Chapter 5 – Professional Problems
Three months pass, and Mindy has become an experienced professional in that time. She won a beauty show in her first week and gave another speech that both audiences and the Diamond Architects approved of. Because of her speeches and general choice in clothing and makeup, she is given more choice in terms of jobs compared to others like her who don’t get many choices at all. She is now a prominent figure in the mainstream. Most of the time, she is working on different versions of commercials, doing interviews, and being a guest on TV shows with little time to rest. With the time she does have to rest, she calls her parents to let them know how and what she’s doing.
Her nightmares have been pretty much the same since she started being famous and haven’t changed no matter what she’s done. It doesn’t help her that she doesn’t hang out with people in a non-work setting. She enjoys being with Adrian the most. There’s a strange feeling between the two that she doesn’t know how to react to. Regardless of the situation, Mindy has just gotten up for a day of relaxation with Vivi and Adrian.
Mindy is on the phone with Vivi right now as she gets herself ready. “You still haven’t heard from your sister?” she asks.
“Not at all.”
“How did she manage to leave the business but not you?”
“It’s because she was the one who expressed an interest to. When they asked me, I said I wanted to go with her, but I wasn’t sure about what to do. Zivi said I could stay with the Architects and she would prepare a life for me back at home. I haven’t heard from her since.”
“That’s weird. Have you tried calling her?”
“I have, and she hasn’t answered.”
“Keep trying. Knowing your sister, she probably won’t talk to you until she has something that will impress you.”
“That’s true. I hope that’s the case. Anyways, enough about me. I heard you tried to get Adrian to get the company to advertise about new charities and causes. What were they again? Men’s suicide rates, hypertension, and the persecution of Catholics in China?”
“Yes, but there was way more. When I told Adrian about it, he just told me that he’d think about it. I had a long list of causes with descriptions of what they are and why we should help these people that I didn’t even get a chance to pull out.”
“I can imagine with the way you talk about charities when you have the opportunity to speak for yourself. How’s your schedule for next week?”
“Busy as always. I feel like I barely have enough time to catch my breath. Yours?”
“Not too busy at all. Remember, your still in their top five stars while I’m in the twenties.”
“Speaking about that, why do you think they don’t hire more than twenty-five of us?”
“Probably because we’re expensive to take care of. Even though the Diamond Architects are always in the top five businesses, I don’t think they can afford to take care of too many people like us.”
“Okay, because I was just wondering. I always get questions on social media and in person about how to join our little group of stars.”
“I don’t blame them. The company sees your talent, grabs you off the street, hands you a script, and sets you up for the rest of your life.”
“I don’t know. I’d rather have more control than what I have now. It feels like I have no control over what I do besides saying yes or no to what I do, and I can’t say no.”
“You might have more freedom than the rest of us, so what are you complaining about?”
“The fact that some charities and causes don’t get enough attention.”
“Maybe you can talk to Adrian about it again tonight.”
“I’m not sure about it.”
“Why? You know how much he likes you, so there’s no reason he would get mad.”
“I guess you’re right. Thanks for reminding me.”
“No problem. Hey, breakfast is being served right now. I’ll see you soon.”
“See ya.”
As Mindy does her makeup, she sees something on her forehead in the mirror. When she lifts the hair from her face, she sees over a dozen eyeballs embedded on her head. She then looks at her face to see some kind of monster. It has an exaggerated form of her face with white skin and sharp teeth. There’s a chain around its neck that appears to be a leash. The chain goes from her neck to the ceiling. Her chest appears to be a hollow mouth with eyes on her breasts. Along with this horrifying change in appearance, her waist only has a short skirt to cover it while her legs are almost insect-like that appear to be wearing stockings and high heels. The monster stares at her and follows her movements as if it were her real reflection. To her, it’s nothing more than a perversion of her own appearance and another hallucination that’s a result of her stress and being tired.
Mindy tries to do what she usually does when this happens and tries to ignore it, but it doesn’t work this time. She’s considered taking medication for occurrences like this, but all of the possible negative side effects keep her away from it. The process of putting on her makeup has now become disturbingly weird because of this perversion. She eventually gets it done, though the perversion hasn’t disappeared from the mirror. Again, she tries to ignore it like the rest of these delusions and goes down to the hotel entrance where Vivi is waiting for her.
Along the way, her eyes catch sight of the perversion in the reflections. This hasn’t happened with the rest of the delusions, so Mindy tries her best to keep her mind off of it. Even as she joins Vivi for breakfast in the dining hall, she can see the reflection of the perversion in Vivi’s eyes. She tries to ignore this but can’t help to feel unnerved by the thing imitating her.
Vivi notices this and asks her, “Are you okay, Mindy? You seem to be afraid of something.”
“It’s n-nothing.”
“You aren’t afraid of asking Adrian about supporting those other charities, are you?”
“Not at all. I just didn’t sleep too well.”
“So that’s finally affecting you? I’m surprised it took this long considering that you’ve never stopped going at full speed ever since you set your sights on becoming famous.”
“And this won’t stop me from going at this speed. I just need to rest today and maybe the next to get back on track.”
“I hope that you don’t work yourself to death.”
“I promise I won’t.”
After breakfast, the two are picked up by Adrian. They enjoy a long day of shopping, relaxing massages, and eating at expensive restaurants. They catch a movie at the theaters before going to the beach to watch the sunset. During this time, Vivi leaves the two alone as Mindy pulls Adrian aside to talk.
“What is it, Mindy? You’re not going to ask me to marry you, are you? I know that chief of police of yours back in Hillside City did that, but women proposing to men isn’t normal.”
“No, I’m not going to do that. I’m asking again about those charities I told you about.”
“And why’s that?”
“Because the Architects are one of the biggest companies in the world. We can make the sufferings of other people know while still talking about the ones we already do. People already know about breast cancer and dying animals in the street. I’m pretty sure they don’t need another thousand reminders.”
“I’m sorry babe, but my hands are tied. I tried mentioned in passing to the higher-ups. They wanted to help others, but they want to completely get rid of the problems in the world that they think take priority.”
“How could they think that? They’re letting other people suffer at the cost of saving others. We can’t distribute our attention or create more divisions in the company to take care of the other causes? I’m sure they have the money.”
“I’m still not sure if they’ll do it.”
“They’ll receive support from all kinds of organizations if they do it. I’m sure people around the world will follow them and call the organization brave and caring for bringing attention to causes that not many care about.”
“Probably. You could talk to them by yourself if you want. You’re one of their favorites so they should at least consider what you’re saying. They shouldn’t be busy right now.”
“I’ll do that then. Let’s go.”
Once they drop off Vivi, Adrian drives Mindy to the Diamond Architects headquarters. It’s not too far from the hotel and is decorated in a similar fashion except it is leagues bigger. It is so big in fact that it can be seen from the shore in Los Angeles if you have a simple pair of binoculars. Adrian brings Mindy to the office then leaves her there as he goes back downstairs to wait for her. Before entering the room, she overhears them talking about selling Zivi. Mindy puts her ear to the door and hears something about selling off assets that won’t work for them. They also comment about how they hate having to let them go when they’re young and something about their buyers who are called the Doll Factory. The name rings a bell to Mindy. The Doll Factory is an international shadowy organization that deals in human trafficking. Her parents didn’t let her hear the rest of what they did, but her imagination of what they are isn’t too far from the horrifying truth.
Upon realizing what they did to Zivi, Mindy’s head begins to hurt as if someone hit it with a hammer. Eye form on her forehead, her legs extend, and the center of her chest hollows. She is now the perversion of herself that she saw in the mirror.
“Justice,” she whispers under her breath before jumping and clinging her feet and arms to the ceiling.
The perversion and Mindy’s will are one. It somehow knows where to go and takes Mindy to an office room. It uses its hands to paranormally activate the computer on one of the desks and manipulates it to pull up a series of files. Mindy is then back to normal. She shakes her head as she regains full control.
“What…what is this?” she says aloud.
She looks at the screen to see dozens upon dozens of names that are under a filed called ex-employees (early dismissal) with the amount they were sold for. There are files that detail the agreements and deals the company made with the Doll Factory. What’s strange about these files are that they appear to be incomplete. The list of names start at fifty then go all the way down to sixty. Regardless of the fact, Mindy looks around the room until she finds a spare USB drive in one of the draws. She copies the information onto it and takes it with her. Somehow, she instinctively knows how to get back to the entrance.
At the entrance, Adrian asks her, “So how did it go?”
“I uh…chickened out believe it or not. I want to prepare my argument before I actually confront them.”
“Good idea. Let’s bring you back home for a nice rest.”
“Right.”
As soon as Mindy gets into her room, she gets her laptop and anonymously uploads the information to the internet.
“I may want to be famous and help people, but I’m not going to do it with these kinds of people,” she quietly says to herself.
Before the upload is complete, someone knocks at her door. She goes to the door and looks through the keyhole to see Adrian.
“Adrian, what are you doing here at this time?” she asks as she slightly opens the door.
“I’m here to take you a little trip. We still have tomorrow and the next day off. It takes a long time to get to where we need to go, so I thought it would be wise if we left early.”
“Where are we going?”
“Palm Springs. It’s a great place that has a bunch of hot springs and spas that’s sure to take the stress out of you.”
“Oh, do I need to pack anything?”
“No, you shouldn’t. I reserved a spot there and they should give us whatever we need.”
“What about the company? Did you tell them we’re going?”
“No, why would I? We should be back by tomorrow night. What’s with all the questions?”
“It’s nothing.”
Mindy looks back to see that the upload is almost complete. The power then suddenly goes out.
“Well, that was weird. I guess this is a great motivator to go.”
“I guess. Hold on. Let me get my phone and handbag.”
“Sure.”
Mindy gets the USB drive, her handbag, and phone. Her phone is almost out of energy, so she’ll have to charge it in the car if she needs it in an emergency. She trusts Adrian, but there’s something strange about the power going out in a well-kept hotel like this. Nevertheless, she goes with Adrian and leaves the hotel while hoping that she can still do what she needs to in order to bring the Diamond Architect’s shady dealings into the light.
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