Once Aaliyah got onto the red carpet, her media persona immediately came on.
"Aaliyah look this way!"
"Aaliyah turn and pose in this direction!"
"Miss Salazar, you look beautiful today. Who are you wearing?!"
"Aaliyah, a moment of your time!"
As the different reporters took nonstop photos of her, Aaliyah would shift and pose in a flattering manner. Seeing a reporter she frequently collaborated with, she stopped in front of him and answered his question.
"This is a gown from the Chanel archives. I was blessed enough that Black Rock Entertainment believes in me and my role enough to allow me the honor of wearing this dress." Aaliyah humbly bragged.
"Miss Aaliyah please tell us about your new role. It's your largest role yet as a female lead. Do you think you can succeed?"
Aaliyah skillfully deflected and answered the reporter's question until a large voice shouted from the back.
"Aaliyah Salazar, what do you think about the fact that you and Valentina Salazar have the same last name? Many are saying that's a battle to see who the better Salazar is especially with Valentina's resounding success in the Fallen Angel's music video. Are you feeling threatened by a new competitor who's the same age as you as well as in the same agency?"
As she heard the pointed question, Aaliyah made sure to keep the soft gentle smile on her face.
"In this industry, newcomers are always appearing and disappearing so it's a bit hard to keep up with them and all the rumors that are created. Valentina is my junior in the industry as well as in Black Rock Entertainment, and I am always happy to see juniors succeed. I'm glad she was able to successfully complete a role given to her by our agency and I'm not threatened since I focus on any role I am working on 110%. In regard to competition, I think friendly competition is always a great thing to have as it causes our skills to increase. Although I have never worked professionally with Valentina, I'm looking forward to working with her on this project." Aaliyah skillfully navigated the loaded question while taking the opportunity to have the agency take credit for Valentina's success while insinuating that Valentina was a talent that would come and go.
As the reporters heard her words, it was as if they were driven into a frenzy.
"Aaliyah, how do you evaluate Valentina's acting skills then? Do you think she's just lucky or do you think she's talented?"
"Aaliyah, how is your relationship with your male costar Jonathan Starling? I see that the two of you are matching not only outfit colors but eye colors as well. Is there something between you two?"
"Aaliyah, how do you think your outfit is going to hold up against Valentina's tonight? From everything we've seen from her and what we heard straight from the director's own mouth, she's an unrivaled beauty."
"Pardon?" Aaliyah's head couldn't help but whip around as she heard those blasphemous words.
"Yes. He said she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in the world and tonight, hers was the appearance he was looking forward to the most." The reporter shamelessly piled on the flames.
"In fact, isn't that her walking over now?" almost simultaneously, everyone turned over to look and it seemed like the world froze for a moment.
Step. Step. Step.
The woman approaching them strutted down the carpet as if it was a runway and nobody could remove their eyes from her. Unlike the women before her who were dressed In different variations of a ball gown, this woman stood out uniquely.
She was dressed in a vibrant shade of green and rather than a dress, she was wearing forest green high-waisted pants that followed the curve of her waist and hips before flaring out over a pair of Swarovski crystal-studded 100mm So Kate Louboutin's. On top, she had on a lighter green turtleneck tucked into the pants and sinched with a simple black belt with a gold buckle. Her jewelry was simple, just a couple of necklaces and a ring while her hair was curled and free, the layers framing her face perfectly before falling in bouncy waves.
The real star of the show though was her jacket. A beautiful forest green buttery cashmere jacket draped over her shoulder and fell elegantly to her mid-calf.
As she walked, both hands in her pocket, the people watching her felt as if they were viewing a supermodel on the runway. The way she strutted down was reminiscent of seeing a top model on the catwalk, perfectly modeling the clothes.
When Valentina reached the area where the reporters and Aaliyah stood she confidently smiled before removing her sunglasses.
"Good evening. You all look so good. How's everyone doing tonight?" she said with a charming smile that exposed the cute dimples in her cheeks.
Both the reporters and Aaliyah were temporarily stunned before the reporters began clicking their cameras as if they were in a frenzy.
"Valentina, look this way please."
"Valentina, over here."
"Valentina, turn this way."
As the reporters began calling out instructions, Valentina carefully positioned herself at her best angles and stared at the cameras confidently. Her gaze didn't waver and there was no sense of nervousness as she gracefully switched positions.
Seeing that the reporters were no longer paying attention to her, Aaliyah hid her anger and subtly tried to stand in front of Valentina. She shot a glance at the reporter she knew but before he could say anything, another reporter called out.
"Miss Salazar, please look over here."
As both women turned to look, the reporter corrected himself.
"Oh, I guess I can take some photos of the both of you, but I meant Valentina. Aaliyah do you mind moving to the side, you're blocking the shot."
Angered, Aaliyah gritted her teeth before smiling gently and moving to the side.
After a couple more minutes, Valentina waved her hands.
"Thank you for the photos. Please make sure to tag me when you post the pretty ones." She said with a wink causing the reporters to burst out laughing.
"Valentina, who are you wearing today? This is a much different style than you showed us the last time. It's rare to see actresses in pants on the carpet."
"It's by my friend called Lia. She was the one who styled me today. I wore it since I wanted to match the aura of the character that I will be playing. It's a bit different than what everyone else is wearing so I hope it looks good." Valentina replied humbly.
"It looks great! You're the best look on the carpet tonight!" Someone called out, causing everyone to burst out laughing again.
"Valentina, how do you feel coming off the success of being one of the main actresses in the Fallen Angels music video? This is their first time featuring women."
"It's been an amazing experience and I loved working with Director Sarah Lee and the rest of the cast. Despite my inexperience, they were lovely to work with and I'm glad to have been able to be part of such an impactful project." Valentina calmly replied.
"There are rumors that there is a relationship between you and Rio of the fallen Angels. After all, you're the only woman he follows. Can you speak on that?"
"I consider Rio my senior in the industry. I can assure you that the only relationship between us is that between costars who worked on a project together. I'm sure Rio from the Fallen Angels feels the same way."
As Valentina continued expertly deflecting and answering questions, Aaliyah felt her anger growing. She expected Valentina to stumble when answering questions as she knew she had no media training, yet here she was excelling! To make matters worse, the reporters were ignoring her, the female lead for an upstart like Valentina!
Just as Aaliyah wanted to interrupt again, a reporter connection asked.
"Valentina. We noticed that both you and Aaliyah have the same last name. Not only that, you're both signed to Black Rock Entertainment and are the same age as well. Is there any relationship between you two?"
Valentina turned to the reporter who had asked the pointed question and gave him a warm smile before responding. "There's no blood relationship between Aaliyah and me, however, we do have a relationship as actresses under the same agency who want to excel in our fields. As it's my first time working with Aaliyah who has had many successful roles, I look forward to the experience and knowledge I will gain from her. I aspire to one day become as successful as she is, and gain recognition for my skills and full support of my agency."
Once she finished talking, Valentina turned to Aaliyah and gave her a brilliant smile, "Please take care of me during this project, Senior Aaliyah."
"Of course, junior." Aaliyah gave her a sickeningly sweet smile in return.
"Hey, you guys. I didn't realize the party was back here! Valentina, it's good to see you again! You look so pretty today. Better than anyone I've seen so far and that outfit is very nice. It's very chic and it really brings out the green color of your eyes." a cheerful voice called out.
Valentina turned along with everyone else and saw that Jonathan Starling was walking over while waving. He was dressed simply in a navy blue suit which highlighted his tall trim figure. His brown hair was cut stylishly, and his blue eyes sparkled as he smiled.
Aaliyah: "......"
Valentina: "......"
Reporters: "......"
What kind of person would complement one woman and ignore the other? Was he picking a fight or was there something...more? Was there a secret relationship between Valentina Salazar and Jonathan Starling?
As the reporters thought over his words, they all simultaneously turned to look at Valentina. First Rio. Now Jonathan Starling. Was she going around seducing all her male co-stars? This was a big scoop!
On the other hand, Valentina wanted to fight Jonathan Starling! He was out here throwing out ambiguous words that could cause a huge misunderstanding for her.
She smiled gently at him before clarifying and redirecting his attention, "Mr. Starling, I haven't seen you since my audition. It's so good to see you again. I don't know if you've met the female lead Aaliyah? I think she looks beautiful in that gown, don't you?"
Authors Note:
I dreamt about this outfit on Valentina just in a different color and I'm so glad it worked.
Inspo: https://stealherstyle.net/2019/03/01/zendaya-mint-outfit-crystal-pumps/