”“Well, last year I proposed to Penny on Valentine’s weekend. I feel it’s cast a shadow over that romantic weekend, so how about we do the rom...ntic dinner for two this Friday, and make a weekend of it this weekend at home?” I asked.She got all dewey eyed at that, and reached round my neck, pulling me in for a kiss and pressing herself against me. “That sounds just fine,” she said throatily. “I’m different from my sister, but I see your point.”That settled, it meant I would be able to get a ring. To finish things off, I put on a light red lipstick that blended nicely with the red highlights in my hair.'There!' I thought as I admired myself in the mirror. I did indeed look hot, even if I did say so myself. "Those young girls are going to have some serious competition tonight," I said to myself proudly. I looked at my watch and saw that it was already after 8:00. It was about a fifteen-minute drive over to Jack's townhouse, so I knew I was going to be at least fashionably late. As I. Well, $25,000 was all I was getting, because the "screen test" was thebeginning and end for me. That I knew for sure.True to his word, Mr. Hardwood was there to pick me up from school. Heseemed really excited, the pervert. He was a perv, wasn't he?We drove silently to an unpretentious-looking photo studio in a nearbystrip mall.An hour or two, I thought. Just grit my teeth, suffer these crazy peoplefor an hour or two, and I'll be rich.I was trembling though as I entered the studio. Mr. Hardwood. Marie read the ad again, checking the directions once more to see if she was on the right track. She had walked a few blocks already and there was no sign of a building with a cute cat-octopus hybrid logo on any of the buildings, it was her first-time inn in Japan after all. The navigation led her to a building with big doors, average looking from the outside, with no logo or indication of it being a studio, but the door was not locked so she decided to take her chance.Even though she had done.