A/n: Thank you those who had read this so far and patiently waited for it, I'll upload the continuation tomorrow…. (*promise sign*)
enjoy! (^_^)
Disclaimer: I forgot this the last time…. Skip Beat is not mine, isn't it?
Monday morning, Kanae posted the list above her life size mirror inside her bedroom, where she would see it every time.
Kyoko, her bestfriend, discovered it right away as she'd known she would. But being her discreet self did not read it, and just simply walked away and thought of it as something like her grocery list. However, Chiori, on the other hand, always had an opinion. She responded to Kotonami Kanae Hints of her Ideal Man with amusement in her voice, "A product of soul searching isn't it? Care to explain?"
She snatched the list back and responded with a frown.
Undaunted, the girl just merely raised her perfectly shaped eyebrows. "Must have been drinking a lot, you're not as sharp tongued as usual"
"I couldn't just throw away good champagne, right?" Kanae said, unaffected by her friend's witty remarks.
"Humph!" A pause, "I knew it, all cry and no play makes Kanae a dull girl all day"
"You mean, all work and no play make Jack a dull kid…"
"Whatever, They're the same" she dismissed her and gave the list a careful reading.
"So you're looking for a 'rich guy' now."
"I'd prefer to call it my economic and emotional equal"
Chiori decided to sank bank onto the couch, "Don't you think this is too much?"
"From now on," Kanae said firmly "I won't be swayed to pick a guy that is longer than my standards"
"O-kay"
"I mean it, girl, A wise woman can only be tricked once to learned her lesson, otherwise she's better off believing in fairy tales"
"You've had some bad moments," Chiori conceded.
"Some? Yeah, right! Just what I need during these crucial moments in my career is just 'some moments' like that"
"Whatever. It's your love life. But I really think you can't keep this list. After all, lists are meant to be broken."
"It's promises"
Chiori didn't catch Kanae's teasing… "Well, if you're serious about it, you ought to be real interested in seeing the project Director Okuya is offering, it's lead actor Hiou Uesugi especially requested for you to be his co-star."
"And just who is this Hiou Uesugi?"
Chiori rolled her eyes, "God! Don't you do anything besides memorizing scripts? Just Hiou Uesugi, the third generation of a long line of Japanese actors. He is the grandchild of international martial arts star, Uesugi Kotetsu, and the child of prominent Japanese actors, Uesugi Ryutaro and Nabatame Yuuko. I think you'd probably be interested in him."
"You think he's in my list"
"He's gorgeous, single and rich"
"No kids, no ex-wives"
"Just all that money and all those degrees from all the right schools."
"Well then, maybe I ought to take this offer." A sly smile forming itself in her lips, as she thought of it.
"You got a date tomorrow morning 6:30… he asked me to tell you to come"
"Wow, I'm impressed…"
"Of course, who else but me could think of such a thing…"
Kanae could just agree in her mind, anyway out of the two Chiori and Kyoko, Chiori is much closer to think of things like this.
***Yashiro and Ren along the wide highways of xxxx somewhere in Japan***
It was a very quiet evening as Ren drove along the wide highways of Tokyo, catching a glimpse of his manager, who is busy checking his notepad for his talent's schedule and texting at the same time. He's waiting to consult him about what Director Ogata is saying earlier, unfortunately, Yashiro was too occupied texting when…
"Ren, say what you want. Stop that creepy stare of yours" Yashiro faced his talent slash friend. For three years of handling him, he can already tell whether the latter was going to ask him something judging by the look on his face or simply with his gestures.
"So?" A sigh, "Do you have plans for tomorrow?"
"Wha- what?" The brown haired guy almost choked upon hearing his question, something in his tone made his body hair stood on ends, Ren is being weird again and what's worse he may become the target of his weirdness.
'What is he up to? Trying to ask me out? Had he given up on Kyoko-chan that easily so he redirected his affections towards me? NO!' his face took on a horror-stricken appearance.
Ren managed to suppressed a giggle as he saw the discomfort and fear crept up to his manager's face, "Why the sudden reaction, I'm just asking if you are free or not?" He put on a serious face, it was unbelievably funny to tease the latter, he must be thinking that I'm hitting on him; Fortunately, he secretly expressed his gratitude to his superb acting talents.
'So this is how he felt when he was pulling his leg about Kyoko… This is really fun, he should do this often'
As flustered as Yashiro was by the sudden 'eccentricity' in Ren's words, he responded almost too quickly with…
"I'm free, yes, but I don't see any reason why you should know that and even if you're Japan's No. 1 sexiest actor, I have to refuse to whatever you are implying… I'm sorry I don't swing that way…"
Ren could not hold it anymore, he parked the car and burst out laughing, holding his hand in his stomach.
"You actually believe it?" Yashiro, realizing he had been had could only reply with the wittiest remark he could think of at the moment.
"As much as I admired your acting prowess that had led you to pull such a prank, I don't believe I'd see the day that you'd do something so childish…" A pause, Ren thought his manager had been mad at him, that he stopped laughing altogether.
"Did that scare you? I'm sorry, I really didn't mean it I—" Then he noticed the shaking of his manager's shoulders… he felt guilty… 'Is he crying? Yashiro-san?'
"Hmmm… Pfft! Hahahaha, of course not! How was I? Could I pass as an actor should I get tired of being 'your' manager?"
"Far from mine, but yes it could suffice… Oh by the way, what I wanted to say was about what Director Ogata told me earlier"
"That so? What did he say?"
"That we're behind filming"
"I already know that, what about it?"
"So I agreed for another shooting day for tomorrow"
"You what...?" Yashiro shrieked, making Ren cover his ears in futile attempt to protect it from possible deafness.
"No need to shout, calm down"
"Calm down? You expect me to calm down? You've been working for four days straight, are you a masochist? Give yourself a break!" Though in his mind it was more like, 'Calm down? You expect me to calm down? I've been working for four days straight; Are you a sadist? Give me a break!'
However, Ren being the living robot as he is, simply just commented that it was his job to rearrange his schedule should something ever happened to him.
'Whoever said that being the manager of a superstar is something to be envied?' He inwardly thought. He was looking forward to this free day and nothing, he mean it, nothing will stood in his way in obtaining it. He smiled mentally as the idea flashed across his mind like a light in the black space of his mind.
A/N: one more thing, I forgot last time, please review…. Thanks… (^_^)
