Villainous Veera

.sixteen.

Crap, crap, crap! Veera's mind began to race. She looked to her left, then to her right, but the only person that was within close proximity of her was Izayah, and he had his attention strapped to his phone, skimming through his email with a grim frown on his lips. No way would Vincent Night be approaching a man who paid little to no attention to him.

Then again, who else would he be coming towards? Certainly not Veera – not the little nobody that sat shrouded in the shadows of the tree above her, staring at her knotted fingers or sometimes the grass that brushed against her shoes. Maybe there was an actor or actress behind her, one that she couldn't see even though she tried to turn her head back. Veera cursed her poorly built spine – that surgery had done nothing but make her life even more miserable.

Out of the corner of her eye, Veera noticed April Moon's eyelashes fluttering. The girl was obviously enamored by Vincent Night, yet his eyes seemed to be trained on Veera, his steps slow and almost cat-like as he bent on one knee in front of her.

"Hello," he said. Veera's breath caught in her throat at the husky tone of his words. "Nice to meet you, Miss. I'm Vincent Night."

"Um, hi?" Veera fumbled to stand. Her knees ached with the extra effort she had to put into her body to rise, and she hoped that Vincent Night didn't notice the stumble she made when she stuck her hand out to him. "Nice to meet you too. I'm Veera Solace."

"The schoolteacher at Liquizel Elementary, right?" Vincent shook her hand.

"How did you know?"

"I heard Mr. Stall telling April and Grace." Vincent Night grinned impishly. "Day off today?"

"You could say that," Veera said. She shook her head to move the ticklish strands of hair out of her face. Vincent's grip on her hand remained, keeping their arms suspended in the air. Around them, Veera noted that it was nearly silent, if not for the murmurs that wafted through the maze of people.

"Mr. Night." Izayah butt in suddenly. He put his hand out roughly, and Vincent carefully removed his hand from Veera's grasp to shake Izayah's. Veera noted that Vincent was taller than the President by a few inches, and that seemed to make Izayah bristle with irritation.

"Mr. Stall," Vincent responded cordially. "How are you, sir?"

"Well, thank you." Izayah traded formalities as easily as one could make breakfast. "How are you, Mr. Night? How is your movie coming along?"

"It's going well, thanks," Vincent replied tightly. Veera could see both the men sizing each other up. The tension seemed to appear out of nowhere between the actor and president, and Veera took a step back to be able to calm her racing heart.

I think I missed my medicine or something, she thought, clutching her chest. She paused and brought her hand up to her face. Using her other hand, she smoothed her thumb over the lines on her palm that created a broken M. Vincent's touch seemed to ghost over her. His handshake was firm, his touch lingering. Something about the way he held her made her arm tingle with delight; a pleasurable and sweet feeling, but Veera shook it away.

I need to shower, she thought. Wash this arm properly too. First Spotlight. Then Vincent Night. What the fuck is wrong with me?

"Are you enjoying your tour so far?" Vincent pulled her back into the conversation. "I know it's not much, but we're only filming a small part of the movie here."

"Oh? Where is the rest of the film going to be shot?" Veera asked.

"Hamlin, I think," Vincent said. He smiled brightly. "Are you interested in film?"

Veera shrugged. "Somewhat. I enjoy watching movies and learning mostly about foley art."

"Ah, that's an interesting art," Vincent said. "One of our foley artists is here today on set. Maybe I can introduce him to you?"