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Description

Lisa was surprised to see her boss sipping tea in her office, staring out the window. It had only been a few days since Carastariel needed her schedule cleared for two whole weeks so she could show the Forest Princess, Rhawones , around New York as her guest.
  “You wouldn’t happen to be using work as an excuse to get away from somebody, would you, Cara?”
  “Li, it’s only been two days, and she’s already driving me crazy! I’m a patient elf, but—Okay, why are you smirking?”
  “As your employee, I will nod along with you, boss. But as your friend—you are not a patient person, Cara. At all. Polite: yes. Gracious: usually. Passive aggressive: more often than most people think. But patient?” She raised one eyebrow and pressed her lips tightly together.
  Carastariel rolled her eyes. “Okay, fine, but that’s besides the point. It’s like she’s purposely grating on my nerves. First of all, she keeps calling me Cara.”
  “You tell everyone to call you Cara. I call you Cara!”
  “I know, but that’s because I want humans to feel at ease with me. But she’s the only elf in either realm who has ever called me that. Our names mean something in our language, so it’s just different.”
  “Okaaay. So what else?”
  “Then she insisted that I should give her a ‘cool human nickname,’ too. She wanted us all to call her ‘Rhawo.’ Can you imagine? I was at least able to convince her that ‘Rho’ would be more natural.”
  “So, what’s wrong with that?”
  Carastariel scoffed in exasperation. “Okay, forget all that. So, we had planned a day of shopping today at some very upscale stores. But this morning she comes out of her room dressed like she’s an aspiring social media ‘model’ getting ready to take some provocative selfies for attention! I occasionally like to wear some bold fashions, too, but this was ridiculous! I had personally stocked my guest room closet with plenty of chic and tasteful outfits in her size to make things easy for her. But she proceeded to tell me that, while she thought they all looked fabulous, she wanted a more ‘caszh’ look for today that was less ‘conspicuous.’ As if wearing a figure-hugging crop top and a short skirt, considering her proportions, would make her less conspicuous!
  “Then she started arguing with the DSS agents assigned to her about wearing her tiara (because that’s inconspicuous, princess!) He said that while the United States is more than happy to provide her with protection as a foreign dignitary, they can’t take responsibility for an elven heirloom that’s older than human civilization if she wears it where anybody on a crowded street can just grab it and run! She responded that she’s not stupid, it’s not her real tiara from the Forest, she had a replica made. I asked if they used glass, and she said, ‘No, it’s just a human-world emerald.’ Our jaws all dropped, the jewel was enormous! It must be worth thousands of dollars! But she still insisted on wearing it because it ‘completes her look and is important to her self-expression.’”
  Lisa burst out laughing.
  “Li, this is not funny! You know the men who work at the building down the street? They haven’t bothered me since Carlos had a word with them, but with the ridiculous clothes Rhawones was wearing, and that hip-swaying walk of hers—”
  “Says the ex-model . . .”
  “I don’t walk like that! Even on the catwalk I always tried to be graceful and classy. Anyway, when we passed the loading dock I wasn’t surprised when a few guys taking their lunch break whistled and called out to her. But instead of ignoring it she turned to smile and wave, and said, ‘Good afternoon, boys!’ I tried to stop her and told her not to encourage them, but she ignored me and just kept responding. And then one of them yelled out something so crude I won’t repeat it. Even the other guys who were with him looked embarrassed. But instead of just moving on, she shook her head and yelled out, ‘Oh well. I was just about to ditch my annoying older sister here and have lunch with you gentlemen instead, you seem like you’d be a lot more fun to spend time with! But your friend went and ruined it for you all by being rude to me. So now I guess you’ll just have to keep admiring me from afar!’”
  “Sooo, you’re mad at her because she at least tried handling the situation herself with a little humor and charm instead of grumbling to herself for a week before her bodyguard stepped in and handled it for her, like someone else we know?”
  “What?! No, I just—”
  “Or did you just resent her calling you her older sister, even though you’re not related and she’s actually twice your age?”
  “Keep laughing at me, Li, but this whole day has proven my fears were justified. I just knew I’d end up having to be more of a babysitter to her than a hostess and guide. I'm half her age, but she's acting like she's half mine. It’s absurd.”
  “Well, I wish I could help you, Cara, but there really isn’t—”
  Carastariel raised her eyebrows. “Maybe . . . there’s a very important meeting tomorrow you just couldn’t postpone, right? So I have to attend, but I’ll at least be thoughtful enough to send my trusted, worldly assistant to take Rhawones to the Statue of Liberty in my place?”
  “Pfft, c’mon, Cara, you’re better than this. Much as I would love to hang out with an actual princess for a day, especially one who sounds as fun as Rhawones, you know you need to make this work. You do realize that the reason she turned her meeting at the U.N. into a vacation wasn’t just to see New York, but to get to know you better, too, right? She must have picked up on the fact that you’ve been avoiding her on purpose. And she might act a little frivolous, but she’s done some really interesting things, too. Didn’t she take part in negotiating the treaty that paved the way for elves like you to be able to live in the human world in the first place?”
  “Yes. I’m very much aware that she’s a more cunning, crafty, and persuasive woman than she appears.”
  “Ha, that’s the least complimentary way of saying someone is smart and effective that I’ve ever heard! But besides all that, isn’t she going to be your queen some day? I mean, doesn’t it make sense to develop a good relationship with her while you have the chance? You’re definitely going to have to put up with her at some point, right?”
  “Don’t remind me, the present situation is bad enough! You’re right, though. The Forest Queen doesn’t exactly approve of me these days, so I guess I should at least try to have a better relationship with Rhawones.” She sighed. “But I’m going to need a lot more tea to get through this.”

Has anybody ever just rubbed you the wrong way, even when they're not really doing anything that bad (yet)? Heh, poor Cara.

Daz Studio -> Iray -> Photoshop.

Criticism and comments are always welcome, and greatly appreciated!

Description

Lisa was surprised to see her boss sipping tea in her office, staring out the window. It had only been a few days since Carastariel needed her schedule cleared for two whole weeks so she could show the Forest Princess, Rhawones , around New York as her guest.
  “You wouldn’t happen to be using work as an excuse to get away from somebody, would you, Cara?”
  “Li, it’s only been two days, and she’s already driving me crazy! I’m a patient elf, but—Okay, why are you smirking?”
  “As your employee, I will nod along with you, boss. But as your friend—you are not a patient person, Cara. At all. Polite: yes. Gracious: usually. Passive aggressive: more often than most people think. But patient?” She raised one eyebrow and pressed her lips tightly together.
  Carastariel rolled her eyes. “Okay, fine, but that’s besides the point. It’s like she’s purposely grating on my nerves. First of all, she keeps calling me Cara.”
  “You tell everyone to call you Cara. I call you Cara!”
  “I know, but that’s because I want humans to feel at ease with me. But she’s the only elf in either realm who has ever called me that. Our names mean something in our language, so it’s just different.”
  “Okaaay. So what else?”
  “Then she insisted that I should give her a ‘cool human nickname,’ too. She wanted us all to call her ‘Rhawo.’ Can you imagine? I was at least able to convince her that ‘Rho’ would be more natural.”
  “So, what’s wrong with that?”
  Carastariel scoffed in exasperation. “Okay, forget all that. So, we had planned a day of shopping today at some very upscale stores. But this morning she comes out of her room dressed like she’s an aspiring social media ‘model’ getting ready to take some provocative selfies for attention! I occasionally like to wear some bold fashions, too, but this was ridiculous! I had personally stocked my guest room closet with plenty of chic and tasteful outfits in her size to make things easy for her. But she proceeded to tell me that, while she thought they all looked fabulous, she wanted a more ‘caszh’ look for today that was less ‘conspicuous.’ As if wearing a figure-hugging crop top and a short skirt, considering her proportions, would make her less conspicuous!
  “Then she started arguing with the DSS agents assigned to her about wearing her tiara (because that’s inconspicuous, princess!) He said that while the United States is more than happy to provide her with protection as a foreign dignitary, they can’t take responsibility for an elven heirloom that’s older than human civilization if she wears it where anybody on a crowded street can just grab it and run! She responded that she’s not stupid, it’s not her real tiara from the Forest, she had a replica made. I asked if they used glass, and she said, ‘No, it’s just a human-world emerald.’ Our jaws all dropped, the jewel was enormous! It must be worth thousands of dollars! But she still insisted on wearing it because it ‘completes her look and is important to her self-expression.’”
  Lisa burst out laughing.
  “Li, this is not funny! You know the men who work at the building down the street? They haven’t bothered me since Carlos had a word with them, but with the ridiculous clothes Rhawones was wearing, and that hip-swaying walk of hers—”
  “Says the ex-model . . .”
  “I don’t walk like that! Even on the catwalk I always tried to be graceful and classy. Anyway, when we passed the loading dock I wasn’t surprised when a few guys taking their lunch break whistled and called out to her. But instead of ignoring it she turned to smile and wave, and said, ‘Good afternoon, boys!’ I tried to stop her and told her not to encourage them, but she ignored me and just kept responding. And then one of them yelled out something so crude I won’t repeat it. Even the other guys who were with him looked embarrassed. But instead of just moving on, she shook her head and yelled out, ‘Oh well. I was just about to ditch my annoying older sister here and have lunch with you gentlemen instead, you seem like you’d be a lot more fun to spend time with! But your friend went and ruined it for you all by being rude to me. So now I guess you’ll just have to keep admiring me from afar!’”
  “Sooo, you’re mad at her because she at least tried handling the situation herself with a little humor and charm instead of grumbling to herself for a week before her bodyguard stepped in and handled it for her, like someone else we know?”
  “What?! No, I just—”
  “Or did you just resent her calling you her older sister, even though you’re not related and she’s actually twice your age?”
  “Keep laughing at me, Li, but this whole day has proven my fears were justified. I just knew I’d end up having to be more of a babysitter to her than a hostess and guide. I'm half her age, but she's acting like she's half mine. It’s absurd.”
  “Well, I wish I could help you, Cara, but there really isn’t—”
  Carastariel raised her eyebrows. “Maybe . . . there’s a very important meeting tomorrow you just couldn’t postpone, right? So I have to attend, but I’ll at least be thoughtful enough to send my trusted, worldly assistant to take Rhawones to the Statue of Liberty in my place?”
  “Pfft, c’mon, Cara, you’re better than this. Much as I would love to hang out with an actual princess for a day, especially one who sounds as fun as Rhawones, you know you need to make this work. You do realize that the reason she turned her meeting at the U.N. into a vacation wasn’t just to see New York, but to get to know you better, too, right? She must have picked up on the fact that you’ve been avoiding her on purpose. And she might act a little frivolous, but she’s done some really interesting things, too. Didn’t she take part in negotiating the treaty that paved the way for elves like you to be able to live in the human world in the first place?”
  “Yes. I’m very much aware that she’s a more cunning, crafty, and persuasive woman than she appears.”
  “Ha, that’s the least complimentary way of saying someone is smart and effective that I’ve ever heard! But besides all that, isn’t she going to be your queen some day? I mean, doesn’t it make sense to develop a good relationship with her while you have the chance? You’re definitely going to have to put up with her at some point, right?”
  “Don’t remind me, the present situation is bad enough! You’re right, though. The Forest Queen doesn’t exactly approve of me these days, so I guess I should at least try to have a better relationship with Rhawones.” She sighed. “But I’m going to need a lot more tea to get through this.”

Has anybody ever just rubbed you the wrong way, even when they're not really doing anything that bad (yet)? Heh, poor Cara.

Daz Studio -> Iray -> Photoshop.

Criticism and comments are always welcome, and greatly appreciated!