Here is the next section. I hop you enjoy it. Let me know if there is anything that needs correcting.
Note: I do not own Skip Beat!
Ren stole a glance at his manager as they sped away from Catherine's apartment. Yashiro pushed his glasses up with a finger before scribbled in his ever-handy schedule book. The call he had received was a revised schedule for Ren's acting job. As he finished writing the information down, Ren cleared this throat to gain his manager's attention. Yashiro looked up from his work to the driver.
"Do you like Catherine?" Ren dropped the question on Yashiro like a bomb. Startled by the sudden directness from his charger, Yashiro froze.
"What?" That short question had been too much for the bespectacled man to process.
"I asked if you liked Catherine." Ren restated his curiosity. Yashiro took a moment to gather his thoughts as he closed the schedule book and stowed it away.
"She is a really nice person and treats Kyoko-chan very well. So yes, I approve of her." Yashiro skirted the answer that Ren was looking for. Ren was not happy with this so he tried again.
"That is not what I asked. Do you LIKE Catherine?" This time Ren left no room for Yashiro to escape his question. Ren stopped at a light and pinned his friend with an intense demanding gaze. Yashiro stammered at the question. He was caught between denying the accusation and admitting that he had feeling forming for the woman. He was saved from Ren's gaze when the light turned green and Ren had to turn his attention back to the road. Yashiro found it easier to think without the weight of Ren's dark eyes pressing him into his seat.
"I don't know if I LIKE her, but I do find her captivation." Yashiro finally admitted after a few minutes of oppressive silence. An evil grin crept onto the actors face as he pressed his manager more.
"Why don't you ask her out?" Ren knew that Yashiro was not seeing anyone currently due to the heavy work load that Ren put on him. He hoped that someone with knowledge of Yashiro's job would be a more understanding partner for the man. Yashiro turned several colors at once upon hearing this suggestion. His heart considered the idea before his rationalities stamped on it. The two halves of his psyche fought over the idea.
'She is a very attractive and pleasant woman. Not to mention strong.' His heart raged.
'Yes, but she is Kyoko-chan's manager. A relationship may get in the way of her work.' His mind countered.
'You have a busy schedule too, so it would not interfere with her job.' His heart pushed.
'True, but she is a foreigner, what if she has to leave to go back?' His mind found the biggest flaw in his hearts plans.
'DINNER! It would not hurt to have dinner with her.' His heart worked hard to convince his mind to accept her.
'True, dinner with her would be nice, but…..' now that his heart and mind agreed on something, they turned to the man driving.
"Alright," Yashiro agreed to Ren's suggestion. "I will ask Kat-chan out on a date if you ask Kyoko-chan out, and not on a double date. You need to take her out to someplace romantic. Just the two of you, with wine and music and flowers." Yashiro returned Ren's scheming grin. Ren clammed up at his manager's suggestion. He would love to ask Kyoko out on a real date, but he was afraid that she would run from him if he showed her his true feelings. Something occurred to the actor that made his smile.
"Ok. It's a deal. I will take Mogami-san out and you have to ask Saunders-san out." Ren would have to finesse it, but he was sure that Kyoko would agree under the pretext of getting the two manager's together. Although she was not a big fan of love herself, she was a fan of seeing other people happy. This time it was Yashiro that fell silent as his emotions ranged from joy and excitement, through horror, and back to happiness then beyond. His favorite daydream was coming true! Ren would ask Kyoko out! But he would have to take her manager out. His heart pounded at the idea of them alone together. His thoughts about the deal that had been struck were interrupted when Ren parked at his apartment so he could retrieve a clean shirt. Yashiro decided that this was going to be a long day.
Catherine stood in the shower with the hot water running over her. The sensation of the near scalding water cascading over her head did a lot to help soothe the headache that was still hanging on. She was feeling a lot better than when Kyoko and her party first came in, but it would be a while still before the ache subsided completely. Catherine had a high pain tolerance and had convinced herself that she would not let this keep her down. She turned the water off before she gave herself a first degree burn and went to get dressed. After pulling on a comfy t-shirt and yoga pants, she went to the kitchen to get things ready for dinner. She paused for a moment in the living room to look at the girl occupying her couch. Having been pulled in completely by the fairy tale, Kyoko clutched one of the couch pillows to her and cried when Buttercup learns that her love was not dead, but disguised as the man she had just pushed down the hill.
"As you wish." Catherine breathed Westley's words of love as she continued into the kitchen. She always loved the simple ways that the main character expresses his love in the movie. Her mind turned over to a more pressing issue. What to cook for dinner? She surveyed the newly stocked kitchen and found that Ren had bought quite a bit for her. She was really going to have to find a way to pay him back. Shaking her head, she pulled out the box of corn muffin mix, an egg, and the milk; and made a Johnny cake in the small cake pan before going and joining Kyoko on the couch for the rest of the movie.
"That was fantastic!" Kyoko uncurled herself as the credits rolled. Catherine agreed and went to pull her cooling cornbread out of the pan. Kyoko followed her, rambling on about the movie and kept repeating Westley's 'As you wish' while Catherine listened, agreeing with the excited girl. Kyoko's rant stopped as she pondered over her manager's actions. Catherine had pulled the cornbread out of the pan and was crumbling it up onto the cookie sheet. "What are you doing?" Kyoko finally asked.
"Getting stuff ready for dinner." Catherine answered. Having finished breaking all the little pieces up, she smoothed the crumbs out as thin as the sheet would allow and set them uncovered on the table.
"Won't it dry out like that?" Kyoko was worried that Catherine would ruin the soft crumbs.
"They need to dry before they can be used to bread the chicken." Catherine reassured the concerned cook. Confusion showed on Kyoko's face. She could not thing of any dish that would use cornbread crumbs as breading for chicken.
"Umm… What are we making?" Finally giving up on trying to puzzle out the menu, Kyoko figured it would be better to ask.
"We need to go shopping for the rest of the stuff, but I'm going to make Chicken Parmesan for everyone." Catherine explained as she washed up and checked to see what she would need. Kyoko froze in disbelief. The same woman that had no food or cookware in her kitchen was going to tackle such a complicated dish! And without a recipe! Having completed her list of things, Catherine turned to her companion and read the expression on her face. She shook her head at Kyoko before adding, "Just because my kitchen is empty does not mean I can't cook." Kyoko broke out of her frozen state and stammered apologies as Catherine led them out to the living room. Catherine calmed the girl and went to get her coat so that the two girls could go to the store to get the needed supplies for dinner.
After an hour, the two women arrived back at Catherine's apartment with a plethora of food. To Kyoko's surprise, the only premade ingredient Catherine got was the spaghetti and some tomato sauce. Some of the items confused her, how did chocolate chips and shorting fit into chicken parmesan? Catherine sorted the ingredients into several piles before turning to Kyoko.
"Ok, I am going to need to start the sauce so that it will be done when the guys get back, you can either hang out here, or we can find another movie for you to watch." Catherine offered Kyoko her choice of entertainment. Having not been exposed too much Italian cooking Kyoko decided to help in the kitchen. "Great! Do you mind if I put on some background music?" Kyoko agreed and Catherine retrieved a laptop from her bedroom. After plugging the electronic devise in at one end of the counter, she pulled up her massive English music library and hit shuffle. "Feel free to look through it and play anything you would like to hear." Kyoko spent several minutes perusing the files as Catherine washed the new baking dish and vegetables.
It was not long till a hearty marinara sauce was simmering while the two girls danced around the room to Catherine's eclectic music collection. Catherine let Kyoko control the music and there were only a few songs that she changer. Kyoko decided that she liked this unexpected side of her manager. She was surprised when Catherine dumped a bunch of ingredients in a bowl and slid it across the table for Kyoko to mix. As the batter came together, Kyoko realized the chocolate chips weren't for dinner, they were for cookies!