By SibylSofiana
Chapter 4Model Behavior
Just after lunch Eriol made his way to Tomoyo's studio. Nervous to say in the least, he arrived twenty minutes earlier than expected.
Thank goodness I had the foresight to get here early, otherwise I'd have been late and been a nervous wreck. Eriol thought as he anxiously glanced at the compact mirror overhead. Again.
I'm not late, and I still am a nervous wreck. What's the matter with you, Hiiragizawa? You're not acting like you're the reincarnation of the most powerful sorcerer in the universe, he earnestly said to his reflection. Well, half a reincarnation, he amended.
He'd been in the car for fifteen minutes now, constantly checking and rechecking his appearance in the mirror above him. Careful to hide his anticipation of seeing Tomoyo again, he deliberately mussed up his hair to give him a slept-in kind of look, only to smoothen it up again, while debating with himself.
"She might think I'm too tired for dinner later... wait... I might look like I prepared too much with this one, but I don't want to look like I didn't make an effort to look good for her at all..." Eriol caught himself.
"Gah, Hiiragizawa, you're acting like a schoolboy! It's not like it's your first date!"
Eriol slumped over the steering wheel and sighed.
"Great, just great. Now I'm talking to myself. This is bad."
"I agree."
Eriol nearly hit his head on the ceiling in surprise as he whipped his eyes crazily to the backseat.
"Nakuru!"
A pair of warm, crimson eyes blinked at him.
"It never ceases to amaze me, Master, that even in your deranged idiosyncrasies you still manage to remember your guardian's name. It's a miracle, truly." Nakuru solemnly said to the man in front of her, who was still clutching his heart in an effort to calm it down.
"You scared me, Ruby Moon! You almost gave me a heart attack! And you peeked again!"
"You know I'm always around to dish out advice, Eriol-sama. Besides, at least now you have someone to talk to instead of just yourself." Nakuru sighed before adding dramatically, "You know how other people are just so judgmenting these days."
Eriol visibly winced.
"It's judgmental, Nakuru. Quit mixing your verbs and adjectives. While we're at it, wherever did you pick up deranged idiosyncrasies?"
Nakuru sniffed delicately before replying.
"I keep hearing Suppi-chan mutter it when I'm around. It sounded good, though, don't you think? Suppi-chan always uses long lovely words. I wonder where you could pick them up?" Nakuru looked thoughtful as she pondered with the answer.
[Authors' note: Nakuru really isn't dumb – far from it! She just likes having fun with Spinel and Eriol ;p ]
Eriol rolled his eyes exasperatedly.
"You read books, Nakuru. You know, papers bound together with letters on them?"
Nakuru snorted. "Gah! What for? You and Suppi-chan do enough of it for all three of us." Nakuru then glanced slyly at her master.
"Besides, I already know something you don't."
"Rrright. And that would be..."
Nakuru grinned smugly at her master as she crawled from the back to the passenger seat beside Eriol. Before Eriol could react, she reached across him, opened his door and pushed him out of the car.
With her dumbfounded master blinking up at her, her eyes twinkled mischievously as she looked down on him at the ground and said,
"You're already late. Girls absolutely hate to be kept waiting."
And proceeded to slam the car door on Eriol's panicked face.
~o~o~o~o~
Eriol rushed to the door with the security pass Tomoyo gave him the other day. His sensitive eyes were suddenly assaulted with the flash of brilliant stage lights above him. Before he could get his bearings, an arm reached out and proceeded to guide him towards a table with a mirror on top of it.
"You must be the new guy." An impatient voice said beside him. "Well? Hurry up, I don't have all day. Jeez, what is it with models these days? They always think they can arrive any time they want to. We have a schedule here, you know!"
Eriol glanced at the mirror to see a man dressed in a black sweater and slacks. A name pin identified him as Reynaldo. By the manner the other people seemed to defer to him, he was obviously the guy in charge here.
"Uhm, excuse me. I'm..ah..looking for Miss Tomoyo." He addressed the guy.
"Really?" An eyebrow raised. "Well, a lot of people are. Listen here, honey. If you want to keep this job you'd better dress now. Miss Daidouji values professionalism and she doesn't accept tardiness from anyone, her models included." Reynaldo stressed as he reached for the hem of Eriol's shirt and started to pull it off.
"Hey, wait!..." Eriol in shock, tried to forcibly regain his shirt that was in the other man's grasp. He soon couldn't restrain himself when the darned man wouldn't let go.
"WHAT IN BLOODY HELL'S NAME DO YOU THINK YOUR DOING!?!"
Everyone caught up in the bustle of the changing area paused to watch the scene. They say a half-naked guy glowering at their backstage boss who, despite his disadvantage in height, was not backing away from the exquisite piece of male flesh obviously incensed with him. All the other models looked on amusingly as they caught each other's eyes and mouthed one word. Newbie.
"I'm not going to take that crap from you, you airhead! I'm in charge here!" Reynaldo thundered.
Eriol suddenly tensed as he felt other people's gazes on them. He hated making a scene. He struggled with his composure as he sought to pacify the offended supervisor.
"Look, this is a misunderstanding. I'll explain later. I just want to see Tomoyo right now." He said soothingly.
It didn't work.
"See here, mister. The ONLY way you're going to meet Miss Daidouji is if you get into your assigned clothes and do your job. What's your job?! Your job is to model, nothing more! So go do it now or help me God, I'm gonna make sure you never step foot in any runway again! DO YOU HEAR ME?!?!! Reynaldo's baritone voice strangled out.
Eriol expelled a great sigh and nodded.
"Yes sir."
Instantly calmed, Reynaldo turned his back for a moment to call for an assistant.
Eriol could only shudder as a brief sense of foreboding washed over him.
This is going to be a looong day.
~o~o~o~o~
In the meantime, Tomoyo was in one of the backstage dressing rooms, a bit apart from the models' rooms.
To her dismay when she arrived later that afternoon, Ted Whitaker was there, grinning at her. She could only smile back weakly, then when his back was turned, she dragged Anne to a corner and hissed.
"Anne, why is Mr. Whitaker here?!?"
Anne shrugged.
"He managed to get a security pass from Reynaldo – you know how soft he gets with charming guys..."
"I'm gonna fire his soft ass one of these days!"
"No, you won't. Reynaldo's the best. Anyway," Anne patiently pointed out, "Mr. Whitaker is one of our important buyers here in New York. He's particular with the men's line, and it won't hurt to let him see how great your clothes are."
"He already saw most of them in the New Year's Eve show, Anne." Tomoyo pointed out.
"Still, it won't hurt. He knows a lot of people in the fashion business, so be nice. Trust me." Anne dragged her back to the center of the room. "Henri is already starting with the models outside, but before you go out, GQ and Lifestyle are here for their scheduled interview, so knock their socks off!"
Tomoyo could only sigh as she gave a polite nod to Ted. This is going to be a long day.
She tried to look at the bright side. Thank goodness Eriol will be here. She could feel a blush coming on, so she ducked her head. Which made her look at her watch.
She gave a small frown. He's late.
~o~o~o~o~
Fortunately for Eriol, he COULD wear anything and pull it off with style. Reynaldo had calmed down somewhat and gave him a once-over.
"Good. Very good," eyeing Eriol's silk-and-linen three-button sport coat and cotton-and-linen pants. His hand lingered on Eriol's lapels. "You're not my type, but I could just change my mind. Now, stay put!" Reynaldo walked away to lecture another model.
"Hmm, so you've met Reynaldo." Nakuru's voice purred in his ear.
Eriol whirled to face Nakuru and demanded, "Nakuru, will you please tell the guy who I am? I didn't come here to be screamed at and brutalized into modeling!"
Nakuru only grinned.
"C'mon, Eriol-sama! Loosen up a bit and have fun! Tomoyo-chan will be out in a bit to make sure the clothes come out right in the pictures, so why don't you surprise her? Show her there's more than starch in this ol' fuddy duddy!" she said as she pointed a finger to his chest.
"'Fuddy duddy'?" Eriol shook his head. "You're a walking anachronism, Nakuru," he began but she squealed and said, "Ooh, another nice long one!"
He raised his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay, I'll play along," he replied grudgingly, then gave her a quick glance. "By the way, you look smashing, Nakuru."
Giggling, she gave a small twirl. "Don't I?! It's the clothes – Tomoyo-chan really is talented! Hey, there she is ---!"
Before he could look at her direction, Reynaldo nabbed him and pushed him towards the stage after a female model.
"You! Go out there and show me what you got!"
~o~o~o~o~
Tomoyo loved making clothes. It reminded her of the time she used to make Sakura's costumes. She'd had to scale down her ribbons-and-flounces tendencies to come up with wearable but stylish clothes, but once in a while she'd let loose. And for her first New York show, it worked so well that business was doing great.
Right now she was critically eyeing one model's outfit as Henri posed her at different angles on the stage. The tiered white skirt was perfect on the girl, and she sighed happily.
Tomoyo had turned away when Reynaldo had signalled for the female model to move out, and thus didn't see the next model being pushed towards the stage. She didn't even hear Reynaldo swear at the guy under his breath.
~o~o~o~o~
"What is this – amateur night?!?" Reynaldo hissed. "POSE!"
Eriol sighed inwardly, then self-consciously posed in front of the camera, hoping Tomoyo didn't think he looked stupid.
Fortunately, he remembered Nakuru's techniques when she practiced it at home. He put one hand on the prop chair, the other one in his pocket, then looked into the camera as if his thoughts were far away. Ah, pose of the Sorcerer in Deep Thought.
"Good, good. Now sit," said the photographer, snapping away.
Eriol grabbed the edge of the chair with one hand, sat down and leaned forward on one leg and looked straight into the camera. Ah, pose of Clow Reed the Artiste!
"Excellent!" The photographer looked happy at the way his shoot was turning out. "How about making the look more casual?" Before Eriol could react, the photographer called out to Tomoyo. "Miss Daidouji, is it all right if we loosen some buttons?"
Tomoyo turned around and squinted as she tried to look at the outfit against the bright lights. She couldn't see the model's face, but she could see that on him, her clothes were perfect.
"I think the casual look will soften the formality – yes, Henri!" she answered back before turning to Anne, who was gaping at something behind her.
"Anne, what's the matter?" Tomoyo frowned. "Don't you agree with me?"
"Er, Tomoyo, you didn't tell me he was a model..."
"Who, Henri?!?"
"Ah, Mr. Hiiragizawa..."
Tomoyo whirled around and paid attention the guy on stage. This time Henri had softened the lights so she could finally see Eriol. And her heart did triple time.
Eriol had followed Henri's direction and straddled the chair. Well, it was now or never. Reynaldo had obligingly loosed three buttons of his cotton shirt and tousled his hair so that it fell to one side of Eriol's face. Eriol had leaned forward on the back of the chair, laid his head on his crossed arms and was smiling.
At her.
And the ultimate pose – Eriol Hiiragizawa the charmer.
And the effect was absolutely felt by all the other women in the room. Tomoyo was in the worst condition as that smile was fully directed at her.
Her knees almost buckled with the impact of that smile, but she managed to recover to stomp over to where Hiiragizawa was.
"Eriol, you liar! You said you were a history professor!" She moved towards him and put her hands on her hips.
"I am." Eriol replied with his lips still twitching.
Tomoyo, who knew she was fighting a losing battle the moment he smiled at her, nonetheless tried to maintain her stern demeanor.
"Then why are you in my photo-shoot, posing as my model?!" She demanded.
Eriol shrugged and looked back at Reynaldo, who had tried to slink halfway through the door before Eriol brought everyone's attention to him. Reynaldo was now giving Tomoyo an innocent, clueless look.
Eriol's eyes glinted with mischief, wholly intending to clear himself of whatever blame Tomoyo put on him.
"Hemade me do it."
Tomoyo glanced at Reynaldo who was looking at her sheepishly. Tomoyo rolled her eyes to the ceiling and grumbled, "why me?"
~o~o~o~o~
As it happened, it turned out that Tomoyo had forgotten that she was supposed to meet with Touya for the evening so that they could go over the financials. When Anne reminded her, Tomoyo immediately headed to where Eriol was waiting backstage.
She apologized profusely to Eriol, while they were surreptitiously watched by Ted.
"Oh, Eriol, I'm so sorry! Gomen nasai, I really forgot! But Touya's strict with that appointment so I have to be there." She raised amethyst eyes to his face. "How can I make it up to you? I should have asked Anne, but I was so excited and ..." She rushed on, breathless with her apology, while Eriol looked at her in fascination.
He was a little disappointed. And all the anxiety attacks early in the day!
But he had fun watching Tomoyo work.
Once he and Reynaldo had patched things up, Eriol gladly said goodbye to the limelight and was relegated to the sidelines to watch. But instead of watching Nakuru preen for Henri, he watched Tomoyo.
She really was dedicated, and everybody respected her work ethic. It was obvious she loved her work because the clothes were fabulous. She talked shop with Henri, soothed Reynaldo's ruffled feathers, chatted with Nakuru and the other models and had a nice word to say to everybody, even Ted. She was patient and cool under pressure, and he admired that a lot.
But when their eyes met, he could feel a jolt hit him, and he knew she felt it too.
As Eriol sat there he remembered that first kiss they shared at the balcony of the hotel. He suddenly wanted to know if a second one would be better.
~o~o~o~o~
"It's all right, Tomoyo, really," he assured her, going back to the present. "I HAD planned to visit the Museum tomorrow before I left for London -- would you like to go with me instead?"
"I'll check with Anne, but yes, if I'm free I'm definitely going. And the hotdogs are on me!" Both of them laughed and Eriol said, "It's a deal." He took her hand, and Tomoyo shook his hand professionally. But as she tried to pull back, he gently resisted.
Surprised, Tomoyo looked at his face.
They were behind the wall, apart from the others – still in plain view, but it was as if there was a shield around them, making the space they were occupying so private.
"Are you doing this?" she whispered.
"Maybe," Eriol whispered back. He really didn't know. He couldn't help but look intently at her face, and he could see a blush spreading on her cheeks. She was so lovely. How come he only noticed it now?
As if clearing his thoughts, Eriol shook his head, then breathed deeply.
"Tomoyo, I--I'm attracted to you." There, he finally admitted it to himself. And to her. No matter if she said no, as long as he got it out of his chest.
A soft whisper reached his ears and brought him up short.
"I'm attracted to you too, E-Eriol..."
She's attracted to me too?!? Her candid response bowled him over, and he could barely restrain himself from kissing her there and then. Cooler heads were needed at a time like this. But he still kissed the hand that was in his grasp.
"We need to talk about this, what it means. Tomorrow."
All she could do was nod. They didn't have to say anything at all. Just looked into each other's eyes and knew something had changed between them.
There was one thing he knew for certain, though.
Kinomoto Touya was not going to be happy about this.
~o~o~o~o~
Touya was heading towards the restaurant when he felt a ZZING! In his head. He still had some residual powers, and when he felt that familiar ZZING!, he groaned.
"I am not going to be happy about this..." Shaking his head and cursing the fates, he went in to wait for Tomoyo.
~o~o~o~o~
Another person wasn't happy with what was happening in that little corner.
Ted.
@@@@@
AUTHORS' NOTES:
Sofiana: You can thank Sibyl for introducing the great Reynaldo into this chapter. (For all I know she just wanted to get Eriol's shirt off.)
Sibyl: You see right through me – but I don't see you complaining ;p
So, what happens next? We'll tell ya soon, but only if you leave reviews behind! Hello again to KyteAura, not applicable, flitterbug, Intuition, Aqua Blue, and Misery Chick4. How's this for your E-T fix?
At least Eriol's getting it on in time for Valentine's Day.
Ja Ne!