Good morning :) Saturday is here~ I can't believe I'm already uploading chapter 7! almost to the halfway point lol
ahh my stomach really hurts this morning xP
I really appreciate the attention my story has been receiving. So randomly yesterday I made these for anyone who wants them. They're nothing special lol They're pictures of models but i recolored their hair and eyes and did a little more editting. I hope you like them^^ (remember to remove the spaces in the url for them to work)
Rei: http:/i1100. photobucket. com/albums/g402/ksuga/jackroserei2. jpg model: Mikki
Kai: http:/i1100. photobucket. com/albums/g402/ksuga/Jackrosekai. jpg model: Park Younghee
Hilary: http:/i1100. photobucket. com/albums/g402/ksuga/jackrosehilary. jpg model: unknown
Tala: http:/i1100. photobucket. com/albums/g402/ksuga/jackrosetala. jpg model: Park Younghee
Bryan: http:/i1100. photobucket. com/albums/g402/ksuga/jackrosebryan. jpg model: Park Younghee
Max: http:/i1100. photobucket. com/albums/g402/ksuga/jackrosemax. jpg model: Kohaku
Tyaon: http:/i1100. photobucket. com/albums/g402/ksuga/jackrosetyson. jpg model: Kohaku
So please enjoy and i appreciate your thoughts^^
Disclaimer: Chapter 1
'-.*.-'+'-.*.-'+'-.*.-'+'-.*.-'+'-.*.-'
This…. Is awkward.
We just left the meeting with Creepy and are now sitting in the limo heading back home. It's been a couple of minutes and Kai hasn't said anything about what had occurred back at the restaurant. I guess the driver assumed that we wanted some quiet time since it was so late and turned off the radio when we entered the limo. Now it's not just awkward, but an awkward silence.
I glance at Kai sitting on my left. He has his eyes closed and is resting his head against the door. His face looks too sour for him to be asleep. I wonder if he's feeling alright. I turn my head back to the, now empty, messenger bag in my lap. Ow… moved too fast. I guess I have been too rigid for too long. Have I been sitting like this the whole time? Glancing at Kai again, I remove the bag from my lap and slowly place it between the two of us. Very slowly. I'm afraid that if I place it down too hard he'll somehow hear it and lash out at me.
Satisfied with where the bag is, I quickly turn left and right to force my back to crack twice. I do the same maneuver with my neck. Ahhh that felt good. I enjoy the refreshed feeling before slumping back into my seat.
I'm about to place my hands on my lap, but that somehow reminds me of what Creepy had done to me not too long ago. So I settle for placing them on the seat by my legs. Perverted old fool. I hope he ends up fondling the wrong gay guy and gets his head bitten clean off his neck. Queers can be scary.
"He touched you."
It was more of a statement than a question. My eyes slide to the left to see Kai's face, but other than that I stay put. He is still leaning against the door but I can see crimson peaking out from behind grey bangs. He looks kind of drowsy. Which is kind of hot! He's still looking at me so I guess he wants some sort of acknowledgement. I look forward again and give a small nod.
"Hn." That sounded frustrated. I clench my fists at my sides because, for some reason, that just pisses me off. Is he mad at me for what Creepy did? I didn't ask him to put his hands on me! And surely he wouldn't expect me to just sit there and take it! I'm not some China doll that old fat cats can just handle all over! "Look Kai, I know that-"
"I'm sorry."
Can I get an instant replay? Did the great Hiwatari just apologize? And to me?
"I wanted to tell you ahead of time about how he is when he's drunk. I used to bring Tala along to these meetings. But after his first encounter with Belanov, he refused to accompany me to any meeting. Belanov had given Tala…. Special attention." No surprise there. Tala receives attention from both men and women. He has so much sex appeal that I wouldn't be surprised if a blind man has made a move on the Russian bastard before.
"Bryan began to join me at these meetings instead. But he's not the best business associate out there." I couldn't hide my snicker at this statement. "So I needed to find a new assistant. I just wish that I knew…" He trails off at the end of this statement and his eyes flash to me for a split second. I wait for him to continue, but he shakes his head and looks out the window.
"Kai. You wish that you knew what?" I lean over to get a better look at him. He doesn't sound too good. And he never speaks this much in a regular conversation. Is he feeling ok?
He turns to me and that's when I notice his eyes. They're glazed over and half-lidded. His breathing is a lot less controlled too. He goes to readjust his position, but since I've known him for so many years, I notice him sway forward just a bit before straightening again. No way! Kai is… he's….
Drunk!
I quickly close a hand over my mouth to hide the amused sound that I knew would escape. I thought I would die before I ever saw Kai even just a bit tipsy! I make a mental note to save this in my memory for future enjoyment.
"I thought it would be ok to bring you along. I didn't think Belanov would do anything to you." Did he even hear my question? He looks at me for a bit before his right hand reaches over the messenger bag and takes the end of my braid. He lifts it up and plays with it lazily before he brings it to his lips. I think he's smelling my hair. I've never seen him act so affectionate and I can feel my face heating up! If he notices, I'll blame it on the alcohol.
"I have to admit that when I gave you the clothes to wear, I wasn't expecting much of a difference." Ouch. But really, who can blame him? I wasn't expecting much either. "I wouldn't have brought you to see Belanov if I knew you would look this good."
Dead. I'm dead. Kai said that I look good! I don't care if it was alcohol induced! It came from his lips and I am a witness!
The limo makes a sharp turn and Kai shuts his eyes tight before he drops his head against his seat. Aww, my love is so buzzed. I just want to take him to bed and baby him until he's sober… Then I can really take him to bed.
The limo comes to a stop in front of a rather large and modern style house. I guess this is Kai's place. The limo driver opens the door on Kai's side and he staggers out. I climb out of the door next to me and rush to his side before he falls over. Or barfs. Or both. I make it to his side just as he stumbles slightly.
"Kai, let me help you." I take one of his arms and try to tug it over my shoulders. He is resilient, however, which causes him to slump over onto me. This also causes his face to stop just about 3 inches from mine. Could this night get any better?
For a moment he doesn't move, and I don't want to try and move him. I like him right where he is. His half-lidded eyes and ragged breathing are giving me the kind of fantasies that could put trashy novels to shame. But this is Kai, so the good feelings don't last as he pushes himself up and away from me.
"I'm fine. Go home." I should have known he wouldn't have accepted assistance from anyone, even if he is drunk. I watch him make his way to the front door while fumbling with his keys. Once the door is opened he steps inside and the door falls shut. I stand and stare at his front door for a moment longer before turning and sliding back into the limo. The driver also takes his place up front and he soon drives off.
As we turn a corner, I feel something fall onto my arm. I look down to find Kai's messenger bag still sitting on the middle seat. I don't know why, but this makes me smile.
He works too hard.
'-.*.-'+'-.*.-'+'-.*.-'+'-.*.-'+'-.*.-'
I hate waiting. Especially waiting for something that I don't want to happen.
It's the day before the opening. All of the display stands and cases have been assembled. The items that are here have been put out. There are multicolored lights hanging from the ceiling, some moving and some directed at mannequins to emphasize the outfits. Tyson and Max did a great job. Although empty, the store looks alive from just the lights alone. Said two are waiting along side myself. Max is sitting on one of the display cases that I am leaning against while Tyson, being more impatient, is pacing back and forth. The other employees are scattered throughout the store. Except for Ken. He's waiting in the parking garage downstairs. What are we all waiting for?
The new arrivals. Or rather, the haven't-arrived-at-all's. They will be here any minute now. When they do finally get here, this place is going to turn into a battlefield. We need to sort what is going in which store and which items will be displayed upfront. Then the clothes need to be organized and some people (not me) will dress the mannequins in an "attractive coordination." Yeah, I still don't know how to dress myself, but I rather like braiding my hair now.
"We should go for some strawberry waffles after this." ... I turn to Max slowly. Where did that come from?
The sound of a ring tone draws everyone's attention to Aloysha, another Russian employee who stayed loyal to Kai. Unlike Ken, Aloyshais single. And unlike Ken, I'm pretty sure he's a queer. Let's just say he's really friendly with the male clientele. And the really good lookingcustomers, he likes to dress them up. I'm not worried about him and Kai though. He has said before that Kai scares the living gay right out of him. Not his exact words.
He answers his phone quickly and Ken's voice can be heard on the other line. Now you know that it's quiet: even when the phone is not on speaker everyone can hear what Ken is saying.
"Aloysha, the new arrivals just got here."
"Got it." Aloysha hangs up and looks at everyone in the room. "Alright, everyone. Get downstairs. I want to see each of you carrying at least two boxes. Now move!" We don't have to be told twice. Everyone hustles down to the parking garage. Some employees take the elevator while others take the back stairway. Our trio ops for the stairs since there's no waiting and no crowd. Once we reach the garage, we find two medium sized, white trucks. Four men are unloading boxes upon boxes of merchandise. Some of the other employees have already grabbed a couple boxes each and are heading back to the elevators.
"Alright, come on guys." I wave a hand for Tyson and Max to follow as I head towards the trucks. Max follows obediently while all I get from Tyson is a drawn-out groan.
"But Rei….. There are so MANY!" Exactly, which is why you should help! And here I thought that college would actually force Tyson to mature. A time machine couldn't force Tyson to mature.
"Come on Tyson! It's not that much! And everyone is helping out." Max's supply of pep is immeasurable. He takes Tyson by the hand and half drags him to the truck. I grab a stack of three and hand them to Tyson. Even though he's lazy, he is strong. The boxes are pretty big, however, so he has to crane his head around to see where he's going as he heads back to the stairs. I hand a stack of two to Max. The boxes barely touch his fingers before he is off like a shot.
"Let's go Tyson! I'll race you!" It's a bit unfair that he says this as he passes Tyson in a sprint. Of course Tyson isn't one to back down from a challenge, and he chases after Max. "No fair, Maxie! I've got way more than you!" I highly doubt that one more box can be considered "way more", but that's just me. Hope they don't drop anything.
The process of going down for boxes and bringing them up to the fifth floor repeats a couple times. Even though there are so many employees, some people still had to make three trips before all of the boxes are sitting in JACKROSE. For a moment, all of the employees sit around the boxes waiting for their bodies to cool down. The few who actually ran (Max and Tyson being in this group) are off to the side lying around and catching their breath.
"Ok." Ken is the first to speak up, "Let's get these boxes sorted. Take what belongs to your store according to the shipping lists and organize them into their own boxes." Each store's employees separate into their own small groups. This is the easy part. Look at the store's list, find an item number, find a box with the item number on the label, and take the items. I like this.
After about an hour of sorting, the employees for Silver Bullet and RHYDEAL take their items and return to their own stores. Aloysha says a quick farewell and heads next door as well. Most of our employees have already grabbed a few of the, I'm guessing, nicer items and are placing them on display at the front. Ken is taking two boxes over to a set of mannequins and is starting to dress them. Max and Tyson have teamed up at a display table and are folding clothes into neat stacks. Well, Max is anyway, along with teaching Tyson how to fold clothes. There are a couple more boxes still sitting on the ground in front of me…
But what do I do?
"Boo!"
"Ahhh!" I fall onto my ass, a defense mechanism that I have perfected. Angrily, I turn to see who my attacker is. "Hilary! What was that for?"
"For standing around not doing anything." She says this, but she has a sweet smile on her face. "Grab a box and help out!" She takes the initiative and grabs a box herself.
Ah yeah, about that Hilary. I'm fashion deficient, remember? You of all people should know this. I give an audible sigh and her features soften in understanding. "Here." She hands over the box and goes to retrieve another one for herself. "Follow me."
She leads me to the back corner of the store that has not yet been touched. There stand three naked mannequins, all male and well-built. Did I mention naked? Good thing they're only from the waist up.
She places her box on the ground out of the way and I follow her lead. She then pulls over one of the display tables and takes the contents from the first box and lays them out. These are all accessories and smaller items. Then she kicks over the other box and opens it up revealing actual articles of clothing. Finally, she turns to me with a determined look. "Watch carefully." I nod and she sets to work.
Pulling out a random piece of clothing from one of the clear bags inside the box, she unfolds it to reveal a t-shirt. But nicer. It has a graphic design and a v-neck. "A t-shirt for a casual appearance."
She places this on one of the mannequin. She then goes back to the box and pulls out another item, a black blazer. "A blazer. They're popular right now."
She then places that on the same mannequin and heads for the small table of accessories. She picks a long necklace that has several chains of different shades of silver. "A flashy necklace for individuality."
The necklace makes a hollow noise has it is placed around the neck of the mannequin. She then wraps a plaid scarf several times around the mannequin's neck until there are no loose ends. "And a scarf for the season." She steps back to let me admire her work.
How is it that a girl can dress a male mannequin better than I can dress myself? I'm feeling depressed again.
"Now it's your turn." I look at her in disbelief. I can't manage to come up with something like she did! I can tell by the look on her face that she isn't going to intervene until I've at least tried. That's how she works. I exhale loudly and turn to the naked mannequin next to Hilary's creation. Well, lets get this over with.
What do we have here? This looks ok. It's in style right? Or else it wouldn't be here. What the hell is this? I'm not touching that. Put this here. It's ok if I use two, right? I guess that looks ok. It doesn't look horrible anyway. Slip this on and…. done?
I step back to look at the whole mannequin. I placed a simple, long-sleeved, dark grey sweater on it and used a single chain necklace and a longer necklace with a skull shaped pendant on top. The sweater has a red knit breast pocket on the left side.
"It's not bad Rei." Hilary comes to stand beside me. "But it's safe." She walks over to the table and grabs a red and blue beanie. "You see how the sweater has a unique red pocket? This hat," she places said hat on the mannequins neck, "will make it stand out." She's right, it looks more interesting this way. More unique. Holy crap! Am I actually starting to understand clothes?
"Try it one more time Rei." She again steps back to allow me room to work. After a couple minutes and a lot less fussing, I've put together something I'm a little bit more proud of. A grey and black striped sweater, black aviator jacket with white fur trim, black and white snow goggle beanie, and a long black chain necklace with a large crucifix at the end. I'm busy admiring my work when I feel a hand on my shoulder.
"Rei. You have come a long way my friend." Hilary gives my shoulder a squeeze and nods to the rest of the boxes still on the floor. "Now, get to work."
A couple hours pass and the store actually looks like a store now. The boxes have been removed and the extra stock has been taken to the back. We're finally done!
"Good job everyone!" Ken is standing at the head of the store. "Everything looks great!" There is a low murmur of agreement amongst the group. Did anyone notice my mannequins? I like the way the light hits them just right. Did anyone see them yet? They do look really good for my first time. Why hasn't anyone said anything about them?
Ken suddenly goes silent and his eyes focus on the entrance of the store. "Mr. Hiwatari." The group quiets down and everyone turns to the front. Sure enough, Kai is making his way through the store followed by the Russian bastards. His gaze is scrutinizing as he looks about the store. Tala is also scrutinizing the store, but he will actually walk up to mannequins and adjust the clothing. He doesn't outright burn anything that he sees, so I guess he doesn't hate any of it.
Everyone is watching Kai and they remain silent in case he says something. Towards the back his eyes fall onto a mannequin on the opposite side of the store, away from my creations. He approaches it and gives it a hard look.
"Who did this one?"
There is a pause. Then a younger employee steps out of the crowd. "It was me, sir." The boy looks to be in his last year of high school. He has a decent sense of fashion, but nowhere near, say, someone like Tala.
Kai doesn't look at the boy. "This coordination… It's too expected." I don't know exactly what that's supposed to mean, but the poor kid seems to take it to heart. Kai looks about the store before he spots something on one of the display racks. "Bring me the grey jacket." The teen looks a bit startled but sets off to retrieve the item. As he does, Kai removes the black blazer from the mannequin, leaving a white, long-sleeved, printed shirt, a black undershirt, and a black scarf.
The boy returns with the grey jacket and Kai trades him the black blazer. "Do not have more than two items of the same solid color on one outfit. It's boring." He places the long grey jacket on the mannequin and folds the sleeves up revealing the white sleeves underneath. The teen nods his head in understanding. While he goes to put the blazer back in it's appropriate place, Kai turns to the rest of the group.
"It's good. We're ready for tomorrow."
The group erupts in relief. I, myself, let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. Everyone separates to collect their things and head home. Now it's my turn to get a good night's rest. Didn't Max want to get strawberry waffles? That sounds pretty good right now. I wonder where the best place-
"Rei." I stop in my tracks and turn to where I heard my name. Kai is standing in the corner of the room… with my mannequins. Shit.
I walk briskly over and stop behind his turned back. Maybe he doesn't know I did them!
"You did these."
Statement, not a question. Shit again. "Yeah." Part of me wants to take credit for Hilary's design and rub it all over Kai's face (and other parts) but I'm not one to take credit for someone else's work. "Except for the one on the right. That's-"
"Hilary's." How does he know? I'm starting to get freaked out.
"How did you know that?" He still doesn't turn around, but instead steps closer to the mannequin at the end, the last one I designed. He fingers the fabric of the aviator in an appreciative manner.
"The one on the end shows real care in how everything matches up. Both feminine and masculine. The way a girl would want her boyfriend to dress." He can tell all of this just by looking?
"These two, however, show basic skill. They are assembled with a lot of concentration but hold an underlying uniqueness." His hand pauses while still holding the end of the jacket. Then his crimson eyes turn to me. "Your style." I have a style?
As Kai moves to the next mannequin and straightens the clothes I realize something.
Kai looks really good in leather.
And I'm starting to see exactly why he's in this business to begin with. He knows what he's talking about. Obviously he knows how to dress himself and others. He even knows what someone is thinking when they pick an outfit. It's no wonder he became such a high name in fashion couture-ing… whatever it's called.
Satisfied with the displays, he turns away from the clothes and steps past me to leave. He's probably heading back to the office. When he comes to stand just behind me, however, I feel him pause.
"Good work."
I think my heart just stopped.
'-.*.-'+'-.*.-'+'-.*.-'+'-.*.-'+'-.*.-'
Next Chapter: Rei is making improvements, or so he thinks.
Thank you for reading~ See you next week maybe? yeah? :D
