Chapter 2! Thanks for the reviews!^^
I got so many WTFs for my first chapter! hahaha...XD That was so much fun! X3
Happy Valentines Day, everyone!
and Happy Singles' Awareness Day to the Republic of Forever Alone People!
"My Other Self"
Episode 2: Love Team.
"So, how did you get that part?" Thalia, the host of a famous talk show asked while swinging her other leg to cross the other.
Cagalli lightly chuckled remembering the memory. "To tell you the truth, it was a big accident actually. During auditions, I fell off my chair and for some reason they gave me the part because of that. [1]" She laughed at the memory and Thalia laughed along with her.
"How did you feel when you were paired up with 'The' Athrun Zala?" The next question came.
"Well, that was something I never really expected. You see, someone else signed me up for auditions and the only reason I went along with it, was because it was a dare." Cagalli answered too comfortably as she was sitting real close to Athrun.
"A dare?" Thalia raised an eyebrow and was completely flabbergasted to say the least, but managed to cover it up no less.
Cagalli laughed at her reaction and exchanged knowing glances with the blue-haired hunk before answering. "Athrun's gonna get mad at me if I told you, but I don't care. You see, at first I thought he was gay." She said with such a big smile which only irritated her Love Team partner.
"You're talking as if I'm not here." Athrun's left arm was loosely placed on Cagalli's shoulders, he pulled her near him as they put on a show.
"Oh, shut up. It's already bad enough that you got my first kiss!" Cagalli tried to pry him off but failed when he held her tighter.
"And we had how many takes exactly?" He teased while his breath tickled her neck.
But before the camera could further focus on Cagalli's already red face, a vase hit the LCD TV and instantly broke it. [2] "That bastard! How dare he humiliate me like that on international tv! No good, son of a—"
"Cagalli, please!" Milly, a photojournalist and friend, cut her off. "Miss Lenore has nothing to do with this. Besides, it was just a kiss. Let it go."
"Just a kiss? JUST A KISS? That was MY first kiss!" Cagalli's eyes were burning hell! If Milly wasn't her friend, she swears, she could've already done something.
"But that was your fault, you should've thoroughly read the script!" Milly retorted.
"Even if I didn't read the script, that wasn't included in my contract!" Cagalli yelled then suddenly narrowed her eyes as a realization hit her, that she didn't know what was in her contract. "Right?"
Milly rolled her eyes. "Ugh! Who made your contract anyway?"
Cagalli blinked. "I don't know."
"YOU DON'T KNOW?" Milly, being the rational girl that she is, couldn't believe this.
"No, but still!" Cagalli took a folder and almost smacked it on Milly's face. "Did you see what was written in the script?" Pointing on the part where her kissing scene with Athrun was written [3]. "It said—!"
"—Devoured!" Athrun yelled with all of his might due to frustration. "That was what's written in the script! So, I just had to make the kiss last! But it's not like I wanted to! And then what? She hit me!"
Dearka laughed. "Hell yeah! That was the first time I saw you stumble and fall on your butt!"
"Not to mention, your lower lip was bleeding." Shinn mocked and laughed with Dearka on the sofa. Yzak and Kira were just sitting on the sides, both watching in great amusement.
"Argh! I can't believe they paired me up with such an amazon!" Athrun gripped and pulled on his hair. "What the hell were they thinking?"
"You mean, 'what was your mom thinking?', right? After all, she was the one who chose Cagalli for that role." Dearka chuckled as he watched Athrun shook his head.
"And only because she was clumsy enough to fall off her own seat!" Shinn broke into another laugh.
Athrun heaved an exasperated sigh. "She's gonna be the death of me." He gulped.
"It wasn't that bad, Athrun... You got to play the leading man in this movie, why complain? And what about me? I only had two lines in the entire thing and one of them was over the freaking phone. [4]" Kira retorted, remembering his somewhat idiotic role.
Dearka and Shinn laughed out loud again but Athrun didn't mind them. Instead, he focused his attention on Kira, determined to defend his ground, whatever it is. "You're only saying that because you weren't the one hit! Don't you have any idea how humiliated I was?
"Who cares about your humiliation, Athrun? You kissed her!" Dearka reminded him again of the surreal experience.
Athrun didn't know how to respond to that so he just rolled his eyes and pretended to not care. Although, at the back of his mind he already knows that there's something he's never seen before in other women that the blonde spitfire has and he's already well aware that he's hopelessly smitten. But it'd be a different talk if he would admit it of course.
"Yeah! Come on, Athrun! You had what? Seven bloody long takes on that first kissing scene!" Shinn laughed uncontrollably. "Tell me, you didn't enjoy that!"
At that, Athrun finally gave them the reaction they've been waiting for the entire time, he blushed.
Upon seeing this, Yzak shook his head. "The lucky bastard."
"You guys got the wrong idea! I definitely did not enjoy that!" He stressed it so much, not just to convince his friends but also to try and convince himself.
"Riiight... [5]" Dearka and everyone else in the room gave him the 'all-knowing' look.
Athrun blushed more. "You guys are impossible!"
"Just admit it, Athrun. I don't understand why you need to cover it up like this when you were quite blunt on that interview with Miss Thalia earlier." Kira tried to talk some sense into him and hopefully help him live this down.
"I don't have anything to admit!" Athrun insisted. "And about the interview, I just did that for my image!"
"Quit being stubborn already, it's getting irritating." Yzak rubbed his almost throbbing veins as he fetched himself a cool soda to drink.
"I'm not being stubborn!" Athrun persisted. "Why are you guys making something out of nothing anyway? You're with the paparazzi now?"
Yzak rolled his eyes. "Oh, please..."
Athrun felt utterly stupid after saying that, he realized, based on his friends' expressions that they might actually be onto something if he's saying things like that. "Oh, just forget it." He sighed in defeat.
Flashback: Several moths ago.
Cagalli was starting to die of terminal boredom at a party she was forced to attend due to her family's name. She was the only daughter and sole heiress to the conglomerate of Orb Inc. She was never interested in that kind of business but there isn't really much that she can do about it for now, so in the meantime, she'd play along.
She was sipping her wine quietly in a corner of the room, trying her best to avoid any unnecessary contacts with anyone else from that class. She was never the phony type and she doesn't like socializing with people who only want profit out of you. She had just arrived back in the country three days ago after four years of studying abroad in Heliopolis and now she was quickly shoved into the 'reel world', as how she'd like to describe it.
She came here with her father but unfortunately they have to be separated for he was instantly lead away by his business partners. Of course, they invited for her to go with them but she refused. As much as she liked to enjoy a party with her father, she won't be able to when he's surrounded by those kind of people.
Suddenly, people started crowding in front of the ballroom doors, talking in loud whispers as some hotshot made his entry. She figured it was probably the arrival of that famous son of the party's host. Fashionably late, I see.
She saw how the newcomer was being drowned by a lot of women, some of them even tried clinging onto him. She was utterly disgusted, the guy's probably one of those repulsive type. She still wasn't able to see his face due to the women and businessmen who are all too eager to be on his company so she just stayed where she is and shifted her attention to try finding something else that might be amusing.
"May I have this dance?" A hand was suddenly being offered in front of her.
She looked up only to meet the deepest shade of green she's ever seen, it was such a beautiful color of emerald that it took all of her will to look away. She then noticed that the two of them were being watched by the many men and women that were crowding the certain man earlier. So it was him.
Due to the pressure of being watched by almost everyone, she obliged and took his hand. He lead her into the dance floor and they danced a swift waltz. Although, she knew she was a good dancer, she couldn't help being amazed by how easy it was for him to carry her in that dance. But that wasn't what made her uncomfortable, rather, it was that incessant gaze he was giving her.
I like her eyes. Athrun let himself get lost in his thoughts, as his eyes never dared leave her, even for a chance to blink during the entire time they were in each other's arms.
Cagalli then decided to confront him by meeting his eyes, she can't take it anymore. He was melting her and curiosity was killing her all the more. "Why did you ask me to dance?"
The slight widening of his eyes told her that he was quite surprised by such a blunt question, but it didn't take long until his eyes returned to the way they were before. He smirked. "Because you were the only one who didn't pay attention to me when I entered." His tone sounded amused mixed with a little bit of a teasing.
Cagalli raised an eyebrow. "So what?"
He slightly chuckled. "That meant that you were different from all of them."
With that, she was taken aback. She had to admit that she was quite flattered to hear that from someone of that kind but she won't let him have the pleasure in that. She lightly shook her head.
From a distance, they were being watched by not only most of the people there but also the hosts of the party. Both Patrick and Lenore Zala were quite amused at the sight in front of them. Their son was dancing with a girl!
Athrun Zala had always been the anti-social introvert type. He was the kind of guy that would prefer staying inside his house reading books than pigging out like a wild animal in some God-forsaken place. The only reason he ended up as an actor was mainly of pure business, it's because his family runs this kind of business that he couldn't possibly have gotten out of it alive. Not when his mother was the most talented drama queen in the industry and that doesn't only apply in film. He could only laugh at the time when his mother practically begged him to play his first role, in her first movie as a director. Would he have dared say no? When he can see his father glaring at him from his mother's back? Of course not, and that's why he is where he is right now.
At first, it wasn't easy. Being the introvert that he is, acting was never easy. It also didn't help that he's the son of the owner of the network and that most people looked down on him because they think he's only got looks, but he managed to prove them all wrong when he won awards as the best actor in his first film.
It didn't take long until almost the of entire world women population was killing each other to be the one to get him. But alas for them, Athrun has been single since birth and not once had he showed any interest in any girl. That was also the reason the entire management was never able to find a suitable Love Team for him. But not for long, especially now that there's a beautiful sun that seems to have instantly caught his attention.
"Who's daughter is she?" Lenore tugged and whispered to her husband. "I've never seen her before."
"I've never seen her before either but she must've been from a well-off family if she got an invitation to come here." Patrick was pleased with his son's first step into becoming more of a man but of course, business is still business.
"Actually, that's my daughter you're talking about." Uzumi voiced from his seat beside the two.
"You're daughter?" Lenore abruptly turned to him and was shocked. "I didn't know you had a daughter."
They laughed at the sudden joke, everyone knows that Uzumi's daughter preferred to finish her studies abroad. She was always talked about but was never met or seen for she never once attended social gatherings. She was known to be the easy-going type of person but she's quite well aware of the intentions of the people surrounding her, that's why it was tough to belong in her circle.
"Yes, finally I was able to drag Cagalli into coming here with me." Uzumi lightly nodded his head, still praying that the highest heavens wouldn't let his daughter kill him after he left her in a corner to deal with things herself. "After letting her stay overseas for four whole years, I told her that it was already long overdue for her to enter this world. Also, since this was the agreement we had when I let her study abroad."
Patrick nodded his head. "We can't wait to meet her then."
Lenore giggled as she turned again to watch her son dance with Cagalli. "They look so good together." She sighed dreamily and all of a sudden she was drifted away into a faraway land where chocolate flows through the river and every freaking plant is made out of candy.
"We lost her." Patrick told Uzumi pertaining to his wife who had developed this strange habit of daydreaming even while in public.
Uzumi just shrugged and sipped his drink while trying to get back into watching his daughter when Athrun came to view. He was by himself and was making his way to their table.
"Why didn't you invite her to come with you?" Lenore asked straightforwardly after Athrun has reached their table.
He kissed his mother's cheek and bowed down to his father and Uzumi before sitting himself in front of them. "She said she had to greet some of her friends."
"And...?" Lenore continued to pry, she was never gonna let this pass!
Athrun thought for a while, what could his mother be asking for? They just danced. "Damn! I forgot to ask her name!" He suddenly blurted out and everyone on the table laughed.
Cagalli excused and exited the main ballroom when she saw a familiar figure. This was the first time they would see each other personally after four years and she's missed her so much! "Lacus!"
The pink-haired singer quickly turned to the voice that she's been longing for so long to hear. "Cagalli! I missed you so much!" They greeted each other with a big bear hug.
"Me too!" They giggled.
When Lacus pulled away, she looked at how much Cagalli has changed after such a long while. "You look great!"
"You too! You're so beautiful as usual!" Cagalli can't help being embarrassed at the compliment. Of course, she should be used to it by now but still she's not.
"Don't tell me you left your date to come greet me?" Lacus asked in great disbelief, as much as they missed each other, she shouldn't be a reason for the blonde to abandon her date, right?
"What the hell are you talking about? He isn't my date!" She was flabbergasted. "He's just some guy who asked me to dance, that's all."
"Some guy? You can't refer to him as just some guy!" Meer interrupted while crossing her arms in front of her chest, her slight curly grayish blue locks flowed through and was probably the only thing keeping her bosoms from being completely exposed.
"Oh, you're here too, huh?" Cagalli looked at her with half-lidded eyes, she never liked the girl but business made it hard to avoid each other. Not getting the sight of "Beer" [6] was probably the only good thing that happened to her in the entire four years that she was gone. She sighed. "So much for long time, no see."
Meer rolled her eyes and rubbed her temples. "You didn't know who you were dancing with earlier, did you?"
"Would it make a difference if I did?" Cagalli can't help retorting, it isn't anyone's business if she chooses to dance with someone or not.
Lacus sweatdropped and Meer let out an overly dramatic sigh. "Well, duh!" She then snapped. "He's the only son and sole heir to the Zaft conglomerate. He's a famous heartthrob known for his dashing looks and irresistible charm, everyone loves him!"
"Hmm, never heard of him." Cagalli was actually telling the truth, she just got back into the country, they can't expect her to know him, right? She also knows it should only be proper to get to know a person after a dance but since the guy never took the bother to ask for her name, she didn't feel the need to get to know him at all. Heir to the Zaft Conglomerate, huh? Then, I was right, he is the son of the Zalas.
"Cagalli, you should at least try to remember him from now on. Athrun is very famous and well-renowned, it would be a bit insulting to the Zalas if you don't know him." Lacus tried to control the situation, she never really liked cat fights.
"Well, now I do." Cagalli dismissed the topic.
"Geez, I still can't believe he asked you to dance. I was practically offering my all to him the moment he entered!" Meer pouted.
"Hmm, he must've been desperate." Cagalli silently mumbled to herself, making sure she doesn't hear her.
"In any case, we should take a seat now. Come on." Lacus pulled on the both of them and lead them to a table near the balcony, it was a secluded area that doesn't attract too much attention.
"Hey, Cagz! Long time, no see!" Milly got up to greet and hug her friend.
"Milly!" Cagalli laughed as the brunette lunged at her.
"Well, what do we have here? You're still alive I see." Flay didn't even bother getting up.
"It's nice to see you too, Flay. And yes, must it be such a tragic to you if I made it back alive?" Cagalli countered, they never once agreed on anything but they have always been comfortable to the kind of treatment they give each other.
"Okay, that's enough you two. Let's all just take a seat and eat." Shiho came from behind them, giving Cagalli a quick hug before taking a seat.
The night went on with the girls catching up on one another's careers and whatnot. They talked about so many things until it came to their current statuses. Aside from Lacus who was happily in a relationship with her boyfriend, Kira Yamato, everyone else was single.
"You mean, the entire time you were there you didn't get a boyfriend?" Milly raised an eyebrow, what she just heard was quite unbelievable.
"That's no wonder actually, considering she's such a tomboy." Flay commented with a satisfied smirk.
"But still, I can't believe no guy courted you when you're so much available." Shiho teased.
"Well, it's not that no one courted me. I was just too busy to go dating, that's all." Cagalli defended, she won't let them make fun of her.
"Yeah, right." Meer scoffed. "I bet you scared guys away."
"I did not!" Cagalli turned red. They do have a point that she's somewhat boyish but she's still a girl, just a tough girl that is.
"Anyway, any plans for your entertainment career?" Lacus shifted the conversation again. "Now that you're back, it should already be clear that you have to enter this industry, right?"
"Hmm, still none right now. I'm not exactly thrilled with the idea of show business." Cagalli answered before resting her jaw in her hands.
"Still none? What did your father say?" Milly interjected.
"Well, we haven't really talked about it yet but I suppose he's just waiting for the right timing to throw me into a pit." Cagalli heaved a deep sigh as she remembered how much her father had always reminded her that her late mother had always wished for her to be the biggest star.
"Why don't you try a movie? It'd be a good debut." Shiho suggested.
"A movie? I guess that can work but..." Cagalli was still unsure, this was a completely new world to her.
"Try this." Flay handed her a flier. "I'll sign you up."
"Just like a movie?" Cagalli read the title of the project.
And upon hearing it, Meer almost splurted wine all over them. "What? No! I'll be Athrun's Love Team!"
"You mean, he's the lead on this thing?" Cagalli flipped the paper and read some of the details.
"Yes! And this is the first time he'd be with a leading woman! With a big probability of having her as his permanent Love Team!" Meer looked so determined, having both her hands placed on the table.
"The first time?" Cagalli raised an eyebrow, completely ignoring Meer's reaction. "Doesn't that sound weird? I mean, isn't he supposed to be a professional, famous and well-renowned actor?"
"According to rumors, he used to be very anti-social." Milly confirmed.
"You listen to rumors?" Flay didn't look doubtful, rumors can never be trusted.
"Don't you dare become one of the paparazzi, Milly." Shiho warned since Milly's job wasn't far from those gossipers.
"I won't. In any case, ever since he was young he never had any interest in girls because they always throw themselves at him and having such a horrid fans club didn't help at all." Milly finished.
Cagalli gave them a blank stare and without making any out of it, she blurted. "Hmmm, I bet he's gay." She didn't really mean that but she was curious to see what kind of reaction Meer would give her. Of course, she'd act all shocked and everything but it would still be such a fun sight. Amusement is hard to find these days, after all.
"What? Hell no!" Meer over-reacted again.
As expected but I would've preferred more drama. Cagalli lightly chuckled as she watched Flay and Shiho giggle, they totally understood that.
"He's so handsome, he can't possibly be gay! That'd be a sin!" Meer yelled and insisted it on her face.
"You do know that your argument in invalid right?" Cagalli stared blankly at them. This is getting ridiculous.
"Whatever! He is not gay! Girls won't let him be!" Meer continued.
"Still, Gay is such a strong accusation, I'd go with metrosexual." Milly was surprised at the statement. "Why would you say that anyway?"
"First impression." Cagalli gave a brief answer. She had to admit that although she didn't really think he was gay, he indeed had feminine features but of course, his body should prove anyone wrong if they thought he was a girl. Then again, the way he acted earlier when he said he asked her to dance with him because she didn't pay attention to him, kinda made sense.
"Lacus, tell her Athrun isn't gay!" Meer shouted to the pink singer beside her.
Lacus sweatdropped again but complied anyway. "Well, I'm pretty sure he isn't gay, Cagalli." Lacus smiled. When she's the one talking, it doesn't matter whether she's telling the truth or not because it's a sin to not believe Lacus. "Kira is a very good friend of his and he's introduced me to him before."
"In any case, are you gonna try it or not?" Shiho put a halt to the meaningless banter.
"I don't think this is such a good idea. Maybe, some other movie." Cagalli tried avoiding it since she wasn't even interested and this was a bit too big for her first.
Flay smirked. "Scared?"
And that finally got Cagalli's attention. Of course, she knew Flay was just challenging her but how the hell is she supposed to say no? Amber eyes glared straight into mischievous grey ones.
"Come on, Cagalli. I dare you." There, she said it.
"You're on." She accepted, she knew she shouldn't be doing this and that it might only make messes for all of them but what the hell? A dare is a dare!
After a few weeks, the day of the Auditions finally came and as expected thousands of women crowded the parking area of the theater the management chose as the venue, some of them even camped out there overnight just for this. Every girl and some gay men had to undergo three levels of screenings before the audition itself and then the private interview.
The auditions were already coming to an end when Athrun arrived into the venue, he was walking mindlessly through the corridors when he heard the voice of his mom. She sounds as if she was pleading? Then he heard a familiar voice which got him to take a look at the commotion and that's when he saw her again. It's her...
"Look, I only participated in the auditions because I was dared to. I never had the intention to follow through with the interview." And there she was, the same girl he asked to dance with, in the party his parents hosted a few weeks ago.
"But we already picked you for the role! Even back then at the party when you danced with my son!" Lenore insisted as she continued to pull onto Cagalli's wrist. On the other hand, the blonde was desperately trying to pry her off.
"What are you saying? Thousands of girls came to audition for this!" Cagalli reasoned, she couldn't believe what she was hearing. Are they seriously telling her that even after she humiliated herself when she fell of her chair?
"All of that is merely just a formality now that we've already made our choice." Lenore explained and Cagalli was shocked. Is that how it really works around here? "Besides, you were so perfect for Athrun and everyone knew that the moment you two started dancing."
Cagalli didn't say anything else after that. Can she refuse the plea of the wife of the President, Chairman and CEO of Zaft Conglomerate? What would her father say? And wasn't she looking for a debut project? Isn't this her chance? She bit her lower lip as she pondered about the things that may happen in the future.
She then sighed in defeat. "I guess..."
"Really? You accept?" Lenore's eyes were twinkling and it gave her such a warm feeling.
"yeah, I can't possibly say no to you." Cagalli remembered, she never once felt how being with her mother would've been like.
"That's great!" Lenore clapped her hands together as she beamed once more. "This is gonna be the best love team ever!"
Fic Facts:
1. If you're familiar with 'The Princess Diaries', Anna Hathaway got the lead role as Princess Mia because she accidentally fell off her chair during
2. Yes, the interview had already happened in the past and Cagalli was just watching it with Mir. And yes again, Cagalli was the one who threw the
3. "Cagalli gasped and their lips were sealed. Athrun slowly and sensuously devoured her mouth but before she thought she'd faint, he pulled away. Both of them dazed." - The line they were referring to from the previous chapter, we'll use that as their script too.^^
4. "Hello, Athrun? It's me, Kira. Mission accomplished!" - Yep, that was Kira's first line and the next one was when he appeared out of nowhere and dragged Cagalli to Athrun's room. So yeah, that makes two...XD And yeah, Kira and Cagalli aren't siblings here.^^
5. I'm sure you guys already know this kind of expression but just in case you miraculously don't, it's like Cosmo's signature 'Riiight' on Fairly Odd Parents... Geez, I love that show...XD
6. "Beer" - This term was originally 'coined' by Steshin in her fic entitled "Student Affair", unfortunately the said fic has been long erased from the frame of FFN... But I have an incomplete pdf copy of it so if you're interested, just let me know...^^
02142012
