Chapter Text
This was it, her last chance. If Trixie didn't complete her internship hours in the next six months, she wasn't graduating with her friends. She couldn't stand the embarrassment of being left behind. And she simply couldn't afford another semester worth of debt. She managed to get a few jobs doing hair and make up for other students' projects and some off-off-off-Broadway shows, which, luckily, counted for her mandatory internship hours. But she still had at least three months worth of work left to do and no signs of getting anything at all.
Trixie was as frustrated as she could be. She was born to be a star, to shine on a stage, to sign her pictures anywhere she goes, to have her name shouted by crowds. Her life had been planned around this one and only goal. She could dance, she could sing and she looked like a living doll. Everyday she woke up at least an hour early to have her long blonde hair perfectly curled, her face sculpted with make up, her body embraced by the best look she could put together. There was no one like her. And yet, she wasn't excelling. No even in her classes, no one admired her. She wasn't the best at anything. Only “good”, always just “good”. It killed her inner light everyday a little more. That's why, when Kim walked into their over-decorated dorm room to tell her the news, she had to force a smile on her pink lips.
“I got the job!” Kim hugged her while bouncing slightly with excitement. “I'm starting next week! I am officially a make up artist for a real fashion magazine!”
“Congratulations, honey!” Trixie smiled, using the best of her acting abilities.”I knew you were getting it, you deserve it!”
“Thanks! I am so happy, you have no idea, Trixie. I told you our dreams were gonna come true, didn't I?”
Trixie sighed, her cheeks hurting lightly to keep her smile up. “Yeah, you did. I mean, you and Pearl just... got there. It's really happening.”
Pearl had been hired as an assistant music producer at the studio she had interned in. If she wasn't already the coolest girl in town, she was definitely conquering the title. Now, Kim was becoming the real deal too. Truth is, Trixie used to be the queen bee of the trio. And being out shined was huge no-no. There was a reason she had cut outs of Marylin Monroe and Barbie pictures on her vision board. She was no opening act, she was Brtiney, bitch.
“Girl...” Kim looked at her with a concerned face. “You're not getting in that defeated mindset again, are you? I've told you, you have to be patient.”
“Of course not!” The blonde scoffed with an exaggerated wave of her hands. “I'm cool, Kim. I mean, I have bigger ambitions, so it takes longer to get there, right?”
The taller girl blinked slowly and pretended not to notice the arrogant undertone of what she heard. Trixie tended to do that – when she felt bad about herself, she tried to hide from the world, only the place she usually chose to hide was all the way up her own ass.
“Yes, that's true” Kim agreed patiently. “There's a lot coming your way, you're gonna make it big, Trixie.”
–
The next morning, Trixie was up and ready in record time, so she decided to get herself a croissant and a chocolatey frapuccino as a reward for not crying herself to sleep last night. While she waited for her breakfast, she looked around the café, scanning a cork board covered in party flyers, notes asking for help with school projects and weird job proposals. On the bottom right, a blue piece of paper caught her attention.
Art studio needs intern
You can have coffee all the day and use the studio space for your personal projects in your free time.
Applications to: [email protected]
Trixie chuckled at the e-mail and pulled out her phone. This wasn't what she had in mind, but at this point there was no time for choosing. She did a quick research on the studio, just to make sure it wasn't some psychopath’s trap, then sent in her résumé. About half an hour later, she was just finishing her coffee and scrolling through instagram, her phone rang.
“Hello?”
“Hi! This is Tatianna, from Zamo Art Studio. Can I speak to Trixie Mattel, please?”
Whoa. That was fast.
“This is her!”
“Oh, hello, Trixie! So, you applied for the intern position, right?”
“Yes.” The blonde girl had her fingers crossed under the table.
“Are you available for an interview today?”
“Yes!” She almost screamed in excitement. “Yeah, I'm totally free after two!”
“Great! So, can you be here at three?”
“Yeah! Let me get a pen to right down the address” she reached into her bag, slightly bouncing off her seat. She wrote it on a napkin and hang up with a happy “see you later”.
“Well” she thought, “life's giving me lemons, so let's make lemonade.”
Chapter One – Eternal game of tug and war
Trixie arrived in front of a white small building, big glass windows looking down on her from the top floor, a simple metallic door waiting for her. There was no doorbell or sign, so she opened it and peaked in, immediately chocked. The place was huge on the inside, filled with art, plants and people talking. It almost looked like a party. She closed the door behind her and walked up to a large white desk where a brunette woman was sitting.
“Hi! I'm Trixie, I'm here for the internship interview.”
“Hi, Trixie!” The brunette smiled and stoop up to greet her, and Trixie marveled at her beauty. She wore a tight black dress, purple lipstick and had the most perfect eyebrows Trixie had ever seen. “I'm Tatianna! I'm the one that spoke to you on the phone. Let me take you upstairs where the other girls are waiting.”
The blonde followed her up a wide set of stairs to a big room with shining wood floors and a chandelier made of glass orbs of various sizes. The place was way nicer and cooler than Trixie expected. Against the wall opposite to the stairs was a line of metallic chairs, where three other girls seated looking very nervous. To their right was a big wooden door surrounded by paintings and drawings of every size and style.
“You can take a seat, I believe our manager will be with you guys in a minute.” Tatianna pointed at the chairs with a soft smile and left back to her desk downstairs.
Trixie thanked her and went towards the chairs, taking the seat next to a petit girl with bright blue hair that immediately turned to her. “Hi, I'm Phi Phi!”
“I'm Trixie, nice to meet you.”
“This is so exciting, right?” The girl said with a huge smile. Trixie hates to make small talk, especially with strangers. But she was doing her best to keep her nice girl vibes going since she really fucking needed that job.
“Yeah, it's a beautiful place!” She answered looking up at the golden orbs on the ceiling.
“It's the coolest place ever!” Phi Phi laughed just a second after she heard herself. “I'm sorry, I'm just really nervous. I've never met, like, a famous person before. Let alone in a situation like this.”
Trixie was very confused. Sure, she thought she was destined to fame, but she wasn't there yet. “Um... what do you mean?”
“Oh... I believe Katya is interviewing us herself” The smaller girl looked at Trixie like she had just told her she had won the lottery.
“Katya?” Damn, was this some low key important artist she was supposed to know? She didn't have time to research much about the place. Her class ended at 1:30 and she ran back to her dorm to change into what she considered “more professional” clothes and retouch her make up, then ran up to the bus stop.
“Hi, darling!” A voice came from the right side of the room and when they all looked up, a blonde gorgeous woman stood in front of the big wooden door, now open, showing a very messy room behind it.
Phi Phi forgot to close her mouth for a second. The other two girls stared with wide eyes and shy smiles. Trixie looked at her face, light blue eyes and a picture perfect smile, framed by long blonde curls, and it clicked.
Her mind flew back about six years, she seating in her bedroom, magazines in her hands, looking for pretty pictures to stick around her mirror. The face of a blonde girl in rage, flipping the camera with both hands, was under the headline “The rise and fall of Katya: is this rock bottom?” The young actress was always reason for a scandal, either because she slept with some other celebrities, for being open about her bisexuality, for partying to much, for getting caught with drugs, or simply because she didn't seem get used to this whole “public figure” thing. She was wild and, at that moment, she got caged. That was the year she got into rehab, becoming another problematic Hollywood girl. After that, very little or nothing was said about Katya Zamolodchikova in the media anymore. It was like she had really reached the end of her career and vanished.
A butterfly started to flap her wings in Trixie's stomach. Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Zamo Studio, of course. She mentally kicked herself for not making the connection. Katya was beautiful and intimidating. She stepped in front of the four girls, holding some sheets of paper that Trixie couldn't see what was, her long dress showing off the heels of her brown leather boots.
“Thank you all so much for taking the time to come here. I am Katya and I am going to do the interviews. Ginger, our manager, was supposed to do it, but I needed her working on something else today.” She waved casually with her left hand and gave them a playful smile. “So, here's the deal: we have to open spots. One is as an assistant to the event planning team. That means you'll help them organize our exhibitions, upcoming performances and all that. The second one is to work directly with me. I'm working on a lot of projects right now and I need me an extra pair of hands around this place.” She laughed, causing the girls to nervously follow her.
“The catch is: we're on a tight budget here.” She sighed and gave them a guilty smile, like a kid admitting they didn't do their homework. “I hate this whole thing of unpaid internships, because it's a lot of work, I know. But, since I'm not richest bitch around anymore” Trixie laughed and Katya looked directly into her eyes, making the younger girl shiver for half a second “I will pay you with endless coffee and snacks, I will let you use the studio and any spare materials we have for your projects, and I'll give you a spot on the next exhibition.”
Trixie looked around to see the other girls wide eyed and gasping. So this was a really good opportunity then. She wouldn't have any art pieces to showcase in a place like this, but she couldn't help but imagine being under a spotlight, applause washing over her after performing.
“Do you have any questions?” Katya asked looking at them.
“I just wanted to say” Phi Phi started, her hands over her chest “it's a great honor to be here, Miss Zamo-”
“God!” Katya interrupted her with a horrified look and Trixie felt the blue haired girl freeze beside her. “Katya! Call me Katya. We don't have this shit around here. We do first names.” She laughed and Phi Phi relaxed a little, but still looked scared to death. “If there are no questions, then let's begin. You!” she pointed at Trixie and an imaginary cold water drop ran down her spine “You can be the first. Come on.”
Trixie got up and followed the older woman into her messy office. Katya closed the door behind them and went to sit at a big black chair behind her desk. “Take a seat.”
The younger girl sat across from her and smiled. Katya looked down at the papers she was carrying “You are...”
“Trixie.”
“Ah, Trixie Mattel”, she pulled one of the sheets and Trixie recognized her résumé. “So, you're studying... musical theater” she paused to look at the other one before continuing “and you're also a hair and make up artist.” Katya looked up with confused eyes. Trixie just nodded and waited for a question, but it took a few seconds.
Katya stared at her and her look turned to an interested one, like she had just noticed something new in Trixie. “Let me ask you something and, please, please, be honest.”
“Of course” Trixie answered with her best polite smile, masking the desperation that was going through her mind.
“When I got out there just now, you were talking to that other girl... you sounded very oblivious mentioning my name. Almost like you didn't know who I was.”
Trixie opened her mouth just to close it again. She didn't know what to say.
“Do you?”
“Do I what?”
“Know who I am?”
“I... I mean, of course I do. I- I just didn't realize it was you before, you know...”
She felt super embarrassed. Katya was probably judging her like some dumb blonde teenager. She blew it.
“So you came in here solely because of the job. Nothing else?”
“Yeah, I mean... Isn't this why you had Tatianna call me?”
Katya smiled satisfied. She touched her chin pensively, looking Trixie up and down for a second before asking “Why do you think you would be a good addition to my studio?”
Trixie breathed in and gathered her confidence, her rehearsed answer flowing out with a smile “Because I'm an artist and art is my life. I might not be a painter, or a sculptor, or anything like that. But I know how to appreciate everything. Besides, I work hard, doesn't matter what I'm doing.”
The older woman nodded slowly and looked at her for another second, her smile growing on just a side. Trixie thought she was so charming. Those mysterious eyes scanning her like she was analyzing a painting in a museum. She really liked attention, but at that moment she felt like it was a little more. She was being appreciated, taken in in all her pink and blonde glory.
“You look ambitious, Trixie Mattel. I like you.” Katya crossed her wrists over the many papers on the desk. Trixie read the signs, she was really good at it, and took the opportunity to use her favorite persuasion weapon – flirting.
“I really am” she tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear and looked the other one with a challenging smile, crossing her legs and never breaking eye contact. “Thank you.”
Katya laughed softly, noticing every single trick Trixie was trying to pull. She saw right through it, because she had been that girl so many years ago. The eyelash flutter, the staring contest to settle dominance, the coy hair play and slight pout of the lips. Trixie was doing it very right, as far as Katya could see. It was working. But that wouldn't be hard, given how pretty Trixie was and how Katya loved this game. Damn, people were right about her.
“You're going places, Trixie.” She pulled away from the desk and stood up. “Can you wait outside while I talk to the other girls?”
“Yes, of course”, Trixie stoop up and pulled on her skirt. Katya opened the door for her and waved theatrically towards the waiting room. “Please call Phi Phi next” she winked and went back to her chair.
Trixie nodded and went up to the short girl outside, who looked like she was gonna burst at any moment. “Phi Phi, you're up next”. She sat down while the other one got up and breathed in deep, smoothing her dress and walking to the office.
When Phi Phi got out, she called in the next girl, but didn't sit back down like Trixie. She waved goodbye and went downstairs, not returning. About half an hour later, the other two girls had been interviewed and also gone, leaving Trixie alone in the room. Katya came out of her office and walked up to her.
“I'm sorry to make you wait. So, I've made my decision. I want you to work with me.”
It took a second before Trixie realized she got the job. She couldn't hold the smile that spread across her face while she got up. “Wow! Thank you! Thank you so much!”
“Of course, darling. So, can I give you the tour?”
“Sure! Let's go!”
She was proud of herself. She followed Katya around, almost skipping in glee, being introduced to everyone and getting to know every detail about the place. Trixie totally forgot her flirty pose at that point, looking like a happy kid in a toy store. Katya observed her, happy with her choice. At the end, they were at Tatianna's desk, registering Trixie and doing final paperwork.
“Okay, so now you just need to bring us the papers from your college, we'll sign it, and you're in, honey!” The pretty brunette said with charismatic smile. “Congrats!”
“Thank you!” Trixie answered her and turned to Katya. “Thank you so much! You won't regret this, I promise.”
“I hope not!” Katya laughed and walked her to the front door. “You know, you lied about something.”
“What?” Trixie stopped and looked back at her very confused.
“You are a painter, Trixie Mattel. Your face is gorgeous.”
The taller girl forgot to breathe for a split second. She did not see that coming. A warm feeling spread across her chest and she muttered a thank you, looking at the other woman through her long dark eyelashes.
Katya opened the door and Trixie stepped out. When she started to walk, she heard Katya's voice.
“Oh, and Trixie!” She stopped and looked back. “Don't forget to have fun! You know, that's rule number one.” And the door was closed.