The Veil
Our heroine, Aria is precariously driving down a road, swerves to miss a deer, runs off the road, crashes through trees and then runs off a cliff, only to be saved by the guard rail that she had driven through. Some guy who was in the car with her is unconscious and falls out through the now-missing wind shield into the ocean. Because she luckily drove off a cliff with the ocean below and not a deep gorge of hard things like trees and rocks and dirt at the bottom.
Aria is, for some reason, handcuffed to the steering wheel. Did they mean to kill her? A man that her phone identifies as ‘Crazy Bastard’ calls. She begs for help but he’s all about her accepting his proposal. The car is starting to slip, scaring Aria even more, and he refuses to help her unless she says yes. He hangs up on her. She starts to cry. She calls him back and agrees to do whatever he tells her to do. He tells her that he has one condition. She must die. Only if she dies can things go as planned. She asks if he wants her to die right now? He tells her that dying isn't so bad. But being able to determine how you die is something to be thankful for. There’s a pause and he asks what she’s decided.
Sadly, Aria agrees. If it means that everyone will be happy, then so be it. He tells her that she, too, will be happy. She tells him that he will die and go to hell. I like her. Feisty to the end. He answers that she should worry about that after she dies. He hangs up.
Aria can only wait to die. She looks at a picture of her parents and her brother on her handphone and decides to record a farewell message to them. She tells them that she loves them. She starts to weep. She can’t stop herself. She starts another message. She asks, angry and weeping, why she had to live like that?
Are you living to make money or making money to live? Aren't you even exhausted? Dad, stop making your family go through hard times. Please! Archie, come to your senses! This world isn't that easy. You all take care. If she is born again, she will not live this way.
She ends her message and waits to die. The cable breaks and her car plunges into the water.
[Two days ago]
Charlie stares at two tie tacks and anguishes over which one to wear. Finally he throws one down, rolling his eyes at himself and telling himself to stop. He grabs his suit jacket and leaves his closet. His secretary, Luca – hands him his portfolio. As Charlie leaves, one of the house workers – Sia – wishes him good luck.
Charlie gives a presentation on SJ’s Shopping Mall, which made 1.217 Trillion RKW last year. Dang. Things have been growing the last three years. The meeting’s about building a new large-scale shopping mall, so that their revenue can exceed 30 Trillion RKW by 2020. That's crazy ambitious, given that they're wanting 2500% growth in just 5 years. Charlie’s father, Chairman John is there, as is his brother-in-law, Oliver.
Oliver raises his hand and sets his coffee cup on the table. There’s a small drip of coffee running down the side and, as it sits on the table, Charlie sees black ooze flow forth from the cup. And right before he raised his hand, it looked like Oliver intentionally tipped his cup so that it would have that drip of coffee to infect the table, like he knows that it will bug Charlie.
Oliver starts to poke holes in Charlie's presentation and as he does, Charlie gets distracted by someone coughing – it’s like the man just spit blood onto the table – and another man picking his nose and then putting the offending hand on the table. More and more ooze appears on the table.
Chairman Dad yells Charlie's name to get his attention. When he answers and calls Dad ‘Appa,’ Dad sucks air through his teeth to warn him about his bad behavior. Charlie corrects himself and calls Dad ‘Chairman.’ Dad growls that the people of Korea may think that it's natural for a child to inherit his/her parent's company. but are there just one or two cases where incompetent heirs ruin a company? They shouldn't forget that. If any child shows they're incompetent, they'll lose the spot. Understand? Charlie answers that he’s more than fully aware (and afraid) of that. Nice Dad. Completely dress Charlie down in front of everyone. And Oliver had a little smirk going, too. It was on purpose, the coffee drip.
Olivia Lauren Fashion Show.
This is a real designer in South Korea that Soo Ae is a spokesmodel for. I really like her stuff and Soo Ae looks beautiful in the pictures.
The parent company (Sejung)’s website says that “The brand name, OLIVIA LAUREN, was created by combining ‘Olivia,’ which represents abundance, life, peace and stability, and ‘Lauren,’ a beautiful woman pursuing a luxurious feminine style, Together, it represents women, who strive for luxury and stability in their homes. Also, it mixes the practical elements and the sensitivity of a character brand to offer high quality and value at a reasonable price.”
The target customers are “housewives and women with careers in their 40s, who are committed to their families and their own achievements, and pursue wise and practical consumption focusing on affordability and value.” Very cool that there’s a brand that doesn’t target teens and women in their early twenties. It always seems like the mall is full of those types of stores.
So,we get to have a little meta moment.
Emma is dispassionately watching the models. Charlie is with her. Oo, like that dress. Like that dress a lot. As she watches she tells Charlie that there’s a rumor that he doesn't like girls. She smiles at him like she’s enjoying asking an unsettling question. Charlie, still watching the show, sighs and asks if she picked anything. She picks a few things. He tells her that she should have asked for the entire mall. She tells him to give it to her as a wedding present; people will be impressed by that for sure. He looks at her, his smile firmly in place. Although it wavers just a fraction here.
Emma looks at him and asks if she’s asking for too much. He replies that it *is* too much. She answers that she doesn't like stingy men. Like that's being stingy. She changes the conversation to her lover. Even if she marries, she'll still meet him. If that causes a problem for them, she can't do this marriage. Charlie sighs. Almost like he’s saying ‘if only.’ He’s read the contract, correct? If he does any unwanted skin-ship, she’ll press charges and he’ll never have a child. He needs to keep that in mind on their honeymoon since he could make a mistake when he’s drunk. Gosh, this is such a business merger. That’s really sad. But she knows how the world works.
Emma mentions the company shares. Charlie cuts her off to say that 20 days after they're married, they’ll be transferred to her. He reminds her that if *she* violates the contact, she’ll be asked to pay damages. Emma smiles, a little bitter. Charlie says that he hopes that it won't get that far since it won't be easy for her household to handle. Emma coolly smiles and says that it’s a relief. She was worried that they wouldn't have the same idea. If they do well, they can even be friends. Charlie laughs and says that you don't become friends with those you do business with. It doesn't end very well. Used to dealing with the sharks...
Fashion show is done. Lots of bags in Emma’s car. They’re saying goodbye. Charlie snaps his fingers and Luca steps forward to present Emma with a bag. Charlie tells her to check it. It's the deposit. The wedding ring. Emma's reaction says that it’s satisfactory.
Emma turns to leave and Charlie asks if the person she loves know that they’re going to marry. The slight change in her face says that this disturbs her. She doesn’t turn around and coolly says that he'll find out when they get married. Charlie tells her that it's a pity. For both of them. He adds that he’s being sincere. She turns around, smile now firmly fixed, and asks if *he* doesn’t have anyone he loves. His expression doesn’t waver as he looks at her. She tells him that it’s a pity… sincerely. Charlie checks his watch and after giving her one lastlittle half-smirk – like ‘what a piece of work I’m marrying’ – he leaves.
As Emma starts to get into her car, one of the workers from the mall yells at her, calling her Aria. When Emma looks at her coldly, the woman – Mila bows her head with apology. Emma leaves and Mila says that it’s no way that it’s her.
Aria is standing before her supervisor’s desk. Supervisor – the obnoxious woman who was only at the funeral for the food – proceeds to rant and scream at Aria for her performance (or lack thereof). Aria is the department’s lowest performing salesgirl. As Supervisor throws her fit, time slows down as Aria starts to sing
‘The Blue Danube’ in her head. And I like this girl. Just for this. Just for this. Supervisor finishes and asks Aria if she understands. Aria smiles politely and says that she does. Supervisor dismisses her with a hand wave.
Lunch time. Her friend, Claire tells her not to worry about Supervisor. Aria asks Claire if she makes money to live or lives to make money. Claire says that it’s neither; it’s to find a man. Mila comes running up and declares that she just met someone who looks JUST like Aria: round eyes, round mouth and round Butt. Heh. Does she have a twin by chance? Claire sighs and says that Mila is doing it again. Last time, Mila said there was someone who looked like her.
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