Here is the next chapter.
Note: I do not own Skip Beat!
Catherine had left the group and made her way out of the ballroom. Her heart was still beating erratically and she just needed a few minutes away so she could sort out her thoughts. It was a surprisingly long walk down the hall to where the restrooms were positioned. A few minutes in the restroom found her standing at the sink drying her hands. She kept looking at her loose hair. The tightness of the original wrap had caused it to curl and fall in dramatic waves. She contemplated letting it hang before deciding to fix it. She was just getting the pin set when a pair of ladies walked into the room. Catherine was hidden in a small alcove, so they did not see her.
"Did you see those two dancing the tango?" their voices echoed in the room.
"Which ones?" Another voice answered back. "The girl in the dark blue or the one in red?"
"The one in blue." The first voice answered. "Weren't they just amazing."
"Yes, I wish I could dance like that. And did you see the guy she was with."
"Oh my god! He was hot. I wish he was my boyfriend." Both of the girls giggled.
"Did you see the way he held her at the end of the dance? They looked so perfect together." Catherine quickly collected her things and left. She could not stand to hear anymore. She paused when she entered the hallway. She should go back, but the girl's talk had set her mind reeling again. She turned to the open door at the other end of the hall and stepped out on the terrace for some fresh air. She was sure Kyoko was safe with the two men to guard her for a few more minutes.
When the two girls stepped out of the restroom, the man that they had been talking about was standing in front of the door. They both blushed when he addressed them.
"Excuse me, is there anyone else in there?" Yashiro asked, "I am looking for my date." The two girls giggled at his confused look. He did not know what he had done to cause such a reaction.
"Um, was she wearing a long blue dress?" One of the girls asked him. Yashiro confirmed this and the girl continued. "She left a few minutes ago." He thanked them and was about to go back to the ballroom when Kyoko and Ren came down the hall. The two girls squealed when they recognized the tall actor. Ren ignored them as he questioned his manager.
"Did you find her?" Yashiro shook his head in reply.
"These two," he indicated the excited girls, "said that she left here a few minutes ago." Ren looked at them for conformation. The two girls nodded vigorously. Ren smiled brightly and thanked them both for their help. The two girls giggled off down the corridor. They were yammering excitedly about meeting both the hot guy from the dance floor and Japan's most desirable man. Ren turned back to the problem at hand. "She could not have gone too far." Yashiro pulled the conversation back to the missing woman. "Why don't you two go check the refreshment table and the ballroom? We might have missed her on the way back." He suggested he turned to look at the open door at the other end of the hall. 'Surly she would not have gone outside.' He thought to himself. "I will check to see if she is out on the terrace. Let's meet back here." Everyone agreed and they went their separate ways to find the absent woman.
Ren followed Kyoko as she led the way into the refreshment table. He scanned the crowd for the blond hair of Kyoko's manager, but did not see it. Kyoko wandered around the area as fast as she could move without running. When she stopped, Ren laid a hand on her shoulder and whispered in her ear.
"It will be alright. I am sure we just missed her." He calmed the girl as anxiety welled in his chest. "She can take care of herself." His words soothed Kyoko, but his worries grew every minute that they searched for the absent woman. After checking the ballroom with no luck, they went back to the hall with the restrooms. Yashiro had not made it back yet, Kyoko turned to check in the restroom leaving Ren standing in the hall. His curiosity pulled him to the open door. He sighed in relief as his eyes landed on the managers standing together by the fountain. His eyes widened as he watched the scene playing out before his eyes. He pulled the small camera from his pockets and took a number of pictures before Kyoko joined him at the door. She followed his line of sight and called out as she saw the woman they were looking for.
Yashiro saw Catherine immediately as he stepped through the door onto the terrace. He turned to call to the actors, but they had already disappeared down the hall. He knew they would be back soon, so he turned his attention to the woman standing in the garden. He made his way past the railing and down the steps before joining her near the large fountain she was admiring.
"Here you are." Catherine had heard him coming so was not surprised when he spoke. She stared at the water as it flowed down the ledges of the fountain.
"I just needed some air." She tried not to think about the words the girls had spoken in the restroom. Yashiro could see that Catherine was conflicted about something, but he did not know how to ask her what was wrong. He watched as she rubbed her hand up and down her arm warming it. He slipped out of his coat as he realized the night air was fairly cool. She was surprised when she felt the warm material drape across her shoulders.
"Is that better?" Yashiro asked as Catherine turned to look at him. She smiled a little and nodded as she pulled the coat closed around her. It was warm and smelled of the man plaguing her heart. The worry drained away from him as he took in her movements the way her hands pulled at the edge of his jacket, the tilt of her head, the bashful smile that graced her lips. He wanted to roll her up and hold her tight. As he drew closer to her, his eyes caught a flash of silver from her bracelet as she pulled the coat a little closer. He had totally forgotten about that during the dinner. "Oh, I have something else for you." Catherine's smile dropped a little as she considered what the man may have for her. Yashiro closed the gap between them and reached into the outside pocket of his coat. "Excuse me." Catherine stood still and watched his movements. He held out the thin chain of woven metal for her to see. She reached her hand out to touch is as she recognized the anklet from the jewelry store.
"Yashiro-san, you shouldn't have." She withdrew her hand from the delicate object. "The bracelet was more than enough."
"I wanted too; you have done a lot for our Kyoko-chan." Yashiro waved her protests away. "Here, let me help you put it on." Yashiro knelt down on one knee in front of her and held out his hands to her. "Give me your foot." Catherine reached out and took one. He placed her right hand on his shoulder for balance as she raised her foot up. Yashiro guided it onto his bent knee and wrapped the cool metal around her ankle. It took him a moment to get it settled into place. He had not noticed how the dress slipped off her leg while he worked. His hands lingered on her ankle as his eyes slip up the limb clear to her thigh where Catherine had placed her left hand to keep the dress from opening completely. His eyes snapped up to her face and he blushed. The dress had split far enough that he could tell that she was, in fact, wearing a garter belt. He was just about ready to act on his impulses when his thoughts were broken by a voice.
"Kat-chan!" Kyoko yelled from the doorway. The couple turned their head to see the young woman making her way down as Ren put something in his pocket. Catherine dropped her leg down so Yashiro could remove himself from the ground. Kyoko bowled into the woman franticly. "We were so worried about you." She cried as Kat-chan wrapped her in a hug.
"I am ok." Catherine patted her on the back to calm her. It was in times like this that Kyoko was more like a child then an adult. Ren watched as his love made a scene of the reunion. Catherine righted the girl after a moment. Kyoko remembered where she was and controlled herself. She looked down at the leg that Yashiro had been holding.
"Is there something wrong with your ankle?" Kyoko bent to get a better look.
"No. Yashiro-san was just helping me with this." Catherine stretched her leg out and pointed her toe so that Kyoko could see the silver metal.
"Ohh." Kyoko admired the anklet as Yashiro looked for anything besides the faces of his companions. Ren was trying to catch his eye, but he was not going to fall for the taller man's teasing. Yashiro cleared his throat to draw the girls away from the object of interested.
"Now that we have all come together, I suggest that we all head back inside." Yashiro looked at his watch. "It is just about time to call it a night. We have work in the morning." The group muttered in agreement and turned to go inside. Catherine and Kyoko lead the way followed by the men. Ren's eyes switched from Catherine in Yashiro's coat to Kyoko in her own short jacket. He wished that she didn't have one so that he could share his with her.
Needing to take out his frustration, Ren pulled the small digital camera out of his pocket and started looking through the pictures. Yashiro recognized the small device and looked at the pictures Ren was flipping through. Ren was holding it at just the right position that Yashiro could get a good look at what was on the screen. His eyes widened at the pictures of the intimate scene. With the angle the pictures were taken, it looked like he was proposing to the woman standing above him. Ren smiled at the blush that burst out over his manager's face. Yashiro could not say anything for fear of drawling attention to Ren's little treasure. Ren turned off the camera and pocketed the item. Yashiro thought furiously to find a way to get the small object from Ren. Not only did it have those incriminating pictures, it also had the pictures of the young actors dancing. He really needed to get that before Catherine saw those last pictures.
Catherine led the way to the front door. She had called the limo as they were walking from the back and it would be there momentarily. The men took up positions next to their ladies so they could help them down the steps and into the car. Most of the photographers from the start of the dinner had left, so there was not a large crowd to transvers when the car arrived. They took up the same seats that they had coming. Yashiro watched as Ren pulled the camera out of his pocket and handed it back to its owner. Yashiro's eyes followed it as she slipped it into the pocket of the coat she was still wearing. He had to get those pictures somehow.