The Pink Rose's Promise (BL)

41. New York

Ichirou sat down in one of the few, small chairs that were available to him. He looked at the beautiful black woman who was beaming widely as she held up some makeup next to her. Her teal braids were carefully pinned up into an elaborate updo, and her teeth were incredibly white. The cameraman was carefully shooting pictures of her, making her have minute changes to her expression.

Ichirou sipped on his coffee, trying not to freak out too much. The girl was currently holding the darkest shade available in his new makeup collection. His father had been working on it in secret for months. They were starting with some really simple things, but since they had completed it and were now starting off the marketing section, his father had decided to reveal to him the project.

Ichirou brought his strawberry creme coffee to his lips, closing his eyes. It was early in the morning here in New York, just barely after eight. He messaged Masahiro that he had arrived at work, and was grateful to quickly receive a response. Because of their thirteen-hour time difference, they could only really text in the early morning or late at night. One of them was always sleeping when the other was awake. It was frustrating, but Ichirou couldn't do much about it.

A young beta person, Ichirou was fairly certain their name was Mars, walked over, their hands filled with a box. They had been following Ichirou around for the past few days, acting as his assistant while he was in New York. They had been the one to go through much of the business plan with Ichirou, explaining the details.

The truth was that Ichirou was to be the creative director, so not actually in charge of the branch. It was probably for the best, as he didn't have any real business sense. He was much better at aesthetics than anything else. He had accepted his new role quite easily, being that it was something out of his dreams.

"Okay, Mr. Kimura, we got the mock-ups for the palette boxes," Mars said, grabbing the chair and taking a seat next to Ichirou. "We've got about fifteen to go through right now, and I'd love it if we could get the number down to five, that would be great. We can always pick the real one later, and by later, I mean by Friday. And it is... Wednesday. So, get it down to five today, and then we can pick for sure tomorrow or Friday, okay?"

"Got it," Ichirou said, taking the initial palette that Mars handed him.

This first eyeshadow palette was pink-themed, in honor of Ichirou and his adoration of the color. He honestly really liked it and thought that his new subordinates had actually done a great job with picking out the colors. However, being that the palette was so pink, all of the palette boxes were incredibly pink as well. As he went through them, he couldn't help but think they all looked rather similar. As he grabbed one of the last ones, his mind couldn't help but wonder how he was going to pick any of them. However, as he pulled out the last one, he felt a wave of relief wash over him.

"This is the one," Ichirou announced, holding up a palette that had pink roses atop it. "The rest can go."

Mars looked surprised and pushed up their glasses. "Oh, are you... are you sure? There is time, you can sleep on it to be certain."

"There's no need, this is the one," Ichirou said with a nod.

"Okay, if you're sure!" Mars exclaimed, pulling out their phone and tapping something into it. "Um... let's see... Hey, DeAndre! Is Kelly here yet?"

The photographer turned to look at Mars, shrugging. "I already texted you, Mars! She isn't coming. Didn't you get a replacement?"

"Wait, shit, what?!" Mars exclaimed, dropping the box.

"Yeah, I texted you a week ago. Kelly's sister got in a car accident so she went down to Boston," DeAndre said.

"Shit, fuck, fuckity fuck, fucking giant balls full of fuckin' fuck shit," Mars muttered under their breath, running through their phone to double check. "God fuckin' damn it, he totally did text me. It's right here. ADHD strikes again. What should I do? We need another model. Damn shitty titties in a fucking blender!"