March 21th, 2020 – Prom Night
“Allison, did I say that we wanted roses for the centerpiece? Please tell me – I would absolutely love to hear the next words that come out of your mouth right now,” Lily-Ann questioned, her voice eerily calm as she watched the shaking girl, who had begun tearing up. What a disgrace of an intern the girl had proven to be. “Delilah’s. I asked for Delilah’s. They tie the room together not this… piece of absolute sh!t you have given me. Fix it. And if you don’t, I suggest you don’t come back.” Lily uttered, watching as the girl ran away almost immediately. “Is there no one in this world that is competent anymore? Do I really have to do every single thing myself?” Lily-Ann questioned the staff running around the room to get everything ready for the charity gala in the morning. “I don’t care if it’s the worst storm of a century out there. None of you are going home to your families until you get this right – or you’re not getting paid. Now FIX IT,” the woman yelled, watching as everyone begin running around faster. “Lina, you’re in charge – make sure they don’t mess up again. I’ll be in the dressing room de-stressing. If I come out again and this mess isn’t presentable, you’ll be the next one to go. Don’t bother me until it’s done,” Lily told the girl as she walked towards the dressing room closing the door behind her as she seethed in frustration – walking towards the mirror. Lily-Ann had always been known by three words: Prosperous, Prim, and Perfection. The triple P’s – as was the headline of one of her many photoshoots in her modeling days. Was it so wrong to expect that out of everyone else? Apparently, it was - it was truly upsetting that no one could keep up? It wasn’t that hard to follow simple instructions after all.
Lily – Ann had been spending the last few hours laying her head down. It had only been a headache after headache. Supposedly the lights had gone out and the workers had to stay at the venue no matter what. The audacity of them to ask to take a break, however, was outrageous. What the hell was she paying them for? Of course, she told them to find flashlights and candles and continue fixing the venue. Perhaps by the time they got it done correctly, the storm would let out. A sigh left her lips as Lily heard the door opening. “Lina, unless the venue is perfection – I suggest you walk out,” Lily-Ann muttered, though she didn’t hear the door close. A groan left her lips as the woman stood up. “What is it now Lina? Spit it out.” She questioned; frustration hidden underneath her calm exterior.
“Ma’am… Mrs. Collins. The phone lines just came back up… the police called… your daughter died.”
Lily-Ann’s eyebrow raised as she looked at her assistant, trying to see if this was a joke. “Well…” Lily-Ann spoke after about 3 minutes of silence, her mind thinking through what she had just heard. “…Isn’t that unfortunate. Make sure you get the news reporters to run their story by our marketing team before it’s released to the public. Write up a statement from me and tell the reporters and start planning the funeral. Now… if you’re done, get back to work Lina.”
And just like that – the doors were closed once again, leaving only darkness and Lily-Ann alone to her thoughts.
March 22nd, 2020 – Funeral
Her husband, Mark, was a mess. Quite literally tearing up at their house before the funeral and Lily-Ann could only shake her head in pity. She had feigned a few sad emotions with him last night, though now was time to get to work. Perfection was required. Any blood of Lily-Ann was not going to be known as having anything less than the the funeral. The one that everyone looked back at and said, “that’s how I want to go out.” With that thought, the woman changed her clothes – a black sleek dress to fit her body of a grieving mother. As she walked downstairs, she found her assistant ready to go. “Lina, how are the RSVPs looking? Which reporters did you get to come? Please tell me you at least got the reporter from e-news and the times?” the woman asked, smiling as her assistant nodded – discussing a few other matters of importance.
In all retrospect, once she had gotten the mess that was her husband to the funeral – everything was going on without a hitch. Lily-Ann was unnerved that her ex-husband had shown up, Candice’s father, but being the good hostess, she was – she couldn’t exactly turn the man away. However, the sheer amount of people, and the influence of the people who attended only went to show the continued prestige of the Collins name. And Lily? She played it off perfectly. Perhaps acting was her calling instead of modeling. Oh well.
That was until a child by the name of Daniel Parker – only known to her by his parents Justin and Natalie - had the audacity to say something not only about her daughter but also her. Though her eyes widened at the fact that the child spoke… partly the truth… Lily played it off with a laugh, motioning for security to take him off the stage IMMEDIATELY.
She watched as the boy was dragged, attempting to make sure the news cameras got a distraught image of her. Sh!t. Sh!t. Sh!t. Lily knew she had to turn this around… so what she did, even she didn’t originally expect. She walked up to the podium, tears brimming her eyes after years of practice. “I… I can’t even imagine what would cause someone to say that about me… about my daughter…” Lily mumbled, pretending to have a hard time holding herself together as she covered her lips. “I guess the death of my daughter is hitting all of us differently. And the one thing It’s made me realize is that losing one daughter has only made me reflect on my past mistakes. I wanted to come up here to say one thing. Candice, my love, I will miss you with all my heart. And I’m only how grateful I am for this incident helping me realize I can’t neglect my other daughter anymore. Delilah, my love, the day I gave you up was the hardest day of my life… I can only hope you forgive me… Delilah. will you allow me to adopt you so we can be a family again?”
Spinning the story. That was always the narrative. And this story would make people forget exactly what Daniel had done. She wouldn’t be the ‘bad mother who didn’t care about her daughter’ she was seen as the Savior of her other daughter.
With that, Lily Ann looked towards her daughter with a sad smile, laughing slightly into the mic as she wiped her tears. “If you don’t mind, my daughter and I are going to talk in private…I… I’m going to be cutting this short… do we mind?” Lily-Ann asked – motioning towards the casket to the men who would be carrying it outside for the burial. With that, Lily-Ann walked off the podium where Lina was standing, hugging the woman as she whispered in her ear. “Make sure the news reporters get the right story,” she muttered as people begin standing up and following the casket outside the doors.
ORP: Holy. This is long. Okay @CerealKiller feel free to confront her or @novella Delilah and her mother can bond
