Aveline looked at herself in the mirror after she was all dressed up.
"Everything is changing," she whispered as she observed herself.
Her eyes looked at the reflection of the opened closet through the mirror. Her old clothes were all there. With some of the new clothes too.
The rest she was bringing with her to the Sinclair mansion.
She was putting on one of those new clothes.
"So many dresses," she thought, staring at the white-halter neck-short-flared dress she was putting on.
Aveline was used to wearing lots of pants, because of the nature of her job. Now she had dresses and heels she didn't even think she could pull off.
"You need a lot of confidence." Atlas words returned to her.
"If you don't have something, you have to fake it first until you eventually do," Laura's words from the past followed.
The latter might have done her dirty, but she still wanted to take that advice and see where it would take her.
"You're beautiful, Aveline. You're from an artistic family. Your family is middle-class. You stayed in France for a while. You're confident," she repeated over and over again, until a knock on the door snapped her out of it.
"It's Nelson, ma'am. The boss has asked that you come out now."
"Okay, I'll be right there," she replied.
Quickly, she tied her hair into a high ponytail, grateful that despite the length and fullness of her hair, it always managed to behave itself.
Next she covered herself in her favourite fragrance. The one her mother used to wear.
"Miss Ave—"
"I'm coming out now!" She practically ran out of her room.
When she stepped out into the compound, the car door was already opened for her.
She slipped in to find Atlas already in the car.
"Did your friend leave?" She asked.
"Yeah, I'll make sure I'm at the casino tonight. Until then, make the ambassador's son as comfortable as possible." Atlas took off the plugs from his ear, and turned to Aveline.
He inhaled sharply on seeing her. Maybe it was her hair, or the dress. There was just something even more appealing about her looks.
And that scent too. He had made a mental note to ask her what it was. Perhaps, he could get a variation of it as gifts for the women in his family.
"Or not," he thought.
The scent was unique to her. It merged well with her skin. He wanted to keep it that way.
"Your friend?" She repeated after realising he had been on a call.
Atlas cleared his throat, and started the car. "He'll meet us there," he simply said, and drove away.
"You drive a lot," she observed out loud.
"I'm not supposed to?"
"Uhmmm no– I meant— you're just—"
"Rich? Poor people live in poor places. Rich people live in rich places. Rich people also don't drive themselves," he added to her prior words.
Aveline didn't realise he was mimicking her until she opened her mouth to respond. She shut it immediately as it dawned on her.
Atlas smiled. "You're one strange girl," he said, but Aveline didn't hear him clearly.
She was too busy looking at his side profile, and the way that smile enhanced what was already so perfect.
"Atlas Sinclair," she thought.
It still felt like a dream that not only had she spent a night in his bed, she was also marrying him.
"For money of course," a stern voice in her head reminded her.
"For money," she concurred.
"Stop staring. It's weird," he suddenly said.
Aveline swiftly whipped her head to the window, causing Atlas' smile to deepen.
He couldn't deny Aveline fascinated him. Sometimes she looked intimidated, other times she blurted out whatever came to her mind.
It was as if she couldn't fully decide if she wanted to stay inside her shell or fully come out.
From observing people the way he had, he could tell she just needed a solid supportive ground to blossom into her potential.
Whether he could be that was unfortunately something he didn't care to know.
"Lines get blurred really fast," he told himself.
The rest of the journey was done in silence, up until the point the car passed through the illuminated signpost, SIN CITY.
"Oh my God, that's it!" Aveline blurted as she pointed to the big hotel sparkling with different lights.
Atlas looked briefly and nodded. "So you do remember," he said.
She froze, not exactly sure which part he was talking about.
The silence stretched, heightening Atlas curiosity. He glanced briefly at her.
"Why are you quiet again?"
The crimson on Aveline's face remained as she thought of how to shift the conversation.
"You do know I'm not talking about the one night stand thing but the bar you forgot your purse and card in right?" He continued, oblivious of Aveline begging God for a hole she could crawl in and never come out of.
It was still so surreal to her that she had slept with someone other than Craig who was her first and only.
To do that in such a careless way too was something she was finding difficult to digest.
Yet, Atlas was so casual about the whole thing.
"He owns hotels, casinos and clubs. One night stands are his usual," the voices in her head said, further adding to her misery.
Atlas shook his head when her body remained turned away from him and stiff.
"Did I say something wrong?" He wondered internally, as he turned into Sinclair street.
He drove directly to the mansion, and immediately his car was spotted, the gates opened up for him to drive through.
"We're here," he said, as he stopped the car.
Aveline's stomach flipped and solidified in seconds. She suddenly felt the overwhelming urge to step out of the car and run far away.
"Is the money worth the humiliation?" She kept asking herself.
However, the thoughts of the debts that were sure to chase her until her dying day haunted her to submission.
"Do you not want to step out of the car?" Atlas sighed.
Aveline slowly turned her face to him, and his heart doubled on seeing the expression written all over her.
"What is it, Aveline?" He asked.
"I'm scared," she confessed with trembling lips.
He hated all of this. He hated the position she was putting him in. He would have much preferred she pretended she was brave enough to withstand his family.
One million dollars monthly was a figure the average human would never touch in their lifetime. Wasn't that enough to make her suffer in silence without making him feel like he had to assure her?
"Don't worry about it. It was just a moment of weakness. I'll be fine," she said, as if reading his thoughts.
Her hand grabbed the handle of the door to open, but his hand stopped her.
"My mother likes jewelry, so I bought some gold ones you can give her. My father likes whiskey, so I bought one that you can present to him. Those are the two that matter the most, because they're my parents," he said, then opened his side of the door and stepped out.
Aveline breathed out. Her confusion lingered. She wondered if Atlas had a genuinely kind side in the midst of all his arrogance, or he just saw her as a charity case that needed pitiful aid.
"What do I do?" She questioned herself, as she stepped out of the car.