioned. I stopped dead in my tracks.
"Sit." Velvette ordering, motioning towards the chair across her. Gently, I placed myself in the chair. It was surprisingly comfy. Vrlvette then slid a menu card over the table along with a pencil.

"...Mind explaining what's going on?" I asked.
"I kinda just wanna know more about you, y'know? I think you're a bit of a mysterious person, and I wanna see what's going on in your brain, and what better way to bond than over lunch?" Velvette explained in a cheery tone.
"I'm guessing I don't have a say in the matter." I said, picking up the pencil.
"Nope." Velvette replied, still in the cheery tone. "Order whatever you like, and make it snappy."

After we filled out our cards, a small robot took them and scurried out of the room.
"Right, our food'll be here soon. But, while we wait, tell me a bit more about yourself." Velvette prompted. She held her head in her hands, staring intently at me.
"Well, what do you want to know?" I asked, leaning back in my chair.
"Well, I know you're a very driven person, for starters." she stated. "You don't stop until you're satisfied with your work, but you also like the sensation of feeling above others. And I want to know the backstory behind that."

"First of all, I want to know where you got all of those from." I noted.
"It's all in the bio of your work account." Velvette responded. In that moment, I kinda forgot I had a separate social media account for my designs.
"And second, I wasn't like this when I was alive." I continued. "I wasn't as confident as I am now, but I don't think you want to hear my sob story."
"That's the reason I brought you here, darling." Velvette insisted. "Tell me more."
I sighed as I began to recount the events that landed me in the underworld.

"I worked as a seamstress for this rich family. Like, really rich. I would design and make all their clothes, but the pay was pitiful. And they could clearly pay me more, they were just being stingy little pricks. So, whenever they were out of the house, I'd steal some of the money out of the safe. They had the combination written down somewhere. However, one day, the son caught me in the act, and the fucker ratted me out to his parents. I was promptly fired, but I didn't regret a thing. One week, I was walking down the street at night when this guy dragged me into an alley, I couldn't see his face. He was holding a knife...and..."

I traced my fingers over the scar on my neck. I couldn't bring myself to finish the sentence. After I finished my story, the food arrived, so I was just staring blankly at my food.
"That's morbid." Velvette murmured.
"Yeah. Life's a bitch, then you die, right?" I replied, speaking a mozzarella ball with my fork. "I bet it was an assassin who the family hired. They'd be able to afford one, too, that shit's expensive."

"Being in Hell can be a good thing, you know." Velvette remarked. "Sure, you're gonna suffer for a few years, but if you're able to rise above the dross, things start to get better. I mean, look at me. I started out a pathetic little creature when I died, but look at me now. I'm the best fashion designer this side of the Pride Ring. Fuck Dior, fuck Chanel, I'm the queen of the castle, bitches!"

I laughed quietly at this line. Not in a malicious way, but it was cool to see Velvette not be annoyed and judgemental.
"I suppose you're right." I replied inbetween bites. "I mean, if I continue like this, who knows where I'll be? I am one of your best designers, after all."
"Well, technically, you weren't meant to hear that." Velvette replied, pointing her fork at me. "You actually know how to design modern, while the others are in the past. They're plebs, the lot of them."

I felt amused at that line. Granted, I still didn't know what she meant, but it still sounded fun. We kept talking all through lunch, laughing and joking with each other, until Velvette got a text that the other designers were coming back. The robot from earlier took our trays, and I went back to my mannequin. The other two designers walked back in to see me, hard at work?
"Nora? Did you not eat anything?" Louise asked, slightly concerned.
"Nah, I wasn't that hungry. I'll get something on the way home." I replied, giving a discreet wink at Velvette. She responded with a sneaky smile before going on her phone again.