"A complicated thing in life, beauty is, isn't it?"

Astrid commented as she finished pinning the dress up around her latest customer. The woman that stood in front of the 3 pane mirror looked herself over, the finished product, but not a comfortable one. She stood in extremely high heels, her breasts being shoved up to her throat, and her sides tugged in to make her body look like an hourglass. The cost of being pretty in life was a high one. People spent millions over their life time trying to achieve it. This customer was just another trying to outshine the girl next to her.

This was why Astrid opened her shop which only catered to the rich and famous. Those who were just throwing money out at people to make them look amazing. She spent hours making them over, choosing the perfect outfit that just made her ladies look pristine. A new doll all set to go and steal the spot light at the next show. Yet, as each day went by Astrid's customers began to turn into regulars. The attention they were getting from her work made them come running back.

"Remember you should take that off no later than four hours from now. I can't have you doing damage to that work of art. Your body will stop being a masterpiece if you leave the dress on for longer than that. We do all sorts of things to look gorgeous, but if you want to keep looking that way you need to take care of yourself too."

She put her customers through agony all so they could look breathtaking, but she didn't want them to cause bodily harm, at least of that sort. They didn't just come here to look beautiful. Her customers also came here for business. Astrid had something that all the rich and famous love just as much as being stared at, drugs. Coming here they became beautiful to hide the damage from the high.

Walking her customer out and to their ride, she waved goodbye and slipped the package to her. In return the driver handed her a purse with the dough inside. Why would anyone be suspicious that a fashion diva was being handed a purse? No one was. Her business was thriving and she was able to do something she adored, making people fake. All so they could hide the real broken person behind all the lies. Then again you would meet those few kindred souls. The one's that were untouched by all the fame. Those were the girls that Astrid saved her best for. A girl with strength, pride, and dignity still in her. 

The car drove off towards the next grand ball or show. Not that anyone could believe it, Astrid had never been to a show or even a ball. She had plenty of invites from those who had became her regulars. They wanted her there to show off their creator, but she always declined. She preferred to work in private away from the lime light. One would think that with how much she loved to make people look amazing, why wouldn't she want to be seen too? To enjoy all the attention herself? 

Astrid enjoyed the mystery. That was her key and made her game all the more fun. When people are always asking questions, they get a taste, but not the whole thing. This is what made them want more, they wanted to see more work from her, they wanted to meet her in person, they wanted to invite her to all sorts of events. She was also addicting, the drugs made people crawl back. She only took on enough customers so that they could pass out the supply. She didn't need to be taking on every girl that wanted her work. Astrid just needed enough beauty hungry ladies to rid their supply and help them make the demand sky rocket, which allowed her to up her price. Everything was working just fine.

The only problem she was coming up with now was the pesty news reporters. They were always trying to get an interview, a glance of her, where she worked, what her next outfit might be, and they were always good at finding the best time to interrupt her daily life. Astrid didn't need their noses around her work. She needed to figure out a way to keep them at bay. She could hire a press agent, but that wouldn't stop them from snooping around. Having a reporter show up dead wasn't a good idea either. This was a small problem, but small problems could turn into big ones and she didn't need that.

The ironic part of her thoughts was at that same time she was noticing prying eyes. Astrid glared over at the man who stood a little ways off, trying to use a tree as some cover. He realized that she was returning his gaze and his heart felt like it stopped. Gulping he made his move and walked over to her. He wasn't very tall, with Astrid in her heels she stood an inch taller than him, but he straightened up to try and compete with her height. His black suit was neatly pressed and his hat tilted just a tad to the side.

"Miss Astrid, yes? I was wondering if you had a moment for a few questions?"

Her face slowly set into a frown, but she wiped it away and put a sweet smile in its place. How was she going to figure out what to do with this little problem. Putting a reporter on your payroll wasn't something she trusted in. Trying to hide her shop would only make it obviously suspicious she was hiding something. Going to her customer's house wouldn't change anything, they would be waiting. Astrid couldn't hide from them by rarely going out. That would also make her life miserable and boring.

The man was beginning to look at her weird, Astrid realized she was standing there contemplating all of this and not even acknowledging his question. Chuckling a bit at her own lack of awareness, she apologized to him.

"Sorry about that, I believe you can say I got lost in thought."

He grinned a bit at her comment and was starting to pull out his pad to write on, but she placed her hand on his arm to stop him.

"No, sir. I do not partake in interviews. Surely you shouldn't be wasting your time on litlle ol' me when there are beautiful and handsome folks at the show down the street. On your way now, dear."

She motioned for him to leave and left him a bit stunned as she walked back into her shop. This was going to be a puzzling predicament. What to do, oh what to do? 

That was when it hit her. Why not just go through her upper family member's paper? The Potato would be a perfect outlet to lead all the nosy people away from her. If they wanted to get to her she could have a deal set up to only go through that paper, while helping her comrade out. This gave the paper more attention and that would get rid of most of those lingering around after her.

She would have to look into this, but the good man, Setanta, didn't mind his paper being mentioned. Would she ever actually go through with giving out any interviews or any information at all? Most likely not, but this would at least get the heat off of her. 

There may be other ways besides this option, but that was the best one she had so far. Yet, in this town who knows what a person could come up with to help her out. She thought about poking around to see if any other ideas came up.