Here is the next installment. I hope everyone is having a good time. Please let me know if anything needs fixing.
Note: I don't own Skip Beat!
Catherine followed the host as he went to find someone that could help. After producing the ticket stubs and invitation for the Maître D to look at, the source of the problem was found. Another group at their table has suddenly added an additional person to their list, thus overbooking the table, and somehow, the event coordinator missed this important fact. Catherine sighed as the formal man apologized to her repeatedly. She assured him that it would be ok, and asked if he could arrange another seat for her. She knew it would be impossible to find new seats for all four of them. After some research, a table was found with an empty seat. The event coordinator escorted Catherine to this table and apologized again for the error and inconvenience. Catherine politely accepted the apology and assured her host that it was ok. Once her seat was claimed, she went back to her original group to explain the error. Catherine walked up and placed her hand on the back of Kyoko and Yashiro's chairs. They were politely conversing with the other parties at the table.
"Well, I found out what happened." Catherine spoke softly to her group. They turned to look up at her. "Due to a scheduling error, this table was over booked." Distress crept across the faces of her companions. "They have found me another seat at a nearby table." Kyoko started to protest, but was stopped by the hand Catherine laid on her shoulder. "It's alright." She calmed the upset girl. "I'll be ok. It's only for the dinner." She smiled at Yashiro, "Please watch over Kyoko for me." He wanted to disagree, but the pleading look in Catherine's eyes stopped him. He nodded in agreement. It did not make anyone happy that they were going to be separated, but he knew that it would not do either actor's any good to make a big fuss. Catherine bid them goodbye and made her way back to the table she was going to sit at. Three sets of eyes watched as she went to a table that looked to be filled with a random selection of people. When Catherine approached the table, the man next to her stood up and pulled her chair out for her. She graciously accepted it and sat as he pushed it in. Yashiro felt a twinge of anger at the audacity of the man making eyes at 'his' date. He caught himself and was surprised at the hint of jealousy that was making him mad. He tried to turn his attention to the conversation at hand, but Kyoko and Ren were talking about the female manager's predicament and how it could have happened. Now that they had decided to stay here, they were starting in on the salads in front of them.
Catherine was surprised to learn that the table she had been seated at was an individual's table. There were no groups or couples here. They were either singles that could not bring a date or overflows from other tables. They were all very friendly and introduced themselves to the new comers. She sat between two very handsome men who seemed very interested in her. She could see they were going to spend the rest of the dinner trying to win her affections, so she introduced herself to them in slightly odd and broken Japanese laced with English words in hopes that a langue barrier would discourage them. The man's face on her left slipped slightly when he realized there were going to be communication issues. The man on her right, also the one that had pulled out her chair, smile grew as he slipped into near perfect English.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Ms. Saunders. I am Endo Kazuki." His English was well pronounced and she cursed deep inside and smiled back at him. She switched over to full English.
"I did not think anyone here would speak English. It is a pleasure to meet you Mr. Endo." Catherine put on her best American girl smile. She was hoping she could convince him that she was not worth his effort. Once they heard her speak, everyone was interested in why a foreign girl was by herself at such a function. Endo spent the time translating for the group. Catherine explained that she was here on a cultural exchange for her talent agency and that she was taking care of a Japanese talent. She was very careful to not mention who. They were very interested in what she thought about Japan and how it compared to where she was from. She was polite, yet formal to the group as they chatted. They were only interrupted when the main course was delivered to the table. Endo kept flirting with her through the entire dinner. Catherine would let the comments slid past with a smile. She was not trying to encourage him, but he was not getting the point that she was not interested in his advances. At one point, he even asked her to dance with him during the ball. She politely refused saying that she would need to attend to her charge and that they were only apart due to an error in the seating. He pushed back and she could either shoot him down totally, or respond with a more polite 'we'll see.' He got the 'we'll see' so that she did not have to sit next to him as he sulked.
Kyoko picked over her food as she kept glancing at her friend. She could just see Catherine chatting with people at her table. She seemed to be having a good time, but Kyoko couldn't help but notice Yashiro's bad mood. The man was stabbing his food as he watched the man next to his date hit on her. Kyoko turned her attention back to the smiling woman. After a few moments of close study, it was obvious that the woman was doing everything in her power to distance herself from the man next to her without being rude. He could just hear her bright English words filter through the Japanese conversations around her. Her seat mate, on the other hand, was not taking notice of her attempts to discourage him. He continued talking and trying to touch her through the meal. With ever touch Yashiro's irritation grew a little more. No matter how many times Ren tried to provoke his manager into conversation, his eyes and mind would return to the woman at the other table.
After dinner was done, there was a short speech thanking everyone for their support for the disaster relief and the invitation was sent out for everyone to join the host in the connecting room for the ball. Endo started to invite Catherine to join him when Yashiro appeared behind them. He had been watching the exchange between the two throughout the dinner and could not stand to see the dense man hit on his date one more time.
"Kyoko-chan is waiting for you." He spoke in clean English to the woman sitting in the chair. Endo looked up at the man and then at the two people walking up behind him. He first recognized the face of the tall actor following the shorter auburn haired girl. When his eyes fell on her face, he could see Mio from 'Darkmoon' glaring out at him. They all had been watching Catherine try her best to discourage him without being rude. Catherine genuinely smiled up at her three saviors.
"Yes, of course." She stood up and thanked her dinner companions for their hospitality. She bowed to them and left to join Kyoko who was still glaring at Endo. Yashiro glared at the younger man before turning and following her protectively as she left the table. Endo sat back down at the table with a sigh. He could see that there was no way he was going to get that dance tonight. He could still feel the cold chill generated by the young girl's glare. His dinner companion from the other side of Catherine poked him.
"Did you see who the talent was? That was Kyoko from 'Darkmoon' and 'Box 'R''. That woman must be really important." The man turned to look at the group receding. "They were with Tsuruga Ren and his manager." He laughed at Endo's plight. "Man, you struck out bad tonight!" Endo shook his head and turned so he did not have to watch the amazing woman walk away from him.
Catherine took a deep cleansing breath and let it out in a long sigh. It felt good to be away from that table. Her dinner companions were nice, but the man next to her had been very overbearing. He had spent most of the dinner finding excuses to try to touch her, and she was tired from thwarting his attempts. After he answered her in English, she knew it had been a bad idea to try and fake her way out of conversation with them. Now that she was away from him, it felt like being freed from a cage. Her smile deepened when she reached the safety of her companions.
"Are you ok?" Kyoko asked when Catherine reached her. Catherine nodded.
"It was a lovely dinner." Catherine only slowed slightly when she arrived at her friends. This forced them to turn and head away. "The company was pleasant." Yashiro's eyes bore holes into her back at these false words. He could tell she was not happy about the seating arrangement, so he let the comment go. Kyoko, on the other hand, would not let it slide.
"What are you talking about!" Indignation filled the young woman's voice. "I watch that man hit on you throughout the entire meal." Catherine snickered lightly at the young woman's antics as Kyoko continued. "I was in half a mind to go over there and put him straight." Catherine sighed happily as she took the young woman's arm and patted her gently. Ren fell into step with Yashiro as he watched the two woman convers.
"Calm down there." Catherine soothed the young woman. "No harm was done. Anyway, think about your reputation. How would it look for you to tear into someone in a public place like this?" Kyoko quieted as she rolled the severity of the possible action around in her head. Catherine could feel the anger drain out of her charge. "Now that it is over, let's not think about it again." Catherine led the group into the adjoining room. Ren's eyes soften as he watched the young woman light up at the sight of the massive ballroom. He was slightly disappointed that she was attached to Catherine at the moment, but he could not complain when she turned around and flashed him a heart melting smile before getting lost in her fairytale world. Catherine turned to look at the men following them. Ren's smile was dangerous, but the look that Yashiro was giving her made her blush. He had been turning his anger at the situation over and over in his head and it served to give a rather heated look to his eyes as he stared at the bare skin of the woman walking next to Kyoko. It was this heated look that Catherine caught when he turned towards the man. Their eyes locked for a moment until the strange actions of the young woman next to Catherine broke into their world. Kyoko jumped slightly and blushed at the sudden snap she felt on the back of her leg. To her horror, one of the straps on the garter belt had taken that exact moment to free itself. He placed her hand on her leg were the offending thing was now dangling. Catherine noticed the movement and realized what had just happened before Kyoko could break down. She bowed lightly to the men with them.
"If you will excuse us for a moment," Catherine gathered the shocked girl up. "I think we need to freshen up a bit before the dancing starts." She wheeled Kyoko around and headed her to the restroom before the men could make any comment. The surprised showed on Ren's face as he turned to his stunted manager.
"What was that?" He posed the question to the older man. They continued into the ballroom and out of the walkway.
"No, it couldn't be." Yashiro rolled the possibilities around and could only come to one conclusion. He smiled evilly at Ren, "I think one of the straps on her garter belt just broke." Ren blushed at the image of Kyoko in a garter belt and stockings. His heart raced as he swallowed the saliva that had suddenly appeared in his mouth. This was not helping his self-control any. Kyoko was such an old-fashioned girl; it had to have been Catherine's influence getting her into such an article of clothing. An idea hit Ren and he smiled back to his manager.
"If she got Kyoko into a garter belt, I wonder if Catherine is wearing one too." He knew this was not a very good conversation for a public place, but the look on Yashiro's face was well worth the risk. It was a priceless mix of joy at teasing Ren, horror at the subject topic, curiosity then horror at his own imagination, with a bit of desire mixed in. It ended with a stern face as he tried to hide his thoughts.
"I think we should go and find drinks for when the girls rejoin us." Yashiro decided to find something else to think about before things got more out of hand. Ren chuckled at the sudden change of subject and agreed.