This was far from music to her ears: the constant banging on the door, the screaming rings of the telephone, the rowdy yells from outside, and the voice in her head so forcefully commanding. In an attempt to silence these disturbances, Tawnya pressed her hands against her ears. Her career was just blossoming, gaining her mass public acceptance, but an opportunistic reporter had already dragged her down.
How dare she, this Sakura Kasugano, make up this bogus lie about a psychotic illness?
Right now Tawnya did look insane. Her eyes were twitchy and wide, her hair was loosely pinned in a jumbled bun, and there was an ugly look on her face that did little to sway her co-star. She rocked back and forth on an overstuffed maroon couch under a wall of black and white photographs that displayed a once-happy Tawnya. There were even a few photos of Fei Long, alone, before their relationship became so complex.
The room spun sickeningly. It made Tawnya dizzy to watch Fei pace up and down, vehemently attempting to make her talk. He looked angry. He was pounding his fist against his hand, harder and harder. Since barging into her LA home, he hadn’t even taken off his sunglasses and brown leather jacket.
Fei had entered her life, but she didn’t like him storming into her own private space uninvited.
“You should be open with me, Tawn. Have you any idea what this could do to your career?” Fei said, breathing deeply in an effort to keep cool, but his flaring nostrils betrayed him. “Now is a good time to tell me what the hell is going on in that head of yours.”
RING RING. RING RING.
She stared at the cordless phone, which jittered on the glass coffee table a few feet in front of her. She folded her body into her knees, tapping her feet soundlessly against the chair cushion. She hoped that if she stared hard enough, the phone would disappear, but the piercing sound only continued, and it made her flinch.
“How the hell do we keep this charade up now if you can’t even be straight with me?”
RING RING. RING RING.
“TAWNYA, ARE YOU LISENING TO ME?”
RING RING. RING RING.
Tawnya screamed. She picked up the handset and threw it across the room to silence it once and for all. The phone crashed against the wall. The screeching noise disappeared, but the phone wasn’t broken. The caller had simply hung up.
Since 6 a.m. the phone had been ringing incessantly. Tawnya was hung-over and had only managed to catch two hours of sleep since the premiere. She felt tired, achy, cranky and out of control. It wasn’t long till the shrieking rings resumed.
“For the last time, Fei, it is not true,” Tawnya said, her pitch high, frustrated by his constant remarks.
Fei rubbed his hand over his mouth, tentatively watching Tawnya unravel before him. Her bottom lip quivered. She was forcing herself hard to not cry. He couldn’t believe just how well the news story had worked on her.
“Ssh, just calm down,” he said, wrapping his arms around her. “I’m sure we can fix this.” He kissed her forehead, then rested his lips on her warm neck. “You have to keep strong. This is just one setback.”
Tawnya looked up with glittery eyes, confused. She wasn’t sure how to respond to his sudden calmness. He seemed so relaxed now, compared to the ferocity he had displayed just moments ago. She felt his balmy breath near her ear.
“I’m not crazy, Fei,” she said in a whisper. “I...I don’t know wh--”
“Forget it,” Fei interrupted, pulling her closer to him. “Can you still do the job?”
Tawnya gulped upon seeing Ryu’s name on her arm in an ugly cream line. She pushed herself off Fei, desperately tugging at the bottom of her sleeve to hide the scar from him, but the sleeve was too short.
“I admit, it does look bad,” Rose muttered, her arms crossed on her chest, as she furtively watched over the scene.
Rose was almost camouflaged against the violet wall where a thick framed mirror hung. Her arm rested on the large electronic fireplace, carefully avoiding the vase of yellow tulips on the ledge. “This is not an easy fix.”
Rose’s eyes glinted a sharp green, the same color as the opposite wall that reflected in the mirror.
“What am I meant to do about this?” Tawnya asked. Her voice quivered. She couldn’t take her eyes off Rose, who remained at the back of the room.
“Stay low and let me deal with this,” Fei suggested. “I’ll get a response piece out by the end of the week.” His voice was glum, and he sounded only half-convinced.
Tawnya was hoping for Fei to crack open a smile, but his moody moroseness didn’t budge. She suddenly intuited that Fei was testing her, but the idea only lasted a few milliseconds.
“What do you think?” Tawnya pointed at Rose.
Rose smiled back, her lips a full blossom of red.
“I think I’ve made my ideas clear, Tawn,” Fei said. “Maybe you should go wash your face. You look stressed.”
“Of course I’m stressed. People like Sakura Kaz...whatever, are out there to ruin me.”
“Maybe you are ruining yourself,” Rose hinted. She remained rigidly in the same position. Her yellow scarf seemed to have a life of its own, billowing peacefully at her side.
“HOW DARE YOU! I haven’t done anything to myself!” Tawnya shrieked, jumping off the sofa. Her pulse raced with an adrenaline that made her want to hit something.
“I beg to differ,” Rose laughed, waving a finger at Tawnya’s bare arm.
“I DIDN’T DO THIS, YOU KNOW THAT!” Tawnya yelled, hiding the scar with her hand as she hopped about with rage.
“You need to calm down, Tawn. The press folks are listening,” Fei said, gesturing with his hands to quiet her. They were both aware of the swelling crowd of reporters that eagerly waited outside for them.
“We do not want your friend thinking you are going mad, do we?” Rose smiled. Her haughty demeanor was becoming painfully irritating. Tawnya’s heart pounded harder. She wanted to cry, weep for release, but Rose’s presence held a certain sense of control over her.
“You don’t believe her, do you?” Tawnya asked Fei, her eyes watering. She couldn’t bring herself to walk to him.
“No,” he said with a hint of sympathy. “You know what reporters are like. I’ve been there, remember?”
“Then why has your friend been calling Mr. Chow to have you fired?” Rose said with a satisfied grin, clearly unafraid of Tawnya’s confrontational behavior.
“You what?” Tawnya spat, disgusted. “How could you do that to me, Fei?” she demanded, slapping his arm.
If Fei heard the anger in her voice, he didn’t show it. He shrugged. “Do what?” he asked calmly.
“You and Rob? You’re planning something, aren’t you? Planning to destroy me?”
“Excuse me?” Fei was apparently stunned.
“I never know when you’re telling the truth,” she said in pure frustration. “And they call me the schizo.” She laughed, shaking her head back.
Fei was made apprehensive by Tawnya’s train of thought. She was disheveled but was clearly thinking as her eyes wondered to the back of the room. How could she know all these things? His smile faded. A hard edge crept into his voice.
“Tawn, where do you get these ideas from?”
Tawnya pointed at Rose. “She’s right there, you know.”
Fei turned around to see only his own reflection staring back at him in the mirror. “What are you talking about?”
“Her,” Tawnya said, her tone high-pitched and loud. “Her! Can’t you see her? She’s right there, damn it,” she insisted, thrusting her arm in Rose’s direction. Tears streamed down her face. She, Rose, was dominating her every thought. Why couldn’t Fei see that?
Fei looked around him, impressed with her choice of furnishings, but he had no idea who she was referring to. At least, that was the impression he was hoping to make on Tawnya.
Tawnya rubbed her hands nervously through her hair. She was so angry, it took her a few minutes to be able to move again. Then she groaned irritably
.
“Oh my...God! I am NOT CRAZY!” she said, poking her fingers against her forehead.
She flung herself onto the other sofa and hid her face in the cream pillow. Then suddenly she smelled musk. Looking up, Tawnya found Rose perched next to her, her legs crossed one over the other. The woman’s perfect composure was unnerving.
“He thinks you’re making me up,” Rose said tenderly. “An illusion of the mind, perhaps.”
“I’m not making you up,” Tawnya said, angrily.
“You’d better convince him that you’re telling the truth.”
Quickly, Tawnya grabbed at Rose, but her hands went through empty air. Maybe she was losing touch with reality. Yet Rose’s scent was so overpowering that it was nauseating. Tawnya began to hyperventilate, her throat began to feel choked up.
“I’m telling the truth,” she croaked at Fei, unable to keep her eyes off Rose. It disgusted her how Rose just continued to smile.
Tawnya sat rigid, continuing to look at Rose’s beautiful face, and then flinched at Fei’s forceful touch. He made Tawnya turn and look at him. Crouching in front of her with a look of concern, he used a finger to push tendrils of her hair behind her ear, and brushed them against her hoop earring.
“Sweetie, I’m not upset at you for not telling me,” Fei said, trying to ease her anxiety with the gentle strokes of his finger. “But whatever relationship you have with Ryu cannot disrupt your job with me.” He looked at her with a vacant glare, the newspaper clutched in his hand.
Near the burst of words was an attractive photo of them holding each other at the waist. Tawnya was wearing another one of those silky designer dresses she hated so much. She remembered this picture had been taken at Rob’s fancy birthday party. It had been a day full of fake smiles and polite chitchat with people she couldn’t care less about.
Tawnya breathed out irritably.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she felt herself say almost too quickly, brushing off his hand from her hair.
“Ryu and I,” he began in a low tone, “...fought at a street tournament. That much is true. It was just like any other day. I was on my break from shooting and held my usual tournaments. This was back in China. I wasn’t fighting everyone I met. I was a proud fighter back then and usually watched others fight until I was ready. There he was, pushed onto the stage without an opponent. I took my chance, and I got my ass kicked. He left quite an impression on me. What I don’t understand is how he left an impression on you.”
His voice was glum by the time he finished. Now Rose and Fei shared the same look of confusion and pain.
“Oh, he can help you more than you think,” Rose remarked, caressing the rim of an imitation Ming vase that complemented nicely with the Chinese style bookshelf it sat on.
“How did you know what I was thinking?” Tawnya panted to Fei. Her chest felt unnaturally tight.
“It was obvious, Tawn,” Fei said, tapping at the newspaper.
“Why are you telling me this?”
His teeth gleamed white as he smiled, and when he spoke, his voice had a ring of sincerity, perhaps even devotion. “I’m the only person batting for you.” He paused for only a second, but it felt like a long time. He couldn’t believe the tattoo on her arm, though. How did she do it, he thought in disgust.
“Tawn, what’s your connection to Ryu?”
“He knows something,” his demonic voice rang in her head.
Tawnya winced. She closed her eyes to fight the nausea with all her strength, clamping her lips together until they bled.
“You need to say something to him,” Rose warned, who remained sitting opposite her cross-legged.
“Shut up,” Tawnya snapped, licking the bitter taste of blood with her tongue. She gagged.
“Or maybe we should ask the reporter,” Rose said.
Fei’s eyes narrowed. “That’s it,” he smiled at a sudden thought.
“What...” Tawnya stammered, creasing her forehead as Rose sent her an “and what” gesture with her hand. Her shoulders hunched with tension and her lip continued to bleed. Fei hesitated.
“Tell me,” Tawnya demanded hungrily, grabbing Fei’s face in her hands. Rose nodded.
“Don’t hold me to this info,” he regretfully sighed, “but I think that back in the day, Sakura Kasugano was Ryu’s student.”
Tawnya sat back. Fei covered his mouth to hide his smile, then shook his head, acting disgruntled. “I’ll call LA Express and have this all straightened out, okay?”
Tawnya pulled the bottom of her shirt, looking flustered.
“Isn’t it obvious that this reporter is purposely trying to drive a wedge between you and Ryu?” Rose said. Tawnya didn’t like the way she laughed.
“Make her stop,” she winced, catching Rose look at her. She was too fatigued to make her demand clear.
“If you want,” Fei agreed, glancing at the article.
“Looking clearer now, is it not?” Rose stood, gliding across the room with graceful steps.
“Actually, Fei,” Tawnya stammered almost in pain. “I think I know how to deal with her.”
“Perhaps it is time you gave your one and only exclusive interview to Miss Kasugano,” Rose laughed as she disappeared from view.
“Perhaps I should give my one and only interview,” Tawnya reiterated, her eyes stoic.
“Phase Two,” the deep voice commanded in her mind.
“Phase Two,” Tawnya repeated.
*****
Chapter 13:
SISTERS
Street Fighter: Dream Never Ends Page 15
