Chapter 12

I didn't have a lot of time to dwell on our conversation with Triss. Bee took charge of me and kept me very occupied. There weren't many lines, most of the scene involved me staring at a wall and causing it to burst into flames as the temperature kept rising.

I did, however, need to be styled before I was ready. All the clothes that were meant for Lucia were way too large for me, so I was going to shoot the scene in my casual clothes. They spent a good twenty minutes playing with my hair and then put on makeup. It was the first time I had ever worn any and I really didn't like it. I felt like I was wearing a mask. They did explain that movie makeup was very different to what girls normally wear.

Mr Slater explained what he wanted me to portray and I did my best to keep it in mind. We could only shoot the scene once since it involved a pyrotechnic display to occur at the same time that would need to be reset. We could do a re-shoot another day if it was required, but since it was just to show Lucia the facial expression that Mr Slater was looking for, I didn't expect that I would be needed for it.

I concentrated on imagining the wall burning up and I think my focussed look was what Mr Slater wanted, as he thanked me. Bee explained that it would need to be sent off to editing to create the scene. It would also be added to my portfolio. She then explained that I would be getting an agent who would look for acting work for me and that clip would help show other interested parties what I could achieve. She then asked if I wanted to work as an actress.

The question seemed a bit after the fact to me, but I had enjoyed myself. I told her that I didn't think I was pretty enough but was happy to do the work. She assured me that I was more than pretty enough. She told me that I had very striking eyes and when I focussed it made her shiver with the power of it.

When I had imagined my face I had tried to keep to relative average features so that I wouldn't stand out. The eyes though seem to possess a different aspect to the rest of the body. I had changed other peoples faces including the colour of their eyes, but if they had piercing eyes before, they remained piercing just with a different colour. I think there is some truth to eyes being the windows to the soul.

We moved to the cafeteria to wait for Triss and discussed what would happen to me. Bee promised that I would be safe. Neither she nor Triss would break a pinky promise. She also told me that directors and movie producers had contacts with powerful people who could make anything happen. Her only regret was that she was not a suitable foster parent, because she said she would have loved to adopt me.

I wanted to ask why she wasn't suitable, but I thought it would only hurt her feelings so I didn't. She did tell me that she would need to go shopping on Sunday as she seemed to have put some weight on around her hips and was struggling to put her trousers on in the morning.

When Triss came to collect us, she didn't take us back to her office, instead, she led us to the director's office where her husband, Pierce Slater was waiting. Pierce was behind his desk and we all sat on the three chairs facing him. Triss had closed the door after we had entered so it was just the four of us.

“First of all,” Pierce said, leaning forward across the desk towards me and extending his pinky finger, “I believe I need to make a promise.” He shook pinky fingers with me. “I promise to keep you safe, to not hand you back to your parents or the bad men.”

“Thank you,” I said quietly.

“You're welcome, sweetheart. With the doctor's evidence we have a judge who is quite happy to sign the necessary documents to create a new legal identity which should make it almost impossible for your family to find you, however, you need a legal guardian. Foster parents if you will. Now I don't have a list of appropriate families and the only way Triss and I can keep our promise to not give you to bad men, is if we become your legal guardians. Would that be acceptable?” he asked me.

I nodded my head, my eyes wide. I wasn't expecting that.

“It does present some challenges. Our work often takes us to different parts of the world, so we can't really offer you a stable home. We like working on projects together, so you will have a choice to come with us or we can have someone, like Brian here, looking after you. Our options for schooling are online courses until you reach high school, boarding school or going to whichever school is local to our location. We want to talk to a psychologist before we make any decisions. How does that sound?”

I just beamed a smile. “I would have loved to stay with Bee, but Triss is great, I love Triss.”

“What about me?” Pierce said with a hurt, puppy dog expression.

I blushed. “You're nice too.”

He laughed. “Nice. I can live with nice.” Pierce turned to Bee. “Is it Brian or Bee?”

“Either. Rose calls me Bee.”

“Well, Bee, we thought it would be less traumatic if we didn't wrench you two apart, so we would like to invite you to stay with us until Rose is settled. We have plenty of room and a housekeeper, so it really is no bother. It will take a few days to get all the paperwork together, but it would be safer legally if you moved in straight away. What do you think?”

“Umm... that sounds great. And thank you. To be honest it is a little tight for both of us in a one-bed apartment. Only could we start tomorrow? By the time we get back to the apartment, it is usually Rose's bedtime. I can pack everything up while she is sleeping. I should also mention that I have already arranged for Rose to see a psychologist on Sunday morning.”

“It has been pointed out to me that it is inappropriate for umm... well anyway, why don't you leave early, get yourself packed and head over to our house tonight.”

Bee looked a bit down but tried to hide it.

“It's only coz they don't know you're a girl,” I whispered in her ear as we left Pierce's office.

“I always wanted to have a girl,” Triss confided.

“I will be a good girl,” I promised, feeling that good feeling again. “Why haven't you?” I asked innocently.

“We tried, we just never succeeded,” Triss said sadly.

More people I was going to have to focus on. I had done fertility treatments before. I had to focus on healthy ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus and vagina for her and healthy testes for him.

“I will send you and Pierce positive thoughts as well,” I told her, to help explain when I focussed on fixing them later. I hoped I was doing the right thing. I knew fixing people ran the risk of revealing myself to my enemies, but I couldn't see people in need and not do anything.

“Thank you, Rose. That is very kind of you,” Triss replied.