"Tell me Elena, does anybody really know you?" says Rick.

There is a moment of silence following these words that is like a frozen tableau. Nobody moves. They are mesmerized waiting for the next words from Elena.

Then Director Hyuga gets up with a jerk. His chair creaks and the sound seems obscenely loud in the silence.

"Okay, so that was good," he says. "There is obvious chemistry between you that I can use. But the scene has way too many words and too much dialogue. You two are best at communicating without words."

All of that is delivered as the director walks over to the two seated at the table. He walks past them and turns around.

"How about this time you," he says pointing to Rick. "Walk in and just sit down. Let's have Elena recognize you without words. Rick waits till that happens to begin speaking."

Except for the director who had been walking around energized throughout his soliloquy and "Rick" and "Elena" who had turned to listen to him, nobody has moved. They are all still frozen. Hyuga looks at them and gets annoyed that no one has moved. He is about to yell at them when the door opens wide.

"How about you hire my actors, a good camera crew, book an actual cafe location before doing multiple takes of the scene?" comes a voice from the door.

Lory Takarada walks in without his retinue for a change but still dressed in sequined clothes, sideburns and hairstyle a la Elvis.

"President!" 'Rick' and Kyoko get up.

Hyuga looks at the two of them and then at Lory and making the connection, sighs.

'Both these jokers are from LME?' he thinks. 'Give me a break!'

Lory, Hyuga, 'Rick' and Kyoko are in a room. Hyuga and Lory are sitting opposite each other

"Let me get straight to the point," Lory says. "This slightly overweight bearded person is actually Tsuruga Ren."

Both Kyoko and Hyuga do a double-take and stare at Rick/Ren, who grins back sheepishly.

Hyuga thinks back trying to square the person in front of him to the Tsuruga Ren who had dominated the entertainment industry three or so years ago. 'I actually used to have a crush on him,' he thinks. 'Never had the chance to direct him. But this fellow here? He does have the acting chops to stand at Ren's level but looks are heaven and hell apart. Tsuruga Ren would not ever give a homely smile as this fellow is giving. Somehow I feel more comfortable thinking of him as Rick.'

Internally Kyoko is dumbstruck. Not at Ren but at the president. Of course, she had figured out it was Ren. 'But what is the president thinking? Telling the director the secret? Now I have to go back to acting like we are not married again.' She sighs inwardly. She can do it of course but it is such a pain.

"Also," continues Lory. "These two jokers are married to each other and have been for about five years now."

This time the whole room except Lory is stunned. He does not turn to meet either of the actors, still looking calmly at Director Hyuga.

"Why are you telling me this?" asks the director finally.

"Because I promised them that I would find a way for them to keep their marriage and their career intact."

"What does this have to do with me? Are you seeking to jeopardize my TV show for this purpose?" Hyuga glares at Lory. 'This is why I don't work with these big agencies.' he thinks. 'Always pushing their own agenda at the expense of the little guy.'

"Absolutely not," replies Lory. "Quite the contrary."

Kyoko is on her way to the airport to pick up Shin. The discussion with the director, the president, and Ren had been exhausting. So many details to iron out. She leans back and closes her eyes and unbidden portly Rick's image comes to mind. She smiles and then wonders, "Should I think of him as Rick or as Rain?" Rain Heel is the new stage name given to Tsuruga Ren. His backstory would be that he is a cousin of Cain and Setsuka Heel who has moved from the UK to Japan to enter the acting industry. If anybody finds him even the slightest bit familiar, they could point to the BJ role and Cain Heel and say "must be because of that."

"REN IS ALSO THIS CRAZY-LOOKING CHAP?!" Director Hyuga had exclaimed, bringing up the BJ images on his phone.

Kyoko smiles once more remembering that. She had not ventured that Setsuka Heel - the crazy-looking chap's crazy-looking sister had been her. She stares out the window at the highrise buildings on the road. The 'Mirror project' activities have made them quite late and now they have caught the rush hour in Tokyo and stuck in traffic.

'When I am Elena, I will think of him as Rick. When I am actress Kyoko, I will think of him as Rain. When it is just the two of us, however rare that might be, I will think of him as Ren.'

Having decided that, she relaxes. Only a frightening actress like Kyoko would relax after deciding something so complicated.

Just then, the phone rings. She picks up and it is Ren.

"Are you angry that I hid the fact that I would be auditioning?" he asks.

"No. It was always the plan," she replies.

"The plan?"

"For your comeback. I had tasked Shin to write the story for your comeback when I sent him on his train tour."

There is a pause which makes Kyoko nervous.

"Are you angry with me?"

"No. Just surprised. Still forget sometimes that you are a frightening actress."

Kyoko laughs.

She had always wanted Ren to come back to acting. It is what he loved the most. Three years break did not matter. Once an actor, always an actor. She had not given Shin any more guidance except to say, write a story script for Ren's comeback and had not thought to be a part of it. Lory Takarada, however, had his own plans. Upon reading the initial drafts of the script, he had called on Director Hyuga and Kyoko to arrange for both of them to be part of the project.

"It will be a great honor to act beside you once more Tsuruga Senpai!" Kyoko says. Her ability to change her voice and inflection is so good that Ren is thrown years back to when Kyoko had just started acting. His feelings rush through their shared history of ups and downs but he responds with equanimity, "You are the Senpai now, Mogami-san."

Kyoko almost drops the phone. She quickly recovers and says, "Still to be only able to see you when acting and to pretend I don't know you. It's going to be hard."

"It's only for a short while." the voice on the phone returns.

"Yes! Let us do our best!"