Two years ago, 19-year-old Wren Bianchi was fairly content helping her mother and father with their wine-making business. She never really had any aspirations of her own and was just happy to help out where she could. Wren was just the type of girl to go with the flow. She had a boyfriend but of course he had been the one to ask her out.
"He cheated on you?!" Camilla exclaimed.
She HAD a boyfriend.
"Yeah..." Wren sighed. She was leaning forward against the checkout counter at her parent's wine business. For someone who had just discovered their now ex-boyfriend was cheating on them, Wren was pretty apathetic about the whole thing.
"Yeah? Yeah?! That's all you have to say?!" Camilla practically shook the room with how expressive she was. As usually, she was always plenty of angry for the both of them. "With who?!" Camilla demanded to know.
"Clem." Wren replied. "I walked in on them kissing in the warehouse."
"Clemetine Aldo! The grape picker?!" Camilla stopped her foot in anger. "But you're way prettier than her! Anthony you...you...man whore!" She shouted. A customer who had been browsing the racks glared her way. They set the wine they had been looking at back down and left. "Sorry." Camilla whispered out of embarrassment. She then leaned over the counter to get closer to Wren. "Well...what are you going to do about it?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing? You can't just let them get away with it."
"If he doesn't want to be with me, there's nothing I can do about it. Besides, it's not like I was the best girlfriend anyway." Wren replied. She could recall Anthony always being the one to call the shots. Like with everything else in life, Wren just followed along blindly. She tried to do nice things for him, but her idea of a romantic evening and his just didn't mesh well. They had two completely different love languages. "It was like...I was little songbird dating a rambunctious fox." Wren muttered.
"You're right. You need someone...like...a big falcon! No! A Raven!"
For the first time in this entire conversation, Wren started to show emotion. She laughed. "A Raven?"
"Yeah. Someone who's dark and mysterious but...smart. Very smart. Anthony is dumber than that one mouse who thinks the barn cat is its mama."
The girls giggled together. Finally, the depressing mood had lightened. And just in time too, the door opened, and a new customer walked in. "Oh, welcome!" Both Wren and Camilla greeted. The man who entered paid them no mind. He was too busy on his cellphone, chatting away.
"Rude much." Camilla whispered to Wren.
"Cam..." Wren elbowed her.
"Hold your tits Lauren, I've got it under control." The man said rather loudly, his cellphone tucked into his shoulder as he browsed the wine selection. "No, I'm not worried. I'm just going to pick up the perfect ass-kissing gift I can to bide my time." He said, picking up a bottle from the more expensive collection.
"Wow, he looks very important." Camilla whispered again. "You think he's part of that filming crew we saw in town?" She asked.
"Oh probably. I've never seen anyone like him before." Wren replied. The man in her family's store was tall and dressed in a burgundy suit. Quite the flamboyant display for such a small town. A production crew had taken up residence recently, using the natural scenery to their advantage.
The man continued to talk loudly, shoving one bottle under his arm and picking up another. "Look, who cares if she ran off with a different agency? I bet I can find someone better in a day. A day!" He exclaimed. The man then brought his bottles up to the counter. He partially covered his cell phone. "Can I get these gift wrapped?" The man said more quietly. He hadn't been paying much attention but when his eyes met Wren's and his jaw practically dropped. "Lauren, I've got to go." The man hung up before the person on the other end even had a chance to reply.
"Sure, I can do that for you!" Unlike Wren, she had always been curious about big city life. So, this strange man in the burgundy suit fascinated her.
Wren just shook her head and started to ring up the wine behind the counter while Camilla did all the talking up front.
"Thanks hun." The man said, trying to look over Camilla and at Wren instead.
"So, what brings you to these parts? You with that production down the way?" Camilla tried to be subtle but subtly wasn't exactly her strong suit.
"Yeah. All that." The man said, still trying to get a better look at Wren. "Who is your friend there?" He asked, not really interested in too much small talk. "Is that hair natural?"
It was in that moment that Camilla saw a grand opportunity. She threw her arm around Wren's shoulder and pulled her close to her. "Good sir this is Wren Bianchi, daughter of the maker of that fine wine you're purchasing. She is 100% all natural."
"Why are you selling me like I'm organic produce?" Wren mumbled to her friend.
"She's gorgeous!" The man rushed to pull out a business card, slamming it down onto the counter. "Leon Torin is the name, acting agent and coach. Tell me girl, can you sing?"
"Oh, she can sing." Camilla nodded confidently. "Like a bird. Legend has it that's why her daddy named her Wren."
'That is not the reason why my dad named me that.'
"Perfect, just perfect! Look I'm on a major time crunch due to a nasty little situation. We have to completely start over with the shoot. A little minx decided she was too good for me and backed out of the film."
"Oh...I'm so sorry about that. Well have a good day!" Wren tried to defuse the situation so the spotlight wouldn't be on her anymore.
"So I'd like to invite you onto the set, I'll give the grand tour, you can preview the script, and who knows? Maybe I'll make you my new star!" 'It's easier to train a nobody than to stop production and rewrite everything. We can always fix any mistakes in editing. I just hope the director takes a liking to her.'
'Did he even listen to a word I just said?' Wren thought. "Actually I-"
"Wren!" Camilla grabbed Wren by her shoulders. She had a look on her face that could paralyze Medusa. Camilla then looked back at Leon. "A moment sir." She said. Camilla then dragged Wren into the backroom. "You have to!" She whined.
"I don't know the first thing about acting Cam." Wren replied.
"Sure, you do. Besidesssss, this is the perfect opportunity you've been waiting for!"
"I have?"
"Yes. You can finally get away from here, explore the world...never see Anthony's dumb face again."
"I feel like this is your dream. Why don't you just ask if you can go try out?"
"Wren!!!" Camilla grabbed her cheeks and turned her face. "You saw the way he looked at you. Do this for me."
--- ★ ---
"You know I really thought that my parents would have stopped me, but they ended up also pushing me to go to the shoot. So, I went." Wren said with a groan. "And then I thought...oh well maybe I just won't do a good job. But they loved me! So, I ended up spending the next year and a half traveling with them to finish the movie. Every time I wanted to quit someone would step up and say how proud of me they were."
"So then quit now." Cyril said, having become irritated by this entire story.
"I...I...I can't." Wren said, falling back onto her bed and covering her face with her hands.
Cyril started to laugh. "You really are like a little bird." 'And here I thought she was being forced to do things against her will. Humans get so worked up over the most nuianced situations.'
"Hey!" Wren raised a pillow, about to throw it at him. She stopped when she realized that this was the first time, she had ever seen Cyril smile. Wren found herself staring at him. "Well." She fake coughed to break the awkward silence. "What about you then?"
"My situation is different...and none of your business." Cyril teased.
"No fair." Wren mumbled, hugging the pillow. It didn't seem like she was going to get any history. Still, Wren wanted to know so much more. "What's it like having wings?"
"What's it like having arms?"
"Yeah...I guess you were born that way. You were born right? You weren't apart of some crazy science experiment?"
"You watch to many movies." Cyril rolled his eyes.
"Can I touch them?"
"Pardon?" Cyril stepped back, confused by what that could possibly mean.
"Your wings..." Wren's voice was muffled. She buried her face into the pillow. 'Did I just ask him something inappropriate?! What was I thinking?!' "Never mind! Forget I ask-"
"Okay." Cyril extended one of his wings, reaching out to Wren. Fully extended, his wingspan was massive. If he flapped them in here, he'd probably knock everything over.
'He said, okay?!' Wren became flustered. There wasn't really any backing out now. So, she hesitantly reached out and lightly tapped Cyril's wing to make sure it was okay at first before placing her whole hand on it. "Wow." She whispered. 'It's surprisingly silky.' Wren gently ran her hand down the length.
Cyril wasn't actually very sensitive on his wings. It felt no different than if someone were to grab your arm. Still, this felt surprisingly intimate. So much that Cyril looked away, not wanting to stare at Wren while she touched his feathers. "...Are you done yet?" He asked.
Before Wren had realized, she had been touching his feathers for quite some time now. When she heard Cyril's voice, she immediately pulled her hands away. "S-Sorry!"
"It's fine. I'm just not used to people touching me." 'Other than my boss's maid.' She helps him get dressed sometimes.
'Why did that sound so sad.' Wren thought. 'I could ask if he wants me to touch him mo-' Her face lit up. 'Not like that!'
"What's wrong now?"
"Nothing!" Wren started to laugh nervously. "Your wings...they're just...they're just very beautiful."
Cyril stared at her like he could hear all of her thoughts and securities. "Thanks...?" 'She's probably just being nice. The other day she was terrified.'
"I mean it though." She said in a softer tone after regaining her composure. 'Now that I know he's not a monster,' "I'm actually sort of jealous. I wish I had wings and could just fly away from here."
"It's not that easy." Cyril said. He was looking away again. The harpy always seemed to do that when he was lost in thought. This time though, Wren felt compelled to reach out. She had to stand on her tippy toes to reach such a tall bird man, but he managed to place a hand on his cheek Wren forced Cyril to look at her. In that moment, he swore he could feel his heart skip a beat.
"I know." Wren replied. Yeah, her situation was just basic human insecurities. Whatever Cyril was going through was probably much worse. She thought he was a monster after he had just saved her life. What would anyone else think if they saw him? Still, she felt like they had a lot in common...even if he wasn't going to tell her about it. "You want to go get some fresh air?" Wren asked.