Julie tilted her head.

  “Sorry, can you repeat ? I must be tired, I thought you said ‘I want to build a hotel’. I should take a break.”

  “No, you heard correctly. I want to build a hotel.”

  The smile left Julie’s lips as she stared at Cyrielle with her mouth agape.

  “A hotel ? What ? Suddenly ?”

  “It is a personal project I have. My bank account is full of money, I can buy a piece of nd or an abandoned building and build a hotel on top of it. I want to design it entirely.”

  Julie was holding her head with both her hands, looking confused.

  “What do you mean ? Just like that, build a hotel ?”

  She took a deep breath and pushed her hair back, entering her CEO mode.

  “You need paperwork to construct a public pce, so I will have to take care of that. To operate the hotel you also need various licenses and employees. It would be better to either outsource it to another company, or create an Angel-Minet branch specialized in food and lodging. It could be useful ter. Okay, I’m starting to see the vision ! Mademoiselle Cyrielle, the entertainment queen of France, builds a hotel for her worldwide fans to visit her country comfortably. You could also prepare a big room that we can use for press conferences or runways during Fashion Week ! Maybe even an exposition hall for your designs ? This could be a huge deal !”

  Cyrielle took a step back. She just wanted to design a few rooms, not create an entire entertainment base for her agency ! But she couldn’t stop Julie when she had this greedy overexcited look, so Cyrielle chose to stay silent.

  ‘I feel like this will become a huge thing…’

  [You will have a lot more work. Are you ready ?]

  ‘I need to create a performance for an award ceremony, prepare a tour, and build a hotel. When will I sleep ?’

  [You have ‘Fortitude’ so technically you don’t need to sleep.]

  ‘I don’t need to eat either but you are reminding me of it everyday !’

  [If you successfully finish all these projects, you will advance even further on your path.]

  ‘Okay… Well, I guess that sleep is for the weak.’

  It took almost an hour for Julie to calm down and write her requests for the hotel, then they exited the office after Julie promised to look into nd to buy. The two friends walked to the open space, where a familiar face was talking with the employees. When the man saw Cyrielle, he fshed his most charming smile.

  “Hello Mademoiselle Cyrielle and CEO, I had news about the song so I came to give it.”

  Manon Sarmer’s manager walked to the women and gave them a USB. Cyrielle simply nodded, but Julie furrowed her brows.

  “You could have sent it by mail. Even better, an email could have worked.”

  The man slightly reddened, discreetly looking at Cyrielle’s expression.

  “I just thought I should show my sincerity by coming here. My talent really respects Mademoiselle Cyrielle and it’s important for me to convey it properly.”

  They exchanged small talk and then the man walked to the elevator. Julie hissed between her teeth.

  “Why did he come, this cockroach ? Eyeing something he shouldn’t have…”

  Cyrielle had no idea what Julie was talking about, so she shrugged.

  “He seems to be serious about his work. It’s good to have a work ethic.”

  Her friend turned to her with an eyebrow raised.

  “Do you like him ?”

  “He is a good manager with respect for his talents, so yes. Why ?”

  Julie got closer.

  “I mean romantically. Do you like him ?”

  ‘What is this strange question again ?’

  Cyrielle looked at Julie as if she was crazy.

  “I saw him three times, totalling at one hour max, how would I know if I like him romantically or not ? Don’t be ridiculous.”

  She had stated what she thought was obvious, but Julie nodded while scratching her chin, looking as if she was thinking deeply about something.

  “I see… Well, you should go now, you have a lot of work to do. Call me tonight !”

  “Yes, of course.”

  With that, Cyrielle reunited with Hugo, her road manager, and walked to the elevator.

  ***

  It was already the evening, and Cyrielle was starting to look anxious. She had been writing her ideas down, but nothing seemed to work out and the amount of crumpled paper on the floor only seemed to increase. She sighed and got up, walking around her atelier to try and rex a bit.

  ‘I want my performances to show some growth, I don’t want to do the same thing I did for World Music Day. I was very static and except for the songs and my outfits, there was nothing else to see.’

  [Think about how you grew in that time, what changed compared to this summer ?]

  ‘Let’s see… My visuals and movements characteristics both became better, I learned stunts… There is a lot but I don’t know what to make of it. I can’t do stunts on stage.’

  [Why not just do a practice run ?]

  Cyrielle sighed.

  ‘Yes, maybe something will come to me.’

  She entered her living room and used her phone to turn on the music instrumental, Taking a pen to simute her microphone. As soon as the first note resounded in the room, she closed her eyes and started to sway with the rhythm. Her ‘better intuition’ fully activated, she let herself be pulled by the music, moving slowly on the beat. She lifted her arm, bent her waist, turned her leg to the side, and let her intuition and the music do the rest, like a puppet stringed to the sound. Thanks to ‘moderately better flexibility’ and ‘mid and body linked’, she was able to move exactly like she imagined to, and when she started to sing, ‘fortitude’ activated so that she would not have a ragged breathing, no matter how much she moved. When the song reached the chorus, she jumped at the same time the beat dropped, and suddenly time stopped when she was midair.

  [See, it wasn’t that difficult ! You earned the ‘Dancing’ ability.]

  ‘Really ? So cool !’

  She was about to celebrate, but another chat bubble appeared.

  [‘Dancing’ interacts with ‘Horseback riding’ and ‘Stunts’. Creating an ability category ‘Physical’. All the cking abilities in the ‘Physical’ category are enhanced.]

  ‘Is it real ?’

  Cyrielle opened her eyes wide. Gaining a new ability was already incredible, but evolving three of them in one go was heaven sent.

  ‘What can I do with the ‘Stunts’ evolved ?’

  [You should check out ‘Path knowledge’, it’s been a while. And you need to work on your capacity.]

  ‘Later, for now there is something more important.’

  Cyrielle reached for her phone, stopped the music and immediately sent a text to Julie. The reply was fast.

  [Me : Is it possible to have dancers for the Music Moves Europe Award ?]

  [Julie the best ? : Don’t tell me you can also dance]

  [Me : Don’t focus on the details. Is it possible ? Ideally 4 would be perfect, but I can do with two.]

  [Julie the best ? : Why do I even bother asking ? Of course, 4 would be possible but the performance is in a month. Will you be okay ? Should I hire a choreographer ?]

  Cyrielle stopped for a moment, closing her eyes to activate ‘Dancing’. When she thought about her song, she could see herself dancing. It wasn’t only a result of one ability, it was as if everything she had was working in synergy. Her flexibility, intuition, stunts, even composing was here, helping her create choreography as if she was creating music using her body. She had reached a point where she had used a lot of abilities and gifts for her various projects, and after an entire year she had unknowingly mastered a small amount of capacity. It wasn’t a lot, but using ‘composing’ a lot had taught her about creativity and sound in a way that even without using the ability, she was able to see music in a diagram, with forms and curves. In the same way, she was able to channel this capacity in other domains, using those forms and curves while dancing to better follow the beat.

  She wasn’t a master at it yet, she had a lot to learn, but she felt that she had evolved in a way that made her unrecognizable. Cyrielle smiled. It was a bit surprising, but at the same time it was the result of her efforts. At this moment, another message appeared :

  [Congratutions, you are continuously provoking opportunities while advancing on the road Path of Destiny has chosen for you ! You have made your first steps, tested the water, but now it’s time to take confidence in yourself. Your status evolves from ‘Timid stroll’ to ‘Confident walk’. Path of Destiny rewards you by offering a gift.]

  ‘Why are you so generous today ?’

  Cyrielle ughed and sent one st text to Julie before getting her gift :

  [Me : No need for a choreographer.]