Golden Star Dreams

Chapter 2: My New Job…

Lobby…

Outside…

Grocery store…

Home…

Opening the door to my apartment, I slipped inside through my somewhat heavy door carrying about four bags of groceries. I was in a huge slump… Finally, I land an actress job and this is all I come up with. I stared at the card Kendra gave me with a frozen look on my face as I began thinking of my new gig.

'*Stares…* You got the job…'

It all made sense! Everything was so clear! No wonder I didn't need to do too much of anything at my audition; Kendra was merely checking me out to see if I could do… a porno!

I couldn't do it! I wouldn't do it! This was against everything I stood for; like dignity and feminine self-preservation of the body. And what would my mother think? Oh how I could hear her now, nagging and bitchin' it up right in my ear!

Mom: How the hell could you agree to do something like this?

Me: *Crying uncontrollably* Mom, I'm so sorry! I needed the money!

Mom: I knew I should have forced you into college! Your grandmother watches TV y'know!

Me: *Still crying* But Nana is blind!

Mom: But she isn't deaf! That's it, I disown you!

It was such an eerie look into my future…

With a solemn sigh, I walked into my living room-slash-kitchen-slash-study-slash…

'My apartment sucks…'

Plopping down on the couch, I shuddered hearing the faint creaking and squeaking of the old piece of furniture, trying not to think of some dirty man mounting me with excitement. With my feet on the seat of the couch, I pulled my knees close to my chest, and picked up the remote control to my TV and flicked it on, hoping to take my mind off the whole situation. I then turned to look at my clock hanging above my apartment door; 5 o'clock… I still had five hours 'till my shift started at Neon Heights and my supposed gig…

'No… No, I won't do it. They can find a different woman to perform lewd acts on television. I'm not even that hot anyway…'

~~~~~~ (^^) Kirby helps you dance onto the next scene (^^) ~~~~~~

A black limo, driving through the heavy streets of nighttime Hollywood, carried its passengers to a building sitting about three stories high and thriving with dancing, young people and booming music shaking the ground to its entrancing beat. In the back of the vehicle, Sesshoumaru and Kendra were busy discussing the events planned at their – or rather, Ms. O'Conner's - choice of venue. Kendra had reserved the entire VIP lounge, so her silver haired client could sign autographs and unknowingly help promote the nightclub. The club in question was Neon Heights.

Sesshoumaru watched his agent with steady eyes as she spoke on the phone with some other man (he could hear the masculine voice on the phone). She was already arranging plans for his next appearance. Yep, he had to admit it; Kendra was one hell of an agent. He noticed that she was finished with her conversation and a bright smile was on her face. Which could mean either one of two things: she was plotting something, or she was legitimately happy, the latter being quite rare.

"Good news Kenji darling, I've already booked your next appearance at the grand opening of a new children's park. Ya know, for charity. Moreover, it is so you are judged as a benevolent man in the public eye, and all that cotton candy jazz. So make sure you practice being all warm and fuzzy and shit."

Sesshoumaru smirked and closed his eyes, amused that Kendra really stooped so low as to say the word 'practice'. Sesshoumaru Kenji, the greatest actor ever? Practice? He thought not.

"I'll make sure not to disappoint you Kendra…"

"Good because there are usually no second chances when it comes to children. Once you screw up, you're done. Plain and simple." Kendra's dark green eyes flashed with irritation as the limo finally pulled up to the entrance of nightclub.

Sesshoumaru noted this change in expression and he glanced outside to see what the problem was. Everything seemed to be in order; security heavily guarding the area, VIP ropes keeping the crazed fans from swarming the star, and the overjoyed club owner who was ready to escort him to his sectioned off room with a variety of women beckoning him to follow them.

"Where is she…?" Kendra growled.

"Who?"

"That damned woman I hired on the fly. She seemed excited to do the job so why isn't she here?"

Sesshoumaru was a bit baffled before the realization hit him; he did ask for another assistant after his other one quit. But, he did wonder why Kendra just picked one from off from the street. Kendra sensed his question coming and smiled mischievously.

"Come now Kenji… Did you really expect someone with some real brains to come and do this job? All you have them do is stop potential women from reaching your presence, babysit Rin, and get you a doughnut or two – though they're bad for your impeccable body, stick to your diet dumbass. Anyways, this girl I found just happened to be in the area and I hired her for the job, but seeing as she's not here…"

(o.o) Where's Soshi? Kirby must know!

Moments earlier…

Oh crap… I overslept! Quickly I jumped off the couch – nearly falling on my face as I did so, got dressed for work, (though sadly I had no time for a shower), and went to brush my teeth. It seemed like I was checking my watch every ten seconds to see how much time I had left.

'Thirty minutes left… Oh man, Boss is gonna hate me!'

I made a split-second decision to take a cab instead of my bike and to my fortune; a yellow car pulled up and gladly took me in.

"Where ya goin'" The burly man in the driver's seat asked me.

"Neon Heights. The nightclub."

"Oh… so you're goin' there? Must be because of Sesshoumaru Kenji right? Man I swear if I had half the looks that guy has… I'd be swarmed with chicks! But you don't want to hear about my jealous rants do ya?"

He was right; I didn't, but I shrugged and to my relief, he took no offense and began driving toward my destination without further question. I could see him looking at me through his rear-view and I just had to know what it was he was staring at. So I asked him.

"Why are you staring at me? Is it because you're getting some kind of sick kick out of staring at my body? Oh gosh, what if they already plastered my face on the cover of their porno movie! MY LIFE IS OVER!"

"Whoa, you're in a po-"

"Never mind, NO! Here's my stop thanks a bunch!"

I passed the pervy driver my cab fare and ran down the sidewalk at full speed to get to my job, but to my dismay the entrance was cut off by VIP ropes and security and I could see a stretch limo parked next to the red carpet. Why now of all times would a celebrity be making a grand appearance at this nightclub? It'll take me for-EVER to get inside meaning a very unhappy boss and coworkers. As I crossed the road to get to Neon Heights, I quickly scanned my watch.

'Two minutes left… I'm totally going to be late! C'mon Soshi… run!'

I finally made it to the entrance and as I expected, the outside was packed with a large crowd. 'Swimming' through the sea of people, I shoved and apologized my way through the mob, ignoring the commotion going on outside. I was running out of time…

'Ten seconds…'

'9…' "Excuse me!"

'8…' "Gotta get past!"

'7…' "Oh c'mon, that was my toe!"

'6…' "MOVE, DAMN YOU!"

'5…'

'…4…'

'…3..'

'…2…' "Almost at the door…"

"HEY! HEY YOU! MISS ARIKO! STOP!"

I instantly stopped to see whom it was that was calling my name so frantically. I was still in a rush, but at this point I figured, 'why waste more energy in trying to make it to work on time when I'm already late?' Turning around and scanning over the faces in the chaotic crowd, I realized that I had my focus in the wrong place. In fact, the person calling me was none other than Kendra O'Conner from the audition room. The very same woman who saw me fit to do a… a… smut movie. Her green eyes glared at me intensely and I instantly felt a cold chill slide down my spine. She was so angry… Why? Suddenly, I was pulled past the VIP ropes and onto the red carpet standing next to the sexiest man alive (he was actually voted as this), Sesshoumaru Kenji in all his superstar glory. Kendra gave me no explanation but she merely motioned for us to follow inside the nightclub and I reluctantly followed.

Here we were, inside the VIP lounge and locked in an awkward silence. At least, I was… I couldn't help but see the amount of dirty looks I was getting from everyone, except for a busy Mr. Kenji but he was too busy signing autographs and casually flirting with the ladies that passed by. The groupies next to Sesshoumaru kept whispering in each other's ears and giggling after they occasionally shot me mean looks. What the hell did I do? I mean, I know I was in my work uniform, but seriously? I didn't look that bad. After a while of sitting quietly and taking in my new surroundings, Kendra had finally given me a clipboard with some paperwork on it and passed me a pen. She pointed at what she handed me and began explaining what she required of me.

"Alright kid… first things first, you pushed your luck by showing up a few seconds early. Next time arrive at the venues thirty to forty-five minutes early so you can beat traffic and have Mr. Kenji's coffee ready. Next, to work for Mr. Kenji, we need your full cooperation and I hope you won't be like the last guy who quit because he couldn't handle the pressure Mr. Kenji was putting on him."

'My full cooperation? What kind of freaky shit do they want me to do? And I didn't know Sesshoumaru Kenji rolled that way… Wait! I'm supposed to reject them…' I thought to myself as Kendra continued talking.

"Also, I would like you to sign this little form saying that you are contractually bound to work for our man Kenji here for two years. If you find yourself quitting before your contract is up, you get no further payment and you must reimburse some of the money that you were paid. Meaning, the grand total for your services will be not be granted and you are to pay back Mr. Kenji half the total of money he had paid you prior to your resignation. Plain and simple. Your paycheck is to be discussed with Mr. Kenji and I hope you two can come up with some sort of agreement. Now, I know this sounds a little harsh, but trust me, with the amount of people that quit working for him nowadays we just need to be sure that Mr. Kenji has someone driven by a bit of… incentive. Understood?"

'Wait… These two are paying me… to work for my CO-STAR of this filthy movie? It's like they're paying me to sleep with this guy AND grab his coffee afterwards! I'm pretty sure that's prostitution on some kind of level! I just know it.'

I summoned all my courage, stood up with both my feet planted to the ground and slammed my hands on the tabletop, spilling over a few drinks. My glare was harsh and directed right at Miss O'Conner, who had a bewildered look on her face. My rash actions even caught the nonchalant Sesshoumaru Kenji's eye.

"What's wrong with ya kid?" Kendra asked.

"What's wrong? What's wrong! I'll tell you what's wrong! The fact that you want my potential co-star to be my boss in your filthy porn industry! And for two years at that! Well I'll tell you something… People like you make me sick! Degrading and showing off women's bodies through a camera, directed by some sick and dirty filmmaker! Well I won't do it I say! I just won't!"

As I finished my rant, I proudly crossed my arms and poked my chest out with my chin high in the air. The whole VIP area was silent before I heard an uproar of laughter rumble throughout the air. Kendra fell completely out of her seat while Sesshoumaru merely chuckled. Why were they laughing? Was it something I s-

"Honey… Honey… I didn't sign you up for a porn contract…"

'Yup, definitely something I said…'

Kendra kept speaking, "We were looking for a new assistant for Mr. Kenji. His last one quit just today."

'Oh… OH SHIT, I TOTALLY EMBARASSED MYSELF BIG TIME!'

I sat down with flushed cheeks and a bruised ego as well as a lost dignity. How could I have just jumped to such conclusions like that? At that very moment, I wanted to just die! If I wasn't going to be known for anything else, I would always be that girl who thought she was going to star in a porno with Sesshoumaru Kenji. Oh gosh… If only I could use my acting skills to get out of this one… Wait.

"I hope you know that I was acting." I said with a huge smile on my face.

Kendra and Mr. Kenji both turned to shoot me a look. I had on my best fake proud expression hoping to play it off, but I felt a pair of intent, golden eyes burning on my skin. I turned around to face him and he smirked.

"Wow… Kendra, this chick is good… real good. But not good enough. I can tell she's faking."

Kendra shook her head in shock as she raised a thin, brown eyebrow staring at me. Obviously, I had fooled her but if it wasn't for the silver-haired man sitting next to me, I could have totally swept this mistake under the rug and take it to my grave as one of my deepest secrets. A hand, Mr. Kenji's hand to be exact, rested on my knee and he faced Kendra with the most emotionless face I could have ever seen. It was as if he was born that way!

"Kendra… extend the contract to three years." He commanded.

I reeled my head back and pushed his hand from my knee. "Why are you-"

"I'm going to do what you should consider an honor Ms. Ariko. I want you to be my acting pupil as well as my assistant and two years just isn't enough time. You have real potential for greatness; and coming from me that's saying a lot."

I blushed with pure excitement as he wrapped an arm around me and gave me a small smile before focusing on Kendra.

"So… do we have a deal hun?" Kendra said, her smile had returned once more and I could tell that I had made her entire night.

"Absolutely!" Without further hesitation, I grabbed the pen and began signing the papers. With one of the greatest actors in the biz showing me the ropes of acting and performing, there was no way I could lose! I was so giddy, I couldn't wait to get to work the next night and tell them all about it! Wait… work… I totally forgot to go in tonight!

Oh well… the boss man can handle one night of my absence.

After I handed back the signed documents, a hand wrapped around my waist and I was pulled into the lap of Mr. Kenji, ticking off the other women who promptly left after seeing the sight. He smirked and I scrunched my brows a little; wondering what was going on.

"So… you thought we were signing you up to do a dirty movie with me?" He whispered.

I nodded nervously as my cheeks flared in an explosion of red.

"I have no problem with it if you don't… Sophie? Is it?"

Instantly, I hopped up from his lap and slammed by behind back into the chair before scooting all the way around the booth to sit next to Kendra, who was giggling the entire time.

"Her name is Soshi, Mr. Kenji. Soshi Ariko." She extended her hand to me as she finished finalizing the papers with a stamp. "Welcome to the Golden Star team."

Ok… so this wasn't exactly the dream way of trying to get famous. I mean I'm starting off as someone's assistant, but pretty soon I'll have my own little lackeys running around and bringing me things on my whim. Heck, even my lackeys will have lackeys! But until then, I'll just have to settle for being small-time a little bit longer.

I gotta start somewhere don't I?

(^.^)^ Kirby says, "See ya next time!"