~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*35 millimeters~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~by Lady Aisheteru~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Chapter Two: A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words
Email: Lady_aisheteru@hotmail.com

Disclaimer: “It is better to be thought a fool than to open your mouth 
and remove all doubt” - Mark Twain
REAL disclaimer: I don’t own Sailor Moon. Duh.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Soon after opening the photo shop, the bells on the door swung open, 
signaling that a customer was walking in.

My mouth became dry as I got a good look at my first customer. I don’t 
usually say this about men because I’m usually not looking, but God, 
was he gorgeous! My gaze started at his wing tipped shoes and moved up 
to what I estimated was 6’2” of pure art. All of the weight contained 
in his triangular build appeared to be muscle, from his strong legs, 
to his narrow waist, to his broad shoulders. I’d be willing to bet 
that he has six-pack abs too. My eyes continued their ascent until I 
was met by a pair of amused green eyes, white, smiling teeth and a 
no-nonsense jawline accented by long, wavy blond hair pulled into a 
low ponytail.

Slowly, I began to recover my wits, and my mind frantically formed, 
‘Oh no, he’s staring at me...say something!’

Finally, I found my tongue. “May I help you, sir?”

“Call me Zoisite. All my friends do,” the man said in a smooth tenor.

“Right. Zoisite,” I said, smiling. “What can I do for you?”

“The posters said that you take two or more pre-existing photographs 
and combine them.”

“That’s right.”

Zoisite pulled two pictures out of his Armani suit pocket, one of 
himself, and one of a beautiful woman with long, platinum tresses 
and icy blue eyes. “This is my fiancee, Amethyst...or at least it 
was.”

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“Don’t be,” he said, smiling. “She led a good life. Anyways, can you 
put me in this picture, right here?” he said, leaning onto the 
counter.  I struggled to focus on the patch of foliage he had 
indicated..the scent of the man was intoxicating, like cherry 
blossoms. 

“Yes, I think I can fit you in there,” I said. 

“Great! When will it be ready?”

“I can have it ready in about two weeks, give or take a day or two.”

He nodded. “OK. And what’s the charge?”

“I get paid by the hour.”

“Excellent. Mail the bill to my office. I’ll be along to pick up the 
finished piece. Ja ne!”

“Ja,” I said, watching his hair swish as he left.

I got many more customers from then on. It was as if the perfectly 
dressed Zoisite had opened the floodgates. Person after person came 
hrough my door. I got many requests, some outlandish, like the woman 
who wanted to be placed on top of the Statue of Liberty, and some 
mundane, like the married couple who wanted me to put in their dog. 
I was very busy up to closing time at 5:00 on Saturday, when I turned 
the sign to “closed,” punched in the security code and gathered up my 
things to take to my little blue Honda, happy to take Sunday off like 
I would do every week.

I pulled up in front of the Sweet Shoppe, which the girls and I had 
made a regular hangout and smiled to myself. Coming there after work 
was fast becoming part of my routine. I found that nothing relaxed 
me more than a root beer float and talking to my friends, except a 
long, hot bath, but that could wait until later. 

“Hey Ames!” Serena said from a seat at a table. “How’s business 
going?”

“You’ve asked her that every day, you meatball head. She probably 
doesn’t want to talk about her job!” said Rei.

“I don’t mind at all,” I said. “I love my job.”

Usagi shot Rei a smug look, then turned again to face me. “Any 
interesting customers?”

“No...not really,” I said. 

“Come on, Ames. Who is he?” asked Minako.

“What makes you think it’s a guy?” asked Makoto. 

“I KNOW these things, minna.”

“Oh yeah,” Makoto said, rolling her eyes. “The self-proclaimed 
Goddess Of Love is at it again.” 

“Well, have I ever been wrong before?”

At this, the other three looked down at their hands, not admitting 
that Minako was right. She truly was gifted with affairs of the 
heart. She had helped to set up Usagi and Mamoru, when everyone else 
thought that they hated each other, and had even found a boyfriend 
for Makoto, her best friend, Nephrite. Minako was slowly nudging Rei 
in Jadeite’s direction, but Rei was nothing if not stubborn. As for 
me...up until this point, Minako hadn’t meddled in my love life. 

“So there,” Minako said triumphantly, crossing her arms over her 
perfect figure. “Anyways, you’re not fooling anyone. I know that 
look...you’re hiding something.”

She was right. I have this annoying habit that whenever I lie, I 
blush. And I was turning beet red.

“Out with it, chicka,” said Usagi.

“Yeah, Tokyo wants to know,” said Makoto.

“All right, all right. He said his name was Zoisite.”

“What does he look like?” asked Minako.

“Well, he is one of my clients, so I have his picture in my car. Want 
me to go get it, minna?”

“Hai!” chorused everyone except Rei, who silently sipped her soda, 
the third one purchased for her by a member of the opposite sex.

I obediently walked over to my humble little car, which was on the 
other side of the street. I bent over the passenger side doorway and 
fumbled though my briefcase, which, fortunately, I keep very 
organized. Just as I had located his file, warm breath tickled my 
neck, the scent of cherry blossoms tickled my nostrils, and I felt a 
powerful male aura. 

Panicking, I turned around slowly and was face to face with a pair of 
emerald eyes. “Hi there.”

“EEEEEK!” I screamed, more from surprise than fright. 

“Nice to see you too, Miss Mizuno.”

“Sorry. I..didn’t recognize you at first,” I lied, hoping he would 
mistake my reaction as surprise instead of dishonesty.

Zoisite laughed, an infectious sound that seemed to come from deep 
within. I couldn’t help but giggle. “I seem to have a curious effect 
on you.”

I arched my eyebrows. “How so?” 

“Most people say hello when greeted.”

‘Oh brother. A regular comedian.’ I thought. 

“What’s your name, anyways?”

“You know that. It’s on the front of the shop.”

“No, I mean your first name. ‘Miss Mizuno’ sounds too...formal.”

“Ami.”

“Ah, ‘friend of water,’” he translated my full name.

“Very good,” I said. “Your English is excellent.”

He smiled, a bright, megawatt charmer.

“Um...I’ve got to be going now. My friends are waiting for me.” I 
said, politely excusing myself, clasping my shaking hands around the 
file and looking at the ground.

He lifted my chin so we were making eye contact. “Now, now, don’t be 
shy. I don’t bite...except a little nibble every now and then.”

Blushing furiously, I nodded, extricated myself from his grasp around 
my waist, then walked quickly back into the Sweet Shoppe. 

“What took you?” asked Usagi.

“Yeah, is he a dog or something?” asked Makoto.

I was about to break open the file and show Makoto how wrong she was 
when I heard a voice behind me say, “So these are your friends, Ami?”

Everyone’s eyes bugged out when they saw who the speaker was. 

“Quiet bunch, ne?” he asked.

“Minna, this is Zoisite. He’s one of my clients. Zoisite, this is 
Usagi, Minako, Makoto and Rei,” I said, as each one nodded her head. 
“They’re not always this quiet,” I amended. 

“I see,” he said. “Mind if I join you ladies?” 

“Not at all,” said Minako, who had remembered her voice. I silently 
glared at Minako, who winked in return. Zoisite pulled up a chair 
across from me, next to Rei. 

“Hi, would you all like to order?” asked the waitress.

Just then, Mamoru walked over to the table. “Hey ladies,” he said.

“Hi, Mamo-chan,” said Usagi. “We were just getting ready to order.”

“Great!” he said, pulling up a chair besides his wife. “I’ll have a 
double cheeseburger, heavy on the mushrooms, no pickles.”

Everyone else ordered, all the while Usagi poked fun at Mamoru for 
being such a creature of habit. Zoisite laughed at the couple’s 
antics.

“So this is the wife you’ve been raving about, Mamoru?”

He nodded and slid his arm around Usagi possessively. “Yes.”

“You know him?” asked Usagi.

“We work together,” said Zoisite. “I’m on the same team as Kunzite, 
Jaedite and Nephrite.”

“Otherwise known as the Four Generals,” elaborated Mamoru, the proud, 
successful CEO of Chiba Electronics Inc. “They’re all my vice 
presidents.” 

“Better watch out, Mamoru, or we’ll pull a coup d’ etat,” said 
Zoisite, laughing.

Mamoru rolled his eyes, used to his employee’s idle threats. 

“But I thought you were involved in electronics? Why do you have four 
generals?” I asked, feeling the need to be a part of the conversation.

“We’re not really generals, Ami. It’s a nickname, because we’ve been 
known to attack the competition. We’re in charge of different 
departments. Nephrite is in charge of sales, I head marketing, 
Kunzite is our Human Resource director, and Jaedite covers customer 
relations.”

“I see,” I said, smiling. I could guess at the camraderie between the 
‘Four Generals.’

Zoisite turned out to be an excellent conversationalist. By the time 
our meal was finished, he had charmed all of my friends, even Rei, 
who was inherently distrustful of men after her mother died and her 
father sent her to live with her grandpa. Whenever someone spoke, 
he gave them his full attention, except every now and then he would 
glance my way. Minako kept giving me strange looks all night.

“Well, I’m stuffed,” said Zoisite, stretching contentedly. He took 
out his credit card and Mamoru shook his head. 

“It’s on me, Zoi.”

“I should have known,” he said, laughing. “Gee, Mamoru, if you keep 
up this wild spending, you might go broke.”

“Yeah, in 345 years,” said Mamoru.

We all split up and I began to head to my car. “He’s hot, Ami-chan,” 
whispered Minako.

At this, I simply smiled. “After you,” Zoisite said, holding open the 
restaurant door for me.

“Thanks.”

I pulled my jacket around my shoulders, noting that it had gotten much
colder while we were eating. I was so absorbed by the chill that went 
straight through my bones that I didn’t notice Zoisite was walking 
with me all the way to the car.

“Ami?” asked Zoisite, leaning against the car.

“Yes?” 

“Would you like to see a movie tonight?”

I hesitated for a moment, not because I wasn’t interested, but because
I was unsure of myself.

“If you don’t want to, that’s okay.”

“No, I would love to.”

“Great! I’ll bring the car around. Oh, and put this on. You’re 
shivering,” he said, tossing his trench coat my way.

I caught the jacket in my arms and waited patiently. I couldn’t help 
but to breathe in the scent of the jacket, which, I noted, smelled 
like him. Soon, a sleek, black convertible arrived and we were off. I 
turned two questions over and over in my mind; What kind of a man he 
was Zoisite, and what did he think of me?