Just another Dance

Lady in black

"Sharon!", Chikage smiled as she saw the woman walking up to her. "What a wonderful surprise! Why didn't you tell us that you were visiting the show tonight though?" "It would've ruined the surprise, wouldn't it?", Sharon Vineyard chuckled as she allowed the purple haired woman to give her a quick hug. "I love the dress.", Chikage complimented the American actress. Sharon wore a sleeveless black silk gown with a deep cleavage that sat very snugly around her torso and waist and fanned out after that, making the shiny fabric fall in a wavy spread out circle around her feet. The short cut jacket made of the same material hid her arms and shoulders, pulling less attention to her. Chikage also noticed the simple jewelry and make-up. Sharon hadn't dressed to impress. It seemed more like she was trying to avoid too much attention. Understandable, when you were normally identified by every passer-by walking the street. Though it seemed like she'd been unable to hold herself back from showing off her bosom. Rightfully though, Sharon was aging well and still looked amazing at her current age. "Thank you. The magician's assistant outfit doesn't look too bad on you either.", the blonde smirked, eyeing Chikage's sparkling attire. Her round glasses, that she'd needed to get at some point during the last few years, caught the light of the chandelier above as it illuminated her characteristic corn blond bob haircut. "Where's your son?", she smiled warmly at the other female. "He's backstage with his father. He loves to watch when he prepares himself for the show. Toichi's probably going to send him out here at one point though, Kaito is pretty good at keeping people from concentrating without meaning it." The two women shared an amused chuckle at the expense of the boy. "How is Chris?", Chikage asked Sharon in return, now that they'd talked about her child. "Oh, you know. She's twenty, I've barely seen her during the last two years.", the actress shrugged. "Ah yes, she moved out as soon as she was eighteen, didn't she?" "Yes. It was probably for the better, we were solely having disagreements at the time.", Sharon nodded. Chikage gave her a sympathetic look, she didn't like the thought of having to let her own son go one day either. The American sighed. "We never really got along, were never as close as mother and child should be. She was spoiled by everybody handing her everything on a silver platter that I had to work for. It made her believe that she was above me and everyone else. But enough of her, she's not truly contacted me during those last two years, so I learned to stop dwelling on the past and focus on the present.", the woman's smile held a small hint of sadness as she spoke. "Absolutely, come, let's go see if Kaito was already thrown out.", Chikage chirped, intend of distracting her friend from the sombre topic of their previous conversation, as she linked their arms together and led her to the backstage area, abandoning her position at the entrance where she'd been greeting the guests of her husband's magic show.

Kaito nearly sulked when his father threw him out of his preparation room in the kindest way possible. He hadn't meant to distract him! But instead of sulking the boy only sighed. It was important that his father could concentrate on his show now and as much as he hated to admit it and didn't mean to, he wasn't helping in that regard. Lost in thought, he flattened out the wrinkles in his miniature tux. Where did his mother want to go again? He tried to remember where she would be at this point in time but found that he'd only listened to her half-heartedly and couldn't remember. Great. The eight-year-old looked around searchingly, the tiniest bit of panic welling up in his chest. They were touring in America at the moment and he didn't really know a lot of English yet so he couldn't ask anyone for help in search of his mother. His worries disappeared from his mind though the minute his gaze climbed up the shiny marble walls of the American theatre and latched onto the shiny chandelier dangling from the equally marble ceiling. The sparkling appendages reflected the light so beautifully that the child stood captivated for a couple minutes before returning to reality at the sound of his mother's voice. "The outfit was obviously Toichi's choice, though I can't complain, I think it still suits me." A vaguely familiar voice replied. "It definitely does." Kaito slowly followed the voices and had nearly reached the end of the hallway when he literally ran into his mother coming around the corner with large strides, very recognizable as she was that evening in her short show dress covered in glitter. "Ah, there you are Kaito!", she giggled jovially as she helped him up from where their collision had send him to the hard marble floor and dusted him off. An amused chuckle sounded from behind her. "So, he's become quite the dreamer, huh?", the other female voice he'd heard sounded again. His mother turned around, allowing Kaito to get a first look at her companion.

An impressive foreign woman with huge round glasses, a corn blond bob and a small black handbag stood in the hallway in a stylish black silk dress and jacket, making Kaito feel as if he'd suddenly shrunken down to half his size. "It seems like that at times.", his mother smiled at the blonde that Kaito was sure he knew but just couldn't place yet. Both of their gazes returned to him. "Kaito, do you remember Sharon Vineyard?", his mother asked. "I think I do...", he hummed, the name sounded familiar, but he couldn't seem to remember how she was connected to him or his parents. "I was your father's student quite a few years ago.", Sharon said as she kneeled down in front of him. Kaito was amazed at how smooth the movement was and that she didn't sway one bit, having had a quick look at the elegant shiny black high heels she was hiding under her floor length dress when it had been lifted by the movement in the air as his backside had unexpectedly met the marble floor right in front of her just barely a minute ago. He wished he'd be able to walk on such shoes one day. Purely for fun, but also to impress other people of course. He liked attention, especially because he wasn't getting a lot of it when his father was touring. He noticed Sharon's extended hand and immediately shook it happily as he gave her a smile as bright as the sun. He'd gotten used to the handshake as a manner of greeting here in America pretty fast ever since they'd arrived. "I think I remember! You visited us at home a few times towards the end of your schooling, right? I must've been a toddler at the time.", Kaito beamed at his father's former student. The woman smiled back, Kaito noticed that her eyes were a pretty sky blue colour. "Yes indeed. You seem to have an amazing memory for such a young kid, Kaito.", she complimented him. "Thank you!", he grinned at her proudly, no sign of shyness at all. "How old are you now?", Sharon inquired as Chikage watched the exchange with a smile on her face.

Only Kaito was having a bit of trouble concentrating, for after his gaze had flickered over the shiny round turquoise gems in a silver frame sitting on Sharon's earlobes, his attention had fallen from her earrings to the huge oval shaped turquoise stone in an equally silver frame that hung down into her deep cleavage on a silver chain. The stone was reflecting the light so beautifully... "Hey, eyes up! No matter how old you are, you're way too young to be looking there!", Sharon laughed, snapping her fingers in front of his nose, immediately getting his attention. His mother was laughing as well though he thought he saw her blushing the tiniest bit from the corner of his eye, in shame or embarrassment, he couldn't tell. "I wasn't looking at your boobs, I was looking at your necklace! Besides, I'm not that young, I'm already eight!", the boy declared, not one bit ashamed at the accusation. "Oh my, Chikage. Your son is a shameless little magpie, isn't he?", Sharon teased good-naturedly. "Oh, you don't even want to know how often he raided my jewelry collection!", Chikage grinned. "For what feels like years, the first thing I saw when I woke up in the morning was my ravaged dresser. I always thought we'd been robbed the first few times it happened! But no, as soon as I'd step out into the hallway there'd be a trace of jewelry leading to wherever Kaito had hidden himself away with it to inspect every piece thoroughly!" Both women broke out into peals of laughter at the mental image. The culprit in question stood between them, grinning without an ounce of regret. "It sparkles so prettily when you hold it up into the light!", the eight-year-old giggled, sending them off in a laughing fit once more.