Hard Hats & High Heels

[Marzena Vaas]

Concept Drawing: Cloud City Galleria – East Atrium​

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Galleria Construction Zone
Cloud City, Bespin
16:00 hours
Six weeks prior the Grand Opening...

Marzena Choi stood on the sidewalk, overlooking the construction site of the Cloud City Galleria, the latest addition to Kingdom Group’s luxury shopping malls. She frowned, looking from unfinished building to the neatly drawn concept art. Sebastian Choi stood next to her, his eyes focused steadily on the screen of his datapad. The foreman of the construction crew stood off to the side, seemingly anxious about the presence of Kingdom’s Chief Executive. In the background, heavy machinery was in motion, and workers were busy completing their day's work.

“Don’t worry, Mr. Choi.” The Foreman spoke up, “We are only one week behind, and we can pull in some additional shifts to make up for the delay.”

“Good,” Sebastian nodded, “Do it.”

The pop star placed a hand on her hip, squinting at what would become the entrance to the mall. It did have a certain curb appeal, even in this raw and unfinished form. They could not have asked for a better location. Marzena ran her fingers through her hair, and took a quick peek at herself in the small mirror of her compact. Not only were they planning to tour the East Atrium today, they would also be meeting with [member="Ciana Teigra"] of Panacea. During her visit to Kiribi a few months ago, Marzena had indulged in some spa treatments, and had also agreed to discuss a potential business partnership with Ms. Teigra’s company.

“Like I was saying – the East Atrium is nearly complete, but as it is a construction zone we require hard hats and closed toed shoes.” Just then, one of his workers stepped up with a stack of hats.

“Do I really have to wear one?” Marzena wrinkled her nose, “It-it... doesn’t match.”

The man merely frowned at Marzena, and placed a hard hat into her delicate hands. His eyes shifted down towards the singer’s high heels, his lips turned down even further. “And you don’t have any other shoes?”

Marzena shook her head.

 

[Ciana Teigra]

Back on Bespin, but this time she intended to stay quite a while. The Kiribian had plans for the First Order, which would begin on Cloud City. A fruitful exchange with Marzena has led to the executive investing heavily in the newest construction project of the Kingdom Group. The planned spa and storefront wouldn't actually net Panacea much, but such a high profile front with one of the most famous celebrities in FO space would hopefully attract the kind of attention she wanted for big business.

With the inclusion of Panacea on the project, that meant some alterations to the architecture, which could be something of a challenge within the limited space of Cloud City. She wanted to see exactly what she was working with before she committed to any changes - and it gave her a convenient excuse to visit Seoul while back in the quadrant.

She coordinated with Marzena to meet her late in the afternoon. That gave her some time for a quick meeting for another deal she had been working on since the time of the First Order's economic summit some months ago. With the Galactic Alliance extending its tendrils into the core, logistical problems were arising for some holo-communication companies that had to run their infrastructure through both the territories of FO and GA. If hostilities ever broke out between the two Southern powers, then billions could be left cut off. Using biocomm as their network's backbone, all those fears could be eliminated.

After the meeting concluded, she had time to grab a quick bite of lunch with her associates before finally making her way to the construction site, arriving just a little after 4. For this meetup with Marzena and her brother, she had dressed business casual, a silky white blouse paired with flowing gray slacks and low heels. Her head was topped with a bright yellow hardhat, wavy hair tied back in a low ponytail.

"Marzena," she called, coming around so that she faced them both. Next to Marzena stood, Sebastian, the defacto head of the Kingdom Group.She waited to be formally introduced to the man, but that didn't stop her from flashing a smile his way. Quite the morsel. It wasn't just his looks, either. In the Force, his aura exuded a certain strength that she always found alluring. She did love her sharks.

[member="Marzena Choi"]

 

[Marzena Vaas]

Sebastian donned his hard hat without fuss, and motioned for Marzena to do the same. With a frown that pulled down the corner of her mouth, she placed the hat on her head, being careful not to mess up her dark waves. While her brother and the foreman were busy talking about construction, Marzena took the opportunity to take a selfie. She held up her datapad, capturing herself and the Cloud City Galleria in the background. Perhaps the marketing department could put it to use in their social media feed – even if she was wearing a ridiculous hat. Oh well, this was a site under construction after all.

Her eyes shifted as the voice of [member="Ciana Teigra"] called her name; she looked in time to see the fabulous Kiribian woman rounding the corner. Of course, Ms. Teigra looked anything but ridiculous in her bright yellow hard hat. Marzena stepped forward to greet the CEO of Panacea, offering a warm smile. Out of the corner of her eyes, she noticed Sebastian finally looking up from this datapad. There were few things that held her brother’s attention quite like business, but pretty women were definitely on the list.

“Ciana, I’m so glad you made it.” Marzena said in a pleasant tone, “It’s been far too long.”

The last time the two had met was at the Economic Summit here in Cloud City, a night that already seemed ages ago. Before she could open her mouth to speak another word, Sebastian was nudging her out of the way. Marzena stepped aside, her dark eyes narrowed slightly.

“Marzena, you didn’t tell me that we were meeting with a high fashion model today. I thought we were meeting Ms. Teigra of Panacea.” He set a small kiss on the back of Ciana’s hand. Overkill, if you asked Marzena...

“This is Ms. Ciana Teigra,” Marzena said, as if reading from a holodrama script.

“Is that so?” He asked, feigning surprise. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Teigra.”

“Ciana, this is my brother...” The pop star offered an apologetic smile, “Sebastian Choi, CEO of Kindom Group.”

Marzena rolled her eyes slightly, hoping that Ciana hadn’t seen. Sometimes working alongside her younger brother was simply too much. He did his job well, so she knew that she shouldn’t really complain. But that didn’t mean that she couldn’t complain, just a little bit. Marzena tapped Sebastian on the shoulder, and he finally let go of Ciana’s hand. Goodness. This was going to be an interesting afternoon.

“So, shall we get started with the tour?” Marzena asked, wondering if Sebastian was even listening.