"That was another deal executed perfectly, wouldn't you agree, Auri?"
An adequately tall woman stepped out of an orange Lamborghini, running a hand through her short raven hair. She pushed the door down and made her way to her assistant, Aurora, who was standing by the mailbox with a bright smile on her face.
"As is customary, for you, Madam Drew," Aurora replied with a toothy grin. "The nominations list has been out for two months now and you seem the most promising candidate!" She exclaimed as she followed her mistress through the cobblestone walkway of the lawn, leading up to her mansion.
"I know, right," Drew breathed out a sigh of contentment. "Drew Vinchester, most eligible bachelorette and the youngest winner of Queri's Solo Trailblazer in Business Award! A self made single woman! Sounds fantastic, does it not?" She cooed as she raised her hands heavenward and pretended to hold the highest national claim in her hands.
Aurora snorted watching Drew pretend to walk the red carpet, passing extravagant handwaves and blowing kisses to an imaginary audience. Her thin brows mushed together and nostrils flared, as if to convey how touched she was — to the plants and flowers witnessing her dramatics — upon winning such a life changing award.
"As fascinating as it is to imagine the future, you've got work to do," Aurora pressed her thumb on the digital lock of the entryway door and pushed it open.
"Geez, I know, I shall answer them most honestly. I cannot believe I still have personal fans," Drew sniffled as she snatched the stack of mail from Aurora's hand and walked inside. She crossed the foyer by carelessly disregarding her sandals in two different directions and jumped onto the beige couch in the living room.
"Florence has discovered ten new designers this year," Aurora said as she reached for the ill-placed sandals and picked them up, "They've got great potential. Six of them are small town girls and I think all the funding they recieved from your company has probably floored their entire villages. It's an opportunity of a lifetime," Aurora continued as she brushed off Drew's sandals and placed them neatly on the shoe rack.
"Oh well, we shall make profit off them, you know," Drew grinned and scattered all the mail on the glass table in front of the couch. Multicolored envelopes littered with hearts and stickers greeted her vision. Some of them were bulging, indicating the presence of a trinket or a souvenir.
"Ah, I am so excited!!" Drew clapped her hands, "Come sit beside me Auri. Let's start with the biggest one! Do you think it's fanart about us??" She grinned and picked up the biggest manila envelope.
Aurora took a seat beside Drew and wondered what new abomination they would witness today. The last fanart they had received had started out with a cute imaginary sketch of Drew and Aurora in a cafe but quickly escalated to a coloured and detailed version of them sitting on a bed, wearing skimpy lingerie.
Aurora shuddered at the memory.
Drew flipped the envelope in her hand and read out the sender's address, rather excitably, "The M.B.N.A!"
"The M.B.N.A?" Aurora repeated, skeptically.
"Yeah, don't you know, the Marriage Bureau Natio—"
Drew's excited explanation wore off as soon as her brain registered the words spewed by her mouth and vibrations collected by her ears. She gulped, heartbeat echoing in her ears as she looked again. On the lower right corner of the envelope, it still read, T. M. B. N. A.
"Oh for fuck's sake," Drew swore and as she tore open the seal with her fingernail and lo and behold! There was a stiff and shiny marriage certificate waiting for her, in all its crisp galore.
"Oh— w-w-what an elaborate prank," Aurora coughed violently and got up to fetch herself a glass of water.
The certificate was iridescent and Drew's legal name, which the common populace knew not of, glinted rainbow under the bright white light of her living room.
"This certifies that Aldric Zaid Christaller and Dreumary Felis Vinchester were united in marriage on the 16th day of June in the year of our Lord 2024 at Gloria Chapel by Reverend Father Joseph in the presence of witnesses : Zachariah Benedict and Solan Mirabel.
May the lord make your love increase and overflow for eachother."
"16th, 16th, um, 16th, yes, you were attending the Coral Ball! Wait...I thought you left early that day..." Aurora spluttered as she ran back to Drew's side with a glass of water.
"I— uh, I got super drink, prolly blacked out. I was at home when I woke up...so I thought you brought me home. I didn't even realise...what the heck?!" Drew gasped, stumbling over her words.
"You said that you would leave early, of course I did not question it. You were home in the morning so I thought everything would have been okay, Drew, who would imagine that you were out there getting married!" Aurora slapped her forehead.
"Argh, what the heck?!" Drew spat, "I am so annoyed that some random people saw my whole name. How embarassing!" She cried as she flailed around on the couch until her head was hanging off the backrest.
As blood rushed to her brain and more coherent thoughts began to take shape, her eyes widened with a cruel realisation, "Wait...MY AWARD!!" she shrieked.
Aurora sucked in a harsh breath and opened up the file on her phone. Her face did not betray the horror she was feeling as she scrolled through the requirement list of the nomination categories until she reached Queri's Solo Trailblazer in Business Award. As expected, the very first nomination requirement was being unmarried.
"It's fine, we can get through this," Aurora coughed, "All you need is to—"
"Get divorced, yes, who even is that darned man?!" Drew scoffed and jumped off the couch. Her short hair stood on her head like a pineapple's spikes as she sped towards the staircase leading to her room, barefoot.
Aurora followed, hot on Drew's heel, as the lass skipped two steps in a go and all but flew into her room. She turned on her PC, logged in to the Administrator Account and ran some codes to find the identity of the three people mentioned on the certificate.
Though, after every entry, the same dialog box appeared on screen, 'USER NOT FOUND.'
"They are not in my system," Aurora stated the obvious.
"Which means we can omit the near billion people in Florence's consumer base. It somehow makes the search way easier yet convoluted. What were they doing at an entrepreneur only ball that was sponsored by Florence when they're not even our customers? How did they approach me? Who the heck are they? They've never worn our clothes but now know my legal name?! How traumatising!" Drew collapsed to the ground in a fit of aggravated wails.
"I think you're missing the point here, Madam. Coral Ball was around a month ago, do you know what that means?" Aurora pressed, her grey eyes stared unblinking at the grey dialog box on Drew's screen.
"This is a trap," Drew scoffed from the floor, "A very well crafted trap to keep me away from the one thing I desire most," she stated through gritted teeth, "But they seem to forget," her eyes glinted the colour of malice as she got up, "That the reason I was nominated is because I am a soulless bitch."
Aurora had no idea what was going on in her mistress' head but it did not seem like a good idea.