Another chapter before the 5th, as promised. :) I was sick last week – bleh – so I'm actually surprised I did get a chapter in before my trip. I'll be gone till the 17th so don't count on a chapter until then, kay? Anywayz, enough about me. The story's moving along, even with unexpected turns none of you are expecting in the least – but I hope that ya'll are liking this story anyway. Excuse my spelling – just in case – in the chapter. I'm actually a pretty good one! Ja ne!
"Wake up!" Pan was responded to in a grunt. Mary Kate had somehow completed wrapped herself in her blankets and sheets, rolling her body up like a crepe. Pan humphed, sliding an earring in her ear as she walked into Mary Kate's bedroom to give her a good shake.
"I'm not going to be late to my interview because of you." Pan argued, and Mary Kate gave a last stretch before glaring at her onyx-eyed friend. "Come on, Mary Kate—it's eight forty-six." This only gave Mary Kate more reason to groan and moan.
"I'm going down to breakfast. You better meet me in half an hour or I'll leave without you." Mary Kate nodded dispassionately before trudging into the bathroom.
Pan, despite her irritation—she had to admit she wasn't that irritated anyway—smirked. "I'll be eating at the buffet one, OK?" She called, and heard some muffled speaking back. Assuming the best of her reply, she trotted into the living room to grasp her purse before dashing out the door and down the hall.
This would usually be a semi-dramatic, cute little scene of an attractive girl dashing down a hotel corridor in high heels, a small clutch purse dangling from her hand. In a movie standpoint, the camera would catch if perfectly all the way to when the elevators door closed.
Assuming this brilliant shot was being taken, it sweeps down the hall alongside her, but drops suddenly.
With a great thud Pan tripped and slid on the velvety maroon carpet, her face an ungraceful mask of discomfort and sudden bad moods. But without a second thought she lifted herself up, dusted herself off, adjusted her shoes, and was off again in a jiffy.
Meanwhile…
Trunks was shaving his face when a great big thud echoed through the wall and he nicked himself with the razor. He looked questioningly at the wall that separated the bathroom from the hallway, furrowed his brows for a moment, and then got back to shaving.
"Ready for the big day?" Goten questioned excitedly when Mr. Brief's came out of the bathroom. Trunks shrugged it off with a smile before going into the bedroom to change. "What should I wear?" He asked nervously, digging in his bag.
"Try sending out for some clothes!" Goten, confused, didn't respond. "If you call downstairs they'll send some stuff up." An evil grin spread across his face as he pounced on the phone.
~*
Pan entered the dining hall with a white schoolgirl skirt and a pink button up shirt with puffed sleeves and a curved collar. She had a plain pink vinyl clutch purse and pink, trademark New York spiky shoes.
She eyed the massive buffet with excitement, and was already digging into thirds when Mary Kate walked in, a green and white polka dot dress with a green cardigan. The full skirt fell just below her knees, and she had shiny white mary jane's to go with it.
"Someone put themselves together quite nicely in a jiffy." Mary Kate smiled while she sat down. "The food's great—eat as much as you can. I have no idea when we can eat next." Mary Kate chuckled, and Pan shrugged. "Hey, I'm just being realistic."
"No, you're being Pan. The one that eats a ton without caring, and who, depressingly, never shoes those eight ice-cream sundaes she had over the weekend." Mary Kate rolled her eyes dramatically before getting up to dish some grub.
Goten and Trunks trudged down the front stairs and paused at the doorways to the separate dining halls.
"Buffet!" Goten cheered, but just as they were about to enter Trunks froze like a scared rabbit. There was a girl who looked just like Pan. Sure, he could only see the back of her—but he would have sworn it was her.
"What would she be doing in New York?" Goten tried to talk some sense into him, but still Trunks peered at the back of her head. Her long ebony hair. Her slender yet not to scant waist. Hot legs that could only belong to Pan…but Goten was right. She wasn't in New York. Wasn't her interview in London?
"You're right, man." But still he didn't move. "Do you mind if we don't take the buffet?" He asked, and Goten rolled his eyes.
"Sure," He said as they walked into the restaurant. "but I'm still eating as much as I want…and it's on your tab."
~*
The girls hailed a taxi and settled in for the ride to the magazine office. They passed pizza parlors, bars closed for the afternoon, shops, and about twenty Starbucks.
There was a different feel in New York than London. London was sprawling, old, and a little quieter. New York was fast, loud curse words, and tons of business suits in all shapes and sizes.
When they finally reached the magazine building—a skyscraper, as Pan had imagined—they paid the taxi and trotted up the steps and into the front lobby. There was a massive desk that Pan approached to ask for directions, and the girl had to put several people, on various phone machines, on hold.
"Yes?" She asked pleasantly, but in a hurry.
"Oh, I'm Pan Son—"
"Pan Son!" She exclaimed, rushing from behind the desk. "If you would please take that elevator up…" She began pointing and speaking so fast Pan couldn't remember a thing she said. With a forced smile she hope she knew where she was going, and Mary Kate and herself headed towards the elevator.
~*
Trunks and Goten entered the front lobby of the GQ / Infinite building, and were greeted by busy phones and even busier people.
Trunks approached the desk, a nervous Goten behind him, and waited for the receptionist to put calls on hold.
"Excuse me—"
"Two famous people back to back!" She swooned, standing up and walking around the desk. Trunks and Goten exchanged looks but did so in silence. "If you would take the elevator…" The rest was a haze, and Trunks hoped he'd be able to figure it out.
"I think she would have escorted us the entire way if there hadn't been headphones on her." Goten joked when they were in the elevator. "What's it like being famous?" He questioned, and Trunks snorted. "I'm serious! You have no idea what it's like not to be. I don't think you could spend one day—in Saudi Arabia!—without getting recognized." Trunks didn't answer, but Goten wasn't expecting a reply, and they continued their ascent to whatever awaited them.
"Miss Son!" A woman with short black hair and a massive chain of pearls around her neck greeted Pan and Mary Kate. "I assume this is your friend Mary Kate?" She gave Mary Kate a large smile before Pan even answered, and ushered them into her office.
"Now, we're going to send you into makeup and wardrobe where they'll get you ready for the shoot. Then we'll depart for the interview." Pan sighed, reminded of the public interview that was going to take place. She had been reluctant, and the only comfort was that Trunks was probably in the capitol at some point giving the public their own public interview.
"I'm thinking pale skin, rosy cheeks, dark eyes." She said offhandedly as they walked into a busy room filled with flashing cameras and conversing people with clipboards. In the next room there were several men and woman with hair dryers, makeup brushes, and one, dishearteningly, with an assortment of tweezers.
At Pan's shocking glance Ms. Steele said, with a catlike smile, "Every single hair must be plucked. The camera picks up even blonde ones unfortunately." And Pan gulped, but thankfully Ms. Steele didn't notice.
"Paris, Nicole—get started immediately." And with a quick promise of meeting up with her later, she disappeared along with a farewell waving Mary Kate.
Paris and Nicole—or so she assumed—then began their work.
~*
Trunks and Goten knocked on Ms. Steele's office door lightly, and she opened it with a splendid smile.
"Mr. Brief's! And this is Mr. Son? Pleasure. Really a pleasure. I hope you don't mind if I hustle you into hair and makeup immediately?" Both looked at each other and before receiving an answer she took Trunks by the hand and led the both of them into a room that flashed so bright they were seeing stars.
Trunks and Goten were jerked to their immediate right and enter a sea blue room bustling with makeup and wardrobe people.
"Tracy, Colista, if you could begin right away. After your shoot, Mr. Brief's, we will leave for the interview site. It's not far, but at a hotel with a suitable conference room for the occasion." And with that she disappeared, tugging Goten with her.
~*
Pan had tried on many different outfits, but finally the perfect one was chosen. It was a pair of sleek, red leather pants, flashy, strappy red sandals, and a red sweater a-shirt tank top.
They had her hair down in very loose, wavy curls, with ruby red lipstick and dark smoky, yet cleanly lined eyes. They had encouraged her to have fun with the shoot, to play around.
So many suggestions were given that her mind was spinning when she finally approached the photo floor. Her heel caught on the raised board as she tried to climb up it, and with a sickening crack her heel snapped clean off.
There was a great, shared cry of, "Hot glue!" before she was whisked away for repairs. Meanwhile Trunks was just putting on the coat of his sleek black suit.
He entered the photo room cautiously, and they herded him onto the floor where camera's began flashing instantly. Several minutes later they said that was satisfactory, and he entered the wardrobe and hair room just as Pan was done with repairs.
They posed her several times, then told her to goof around before they said that that was enough.
Several outfits later both Trunks and Pan were done with the shoot. They had switched on an off the board room the entire time, both oblivious to the others' presence, and now, separately, both dressed in new outfits and makeup checked and in some cases reapplied, they were sent down to the two limo's that would take them to the interview.
Ms. Steele rode with Pan, and first off she inquired of her where Mary Kate was.
"She was sent ahead." She explained. "So that she would get a good seat for the interview. Don't worry, she's fine." And small talk then became the topic.
Trunks was given the same news before he entered the limo, and he rode alone to the hotel.
There were press everywhere when Pan arrived, and she ushered her in just as another limo was pulling up. Trunks, too, was ushered in, and taken to a quiet room full of bottles of bubbly water and bowls of fruit.
Pan sat down in her little room full of courtesy food and waited impatiently for the interview to take place. Thankfully the entire interview would not be done this way, just some general questions and requests for comments so that the public could be involved. More publicity, Ms. Steele had said.
Still she wanted it to be over with, but when Ms. Steele entered and said she was to enter in five, Pan's stomach began to flip and flop, full of butterflies. She snatched a banana, anxious for something to steady it.
It seemed ages since he was told he would be ready in five minutes for Trunks, and he had already, nervously, opened three granola bars without eating any.
And when someone approached with a headphone and clipboard, silently beckoning him, Trunks took a deep breath before going to the door to wait.
Ms. Steele was talking to the press and public, sharing some exciting sentences and fake smile, and Pan thought she would be sick. She was standing in the door arranged on one side of the platform, and she caught Mary Kate's eye.
The Irish girl gave her a sly thumb's up, and Pan was unaware that Goten was giving Trunks something very similar.
"And now, if we could please have the participants enter." She announced. "If you would please now turn your attention to Mr. Trunks Brief's and Miss Pan Son." And she sat down in the middle of the platform table laden with microphones.
Trunks' blood stopped cold, and Pan swayed, her stomach even to sick to dispel its contents. They both walked onto the platform slowly, then their eyes met, and Mary Kate and Goten' eyes grew unbelievably wide.
"Pan," She saw Trunks mouth her name, and her eyes met his warily. "Come one." He mouthed reassuringly, and they both sat down on the opposite sides of Ms. Steele.
Pan couldn't describe why she suddenly was fighting tears. It was as if she were eight and at her birthday party it was revealed she still slept with a stuffed animal. She told herself there was no reason to feel humiliated, and Trunks begged he would say the right things.
"Questions, please." Ms. Steele announced, and people began raising their hands. It was like a wave of arms, and Pan pleaded that they would ask easy questions.
Ms. Steele pointed to someone, and he cleared his voice.
"Was your breakup on unfriendly terms?" The man asked, and Pan was ever so grateful that Trunks answered, for she feared her voice would squeak.
"Not at all." Trunks answered calmly, and now it was woman's turn.
"Was it a mutual decision?" She ventured.
"Yes." Pan nearly jumped at the sound of her own voice, and was surprised at how calm the reply came.
"You seemed quite surprised at the sight of each other today." A man began. "Is there a reason that you find this situation unpleasant?" She turned to Trunks, who smiled.
"No, there isn't." Still that amazing smile. "I couldn't believe how amazing she looked." He gestured towards her, and the crowd all smiled appropriately. Pan, positive it wasn't a suck up comment, resisted the urge to go, "Awww."
She caught Conner Degraid's face in the crowd. He was watching the two of them intently, and she could see his shoulders were hunched, not anxious to be recognized.
"Your families have been very good friends. Has this affected that friendship at all?" Pan shook her head noticeably, and Trunks pointed in the audience to Goten.
"My best friend, Goten, is a Son. He came with me, so I suppose not." She had always known he was smart at these public questionnaire's, however the ease with which he spoke, the relaxed way he answered their questions. It amazed her, and yet she was not surprised.
"How has the breakup affected your schedule with Vixen Entertainment?" A lady asked, a tablet in her hand.
"Not very much." He said, and she rolled her eyes, hoping this wouldn't turn into a "Ask Mr. Brief's" segment. Not that she minded not having to answer any questions. "My good friend, Connor Degraid and I have been working hard. But we aren't so overloaded that anything could affect them very terribly. Thank you." And he pointed to someone else, his press conference expertise taking over.
"Miss Son is very attractive." She seemed to speak that to Trunks, in agreement. Pan smiled but was ready for the woman to continue. "Have you been dating much in London?"
"I, well…" She saw Trunks' concern, how he didn't want her embarrassed. "Not much in London…" She thought of Jace's phone calls, how he had wanted to fly out for spring break. "Well, I—a little." She didn't want to say he was back in the capitol, she didn't want to say anything. She decided that merely saying "a little" would be just fine.
The reporter seemed terribly satisfied with her answer, and began scribbling at rapid rate.
"What about you, Mr. Brief's?" A woman asked. Trunks' thought about Aiko for the briefest moment, remembered breaking up with her…
"No, um, not much." He said quietly, and she nodded her thanks before writing. Pan glanced at Trunks, quick to look away lest someone catch it, but she saw there the sincerest honesty of truth.
"Do you have a job, Miss Son? Are you attending school in London?" Trunks looked to her, realizing he didn't know the answer to this question.
"I have a job." She said. "Working with Capsule Corporations, actually." She nodded, and another man jumped to ask a question.
"Did Mr. Brief's give you that job, Miss Son?" The insult was obvious, and he was smiling wickedly at her, chuckling. She swallowed, staring him down, but when she opened her mouth to speak she was interrupted.
"No." Trunks' voice was solid, and the man seemed to nearly jump. "No I did not. In fact," And he gained volume. "I didn't know she had it until now." He glared at the man again, and every reporter's pen or pencil was scratching at a speed that was demonic.
"Miss Son, do you plan to make London your home?" A lady asked timidly in the back, and Pan flashed her a pleasant smile that made her a little more bold.
"For now, I do. I don' know whether I will reside there permanently, but I love it. So hopefully I will have the chance to at least for a little while." She nodded enthusiastically, and the questioner thanked her.
"What, in your past experience with dating Mr. Brief's, have you learned about him?" Pan had to admit it was a good question.
"Well," She began with a smile. "He's good to be able to do all he does." She laughed silently, along with most of the crowd, but she turned thoughtful. "I have learned that anything and everything good that is said of him, is true. He's smart, funny, and attractive. Yes, he's Superman." And before anyone could speak, could find words to follow, she pointed to another reporter.
"Then perhaps we should ask the same question of Mr. Brief's about Miss Son." All eyes turned to trunks, camera's, as they had consistently, flashed, and even Ms. Steele had rapt attention for his answer.
"If, then, I am Superman," He began. "Then Pan would have to be my Lois Lane. Things unfortunately didn't work out between us in a romantic way, but we will always be friends. And she will always be Lois Lane."