The Tall Model - wlw

The streets were unusually crowded, shoulder-to-shoulder with people holding phones high above their heads. Security barriers lined the sidewalks while black SUVs sat idling outside one of the city's most expensive boutiques. Curious murmurs turned into deafening screams as people shoved one another for the slightest glimpse inside.

"Move!"

"I saw her!"

"She's even prettier in person!"

Yomi had only meant to walk home.

Curiosity got the better of them. After squeezing through the sea of people, they finally reached the front of the crowd... only to stop.

Inside the boutique stood a woman.

Tall. Elegant. Draped in ivory silk, platinum hair cascading over one shoulder as if she'd stepped out of an oil painting instead of a limousine. She wasn't waving. She wasn't performing. She wasn't even speaking. She was simply browsing a display of perfume while photographers lost their minds outside.

"...That's it?"

People had skipped work, flown across countries, and stood in the heat for hours... just to watch someone shop.

With a quiet shrug, Yomi turned to leave.

Celeste had grown accustomed to being watched. Cameras. Reporters. Fans screaming her name until their voices cracked. It had become background noise years ago.

What she wasn't accustomed to...

...was someone looking at her once... and walking away.

Her honey-soft voice drifted across the boutique before Yomi reached the door.

The single word was enough to make every head snap toward Yomi.

Thousands of eyes suddenly fixed on the one person who seemed completely unimpressed by the world's most adored woman.