“Miss Lily I think we should use the studio for the photoshoot, instead.” A cold sweat broke out on the photographer’s forehead as she watched Lily’s smiling face. She eyed the people a few meters away from their car bringing big placards calling Lily out for lying about not knowing who their Goddess is. She then shifted her gaze back to Lily’s face and wondered how could a woman like her still smile after seeing some people call her out like this.
“Alright,” Lily said after a few seconds. “What time is the interview?” she asked. The schedule clearly said that they will have the photoshoot in the morning and have the interview in the afternoon. However, after this change of venue, Lily was not sure if that will still happen on the same day.
“I — I think we won’t have enough time to finish today. I will inform the editor-in-chief about this matter.” She knew that this is not Lily’s first time to be interviewed or asked to become a cover of a prominent magazine. Lily’s name and face laced a lot of women’s magazines in Europe. It is only normal for her to know all the processes and how long does it need for a photoshoot to finish.
“Hmmm.” Lily nodded. She crossed her legs and took a sip at her milk tea. “What was your name again?”
“People call me Little Xiao.” The photographer answered. “It’s because of my height.” She added. Little Xiao had been around unique types of women because of her career. She had worked with models, actresses, politicians, geniuses, and businesswoman. But this is the first time that she had encountered someone who seemed to always have a slight smile on their face.
To be honest, Little Xiao didn’t know how to act around Lily as she didn’t know if she was truly happy or angry.
“I see,” Lily said. “Then… call me Lily.”
“Oh! I — Isn’t that a little inappropriate?” There it was again — Lily’s smile. Little Xiao lowered her gaze and looked at her camera bag. Lily was beautiful, her features are really great especially for the camera. However, her smile seemed so unsettling.
“Are you afraid of me?” Lily’s question surprised her. She lifted her head and looked at Lily before she shook her head.
“No… Honestly, this is my first time working with someone who owns an enormous conglomerate company. So I — I believe the right term is intimidated.” She lied. This was not her first time working for someone like Lily. Most women that she had worked with are cold, silent, and sometimes stiff. They go into the shoot, tell her the poses that they want, and leave. They won’t even ask for her name! They call her the photographer and ordered her to do what they like. She had never actually met someone who talked to her like this!
Moreover, this was her first time working with someone who was involved in a lot of controversies lately. Because of this, Little Xiao does not really know how to behave around her. In the end, she decided to just do her job and stop thinking about this.
“Then good.” Lily nodded before looking out of the car. She looked at the busy streets of Hongkong. It was still early in the morning but a lot of young millennials are already on the streets on their way to their offices and school.
She let out a sigh inwardly. Lately, waking up her body was hurting a lot. This was thanks to the martial arts training that she took with Zhou Jingren and Yang Mi. All she wanted right now was to focus on peace. However, it seemed that some people do not want to give her a few days of quiet.
The rally does not really bug Lily that much. After all… this is not affecting her company. However, the noise is bothering her. For some reason, she gets really irritated when she hears something noisy. Was this because she is getting older?
Not long after, Lily and Little Xiao arrived in the studio of W Magazine.
“We will have three types of photos. One with you wearing a corporate suit. Another one with you wearing a dress and another one for a long evening gown.” Little Xiao immediately asked her assistant to prepare the dresses that Lily will wear. “These are all branded dresses that our Editor-in-Chief prepared for you.”
“Here is our make-up artist, Chinchin. She will take care of you. Oh… and accessories.” Little Xiao asked another one of her assistants to prepare the pieces of jewelry that Lily will wear.
Lily nodded at everyone as she sat on the chair. She then gestured Yang Mi to make sure that everything is right. “I want a light makeup.” Lily eyed the make-up artist. “For corporate attire.”
“I think it will be good for you to have a heavy one instead. I am thinking of a bold eyeshadow, maybe purple or orange. This will make everyone really look at your eyes.”
“No. I would prefer a light makeup. With a bold red lipstick.”
“But — ” the makeup artist didn’t continue her words when she saw Lily smile at her. “Then… then… let’s do that.” She said reluctantly.
“Grab the bag to your left,” Lily said. “It has all my makeup.” Her words immediately surprised the make-up artist, but she chose not to argue with Lily and follow her orders instead. After all, she is the one facing the camera. So what if the makeup will not look good on her? This was not her fault at all.
Chinchin immediately started checking out the sea of makeups that Lily brought with her to see which one is she going to use. However, before she could even start touching it, a voice echoed inside the studio.
“What is going on here?” A woman almost as tall as Lily walked inside the studio, her brows furrowed as she eyed Little Xiao and everyone else who were setting up the lights for the photo shoot. “Why is everyone here? I thought the venue of the photoshoot is at Long Temple?” she eyed Lily for a few seconds before she looked at Little Xiao. “I have another person scheduled to use this studio today. I suggest you go back to the temple to shoot.”
