Wind of Destiny: Converging
Red Thread – Chapter One
"Misaki," the President's voice called out from behind the open office door to her left and Misaki immediately rose from her desk to respond.
"Yes, Madam President?" She inquired as she walked into the office, holding a small black notebook and the pen Hawks had given her for Christmas.
The President glanced up from her computer briefly, continuing to type as she asked, "Do you have any plans for the evening of the fourteenth?"
"February fourteenth, ma'am?" Misaki asked, blinking, and tilting her head to the side.
"Yes, Misaki, this Saturday," the President's dry voice replied, her fingers slowing to a crawl on the keyboard as she turned a deadpan gaze to the secretary standing across from her.
Misaki shook her head and said, "Um, no, not really."
The President regarded her for a moment before turning back to her computer and resuming her typing. "There's an event I'd like for you to attend in my stead."
"An event?" Misaki asked, surprised.
"A charity auction," the President replied offhandedly.
Misaki raised her brow in curiosity. "An auction, huh? Did you want me to bid on something for you?"
The President glanced over at her briefly before replying, "That won't be necessary. I just need you to hand in a donation in my stead."
"Oh, sure. I'd be happy to." She nodded, clutching her notebook and pen to her chest, and responding with a small smile.
The President stopped typing and slid her eyes back over, staring at Misaki critically for a moment before asking in a tone that said she probably already knew the answer to her question, "Do you have any formal attire to wear for the evening?"
She shrugged and shifted her weight a bit, reaching up to tuck a loose strand of her long, dark hair behind her ear as she replied sheepishly, "Well, every girls got at least one little black dress in her closet, right?"
The President sighed and reached out for a post-it note and a pen, telling her, "Come to this address tomorrow evening," before holding out the slip of paper to her.
"Oh, okay..." Misaki trailed off as she reached out to take the note from the other woman, looking down at the neatly scrawled Ginza address written on it.
The President inclined her head, a gesture that Misaki had come to interpret as dismissal and she bowed courteously before hurrying back to her desk.
She found the fact that both she and Hawks would be attending a charity event on the same night a bit odd, but she brushed it off as a coincidence. He hadn't said anything to her about his event being any kind of auction, and she highly doubted the two events were related.
She pulled out her cell phone and typed the address the President had given her into her GPS program. The shop was located right in the middle of Ginza's Namiki-dori Street. She wasn't even going to try to pronounce the difficult looking French name. Before she could copy and paste it into her web browser though, her computer beeped with an incoming message and she swiftly put her phone to sleep before dropping it back into the top drawer of her desk. She'd have time to look it up later, when she wasn't right in the middle of work.
Misaki stared up at the extravagant exterior of the building belonging to the address the President had handed her in shock. "No way... This can't be right..."
She'd been so busy she'd completely forgotten about looking up the shop the President had instructed her to go to until it was too late. She'd been so sidetracked during the morning that she hadn't even begun to get ready when her alarm had gone off to signal her that she needed to leave for her appointment. By the time she'd finally managed to make her way out of her apartment, it had already been too late for her to try and catch the train, so she'd hailed a cab instead. The chatty driver had kept her so occupied during the ride that she hadn't been able to look up any details about the shop on the way over either.
She looked to her left and right once before the door to the luxury gown boutique in front of her opened and someone addressed her, "Torimodo-sama?"
'Sama?!'
"Um...?" She trailed off, not really knowing what to say to explain to them that there had clearly been some kind of mistake here.
The attendant held open the door and motioned for her to step inside. "This way please. We've been expecting you."
"Oh, um—" She blinked, feeling very out of place but stepping forward anyway so as not to be rude to the woman who was standing out in the cold and holding open the door for her.
She was quickly ushered inside where another attendant took her coat before handing her a white china cup and saucer with some kind of tea in it and guided her over to an ornate white and gold chaise. She sat, as instructed, opening her mouth as she glanced up and stammered, "Um, excuse me, but I think there's been some kind of mistake."
The attendant smiled at her and bowed shallowly at the waist, informing her courteously, "Please wait here for a moment, the designer will be with you shortly."
"Like I said—" She started, cutting herself off as the attendant's words sank in.
'Designer?!'
There had definitely been a mistake.
Misaki set the cup of tea down on the seat next to her very carefully and stood, looking for someone to flag down to bring her back her coat.
"Excuse me," she called out to one of the attendants walking by who smiled and bowed her head to her as she glided past without stopping.
"Torimodo-sama, we're ready for you," an even toned voice to her left addressed her.
She gasped and turned to the new attendant, shaking her head as she said, "Oh, no, I don't think—"
"This way, please," the attendant quickly interrupted her and motioned for her to follow her toward the back of the store.
"Um—" She grimaced, turning her head to look around her and not seeing anyone to help her out of whatever twilight zone she'd suddenly stepped into. She squeezed her hands into fists at her sides before quickly jogging off after the retreating attendant who had come to collect her.
She was led up a back staircase and down a long corridor lined with designer ball gowns to a set of double doors. The attendant opened them and gestured for her to enter. Speechless, Misaki wandered through the tall, ornate doors into a large, open room lined with arched windows and an enormous white alteration platform dominating the floor space.
"Ah, you must be Misaki!" An excited voice called out from behind her. She whipped around to see a very short woman dressed all in black walking toward her quickly from within a three-tiered, wall to wall rack, filled to the brim with a multitude of colorful ball gowns.
"Um—" She stuttered at being addressed so informally by someone she'd just met, the utterance having become the extent of her vocabulary apparently since she'd set foot in the place.
The little woman waved a hand at her dismissively as she sauntered over. "So sorry my dear, forgive the impropriety. I've just come from Paris you see."
She blinked and stuttered in reply, "Oh, um, no—I mean, it's fine."
"Yes, yes, let's get a good look at you now, up you go." The tiny woman grabbed her hand and dragged her over to the platform in the middle of the room, pushing her up onto it as she floated up after her. She produced a long rope measuring tape, from where Misaki couldn't rightfully tell, and started floating around her, taking measurements from every nook and cranny she could find.
"Mhm, mhm... Yes, I see, I see..." The woman mumbled to herself as she measured, a deep frown etched into her wide forehead.
"Um, see what?" She asked hesitantly over her shoulder at the woman who was currently measuring her backside.
The little woman began to giggle excitedly as she spun through the air. "That woman has provided me with quite the canvas!"
"Excuse me?" She asked, taken aback by the designer's sudden change in demeanor.
Waving her hand dismissively again, the woman ordered her succinctly, "Now, take everything off!"
"Everything?!" Misaki attempted to cover herself as the little woman began pulling at her clothes, glancing back at the windows apprehensively.
"Don't worry, my dear, no one will see you out there. I simply must have a blank canvas!" The woman exclaimed, waving at the windows dismissively, as was apparently a trait of hers, and continued hastily undressing her.
"Can't I at least keep my underwear on?" Misaki asked incredulously as the woman swiftly tugged off her plain white bra and panty set.
"Fine, fine!" She conceded, tossing a thin white sheet at her nonchalantly which Misaki hurriedly draped over her shoulders and clutched at her chest and crotch.
The tiny woman floated up to eye level, glaring at her out of the corner of her dark eye as she said, "Modesty is for prudes, you know?"
Misaki gasped in shock as the woman cackled again and floated off into the rack of dresses.
Just where had the President sent her?!
The tiny devil flew back out a moment later, clutching an assortment of fluffy looking dresses. She tossed them on the floor around the platform before reaching out and grabbing the sheet, pulling it from Misaki's grasp. She gasped and wrapped an arm around her chest, covering her crotch with her other hand and bringing her knee up to cross one leg over the other.
"You, my dear, have absolutely no need to cover yourself. That's my job," the woman chided her as she tossed one of the fluffy dresses over her head and started floating around, pinning, and adjusting fabric all around her. When she was finished, she floated back to appraise her work, a stern and calculating look on her face.
"Hm..." She hummed, staring at her critically.
Feeling more than a little uncomfortable at being stared at for so long, Misaki prompted, "Um...?"
"No, no, no! It's all wrong!" The woman exclaimed suddenly, leaving her standing on the platform as she zoomed off back into the rack of dresses. Afraid to move lest she be stabbed by one of the multitude of pins stuck throughout the tulle monstrosity she was draped in, Misaki just stood awkwardly in the middle of the platform and stared around the room in open discomfort.
The woman returned shortly, carrying even more dresses this time, all of them some form of satin or silk looking material; and again, she tossed all of them on the floor around the platform before going to work on pulling the pins out of the dress Misaki was wearing. When she was finished, she ripped it over her head, leaving her to stand completely bare in the middle of the platform once again.
The little woman flitted around, holding up different colored dresses. She shook her head and tossed them over her shoulder if she didn't like them, or up at Misaki if she did. Misaki gratefully clutched the silky fabric to her chest, using them to cover her nakedness somewhat.
When she'd finished tossing her the dresses that she liked, the woman began pulling them, one by one, from her grasp. She'd look at two of them next to each other before tossing one of them back on the floor and ripping another from Misaki's grasp until she was left with only one. The woman reached out for the last dress but Misaki held fast. The woman tilted her head and glared at her before yanking at the garment, sending her off balance. She stumbled a bit to keep herself upright, relinquishing her hold on the dress in the process.
"My dear, you simply must get over this shyness of yours. Your negativity is blocking my creativity! If you don't want to stand there in your birthday suit for the rest of the night, I suggest you start cooperating, hm?" The woman's exasperated voice called out to her as she stood on the base of the platform, glaring up at her with her hands on her hips.
Misaki stared down the little devil for a long moment before nervously relaxing, dropping her arms to her sides slowly and looking away with a faint blush on her cheeks.
"There, now, isn't that better?" The woman asked appreciatively as she held up one of the dresses in her hands, looking between it and Misaki's naked body gleefully.
"Not really," she grumbled, unable to meet her eyes.
"Stand up straight, chin up, shoulders back, show some confidence!" The tiny woman flitted around her, adjusting her posture before slapping her on the behind. She gasped and stumbled forward a bit.
"I sincerely hope you don't hide your body from your lover like this," the woman mumbled offhandedly as she glared at her over her shoulder.
Caught a bit off guard by the statement, Misaki considered what the woman had said, and she slowly stood back up, relaxing her posture as her thoughts drifted to Hawks. Her left foot arched, bending her knee to angle a bit in front of her leg. One hand drifted gently across her lower abdomen as the other lifted, her thin fingers curling just under her chin as she turned her head to the side and her eyelids drooped seductively.
The tiny woman's eyes grew as wide as saucers and she gasped. "There! That! Perfect! Hold that thought!"
The woman zoomed off into the racks once more, completely ignoring all of the satiny dresses that she'd left scattered around without trying even one of them on her. When she returned a moment later, she was holding a slip of thin black velvet. It wasn't even a dress, just a length of fabric really. She wrapped the long piece of cloth around Misaki at the chest, pinning it at the back so that it hugged her every curve. Floating back around, the woman surveyed her work and smiled broadly, nodding to herself.
"Yes, yes! Such elegance with such raw sensuality! Again, think about what was on your mind before," she prodded excitedly as she stared with barely contained enthusiasm at Misaki's velvet draped curves.
Misaki blinked, welcoming the distraction as she turned her thoughts back to Hawks again. The woman let out a high-pitched squeal of delight.
"Oooh, huhuhuhu! C'est Magnefique! I simply must get working on this right away!" She exclaimed, hastily removing the pins, and wrenching the piece of fabric from Misaki's body before flying off into the racks again.
Misaki blinked a few times, sincerely hoping that this bizarre fitting was over as she nervously stepped down off the platform and hurriedly sifted through the multitude of discarded dresses on the floor for her clothes. Dressing herself as quickly as she could, she took a deep breath and shook her head, turning abruptly and heading for the door. When she finally made it back down the hall, an attendant was waiting at the bottom of the staircase with her coat.
"We sincerely thank you for your patronage, Torimodo-sama." The attendant bowed low at the waist as she held out the coat to her.
"Ah, yes, about that..." She'd just been through that entire fitting without having a proper opportunity to explain to any of them that there was no way she could afford a custom designer evening gown.
As if sensing what she was hinting at, the attendant smiled gracefully and replied in a modest tone, "Not to worry, your bill was settled prior to your appointment by the organizer."
"Organizer—?" She started to ask before cutting off sharply.
The President.
She covered her face with her hands and groaned. How in the world was she ever going to repay her for this?
Misaki looked up as the elevator doors dinged, signaling the President's arrival. She rose from her seat and met the woman at the edge of her desk, taking her coat and briefcase from her as she walked past her into her office. "Good morning, Madam President."
"Good morning, Misaki. How was the fitting?" The President replied cordially, a hint of interest in her casual tone.
Misaki considered her words very carefully before responding, "It was... Interesting."
The President smirked at her knowingly. "Madame LeBlanc is known to be a bit eccentric, but her talent is one of the most sought after in the design industry."
Sucking in a breath through her teeth, Misaki grimaced and stepped forward, saying hesitantly, "Madam President, I really appreciate that you made me that appointment, but I'm so sorry. There's no way I would ever be able to afford something like that."
"Consider it my investment into your future. I can't have my representative arriving to an exclusive event in her best little black dress," the President said, casting her a sidelong glance from behind her desk.
Suddenly feeling rather silly for assuming that it had been some sort of gift when in actuality it had apparently been the President's effort at keeping her from embarrassing them at the auction, she replied curtly, "Oh... Right. Sorry."
"There is perhaps another phrase that would better suit the occasion?" The President prompted, her sidelong gaze taking on an expectant look.
"Thank you," Misaki said with a tight smile, lowering her eyes abashedly.
"You're welcome. Now, don't you have some work to do?" The President asked dismissively, effectively closing the topic for discussion.
"Yes, ma'am," she muttered, bowing quickly before turning on her heel and hurrying back to her desk, silently wishing that the floor beneath her feet would open up and swallow her whole.
Thank you for reading :)
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