I'm happy to present the new, official Prologue for Love Me. Please tell me if it's poorly written or if there are too many adjectives.
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Sakura was engaged to ,and soon-to-be-married to, Vincent Chase (Popular Movie Star), but he calls it all off after Sakura confides in him with her secret of being an all-powerful sorceress and The Card Mistress . Distressed from his denial and terrified of what he may say to the public, she makes him promise on the Promise Card to never tell a single soul. They part ways, but not before a tyrannical onslaught on their personal lives ensues and hurls them into tabloid headlines and ghastly gossip that destroys Sakura's fashion career and leaves her with almost nothing.
Exhausted from all her battles with fame, she runs off to London with Tomoyo. There she meets up with Eriol and he falls head over heels in love with Tomoyo. Sakura decides to play matchmaker and help the duo sort out their emotions, while she tries to forget her own feelings for Vince. After a year in London, Tomoyo and Eriol are unofficially dating and she's started designing and operating her own photo-shoots through her mother's Fashion branches in New York City and Paris, and Sakura's life has finally become her own again. At dinner one evening, Tomoyo offers her a job at a magazine in New York titled Besos (or Kisses). She happily accepts and flies out a week later for an interview.
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To: Sakura Kinomoto ()
From: Gabriel Trent (.com)
Subject: It's already nine and the meeting is starting without you
Unless you're in the hospital suffering from a severe hematoma or, even worse, dead somewhere, you're going to be fired. Mr. Corporate Almighty has made that very clear by already scheduling maintenance to come and take your name plate off your office door. Kinomoto, where are you? Please, tell me you didn't go out last night and drink (because we all know you can't handle your alcohol) and forget to set your alarm again?
Gabriel D.,
Assistant of the Head of Fashion.
Besos Magazine
P.S. Ok, now I'm worried. Your friend, Tomoyo Daidoujii, just called to inform Mr. Jenkin's that if you're fired she will pull the plug on all affiliations with Besos! Apparently she doesn't want just anyone handling her product-- she wants you. He then asked for an explanation of your whereabouts but Ms. Daidoujii only revealed you would be in the office around noon as soon as your plane arrived at JFK International. The office is buzzing with gossip and prattle over the both of you. Warning: When you do arrive, do come in through the rear entrance to avoid the Gossip Girl column bitches (I emailed Melanie-- she owes me a favor-- and she'll let you use the mail room elevator). I heard one of them say she was going to accidentally spill their latte on you. I'm already devising an anonymous letter to Human Resources about it. ;)
To: Gabriel Trent (.com)
From: Sakura Kinomoto ()
Subject:RE: It's already nine and the meeting is starting without you
Honestly, where would I be without you? Unfortunately I can't explain or disclose too much behind my absence this morning. Please, Gabe, scare away those maintenance men. They're homophobic, so maybe, if you flirt with them they'll stay away!! Remember when Robbie came to the office and I chased him out of the building? I did that because I LOVE you, don't you LOVE me??
I have a gift from Tomoyo for you and it's amazing! You'll love it. I'm not bribing you or anything. =]
Sincerely, Sakura Kinomoto.
Head of Fashion.
Besos Magazine
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"And some early morning fog giving way to sunny skies today. 75 degrees, a perfect day to visit Central Park with the family or for eating outside at your favorite restaurant." The weatherman happily pointed away at the map behind him while he spieled over the area's recent warm weather.
Her flight was delayed an hour as they waited in a taxiway for a gate to welcome their arrival. So, to kill time, she pulled out her mini-computer and browsed around for some entertainment. Sakura paused the replay of the morning news and clicked over, to another tab, to view her personal e-mail. There were four new, unread e-mails highlighted in bold. She skimmed through the list: One from Gabriel, her assistant, and the other three from her brother Touya, her father, and Yukito. She opened Gabriel's first and irately typed away a response when she was finished. The nerve of Jenkins to try and fire me, but just to be sure she ransacked her purse for her phone. When her fingers finally felt the cool metal, she pulled it out and scoured through her contact list. Finding the name and number she needed she pushed the dial key and waited. After a subtle click and warm greeting from Mr. Robert Rodriguez's assistant, she requested a quick word with him.
"Miss. Ki-no-moto," Sakura cringed from the poor pronunciation of her name, but topped it off with a smile, even though the assistant couldn't witness any of it. "Robert is free for lunch and he wants to meet you at Leila's around one."
Robert was a tall, lean Colombian man with dark brown hair and matching eyes. He was the man behind Besos and half a dozen other New York magazines dedicated to scandalous gossip, cooking, and fashion. He was a very old-fashioned man raised with high ethics and standards for business Sakura thought were dead and buried in society. She soon learned it was taboo to cross him, because in the business world and all-too-familiar celebrity world he was king, and like a king he could cast you out of the kingdom for all eternity with just a wave of his hand.
At the time of her interview he was temporarily rooted into the process- the usual staff member responsible for hiring was away on maternity leave and this left no one, so he took it upon himself to do all the hiring. He regretted it immediately and, as Sakura marched into his office on the morning of her interview, it showed in his eyes and face- the man was exhausted beyond the point of exhaustion and presumably, from the four empty Starbucks cups in the bin, running off caffeine. He welcomed her with a genuine smile and offered her a seat in the chair in front of his desk, but he was slow and sloppy with his movements. "If you can do this for the rest of the week, you're hired." He was all too eager for an answer and when she agreed to it he was literally bouncing around in delight. " Hannah!" His assistant scurried into the office and received instructions to show Sakura over to human resources where she would be prompted, in less than an hour, on the whole hiring process. After hiring in ten trustworthy and capable, new employees in a week's time Sakura found herself in her own office on the twentieth floor of the Rodriguez and Trent Corp building managing the new magazine, Besos's, fashion section. All in all, Robert was fond of her and so they cleared their lunch every Monday to sit down and chat at Leila's, a popular diner from his childhood neighborhood in Queens.
"You can call me Saku- formalities don't really suit me- and about lunch, please tell Mr. Rodriguez I'll be there. Thank-you." Both parties made their farewells curt before hanging up. Sakura sighed and relaxed into her seat as she opened the remaining e-mails and answered to them promptly. I'll show that pompous jerk Jenkins.
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After lunch with Robert, she took Gabriel's advice and entered The Rodriguez & Trent Corporate building through the back. She buzzed the door and waited patiently until it flung open, presenting a stout brunette with crossed arms seemingly annoyed, "What do you want?" There it was, the all too common New York attitude with the accessory accent to match.
"I'm Sakura Kinomoto, from Besos." The girl was chewing gum, and she blew a quick, pink bubble before rolling her eyes and ushering Sakura inside.
"I can get fired for this you know." She sighed, her blue eyes prancing around the room as she sneaked Sakura through the mail room . "Do you think you could do me a favor- I mean I'm risking my neck out for you and all- but maybe you could make a few phone calls and replace the mail man?" This threw Sakura off into a loop.
Replace the mailman, but, "Why?" A blush hinted on her cheeks and she shyly turned away before answering, "He's a creep and frolics with every girl. We've all had enough of his crap but can't really tell anyone because he's Derek's nephew, and if we get him fired only God knows what will happen to the messenger. "
"Oh, Heidi's boyfriend- he's the mail room manager?" She confirmed by nodding her head 'yes'. "I can try. I don't normally go around plotting things like this but I'm sure I can e-mail a report to the Postal Office and request someone new." Then as an afterthought, "He's not you ex-boyfriend or crush, right? I don't want to report someone innocent out of revenge." Her face flushed and her attitude resurfaced.
"You know what just forget it, I'll deal with it on my own. I'm just happy I work down here away from pretentious people like you!" The girl stomped off after escorting her to the elevators, and Sakura could almost see the steam clouds puffing from her ears.