"Jericho, what are you?" Vivian asked.
"Currently, I'm a make up artist." He pressed the thread on her eyebrows.

"No, I mean--" Vivian shouted as he plucked out the hair.

"I'm dying!" She shouted as tears dropped from her eyes.
"Is it the first time you're getting your eyebrows done?" He asked but she had lost her sanity due to all the pain.

"Zero pain tolerance" He smirked.
"I have a lot of pain tolerance-- I don't need to hear the from you." She said.
he gave an evil smile and threw away the thread.

"Fine then. I'll wax it. We've got two hours till shoot. I should be done by then." He looked into his watch.
"Wax?" She said as he applied a hot, sticky, yellow fluid on her hands. He gave her a handkerchief.

"Stuff it in your mouth." He said.
"Why?"
"Just do it" She did as told while he pressed a tissue like paper over her hands. "Take deep breaths"

"I ain't pregnant" She said.
"Oh honey, you have no idea." He said with a smirk and pulled off paper swiftly. What followed after that was a supersonic high pitch shriek that filled the entire penthouse. The glass windows were almost shattered and everyone looked at the dressing room. There were more screeches heard, but in intervals.

"What is he doing?" Kirito asked.
'She sounds like she's been brutally fucked' Kirito wanted to laugh at his self made joke but he restrained from doing so.
"Don't worry. Leave it to Jericho. He's a professional." Mr Scruton assured Kirito who didn't care anyways.

Vivian was covered in sweat "Can we stop now?" She asked.
Jericho kept the wax kit aside "Now, I'll do your eyebrows."
"Will it hurt?"
"A lot"
"Skip it."
"It's okay. You're already hurting, a bit more won't make a difference." He said and those words hit her right where they shouldn't have.

"Do you think I deserve this pain?"
"Nah, nobody deserves pain. But they need it to make them hard-headed."
"That's a nice way to put it. By the way, Jericho, you don't look Japanese. Are you a foreigner too?" She asked as he did her eyebrows.

"Well, kind of."
"I'm from Germany. Where are you from?"
"Well, I'm from far away. I bet you haven't even heard the name of that place."
"Are you away from your family too?" She asked.

He looked at her and smiled
"Well, yeah"
"You must miss them, right?"
"Not really. We aren't that close"
"I see. I miss my parents a lot. I want to go back home once." She closed her eyes.

Jericho smiled "When the first snow hits the ground, your wish will come true"

'The smell of wet grass and fields. That sensation when you sleep not on a bed, but the grass. I can hear the bells of cows for far away. My cheek feels wet.' Vivan slowly opened her eyes and looked at the blue sky. A cow was eating her hair beside her ears.

She shouted as she got up. She looked around and saw other cows grazing throughout the green land.

"No way." She looked at the cow who was earlier chewing her hair. "Betty? I'm in Germany!" Betty mooed and hugged the cow. Then, she ran towards the trees barefoot.

"As I thought- The feeling of having grass beneath you is better than any magical stairs!" She ran down the fields to the lake she used to bath in. She jumped into the water and suddenly everything turned dark. A small snowflake moved towards her and melted as she touched it.

She was back into the dressing room, all by herself. She looked into the mirror. She looked perfect. Her hair was well done and her outfit was a long, light pink Japanese dress, decorated with white pearls- her pink hair decorated with pink flowers. And their ends curled. Her eyebrows were properly done and her lips looked fuller and glossy.

Suddenly the door behind her opened and instinctively, she said "Jericho--"
"Ms. Aria, the set is ready. We'll be starting the shoot within the next five minutes. The head photographer is calling you." A boy said in Japanese.
"Yes, thanks." She bowed to him and followed him out of the dressing room.

'Really, what are you? You're more human and at the same you're not' She thought as she walked through the halls. Meanwhile, Jericho stood overhead, pressing his chest against the railings, looking at her walk towards the cameraman.

"I'm the magic you've earned." He smiled as his blue eyes turned grey "So sing the songs of praise."

Vivian came inside the studio and stood before the camera. Everyone stared at her with their mouths wide open. "That makeup artist did a good job," Mr Scruton said to Kirito. 

Kirito ignored him and just stared a Vivian who was smiling and talking to the photographer. He was giving her instructions while Kirito stared at her all the time.

"Great Aria, look at the camera and tilt your head about 60 degrees," The photographer instructed.
"Like this?"
"Oh yeah-- that's perfect!"
"Awesome"
"Beautiful"

"Now bring your right leg in front of your left leg and put your right palm under your elbow. Yes, that's it!"
"Amazing!"

"She seems to be a natural. Not to mention she's got a good face too." Mr Scruton said.

"I don't know" Kirito looked at Vivian pose for the camera. He looked around and noticed that everyone was staring at her, leaving the of work aside. He made an unpleasant expression of discomfort. The shoot was carried out smoothly and came to an end in the afternoon.

Vivian changed and found Kirito waiting for her at the main door.
"I'll go get the car," He said.
Vivian stood beside Mr Scruton while rest of the team was packing up. 

"Good thing we finished up early." Mr Scruton said to Vivian with a smile.
"Sir, may I ask you something?"
"Yes sure."
"Who is Jericho?"

"Pardon? Who is he?"
"Jeroboam Hatsugu-- The Makeup artist? Is he some magician?" She asked.
"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm afraid I don't know anyone by that name." Mr Scruton smiled.
"You just talked to him. You asked him to do my makeup! He's the one who did my makeup." Vivian said.

"No, our makeup artist is Ms Tsubasa. She did your makeup. I don't know anyone by the name of Jericho"
"But I just talked to him."
"Perhaps you're mixing two events, Ms Aria. Maybe he was someone you met some other time and you're remembering it now."
"I think I'm a bit tired" Vivian pressed her head.
"Today was a long day, have some rest, miss."
"Yes, I will do that. Thank you very much."

"Aria, get in," Kirito was already there with the car in front of her. She bowed to Mr Scruton and walked to the door. Kirito smiled at him and drove away.

"What were you talking about? I hope you didn't tell him anything unnecessary." Kirito was cold again.
"Say, Kirito, do you remember the guy who did my makeup?" Vivian asked.
"You mean the woman who did your makeup? Yeah, why?"

"Nevermind. I think I need some rest."
"That's so unlike you. Are you sick?" He asked.
"No, I'm just exhausted. I'll be fine after some rest" They entered the apartment and she threw herself on the sofa.

'Home is the best place to be in' She thought as she muffled her face into the pillow. Suddenly, Kirito appeared above her. She turned back and looked at him.

"What?" She asked as she looked into his eyes while still laying on the sofa.
"Nothing. Sleep." He walked away. Without giving it much thought, Vivian went to sleep.

Meanwhile, Jericho sat at the top of the Tokyo tower looking at the moon. "You can't run from fate, honey." He got up and blocked the moonlight with his hands.
"I guess it's time to go to work." He jumped down, disappearing in the dark.

The next morning Vivian opened her eyes and looked ahead. Kirito was talking on the phone while fixing his tie. He looked at Vivian and hung up.
"You're up?" He walked towards her.

"Yes." She looked at him. "Are you leaving already--"
"You overslept"
"I'll cook breakfast" Vivian got up and ran towards the kitchen.
"You don't need to. I'm getting late."
"You can't skip breakfast! It's the most important meal of the day!" She started chopping an apple.

He walked towards her and looked at her. "Why can't you wake up early?" He asked.
"I'm sorry." She looked sad. He took a deep breath "Don't cook me dinner" He walked out of the apartment and closed the door. He looked into his phone screen while walking. He reviewed a call and he picked it up.

"I'm done with my shoot in London. I'm back in Japan-- At the airport. Pick me up!"
"Wait. I'll be right there" He typed.
"Alright ♡♡ Let's grab something on our way back"

Kirito kept his phone inside his pocket. He sat inside the car and started the engine.

Meanwhile, Aoi walked to Vivian's apartment with a small paper bag in his hand and pressed the doorbell.

"I'll be right there" She said from inside and soon she opened the door.

"Oh Aoi. Hi!" She greeted him.
"Hey," He greeted back.
"What brings you here?"
"Can you teach me how to make an apple pie?" He asked.

"You don't have a class today?" She asked.
"No, I'm free today. And I've got apples." She chuckled.
"Come on in"
"Pardon the intrusion." He entered the apartment.

Kirito and Erika sat at the table inside a café. Erika was clicking pictures of the food for the past fifteen minutes now.
"You said we should eat. You aren't letting me" Kirito complained.

"Just one good picture so that I can post it on my twitter and then you can eat everything. Anyways I'm on a diet"
"Like seriously--if you weren't going to eat, why did you ask me to get food in the first place?" Kirito said.

"Oh God, stop sulking! I hate it when you do that" She said "Here eat, I'll just update my account."
He looked at the pie and took a bite of it. 'This is shit.' He thought while chewing it.

"I've got you a souvenir from London." She looked into her purse and took out a ring.
"It's platinum jewellery. Cost me a fortune. I've got these matching. This one is mine and this one is yours. Wear it all the time"

"You know I can't" He said.
"People would just think it's your marriage ring. What's the big deal-- just wear it!"

"Yeah but you're not wife so that's not a marriage ring"
"Am I side chick now? Just because you're married? You liked me first, okay?"
Kirito took the ring and wore it in his ring finger.

"Perfect! Also Kirito, let's meet up at night today. It's been a while since we did it" She offered.
"Sorry I can't. I've got to meet Mr Scruton. He said he wanted to talk to me about something" Kirito said.

"Cancel it." She smiled.
"Is it so important for you to spread your legs tonight?"
"Yes it is. I'm your priority, ain't I?" She looked into his eyes.

"You are" He said.
"Are you getting bored of me, now? Like all the other girls you've dated?"
"No, I'm not bored of you,"
"Then what is it? You look so uninterested!"

"Is this the first time I'm uninterested? You know how it is. Luckily, Vivian hasn't seen anything yet." She didn't say anything after that. They both just sat at the table quietly.

"Why don't you tell her the truth? Maybe if she knows about it, she'll leave you immediately." Erika proposed. Kirito took a deep breath "It's not going to work."
"How can you be so sure."
"I have seen it. She's head over heels for me. It's crazy. And I can't make her hate me. Plus, I'm not allowed to file files divorce."

Erika pressed her hand on his "Then, what now? Are you going to stay this way forever?"
Kirito looked away "I don't know. I thought I could do it but it's getting more messy."

"What about Ethan?"
"We'll have to kill him."
"Can you?"
"It's not about my abilities anymore."

Jericho sat on one of the tables in the café and looked at Kirito and Erika.

"Only a fool tests the depth of water" He took a sip of his espresso "With both feet."

-To be continued

Jeroboam Hatsugu
My Heart Hates Me