In Deep Kimchi (11 page)

“Look at all those people and cars,” Harper said as they traveled.

Tokyo’s streets and sidewalks were bustling with people walking, driving cars and riding bikes. Traffic stopped at several intersections to let hordes of people cross. Tokyo also had some of the tallest buildings in the world. “Can you imagine living here with a population of twelve million people?” she asked the others.

“Not really,” Riley replied. “Texas is pretty big and that was too much for me. I have enough just getting used to New York.”

“It’s pretty pricey to live here too,” Harper added. “And the apartments are small.”

“I might consider it,” Jackson replied. “The technology is phenomenal. But I’d probably go broke just trying to keep up with phones, computers and MP3 players.”

Shaundra settled back in her seat. It was all so overwhelming. If someone had told her a month ago that she would be halfway across the world in Japan, she’d have called them crazy. Move to Japan, no way. It was unthinkable. Pretty as it was, she didn’t do typhoons.

Harper nudged her. “I heard we are the hit of YouTube.”

Shaundra groaned. She knew it was too much to ask that no one else found out. That little announcement caught everyone’s attention. “Go on, fill them in.”

“Apparently, someone captured the two of us dancing at the club last night and posted it on the Internet. Of course,
Charlotte
is back home having a fit.”

Dorothy laughed.

“Don’t laugh. They got all of you too.”

“I hope they captured my good side,” Jackson joked.

“What good side?” Riley asked. He struck a pose. “I’m ready for my close up, Mr. DeMille.”

Shaundra chuckled. “This isn’t funny. They also got me dancing with Yori. My eldest daughter had a fit when she saw that, especially that dress. She called me every version of old she could think of.”

Harper patted her hand. “She’s just jealous because her mother has a rocking body.”

“Thanks, but that’s not helpful. In a way, she’s right. I shouldn’t be dancing with someone like him.”

“What’s wrong with him?” Riley asked.

“He’s twenty-five.”

“So, like you have one foot in the grave? If he didn’t want to dance, he wouldn’t have asked. And if my two cents mean anything, you did rock that dress.”

“Thanks, anyway, I don’t plan to get caught like that again. I’ll do the photo shoot, but I plan to stay as far away from Aomori as I can after the rehearsal.”

“Good,” Harper replied. “At least three of them are after you now. That’s steep competition for me.”

Shaundra rolled her eyes at him and smiled. “Who is the third?”

“Satoshi?”

“Be serious.”

“I am serious. He had his eyes on you all night too. He’s just better at hiding it than Ichiro and Yori.”

“Well, I don’t have to worry about Takumijo. I don’t think he likes me much.”

“Takumijo is stuck on himself,” Jackson told her. “I know the signs. He’s probably in the mirror more than I am.”

“You’re both gorgeous men,” Dorothy replied.

“Thank you, darling.”

The car swerved to the left and then the driver left the road and drove into the parking lot of a big building.

“We’re here,” Harper announced. “I want you all to be on your best behavior and do Kehoe Publishing proud.”

“I need coffee,” Dorothy announced aloud. “Or some tea bags for these big rings beneath my eyes.”

The chauffer opened the door and they scrambled out one by one.

Shaundra looked the outside of the building over. It had at least fifty floors. The grounds were nicely landscaped with bonsai bushes and cherry blossom trees.

“This way,” Harper told them as he started walking. They followed him up a large flight of stairs and into the building to the information desk. “We have an appointment with
Flowing Magazine
.”

“Your name, please?” the man behind the desk asked as he looked them all over.

“Harper Kehoe and company.”

The man checked the list for Harper’s name. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Kehoe.
Flowing Magazine
is on the thirtieth floor. They’re expecting you.”

“Which way to the elevators?”

The young man pointed. “Around that corner to the left.”

Harper thanked him and followed the directions. The lobby was pretty nice with gold and white flooring, wallpaper and furniture. Harper pressed the button for the elevator and they climbed in when it arrived.

Shaundra pressed the button for the thirtieth floor. Her stomach began to wobble and her ears popped as soon as it began to move. “Why do people insist on renting office space in the nose bleed areas?” she moaned.

“Just five more floors,” Dorothy told her. “Then you can relax.”

“I’ve never met anyone with so many travel issues,” Harper replied. “I’m surprised you don’t get car sick.”

“Nope. Cars, trucks, buses and trains I can handle as long as we don’t cross over large bodies of water.”

“I am so glad that you were sedated on the way here.”

Shaundra chuckled. “And I plan to be just as drugged up on the way back,” she reminded him.

The door opened and they stepped out into what she could only describe as a fashion magazine wonderland. Beautiful, tall models littered the waiting area flipping through magazines, and sat around drinking water and tea. Harper went up to the desk and gave the young woman their names. She looked at the group, raised an eyebrow and then picked up the phone and made a call. A few minutes later, Goro Niigata arrived and whisked them all off through a double plated glass door.

Chapter Eight

“Right this way,” a young Japanese woman told Shaundra, Dorothy, Chirau and Izanami. The men had been taken off in another direction, and who knew where Aomori was. Harper and Mr. Niigata went off to meet someone and she hadn’t seen Masaaki since they’d arrived. “My name if Chie Arai and I will be your assistant.”

Shaundra and the others followed her out of one room and into a long hallway that was also crowded with people, but these were carrying or pushing racks of clothing. It reminded her of fashion week in New York.

Chie walked so fast the rest of them barely kept up with her. She ushered them into a room where four people waited to wash their hair. A male hairdresser called Dorothy over to a chair.

“Ooh, I got lucky,” Dorothy replied as she sat down and he put a plastic drape around her neck. The two other women went to their waiting hairdressers.

A beautician beckoned her over and Shaundra sat down in the chair. “You have nice hair,” the young woman said to her. “It’s thick and full.”

Shaundra had always been proud of her hair. She’d learned how to take care of it at an early age and hoped she wouldn’t go bald as she aged.

“The plan is to wash and condition and then plait the hair so you can switch wigs for each photo. That way, we won’t damage the natural hair with chemicals or cut it into some strange style you might not like.”

“Sounds great to me,” Shaundra replied, trying to imagine what she’d look like in a wig. It would be a good thing to know just in case her hair fell out.

The hairstylist’s name was Ai and she had magical fingers that relaxed Shaundra as she massaged her scalp. She was even gentle as she plaited the hair into cornrows. The other women went through similar processes, but it took a little more work since their hair was baby fine.

“The wigs will go on after the costume,” Ai told her as Chie arrived to get them. “See you again in a couple of minutes in the wardrobe room.”

They followed Chie to another large room filled with clothes. All four women stopped and gawked at the beautiful gowns and party dresses. Chie told something to the wardrobe people and left. She returned a few minutes later. “The men are getting ready and will probably have their preliminary pictures done. They’re doing the rock shoot first.”

“The rock shoot?” Izanami asked, looking at Chie oddly. “What is rock shoot?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. All the photos for our next issue will feature a music genre.” She turned to Shaundra. “You won’t be included in this first picture. But don’t feel left out. While they’re doing this, you’ll be getting ready for the classical music shoot.”

“Seems like that should be me,” Dorothy replied with a yawn. “Since I’m older than the dinosaurs.”

“No, Mr. Niigata put a lot of thought into this. He definitely wants you in the rock shoot. I’ve seen the costumes. You’re going to love them.” Chie picked up the phone. “They’re ready.”

A young Japanese man entered, looked the four women over and began pulling clothing bags from one of the racks. He was nicely dressed in a well-tailored brown suit and a yellow shirt beneath. “Which one of you is Ms. Brown?”

Dorothy raised her hand. He handed her a garment bag.

“Narita?”

Chirau’s hand flew up.

He handed her one of the bags.

“And you must be Kudo?”

“Yes,” Izanami said, looking a little perplexed by everything.

He handed her a bag too. “My name is Katsou and I’ll be assisting you with wardrobe today.” He turned to Shaundra. “You must be Ms. Morrison.”

“Yes,” Shaundra answered shyly.

“I have something special for you. You are going to love it.”

Shaundra was amazed by how well most of them spoke English. From the beginning, she’d thought there was going to be a problem understanding people, but so far, the only ones who didn’t speak much were Aomori, and she didn’t think that was because they couldn’t. They just chose not to.

Dorothy, Izanami and Chirau giggled from the dressing room.

“We’ll let them get finished first and then we’ll concentrate on you.” He showed her to a seat. A few minutes later, the other ladies appeared.

Shaundra gasped. “You girls look far out.”

The two Japanese looked lost with her choice of words.

“You look great.” She rephrased the words.

They both bowed thanks.

Dorothy’s costume consisted of tight blue jeans and a light blue T-shirt with a peace sign in the center. She also wore some pretty white sandals. Chirau wore a red halter top, a white mini skirt and black go-go boots, while Izanami wore a pair of low-riding, white bikini jeans, a red midi-top and had on a pair of black sandals similar to the ones Dorothy wore.

“They’re on their way to hair and makeup,” Katsou replied, handing Shaundra a garment bag. “Your turn.” He gently pushed her toward the dressing room. Dorothy waved to her as she went off with Izanami and Chirau.

Shaundra walked out of the room and headed back into the dressing room, found an empty booth, and began removing her clothes. She unzipped the bag. “It’s white and strapless,” she muttered as she removed her costume. “And a long, white a slip, great.” There was also a smaller bag inside with gloves and jewelry. At the bottom of the bag she found a box containing a pair of white heels adorned with pearls and a pair of hosiery. She paused, not sure if she should put on the shoes first so she wouldn’t muss the gown by sitting down in it. White wasn’t exactly her favorite color because stains always managed to get on her clothes for no reason.