The next day, Lake was attending another show. He finished dressing up before sitting down to get his hair and face done. The door opened, and Lake's manager came in with a female in glasses and wearing boring, plain clothes behind him. "Lake, let me introduce you to your new makeup artist. This is Lillian," his manager introduced her.
"Oh, it's nice to meet you," Lake said, standing up to shake her hand.
"Hello, p-please take care of me...," she quietly said, not looking him in the eyes.
"What happened to Emily?" the hairstylist said in ignorance, looking at her with judgment. The hairstylist's face showed how she didn't like what Lillian was wearing.
Lake glanced at his hairstylist and didn't like her tone. "She is still working here, but she had some family issues, so she informed us she had to cut back her work hours," Lake's manager said. The hairstylist muttered, "at least Emily dressed nicely." Lillian quietly looked at the floor, ignoring what she just heard.
"Well, let's get back to work. Time is of the essence," Lake's manager said, trying to get the atmosphere to change.
"Well, I will finish Lake's hair once his makeup is done," the hairstylist said, glancing at Lillian in disgust.
"T-then I will start doing your makeup," Lillian said quietly, walking toward him. Lake sat back down and smiled, "Don't worry. I trust you." Lillian started applying foundation while Lake closed his eyes.
"Why did you hire her? Couldn't you find someone else?" the hairstylist said to the manager, but both Lake and Lillian heard it.
Lake didn't like what he was hearing, "Don't mind her. She just has a high sense of fashion," Lake said to Lillian.
"N-no, it's fine," she said, doing his eyes. "I'm used to it...," she mumbled to herself and pushed her glasses to her face, but he heard it.
"Look at how she dresses. How do you know she is even good?" the hairstylist said to the manager.
"Claire, stop it. Emily was the one who referenced her, so that means she is good," Lake's manager said seriously as he was getting annoyed by Claire's attitude. "Fine," she said before walking to the side, waiting to do Lake's hair.
A few minutes later, Lillian set the brush down. "A-alright, finish," she said. Lake opened his eyes as the staff in the room looked surprised to see how bright, clean, and clear his face looked. "Wow," Lake praised, causing her to feel happy. Some of the staff, including the manager, praise her, but a couple of the staff, including Claire, show envy.
"T-thank you," she said, still looking at the ground.
_____
After the show was over, Lake headed back to his room. He opened the door slightly to see Claire tripping Lillian as she fell and sliding all the makeup palettes onto the floor and creating a powder mess. "Look what you did!" Claire yelled as it was just Lillian and a couple of the staff who were jealous of her in the room.
"I-I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean it," Lillian tried to defend herself. "Oh, so you are saying you didn't do it!" Claire said.
"N-no... What I mean...," Lillian tried to say again. "What? Just because you did well on your first day, you have the privilege to talk back to me, your senior?" Claire said.
"N-no... I-I," Lillian tried to say.
"Hey, what's going on here?" Lake said, opening the door completely and startling everyone in the room.
"She spilled all the makeup palettes on the floor and made a mess," Claire said, and the people in the room agreed with her.
"I-I" Lillian tried to defend herself. "You go outside the room and wait for me to finish changing so I can tell you about your punishment. Do you know how expensive those makeup palettes are? Go now!" Lake said seriously, telling Lillian to leave the room. She shrunk her neck before slowly making her way to the door. Claire and the rest hid their smiles before Lake said, "You all clean up the mess before you all leave."
"Huh?" they said, confused. "You heard me?" Lake said seriously.
"Ah, yes," they said quietly and went to clean the mess. Lake entered the changing room with a smile.