Part Two, Chapter Seven: No Answer

It turned out a lot to do meant a lot of makeup to put on, which in turn meant a good hour of Beatrice trying to tolerate people touching her nonstop.

"Do we really have to do this today?" Beatrice had tried to argue. "I don't even have a suit yet so what's the point?"

"Don't worry about it." Alice had said dismissively. "We'll just photoshop it onto you when the production is done. You'll be put in a stock suit for the time being. It's best to get things done as soon as possible. Time and relevance are everything in the industry."

A part of Beatrice had wanted to keep arguing and stand up for herself, but she was too nervous to say anything else. This was her only real career path at that moment. The last thing she wanted to do was blow it all when she was so close to being able to support herself.

So she kept her mouth shut and let them argue over whether to give her a cat eye or a smokey eye. Jason won, and they ended up going with the smokey eye.

Beatrice thought that signaled the end of her torture, but then they just switched to arguing over her hair.

"She does have her mother's iconic white-blonde hair." Jason had said. "Maybe we should change it. It could send the wrong message."

Beatrice didn't want to change her hair color, but she had never really thought of it that way. That it would remind people of her mother.

"I don't think iconic is the right word to use when talking about a bad person." Beatrice spoke up quietly. "I think you mean infamous."

"Hm?" Jason said, as if he hadn't heard her.

It was enough to keep her from trying to offer her opinion again.

"Leave her hair alone for right now." Alice said. "It makes her easily recognizable and for the time being that's what we're looking for. We'll play things by ear when the promotional images come out."

After deliberating on and finally completing her hair, they finally allowed her to have a five minute break. She locked herself in the bathroom and proceeded to call Charlie

She waited through every ring with baited breath, but it went to voice-mail.

She swallowed and her eyes stung, but she dialed again only to get the same result.

It hurt, but she tried to convince herself that it didn't. She heaved a sigh, and went back into the board room to await further mental anguish.

She thought all she could possibly have left to do was put on the stock suit and take a few pictures, but it turned out Alice had something else in mind.

Alice and Jason put her into a waist corset to wear under the suit.

"This doesn't seem very practical for fighting crime." She weakly complained as they hooked it onto her and pulled the laces tight.

"It's obviously not for actual work." Alice said. "You don't have to look like your promotional pictures in real life. That's not how being a celebrity works."

But I don't want to be a celebrity. I want to be a superhero. That's the job I signed up for. Beatrice complained to herself, though she wasn't even entirely sure she wanted to be a superhero. She was just certain about not wanting to be a celebrity.

After she had gotten dressed, she overheard the trainers whispering to Alice about the possibility of her 'losing a few pounds in the near future' but pretended like she hadn't heard them.

Another hour, and probably about a million pictures later, she was finally set free. She disappeared out of the room as quickly and as quietly as possible and almost ran to the parking lot. She hadn’t even told any of them goodbye.

A frown crossed her face when she didn't see Charlie's driver, but did see another familiar car.

It was Linton. She hadn't been expecting him. Still, she climbed into his car when he waved her over.

"How was your first meeting as a hero?" Lin asked her as soon as the door was shut.

She groaned dramatically and slid down in the leather seat.

"I take it you feel awkward in front of a camera?" He asked.

"I'm awkward in front of a camera, in person, over text…" She paused to shake her head.  "Hell, when I wake up in the morning and look at myself in the mirror I feel awkward!"

She punctuated it all with an exasperated sigh which did manage to produce a small laugh from him.

"Wait, why'd you come to pick me up anyway?" She asked him.

"I figured you'd be in a bad mood after what they were probably putting you through." He said with a shrug. "I wanted to be here in case you needed me."

"Hm." Beatrice said. She didn't want to admit it, but it did make her feel a little more reassured.

"There was one other thing." He said.

"What's that?"

"You know how you have to do six months of understudy work before you can start solo work?" He asked.

Beatrice nodded.

"I wanted to know if you wanted to work under me."

"Of course." Beatrice said with a shrug. "I hate everyone, but I hate you slightly less, so it's not like there's anyone else to pick from."

Lin smiled a little bit, though he tried to hide it at first.

"I'll link your pager up to mine later on." He said.

"Don't worry, I'll go ahead and do it." Beatrice said.

She reached across the seat and pulled it from the side of his pants. She needed something to occupy her mind.

It only took her a few seconds to link them together, but she continued to fidget angrily with it to try and appease her frustration.

"What is it?" Lin finally asked.

"Nothing…" She pretended to fiddle with the pager for a few more seconds before looking up. "I mean, it's something, but it's kind of stupid."

"Okay?" He said expectantly.

"Well… Charlie said I could call her today, but when I did, she didn't answer." She said "You don't think she hates me, do you?"

Linton blinked.

"Do I think she... hates you? We are talking about your girlfriend, right? Not some other Charlie? It's the one you live with?"

"Yeah. Who else?" Beatrice said, somewhat annoyed.

"She was probably just busy, B." He said as if it were obvious. "Why would you think that means she hates you?"

Beatrice sighed and looked out of the window.

"I don't know. I always just assume everyone hates me. Or that they will eventually."

"Even me?" Lin asked.

"I mean, you must. At least a little bit, right? I've been a major asshole to you in the past."

"B, really?" He sighed. "Come on."

"Uhg. Nevermind. I'm just being stupid." She said.

"B…"

She didn't respond.

The rest of the ride was quiet, but not as uncomfortable as she feared it would be. Beatrice told him a quiet goodbye before making her way up into the apartment.

Charlie still wasn't home yet, which was slightly upsetting, so she decided to feed her salamanders in an effort to relax.

As she finished up, her phone buzzed in her pocket, but it still wasn't Charlie, and the painful feelings rose up again.

It was Harleigh.

Call me when you can. Got updated info on email bandit.

She made one more phone call, and this time someone answered.