Two
Two Weeks Later
Carmen watched Toudou out of the corner of her eye as they walked down the street to Maison des Anges's headquarters in Paris. Toudou carried with him a large bag which held a portfolio, a sketch book, and some pencils. Today was their first meeting with Maison des Anges's designers for their Fall/Winter show and Toudou was vibrating with excitement. It was a strange sight, seeing a man practically bounce in a fashionable dark blue suit next to a woman who wore a tan trench coat with a black business dress underneath it, with nude pumps and a black leather Hermes bag.
Carmen took a final sip from her coffee cup before tossing it into a waste bin, her red lipstick still adorning the lid. "You need to calm down a little before you go in there, Toudou," Carmen said. "The meeting's going to be mostly about our contract. You won't see the designs until the end of the meeting, if then, and…"
Toudou interjected, mimicking her, "'…and even then it's unlikely I'll get to design anything or really look at them at length.'" Toudou laughed at her sour expression. "I know, Carmen," he smiled. "But can you really blame me for being excited?"
They reached the tall office building that housed the design studios of Maison des Anges. She looked at the rotating door, "I can't really. You do need to calm down though." After they emerged from the rotating door and had been led to an empty meeting room by a receptionist, Carmen eyed Toudou suspiciously. "Do I even want to know how many cups of coffee you had this morning?"
Toudou squawked in dismay, "I had none this morning. I'll have you know that I rarely overindulge in caffeine. It's so bad for you in large quantities. I mostly drink tea, as you well know, and only save coffee for special occaisions."
Carmen looked up at the ceiling and swore in her native Spanish, before looking at Toudou. "That's somehow even scarier. Did you bike then, this morning? You need something to burn off that energy of yours."
"I did," Toudou replied, "but there are no hills, so I really can't do my best, and it's so boring." Though he hadn't gone pro, Toudou had continued biking. He entered amateur road races in his free time, as hard as free time was to find these days. Carmen looked at Toudou for another long moment. Toudou continued, "Listen, I barely have to speak during the first half of this meeting as most of it is boring contract stuff. I'll be quiet and try to rein it in. Honestly, Carmen, you don't have to mother me…"
It was at that moment that Fujioka and two other men in business suits walked into the meeting room. Toudou and Carmen stood. After some quick introductions, they settled down to business and hammered out their contract. It was a very good one, comparable to what they would have gotten from Chanel. After Toudou and Carmen signed off on it, the other two business men left the room leaving Carmen and Jinpachi alone with Fujioka.
"I didn't know you were such a big wig in the company, Ms. Fujioka," Carmen said, as they left the conference room.
"Please, call me Chika," Fujioka said. "I'm not really… I'm just in charge of recruiting talent and handling day-to-day operations. My father appointed me after I proved myself in another company of his. He's the real man in charge. Also, I'm not in charge of the creative elements; my older brother is the head designer here." Toudou noted Chika's wedding ring that shone bright on her hand.
Chika opened the door to a large room filled with people at tables, talking over designs and looking at fabric swatches. "This is the design studio," she said, turning to face them. "You'll probably do some work in here. The head designer's office is attached to this room, and I want to introduce you to him."
They went to the far end of the room, to a door. Chika knocked on the door and a man's voice said, "Come in."
Chika opened the door and the women went in first. Toudou walked in through the doorway and froze in his tracks. Facing away from the door was a man with a silhouette that was so familiar to him; long limbs, a thin frame. He had short, light brown hair, but his figure made Toudou breathless. Eyes wide, Toudou watched as the man turned to his visitors.
"Hello, my name is Ren Makishima, head designer here, at Maison des Anges," the man smiled. He had familiar long features too. "Pleased to meet you."
Toudou was frozen as Carmen introduced herself. It was only through sheer force of will and age that Jinpachi was able to make himself move. He stepped forward, putting out his right hand.
"My name is Jinpachi Toudou," Toudou managed to say, mouth dry. "Pleased to meet you too."
Ren's eyes flickered in recognition as he shook Toudou's cold hand. Carmen looked on; she knew they should have stayed with Chanel.