Chapter 6: Appearances can be Deceiving
(Emily's POV)
The trip to Yorimo's studio was quick and simple. I managed to fill out all the necessary registration to his classes and my paper application to Morishita Academy. We scheduled a couple morning sessions to prepare for the audition portion of the entrance interview. After talking with Yorimo, I became happy with my decision of passing on Tachibana. Though I wanted to be at this country's "best" school, I came to the realization that Tachibana was more known for its traditional standards meaning my modern incorporations wouldn't have been very well liked on that campus. As Yorimo talked more about the groups and dancers that came out of Morishita, I could feel that it would be the better match by a longshot. I only had to land the interview and audition.
"You perform like you do in that footage Cross sent me, I'm sure you will do fine. That's if.. That's if you are really up for this Emily." Yorimo told me as I was gathering my things after filling out all the papers.
"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?" I shrugged slipping my purse over my shoulder.
"I would think all that has happened recently." He seemed to hesitate as if unsure about his next choice of words, "You only just got into the country. You can take some time to.. adjust.. you know?"
I paused thinking about the meaning behind his words. Did Cross tell him what landed me here? My assumption was confirmed when I met Yorimo's slightly sympathetic look. "No. I can't." I told him sternly shoving the responding emotions back down before they had the chance to surface, "Taking time to 'adjust' is out of the question. There are other things I need to take care of, and I can't start on them until I have this little complication out of the way. Speaking of which," I paused taking a glance at the time on my phone, "I have somewhere to be and need to get going. I will see you tomorrow morning Mr. Yorimo."
He didn't say anything. He only continued to stare as he gave me a nod in acknowledgement. I took my leave and looked up the restaurant the realtor had suggested for our meeting. It seemed like a classy place on the coastal side of town. I looked down at the outfit I was in and sighted. A simple t-shirt and washed out faded jeans was probably not the best dress code for such a place. A part of me cursed myself for not packing some of my more formal wear in my go bag, but I didn't plan on going anywhere like this so soon. If I could get to the other side of town quick enough, I probably had the time to slip into a boutique and get a more formal looking cocktail dress or something.
I started making my way to the proper side of town looking for a shop along the way. Just as I expected, I passed through a shopping section of town and decided to make a stop there. After a quick scan through the immediate area, I managed to spot a small boutique. I was scanning through one of the racks when young woman probably in her twenties walked over in my direction with a small tablet in hand.
"Is there.." She paused looking over to the side for a moment, "Is there something I can help you with?"
"Do you happen to carry anything from Zac Posen's line?" I questioned not taking my eyes off the rack I was skimming through. I had a couple of his pieces, but they were part of the clothing being shipped to the house.
"E-excuse me? Who?" She asked confused.
Her tone prompted me to look up from my task, "Zac Posen?" She continued to stare at me blankly making me re-evaluate my next words. "I'd guess American designers are in limited supply this far out." I sighed under my breath. So this would be slightly harder than I initially anticipated it seemed. I closed my eyes taking a small breath so not to snap. "Just moved here, and I'm looking for a dark cocktail or evening piece for a business dinner. Any particular designers you'd suggest?"
"Your.. Price range?" She questioned eyebrow raised as I could tell she was studying my current attire.
I bit my tongue. So yeah I might not currently look like I could own this shop a hundred times over, but did she have to keep that tone with me? "Price is not an issue. What is an issue is I have a meeting in an hour to discuss the relocation of a multi-billion dollar corporation and all my formal wear is on a plane in transit somewhere over the Pacific Ocean. So," I lowered my voice hoping she got the point, "is this the right place to fix my problem or not?"
Her body went stiff as if I had frightened her. "Y-yes miss... You said something dark for a dinner meeting?"
"Black prefered." I quipped.
"W-well we just got in some pieces from Limi Feu and Tae Ashida that might be of interest." She suggested tapping away at the tablet in her hand.
"Not familiar, but that's a start. Lead the way." I nodded.
"Some samples of their collections if there is a particular style you're looking for." The girl stated holding out the tablet as she motioned toward the back of the store.
I nodded taking the device and scanning over various pictures she had lined up. Nothing in their 'current' collections were impressing me, but one of the older pictures caught my eye. Though it was not black, the dark green was very well accented with black accessories.
"Do you still have this one in stock by chance?" I asked handing the tablet back.
She looked at the screen with a sigh. "This piece in particular is from last year's line, but I might still have the display sample in the back stockroom. If you will give me just a moment?"
"A moment." I nodded.
She gave a quick bow as she scurried into the back of the store leaving me to skim through the accessories area. I set aside a pair of black leather heeled boots, some black jewelry, and a pair of black hoes. Noticing she was yet to come back, I returned to the clothing area and started looking for any alternatives if she didn't find the dress I requested. They seemed to carry the known European lines like Chanel and Armani and of course names I could only assume to be more region specific designers, but I didn't see any of the more US rooted designers I prefered.
"Thank god for the internet I guess." I muttered as I began to realize I'd have to find an alternate method of acquiring things from some of my favorite lines.
"My apologies miss." The voice of the store clerk broke me from my task.
Glancing back, I saw there was nothing in her hand and frowned, "No luck then?"
"W-well I did find it, but-"
"But what?" I snipped getting a little peeved.
"The one I found wasn't a display piece, it was a damaged return." She explained quickly.
"Go grab it and let me be the judge of if it's too damaged." I instructed.
The girl was gone barely a minute before she emerged once again with a dress on a hanger. "From what I can tell there was a tear in the stitching along the right shoulder." She pointed out showing the damage by slipping her finger through.
"Well that is quite the damper if I do say so." I sighed inspecting the hole. "Do you have any boleros?"
"Uhh one moment.." She muttered walking over to another rack. She seemed to skim the contents for a moment before pulling a small black piece from the line. "Like this?"
I reached out taking the cloth and hanging it on the dress. It seemed to coordinate with the color well enough and covered the damage. "Yes. I think that will do nicely." I thought out loud.
"So you-"
"I'll try it on first, but I'll take it if it fits." I stated as I walked over to where I had set aside the other accessories.
I took everything into the dressing room and put it all together. I was slightly relieved when I looked at the finished ensemble in the stall's mirror. Though the green wasn't my first choice of color, I had to admit it went well with the black. Though it wasn't as good of a fit as I preferred, I knew I would have to deal. I couldn't expect a professional tailored fit when buying off the rack. It was chance enough that this dress was close to my size.
"Not too bad for last minute shopping if I do say so myself." I muttered turning around and looking at the dress' fit in the back.
I took the tags off or everything, slipped my purse and clothes into a bigger purse I found, and walked back out into the store where the young woman was already standing at the check-out counter.
"It looks like it fits well." She spoke as I set the tickets in front of her.
"Not as much as I would like, but it will do." I sighed reaching into my purse for my ID and card.
"Is there anything else we can get you miss?" She questioned once she finished ringing all the items up.
"A place close by where I can find some eye shadow or something?" I inquired slipping the receipt and my cards back into the bag.
The girl gave me some directions to a store a block or so down that were pretty easy to follow. Once I got some makeup to help properly accent the new outfit, I deemed myself presentable for the meeting with the realtor. I took a cab from the shopping district to the restaurant with about 10 minutes to spare. My assumptions on the attire seemed spot on. Everyone in the small space screamed 'money'. It was funny how even when tossed into a different country, I could still spot the different crowds. Old family money. Young socialites riding on mommy/daddy's money. Newer younger guys that had money but were still new to the game. The people that didn't exactly have the money, but they knew the people that did well. It was the world I grew up in. The world I knew.
I took out my phone and did a quick look at the realtor's profile. The guy was on the young side, but the firm he worked for seemed successful enough. So, he will probably be in the 'young and new to the scene' crowd. I thought to myself as I scanned the area for the face in the profile. It took me all of two minutes to spot the young man in the sports coat and tailored suit drinking what could only be some sort of mixed alcohol.
"Kanjiro Ige?" I spoke up as I came up to the table.
He looked at me with a smile for a moment, but that quickly faded and was replaced by a face that looked like more annoyance in no time at all. "Look kid, I appreciate the flattery, but I am busy. Scram!"
"Excuse me?!" I asked taken back.
"You heard me. Get lost! I appreciate the courage it took to probably come up here and talk to a guy like me, but I am way out of your league. I also have a big meeting with a real woman in like five minutes that will make me some serious business. I can't have the broad thinking I hang with kids like you if I am going to seal this you know? So please-"
"Message received!" I snapped hearing enough, "You obviously suck at your job, and I was wrong to think I had a chance-" I could tell I had hit a nerve with the comment.
"Hey now-"
"No! Just give me a name of another corporate realtor, because you obviously don't know how to use god damned Google before you meet a large business client." I barked feeling my patience break. It was the clothing shop all over again. Because I didn't 'fit' the bill people were looking for, I wasn't being taken seriously?!
"W-Wait. W-What?!" The realtor stammered. His mouth hanging open.
"You heard me asshole! Another corporate realtor. NOW! Because you lost this "broad" and her business, the moment you became an outright ass!"
His face went pale and his eyes widened in shock.
"On second thought, I probably don't want your suggestion, since you obviously suck at making business choices lately. I was smart enough to look up my damn prospective realtor before meeting him, but obviously profiles and reviews can be pretty damn wrong. I'll try someone else. Thanks"
With that, I made my exit before he had much chance to react. I was still fuming as I waited for a cab when I noticed someone take the spot next to me. It was a woman. Older, but obviously did well to keep with her appearance. Her dress and shoes were obviously legit tailor made professional. All she had with her was a leather folder in one arm across her chest. "In the poor guy's defense, you don't quite look old enough to be needing realtor services, but that didn't make watching you have him squirm and gawk any less satisfying. If I want to be honest."
Though still peeved, I liked her humor somehow. "If you want to be honest hm? Well if I want to be honest, I am pretty sure that isn't the only reason you followed me out here is it?" I asked.
"Oh no. Not at all. The little worm works for a competing firm, and I happened to overhear you were needing a corporate realtor after his attempt crashed and burned." She lightly smiled pulling a card out of her folder and holding it out for me, "Nakayama Kina. I'd be glad to help, if you want to talk the kind of specifics you were looking into?"
I took the card and glanced it over, "That is indeed true Miss Nakayama. I am helping relocate a section of the family business from New York to Domino. Nothing major, just something to serve as a satellite office to help oversee the main functions in the US while I am here."
"And how long are you here Miss..." she asked pulling out a phone as if taking notes.
"Mikoro. Emily Mikoro." I introduced, "I plan to need the space for only say two-years. Therefore, even leasing a building would suffice. I'd say I need minimum space, like one floor of a standard office building. Half a floor if available, but I would request it be in a decent environment with decent security. Something close to good business lodging seeing as I will probably have US employees and customers flying back and forth. Sound like something you can handle?" I questioned slipping her card into my bag.
"Easily. Got a price range in mind?" She replied with a shrug.
It was the way she asked the question. She wasn't being skeptical. She wasn't being snobbish. It was 100% business. "Again, this is a temporary endeavor, so I'd rather not spend a whole lot," I opened up the encrypted mail app on my phone from MI to pull up a capital spend budget report I had requested before leaving yesterday, "I would say our budget is 500 thousand USD in total rent or purchase you can add say 250 thousand if the office comes furnished. Is that something you can work with?"
"It most certainly is. Would you like to just send me a message on the number on my card and I can send you some listings you might find appropriate?" She asked as she made a couple notes in her phone.
"I can do that. I am still in the process of moving, so I may have someone from the company get with you on specifics?"
"Sounds like a plan. I will get some listings together and should have a couple choices to you by tomorrow. We can start showing whenever you are free."
"Thank you Miss Nakayama. That was certainly easier than I thought it was going to be after my earlier introduction." I nodded as I noticed a cab pull up to the curbside. "If you don't mind, I will be going now. Thank you for your assistance and will be happy to work with you."
"Same to you Miss." She bowed as I got into the cab and gave the driver the direction back to the Kaiba house.
