[Mademoiselle Cyrielle]

  Subscribers : 107

  Videos : 6

  ‘Crazy…’

  This is not a result someone would expect if all they did was posting two videos every morning. It didn’t make any sense. Her channel has been posting since only 3 days ago. It was madness. Of course, a hundred subscribers is not a lot in the grand scheme of things, but having an increase of almost ten times in a few hours was nuts.

  Now Cyrielle urgently needed to find what happened. And she didn’t have to search for long, the answer was in the comments of her test video.

  -Came because of the story of ‘Madame Fabergé’ and she was right, it’s a hidden gem !

  Madame Fabergé ? Who was that ? Cyrielle searched on the internet and a new tab opened. It was the Instantgram page of a very colorful woman.

  ‘A drag queen ? What does it have to do with me ?’

  She tapped on the ‘story’ icon, and a short video pyed. It was the fabulous Madame Fabergé showing her phone to other drag queens. Each had their mouths agape and their eyes ready to pop out of their skulls, listening attentively to a woman’s voice. The caption read : ‘Just found this amazing singer ! Her name is Mademoiselle Cyrielle, go check it out !’

  She rewatched the video again and again. She wasn’t mistaken, it was her voice that she could hear. At this moment, someone pinched her arm.

  “So, how do you feel now that you are famous ?”

  Julie was looking at her with mischievous eyes. It was obvious that she had caused this situation. Cyrielle knew that her favorite bar ‘Bad Mother Breaker’ where she had gone to on monday offered drag shows once a month. Julie had told her all about it, how she talked to the artists and even became friends with some of them, but she didn’t know that one of those was an influencer with a few thousand followers. It felt surreal.

  “Wait, you knew about the story but didn’t tell me ?”

  Cyrielle felt outraged. What was this sudden betrayal ? ‘Can’t you tell me those kinds of things before a sudden blue hologram appears in front of me and almost scares me to death ?’ but she couldn’t freely voice her demands because it wouldn’t make any sense.

  “Don’t look at me like that ! I told you I would help you, so just accept it. It’s too soon to be surprised ! By the way, tomorrow is sunday, right ? I know you have the concert in the evening but are you free during the day ?”

  Julie asking her for tomorrow’s pns ? Cyrielle knew her well enough to know that she was preparing something. But she had to accept all opportunities, it was the only way to get gifts and maybe one day acquire the ‘drawing’ ability. Reluctantly, Cyrielle replied :

  “I have nothing pnned.”

  “Great ! Sleep at my pce tonight !”

  A bad premonition was shaking Cyrielle. Something was happening again.

  ‘Please don’t do anything Julie, my heart might not take it !’

  ***

  ‘I want to cry. Julie, I hate you so much.’

  Contrary to Cyrielle's thoughts, filled with disapproval because she hated surprises and being put on the spot, Julie had prepared quite an amazing opportunity for her friend. One of Julie's co-workers worked two jobs, leaving her no time to take care of her home. so Julie had arranged to bring her friend there, knowing of her skills at interior decorating. She had arranged this with her co-worker through an intriguing offer:

  “I’ll bring you an interior designer who will clean and organize your pce. The only thing is, it will be filmed and put on MyTube. Deal ?”

  It could have been embarrassing to have your living conditions exposed for the whole world to see, but this dy didn’t care. She had lived this way for more than ten years, and she had long since realized that she would never have the mental capacity to clean that mess. Maybe this opportunity would be a wake up call for her. And, even if it wasn’t the case, at least she could live a few days like a true human being. She readily accepted the offer and now here they were on a sunday morning, two supermarket cashiers and an imposing woman who gave her goosebumps.

  It wasn’t that she was scary, more like imposing. As if the cashier was meeting a celebrity, even though she had no idea who this woman was.

  A month ago, Julie had dropped her phone in the toilet and managed to repce it with one that had video quality better than most video cameras. She quickly set up her phone to record, and signaled for them to start.

  “Hello Capucine, I’m Mademoiselle Cyrielle. Thank you for welcoming me to your pce.”

  The face of the woman radiated elegance, and a strange calm. It prompted the cashier to rex a little bit.

  “Hi, thanks for coming. As you can see, I don’t really have the time or the energy to take care of my home.”

  The conversation went on quite smoothly, with a bit of idle chatter. Eventually, they sat at a cluttered table and Cyrielle took a little sketchbook out of her handbag. She started sketching the apartment and expining with vivid drawings what changes she would like to make.

  It wasn’t a professional drawing, more like a rough sketch, but the meaning was perfectly conveyed and Capucine found her eyes getting wider and wider.

  “Really, you can do things like that ? I didn’t know !”

  After this segment, it was time to work. Cyrielle was quick on her feet, and it only took an hour with Capucine’s help to clean the pce. Once the living room looked nice, she moved the furniture, changed the cover of a cushion on the couch, added a pid that was stored in the cupboard, used a fruit bowl to store the clutter in the kitchen… It didn’t take much, but with a few steps the apartment looked so nice that the cashier felt tears building up behind her eyes.

  She had felt a bit awkward in front of Cyrielle before, but now she couldn’t be anything but grateful.

  “You are an angel, truly ! Thank you so much !”

  Cyrielle didn’t know how to reply, in fact she was still stiff with nervousness, very conscious of the camera. She sent a distress signal to Julie, but her friend replied to her with an emotional nod, mouthing ‘you are the best’. What to do now ? Cyrielle wanted to run away, but she felt her conscience weighing heavily on her. Realizing she could not leave that poor woman like this, Cyrielle sighed inwardly and again turned to Julie.

  “How much time do we have ?”

  “Two hours.”

  It was more than enough.

  “Let’s do the bedroom and the bathroom.”

  Capucine burst into tears.

  ***

  At an Irish pub near the docks, an elderly couple was ordering drinks. They often went to this side of the city on a sunday because all the stores were closed and you could stroll comfortably next to the river. The water was brown and muddy and the sky was gray, but it was still a lovely breath of fresh air compared to the busy streets of the city center. After walking to the end of the docks and back, which took a whole afternoon, they liked to go to the pub and drink a nice gss of beer, or a cocktail for the woman. They were regurs here, and they knew that on Sunday there would be an artist on the small stage.

  It was never a well known singer, or a comic that toured the country, only people like them who had a hobby, or someone trying to make it big without much success. There were plenty of those people in France, it was rare to find someone who didn’t either sing, dance, draw, write, or have any other pastime.

  Today was no exception. A band stood on the wooden stage in the corner. Judging by their shirts ‘Heavy Protector’ they could guess it was metal music. It wasn’t that surprising either. Waiting for the concert to start, they were sipping their beverages. And then, drums. And a voice.

  They both turned their heads, same for all the people in the pub. The melody came from a woman. The way she stood, she moved, even her gaze, everything seemed to carry a weight. But most of all, it was her voice that shocked them.

  Immediately people started getting closer, even to the point of sitting on the floor. Some took out their phones. Their mindset had changed. They weren’t here to listen to some music and drink, they were preparing to witness the best concert of their life.

  ***

  Everyone was still appuding long after the concert had ended. The barmen brought a pint of beer to each musician, grateful for this moment and sorry they couldn’t pay them more. They had only earned 10€ per person, except for Cyrielle, and they were truly devastated. She nodded to them, saying she didn’t do it for the money, and they seemed to rex a bit. But the audience, still sitting in front of them, started protesting.

  “Hey owner, how can you do that !”

  “You have to bring them back every day, ok ?”

  “I’ll take another beer so give them more money !”

  It was at this moment, when chaos was rising, that Julie appeared with a big sign.

  “If you want to help them, follow them on social media and come to their next concert !”

  On the paper were ‘Heavy Protector’ and Cyrielle’s MyTube channel, with the next concert dates and the pces they would py at.

  ‘When did she prepare this ?’

  Cyrielle was shocked.

  ‘I mean… At this point isn’t she my manager or something ?’

  She even had a cap that she was handing to people to receive tips. She was definitely the best friend Cyrielle could ask for.

  She didn’t expect anything, but she left that night having received free drinks, new followers, and 20€ in tips.