“Right this way, Miss Tendo?”
Ranko followed the young intern, the sound of her short black heels carrying through the tile hallway of the sixth-floor office. “Did I miss much?”
The young man shook his head. “Of course not. They were waiting for you.”
Nice, Ranko thought as she was led into a boardroom with a long conference table, around which eleven of the twelve seats were already occupied. This whole “being important” thing is taking some getting used to. “Hi, everybody. Sorry I’m late.”
Crash reached over, pushing the empty wheeled chair next to him out for her. “C’mere, you. Let’s do this thing.” The redhead slid into the empty chair, smiling brightly to Crash.
Man, I wish she’d stop wearing that red dress, Crash thought to himself with a brief flush he did his best to contain. Gods, she’s engaged, you massive asshole. Just stop. Look somewhere else.
“Okay! Now that we’re all here, we can get started.” A young blonde woman in a navy blue business suit stood at the far end of the table, walking over to a large easel containing a number of poster-sized cards. She pulled the first card off the easel, setting it aside to reveal a black title card that read Yokai Records Internal - Music Video Storyboard - Sneak.
“So, we think we’re just about ready to film,” the young woman began, “but we wanted to go over the shots with you and get any last-minute comments. The general idea is, we’re going to be switching back-and-forth between two scenes: Ranko’s boyfriend out in public, with Ranko looking ignored, and the two of them alone, where he’s being more affectionate with her. Guji, you mind?”
An intern in the back of the room pushed a button on a remote control, and speakers all throughout the ceiling of the elongated boardroom began emitting the studio recording of Sneak that Ranko and her bandmates had made a few weeks before.
Ranko tried to look up at the storyboards, but she couldn’t ignore the churning in her stomach. Of course they would think it was written about a guy. When I sing it on stage, I’m just dancing, but, they’re going to want me to… with… oh my gods. Maybe it won’t be so bad. Breathe. You’re catastrophizing, Ranko. You faked it with Eiji and made it work. It’ll be okay.
Her voice poured silkily from the eight recess-mount speakers in the drop ceiling. “You say we’re not sorry that we’re lovers, babe. Why’d you hide me underneath the covers, babe?” The next card was exposed, revealing a cartoon-like drawing of a bed, shot from the foot of it facing the headboard. A rugged-looking man with no shirt on sat on one side, leaning against the headboard, and to his left, a red-haired girl in a pink negligee. As the room spun a bit, Ranko caught a glimpse of one of the other people seated around the table, a stocky-looking young man in a black T-shirt under a black sport coat. He looked exactly like the man in the picture. She snapped her eyes away. They want me to… with… I don’t even know his name!
“You tell everybody that there’s no one here, and lock the door and touch me, and it sends me to the stratosphere.”
The next card flipped, and it showed the red-haired girl leaning against the wall next to a brown wooden door, in the same pink outfit, with one of her feet flat against the wall and her knee extended. The shirtless boy’s left hand was dangerously close to her right breast, and his right held both of the girl’s wrists against the wall.
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“Sneak, baby, sneak, baby, don’t get caught! You don’t want anyone to know about this thing we’ve got!”
The next card revealed the boy, out in a park somewhere, laughing with two other guys and a woman. In the background, the redheaded girl could be seen alone, in a high school uniform, a dejected look on her face.
“I can’t help it, falling underneath your spell. You’re the best at kiss, and kiss, and never tell.”
Another card was tossed to the floor, and the one beneath it showed the girl in the high school uniform and the boy in his athletic T-shirt, wrapped in an embrace, their lips locked together. The redhead’s left foot was popped up in the air behind her, as if she were really into what was happening.
Ranko felt Crash’s hand rested reassuringly on her back. Until she did, she hadn’t realized just how hard her body was shaking. She looked around the room, and caught a glimpse of Ken, giving her a fairly admonishing stare. What’s his problem? Not like he’s gotta… eugh!
“Sneak, baby, sneak, baby, no one knows how many nights I’ve lay here begging you to hold me close…”
With another flip of the cards, the easel revealed the bed again, this time with the couple laying on the bed atop the covers, and both of the boy’s hands were exploring the pink nightie the girl was wearing.
“You made me your dirty little secret, then, you made me your dirty little freak again…”
“Whoa, I…” Everyone turned to look at Ranko as she rocketed out of her chair, and the intern clicked the remote control to pause the music. Ranko dared not even look at the next card that was about to be revealed.
“Yes, Ranko?” The presenter looked up. “We’re happy to take questions.”
Just tell them. Ranko, just tell them. She looked down at her left hand. I’m engaged. To a girl. I can’t let a guy touch me like that, and have it on TV everywhere. Not to mention, if somebody touches me like that, I won’t be able to stop what happens. The Cat’s Tongue doesn’t know it’s an act. Her hands were quivering.
“I’m sorry. Please excuse me for a moment.”
Slamming into the boardroom door with her shoulder, she burst her way out into the hallway.
Crash sighed, standing. “Just a minute, everybody.” He followed her into the hall, finding her standing in front of the third-story window looking out over the city. Her hands gripped the window frame, and Crash couldn’t decide if it looked more like she was trying to steady herself, or climb out of the window. He approached carefully, placing his hand on her back again. “Hey.”
Ranko turned to look up at him, her face full of a quiet, resigned terror, as if she dreaded what was about to happen to her, but knew there was no way to avoid it. “I can’t do this, Crash.”
“Hey, sure you can! Sure, it’ll be a little weird, but you’re a great actress. It’s not like they’re gonna let him, you know, do anything, not really.” He rubbed her back reassuringly through that damnable red dress, hoping to at least still some of her trembling.
“It’s not just that. You remember how I reacted when we… when you…”
Crash nodded, smiling with the memory of a moment that had been much better for him than her. “When I kissed you.”
Ranko nodded. “I can’t help it. And now, with this… they’re gonna expect me to… in front of everybody, and on TV, and…”
Sighing, Crash pulled her into a right hug without waiting for her to find the end of her sentence, his hands firmly rubbing her back through the silk of that red dress. “We’ll figure something out, Ranko. I promise.”