I've got something that I really want to say to everyone who reads and reviews this – THANK YOU! I was reading some of my reviews yesterday and some of them made me want to cry. I really, really appreciate all the encouragement and kind words you all give me! It means so, so much!
And thanks to Koyuuno the Wonder Inu, shina (I don't know yet! I think it'll be a few more chapters), dJeu (very soon!), [blank], chibiukyou (oh hai, hai, they're so cute ^_^), and Melissa Lee (I'm honored you chose to read my fic, of all things, when you start reading anime fiction!).
I have a question! I wanna take a little survey right now for future references in this fic – Which coupling do you like the most? A. YukiShu, B. RyuTatsu, C. KxHiro, or D. TohmaxSakano? Please let me know so I know which to pay close attention to!
Italics = flashback
Cast:
Yuki Eiri - Edward Young - 22 - Accomplished Novelist
Shuichi Shindo - Stuart Shubrook - 19 - Aspiring Poet, Song Composer, and Actor/Musician
Seguchi Tohma - Thomas Savage - 32 - Wealthy Publishing Company Owner
Sakano - Kenneth Saunders - 29 - Stuart's Agent
K - Claude K. Winchester - 36 - American Ex-Mafia gunman, works for Thomas as an Agent
Sakuma Ryuichi - Reece Swift - 31 - Accomplished Poet, Song Composer, and Actor/Musician (I found out those were common back then)
Nakano Hiroshi - Hugh Norris - 19 - Aspiring Violinist
Uesugi Tatsuha - Timothy Ulysses - 16 - Schoolboy
Suguru Fujisaki - Frederick Sullivan - 16 - Schoolboy and Aspiring Conductor/Composer
Noriko Ukai - Natalie Udell - 28 - Accomplished Pianist
Ayaka Usami - Anna Udolf - 17 – Schoolgirl
Seguchi Mika – Marianne Savage – Thomas's wife
Taki Aizawa - Terry Anderson - 22 - Popular new Actor/Musician
Ken-chan - Keith Bailey - 23 - Popular new Actor/Musician (usually in performs in plays written/starring Terry)
Ma-kun - Malcolm Clarke - 23 - Popular new Actor/Musician (usually in performs in plays written/starring Terry)
Disclaimer: Standardized to perfection for your consumption.
Roses
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Chapter 10
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"Ah, Natalie, thank you for joining me." Thomas stood, placing his napkin on the table and taking the woman's hand as she sat.
"How could I turn you down?" She lifted her chin and eased into the wooden chair, ordering a glass of wine from the waiter.
"Pleasant weather, isn't it?"
"Enough with the pleasantries, Thomas, what did you want?" Natalie folded her hands in her lap and looked at him suspiciously. Thomas never wanted to meet with anyone for a nice little 'chat.' It was always for some sort of favor, or to call in a favor.
"Why, Natalie, I'm ashamed that you would think such of me."
"Thomas."
The blonde man sighed and leaned forward, resting his elbows on the white linen, "Of course. I shouldn't have expected you not to guess, after all."
"No, you shouldn't have."
"I was thinking about the old days – a nice feeling of nostalgia passed over me. I think that I miss our old days."
"Oh? Well, I have to admit, I find myself thinking back often." She lowered her head, a soft smile across her face.
"Then! That shall make this much easier on me. I was watching one of my clients the other day – a Mr. Stuart Shubrook. I believe you've met him?"
"That boy in the play? He replaced Mr. Smith, didn't he?"
Thomas rose a hand to cover his mouth and cleared his throat, "Ah, yes, him. Well, I was watching him the other day – you know I do go to the practices occasionally to see how my clients are doing – and he reminds me of Reece."
"Oh, you noticed it too?" Natalie looked up to the waiter and thanked him as her wine was placed before her.
"Of course. It reminded me of those old days, made me wish for them again. He's a promising case – not as a writer, though, which is what he's signed on for."
"He has a good voice." Her long fingers reached over to the stemmed glass and lifted it to her lips.
"Yes, he does. I'm thinking of doing something with him like Mr. K did with Reece."
"Are you sending him to America, then?"
Thomas shook his head slowly and leaned back against the chair, "I was thinking of trying it over here. I could have someone write plays, and he might star in them."
"Oh, by himself? Have you noticed – " She took another sip of the wine, prolonging the drink and savoring the taste, and closed her eyes. Thomas tapped his fingers on his arm, waiting for her to continue. " – that he is around that violinist a lot? Hugh Norris, I think."
"Yes, what about it?"
Placing the glass down, Natalie leaned forward and rested her forearms on the table, "Perhaps they'd be good together? They're both very talented – I think that they'd both go far, just not by themselves."
"Hm, you think so?" He leaned back in the chair and gazed over the woman's shoulder. Maybe he'd try that... it really couldn't hurt, and Natalie did make a good point. Stuart didn't seem the type to do things on his own competently, and the violinist did seem promising. "Well, I think I might look into that."
"Good. Oh, Thomas?"
"Hm?"
"What is the real meaning of this meeting?"
He let out a soft chuckle and shook his head. Leave it up to Natalie to see straight through him. "You remember, I said that I felt nostalgic?" She nodded softly, "Well, I'd like to try something again. The company is settled and has no problems, and you and I both are feeling restless."
"What about Reece?"
"Oh, he'll do anything I ask of him. And I know he misses it."
"You know..." she looked down at the dwindling alcohol and watched the reflection of the room, "I think that sounds... nice."
"I thought so."
"Thomas?"
"Mm?"
She glanced up at him and smiled, "I think I feel euphoric too."
Thomas sighed and tapped a gloved finger on his window. He and was in his office, waiting for the boys and Mr. Saunders to show up. He'd told Mr. Saunders to round the two up and meet him in the office this day, said it was important. Of course, the agent didn't quite know how to take that and just went around quite flustered. K was also on his way there, but he wasn't supposed to show up until the boys had left. Reece was supposed to show up later. Or was he here yet?
"M-Mr. Savage! I'm very, very sorry!" The agent ran up to him and dropped down to his knees, begging him for forgiveness, "Their rehearsal ran late and then there was an overturned carriage in the road and please forgive me!"
The blonde man let out an amused chuckle and gave the agent a quick pat on the head, "Hello Mr. Shubrook, and Mr. Norris I presume." The two nodded and stood there quietly, looking from the agent to his boss. "Oh, please, sit." They nodded again and plopped down each into the seats in front of Thomas's desk. Mr. Saunders quickly got the hint and climbed into the third chair. "Well, first of all, I need to address you, Mr. Norris. You're under management by one of my agents, aren't you?"
"Yes."
"I thought so, everyone in that play seems to be, even if they're in the orchestra – "he let out another chuckle, "I amaze myself, really – we're a publishing company but we have agents who manage writers as well as actors and musicians. How strange. Ah, anyway. From now on you shall not be under management of your manager. You and Mr. Shubrook – " he gestured to the redhead, "Shall be under the same management."
"But, Mr. Savage, I – "
"Now, now, Mr. Norris. I've made up my mind."
Mr. Saunders pushed his glasses up and leaned forward in his chair, "M-Mr. Savage, I don't know if I should be managing two – "
"Oh, but you won't be. From now on, you will not be managing Mr. Shubrook."
Stuart and his agent, well, former agent both stood and slammed their hands on the publisher's desk, "This is outrageous!"
"Mr. Saunders has been my agent for years!"
"Mr. Shubrook, Mr. Saunders, please sit down." He stood and looked at the three, "My mind is made up. Mr. Norris, Mr. Shubrook, could you please leave so that I may talk to Mr. Saunders?"
Hugh sighed and grabbed hold of his friend who was currently trying to leap across the desk and strangle the blonde man. He nodded to Thomas and dragged his friend out. "Mr. Savage, have I failed you somehow? I tried to do everything that I could and I've failed you haven't I? I don't deserve to be here!" He pulled his handkerchief out and tugged on the fabric.
"Now, Mr. Saunders. I said that you would not manage them anymore, not that you wouldn't work with them. From now on, you'll be their... oh, what's a good word for it... producer, for lack of a better word."
"Pro-producer?"
"You're good with their talents, but you fall short when it comes to managing."
"N-now wait, I haven't ever managed Mr. Norris before – "
"Nor shall you ever." He stepped around the desk and stood face to face with the agent, "I have someone else that will be working with them from now on. You'll be their... producer. I don't want to continue having to arrange Mr. Shubrook's appearances and you're not going a very good job of it. Mr. Norris's agent was good for him, but – " he turned and faced the window looking out over the city, "As a friend told me, they'd be good together."
The man lowered his head, "Who's to do it now?"
"I'm fairly certain you haven't met him. Oh, you'll see him soon, I assure you."
"But not today?" He lifted his head, a hopeful look on his face.
"No, Mr. Saunders," Thomas turned and smiled to his employee, "not today. You may leave now." The agent nodded sadly and turned to leave the room.
"Yes, Mr. Savage..."
"Oh! I almost forgot," The blonde sat down into his chair and looked at the distraught man, "I have another surprise for them. Bring them back tomorrow. They'll meet their manager then."
"Yes, Mr. Savage." He disappeared behind the door. Thomas smiled and leaned back against his chair. This might actually be interesting after all.
~-~-~
"Hugh and I are best friends and all, but I don't know if it's the best idea if we work together. I mean, it probably is a good idea, but I'm not sure." Stuart followed a certain writer around his study, watching the man straighten up a few things and pick up various papers. He was a rather clean person but since Stuart moved in his house had been very messy. Even the study – where Stuart usually wasn't allowed into – was a mess. Now the boy had followed Edward into the room and neither seemed to notice.
"And Mr. Saunders isn't going to manage me anymore! I don't know what to make of that – he's been my agent since I joined onto Mr. Savage's publishing company. Oh, about that... Mr. Young, why is Mr. Savage's publishing company also a talent agency and acting studio and training centre?"
Edward slammed his hand onto the window ledge looking out to his tree, "I don't know, and I don't care."
"Oh... well, I would ask Mr. Savage but he's such an odd person. And then Mr. Saunders seems to have no clue either and well, since you know Mr. Savage so well I thought that perhaps you'd – "
"I don't give a damn about anything he does. Does that make sense to you?" The blonde man turned, glaring at Stuart. The boy shrunk back and nodded meekly.
"Yes, Mr. Young..." Edward's eyes twitched slightly at the formal name, but Stuart was too nervous to notice. He sighed and walked over to his desk, rubbing his temples. In all honestly he didn't hate the boy; in fact sometimes he even enjoyed his company – not that he'd ever, ever in a million years admit it. Stuart was just a bit too much to handle at times; he could understand why his mother was so eager to have him out of the house. Speaking of which...
"Brat."
"Eh?" The 'brat' lifted his head and looked over to his elder.
"What did your mother do when you left? Jumped for joy, no doubt."
Stuart's eyes widened at this – Edward hardly ever asked him about his life. Usually it was 'brat, get out of the way,' or 'shut up, you little shit' or something like that. "You, you really want to know?"
"Before I change my mind."
"Well..." He placed a hand on his hip and rose the other to his mouth, tapping his chin in thought, "It was really peculiar. I told her that I would be moving out and in with you – "
"Wait, you actually told her you were moving in with me? You're more of an idiot than I thought."
Stuart waved his lowered hand in protest, "No, no! I said that I was going to move in with you at the request of Mr. Savage."
"You lied to your own mother."
"I didn't want her to think I was insane!"
Edward scoffed and sat down in his chair, "Too late for that."
He lifted his head defiantly, a mock insulted look in his face, "Anyway. She acted really odd after I said that. She dropped down to her knees and started praying and crying hysterically - "
"Out of relief. I would too."
Stuart ignored that comment and continued, "After that she hugged me and kicked me out."
"What a nice display of affection." Edward leaned forward, resting his elbows on the desk, "What would you have done if I'd said no?"
"I suppose... I would have moved in with Hugh."
"Oh I bet he would have loved that."
The redhead shrugged, "He wanted me to move in with him."
"You should have. It would have saved me from constant headaches." He flipped open his cigarette case and pulled on out, placing it in his mouth. "Where are my bloody matches..."
"Oh, those... I uh, kind-of-got-them-wet-and-threw-them-out." Stuart coughed and started inching towards the door, "Well, bye!" Edward looked up at the boy and glared coolly into his eyes. He froze in mid-step – Edward's eyes could make a serial killer's blood run cold.
"You... what?"
"It's a ni-nice day, isn't it, M-Mr. Young?" Stuart closed his eyes, hoping that the man would have pity on him for once and let him go, maybe say something like 'that's alright, I'll just go get some later.' Fat chance.
"How in the bloody hell could you have gotten them wet?" Oh, well this was good. He was just in the cursing, accentuating words angry phase. Stuart wasn't in trouble until Edward got into the calm, ice cube anger stage.
"I... I had a glass of water, and, I wanted to read some of your stories while you were away, and I accidentally dropped the water onto the matches – only the matches, I didn't get water on anything else!"
Edward nodded calmly and lowered his gaze to the smoothly polished wood. "Oh, I see. Well, that's perfectly – " he looked up, staring into Stuart's eyes, "understandable."
Oh, shit. "Uh-huh, well I have to go meet with Mr. Savage now goodbye!" he bolted for the door, grabbing his jacket as he passed by the coat rack, and ran out of the house.
He held his hand out, signaling for a carriage. Slowly, one pulled up and he climbed in, tugging his jacket on. "Savage Publishing, please." He leaned back into the carriage seat and sighed. Perhaps Hugh would let him stay at his place tonight. Edward was a bit too angry to deal with, especially if Mr. Savage had more 'wonderful' news for them.
The carriage stopped and Stuart jumped out of the vehicle. The cabby turned and held his hand out, demanding the pay. He lowered his head and reached into his vest pocket, searching for money, "Oh no... don't tell me..."
"You don't have any money on you? What are you doing hailing a ride without any money?"
"I-I'm sorry! If you wait there I can go get some – "
"What do you think I am, stupid?"
With a flustered demeanor, Stuart rose a hand to his forehead and closed his eyes. Great, this was just a wonderful day. "Here you go!" a high-pitched, sweet voice came from Stuart's side. "That's enough, isn't it?"
"Hm." The cabby grunted and pocketed the money, driving off.
"I hate it when I forget money! I never know what to do." Stuart opened an eye and looked over to his savior. To his brunette, blue eyed, childish savior. Who looked an awful lot like -
"R-Reece Swift!"
"Oh, it's a fan! I love fans!" Reece smiled wider and gave Stuart a quick hug, "Teddy likes fans too – see? This is Teddy, Teddy this is – uhm..."
"S-Stuart Shubrook." Amazing, his idol was standing in front of his, smiling. He'd been to several of the man's plays – a lot of them for repeat visits – and had all of his poetry collections.
"Stuart! Say hi to Stuart, Teddy – " he paused and rose the stuffed animal to his ear, "He says hi!"
"Hello, Teddy."
"Teddy also says he likes you!" Reece nodded to the redhead and hugged his rabbit closer.
"I like him too!"
"Yay! That makes Teddy and I very happy!" He held up the animal and placed it on his head. "Teddy and I are late, but we can't find our way around! This place is so big, I can't even find the entrance!" The brunette latched onto Stuart's arm and tugged him forward, "Help me find it, please Stuart?"
"Ah, of course, Mr. Swift."
Making a face, Reece swatted the younger man with his rabbit, "Don't call me that, we're friends! You call me Reece."
"Of course, Reece."
"Alright! Now, lead the way to the entrance!"
~-~
I cut it off at an awful place, didn't I? ^_^; Well, I needed something to write in the next chapter!