Standard disclaimers apply. I don't own Sailor Moon, but I wouldn't mind if I did.
CHAPTER TWO
The MoveShe didn't calm much as she walked out of the airplane and into the Los Angeles airport terminal.
'Man, that was a long flight!'
She had been instructed to meet someone at the gate. That 'someone' would be holding a sign bearing her name. Once she met up with that person, she'd be taken to her new home and then to the company to get acquainted with her new situation. So she looked around and saw no one there yet.
********
Unknown to her, another pair of eyes watched her. A young man in his early to mid-twenties took in her every move. Due to a delay, he had been waiting for the call for his flight all day. He was returning home after a 3-day business trip. As he finally heard the announcement of his plane arrival, he glanced up and saw HER.
"Koishii..." he murmured. There in front of him was the most gorgeous girl he had ever seen. Her long, silky blonde ponytail flowed down her back and swished at her movements; she had flawless and smooth alabaster skin; her full, lush pink blush lips looked soft and inviting, and were upturned in a slight smile as she took in her surroundings; and her lovely eyes, surrounded with the longest eyelashes, held such sweet innocence, yet she almost looked afraid...She stopped and set her bag down and stood by waiting. Then she turned, looked at him, blinked and smiled. The young man's breath caught at her beauty, and he blushed with embarrassment for being caught staring.
********
Serena could feel someone looking at her. Thinking it was her designated driver, she turned and looked directly into the eyes of one of the most beautiful men on the face of the earth. Not every man could be called 'beautiful', but that description fit him so well. He looked so exotic. He was very tall, around 6ft; had oval eyes, almost as if he were oriental, they were of the deepest midnight blue. 'A romance novel would say they were the color of the sea after a storm,' she thought. He had tanned skin; black, shiny hair in a clean and modern haircut; and a flawless taste in clothes. She blinked and then smiled at him, and he blushed.
'Blushed?! As if he were embarrassed. Why would he be embarrassed? And how can I see someone with so deep a tan blush? What nationality is he anyway? He looks so exotic.'
The young man had composed himself through her silent questionings and smiled the most dashing smile.
'Wow,' thought Serena, 'he's got that James Bond charm down perfectly. He's even got dimples.'
*********
"Sir? SIR!" the attendant yelled.
Realizing someone was speaking to him, the young man snapped out of his thoughts and turned his attention to the uniformed lady facing him.
"Your ticket please."
The man handed her the ticket, annoyed that he had been broken from his reverie, and glanced over to where the beautiful girl who preoccupied his thoughts stood. Or once stood. Seeing that she was no longer there, he did a full 360 scanning the crowd for her.
'Where'd she go?!!' his mind asked frantically. But there was no way he could find her. He didn't have time to talk to her anyway--he had a plane to catch. And even if he did have time, he couldn't and really shouldn't. 'Yes,' he thought, 'it would be very bad if I had approached her.'
"Sugoi," he shook his head as he walked to the plane. As soon as he got himself situated, he laid his seat back and tried to catch up on whatever sleep he missed during his business expos. But as soon as his eyes closed, all he saw was the mystery girl's smiling face gazing up into his own. For fifteen minutes he sat there living in his own imaginings, but he realized that soon, that illusion of her would disappear as quickly as the reality of her did and suddenly he had an idea.
Quickly reaching into his carry-on, he pulled out a sketchpad and some charcoal, and he immortalized the image that completely captured his mind earlier that day.
********
Meanwhile, Serena finally found her chauffeur, a tall, brown eyed, auburn haired, twenty-three year old outgoing woman named Alison, or Ali . She was the 'gopher' of Digital Anime. Originally, she wanted to be a writer, but the copywriter intern position had been filled a few months prior. The manager of the writers said that the 'gopher' position was opening up, so if she wouldn't mind taking on those duties, she could also be trained as a writer--same as the intern. It seemed too good an opportunity to pass up, and both sides would be happy.
Ali seemed a nice person. She chatted with Serena about Los Angeles life, the company, the friends she'd make. Conversation easily continued until Alison pulled into "The Crystal Fountaine."
'The Crystal Fountaine? Sounds like something from the movies,' she thought.
"Here's where you'll be staying. It's nice isn't it? You're on the 12th floor, in apartment Number 17." Ali reached into her pocket, "This is your key. I'll help you with your bags," she said as she hoisted one the heavy bags out of the trunk. "When are your boxes arriving?"
"Oh, I sent most of it 3 weeks ago. It should be here."
"Great! If you need any help unpacking, just give me a call. It's not a job requirement, but I like to help my friends," she smiled.
"Thanks." They walked to the elevators and pushed the button to the 12th floor. They carried the bags and chatted until the doors opened to reveal a long hallway. When they made it to Number 17, Serena took a deep breath. She unlocked the door and slowly opened it and peered into the apartment. She walked into the living room and saw all of her boxes neatly stacked in the corner. Taking a brief tour of the 2 bedroom apartment, her thoughts took over, 'This is unbelievable. This is great! I love this place!!' She felt genuinely happy for the first time in years. Glancing around her new home she turned to Ali, "You know, I think I'm gonna like it here."
"I think you will too."
*********
After the girls unloaded the car, and checked to see if all boxes were present and in tact, they headed over to Digital Anime, which was only 10 miles from The Crystal Fountaine.
"Okay, we'll just check in with Ms. Li, she's expecting you."
"Can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"This doesn't seem natural. I'm just a graphics intern. Why do I feel like I'm receiving extra attention? I mean they found me an apartment. A nice one too. You picked me up from the airport? And now I'm being generously taken to Ms. McKinley's secretary? It doesn't seem real; everything seems too easy. Why so much attention for an intern?
"Well...You'll just have to ask Ms. Li."
Serena sighed. "I'm really nervous. I know that's its your job to watch over me and everything, but I'm really glad you're here. Thank you."
"Really, its no problem. I'm glad to help." They walked into the lobby. "Oh, I gotta introduce you to Josh. He's the security guard. Totally cool and such a hottie!"
They walked up to a blonde, blue-eyed uniformed man.
"Hey Josh!"
"What's up Ali?! How you doing?"
"I'm good. This is Serena Carroll, the new graphics intern. Serena, this is Josh Thompson, L.A.'s finest security guard," she winked.
"Hi Josh, nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too. So you're the new intern, huh? Wow! You sure aren't what I expected."
"What do you mean?"
"Oh, uh, well...I've seen some of your work, and I gotta say, you are one talented lady. I mean, your art is art, so I thought you'd be one of those people that wears black all the time or something, I don't know. But you're not. You're definitely not what I expected, but..." he smirked and let his eyes travel down her body, as he leaned in a little closer, "You didn't live up to my expectations, you've far exceeded them," he whispered and then winked.
"Uh, I'm glad," she answered, taking a step back. She sent a pleading look to Ali.
"Well, uh, we gotta go Josh. Still gotta take her to Ms. Li, and you know how she is..."
"Yeah. I'll see you two pretty ladies later. Nice meeting you Rena."
"You too Josh." As they walked toward the elevators Serena turned to Ali, "Rena?"
"Oh my god, Josh was totally crunching on you!"
"He was what?" Serena asked, confused.
"Oh, I forgot there might be a language barrier; you'll learn quickly enough. Anyway, Josh was seriously flirting with you!"
"He was not!"
"He WAS! How could you miss it? Rena, come on, "'You didn't live up to my expectations, you've far exceeded them'"?! He thought you were gonna be a total loser, and you were completely the opposite! He was happy about that. Oh, and when he leaned into you...god, I thought I was gonna die. It was so cool, like something out of a romance book. Did you breathe in his scent? I mean, even I caught a whiff of that sexy cologne. And then be WINKED at you? Wait till I tell the girls!"
"I thought that was just part of his personality."
"What kind of place is Louisiana? I thought New Orleans was the Party Capital of the World..." they stepped into the elevator and waited for the doors to close. "Anyway, Josh is way nice, but he's slightly shy and he never winks at ANYONE. You saw how he looked. Isn't he the epitome of the perfection? He is the 21st century version of Michelangelo's "David..." she said as her eyes glazed over.
"You are definitely a writer."
"Thanks, but back to subject," she said as she pushed the elevator button, "women all around here flirt with him as if he were the last man on earth, and he's nice to them and everything because he doesn't want to be rude, but he brushes it off. That young man has beliefs."
"How nice for him. He did seem nice, but if he was 'crunching' on me, then I'm not interested."
"What?! You mean if he asked you out, you wouldn't say yes?"
"That's right."
"Playing hard to get, huh?"
"No, I--"
"Oh, I get it," Alison interrupted, "You got someone back home..."
"No. I just happen to have high standards." When she received a questioning look from Alison, she continued.
"I see. Cool! I guess I have high standards too, but I'm a little more lenient. But, to each her own."
The doors opened and they walked up to a door. "Meanwhile, this is Ms. Li's office..." and she knocked.
"Come in," a voice commanded.
"Ms. Li, this is Serena Carroll, the new graphics intern."
"Ah, Serena Carroll," said a small woman, seated behind a computer screen, "it's so nice to finally meet you." She got up to shake her hand, "Please, have a seat," she gestured to the chair placed in front of her desk, and Serena sat. "Ali, could you please tell Ms. McKinley that our famed new intern is here?"
"Sure thing."
When Ms. Li saw the confused look on Serena's face, she laughed softly. "You are quite well-known around here Ms. Carroll, but Ms. McKinley will explain all that. How was the flight here? Is everything okay? You seem tired, but that's understandable."
"It was very smooth flight, thankfully. Everything just happened so fast that I'm not fully sure if I know what's going on. I'll be alright after a good night's rest."
"Well, we're sorry to have called you in today, but everyone here was very anxious to see you, especially Ms. McKinley, and this way, you'll be able to know more about the company when you actually start." When she received another confused look, she changed the subject, "Meanwhile..." she picked up some stacked papers on her desk, "these are the company's employees who you'll be working with. I'm sure Ali will make sure you meet everyone, also are some final papers that you'll have to sign, you know, to make sure everything is straight." As Serena flipped through the papers, she continued, "I'm sure you'll like it here, and that you'll have fun."
As she said those words, the door burst open and in walked in a tall, brunette woman in her mid-thirty's, with Alison in tow.
"Ms. Carroll," the woman spoke as she shook Serena's hand, "hello, I'm Jillian McKinley. It's nice to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you as well, Ms. McKinley."
"I was just telling Ms. Carroll that she's already quite popular around here," said Ms. Li.
"May I ask why?" asked Serena.
"Well, we had received many resumes and samples of artwork for the position that you now have. Most were students still in high school, and they were very talented. But what caught our attention was your mini-portfolio, Ms. Carroll. You had different mediums in which you were able to work with: computers, paint, charcoals, etc., and all were categorized according to what theme you wanted to portray, be it a manga, portrait, or an altered photograph. That was very impressive. It showed that you have a professional attitude and skills in many areas. We may have use for some ideas that you had.
"Your portfolio was placed as Digital Anime's top choice. With that done, we did a little research in what your background in art was. Being in V-TAP all those years speaks very highly of you in itself, but the fact that you were singled out to receive the John Pine International Fine Arts Scholarship, which is only assigned to the top student artist in the U.S. once a year is what cinched it." She saw Serena wince at this. "You must have had your reasons for turning it down. I promise, however curious everyone is, no one will ask why. But we are VERY happy that we have you with us."
"I'm happy to be here."
"Good! I'm sure that you'll stay happy. This is a nice place to work; you'll have fun. Everyone here is nice, and the people you'll be working closely with are very friendly. You'll get introduced to them later, right Ali?"
"Of course," Ali replied. "She'll be the most popular employee by the time I'm through."
"Well, don't scare her off Ali," Ms. Li laughed. "We just found her, we don't want her running away because of a crowd of crazy people."
"I'm sure Rena can handle a few unstable people," Ali replied. She turned to Serena. "There a quite a few strange ones walking around this building, but all are very nice. You'll see a lot of weird habits, ...nothing out of the ordinary. Just strange habits and crazy personalities. Not CRAZY, crazy, just funny personalities."
"Like you?" Serena questioned.
"Definitely like Ali," Ms. McKinley laughed. "In fact, Ali may be the strangest employee here."
"And proud of it," said Ali, "and on that note, shall I take Rena on the tour?"
"By all means." Ms. McKinley answered. "You can go home afterwards, Rena. That reminds me, how DID you like your apartment?"
"I love it! It's very beautiful, thank you."
"That's good. I'm glad you like it. We try to take care of our employees, and keep them happy. Well, once again, it was very nice to meet you, and I'll see you next week."
Serena, the now dubbed 'Rena' smiled and nodded.
The two girls left the office and headed further down the hall. Ali was bringing Rena to her department first. She tossed open a door and jumped in and cleared her throat. Receiving everyone's attention, she yelled, "All the way from Louisiana, ana, ana, ana," she echoed, "known for her AMAZING artwork...my friend, soon to be yours...the YOUNG, the FRIENDLY, the TALENTED...SERENA 'RENA' CARROLL!!!" She then grabbed Serena's arm and yanked her unceremoniously into a room of screaming people.
She blinked.
The group, still playing along, whooped and hollered as if they were at a concert and rushed to her begging for autographs. Serena shyly smiled and turned back to look at Ali, who just laughed at her shocked expression. "Alright everyone, back off...give her some room...step away from the girl." But they still pressed on. "Am I gonna have to call security?!" They all laughed and finally backed off, and the real introductions began.
She didn't get back to her apartment until ten o'clock that night. After finding something to eat, she returned to her new home and thought about her situation. She missed her family and friends and wanted to call them. But being so late in L.A., she knew it was too late to call home, as it should have been past midnight there. She was too exhausted to even care much. She'd call in the morning.
**********
*ring* *ring*
"Hello?"
"Mom?"
"Serena! How is everything? Did you have a safe flight?"
"Yeah, everything is fine. I had to wait a little while before someone came to pick me up at the airport, but that was no problem. Mom, you should see this apartment!"
"What's the matter with it?"
"Nothing! It's gorgeous! It's called the Crystal Fountaine. Looks like something out of the movies. I can't wait to decorate the place. I'll have to take pictures and send them to you."
"Great."
"I was taken to the company yesterday and met everyone there. It seems that I'm very well known."
"Oh? Why is that?"
"Ms. McKinley told me that I was the top choice for being chosen to work there, and so they did a little background search on me and found out about the scholarship. After they found that out, my portfolio was shown to the entire company. The ENTIRE company. Even the security guard, mom!"
Her mom chuckled. "Well, now they know for sure that you are capable of handling the job. That's good."
"But now they'll be looking at my every move. What if I can't live up to their high expectations? I'll just be letting them down..."
"Oh Serena, don't worry. They know you're human, and everyone is entitled to mistakes. You'll do fine...better than fine, you'll do great. Just make sure to do your best."
"I'll try..."
"That's all I'm asking."
"They didn't let me go until after nine o'clock last night. Everyone is nice, but also crazy. Alison, the girl who picked me up from the airport, gave me an introduction like I was a movie star when we reached the department I'll be working in, and had everyone begging for autographs. Once they stopped joking, they showed me my station and what I'll be doing, which seems very easy. I'll be starting on a comic strip called "Daydreamer". I told them that I've never heard of it, and they said me it was new."
"That's good. I'm glad that everything is working out."
"Me too. Say, where is everyone?"
"Your dad just has been gone since early this morning, and Sam just left for work."
"Sorry I missed them. It's hard to time everything...do you know its a two-hour time difference? My co-workers kept me there late so I could fight jet-lag, but I'm still tired."
"You'll adjust."
"How is everything back there?"
"Quiet, nice, peaceful--," her mom answered a cheery tone.
"It's nice to know you miss me so much," she replied sarcastically. "I feel so loved."
Her mom laughed. "Seriously, we're fine, but we do miss you."
"I miss ya'll too, very much. It's too quiet here."
Her mom laughed again. "As soon as you get your bearings, you'll have plenty of friends to have around."
"Yeah, I suppose. I think I'm gonna take a tour. But I'm gonna wait till I find a map around this place. This city's huge!"
"That's not too hard. Maps can be found anywhere."
"Hard enough...," she muttered. "Well, I have to get going. I still have to go grocery shopping."
"Okay. Be careful. I'll talk to you later, dear. Love you."
"I love you too, mom. Bye."
"Goodbye." *click*
Serena took a long look at the picture frames that held such precious photos of her family and friends. Feeling a little homesick, she quickly showered, got dressed and headed out in search of her basic needs in times of depression.
Candy.