Greedy Chapter 13

# Chapter Thirteen - "YuMiMeMi"

### Anette

    "C'est magnifique! Look at those curtains! The beds are huge! There's a giant bath in the bedroom for some reason!"

    "I think it's a hot tub. The regular bath is in another room."

    "Then we can go swimming before bed!"

    "It's not big enough to… huh… We kind of *can* go swimming before bed!"

    The hotel room was the most perfect, excellent, luxurious room I had ever been inside of. It was easily twice the size of both of our dorm rooms combined, and that was just the main room and didn't even count the closets or gigantic bathroom. The hotel is known to cater to oodles of exclusive international clientele, and the entire building is made in the western style. The windows are covered in big flowing red drapes that tie open at the sides with long velvety ties. Beautiful red, black, and gold carpeting covers the entire floor - except of course the bathroom - and two large, fluffy beds are lined up parallel against one of the walls. There's an absolutely humongous television against the other wall, and one corner of the room has the tub that's at least as long as me *and* Yume stacked together. And there's a little refrigerator full of snacks! And all kinds of lotions and shampoos next to the shower! We even have one of those robot coffee machines that makes one cup at a time and a big basket full of those little plastic things with the coffee in it!

    If you got to stay at a hotel in Paris, I bet it would be *exactly* like this!

    "They said we can order anything we want for dinner. The menu is huge though…" Yume flung herself backwards onto the rightmost bed, sinking into the big cozy blankets before bouncing a little bit. Her face stayed focused the entire time on the large menu she had grabbed off of the dresser, no doubt scanning the entrees for her most favorite word. I took a leap and soared onto the same bed - you see, despite having two beds, we had only one menu - and landed with a lovely cushy spring. It was large enough that two of each of us could have fit before it even started to feel crowded.

    "What should we get? I probably shouldn't eat too much before the shoot tomorrow…"

    "Eh? But you can eat anything you want and never gain even a hundredth of an ounce."

    "Not permanently, but I only have so much room to store stuff before my stomach starts looking puffy." Yume took a deep breath and pushed out all of her stomach muscles to illustrate, though they barely seemed to move. "And they're doing lots of action shots, so I need to be able to move well. So no food comas this weekend…"

    Why are we in such a perfect place? Yume, my best friend in the world, except for maybe Akira, who is *also* my best friend in the world, has been chosen as the face of a new line of products for MiMeMi Cosmetics, one of Japan's most wonderful makeup brands. All the idols use it, because no matter how much you need to dance you keep looking très beautiful. She had many many interviews and tryouts, but in the end she won out over everyone! Because nobody can move as much as Yume - again, except possibly Akira - and because she is très cute and wonderful!

    And I am here because she gets to bring a friend to calm her nerves for her first big shoot!

    "There's something called *paella* with chicken in it. That could be good!"

    "That just sounds like chicken and rice… How about chicken parmesan? It sounds a bit like chicken katsu, or… Ooh! Coq au vin! I've always wanted to try that!"

    "It says it has mushrooms though, and you *hate* mushrooms."

    "Ah, oui, but they are French mushrooms, and therefore… they probably taste… The jerk chicken sounds interesting. I've met many jerks, but I've never eaten one. I wonder how they tell with a chicken…"

    "It's probably the one who bullies all the smaller chickens on the farm. That's what *I'd* call a jerk chicken, anyway." Yume glanced at the ceiling and thought for a moment, then added "We should totally eat that jerk chicken. We can get that and the parmesan one and split it. That should be enough to tide us over until breakfast."

    "Oui. Plus some snacks from the refrigerator while we go swimming in the hot tub."

    "Of course. You can't go swimming without keeping your energy up!"

    "We are being so responsible. You're going to do great tomorrow!"

    "Do you really think so? I'm kind of nervous…"

    "Do not be, because you are très amazing! You wouldn't have been chosen if you weren't the best, but you *were* chosen, so therefore you *must* be the best."

    "Aww, thank you Anette!" My friend lunged at me and hugged me like she was strangling that jerky chicken. "That makes me feel lots better!"

    After our chicken dinner we took showers then soaked in the hot tub, complete with little holes that blew jets of bubbles onto our backs. Très magnifique, though even ordering only one meal each we were far too stuffed full of delicious food to actually swim. Then we were out like a lightbulb in our ridiculously soft and comfortable beds in the giant fluffy robes they provided for us. And the best part?

    We get to do it again before we go home tomorrow!

    Just as soon as Yume is finished with her shoot.

    No sooner did I think of the amazing new dishes that awaited us for dinner tonight - we had spent much time in the hot tub perusing the menu and narrowing down tonight's dinner ahead of time - than my mouth fell open in a gasp. On the soundstage, Yume was made up to be très beautiful, and had on a very cute set of teal streetwear. She even had in her favorite matching contact lenses, making her look like a petite exotic beauty. The clothes they dressed her in were the kind you see the kids at the mall with skateboards wearing, a bit loose and flowing, with very expensive athletic shoes they broke in especially for her. She was currently running along a fake street, somehow jumping over trash bins and piles of bricks, even hurtling through the window of an open car door as she went. The director was laughing in the center of the set with glee as Yume did a one-handed cartwheel up a delivery ramp and sprung onto and then immediately off of a brick wall, striking a pose in midair before landing in a controlled tumble.

    Nobody had choreographed the shoot! They just built the stage and told Yume to do what she was comfortable with! And apparently Mademoiselle Yume is comfortable grabbing the umbrella of a sturdy yakitori cart and spinning like a shonen hero until she flies off to the hood of the shiny teal car, does a giant flip off of it, and lands in the splits in the center of the street. We thought she was done, but she sprung up and did backflips until she was standing in front of the director!

    "Is something like that okay?"

    Everyone cheered! I clapped as hard as I could! Incredible! The director even hugged Yume before coming to her senses and being sure the warmup hadn't harmed Yume's makeup.

    "This is going to be the most impressive campaign in the company's entire history. Get the cameras on the set! I want three angles of everything she does!" The director leaned in and spoke to Yume quietly, but I overheard because my hearing is perfect, and I was only a few meters away in the stylish little canvas chair they got for me. "Ms. Zhou, I hope you're ready to be famous, because you're about to become a household name."

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