Chapter 1: Limelight
'Some people feel the rain. Other people just get wet.'
-Bob Marley
The remote feels cold and heavy in her hand as she groggily flips through the channels , hearing the momentary chatter of a voice before it's cut off and replaced with another. Snips of movies flash over the screen, reflecting dully in her eyes before she moves on, not even flinching when a Tyrannosaurus Rex jumps at her from the screen, it's hissing vanishing as the selection shifts to a Mexican cooking show.
Still aimlessly surfing through the five thousand stations of nothing, she leans back in the bed, her shoulders sinking into a mound of pillows and sheets. Warm cotton brushes against her face as the white bathrobe clothing her rides up slightly and collects around her neck, filling her nostrils with the scent of clean linen.
With a sigh she flips the channel to the local news, toning out the announcer's voice and turning instead to glance out the window, scowling at the heavy curtains that obstruct her view of the sky. She wonders if a maid had come in early this morning and closed them; she certainly didn't last night. White sunlight filters around the edges of the drapes and she hesitantly twitches a few of her fingers, thinking about getting up to push the fabric aside, but determining it to be too much effort and stilling her hand again.
She shuts her eyes, finding a little peace in the blackness that overrides her senses, but stilling noting the whirring of her mind, poking and prodding her to get up like she needs to instead of lying around like she wants to. She battles back with herself with a retort, arguing that if she didn't get some rest soon she'd wind up collapsing in the middle of the day. It doesn't give up, but she does, deciding to ignore the nagging voice and bury her face further into the welcoming pillows.
There's the click of a card being swiped and the door opens, the sounds of chattering voices barely wafting into the room from the areas outside. She raises her head and sends the intruder and irritable look before rising to sit on her heels, surveying the young man suspiciously.
"Room service," he says nervously, an uncertain smile tugging at his lips. He gestures to the cart in front of him, clad with silver dishes. He whips the top of one to reveal a steaming cup of espresso, cream and sugar in small crystal bowls beside it. "You requested it last night when you checked in, remember?" His voice raises in pitch and a slight flush of color dusts the apples of his cheeks as she assesses the drink in silence, reaching out one pale finger to wrap around the handle of the cup and bring it closer to her.
"Hmm, yes." She inhales the steam and watches out of the corner of her eyes as the boy relaxes visibly, seeming to reassure himself that he hadn't done anything wrong. "I remember." She takes a sip of the black coffee, feeling the warmth trickle down her throat and settle in her stomach, lightening her eyelids and sending sparks of energy through her fingertips. Shifting from foot to foot, the attendant's gaze darts to and away from the girl on the bed, seeming more flustered every moment. She raises an eyebrow at him, lowering the cup to her lap to observe him more closely. "Do you need something?"
"Ah…" he gasps in surprise, twirling a strand of blonde hair absentmindedly. "I was just…I mean…You're Miku Hatsune, aren't you?"
The girl blinks and allows herself to slip back into the sort of exasperated leisure that comes with listening to someone about this topic. "Yes, I am." A sigh escapes his mouth and he reaches into his pocket, hastily pulling out a spare napkin and one of the small complementary pencils that were handed out in the lobby.
"Could you please- Would you mind- Your autograph?" his voice comes out in a squeak and his face reddens more. She watches with a cool sort of amusement and sets her drink back onto the cart, reaching out to take the utensil and parchment from his hand.
"Sure," she says with a smile, pressing the napkin against her legs to provide a flat surface. "Who am I addressing this to?"
"Oh, um, not me." He shakes his head vigorously, seeming rather mortified. "It's for my sister. She likes magazines and make-up and that kind of…stuff…" he trails off, seeming to realize that he's babbling, and pulls himself back together, meeting her gaze nervously. "She's a…fan of yours, or something."
Miku nods lightly, whipping her wrist around on the paper in the familiar path of her signature. With flourish of the final 'e' she hands it back to him, sending him on his way with an opaque smile and a bill in his pocket. As the door clicks shut and she's left with the droning of the TV again, she sighs, feeling her shoulders droop down ever so slightly, any energy she had faked leaving now.
Boredly, she lifts the top off the other platter, revealing a tray of scones and coffee cakes, surrounded by slices of fruit. She stares at it for a moment before silently cursing and grabbing a piece of apple, nibbling on the red skin and eyeing the bakery items blamefully. The nut muffin doesn't even flinch.
Chomping down on a few more slices of fruit, she pulls herself out of the bed and saunters over to the window, pulling the shades back and blinking against the bright sun. Light reflects off a nearby skyscraper, blaring directly into her eyes and making the rest of the modern city seem dark. She pulls the robe tighter around her, painfully aware of her own lack of clothing and chuckling slightly when she realizes how awkward that little meeting just now must have been for the boy.
She runs her hands through her hair, untangling turquoise knots in long strand of silky locks and patting down frizzy fly-aways. As she tries to rediscover her part, a soft buzzing erupts from her bedside table, rattling the semi-quiet of the room in short erratic bursts. A long arm reaches over to flip open her phone, checking the message and shutting it as fast as she could the moment the info was received. With a huff the handheld is thrown onto the bed, bouncing once against the sheets, and she turns back to the window. Outside it is warming up to be a wonderful day, with scarcely a cloud in the sky and smog at a minimum. Checking the time out of the corner of her eye she purses her lips, noting that she has less than an hour before her manger would be waiting downstairs for her, ready to set her up for her next gig.
As she sips away the last of her coffee and steps into a steaming hot shower, feeling the heated liquid seep into her bones and untighten things there, she scrubs her face forcefully, trying to wipe off the invisible smears of make-up and concealer that she can't see, but still feels, the way one feels the sting of a slap even after the initial pain has gone away. She runs shampoo through her long hair, letting the foam slide down her back and legs before rinsing it away and repeating the cycle with conditioner. Lovely smells of lavender and honey erupt in the air, but do nothing to lift Miku's decidedly dropping mood.
She shuts the water off with a snap of the facet and quickly towels herself off, wringing out her hair like a wet rag and pulling it off her neck in a messy up-do. With a curse at the clock she reaches into her luggage, pulling out a random outfit and throwing it on before rushing back into the bathroom to make herself decent enough for public consumption.
She grabs up her purse, checking for her phone and room key, before flicking off the lights and shutting the door quietly behind her. Stealing down the hallway, she runs into no one until she hits the elevator, its doors just about to close. Hand extended, she jams her fingers into the closing gap and pushes, the door obediently widening again to let her inside. The few passengers survey her interestedly and for a moment her mind goes into autopilot, getting ready to put on a wide smile and greet cheerfully. However their interest quickly fades and she realizes that most of them are elderly, unlikely to know anything about her or her current field of occupation. She relaxes slightly, leaning against the handrail, but shivering inwardly just a little as a man's gaze lingers on her lengthy legs a bit too long.
The bell dings as they reach the bottom floor and she weasels her way out amid the mass of pushing bodies. Brushing what may or may not be imaginary dust from her arms, she looks around, tired of all the activity on this early morning, eyes focusing on a figure walking towards her, his hands spread out almost appreciatively.
"Ah, Miku," the man sighs and pats her on the back, unsurprised by her less than enthusiastic greeting. "There you are Doll! C'mon, let's get going. I've got a busy day planned out and we have less time than is needed to carry it all out!" He smiles and Miku translates his words internally, her eyes lidding and shoulders doing to best not to slump as she thinks of the workload ahead of her. Looks like it's going to be another late night.
She shifts her bag up her arm and murmurs her consent, glancing up into his purple eyes to gesture that he should continue. Instead, she finds him frowning at her hair, taking a piece of it between his fingers and twirling experimentally.
"Ah, Doll, I know our people are going to take care of you, but honestly…" He clucks between his teeth and begins to move away, shaking his head and tossing violet curls over his shoulder as if to display to her how hair is supposed to look. "Bad for publicity." Reaching up, Miku tugs on the tie in her locks, undoing it and causing the damp teal tresses to cascade down her back once more. Her manager glances back, smiling and giving a thumbs up. She smiles coolly and falls into step beside him, bracing herself as the chilled spring air flows through the revolving doors and hits her cringing scalp.
Oh, how she really hates her job.
A/N: Oh yeah! Three straight days of updates! *woot* *woot* I glad I finally got around to starting this but...it's gonna be long. Really long. But hopefully worth all the nights I'll stay up writing it.
SPECIAL NOTE TO EVERYONE READING: Okay, first of all thanks so much for reading these random bits of (what I think to be) crap that I post. I appreciate it. However, I'd just like to say that maybe...I'd like more reviews *hides*.
No, no! I'm not blackmailing or threatening not to post another chapter or anything! I'm just saying...for a while now only two people have been reviewing my stuff (you know who you are, none of this applies to you) while I know - stats don't lie - that more than two people have been reading. Reviews encourage me to write, so if you want longer better chapters you should drop me a note telling me what you thought! It doesn't even have to be praise! If I update and just get the regular one or two reviews then I think no one cares about the story so...why even write it?
I don't mean to whine or anything, just remember, it's very hard to write when no one seems to be reading.
(You see that little box down below? Click on it. Something magical will happen.)