Once Upon A Lie 2

Twenty-seven

Alina had been to The Fold offices many times. There was the main office, where corporate was. Then there were the studios. And of course, the theme parks. But she had never been there to ask for work. What if her father said no? Leo Starkov was very protective of his daughter, and him and Eric both had ideas about what Alina was supposed to be. She was supposed to be a society daughter. To get married, and have kids, and if she were a really good mother to show them affection sometimes. Or leave them with the nanny.

She wasn't supposed to have a career.

Baghra had had a career, but she had met Eric Morozova before The Fold had been a major institution. Makhi helped her with the charity, but she had come from money. It had taken three years to convince her parents to let her marry Leo Starkov. And she had had to help him build the company from the ground up, investing part of her trust fund because she loved him so much.

"Alina!" she looked over, and saw her father getting out of a car. "What are you doing here? Is everything alright?"

Alina smiled at him. "Everything's okay, Papa. I just wanted to see you today."

"Alright, well, come on up. I'll order lunch. How was your first day back in the city? What did you and Aleks do?"

"We went shopping for baby things," Alina said, "Aleksander kept on arguing with me about the color scheme, but he insisted on gold and yellow."

Leo chuckled. "Gold and yellow, huh?"

She nodded.

"Interesting color scheme."

"I blame Genya," she said, "she nicknamed the baby Sun Spot, and I keep on calling it that. I think Aleks took it and ran with it."

"Well, I don't think for one second you just came to talk to me about the colors of the nursery," said Leo, "so let's go to my office and you can tell me why you really came here."

Alina smiled. Her father pressed a hand on the small of her back, then they went inside. Her father hadn't been one of those parents that wasn't involved. As a kid, she had spent many hours at The Fold, in his office, drawing or reading, or doing her homework. That was if Makhi hadn't taken her to one of her many charity events or had her doing some society thing. Or if she wasn't traveling with Aleksander for his piano recitals that he'd done as a young music protégé.

The employees knew her. Being Leo Starkov's daughter didn't exactly make her famous, but she was known in a way. The media had a fascination with heiresses she didn't fully understand. But she wasn't anyone important, even if everyone made it seem like she was.

A few of them nodded at her. Her father pressed the elevator button, and after a few moments, they got in.

"Papa," Alina said, "I know it was always the plan for Aleksander to be involved in the company, but.... but I want to be involved in the company. You know, when I helped you back with that Saint Juris film, I think together we could really make something of it. And I think you're going about it all wrong."

"Really?" he said. "How so?"

"Well, you're trying to make it be this epic, action film. And that's fine. But dragon movies with live action films never really work. They always look cheesy. There's magic in there too, and Ravkaan Saints. You need to make it animated."

He frowned. "We shut the animation department down ages ago, Lina. No one has wanted those films since the 90s. Most of the people there are retired."

"Not everyone, though," said Alina.

"What do you mean, not everyone?"

"Some of them didn't retire. They just went onto other positions. Like, for instance, Mr. Harshaw. Remember, he's the one that taught me how to draw in the first place. He used to give me lessons when I would wait for you sometimes. And computer animation still requires artistry. I bet there's plenty of animators that would love to learn the old style again. Everyone grew up with those movies. Just...let me come to work here. Let me be creative director on the film, and I can find someone that will do a screenplay that can be better suited for animation."

Her father frowned. "Lina, that's an awful lot of work. And with the pregnancy---"

"Mother did a million things when she was pregnant with me, and so did Baghra when she had Aleksander. I can work and be pregnant at the same time."

He sighed. "You know we came from nothing. I had an idea about you having a different kind of life, my darling girl."

"Yes, one where I get to choose where I want to do. Isn't that the luxury of having money?"

He sighed, and chuckled. "I suppose you're right."

"I always am."

Her father kissed her on the cheek. "Alright. Talk with Harshaw. See if he'll work with you. If you can get him to agree, you've got a year to get everything completed. No more, no less. And you'll have to find someone to take over for you once you go on maternity leave."

Alina smiled. "Thank you, Papa."

"Of course. I always knew that you had greatness in you, Alina. I just should have had more faith."

She laughed. "I am named after a Saint, you know. The Apparat would say it's sacrilegious to not have faith in them."

He laughed. "Come on, let's get something to eat."