Post by teamprd on Oct 21, 2015 22:45:45 GMT
The fact that the ashtray was overflowing with cigarette stubs was not a good sign whatsoever. It wasn’t unusual for Harue to smoke, the thing with an addiction is that it becomes a habit, but it was only when problems arose that she bumped herself up to a pack or more a day. Her smoking was hardly a problem even though she was currently residing in a house shared by two idols – she wasn’t one herself and since no one was allowed in the PRD House without an appointment no one had to know any better. Harue lit up another cigarette, took a long drag, and exhaled out in a sigh.
“They all laughed when I said I was becoming a publicist. ‘It’ll be easy’ I said.” Harue was moments away from slumping her head onto her desk. Instead, the currently purple-haired woman who had planned on getting her hair shaved down some today, pressed a button on her phone. Within minutes, a knock came at her door and in stepped Junko and Meiko, with the latter enjoying a snack of Corn Nuts.
“What’d I tell you?” A vague question always worked wonders, but Harue was too frustrated to care.
“That you and I should avoid public displays of affection?”
“That we should consider putting our music on American music outlets?”
“It was to lay low. You two just got through a scandal. Your name isn’t as popular as it was a year ago; it’s infamous now. People on the image boards think Meiko’s sleeping with older men and because of that now it’s public that Junko sleeps with an older woman. You’re not in America anymore, girls, you’re home now. Different set of rules. Different public morals. You both live and die by the image so you can’t afford to tarnish it again.”
“Is this about what happened at Seishin?”
“Of course it is.”
“But I wasn’t involved – why am I here?” Meiko was much more interested in her salted snack.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I wasn’t aware Junko was fluent enough in English to use the PRD Twitter account.”
“I have gotten better.”
“It’s true, she has.”
Harue put out her current cigarette only to immediately light up another.
“Look, you girls came to me in a time of need. I’ve never done this before, I was an advertising specialist. But that doesn’t mean I don’t know how to handle things like this. Part of my old job was helping companies bounce back. I can’t do that when the company, or in this case the talent, isn’t willing to listen to my advice.”
“What did I do wrong, Haru?”
“Hooo it’s good you don’t read the Twitter account, June.”
“What you did, Junie, was violate the terms of a contract which-”
“Violate? I showed up and I did what I said I was going to do.”
“Junie, you’re lucky they didn’t fire you. Legally they have a right. People get fired for missing a day of work. What you did was like showing up to work and deciding that instead of doing your job you’d rather take copies of your butt for nine hours. Think of it like this. If you two were hired to play a concert but then showed up and decided to…I don’t know…do something other than what you were hired to do…what would you expect to happen?”
“Well we’d probably not get invited back any time soon. But that’s why performers take payments upfront. That’s what you told us.”
“Getting paid to do something comes with the belief that you’re not going to back out. That’s what people sue for. You two signed contracts. Nowhere in there does it say anything about dancing.”
“But when they gave us the contracts they had to know it came with additional information. You do not hire idols and expect them to suddenly not be idols.”
“People don’t typically hire idols when they run a wrestling company.”
“Well that’s not our fault.”
“Girls…you’re not helping yourselves here. Despite what you think, you weren’t hired because of your idol status.”
“Of course not. But we are not going to turn into something we are not. We brought a crowd and publicity and we are getting punished for it. Companies would do bad things for this sort of exposure. It draws attention and it increases profit. That is how press works, Haru.”
“Besides, the staff had every chance to prevent it from happening. And no one would’ve even remembered it had a bunch of nosy instigators hadn’t decided to make personal attacks towards us.”
“Don’t even get me started on that, Meiko. All you had to do was let it go. You let them know they’re having an effect, so why would they stop now? You’re acting like a child.”
“It is fine. With May out of the running I will just have to show them that idols are not something to take lightly.”
“They’re never going to respect us, June…”
“Even so I understand what Haru has said. They may never take us seriously but that does not mean we should give them more reason to think down on us. This is my burden to bear now. I made the decision. Not you, May. While I do not believe dancing to be something so wrong, the time and place were wrong. Haru, can we make a statement?”
“Sure. It wouldn’t hurt to be apologetic. It might not sway certain minds but I’m sure the ones that matter will appreciate it. Send it to me and I’ll make sure the right hands get it. And just…be smart going forward. You were top of your class in high school, Junie. Act like it.”
With the idols bowing and returning to their tasks, Harue again lit up another cigarette. She was missing the thrill of companies on the verge of bankruptcy. They at least had some sense.
‘At the third event of the Seishin promotion, Junko of noted idol duo PRD engaged in content unfitting of the Seishin brand and in violation of contractual obligations. She extends her sincerest apologies to the staff for her conduct and wishes to let it be known that she regrets her rash decision. Though she understands that words are meaningless without actions, she hopes that hers ring true for those that hear it. Junko has requested that, since she was in violation of her contractual duty, her pay be reduced further. She is willing to volunteer her services at no cost to the company until such a time as they feel she has atoned for her mistake. Junko hopes that the incident can be put aside and that anyone who was against her actions will still support the Seishin brand and can look forward to her in action at the next official event.'
“They all laughed when I said I was becoming a publicist. ‘It’ll be easy’ I said.” Harue was moments away from slumping her head onto her desk. Instead, the currently purple-haired woman who had planned on getting her hair shaved down some today, pressed a button on her phone. Within minutes, a knock came at her door and in stepped Junko and Meiko, with the latter enjoying a snack of Corn Nuts.
“What’d I tell you?” A vague question always worked wonders, but Harue was too frustrated to care.
“That you and I should avoid public displays of affection?”
“That we should consider putting our music on American music outlets?”
“It was to lay low. You two just got through a scandal. Your name isn’t as popular as it was a year ago; it’s infamous now. People on the image boards think Meiko’s sleeping with older men and because of that now it’s public that Junko sleeps with an older woman. You’re not in America anymore, girls, you’re home now. Different set of rules. Different public morals. You both live and die by the image so you can’t afford to tarnish it again.”
“Is this about what happened at Seishin?”
“Of course it is.”
“But I wasn’t involved – why am I here?” Meiko was much more interested in her salted snack.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I wasn’t aware Junko was fluent enough in English to use the PRD Twitter account.”
“I have gotten better.”
“It’s true, she has.”
Harue put out her current cigarette only to immediately light up another.
“Look, you girls came to me in a time of need. I’ve never done this before, I was an advertising specialist. But that doesn’t mean I don’t know how to handle things like this. Part of my old job was helping companies bounce back. I can’t do that when the company, or in this case the talent, isn’t willing to listen to my advice.”
“What did I do wrong, Haru?”
“Hooo it’s good you don’t read the Twitter account, June.”
“What you did, Junie, was violate the terms of a contract which-”
“Violate? I showed up and I did what I said I was going to do.”
“Junie, you’re lucky they didn’t fire you. Legally they have a right. People get fired for missing a day of work. What you did was like showing up to work and deciding that instead of doing your job you’d rather take copies of your butt for nine hours. Think of it like this. If you two were hired to play a concert but then showed up and decided to…I don’t know…do something other than what you were hired to do…what would you expect to happen?”
“Well we’d probably not get invited back any time soon. But that’s why performers take payments upfront. That’s what you told us.”
“Getting paid to do something comes with the belief that you’re not going to back out. That’s what people sue for. You two signed contracts. Nowhere in there does it say anything about dancing.”
“But when they gave us the contracts they had to know it came with additional information. You do not hire idols and expect them to suddenly not be idols.”
“People don’t typically hire idols when they run a wrestling company.”
“Well that’s not our fault.”
“Girls…you’re not helping yourselves here. Despite what you think, you weren’t hired because of your idol status.”
“Of course not. But we are not going to turn into something we are not. We brought a crowd and publicity and we are getting punished for it. Companies would do bad things for this sort of exposure. It draws attention and it increases profit. That is how press works, Haru.”
“Besides, the staff had every chance to prevent it from happening. And no one would’ve even remembered it had a bunch of nosy instigators hadn’t decided to make personal attacks towards us.”
“Don’t even get me started on that, Meiko. All you had to do was let it go. You let them know they’re having an effect, so why would they stop now? You’re acting like a child.”
“It is fine. With May out of the running I will just have to show them that idols are not something to take lightly.”
“They’re never going to respect us, June…”
“Even so I understand what Haru has said. They may never take us seriously but that does not mean we should give them more reason to think down on us. This is my burden to bear now. I made the decision. Not you, May. While I do not believe dancing to be something so wrong, the time and place were wrong. Haru, can we make a statement?”
“Sure. It wouldn’t hurt to be apologetic. It might not sway certain minds but I’m sure the ones that matter will appreciate it. Send it to me and I’ll make sure the right hands get it. And just…be smart going forward. You were top of your class in high school, Junie. Act like it.”
With the idols bowing and returning to their tasks, Harue again lit up another cigarette. She was missing the thrill of companies on the verge of bankruptcy. They at least had some sense.
‘At the third event of the Seishin promotion, Junko of noted idol duo PRD engaged in content unfitting of the Seishin brand and in violation of contractual obligations. She extends her sincerest apologies to the staff for her conduct and wishes to let it be known that she regrets her rash decision. Though she understands that words are meaningless without actions, she hopes that hers ring true for those that hear it. Junko has requested that, since she was in violation of her contractual duty, her pay be reduced further. She is willing to volunteer her services at no cost to the company until such a time as they feel she has atoned for her mistake. Junko hopes that the incident can be put aside and that anyone who was against her actions will still support the Seishin brand and can look forward to her in action at the next official event.'
