Warning: Rated for language, some violence and adult behavior.
The main characters of this story are based on characters from the cartoon 'Code Lyoko.' I do not own, nor do I claim, any copyright to these characters.
In her dreams, she was at a party.
The Beautiful People were standing all around her, gawking at her. She just stared back at them as they stared and talked.
"Why look at her! She's just a poor little school girl, pretending she's one of us!"
"Such a shame! Her family hardly has two dimes to rub together, and she thinks she can mingle with us!"
"And to top it all off, she didn't bother dressing for the occasion!" Everybody then laughed at her.
Yumi looked down and saw she had indeed forgotten to dress for the party. She was naked. She stood there before the Beautiful People with all of her imperfections on display, and they laughed at her.
As they laughed, she felt a hand gently settle on her bare shoulder.
"Yumi, I'm sorry I'm late. Here, let me help you change for the evening." It was his voice, her Love, her Life. Without turning around, she knew that Ulrich had joined her.
He felt his other hand touch her back, taking hold of something she never realized was there. He took it and gently drew it down, like a zipper. Yumi shivered inside; this is something couples did in private, not in front of the world. She didn't care, though.
He slipped his hands under her skin in back and pushed down. As she looked, her naked skin fell away, and a perfect evening dress took its place. The old skin puddled to the ground at her feet, and she stepped out of it. The Beautiful People were awed by her beauty.
Ulrich stepped around beside her. He was wearing the uniform of the Host of Heaven, all burnished and bright. The Beautiful People took one look at him and bowed deeply. He said nothing, he just extended his hand to her, and her alone, and she took it. He led her into the middle of the crowd, then took her in his arms, embracing her before all of them.
Then the music started and they danced.
"General Maxwell, I don't know what to do!" Yumi exclaimed to her partner the next day. They were sitting in a sushi bar in the city, having lunch. She picked sullenly at her lunch with her chopsticks.
"Yumi, first of all, stop calling me General Maxwell. It's Allen. Everything else aside, it's Allen. Second off, we never expected you to be an expert; consider this more of a training exercise. If something comes of it, great. Otherwise, all it is is an opportunity for us to be seen together. We'll get your face out in the crowd so people can see you and remember you. It won't be too long before you're in with the crowd, and won't need me at all."
"But I have no idea what to wear," she said forlornly, "the nicest thing I have is a formal kimono, and I left that at home."
"Listen," Allen said, "why don't you and Sandy go shopping. She's been to these kind of shindigs before, and she'll help you pick out something real nice."
"But how am I supposed to pay for it? I know Desmond said it would be alright but..."
"And it will be alright. This is part of your job. If it helps any, think of this like we're getting you a desk to sit at, only a lot better looking."
After classes the next day, Sandy Maxwell came by and took Yumi shopping. She thought they would head for one of the shopping malls around the area, but instead they went into the city. There they passed by women's clothing stores with names Yumi could only dream of. Sandy found a parking place and parked.
"When Allen asked me to help you out, I called a friend of mine," Sandy said, "she runs one of the stores here, and is probably the best there is at dressing people."
"Huh?" Yumi said, "I'm perfectly capable of putting my own clothes on, I just can't pick out what to wear."
"And that's what Mary does for a living," Sandy replied, "she helps women pick out what to wear, an extremely useful skill, especially here in DC."
They walked down the street a little way, then entered one of the stores. Inside stood a matronly looking woman, dressed simply for business, but dressed well.
"Mary!" Sandy called out, "it's been too long! I'd like you to meet Yumi. She's the one I spoke to you about."
"Pleased to meet you Yumi," Mary said, extending her hand. Yumi took it and she pumped her arm twice. "Sandy tells me you are going to be working the Party Circuit for Allen."
Yumi got a confused look on her face, and Mary laughed.
"I mean, you are going to be going to a lot of these parties," she then clarified, "so, turn round and let's have a look at you."
Yumi turned around in a full circle like the woman asked her to. Both woman looked at her.
"Well, I see where my youth ran off to," Sandy said as Mary laughed.
"What?" the young woman asked.
"Mary has a saying," Sandy said, "that a woman's beauty always runs off and finds another girl. It looks like my beauty ran off, crossed the ocean and found you."
"But I think you're beautiful, and I'm sure Allen does," Yumi said.
"I know," Sandy said with a bittersweet smile, "but I could make 'em sit up and take notice when I was your age."
With that, they got down to work. They settled on a black strapless dress as her primary weapon. Yumi gasped when she put it on; without any alterations at all it looked like it was poured on her. Mary looked at the girl and said they would have to alter it in some places, but other than that the dress was perfect. When Yumi took the dress off, she looked at the price tag and nearly fainted.
"Did you see this!" she said to Sandy. The older woman took a brief look at the tag.
"Clearance?" she said to Mary.
"Well, yes," was Mary's reply, "but the style is still in fashion; that never really does goes out of style, and she looks fabulous in it. Okay, I'm trying to move it, but hey, it works for her."
"Alright," Sandy replied, "just as long as your not just trying to get rid of something you can't sell or return."
"Well, if you insist," Mary said, "I'll be more than happy to charge you full retail for it."
The two women laughed.
They finally settled on Yumi's ensemble for the evening. The black dress would be accompanied by black heeled sandals, a small silver clutch purse and pearls. Mary made a quick call.
"Louie, Mary. I'm sending a customer down to you. She needs a strand of pearls. Well, I'm not sure. A rope would be nice, but a choker would look good too. She's wearing that black sheath I've had; now don't you start in on me too! I've already had this conversation with the customer's friend, a regular of mine. This girl is gonna knock your eyes out when you see her in it! Anyway, I'm sending them down to you, so treat 'em right. Yeah, I'll see you there."
Mary then turned to Sandy and Yumi. "you cross the street and go down four stores to Louie's. We're good friends and he's the best in the business. He's been called up to the White House more than once for his advice."
"I... I... I... can't do this!" Yumi suddenly said and turned for the door. Sandy grabbed the girl before she could run off.
"I can't do this!" she said again, tears starting to run down her face, "you've just spent more money on this dress than my parents make in a month, combined! Now we're going to go to a jewelry store and spend more?"
"Yumi, look at me," Mary sternly said, "Sandy has told me a little about you. You're taking International Studies over at American, right? Well let me tell you something. The people you will be meeting and mingling with at these parties are the same people you will have to deal with during business hours once you graduate. Ninety percent of them are fops, hanger's on just out to be seen. The other ten percent are the movers and shakers in the world, the ones that wield true power. You're going to learn real fast which is which. But to do so, you must blend in, and quite frankly the Kathy Lee Gifford line won't cut it at these affairs. I know you're upset at the price, but this is the price of admission to the game. And that's why some women have 'older gentlemen' to keep them company, so they can play the game."
Yumi still felt uncomfortable a week later, when she and Allen went on their first "date."
He personally picked her up at her dorm room after class, on that Friday. When Jessie opened the door and ushered him in, she shot Yumi a look that said, wow, you've got a live one! Yumi just blushed and introduced Allen to her.
The couple left and drove to the office of the Kadic Group.
"I still don't understand why we have to go to the office," Allen said.
"Because someone paid a boatload of money for that outfit, and I don't trust it at school," Yumi replied, "I've already had things stolen from my room and I don't want to lose that stuff. If we're going to be doing this, then the clothes stay there unless or until I find something better."
"I think that I'm going to have to set you up in an apartment," Allen said, "it'll match our cover, and it'll be better than the office if you're going to be this way about it."
When they got to the office, Yumi went to her office to change. When she entered, she looked around and saw that everything was where she left it. The room was empty except for a folding chair and table in the middle of the room. They hadn't been in the building all that long so they hadn't managed to order furniture for Yumi's office.
She shut the door, then turned around to make sure that the dress was still hanging there. It was, and looked like it hadn't been disturbed. She went over to the window, closed the blinds and undressed. She changed from the skin outward. Mary had said even underwear were a part of her arsenal. Before Allen had arrived, Yumi showered and shaved, doing as much as she could before she was away from a bathroom. Now she put on a black garter belt, then sat down and put on a pair of sheer stockings. She clipped the tops of the hose to the garters, then stood up and put the panties on. Both woman told the girl to put the panties on after putting on the garters, so going to the bathroom and other things would be easier. When she asked what other things, the two women just smiled.
She then went over and put on the dress. She zipped it up then straightened herself in it. It had cups built into it, so she didn't need to wear a bra. After she smoothed the dress out, she went over to a small cabinet she had in the room. Opening a drawer, she almost reverently pulled out a velvet box, took it over and set it on the folding table. She opened it up and there was a pearl necklace, with matching earrings. When the jeweler showed it to her, she almost died. They were perfect. Each pearl matched the others, like they all came from the exact same place at the exact same time. She didn't bother even looking at the price tag, she knew it was easily more than what her parents made in a year.
There was a soft knock at the door. "Yumi, you about ready?" came Allen's voice.
"In a minute!" she called back. She quickly put on the earrings, making sure they were secure, then put on the necklace. Then she took stock in a mirror she had sitting on the table.
The woman staring back at her looked nothing like the school girl that gazed in the mirror. The woman was beautiful, her long black hair cascading down, framing her face and shoulders. The pearls hung down enough to help connect her face to the dress, a line of stars pointing from the angels to the sky.
The woman in the mirror smiled at the girl as the girl smiled at the woman.
I am ready, said the woman in the mirror.
I'm not, replied the girl looking at her.
A limousine picked them up at the office. Allen sat there, fidgeting with his shirt collar.
"Damn, I forgot how much I hate these monkey suits!" he said.
Yumi just sat across from him and smiled. At least she wasn't the only nervous one.
"Oh, one thing," Allen said, "how old are you?"
"Nineteen, why?" she replied.
"Two reasons. One, I didn't know and it might come up in conversation. Two, no drinking."
"Huh?"
"Stay away from the alcohol. I don't know if your parents let you drink at home, or if you snuck around them and drank, but lay off the booze here, understand?"
"I understand, but why?"
"For one thing, minimum legal drinking age here is twenty-one. For another, some men tend to slip pretty girls a little something in their drinks to grease the wheels. I don't want you getting raped by some asshole who can't pick a girl up without drugging her first."
They arrived at the party, at the French Embassy of all places. Yumi and Allen got out and walked in, showing their invitations to the doorman. Passing through security, Yumi was motioned aside, and was wanded by a guard, wanded very closely.
As they walked in, Allen laughed. "I think you'd better get used to that. I think that guard just copped a feel with his rod."
For the first part of the party, Yumi stayed close to Allen, listening to him work the room. It seemed the man knew everyone there by their first name. When Yumi commented on it, he said, "I probably do. I've been working this circuit for years, whenever I'm stateside. And I've met a lot of them overseas. See that man there? He's Russian. Former Soviet Army. I used to see his face staring back across the Iron Curtain at me as we did inspection patrols along the border with West Germany. One of the most professional soldiers I've ever met. Crack troops, perfect discipline. Got to meet him and his family a few years back, when I went back over to Germany for a NATO briefing. Beautiful woman, his wife, a university teacher. Two good kids, one an officer in the Russian Army now. I have no doubts someone in Intelligence will be opening a file on the boy real soon now."
"How am I going to learn all this?" she said.
"Time. I've been doing this longer than you've been alive, Yumi. One day, you'll be working this room, maybe with a protegé, and it will be like walking to the store."
Later on, she left his side and mingled about. She would insert herself into a small group and listen, not for anything in particular, just listen to what was being said.
She moved on and came to a group of people speaking French. She stopped and listened, remembering home.
"And what do you think, miss?" one of the men suddenly asked her."
"Oh, I'm sorry! I just got caught up by the moment! It's been a little while since I heard French."
"Oh, you've been there?" the man said.
"Yes. I lived in Paris until I came to school here. The sound of it made me a little homesick."
The man smiled. "Yes, I understand. It is hard to be away from loved ones. Would you like a drink?"
"No, thanks, I'm still working on this one," Yumi replied, indicating the soda in her hands.
"Well then, what do you think? Did what I say make sense?" the man said next.
"I really don't know," Yumi replied, "I'm just a student, and haven't really paid attention to what's really going on in the world. That's why my friend brought me along with him, so I can learn what's going on."
"And who's your friend?" the man asked.
"Allen Maxwell. He's over there," Yumi replied, motioning with her eyes to where Allen was standing.
"Allen? Why that sly dog! You must be his new assistant. I'm happy to make your acquaintance. My name is Maurice Duvalier, and I'm the French Intelligence liaison. Allen and I have had many conversations over the past few months. I'm surprised I haven't met you before now."
"Well, he keeps me pretty much to himself," Yumi said, getting a smile and some laughs from the group, "but school's what's been taking all my time. This is really the first time I've gotten out since I got here."
"Well, welcome to Washington DC," Maurice said, "I hope we'll be seeing a lot more of you."
It was two in the morning before they left. Yumi just about fell asleep in the car.
"Well, I see you met Maurice," Allen said, waking her up, "he's a good man, and you'll probably be working with him more in the future."
"He certainly was nice," Yumi said.
"Yes he is, especially with the ladies," Allen replied, "so watch your step around him. He is a ladies man, and he likes his ladies young. If you aren't careful, you're gonna have two very jealous and upset boyfriends to deal with."
