“Not A Passenger Princess, Huh?”
Rio and Agatha spent all that morning in Agatha’s home studio, working on their respective designs. Well, Agatha spent most of the time lingering over Rio’s shoulder, biting her lip as she peered at the other woman's work. She gently pressed her hand against Rio’s bare shoulder, tutting. The younger woman jolted slightly, abruptly pulled from the quiet focus of her mind as she worked; when she realized it was Agatha, a shiver of anticipation shot through her body. Her hand was surprisingly soft and warm on her skin and her customary acrylic nails dug into Rio’s shoulder slightly, sending a tingling sensation up her arm. Still desperate for her approval, and exhausted from being up all night, Rio could do nothing but silently pray that Agatha liked what she’d been sketching.
Agatha studied Rio’s ideas closely, her expression set and her breath still hot on the back of the younger woman’s neck. The sketch was looking good so far, a unique yet classic fusion of the pair's contrasting style. In fact, it had surprised Agatha a little in its competency, but that didn't stop her from criticizing it relentlessly. She was still pissed about the whole situation in Paris, and she needed a new outlet for her frustrations seeing as Wanda had blocked her number after the incident. Female friends: always waiting to stab you in the back the moment you slip up. She scoffed.
“Oh, darling, really? What is this abomination you’re working on? These colors are all wrong, and the fabric choice; downright dreadful.” She held up the fabric swatch in front of her face, pinching it between two nails as though she might catch some deadly disease from it. To Rio, the older woman’s reaction felt a little overly dramatic, as though she was simply complaining for the sake of it. It was too rehearsed, too hollow.
“You like it, I can tell” Rio replied, a little smugness creeping into her tone.
Agatha sighed. It was harder to truly embody the cold character she’d created for herself when she was so tired and stressed.
“It’s decent.” She said quickly, her face tinted with a subtle blush. She turned on her heal, quickly moving to sort the stacks of fabrics Rio had been using on the other side of the room. Rio suppressed a laugh; it seemed impossible for the woman to compliment anyone- she wouldn't be surprised if she was off having a severe allergic reaction to her own kindness in the fabric cupboard.
The silence persisted for another hour or so as Agatha finished tidying up the space and Rio persisted with her sketches, before the latter's building questions become too difficult to suppress. .
“Ag- Ms. Harkness, I’ll leave tomorrow morning, I mean, seeing as you’re back, I assume I’m no longer needed. I have plenty of material and stuff to keep working on the designs at my flat, so, y’know. I’m good to go whenever” Rio said awkwardly.
Agatha felt a twinge familiar emptiness in her stomach. It felt odd to just let Rio leave so quickly; she’d enjoyed the couple hours they’d spent together that morning. It wasn’t like she’d miss her; they saw each other practically every day at work. It was just, the house felt so lonely, so empty with just Agatha and Nicolas. He was always complaining that he wanted a little brother, or a playmate, or a friend, and she always felt isolated and shut off from the rest of the world. For someone with such influence and experience, her social life outside of work was desolate. Even Rio’s simple presence: the dirty pairs of combat boot the in hall, the rogue pens and stationery she left scattered around the living room, her toothbrush in the bathroom, her stupid ringtone that had sounded at least a dozen times just this past hour... the house felt different with her there, as though a missing piece had been finally found and slotted into place. Agatha took a breath and nodded nonchalantly.
“Oh, great! Your presence was really starting to irritate me darling” she smiled, lying seamlessly through her teeth. “I’ll drive you back to your flat or whatever it is later to make sure you don't come crawling back here” Agatha insisted sneakily.
Rio almost refused the ride, happy to get the bus or a taxi, though the thought of being in one of Agatha’s fancy cars, pulling up in her building's shitty carpark, as though she was some celebrity or rich hotshot, was very tempting. Plus, the thought of sharing a purple Porshe with her boss was undeniably appealing.
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Nicky, despite his elation over his mother’s early arrival, hadn’t taken well to the news of Rio’s early escape from the Harkness household.
“Whaaaat? No, stay pleaseee! I haven't even shown you all my plushies yet! You haven’t even said hello to Senor Scratchy properly! There is so much more for us to do together. We didn’t even get to prank Mami properly” he whined, bouncing on the guest room bed as Rio shoved all the shit she’d unnecessarily brought with her into her bags.
“Hey, maybe I’ll be back when your Mami is next off abroad, hm?” Rio winked, finishing up her packing. Nicky was trying to crawl into her suitcase, which already looked fit to burst.
“Can I come with? I wanna see your pet spider!!” He begged, pouting. Rio hated when he did that; it was so similar to the look Agatha gave her when something wasn’t going her way. She took a deep breath, trying to calm both herself and the overly energetic boy.
“Maybe sometime soon, yeah? Speak to your Mami about it” she said, shoving the last bits into her case and zipping it up after a couple of fruitless attempts. “Though I’m not sure how she’ll feel about her precious son being anywhere near my spider” She laughed.
“I’ll miss you Ri. Come back soon!”
“See ya kid.” She replied, sticking her tongue out and flashing her metal snake eye piercings.
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Rio lugged her suitcase into the back of Agatha’s car and stood next to it, contemplating whether to sit in the front or the back seat. The front felt too familiar, too forward, yet the back seemed cowardly and pathetic. ‘Stop overcomplicating it Rio, damn it’ she thought to herself
Agatha herself was sat behind the wheel, tapping her hands against the metal impatiently. She glanced up at the rearview mirror, smirking as she watched Rio awkwardly decide to clamber into the back seat.
“Not a passenger princess, huh?” Agatha smirked.
Rio shifted, the leather creaking as she fidgeted in the backseat.
“I get carsick” she lied, her gaze fixed on the back of Agatha’s neck as the engine of the Porshe purred. Agatha gunned it down the street, weaving through the traffic as though the rules of the road simply didn't apply to her. Rio clutched the leather upholstery as she felt the acceleration push her back into the seat.
“Jesus Christ” she muttered, her gaze flicking between approaching cars and pedestrians outside the tinted windows, praying that Agatha wouldn’t mow them down in her recklessness.
“You know darling, I don't usually give people rides” Agatha announced, her blue eyes focused on Rio’s brown ones in the rear-view mirror. “Consider yourself lucky.”
“Can’t imagine why people don’t let you drive them places. How have you not been arrested?” Rio laughed.
“Well darling, when you're as rich and gorgeous as I am, you tend to get away with a lot more things than your average citizen would.” She smirked and made a sharp turn, sending Rio’s light frame sliding across the back seat. “Besides, where’s the fun in going slow?
Rio couldn't help but nod in agreement. Weaving through London traffic in a badass Porshe was much more exciting that getting the bus to and from the office every day. She could get used to this. Plus, the sight of Agatha, one hand on the wheel and driving like a total maniac and the other holding a lit cigarette out of the car window, was oddly attractive.
They made it back to Rio’s place with the help of google maps and Rio shouting directions from the backseat. Agatha was awful at any technology more advanced than scrolling Instagram, and so the satnav was immediately useless.
“This is where you live? Agatha said, pulling up outside of Rio’s flat in record time. Rio smiled; she’d missed the vibrant neighborhood, the colorful graffiti, the sprawling markets and the hordes of drunken students roaming the bustling streets.
“Yep. Home sweet fucking home. I assume you’re not a fan of the peasantry, Ms. Harkness?”
“I mean, it’s not as bad as I thought it would be... It’s charming in a gritty, tacky sort of way. I suppose that's the aesthetic you artsy types go for these days, I mean, please , do you not get paid? Why would you choose this hellscape?
“You’re the one who is meant to be paying me!” Rio retorted before she could stop herself. “And I’m perfectly happy here. I much prefer it to your labyrinth in the city center. My place has just got uh... character, you know?”
“Character. Sure. Now run along, I don't want my car getting stolen while we dawdle. Don’t get robbed on your way up!” Agatha said, laughing as Rio got out the car with her bags, slamming the door a little harder than necessary. Rio was already half way across the car park when Agatha yelled “Rhiannon!”, beckoning her back to the car. It seemed they’d regressed to that stupid misnaming schtick again. She crossed the carpark with a huff, raising an eyebrow at Agatha.
Agatha rolled the front window down, producing a small black box with a green ribbon looped around it perfectly and holding it out to the younger woman. “That’s for you Vidal.” She said, shaking the box mockingly.
Rio took it, half expecting some sort of prank or insult. She studied it curiously, “What’s this for?”
“Ahh, just a little thank you gift for looking after Nicky. Paris’ finest! Oh, and I’ll see you in the office tomorrow. Eight AM sharp. I want good design concepts and a black coffee with extra shots from Calderu’s.” She winked, rolling the window back up and driving off, the bright purple vehicle disappearing almost instantly into the sea of black and silver cars.
Rio watched as Agatha drove away, her head spinning with the whirlwind encounter. She looked down at the box in her hand before tucking it into the pocket of the oversized sweater she’d pulled on over her pajamas, still processing the fact that Agatha had given her a gift of all things. She shook her head, a small smile on her face as she began the ascent to her flat, pulling the battered suitcase up behind her.
When she reached the pastel purple door of her apartment, she could immediately tell something was off. The door was slightly ajar, and she could hear rather loud rustling noises from inside. Picking up her neighbor's large rainbow umbrella that sat outside their front door and wielding it like a weapon, she slipped into her flat, bracing for combat.
“Ah! Rio” Alice beamed, springing up from where she’d been sitting on the floor. She was wearing a red long sleeve and flared jeans, her black hair up in a pink claw clip that looked suspiciously similar to the one Jen often wore in the cafe.
Rio froze before laughing, “Damn Ali, I thought I’d been robbed or something, what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be off making out with Jenny Kale?”
Alice blushed furiously, shaking her head and gesturing to the box of crickets. “Uh, tarantula feeding, duh. You’re back a few days early; did you get fired or something?” Alice replied, gasping as she jumped to the conclusion. “Oh, Ri, I’m so sorry-”
“No, no, I didn’t get fired. Jeez, it’s good to know how little faith you have in my career” She joked. “Agatha got back from Paris two days early, apparently her travel partner got food poisoning or something. I had an alright couple of days actually, the kid is fine and she wanted to see a couple more designs from me, so really it was quite a good opportunity. I’ve been working on so many new ideas...” Rio began to ramble before Alice spoke.
“Food poisoning? Don’t you think it might have had something to do with her major freak-out at one of the runway shows? Apparently, her reputation over in France is pretty tarnished, and she randomly fired like, most of her team. She totally crashed out after they wouldn't put her work in one of the shows. It’s been all over the tabloids. Not that I read them, it’s just uh, Jen was telling me...”
“Oh, damn, maybe.” Rio shrugged, forcing a smile.
So that’s why Agatha had taken Rio’s work on so suddenly. She probably didn’t even think it was that great, she was just desperate for people to help her get the brand back on track. You’re not special Rio, she thought to herself, she doesn’t really care about you or your stupid work~
“Hey, Ri! Don’t zone out on me” Alice said softly, stepping over piles of clothes and fabrics and trinkets and God knows what else to reach the small clearing of carpet Rio was stood on, a small island of emptiness amongst the sea of her possessions.
“What’s that?” Alice asked, noticing the box sticking out of Rio’s jacket pocket.
“Oh, hah, I suppose we’ll find out now. Agatha got it for me from Paris apparently” she scoffed.
After struggling to untie the green bow for a good minute or two, she managed to lift the lid, her breath catching in her throat as she saw what lay inside. There, on a bed of black stain fabric was a delicate necklace, the centerpiece a small spider charm, its eight legs intricately detailed and sparkling with tiny crystals.
“Holy shit, that’s stunning!” Alice gushed “She really got you that? Must have cost a fortune”
“She’s probably taken it out of my pay” Rio snarked, though she couldn't help but admire the piece, running her finger over the charm and admiring the way the light caught beautifully on the stones. It was a far cry from the cheap jewelry she usually wore that tinged her skin greenish blue when she wore it too long. A small scrap of paper sat in the box, marked by Agatha’s unmistakable swirling calligraphy.
“Vidal. Don’t get the idea that I’m suddenly growing a heart. This is just a small thanks for looking after Nicky- he really likes you for some reason . And if you think for one second that this makes us friends, you’re sorely mistaken.
Regrettably,
A.Harkness x
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