A Diamond Kinda Gal

It was a brisk weekday morning in the Big Apple as the sun showered the concrete jungle in it’s golden hue. The hymn like droning of engines emanating from the asphalt mazes, more commonly known as highways, created a unique chorus that any native New Yorker would recognise as the anthem of the city. Just across the river from Manhattan, to the east, sat what was once an industrial zone. However now, these once grand testaments to American innovation were nothing more than aging relics waiting to be bought and repurposed. The Anthem of the city could still be heard here on a regular day. Unfortunately, this was not a regular day.

The sharp sound of a vintage Ducati Panigale V4 R racing motorcycle cut through the anthem like an alarm clock interrupting one’s dream fuelled slumber. The violet and fuschia tinted vehicle roared down a wide vacant street at a speed limit that would warrant more than just a simple ticket. At the end of said street, the rider swerved the motorcycle with a skid and smoothly glided into an empty parking space. Using their left leg to keep the bike upright, the leather jacket and jeans clad rider kicked out their bike stand with their right. Pulling off their helmet revealed that it was none other than Diamond Domerguex who was just arriving at the production studio where she was currently employed. By the seemingly permanent frown on her face and her choosing to keep her eyes narrowed, it was apparent to anyone that would run into her that she was not in a good mood. Once her bike was secure, the executive producer of the cooking show, Magically Delicious, walked over to the side entrance and entered with a huff.

Inside, Dia made a b line for the only dressing room in use on set. The one belonging to her mother and the star of the show. With every step she took towards the chef’s private quarters, she became more frustrated. On most days, she didn’t have to come in and supervise let alone scold her own mother. However this morning, she had been awakened by the call informing her that the artistic director she hired had been fired by said mother. So now, here she was standing in front of a purple glittery door with a gold letter D to finish off the design. Diamond didn’t bother knocking, she just entered.

“Mom…”

That first word had an edge to it that was as sharp as a katana so Diamond took a breath to relieve some of the frustration in her voice.

“I thought we talked about this. You can’t just fire people without talking to me first. I’m the one footing the bill and he was contracted through the end of the season.”

Lysandra Domerguex, better known as Sandra D., turned from the mirror she had just used to finish her make up and smirked at her daughter. The six foot tall mother of twins put a hand on the waist of her black tights and flicked her luscious mauve curls over her shoulder.

“I didn’t fire him. He quit.”

She corrected simply with a shrug.

“Yea. After you threatened to turn him into a fish and sell him to the South Street Seaport. Our family is already totally infamous as it is what with Grandpa Dae and all those deals he made back in the day. This show is supposed to be the PR cleanse we need so we can go from the last Mob Family to a respectable name in business. Whatever reporter he runs off to isn’t going to pull any punches.”

The producer stared at her Mother with a mixture of frustration and a subtle worry.

“Maybe you don’t care cause you have magic to fall back on but I don’t. I’m not special like you. This is all I have so I’m asking you to please work with me. Not against me.”

Sandra knew her daughter well, too well at times for Diamond’s liking. So the chef let her daughter get everything off her chest before she responded. When she did, her voice was as sweet as honey and her face carried a sincere expression. This was a side few people ever saw of Sandra D but her daughters were an obvious exception.

“I know how much this show means to ya, Sugar. I ain’t tryna strip you of none of this but that fella you hired was nothin but a square who thought my show would look better with a monochrome colour scheme.”

“So you fired him.”

“I didn’t fire him, he quit but that’s not the point. The point is that I already found his replacement and we’re already paying her. She’s actually waiting for ya back outside. It’s not like you’ll find anyone else on such short notice so ya might as well give her a shot.”

Diamond stared at her mother through narrowed eyes but she realised that she wasn’t making any headway in this conversation. Twenty three years of being raised by her mother taught her that Sandra D was always right. Even when she was wrong. So with a final sigh of frustration, the producer stormed out her mother’s dressing room and headed towards the main set.

Closing the door behind her with just a bit more force than needed, Diamond scanned the set. It wasn’t hard to spot the woman her mother had gotten to fill the vacant position as said woman was waving her hand high in the air at the sight of the producer. She rolled her eyes and strolled over.

In her personal experiences, Diamond could tell a lot about a person from the way they dressed and the way they carried themselves. The new artistic director proved to be the exception to that fact. She had her bushy but vibrant red hair tied into a tight ponytail though it still stretched down the center of her back. She wore an aqua blue long sleeved shirt, with the sleeves rolled up, under a seafoam green sweater vest hoodie combo she left unzipped. Black slacks with purple pinstripes tucked into black combat boots completed the outfit of the woman Diamond was now moments from interacting with. Suffice to say, she had no idea what to expect. That was something she was not used to.

“Heya, Ms D. I’m Gal, Gal Noir. Guess Sandra filled you in on my impromptu promotion, huh? Don’t worry. This show is still gonna be supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!”

Gal was certainly making quite the first impression on Diamond. Most people in Gal’s position would be quaking in their boots given Dia’s reputation. The producer had incredibly high standards and did not accept anything less. It’s what got her this far in life and why this show was winning countless awards. Yet, none of that seemed to phase the artistic director. She was confident enough to even use a term from a movie that was almost ninety years old.

“You will call me Diamond. That way you’ll never forget the quality I expect. I hope you’re ready to work cause we don’t have a lot of time. We’re set to start filming in a few hours and it’s your job to build an entire new set in that time. Something colourful, please. I don’t wanna hear mom’s mouth again.”

It was time for Diamond to put first impressions and confident attitudes aside and see what Gal really had to offer.

“Already way ahead of ya, Diamond. I’ve been here since before sunrise. I think Sandra had this planned for a while because she called me this morning and gave me a head’s up.”

Diamond pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed.

“Of course she did. Just show me what you got and it better wow me. Like I said, we totally don’t have any time to waste. I thought I had everything set for this season’s premiere but I can’t take time to dwell on that now. I gotta know if I gotta do this myself just like last year’s Halloween special. So, let’s get to it.”

Gal nodded and took a step towards the darkened area of the set but stopped and turned back to look at her effective boss. Though this was the first time she and the producer were speaking in full sentences to each other, the artist had actually been employed by the show for most of the first season. Her title? Artistic assistant which yielded the glorious tasks of fetching paint and coffee for the artistic director. In short, Gal had been on the set long enough to know Diamond rarely put her faith in anyone but herself so whatever she had planned had to be perfect.

“You know, it’s okay to let someone else help you out with some of these things? You don’t always have to take over.”

“What?”

Diamond snapped her vision up from her Apple™️Watch 6S Pro Max and raised an eyebrow at Gal. She wasn’t sure what the artist was insinuating but she already had several retorts forming in her mind. Gal, seemingly able to tell this quickly shook her head and continued.

“What I mean is that I’ve been here for a while and I see how hard you work. You deserve people who are gonna work as hard for you as you will for them. That’s why I know you’re gonna like what I have planned for this season’s default set. Just sit back and watch. Maybe go to catering and get yourself a coffee or something.”

Diamond stared at Gal for a second before saying anything. Her face didn’t show it but she secretly respected the artist’s confidence. Whether she actually had the skill to back it was another matter entirely. Diamond was just slightly pleased by the fact that someone around here was brave enough to actually speak their mind to her. Aside from her mother, the Producer felt like she worked with a crew of enablists and followers. Gal was proving to be apart from that crowd. At least for now.

A quick scan around the set and Diamond found the intern and called them over.

“Get me a large caramel macchiato. Light on the cream, six pumps of sweetener and no whip. Have em drizzle caramel though.”

Diamond turned and gestured to Gal.

“You want anything?”

Gal was slightly in shock that her boss had taken her advice and was now offering to get her a caffeinated drink. She decided not to pass this opportunity up on the off chance that today did not go well and she’d never have this chance again.

“I’ll take a blackberry and acai tea with two sugars and a little bit of cream. Can you ask them to leave the teabag in, please? Thank you.”

Gal added a bow of gratitude at the end of her request which caused the intern to smile brightly at her. Diamond looked at Gal and still couldn’t get a handle on what her deal was. Everyone had some kinda quirk or issue with them in the Producer’s mind yet Gal seemed to have so many yet none at all. Diamond was slightly frustrated that she couldn’t place the artist in one of the many groups she had placed all the other people in her life in. She turned back to intern with a stern face.

“Don’t disappoint me.”

Diamond sent him off with a wave and then turned back to her artistic director. Dia may have said that to the intern, now on their way to fetch their drinks, but Gal knew that was also directed at her. So she turned and made her way to the darkened area of the set and turned on the lights. A white spotlight that was just bright enough to illuminate the kitchen but dim enough to keep the rest of the lot in darkness casted down on the scene. A silver kitchen appliance set stood in no particular pattern around the kitchen. The power cords of the fridge, oven and stove combo, and mixer extended off the stage and into the darkness. In the center stood a silver steel counter island that had a plethora of kitchenware tools strewn atop.

Diamond looked over at Gal with a raised eyebrow and crossed arms. She was not impressed and was readying herself to speak her doubt aloud. Gal would raise both her hands in a gesture of patience before she had the chance.

“It looks like a mess now but all art starts messy. It’s the work we put in that makes it beautiful. So, watch me work.”

It was apparent to Diamond that she didn’t have a choice and so she simply pulled up a chair and supervised. Something she had not been able to do without intervening in a while. What she would come to realise was that Gal was a force to be reckoned with when overcome with artistic inspiration. The artist quickly got to work, not only ordering her team around in their positioning of the various appliances but assisting in the physical moving of them. Next came what she would refer to as the transformation.

Two members of Gal’s team who had run off a short while into the process had now returned with six large containers of clay on each of the hand trucks they pulled behind them. It was an ugly shade of beige in Diamond’s opinion but she had decided to let Gal have her chance. She wouldn’t call this having faith in her artistic director but simply attempting to be optimistic. The intern returned with the drinks, thankfully both correct, and ran back off to perform a litany of other tasks assigned to them. Gal came to collect her tea and bowed again but didn’t stop to make conversation. She was focused on this set and could not rest until it was exactly as she saw it in her mind.

Less than two hours laters, and about thirty minutes from the time of the scheduled recording, the once messy kitchen was now a scene of mystic wonder. The clay that Diamond had considered an eyesore had been transformed into a strikingly realistic mimic of stone which coated the exterior of the appliances and the island counter in the center. A light fog had been added to give the set a myth like vibe while not obstructing the view. Every now and then, a team member would slowly empty his hand of a small portion of silver glitter to simulate sparking moonlight. The kitchenware tools had been replaced with ones that had a hue which was more than similar to that of the faux stone. If Diamond had not seen the transformation before her very eyes, she might not have believed that what stood there before and what was there now were one and the same.

Gal took a long sip of her tea in silent celebration of her work before she turned to face her boss. She had put everything she had into this project and she was happy with that, no matter the Producer’s opinion. Still, she liked having a consistent paycheck instead of having to live off of commissions.

“So…..whaddya think?”

Before Diamond could open her mouth, the door to her mother’s dressing room opened and out stepped the star of the show. Sandra’s eyes widened in shock and she rushed right over with a wide smile. Without having to say a word, it was already very apparent to Diamond that her mother approved. That wouldn’t stop Sandra from expressing it verbally in a way that only Sandra D. could.

“Oh my stars! Ya made this grander than the central station on christmas. I knew gettin ya to take the job was the best thing for the show. Ya made me my own little cookin cave. Ain’t this just the spiffiest, Sugar?”

Diamond looked up at her mom before looking over at Gal with the subtlest smile. She was definitely impressed with how fast and efficiently Gal had put this set together. She also couldn’t deny the quality. This was exactly how she’d imagine the kitchen of a nature based witch. All in all, Gal had met every one of Diamond’s expectations and even surpassed a few. That was a rare occurrence to say the least.

“Looks like you earned your paycheck for this week...and maybe a bonus. Let’s see how you do for the rest of the season.”

That wasn’t the glowing review that one might expect in response to a feat such as Gal’s but the artist knew that was Diamond's personal way of expressing her complete approval. Gal had just secured a permanent position and possibly started forming a bond with her Producer. Only time would tell. Diamond finished her drink and looked at her watch.

“Since everything seems handled here, I’m gonna take off. I still have an hour and half to kill before the meeting with network execs to work out the timeline of the rest of the season.”

She started back to the exit but stopped. She intended to kill time by grabbing lunch but for some reason, eating alone did not carry the appeal it usually did. If she was being honest, she’d rather stay here on set. But she was no longer needed here and Diamond was not one to waste time when she could be doing something beneficial. Either to herself or to her work. Left at an impasse, she stood there a few more moments before her mother snapped her out of her daze with a suggestion that made it seem like the Witch had read her daughter’s mind.

“Sugar, why don’t ya take Gal here out for lunch? Way I see it, that’s the least ya can do after she saved our premiere. I don’t need her here no more and she looks like she could use more than tea to relax.”

Gal blinked a few times and shook her head with a sheepish smile. Deep down, she knew she wouldn’t mind sharing a meal with Diamond and picking her mind on several topics and world views but she never dreamed she’d have the opportunity this suddenly.

“Oh, I could never impose like that. I’m sure Diamond’s got better things to do then to-”

“Sure, why not. I drive a vintage motorcycle not a hover one so you should hold on tight. Don’t wanna lose the first competent department head I’ve had around here in awhile. If you’re coming, let’s go. We only have an hour and twenty seven minutes to kill now.”

Gal was once again left slightly shocked at how this day was turning out. She was in no way complaining however and knew that Diamond was not fond of hesitation. So after a quick look over at Sandra, Gal headed over to Diamond and followed through the exit and back out into the city. Sandra watched them exit with a smug smirk. As previously mentioned, she knew her daughters really well. So she knew Diamond was getting increasingly lonely and compensating by drowning herself in her work. She didn’t know for sure, at first, if Gal would be able to break through and build a friendship with her daughter but she was glad to see a bond forming.

As the years went on, Diamond and Gal would become committed lovers and eventually move to Japan. There they’d have three uniquely talented children all to Sandra’s delight. It was once again proven that Sandra was always right.