Fashion Queens and the One Between (Ambys 2021)

Chapter-3 The Winged Horse

That evening was just as quiet as usual, and Janelle was sipping a cup of cappuccino, trying to let it sink in that the vacations had begun.

Her thoughts were interrupted as her laptop recieved a notification.

She glanced at the screen and switched to her inbox. The new mail carried a profile name she recognised.

Pegasus Publications.

Janelle clicked the mail and read slowly through the message. As she reached the end, her face bore a slight frown and she winced at at it's contents

"Wow," Janelle muttered, composing her thoughts. It wasn't that the mail was bad news. She just didn't know how to react to it.

Miss Pearson,
Your intership application has been processed. Pegasus wishes to you to be present for an interview at our office tomorrow at 9 am, to assess your qualification for this purpose.
Thank you.

Regards,
Pegasus Publications.

Janelle sighed. Technically, she hadn't got the intership at Phoenix yet. So until then, she had the right to take a look at other options. Moreover, nobody turned down Alana Clarke and lived to work elsewhere.

It wouldn't hurt to attend the interview at Pegasus, would it?

******

"That's a horrible decision!" Sia hissed over the phone the next morning. This was the second time her morning sleep had been interrupted, but she wasn't about to let her friend die because of a bad decision.

"What if you get the internship at Phoenix? Pegasus can't consider you!" she stated.

Janelle sighed at the mirror, adjusting her hair.

"It's not going to be that crazy," she replied. "Hopefully. If Phoenix hires me first, I'll turn down Pegasus."

"You know you'd never do that." Sia rolled her eyes. "Don't do anything foolish. Good luck anyway."

******

The Pegasus office wasn't just another corporate building. Like Phoenix, the place radiated creative frenzy. Janelle glimpsed the employees on the top floors through the windows, rushing around with manuscripts and stationery.

She walked in cautiously just as she had done the previous day for another interview, and looked around for the receptionist (keeping an eye out for the designer brand they wore).

She was rather surprised when a short young lady, in heels to compensate, approached her.

"Miss Pearson? Ze intern applicant?" she drawled in an obvious French accent, peering at Janelle through her gold-framed glasses.

"Uh, yes. That's me," Janelle replied, straightening her blazer.

"Zis way please. Madame Clarke will see you," the lady continued, herding Janelle towards the elevator. It let them off on the third floor, where the presumed secretary led Janelle down the corridor to the right.

She opened a sliding glass door to an office and nodded towards Janelle.

"Miss Pearson to see you, Madame Clarke," she announced. Janelle  adjusted her hair one last time before entering the sacred space, and managed a slightly nervous smile.

Alana Clarke brushed back her blond hair as she gazed at the young girl for a moment. The executive gestured towards the chair opposite her with a pen.

"Have a seat."

******

"Your qualification in graphic designing caught my eye," the CEO remarked.

In the fifteen minutes that had gone by, Alana hasn't enquired about Janelle's previous experience in journalism, which struck the latter as odd.

"Why did you take up graphic designing as a subject along with journalism?" the woman continued, looking up at the intern applicant.

"I thought it would come in handy if I ever worked for a magazine. I could either contribute with written articles, or work on the covers," Janelle explained.

"Well thought out," the CEO mused. Janelle almost died.

"Did the head of Pegasus Publications just compliment my career choice?" her mind raced.

The silence in the office was broken by a page being turned as Alana read over Janelle's resume. Finding no more questions to fire at her, she put away the file.

"Tell me, Janelle," Alana began, leaning back in her chair.

"What do you infer from the motto of Pegasus?"

Janelle blinked, taken aback by the unexpected question.
"Giving wings to fashion?" she remarked slowly.

"I'm aware of our motto, thank you. What do you understand from it?" Alana repeated.

Janelle twiddled her thumbs nervously, thinking about it.
"Um, well," she began, looking up at the executive.

"I think the phrase 'giving wings to fashion' would mean facilitating fashion to soar freely, without being bound to earth by a conventional definition. I think giving wings to fashion makes it a free concept, with different definitions as to what it could be."

Janelle paused, slightly amazed she had managed to get the words out.

Alana listened attentively, her eyebrows raised in appreciation. She was impressed, and it wasn't hard to notice.

"That's the most fascinating explanation I've heard," she remarked, placing her pen back on the desk.

"Very well, Janelle," she continued. "You're in. Welcome to Pegasus."

******

Her mind was still in a daze as Janelle crossed the road and the sound of raging traffic was drowned out by the recurring thought of having officially been accepted for an internship at Pegasus.

"I've got to let Sia know," she mused with a grin, walking up the steps to her apartment.

Janelle absentmindedly walked up to the first floor of the apartment, her face buried in her phone as she scrolled through her contacts.

There was a missed call from an unknown number, prompting a frown on her face. She clicked it to call the person back, wondering who it could have been.

"Hi, I received a call from this–" Janelle was cut short by a smooth masculine voice on the other side.

"Miss Pearson, this is Enrique Velasquez from Phoenix. On behalf of Miss Ray, I wish to inform you of your selection for our internship."

The girl spent the next ten minutes thinking about her life. She then came to a conclusion. Janelle chuckled to herself.

"I'm doomed."