Here is the next chapter. If there is anything that sticks out, please let me know.
Note: I do not own Skip Beat!
Ren let his character slip away when the director called cut, he turned and thanked his fellow actors for a wonderful take. His eyes stopped when they landed on his heart's desire as she was congratulating the other actors as well. He smiled softly at her gentle moves before he realized where he was. Quickly putting his mask back on, he looked around for the presence that had been missing today. Once he spied the guilty party, he headed over to give the miscreant a piece of his mind. What was that woman thinking, running off with his manager like that! He slipped into his best gentleman's smile before they saw him walking their way. Kyoko noticed the change in atmosphere and looked up to see Ren heading towards the managers that had just returned. She could tell from the way he was moving that he was mad. She finished her conversation and stepped quickly to catch up with him. She stayed just behind him, she was curious as to what was going on, but didn't want to be in the direct line of fire.
"I see you made it back." Ren smiled as he came up to the pair talking. Both Yashiro and Catherine froze from the brightness of his smile. "Did everything go well?" Yashiro grimaced and shivered in horror at the arrival of the Dark Lord. Catherine turned to face the tall man.
"Thank you for the use of your manager." Catherine bowed to Ren. "His insight was invaluable. I apologize for any inconvenience his absence may have caused you today." Ren was surprised by Catherine's quick admittance of wrong doing. It was almost enough to blow his anger with her away.
"It's ok. We managed without him during the shoot." Ren recomposed his thoughts. He wanted answers and an apology was not going to get her off the hook. "So where did you go?" Catherine's eyes grew very serious. She looked around at the actors and crew still hanging around the set.
"That is a conversation best held behind closed doors." Catherine smiled at him crypticly. "If you would like to invite us to your dressing room, I would be happy to explain." Ren was taken aback by that statement. His curiosity was burning. 'Where could they have gone that could not be discussed here?'
"Very well, would you please join me?" Ren asked as he held his hand out towards the dressing rooms.
"No." Catherine answers deadpan. Then she smiled. "I would be happy to meet with you and Yashiro after Kyoko has had a change to change." Ren's head turned to discover his kohai standing next to him. "I would like her to be there too. Since this matter does concern her as well." Ren replaced his gentleman's smile while turning back to the woman in front of him.
"Wonderful, please come when you are ready." Ren went to change himself. Yashiro slowly unfroze and followed the taller man. He really didn't want to be in a room alone with him, but he could not go with the girls. Catherine turned to where Kyoko was rooted.
"Come on, the sooner you get changed, the sooner we can get this over with." Catherine walked to Kyoko and gentle took her by the arm and pulled her to her dressing room.
About 15 minutes later, a knock sounded on Ren's dressing room door. Yashiro opened it to find the two ladies dressed and ready to discuss the day's activities. He showed them in while Ren finished hanging up his wardrobe before turning to greet the two women.
"Please pardon our intrusion." Catherine said politely to both men.
"Please come in." Ren responded in turn. "Have a seat." Ren motioned to the couch. Kyoko went and sat on it. Catherine looked around before she hooked one of the chairs from the makeup counter with her foot, spun it around, and straddled it. She folded her arms on the back. Ren was amused by her antics and leaned against the counter with his arms crossed. Yashiro tried to make himself inconspicuous and took a seat on the couch with Kyoko. Catherine rested her chin on her crossed arms and looked at the group. They were all expecting answers from her. She sighed, sat up, and pulled the tickets and invitation from her left inside breast pocket. She left the envelope with Lory's name on it in the pocket before holding them out for Ren to take. With a confused expression, he unfolded himself and retrieved the offered items. Ren looked at the tickets, then the invitation, then at the woman resting in the chair.
"What is this?" he asked as he read the invitation.
"Our activities for tomorrow night." Catherine sighed. Kyoko looked at the papers in Ren's hands; she couldn't tell what the five sheets were. They looked to be thick embossed paper with gold printing on them, so it must be something extravagant. Ren read over the papers a second time.
"What is the meaning of this?" Ren was confused. He could not go to a high profile function; he had work scheduled for tomorrow evening. Catherine held out her hand for the papers. Ren returned them and she passed them to Kyoko's eager hands. "Well." He asked again impatiently. Catherine took a deep breath to steady herself for this task.
"In light of all the bad press that has surrounded Kyoko, it was decided that she needed to be seen in public to show she was in good spirits." Catherine glanced at Kyoko. The girl hung her head in embarrassment. "So, Lory acquired these tickets for a party that he would not be able to attend." Catherine paused to see how they would take this news. Kyoko blushed harder, Ren stood in shock, and Yashiro sat very still trying not to be noticed. Ren crossed his arms again as he thought about the possibilities.
"Ok. That makes good sense. So why are we going?" He waves his hand between himself and his manager. Catherine sat up and gave him a horrified expression and gasp. She placed her hand dramatically on her chest, fingers spread and elbow stuck out in obviously faked shock.
"You mean to tell me that you would let two ladies go to such a function unattended?" Catherine grasped the back of the chair with the fingers tips of her left hand and leaned back pulling against it, raising the back of her right hand to her forehead in a faked swoon pose. "Who knows what kind of nardowells and rapscallions two defenseless girls may encounter while alone." Kyoko giggled at her manager's over acting. Ren could not help but smiled at the over dramatic woman. Yashiro watched the show with delight. Catherine dropped her hand from her head to the back of the chair and leaned back more. "Personally I would prefer to have a knight by my side then wind up as a damsel in distress. How about you, Kyoko-chan?" Catherine turned her eyes to see the younger woman blushing furiously at the thought of her respected senpai as a knight. "But seriously." Catherine dropped the act and turned to the tall man. "Takarada-san thought it would be best if we were accompanied by someone. Since I didn't know anyone else in Japan, your names were chosen." Ren looked skeptical at the information. He was sure the president had plan this to get him and Kyoko together, but he could see the point being made. It would be wrong to let the two ladies go unescorted. He blew out his breath in defeat, the president won this round.
"I see your point." Ren shook his head as he stood up. "I assume that all the arrangements have been already made?" Catherine nodded. "Then, I would be happy to accompany Mogami-san to this function tomorrow." At that moment a loud squee issued from Yashiro as his fan girl mode kicked in. Kyoko also issued a string of refusals to this idea. How could she presume to take her respected senpai away from his work? Ren smiled brightly at the pair. This brought them both to a screeching halt. "Now Mogami-san, if you don't want me along, I will not come. But Saunders-san is right. It would be improper for me to neglect ladies in need." Kyoko blanched at this idea.
"No. It's not that I don't want you to come," Kyoko rambled on before she realized what she was saying. "It's just that…" then her words sunk in. She tried to correct her statement. "It not that I want you to come, it's just that I'm not opposed to you going, I mean if you want to come, your company would be welcomed…" Kyoko rambled on digging herself in deeper with each passing word. Ren smiled softly while she turned redder and redder as she went on. Ren cleared his throat. Kyoko stopped and looked up at him.
"Mogami-san, Kat-san has already made arrangements for this function." Catherine nodded at his statement. "Do you want her hard work to go to waste?" The blush drained from her face as she turned to look at her manager. Catherine tilted her head and smiled sweetly at her.
"Of course not! But…" Kyoko began only to be cut off by Ren.
"Then there is no need for discussion." Ren started to gather his things to leave. He turned to Yashiro. "Do you have a new schedule for tomorrow?"
"The president should be emailing him your schedule this evening." Catherine answered before Yashiro could respond. The men both looked at her. "There will be a limo to take us over from LME. I don't know what time they will pick us up yet, but I will let Yashiro-san know as soon as I have that information."
"Alright." Ren held his script and keys ready to go. Yashiro stood and gathered his things into his bag. Kyoko stood and held the invitation out for Catherine to take. Catherine took the paper and returned it to her pocket before popping up from the chair and swinging it back to the counter. "We will see you tomorrow then." Farewells were made and the party separated to continue with the rest of their day.
Ren was quite as he made his way to the car. He was both happy and pissed about the whole affair. He was going to spend an entire evening with his heart's desire, but it would have been nice to have been in on the planning. He was going to have to give that crazy man a piece of his mind the next time he saw him. He sighed in defeat. He could not stay mad at Lory for giving him this opportunity. Once the car was safely on its way, Ren glanced at his manager working on his schedule.
"You went shopping with her for tomorrow?" Yashiro pulled his head out of his planer and nodded at Ren.
"Don't worry." Yashiro closed the book. His eyes lit up as he slipped into fan girl mode "She will look absolutely amazing!" Ren chuckled lightly at his manager's antics.
"You know, he set you up with Saunders-san." Ren poked. Yashiro sobered up slightly at his words. His hand dropped to his coat pocket.
"Tomorrow is definitely going to be an interesting day." A hint of a smile curled the corners of Yashiro's lips.