Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Standing in the Night ❯ Standing in the Night (Chapter 4) ( Chapter 4 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: Essence 
Anime/Manga: Sailor Moon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 03.21.2002 | Pages: 4 | Words: 5.8K | Visits: 235 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Sailor Moon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 03.21.2002 | Pages: 4 | Words: 5.8K | Visits: 235 | Status: Work In Progress
Standing in the Night (Chapter 4)
By Essence
Email- Saprians_Water_Reflection@hotmail.com
I'm sorry this has taken forever to come out. I've been suffering from a severe case of writer's block when it comes to this story. Please read in review in the mean time though and hopefully chapter 5 will be out soon.
Songs I recommend for this chapter: None
Standing in the Night
Chapter 4
" Where is Minako going today?"
" She's got that modeling shoot at the mall today. Her new job calls," Darien replied. A cigarette was clenched in his teeth while he watched the bubbly blond skip down the street.
Setsuna turned to look out the window behind her. The shades were drawn casting the room in shadows except for the little slits of light across her face.
" She looks happy. I've never seen her this happy in my whole life."
" Mina is always happy. That damn girl lives in some kind of dream land." Darien sat down on the corner of the desk, his profile coming into the light.
" No she's not. It's all an act or a façade, but today she really is happy."
Darien glanced at Setsuna before he turned to look out the window. She was wearing the same yellow sundress from the interviews, her only good dress that wasn't ripped or stained. He had never seen her smile like the way she did today has she ran out the door.
" Maybe she really is happy..." Darien muttered pulling the cigarette from his lips.
* * * * * * *
" That's the last time I ever let you make breakfast for me again," Serena groaned holding her stomach in pain.
" Sorry about the mess and everything, but I promise to clean up when I come over later to make dinner," Molly apologized feeling a little embarrassed.
" Oh no! You are never cooking for me again. If I live through this shoot again it will be a miracle." Serena groaned has another wave of nausea passed through her. " Why does it have to be so hot today?"
" Because it's summer and the summer time is always hot," Molly replied in a matter of fact voice.
Serena didn't answer but instead gave Molly a look before turning and heading off towards the trailers parked nearby.
" What's wrong with her?"
Molly turned around to see Mr. Umino standing next to her, a pair of thick sunglasses covering his eyes. Instantly fire coursed into her cheeks has Molly started blushing bright red.
" She doesn't feel very good. Something to do with the food she ate," Molly replied feeling weak and shaky at his presence so near to her. " So Mr. Umino why are you here today? I didn't think a fashion shoot would interest you."
" I had some free time in the office so I decided to come out and see what's going on," Mr. Umino replied turning to Molly a smile on his face. " Perhaps you would like to show me around since Ms. Tuskino is busy."
The blush on Molly's cheeks burned brighter but she nodded slightly and smiled even though it might have been a little crazed looking.
" Sure I would love to," Molly replied trying to keep her voice calm.
Mr. Umino smiled and offered Molly his arm, which she gladly took, and the two walked off headed in the direction that Serena had gone in earlier.
* * * * * * *
" I don't know how I'm going to make it through the day," Serena groaned sitting back in the chair.
Above her Eric rubbed a damp cloth over her temples, clucking his tongue gently.
" Miss Serena you must remember to eat a high balance diet good for the body and mind. Eating that garbage that you did of course you are going to get sick."
" It wasn't garbage Eric it was a bran muffin, eggs, and bacon with fresh squeezed orange juice. Only problem was that Molly made it, when I found out I had no choice but to eat so not to hurt her feelings," Serena moaned feeling her stomach clench into knots at the thought of food.
" Then I feel your pain Miss Serena, I too have tried Miss Molly's food, and let me say it was a whole day and a half before I felt better," Eric replied dipping the cloth back into a bowl of water and wringing it out.
" A whole day and a half? I don't have that kind of time! I need to be healthy again now!" Serena cried bringing one hand up to her forehead.
" Shush now Miss Serena and let Eric take care of you. Just sit back and relax," Eric crooned gently. He moved her hand and placed the towel back on her forehead patting it down with soft fingers before turning away to continue preparing for the fashion shoot.
* * * * * * *
" Wow look at this! " Minako whispered to herself has she walked into the parking lot.
All around her people walked or ran by. Huge piles of black wires lay on the ground in front of her while some men carried a light into the mall entrance. Near by a group of womyn stood around talking among themselves.
Mina quickly decided they must be models by their looks so she headed over to them to find out where she was to go.
" And did you see the thighs on her assistant. Talk about diet!" One girl laughed cruelly flipping her red hair over one shoulder.
" Excuse me, can you help me," Mina asked coming up to the womyn and smiling sweetly at them.
The three stopped their conversation and turned to her.
" Can we help you?" The red haired womyn asked in an annoyed tone.
" Hi, I'm a little new to this whole photo shoot business so I was just wondering where I'm supposed to report in," Mina replied pulling out the blue folder Miss Tuskino had given her.
" What are you a model?" Another girl spoke up, her dark black hair fell in front of almond shape brown eyes.
" Uh, yes I am. I'm Minako Anio," Mina replied holding out one hand to the Asian girl.
The Asian girl just gave her a look and turned away.
" You have to be kidding with that crap about you being one of us. I don't think Miss Tuskino would ever let such a sorry excuse for a human model in her fashion shoot." The red haired girl laughed, her words laced with cruelty.
" Yea, why don't you go back to your old job at the whore house or something slut. This kind of place is all wrong for you." The Asian girl laughed in agreement giving her a once over look.
" Hey girls give her a break. She's new to this, be kind." The third girl finally spoke up.
" And who are you to talk Whitney? You heard what they said about this one. She's nothing but a white trash slut." The red haired one glared at Whitney before turning her glare on Minako.
By now Mina could feel the anger inside her rise. One hand started to close into a fist ready to go sailing into red's noise, but Whitney stopped her before it could.
" Come on, I'll show you where to go," Whitney replied brushing past red and taking Mina's arm.
" Hmph looks like the dummies are sticking together," the Asian girl scoffed putting one hand on her hips.
" Fuck off Vicky," Whitney replied flicking off the Asian girl.
Then she and Minako walked off leaving behind two very pissed off girls. Mina looked behind her then looked over at the girl next to her. Whitney was about the same height only a little taller then her with dark chocolate brown skin and short curly black hair.
" Hey I'm really sorry for the attitude they gave you back there," Whitney said breaking the silence between them.
" That's okay I guess didn't really expect it though," Mina replied looking behind her again to see that Vicky and red walking off in the opposite direction.
" Everyone has heard some rumor that you're a prostitute and of course Vicky and Melissa went off on it. They're not used to someone not of their league."
" What? You mean someone who isn't a total bitch like they are," Mina scoffed.
Whitney just smiled and nodded her head.
" I think your going to fit in fine here."
" If Melissa and Vicky drop dead then I think I will learn to love it," Mina replied looking around them has they entered a row of trailers.
" I don't there is much of a chance for that. They'll be in the shoot too, along with four other girls that I haven't met yet."
" And if they are like Vicky and Melissa I would say I'm screwed." Mina could feel herself grow comfortable with this girl who was a lot nicer then the other two.
" I don't think so, no one is like those two." Whitney stopped in front of a trailer and pulled open the door ushering Mina inside before she stepped in too.
* * * * * * *
" Hey Serena there you are!" Molly called waving to her friend.
Serena turned around to see Molly running towards her, Mr. Umnio in tow behind.
" Oh Serena how do you feel? I was so worried when we couldn't find you," Molly asked coming to a halt in front of her.
" A lot better Molly, just still a little queasy that is all," Serena replied smiling at her friend before turning to her boss. " Mr. Umino what are you doing here? I thought you had a golf game scheduled for today?"
" Well yes I did, but it was canceled so I decided to come to the shoot and Molly here offered to show me around," Mr. Umino replied straightening his shirt.
" Molly?" Serena mouthed to her friend so Mr. Umino couldn't see.
" Yes well...Serena did you see that the models are arriving? I saw the blond one we talked about over by the hair trailer with Whitney," Molly replied blushing bright red.
" Oh good, I think I'll go talk to them so you and Mr. Umino can be alone," Serena replied slyly. " So, yes I'll see both of you later, bye!" She called walking off before Molly could give her the evil eye.
* * * * * * *
" So Miss Tuskino is the lady in charge of everything for this shoot?" Mina asked turning to Whitney.
Whitney just nodded slightly has man with short blond hair rubbed some styling gel into her hair.
" She's the blond lady you met when you first got the job. She will be here today, but I haven't seen her yet. Everyone loves her, they say she's a real doll but she's kind of sad."
" What do you mean by sad?" Mina winced slightly has the girl with black and blue hair brushed at a tangle in her hair.
" I don't know, she just seems to have this air of sadness around her all the time. Like she is lonely and doesn't know where to turn to. I heard that Miss Tuskino used to model but then something happened to her and she quit. Now she works to promote models and create ad campaigns."
" I don't think she looks all that sad, when I met her she seemed pretty nice," Mina replied turning to look at Whitney only to have her head turned back by the stylist.
" Watch her sometime when she's not looking at you. You'll see it, the sadness in her eyes, like she is truly alone in a crowd." Whitney closed her eyes then opened them again. The brown orbs looking up at the ceiling while her hair was braided into tiny rows of braids.
Mina said nothing, she wanted to think about this. About Miss Serena and what had happened that made her quit modeling.
' I know if I was her I would have never quit.'
Mina winced again has the girl with blue and black hair begin to pin strands of hair up on top of her head.
* * * * * * *
" Three down, three more to go," Serena sighed stepping out of a trailer and closing the door behind her. The meeting with Melissa, Vicky, and Alexis had gone better then Serena expected. Serena was sure that they were good models but she wasn't to sure about Courtney and Vicky's attitudes.
Already that morning she had been forced to solve a fight between a wardrobe assistant and Melissa. Thankfully they were now in make up getting themselves done up.
" At least it will keep them busy for awhile," Serena muttered has she walked over to the next trailer in line and opened the door.
Inside the starchy scent of clothes filled the air assailing her nose. Three girls dressed in t-shirts and jeans were rummaging through racks of clothes pulling out things here and there and judging them with critical eyes.
Standing near them but more out of the way was a tall African American girl with braided cornrows in her hair. She self-consciously chewed on her bottom lip while rocking on her feet and watching the wardrobe girl's work.
" Whitney Asling?" Serena asked walking up to the girl and smiling warmly.
Whitney turned to look at Serena, her brown eyes lighting up has she smiled and stuck out one hand to shake Serena's.
" Good Morning Miss Tuskino."
" Good morning Whitney. Are you waiting for wardrobe?" Serena asked shaking Whitney's hand then letting go of it to consult her clipboard.
" Yea wardrobe and Minako, she's getting changed right now," Whitney replied crossing her arms over her chest and turning to the curtained off area in the back of the trailer.
" Alright well I guess I can wait to tell you both about we will be doing then. In the mean time I wanted to talk to you about what I want you to do," Serena turned to a page of notes on the board and pulled out a pen from behind her ear.
" I'm listening," Whitney replied nodding her head.
" Well I was thinking that we could do a few solo shots of you at the music store listening to headphones and browsing through CDs. Your info said that you liked music especially classical and hip hop so I thought we could touch upon both of those."
" So you mean pictures of me bobbing my head to a song on the headphones, me reading a CD cover and stuff like that?" Whitney asked cocking her head to the side slightly.
" In a nut shell, yes. What do you think?" Serena clicked the pen shut and slipped it into the clipboard.
" I like it," Whitney replied grinning at Serena with genuine enthusiasm.
" Wonderful, I was hoping you would since I thought we could do something like that will all the other girls too, except what they will do will fit to their personas."
" Sounds good." Whitney turned back to the curtains, which had opened up to allow Minako to step out. One hand still held on the white cotton cloth while the other tugged at the black wool skirt she wore. Straightening out a wrinkle in the cloth, cornflower blue eyes were raised to look at the two ladies watching her.
" Well what do you think?" Mina asked walking out of the dressing room and facing them.
" Wow Mina you look great," Whitney whistled and looked her over head to toe.
Mina grinned happily and twirled around, the white sleeves fluttering slightly with her movements. The anxious air from a few moments ago was gone replaced by a happy cheerful Minako.
" Do you like it?" She asked stopping to face the two ladies and struck a pose.
" I do, you look great," Whitney replied giving her a thumbs up while Serena smiled politely.
" The wardrobe ladies have done a fine job dressing you Minako, the clothes are perfect for the mood I want to set."
" Do you mean fun and flirty?" Whitney asked nodding her towards Minako whom was now looking at herself in a full-length mirror.
" Yes, exactly," Serena replied smiling at Mina's obvious enthusiasm.
Mina whirled around trying to see every angle of her self in the mirror. Her blond hair was pulled up into a loose bun, a few pieces falling loose in soft curls around her face. A white button down silk shirt with a black velvet vest over that and a black knee length skirt made of wool. Mina stuck out on foot and struck a pose running her eyes from head to toe, over the knee length boots just touching the skirt edge to the small pearl buttons on her shirt.
" That's a Susan Vie original you are wearing Minako," Serena said gesturing to the clothes Mina wore. " What do you think of it?"
" I've never worn a Susan Vie before, but I have to say," Mina turned around and clasped her hands together. " That I love it!"
Serena smiled happily at Mina's enthusiasm on the outfit.
" Well I'm glad you do, it seems the outfit really was made for you."
" It's much more conservative then what I usually wear. If the girls saw me in something like this they would laugh me right out of the house." Mina turned back to the mirror and struck another pose.
" Girls?" Serena repeated a puzzled look on her face.
" Yea, you know, the girls. They work with me at Setsuna's place. Man if they ever saw me dressing like some kind of rich stuck up fancy womyn they would kick my ass." Mina ran one hand over the silk sleeve of her shirt then turned back to Serena. " So where do I go next?"
" Um, you still need to go to make up and get fixed up. Would you like to wait for Whitney or go ahead?" Serena replied breaking out of her thoughts and looking at her clipboard.
Mina was quick to answer Serena's question. " I will stay here and wait for Whitney, I'm just dying to see what she gets to wear."
" Alright, well then I think I'll go ahead and make sure everything is set for the shoot. When you are done with make up report to the first area we'll be shooting in. I should be around there," Serena replied tucking her clipboard under one arm and giving one last smile to Mina before walking out of the trailer back into the sunshine.
" Setsuna's place?" Serena mummered looking behind her at the closed door before walking off towards the mall in the distance.
* * * * * * *
" Hey there hot stuff!" Whitney grinned and pretended to ogle Mina.
Mina just laughed and stuck one hand on her hip and gave Whitney a dirty look.
" Excuse me but this is a no ogling zone, so get them dirty eyes away from this angel!" Mina replied in a snotty voice before breaking down into giggles.
" Well sorry but I do have to say you look good, ready for the shoot?" Whitney asked running her hand over the stubby braids on top of her head.
" I guess so, I'm a little nervous though," Mina looked up at the mall building ahead of them were a couple of burly looking men carrying wires and equipment were walking in.
" Don't be," Whitney walked up and linked her arm through Mina's. " You are going to do great, I know it."
Mina smiled at the girl next to her. " You know it really helps to have someone encouraging me today, Darien wasn't very interested in the fact that I go the job. He told me it was nothing but a waste of my time hanging out with rich stuck up folk, but I don't care since I'm having fun and that's what counts."
" Well I'm not Darien, and I don't care what he thinks. I know you are going to do great. Now come on, lets go in and get this started." Whitney replied meeting Minako's gaze with her own then begin walking toward the mall, dragging Minako with her.
* * * * * * *
" Girls this Mario Bentolinni, he will be in charge of photographing the shoot today." Serena gestured one slim hand over to the tall man behind her fiddling with his camera on the table.
" Oh come on baby, you will accept the film or do you make me cry with impatience?" Mario muttered before he realized he was being introduced. With a quick spin around a smile spread on his breaded face.
" Ah good morning ladies! I was just fighting Trisha here," Mario held up a small black camera with film half hanging out of it. " She seems to be having a hissy fit this morning." Mario gave the camera a sad look; his full bottom lip pouting out slightly while Vicky and Melissa laughed to themselves.
" Who is this guy? He's like totally out his mind," Vicky whispered transferring her weight to one leg and eyeing Mario cynically.
" Well, anyway while Mario works with the camera, I guess we can go over the itinerary for today." Serena pulled out her clipboard and flipped through some pages, smoothing out the extra ones over the edge. " Has you know Mario will be in charge of the shoot, he will direct posing and picture angles. I'm sure all of you met Candy the make up artist. She will be in charge of make up, running in between shots to fix up any make up problems so just don't mind her."
A blond girl wearing a Love Hina shirt smiled and waved a large makeup brush in the air. Vicky and Melissa snickered and made some comments on the state of Candy's hair. The other models near to them exchanged looks and rolled their eyes.
" And Eric will be doing your hair, I know none of you have met him yet since his assistants worked with all of you today. Basically Eric is our head stylist so he will be working Candy to make sure you all look beautiful."
Eric smiled and waved at the girls, his black T-shirt shifting to revel well-developed muscles. All the girls smiled and stood up a little straighter, their eyes falling upon Eric.
" Now the basic idea of the shoot is that you all will be shopping at the mall. You are friends, so you need to look like your having a good time. Going through clothing racks, listening to CD's in the music store, trying on shoes, etc." Serena looked up and let the pages fall back in place. " We're doing this ad for a fashion catalogue advertising this mall and even more specifically some on the stores in it. So we really need you to be cheerful and look happy to show the readers that shopping here is a lot of fun. Now we'll work on the shoot for about 2 hours at least until 1pm then we'll break for lunch and meet after wards to work on this afternoon's shoot. Any questions?" Serena smiled and allowed her eyes to wander over the small group of models.
" Uh yea I have one," Mina replied raising her hand slightly.
" Yes Minako?"
" I was just wondering if we get to choose our poses and such like those girls on TV who just kind of walk through the shoot while the photographer takes pictures."
Vicky and Melissa snickered loudly while the other girls smiled and looked away. Even Serena cracked a small smile before she quickly wiped it off her face and tried to look serious again.
" Well that is up to Mario Minako, he will be in charge of the photo shoot. Now are there any other questions?"
" Yea I have one. Why did you choose such an amateur to be in this shoot with professional models like us?" Vicky asked throwing a nasty look at Mina.
" Oh shut that hole in your mouth Vicky," Whitney replied crossing her arms in front of her chest.
Mina blushed bright red at the question, she knew Vicky was talking about her. Anger came to life and slowly started to rush through her veins, but Serena was quick to end any hostilities before they started.
" Vicky I would appreciate if you did not make such comments while working in this shoot. The discussions I make are none of your business, I chose her because she has the qualities of a real model," Serena's voice was frosty has she made eye contact with Vicky.
Behind her Eric coughed and tried to hide a grin, he knew not to mess with Serena when she was like that. Vicky was in for some serious trouble if she didn't calm the attitude problem.
" I got it!" Mario turned around holding up his camera in both hands. " Trish loves me! She works and now we may begin!"
" Wonderful!" Serena's cheerful attitude returned immediately. " Well girls I will leave you with Mario now, good luck and have fun!" Serena smiled at Mina before turning and walking away, her pink heels clicking on the tiled floor.
" Someone should tell her she's a bitch," Vicky whispered has soon has Serena was out hearing.
" And some should tell you that you are a bigger one," The tall girl with curly brown hair standing behind Vicky and Melissa replied.
The two girls turned around and shot the tall girl dirty looks, but didn't say anything since Mario was now talking.
" Now girls we begin! We begin with the shoot!" Mario clapped his hands and waved them in the air. " We will start in entrance, you girls will walk in laughing and being cheerful! You are friends so you must act like it!"
" I think someone had to much caffeine today," Whitney whispered to Mina.
" Now we go, to the entrance and we get into group, big group of girls laughing and talking!" Mario brushed past the girls to the entrance. " Come now follow me and I will set you up!"
Thus Mina'a day begin, the shoot was harder then she thought. They constantly had to walk in and out of the mall till Mario got the perfect shot even though he got 50 other ones before that.
Lunch was short, to short in Mina's opinion and not filling enough. The girls only were allowed a small salad with out dressing and bottled water before they rushed back into the mall for an afternoon of shopping. Actually they were supposed to be pretending to shop. Mina's were most moment of the day came when she was put into a shot where she was holding up a teal green dress for a girl with red frizzy hair. Mario must have taken a thousand pictures of the two in the same pose but he was never satisfied. Finally when Mina was beginning to think her arm was going to fall off he took the perfect picture and moved on to another pose.
It wasn't till 5pm that she walked out of the clothing trailer dressed in her yellow sundress; hair still pulled up in a bun. She was tired and achy all over, but these pains were nothing compared to the happiness in her heart. Even though Vicky and Melissa were hateful and mean, this was something Mina definitely wanted to do forever.
" Minako!"
Mina looked behind her to see Serena running up, a garment bag draped over one arm.
" Did you want me for something?" Mina asked as Serena came to a stop in front of her.
" No, well actually yes. I want to give you this," Serena held out the garment bag. " And I want you to know that I think you did a wonderful job for your first day."
" Really? Thanks!" Mina replied taking the garment bag into her hands. " What's this for?"
" Open it," Serena replied, a mysterious twinkle in her eyes.
Mina gave Serena a puzzled look before un-zipping the zipper and peeking inside.
" Oh my gosh! It's the outfit I wore today!" Mina gasped pulling out one silk sleeve.
" Yes it is, I thought you might like to keep it," Serena replied rocking slightly on her heels.
" You mean I get to keep the clothes?" Mina looked at Serena with complete shock.
" Well not all of them, but you do get to keep a few. The outfit you wore today is in there along with a few other ones. They're just choice pieces that were taking up room in wardrobe department any ways."
" I- I don't know what to say, this so nice of you," Mina looked at the clothes inside the bag before looking up at Serena. " I guess I can only say thank you."
" It works," Serena laughed in reply has a red sports car zoomed up behind Mina.
Mina looked behind her and smiled, waving one hand at the man behind the tinted glass window.
" Well my rides here so I better get going, but thank you again Miss Tuskino for the clothes and everything."
" Your welcome Minako, I'll see you tomorrow bright and early right here for anther hard day of work."
" Right, another day of hard work," Mina gave her arms a sad look. " They still hurt from all the torture of holding up that dress for so long."
Serena laughed and put her arms behind her back. " That's nothing, when I used to model I had to do a shoot in the winter wearing only a white summer dress. My arms were completely bare and it was 30 degrees out that day too. I nearly froze before the shoot was over."
" A summer dress in 30 degree weather? Makes me glad I only had to hold up a dress for an hour." Mina rubbed her arms, almost feeling the cold air brushing them at the thought.
" Yes and it was horrible, it was a wonder I didn't develop hypothermia after that shoot," Serena replied.
" Hypo- what?" Mina asked.
" Hypothermia, it's a sickness of developed from long exposures to cold. It can cause death if it's serious enough."
" Oh, that's to much for me to remember, I don't take well to that text book stuff." Mina shook her head and took another step backwards toward the car.
" I don't know why I remembered that maybe it's because-"
The sounds of a car horn shrieked through the air, has the driver of the red sports car grew impatient interrupting Serena in mid sentence.
" Opps, I guess Darien is getting impatient, well I'll see you later Miss Tuskino!" Mina waved and turned to run off towards the car.
Serena waved back then stood there watching Mina climb in and shut her door before the car took off; it's tires leaving a track of burning rubber on the pavement.
" I guess he really was impatient," Serena muttered watching the car speed off through the parking lot.
* * * * * * *
" So how was it?" Darien didn't look at the girl next to him but instead kept his eyes on the road.
" It was great, I made a new friend named Whitney, and I got to keep some of the clothes! Miss Tuskino said I could have them," Mina replied stroking the garment bag lying on her lap.
" Miss Tuskino, was she the lady you were talking to forever?" Darien swerved in front of a car and stepped on the gas speeding up to pass another.
" Yea, she's the one in charge of the fashion shoot, she's really sweet and everything. You know she used to be a model too, but she quit for some odd reason." Ina sighed has she thought of her boss.
" Hmm, big deal. She probably quit because she wasn't getting any action. Looks like a damn stuck up prissy bitch."
" Don't say that about her, she's really nice and who knows if she's got a boyfriend. Made she does, no wait I bet she does. Someone has beautiful has her-"
" Spends her Friday nights home alone wishing she had a boyfriend," Darien replied has the car swerved around a corner it's lights flashing over graffiti covered walls.
" I don't know how she spends Friday nights, I didn't really get a chance to talk to her. She was really busy all day running around trying to fix all these problems that kept popping up." Mina tapped her chin with one finger wondering how Miss Tuskino did spend her Friday nights.
" Sounds exciting," Darien replied sarcastically has the car drove up in front of a worn down building and came to a stop.
Mina didn't say anything in reply. Her eyes wandered from the garment bag to the sky, seeing a few stars beginning to show in the night.
" Serena?"
Serena looked away from the stars that begin to appear in the sky. She quickly finished making her wish and smiled at Molly standing behind her.
" Hey Moll I thought you had gone to dinner with Mr. Umino by now!" Serena replied cheerfully.
" Why did you give those clothes to her?"
Serena's eyes widened slightly at Molly's question before she turned away, her back to Molly. Both hands clasped themselves behind her back while azure blue eyes looked up at the sky.
" She's a prostitute Molly. I realized that when she told me she that she worked at Setsuna's place."
" Setsuna's place? What is that?"
" Setsuna's House of Ill Repute and Pleasure, its a brothel or to be distinct a whorehouse."
" Did you know that when you hired her? If anyone finds out this could really look bad for you," Molly replied walking up next to Serena.
" No I did not, I just found out today. I gave her the clothes because of that, she needs them more then some model will, Molly. "Serena looked away from the sky to her friend. " Did you know that she has worn the same yellow sundress to both the interview and today? I hope that the clothes I do give her will come in handy, along with the chance to get out of her current lifestyle."
" So basically your going to turn her into a professional model so she won't have to be a prostitute anymore?"
" In a sense yes, that girls to bright to be working in such a way."
Molly didn't say anything; she just looked at her friend before looking at the stars above them appearing one by one.
" You know what Serena?"
" What?"
" I've decided that I won't make dinner for you tonight." Molly was very serious has she said this but Serena could see the laughter glowing in her eyes.
" Good, because I'm just starting to get over the effects of breakfast."
I'm very sorry this is out so late, I kept working on it bit by bit until finally I sat down one night and wrote out the rest. I hope to have chapter 5 out soon, but in the mean time please read and review or send all comments, questions, suggestions, and flames to Saphrians_Water_Reflection@hotmail.com. Thank you!
By Essence
Email- Saprians_Water_Reflection@hotmail.com
I'm sorry this has taken forever to come out. I've been suffering from a severe case of writer's block when it comes to this story. Please read in review in the mean time though and hopefully chapter 5 will be out soon.
Songs I recommend for this chapter: None
Standing in the Night
Chapter 4
" Where is Minako going today?"
" She's got that modeling shoot at the mall today. Her new job calls," Darien replied. A cigarette was clenched in his teeth while he watched the bubbly blond skip down the street.
Setsuna turned to look out the window behind her. The shades were drawn casting the room in shadows except for the little slits of light across her face.
" She looks happy. I've never seen her this happy in my whole life."
" Mina is always happy. That damn girl lives in some kind of dream land." Darien sat down on the corner of the desk, his profile coming into the light.
" No she's not. It's all an act or a façade, but today she really is happy."
Darien glanced at Setsuna before he turned to look out the window. She was wearing the same yellow sundress from the interviews, her only good dress that wasn't ripped or stained. He had never seen her smile like the way she did today has she ran out the door.
" Maybe she really is happy..." Darien muttered pulling the cigarette from his lips.
* * * * * * *
" That's the last time I ever let you make breakfast for me again," Serena groaned holding her stomach in pain.
" Sorry about the mess and everything, but I promise to clean up when I come over later to make dinner," Molly apologized feeling a little embarrassed.
" Oh no! You are never cooking for me again. If I live through this shoot again it will be a miracle." Serena groaned has another wave of nausea passed through her. " Why does it have to be so hot today?"
" Because it's summer and the summer time is always hot," Molly replied in a matter of fact voice.
Serena didn't answer but instead gave Molly a look before turning and heading off towards the trailers parked nearby.
" What's wrong with her?"
Molly turned around to see Mr. Umino standing next to her, a pair of thick sunglasses covering his eyes. Instantly fire coursed into her cheeks has Molly started blushing bright red.
" She doesn't feel very good. Something to do with the food she ate," Molly replied feeling weak and shaky at his presence so near to her. " So Mr. Umino why are you here today? I didn't think a fashion shoot would interest you."
" I had some free time in the office so I decided to come out and see what's going on," Mr. Umino replied turning to Molly a smile on his face. " Perhaps you would like to show me around since Ms. Tuskino is busy."
The blush on Molly's cheeks burned brighter but she nodded slightly and smiled even though it might have been a little crazed looking.
" Sure I would love to," Molly replied trying to keep her voice calm.
Mr. Umino smiled and offered Molly his arm, which she gladly took, and the two walked off headed in the direction that Serena had gone in earlier.
* * * * * * *
" I don't know how I'm going to make it through the day," Serena groaned sitting back in the chair.
Above her Eric rubbed a damp cloth over her temples, clucking his tongue gently.
" Miss Serena you must remember to eat a high balance diet good for the body and mind. Eating that garbage that you did of course you are going to get sick."
" It wasn't garbage Eric it was a bran muffin, eggs, and bacon with fresh squeezed orange juice. Only problem was that Molly made it, when I found out I had no choice but to eat so not to hurt her feelings," Serena moaned feeling her stomach clench into knots at the thought of food.
" Then I feel your pain Miss Serena, I too have tried Miss Molly's food, and let me say it was a whole day and a half before I felt better," Eric replied dipping the cloth back into a bowl of water and wringing it out.
" A whole day and a half? I don't have that kind of time! I need to be healthy again now!" Serena cried bringing one hand up to her forehead.
" Shush now Miss Serena and let Eric take care of you. Just sit back and relax," Eric crooned gently. He moved her hand and placed the towel back on her forehead patting it down with soft fingers before turning away to continue preparing for the fashion shoot.
* * * * * * *
" Wow look at this! " Minako whispered to herself has she walked into the parking lot.
All around her people walked or ran by. Huge piles of black wires lay on the ground in front of her while some men carried a light into the mall entrance. Near by a group of womyn stood around talking among themselves.
Mina quickly decided they must be models by their looks so she headed over to them to find out where she was to go.
" And did you see the thighs on her assistant. Talk about diet!" One girl laughed cruelly flipping her red hair over one shoulder.
" Excuse me, can you help me," Mina asked coming up to the womyn and smiling sweetly at them.
The three stopped their conversation and turned to her.
" Can we help you?" The red haired womyn asked in an annoyed tone.
" Hi, I'm a little new to this whole photo shoot business so I was just wondering where I'm supposed to report in," Mina replied pulling out the blue folder Miss Tuskino had given her.
" What are you a model?" Another girl spoke up, her dark black hair fell in front of almond shape brown eyes.
" Uh, yes I am. I'm Minako Anio," Mina replied holding out one hand to the Asian girl.
The Asian girl just gave her a look and turned away.
" You have to be kidding with that crap about you being one of us. I don't think Miss Tuskino would ever let such a sorry excuse for a human model in her fashion shoot." The red haired girl laughed, her words laced with cruelty.
" Yea, why don't you go back to your old job at the whore house or something slut. This kind of place is all wrong for you." The Asian girl laughed in agreement giving her a once over look.
" Hey girls give her a break. She's new to this, be kind." The third girl finally spoke up.
" And who are you to talk Whitney? You heard what they said about this one. She's nothing but a white trash slut." The red haired one glared at Whitney before turning her glare on Minako.
By now Mina could feel the anger inside her rise. One hand started to close into a fist ready to go sailing into red's noise, but Whitney stopped her before it could.
" Come on, I'll show you where to go," Whitney replied brushing past red and taking Mina's arm.
" Hmph looks like the dummies are sticking together," the Asian girl scoffed putting one hand on her hips.
" Fuck off Vicky," Whitney replied flicking off the Asian girl.
Then she and Minako walked off leaving behind two very pissed off girls. Mina looked behind her then looked over at the girl next to her. Whitney was about the same height only a little taller then her with dark chocolate brown skin and short curly black hair.
" Hey I'm really sorry for the attitude they gave you back there," Whitney said breaking the silence between them.
" That's okay I guess didn't really expect it though," Mina replied looking behind her again to see that Vicky and red walking off in the opposite direction.
" Everyone has heard some rumor that you're a prostitute and of course Vicky and Melissa went off on it. They're not used to someone not of their league."
" What? You mean someone who isn't a total bitch like they are," Mina scoffed.
Whitney just smiled and nodded her head.
" I think your going to fit in fine here."
" If Melissa and Vicky drop dead then I think I will learn to love it," Mina replied looking around them has they entered a row of trailers.
" I don't there is much of a chance for that. They'll be in the shoot too, along with four other girls that I haven't met yet."
" And if they are like Vicky and Melissa I would say I'm screwed." Mina could feel herself grow comfortable with this girl who was a lot nicer then the other two.
" I don't think so, no one is like those two." Whitney stopped in front of a trailer and pulled open the door ushering Mina inside before she stepped in too.
* * * * * * *
" Hey Serena there you are!" Molly called waving to her friend.
Serena turned around to see Molly running towards her, Mr. Umnio in tow behind.
" Oh Serena how do you feel? I was so worried when we couldn't find you," Molly asked coming to a halt in front of her.
" A lot better Molly, just still a little queasy that is all," Serena replied smiling at her friend before turning to her boss. " Mr. Umino what are you doing here? I thought you had a golf game scheduled for today?"
" Well yes I did, but it was canceled so I decided to come to the shoot and Molly here offered to show me around," Mr. Umino replied straightening his shirt.
" Molly?" Serena mouthed to her friend so Mr. Umino couldn't see.
" Yes well...Serena did you see that the models are arriving? I saw the blond one we talked about over by the hair trailer with Whitney," Molly replied blushing bright red.
" Oh good, I think I'll go talk to them so you and Mr. Umino can be alone," Serena replied slyly. " So, yes I'll see both of you later, bye!" She called walking off before Molly could give her the evil eye.
* * * * * * *
" So Miss Tuskino is the lady in charge of everything for this shoot?" Mina asked turning to Whitney.
Whitney just nodded slightly has man with short blond hair rubbed some styling gel into her hair.
" She's the blond lady you met when you first got the job. She will be here today, but I haven't seen her yet. Everyone loves her, they say she's a real doll but she's kind of sad."
" What do you mean by sad?" Mina winced slightly has the girl with black and blue hair brushed at a tangle in her hair.
" I don't know, she just seems to have this air of sadness around her all the time. Like she is lonely and doesn't know where to turn to. I heard that Miss Tuskino used to model but then something happened to her and she quit. Now she works to promote models and create ad campaigns."
" I don't think she looks all that sad, when I met her she seemed pretty nice," Mina replied turning to look at Whitney only to have her head turned back by the stylist.
" Watch her sometime when she's not looking at you. You'll see it, the sadness in her eyes, like she is truly alone in a crowd." Whitney closed her eyes then opened them again. The brown orbs looking up at the ceiling while her hair was braided into tiny rows of braids.
Mina said nothing, she wanted to think about this. About Miss Serena and what had happened that made her quit modeling.
' I know if I was her I would have never quit.'
Mina winced again has the girl with blue and black hair begin to pin strands of hair up on top of her head.
* * * * * * *
" Three down, three more to go," Serena sighed stepping out of a trailer and closing the door behind her. The meeting with Melissa, Vicky, and Alexis had gone better then Serena expected. Serena was sure that they were good models but she wasn't to sure about Courtney and Vicky's attitudes.
Already that morning she had been forced to solve a fight between a wardrobe assistant and Melissa. Thankfully they were now in make up getting themselves done up.
" At least it will keep them busy for awhile," Serena muttered has she walked over to the next trailer in line and opened the door.
Inside the starchy scent of clothes filled the air assailing her nose. Three girls dressed in t-shirts and jeans were rummaging through racks of clothes pulling out things here and there and judging them with critical eyes.
Standing near them but more out of the way was a tall African American girl with braided cornrows in her hair. She self-consciously chewed on her bottom lip while rocking on her feet and watching the wardrobe girl's work.
" Whitney Asling?" Serena asked walking up to the girl and smiling warmly.
Whitney turned to look at Serena, her brown eyes lighting up has she smiled and stuck out one hand to shake Serena's.
" Good Morning Miss Tuskino."
" Good morning Whitney. Are you waiting for wardrobe?" Serena asked shaking Whitney's hand then letting go of it to consult her clipboard.
" Yea wardrobe and Minako, she's getting changed right now," Whitney replied crossing her arms over her chest and turning to the curtained off area in the back of the trailer.
" Alright well I guess I can wait to tell you both about we will be doing then. In the mean time I wanted to talk to you about what I want you to do," Serena turned to a page of notes on the board and pulled out a pen from behind her ear.
" I'm listening," Whitney replied nodding her head.
" Well I was thinking that we could do a few solo shots of you at the music store listening to headphones and browsing through CDs. Your info said that you liked music especially classical and hip hop so I thought we could touch upon both of those."
" So you mean pictures of me bobbing my head to a song on the headphones, me reading a CD cover and stuff like that?" Whitney asked cocking her head to the side slightly.
" In a nut shell, yes. What do you think?" Serena clicked the pen shut and slipped it into the clipboard.
" I like it," Whitney replied grinning at Serena with genuine enthusiasm.
" Wonderful, I was hoping you would since I thought we could do something like that will all the other girls too, except what they will do will fit to their personas."
" Sounds good." Whitney turned back to the curtains, which had opened up to allow Minako to step out. One hand still held on the white cotton cloth while the other tugged at the black wool skirt she wore. Straightening out a wrinkle in the cloth, cornflower blue eyes were raised to look at the two ladies watching her.
" Well what do you think?" Mina asked walking out of the dressing room and facing them.
" Wow Mina you look great," Whitney whistled and looked her over head to toe.
Mina grinned happily and twirled around, the white sleeves fluttering slightly with her movements. The anxious air from a few moments ago was gone replaced by a happy cheerful Minako.
" Do you like it?" She asked stopping to face the two ladies and struck a pose.
" I do, you look great," Whitney replied giving her a thumbs up while Serena smiled politely.
" The wardrobe ladies have done a fine job dressing you Minako, the clothes are perfect for the mood I want to set."
" Do you mean fun and flirty?" Whitney asked nodding her towards Minako whom was now looking at herself in a full-length mirror.
" Yes, exactly," Serena replied smiling at Mina's obvious enthusiasm.
Mina whirled around trying to see every angle of her self in the mirror. Her blond hair was pulled up into a loose bun, a few pieces falling loose in soft curls around her face. A white button down silk shirt with a black velvet vest over that and a black knee length skirt made of wool. Mina stuck out on foot and struck a pose running her eyes from head to toe, over the knee length boots just touching the skirt edge to the small pearl buttons on her shirt.
" That's a Susan Vie original you are wearing Minako," Serena said gesturing to the clothes Mina wore. " What do you think of it?"
" I've never worn a Susan Vie before, but I have to say," Mina turned around and clasped her hands together. " That I love it!"
Serena smiled happily at Mina's enthusiasm on the outfit.
" Well I'm glad you do, it seems the outfit really was made for you."
" It's much more conservative then what I usually wear. If the girls saw me in something like this they would laugh me right out of the house." Mina turned back to the mirror and struck another pose.
" Girls?" Serena repeated a puzzled look on her face.
" Yea, you know, the girls. They work with me at Setsuna's place. Man if they ever saw me dressing like some kind of rich stuck up fancy womyn they would kick my ass." Mina ran one hand over the silk sleeve of her shirt then turned back to Serena. " So where do I go next?"
" Um, you still need to go to make up and get fixed up. Would you like to wait for Whitney or go ahead?" Serena replied breaking out of her thoughts and looking at her clipboard.
Mina was quick to answer Serena's question. " I will stay here and wait for Whitney, I'm just dying to see what she gets to wear."
" Alright, well then I think I'll go ahead and make sure everything is set for the shoot. When you are done with make up report to the first area we'll be shooting in. I should be around there," Serena replied tucking her clipboard under one arm and giving one last smile to Mina before walking out of the trailer back into the sunshine.
" Setsuna's place?" Serena mummered looking behind her at the closed door before walking off towards the mall in the distance.
* * * * * * *
" Hey there hot stuff!" Whitney grinned and pretended to ogle Mina.
Mina just laughed and stuck one hand on her hip and gave Whitney a dirty look.
" Excuse me but this is a no ogling zone, so get them dirty eyes away from this angel!" Mina replied in a snotty voice before breaking down into giggles.
" Well sorry but I do have to say you look good, ready for the shoot?" Whitney asked running her hand over the stubby braids on top of her head.
" I guess so, I'm a little nervous though," Mina looked up at the mall building ahead of them were a couple of burly looking men carrying wires and equipment were walking in.
" Don't be," Whitney walked up and linked her arm through Mina's. " You are going to do great, I know it."
Mina smiled at the girl next to her. " You know it really helps to have someone encouraging me today, Darien wasn't very interested in the fact that I go the job. He told me it was nothing but a waste of my time hanging out with rich stuck up folk, but I don't care since I'm having fun and that's what counts."
" Well I'm not Darien, and I don't care what he thinks. I know you are going to do great. Now come on, lets go in and get this started." Whitney replied meeting Minako's gaze with her own then begin walking toward the mall, dragging Minako with her.
* * * * * * *
" Girls this Mario Bentolinni, he will be in charge of photographing the shoot today." Serena gestured one slim hand over to the tall man behind her fiddling with his camera on the table.
" Oh come on baby, you will accept the film or do you make me cry with impatience?" Mario muttered before he realized he was being introduced. With a quick spin around a smile spread on his breaded face.
" Ah good morning ladies! I was just fighting Trisha here," Mario held up a small black camera with film half hanging out of it. " She seems to be having a hissy fit this morning." Mario gave the camera a sad look; his full bottom lip pouting out slightly while Vicky and Melissa laughed to themselves.
" Who is this guy? He's like totally out his mind," Vicky whispered transferring her weight to one leg and eyeing Mario cynically.
" Well, anyway while Mario works with the camera, I guess we can go over the itinerary for today." Serena pulled out her clipboard and flipped through some pages, smoothing out the extra ones over the edge. " Has you know Mario will be in charge of the shoot, he will direct posing and picture angles. I'm sure all of you met Candy the make up artist. She will be in charge of make up, running in between shots to fix up any make up problems so just don't mind her."
A blond girl wearing a Love Hina shirt smiled and waved a large makeup brush in the air. Vicky and Melissa snickered and made some comments on the state of Candy's hair. The other models near to them exchanged looks and rolled their eyes.
" And Eric will be doing your hair, I know none of you have met him yet since his assistants worked with all of you today. Basically Eric is our head stylist so he will be working Candy to make sure you all look beautiful."
Eric smiled and waved at the girls, his black T-shirt shifting to revel well-developed muscles. All the girls smiled and stood up a little straighter, their eyes falling upon Eric.
" Now the basic idea of the shoot is that you all will be shopping at the mall. You are friends, so you need to look like your having a good time. Going through clothing racks, listening to CD's in the music store, trying on shoes, etc." Serena looked up and let the pages fall back in place. " We're doing this ad for a fashion catalogue advertising this mall and even more specifically some on the stores in it. So we really need you to be cheerful and look happy to show the readers that shopping here is a lot of fun. Now we'll work on the shoot for about 2 hours at least until 1pm then we'll break for lunch and meet after wards to work on this afternoon's shoot. Any questions?" Serena smiled and allowed her eyes to wander over the small group of models.
" Uh yea I have one," Mina replied raising her hand slightly.
" Yes Minako?"
" I was just wondering if we get to choose our poses and such like those girls on TV who just kind of walk through the shoot while the photographer takes pictures."
Vicky and Melissa snickered loudly while the other girls smiled and looked away. Even Serena cracked a small smile before she quickly wiped it off her face and tried to look serious again.
" Well that is up to Mario Minako, he will be in charge of the photo shoot. Now are there any other questions?"
" Yea I have one. Why did you choose such an amateur to be in this shoot with professional models like us?" Vicky asked throwing a nasty look at Mina.
" Oh shut that hole in your mouth Vicky," Whitney replied crossing her arms in front of her chest.
Mina blushed bright red at the question, she knew Vicky was talking about her. Anger came to life and slowly started to rush through her veins, but Serena was quick to end any hostilities before they started.
" Vicky I would appreciate if you did not make such comments while working in this shoot. The discussions I make are none of your business, I chose her because she has the qualities of a real model," Serena's voice was frosty has she made eye contact with Vicky.
Behind her Eric coughed and tried to hide a grin, he knew not to mess with Serena when she was like that. Vicky was in for some serious trouble if she didn't calm the attitude problem.
" I got it!" Mario turned around holding up his camera in both hands. " Trish loves me! She works and now we may begin!"
" Wonderful!" Serena's cheerful attitude returned immediately. " Well girls I will leave you with Mario now, good luck and have fun!" Serena smiled at Mina before turning and walking away, her pink heels clicking on the tiled floor.
" Someone should tell her she's a bitch," Vicky whispered has soon has Serena was out hearing.
" And some should tell you that you are a bigger one," The tall girl with curly brown hair standing behind Vicky and Melissa replied.
The two girls turned around and shot the tall girl dirty looks, but didn't say anything since Mario was now talking.
" Now girls we begin! We begin with the shoot!" Mario clapped his hands and waved them in the air. " We will start in entrance, you girls will walk in laughing and being cheerful! You are friends so you must act like it!"
" I think someone had to much caffeine today," Whitney whispered to Mina.
" Now we go, to the entrance and we get into group, big group of girls laughing and talking!" Mario brushed past the girls to the entrance. " Come now follow me and I will set you up!"
Thus Mina'a day begin, the shoot was harder then she thought. They constantly had to walk in and out of the mall till Mario got the perfect shot even though he got 50 other ones before that.
Lunch was short, to short in Mina's opinion and not filling enough. The girls only were allowed a small salad with out dressing and bottled water before they rushed back into the mall for an afternoon of shopping. Actually they were supposed to be pretending to shop. Mina's were most moment of the day came when she was put into a shot where she was holding up a teal green dress for a girl with red frizzy hair. Mario must have taken a thousand pictures of the two in the same pose but he was never satisfied. Finally when Mina was beginning to think her arm was going to fall off he took the perfect picture and moved on to another pose.
It wasn't till 5pm that she walked out of the clothing trailer dressed in her yellow sundress; hair still pulled up in a bun. She was tired and achy all over, but these pains were nothing compared to the happiness in her heart. Even though Vicky and Melissa were hateful and mean, this was something Mina definitely wanted to do forever.
" Minako!"
Mina looked behind her to see Serena running up, a garment bag draped over one arm.
" Did you want me for something?" Mina asked as Serena came to a stop in front of her.
" No, well actually yes. I want to give you this," Serena held out the garment bag. " And I want you to know that I think you did a wonderful job for your first day."
" Really? Thanks!" Mina replied taking the garment bag into her hands. " What's this for?"
" Open it," Serena replied, a mysterious twinkle in her eyes.
Mina gave Serena a puzzled look before un-zipping the zipper and peeking inside.
" Oh my gosh! It's the outfit I wore today!" Mina gasped pulling out one silk sleeve.
" Yes it is, I thought you might like to keep it," Serena replied rocking slightly on her heels.
" You mean I get to keep the clothes?" Mina looked at Serena with complete shock.
" Well not all of them, but you do get to keep a few. The outfit you wore today is in there along with a few other ones. They're just choice pieces that were taking up room in wardrobe department any ways."
" I- I don't know what to say, this so nice of you," Mina looked at the clothes inside the bag before looking up at Serena. " I guess I can only say thank you."
" It works," Serena laughed in reply has a red sports car zoomed up behind Mina.
Mina looked behind her and smiled, waving one hand at the man behind the tinted glass window.
" Well my rides here so I better get going, but thank you again Miss Tuskino for the clothes and everything."
" Your welcome Minako, I'll see you tomorrow bright and early right here for anther hard day of work."
" Right, another day of hard work," Mina gave her arms a sad look. " They still hurt from all the torture of holding up that dress for so long."
Serena laughed and put her arms behind her back. " That's nothing, when I used to model I had to do a shoot in the winter wearing only a white summer dress. My arms were completely bare and it was 30 degrees out that day too. I nearly froze before the shoot was over."
" A summer dress in 30 degree weather? Makes me glad I only had to hold up a dress for an hour." Mina rubbed her arms, almost feeling the cold air brushing them at the thought.
" Yes and it was horrible, it was a wonder I didn't develop hypothermia after that shoot," Serena replied.
" Hypo- what?" Mina asked.
" Hypothermia, it's a sickness of developed from long exposures to cold. It can cause death if it's serious enough."
" Oh, that's to much for me to remember, I don't take well to that text book stuff." Mina shook her head and took another step backwards toward the car.
" I don't know why I remembered that maybe it's because-"
The sounds of a car horn shrieked through the air, has the driver of the red sports car grew impatient interrupting Serena in mid sentence.
" Opps, I guess Darien is getting impatient, well I'll see you later Miss Tuskino!" Mina waved and turned to run off towards the car.
Serena waved back then stood there watching Mina climb in and shut her door before the car took off; it's tires leaving a track of burning rubber on the pavement.
" I guess he really was impatient," Serena muttered watching the car speed off through the parking lot.
* * * * * * *
" So how was it?" Darien didn't look at the girl next to him but instead kept his eyes on the road.
" It was great, I made a new friend named Whitney, and I got to keep some of the clothes! Miss Tuskino said I could have them," Mina replied stroking the garment bag lying on her lap.
" Miss Tuskino, was she the lady you were talking to forever?" Darien swerved in front of a car and stepped on the gas speeding up to pass another.
" Yea, she's the one in charge of the fashion shoot, she's really sweet and everything. You know she used to be a model too, but she quit for some odd reason." Ina sighed has she thought of her boss.
" Hmm, big deal. She probably quit because she wasn't getting any action. Looks like a damn stuck up prissy bitch."
" Don't say that about her, she's really nice and who knows if she's got a boyfriend. Made she does, no wait I bet she does. Someone has beautiful has her-"
" Spends her Friday nights home alone wishing she had a boyfriend," Darien replied has the car swerved around a corner it's lights flashing over graffiti covered walls.
" I don't know how she spends Friday nights, I didn't really get a chance to talk to her. She was really busy all day running around trying to fix all these problems that kept popping up." Mina tapped her chin with one finger wondering how Miss Tuskino did spend her Friday nights.
" Sounds exciting," Darien replied sarcastically has the car drove up in front of a worn down building and came to a stop.
Mina didn't say anything in reply. Her eyes wandered from the garment bag to the sky, seeing a few stars beginning to show in the night.
" Serena?"
Serena looked away from the stars that begin to appear in the sky. She quickly finished making her wish and smiled at Molly standing behind her.
" Hey Moll I thought you had gone to dinner with Mr. Umino by now!" Serena replied cheerfully.
" Why did you give those clothes to her?"
Serena's eyes widened slightly at Molly's question before she turned away, her back to Molly. Both hands clasped themselves behind her back while azure blue eyes looked up at the sky.
" She's a prostitute Molly. I realized that when she told me she that she worked at Setsuna's place."
" Setsuna's place? What is that?"
" Setsuna's House of Ill Repute and Pleasure, its a brothel or to be distinct a whorehouse."
" Did you know that when you hired her? If anyone finds out this could really look bad for you," Molly replied walking up next to Serena.
" No I did not, I just found out today. I gave her the clothes because of that, she needs them more then some model will, Molly. "Serena looked away from the sky to her friend. " Did you know that she has worn the same yellow sundress to both the interview and today? I hope that the clothes I do give her will come in handy, along with the chance to get out of her current lifestyle."
" So basically your going to turn her into a professional model so she won't have to be a prostitute anymore?"
" In a sense yes, that girls to bright to be working in such a way."
Molly didn't say anything; she just looked at her friend before looking at the stars above them appearing one by one.
" You know what Serena?"
" What?"
" I've decided that I won't make dinner for you tonight." Molly was very serious has she said this but Serena could see the laughter glowing in her eyes.
" Good, because I'm just starting to get over the effects of breakfast."
I'm very sorry this is out so late, I kept working on it bit by bit until finally I sat down one night and wrote out the rest. I hope to have chapter 5 out soon, but in the mean time please read and review or send all comments, questions, suggestions, and flames to Saphrians_Water_Reflection@hotmail.com. Thank you!