Red Champagne
Usagi-chan
Usagi@lunap.com
http://www.geocities.com/minako_usa
Insert Standard Disclaimer.
Author's Notes: Typically thanks to Eclipse-chan and Minako-chan.
What would I do without you two? Thanks also to everyone who e-mailed
me. It means so much to me! Thanks a bunch!!
Chapter Three
The next morning Usagi was dressed impeccably in a
white designer suit. The short, pencil skirt was designed
to make her legs look long, and it worked very well. The
suit jacket was form fitting and flared slightly over her
hips.
She exited the elevator and headed straight for her
office. She had to catch up on some paper work so she had
decided to take it with her to the rehearsal.
"Miss? Minako left a message saying to get there
as soon as possible. She said something about clothes not
fitting a certain model." Hizashi shrugged and Usagi cursed.
She whirled around and headed straight back down the elevator.
"Minako!" Usagi all but screeched as she entered the
fitting rooms back stage.
"Usa! Thank God your here! Nothing is fitting Mamoru!
Get in there and fix it!" With that, Usagi found herself shoved
into a fitting room. She heard the door slam shut behind her
and was that the sound of a lock clicking...?
Usagi pushed it aside as she stared at Mamoru's
back. With a sigh she turned away to grab a needle, scissors,
pins and some thread.
"What exactly isn't working?" She asked without
looking up.
"Everything. The pants are a bit tight, but I can
cope with that." His voice, was low and husky as he spoke.
"Then why am I here?" She asked, finally looking at
him. Her jaw dropped. The shirt he was supposed to wear
obviously wasn't going to work. It hadn't been intended for
such a built model. It was stretched cross his shoulders,
exposing his muscular torso. He hadn't even been able to button
it up.
"Oh. That isn't going to work." Usagi pried her eyes
from his defined chest and began fumbling through the fabrics
and discarded clothes that were in the room.
"I guess we can.. uhmm..." She mumbled. Mamoru walked
closer to her and gently placed one of his hands over hers.
"Usagi." He said softly, and Usagi froze. Slowly
she lifted her head to look up at him.
"Y..yes?" Her voice caught in her throat. What was
he doing to her?! This wasn't right! Her mind screamed at
her, then, Why not?
"Relax." He murmured then smiled slightly. Usagi nodded
before looking down at the fabrics again, a slight blush staining
her cheeks.
"What if we just left it open then?" She asked finally.
"Do you mind?"
"No." He replied. He had moved across the room and
seated himself on a small stool in the corner. He was watching
her intently as she tried to figure something out with the few
supplies she had.
Usagi crossed the room to stand in front of Mamoru. She
slid her hands around his neck and began trying to adjust the shirt.
he tookseveral measurements and had difficulty measuring across
he width of his shoulders. Usagi was leaning close to him, and
Mamoru quickly shut his eyes. The smell of her was all around
him and he thought was going to go crazy being so close to her.
"I guess I can have another shirt made for you, and I can
try for a new pair of... Are you even listening?" She asked,
snapping him back to reality.
"Sure, yeah." He nodded, but Usagi knew he hadn't been
paying any attention to what she had been saying. Then again,
she herself had been paying very little attention to her words.
She gave a final tug to the collar before reluctantly stepping
away.
"I'll write down your measurements and get one of the
girls to sew it right away. The show is in a matter of days,
so new pants is pushing it." Usagi pushed her hair out of her
face in frustration.
"Okay." Mamoru nodded. Usagi turned away from him
and went to the door. She paused with her hand on the handle.
"I'll send someone in to get the measurements for your
pants." She told him as she turned the handle and opened the door.
Only, it didn't work that way. The door really was locked.
"Minako!" Usagi yelled through the door. "Open the door!"
Mamoru chuckled.
"Don't tell me she really locked us in here." He
stood up and made his way to the door. Sure enough it
was locked.
"That's just like her." Usagi fumed. She was
furious. Nothing was going right, and now Minako had
the gall to lock her in a dressing room?
"Why would she do something like that?" Mamoru
asked looking down at Usagi.
"Because she..." Usagi sighed and leaned her back
against the door before carefully sliding down to sit. "Because."
"That's not much of an answer Usa." Mamoru commented
as he joined her on the floor.
"Don't call me that!" Usagi told him sharply.
Mamoru's eyes widened in surprise, but he nodded.
"This is such a mess." Usagi buried her face in her
knees. Mamoru slowly slid an arm around her, and pulled the
sobbing Usagi close to him.
Usagi slammed her apartment door in her fury. Once
Minako had let them out it had been too late to get any real
work done. Most of the models had already gone home. And worst
of all, the entire time she had to spend with Mamoru was like a
knife in the heart. He looked so much like Yuu, and Usagi
had found herself comparing the two endlessly.
"But they aren't really alike." She whispered to
herself. "They just look a lot alike."
It was true. Yuu was kinder, quieter and seemed softer
than Mamoru. Mamoru was.. Well, Mamoru wasn't like Yuu. He
knew what he wanted in life and would get it. He was charming,
funny, charismatic and very, very sexy. There was an air about
him that seemed to ooze sensuality.
Relaxing in her bathtub, Usagi sighed as she heard her
phone ring. She quickly picked up the waterproof one she kept
in her bathroom and answered.
"Hello?"
"Usa?" It was Minako. "Look, I'm really sorry about
today."
"Right..." Usagi drawled.
"I am! I just spoke to Mamoru and he said that...
He said that you were really upset. I really am sorry."
"Its okay. I know you mean well. I just don't know
Minako! I mean, he's not like Yuu!" Usagi sank into the bubbly
water.
"What do you mean?" Minako asked.
"He's so much like Yuu, but not. I mean they could
pass for twins, but Mamoru's so much more... I dunno... He's
so much more dynamic than Yuu."
"I know what you mean. Yuu was so gentle, Mamoru
is a lot... spicier!" Minako laughed.
"I guess..." Usagi smiled. "I don't know what to
think of him."
"What do you want to think of him?" Minako asked
softly.
"Sometimes, I can feel his eyes on me, and I know he's
watching me so intently. When I turn to look at him, he holds
my gaze for a minute before turning away."
"He likes you, and he wants you to know it."
"Do you really think so?" Usagi asked. "And do I
want this?"
"I don't know, Usa, do you?" Minako asked.
"But he's not Yuu.."
"No, he's not. But Yuu's gone, and no one else
can be him. You can't replace him, but do you want to be
alone forever?"
Usagi let silence fill the phone before she replied,
her voice soft and barely audible.
"No."
Usagi smiled triumphantly as she held up the pair
of black pants. She shoved a curl of hair out of her face
before she stood up and stretched. She had been up all
night, but she finished making the pants for Mamoru.
It was the day of her show, and already Usagi was
exhausted. She yawned before tossing the pants over her
chair. Usagi curled up on the couch, hoping to catch a
few hours of sleep before she absolutely had to be at the
hotel.
It seemed like she had just shut her eyes when the
insistent ringing of her doorbell tore Usagi from her
blissful sleep.
"I'm coming." She muttered as she almost fell of
her couch. Usagi stretched before unlocking her apartment
door and opening it.
"Usagi! We've been worried about you. Why didn't
you answer your phone." Mamoru walked into Usagi's apartment
and glanced around before turning to face Usagi again.
"Huh?" She asked before yawning again.
"Your exhausted. What were you doing?" He asked.
"Sleeping until someone woke me up." She retorted.
"Sleeping? Your show is in half an hour and you
were sleeping?" He asked incredulously.
"Half an hour?" Usagi yelped, grabbing his wrist
to look at his watch. "Oh no! I have to get ready! I need
to shower!"
Usagi flew into her bathroom and Mamoru could hear
the water running. He sighed and collapsed into a chair
to wait for her.
Mamoru saw a pair of black pants hanging over a chair
that sat next to a sewing machine. Tenderness filled his
eyes as he realized she had been up late, all night maybe, to
sew his pants.
Mamoru stood up and picked up the pants. He quickly
discarded his own and pulled on the brand new ones before
picking up the phone on the side table.
"Minako?" He asked, hoping the auto dial button marked
Minako's Cell was accurate.
"Mamoru? How did you get this number?" Minako asked.
"I'm at Usagi's. She's in the shower. She slept in."
"Slept in?! Her show starts in twenty minutes! I want
her here now!" Minako ordered before turning off her phone.
Mamoru sighed and set the receiver back into the cradle.
"Okay, I'm ready! Let's get going!" Usagi practically
fell out of what Mamoru could only assume was her bedroom,
still trying to put her hair up. With a frustrated moan
Usagi let it tumble down her back, still half wet, and
grabbed her purse.
"Hurry up!" Usagi told Mamoru as she glanced up at
him and froze. He was wearing the black pants she had
made, with the blue shirt. The combination was stunning.
"Damn I'm good." Usagi muttered before she slipped
on a pair of shoes and was out the door of her apartment
with Mamoru in tow.
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