chapter 2: Missing Ties 

	Most people wouldn’t call Lita Ann Carlyle difficult.  
Her mother often said that was because “those people don’t 
know my baby,” but Lita Ann had a reputation among co-workers 
about moving through things with Virginia charm…except in 
four areas.  

	First, Lita Ann was a little obsessive about her hair. 
Her hairdresser was on speed dial and was often flown out to 
location or across country to do Lita Ann’s hair.  She wouldn’t 
let anyone else but Stacye touch her hair and she’d throw a 
fit if anyone tried to override that.

	Second, Lita Ann insisted that any hotel accommodation 
allowed for her personal assistant, manager, and assistant 
manager to be housed as close to her as possible, usually in 
the same suite but in separate bedrooms.  She once walked out 
of a four star hotel and went to stay at a Best Western two 
streets over because the four star hotel wouldn’t give in to 
her demands.

	Third, Lita Ann had a tendency to cut people out of her 
life if she felt wounded by them.  She stopped speaking to 
difficult co-workers, sent back presents from people who had 
ever snubbed her, and didn’t acknowledge her own aunt for years 
because the woman told her that Flipside was a trashy movie.  
Many of the people who had worked with Lita Ann said that if 
she was your friend, you had a loyal advocate on your side;
wound her once, however, and you were kicked out of her life, no 
matter who you were.

	Fourth, Lita Ann was extremely particular about breakfast.  
She insisted that her entire entourage eat it, and she insisted 
on having the same thing every morning, regardless of where they 
were.  And that something was oatmeal with butter, milk, and sugar 
along with hot tea to drink.  Sometimes she wanted green tea; other 
times she wanted the very British Prince of Wales tea with cream.  
Lita Ann did not do variety - at least not at breakfast. 

	So, it was because of the last of these quirks that 
Patrick was up, dressed in khakis and a green polo, moving 
around the suite thirty minutes before everyone else, 
ordering breakfast and preparing for the start of the day.  
After he placed the breakfast order, he consulted his to do 
list for the day.  The young man sighed.  He may have the 
title of “assistant manager” but in reality, he was Marcos’ 
errand boy.  The advantages to this arrangement were that he 
was being mentored by one of the best managers in the business 
and that he was a part of the inner circle of Lita Ann.  Very 
rarely did the young man explore the joy he felt about the 
latter.

	As breakfast arrived, Patrick’s suitemates emerged 
from their rooms.  Valerie Ann emerged first, although how 
she managed to move in those three inch spiked heels still 
amazed Patrick to this day.  In typical Valerie Ann fashion, 
she was dressed in a swishing short skirt and matching top, 
clearly from that year’s Ready to Wear collection.  She 
went right for the coffee that was being unloaded.  This 
wasn’t because she was tired; Patrick knew for a fact that 
she was awake.  Every morning before joining the group it 
was Valerie Ann’s job to call the family, i.e. her mother 
and Lita Ann’s mother.  The reason Valerie Ann went for the 
coffee was to help her mentally begin the day…and because 
Lita Ann’s mother, Cynthia Jefferson Carlyle, could be 
difficult.

	Soon after Valerie Ann emerged, Marcos walked into 
the main sitting room, still in a blue sweat suit.  Mr. 
O’Reilly started his days with exercise, alternating between 
Yoga and T’ai Chi.  He said that it helped to center him.  
Patrick just marveled how anyone could stay centered in the 
craziness that was Hollywood, but Marcos probably was the 
closest to it.  As Marcos sat down, he began to eat his 
traditional Japanese breakfast.  In his research before 
arriving, Patrick was amazed at how hard it was to find 
hotels that would offer traditional Japanese breakfasts…
and also have oatmeal and tea on hand.  The young man just 
shook his head, as he handed Valerie Ann the tray of pastries 
that he was blocking.

	Finally, Lita Ann herself emerged.  Knowing that she 
wouldn’t have to face press or fellow actors before breakfast 
that day, she was dressed in black leggings and a Hypercolor 
shirt with jellies on her feet.  “Because some mornings you 
just really miss the eighties,” she said the first time Patrick 
asked her about a similar outfit.  Rolling her eyes at her 
cousin, she quietly took her seat at the table where Patrick 
had set her oatmeal.  

	Like the rest of the people in the suite, Lita had 
a morning routine, morning prayer and devotion, followed by 
vocal exercises.  Lita Ann once told Patrick the reason for 
the routine.  “Ever since Flipside,” the actress had shared 
in a slight self deprecating voice, “I’ve gotten up every 
morning and thanked God for my voice and then used my voice.  
It’s like I’m afraid that it will be taken away from me like 
other things have been if I’m not always properly grateful.” 
The actress had laughed nervously after that.  Patrick had 
always meant to ask what she meant by that statement, but 
there had never been an opportunity.


	It was Lita Ann’s voice that brought Patrick back to 
the present. “I don’t see how you can eat that in the morning,” 
Lita Ann said in amazement to her cousin.  “I mean, it’s loaded 
with sugar and the apple filling is oozing out of it.”

	“What of it?” Valerie Ann shrugged as she bit into 
an apple Danish.  “Mmmm! You know you want one,” the personal
assistant continued as she waved the pastry back and forth.

	“Not at this hour,” Lita Ann insisted.  “I mean, that’s 
just sugar and fat!  And you are so going to crash later.”

	Valerie Ann rolled her eyes as she finished off 
the sweet breakfast food.  “You still want one,” she said 
after she swallowed.

	Lita Ann stuck her tongue out at her.

	“Before this degenerates into a family disagreement,” 
Marcos broke in, “why don’t we let Patrick review the schedule 
for the day?”

	Lita Ann nodded and then smiled at Patrick.  “Shoot,” 
she said as she reached for the sugar.

	“Well,” the young man began as he looked down at 
his notes, “first, there has been another script change-“

	“Again?” Valerie Ann interrupted.  “One would think 
that by the time they started shooting they would know what 
the hell they wanted to shoot!”

	Lita Ann sighed.  “Do we have the new script yet?  
How severe are the changes?”

	“We do have a new script,” Patrick said as he 
handed Lita Ann a package in a brown envelope.  “As I 
just received it this morning, I don’t know how severe 
the changes are yet.  But there is a meeting to talk 
about the changes with the principle actors this 
afternoon, which is a slight change in your schedule.”

	The actress sighed, “And I was so looking forward 
to the afternoon off.”

	“Do you have today’s schedule then?”  Valerie Ann 
asked.  “I need to make sure that I don’t have to juggle 
around a lot of stuff this week.”

	“Yes, of course,” Patrick said as he handed out 
red folders.  “This morning the costume designer wants to 
do a final fitting for some of the costumes for Lita Ann.  
She’ll be coming here at ten.  Stacye should land at eleven 
so that she can talk to the costuming department about what 
will have to be done to Lita Ann’s hair-“

	“Oh, thank God!” Lita Ann interrupted.  “I thought 
they were going to push that studio hack on my hair.”

	Valerie Ann laughed.  “After that scene during the 
Flipside shooting, I don’t think anyone will make the 
mistake of having anyone but Stacye attempt to touch your 
hair.”

	Marcos cleared his throat.  “Ladies, why don’t we 
let Mr. Spencer finish, hmm?”

	After the two women nodded and quieted, Patrick 
continued.  “After the fitting, there is an interview 
with a VJ from MTV, and no, I don’t know which one.  As 
part of that interview, they are going to ask you about 
your favorite songs and music videos, so be ready.”  
Seeing the actress nod, Patrick took a deep breath.  “At 
two is the script change meeting that I mentioned earlier.  
The director wants everyone to have read through the script 
at least once before that meeting – and yes, I know that is 
unreasonable.  Don’t shoot the messenger.”

	“I’ll get on that,” Valerie Ann interrupted.  “I’ll 
talk to the director’s people this morning.”

	“After the script meeting, you’ll get the shooting 
schedule.  It’s going to be lighter this week, but for the 
rest of the month, it is going to be pretty hectic. Most of 
the shooting is going to be in the Azabu Juuban, which is part
of Tokyo, but they do have the cities of Kyoto and Osaka as 
possible locations as well.

	“The rest of the day is pretty much yours.  There is 
a request from Cruise’s people that you meet him for dinner 
tonight so you can begin to talk about your roles and working 
together.  But that is just a request.  If you are too tired-“

	Lita Ann shook her head.  “Thank you for looking out 
for me Patrick, but I have to be a professional, even if and 
when I don’t feel well.  Tell Cruise’s people that I look 
forward to seeing Mr. Cruise for dinner and let me know when 
and where I should meet him.”

	“Well, then, that’s it from my end.” Patrick said as 
he stopped.  Turning to look at the actress, he asked, “So 
what is the task for this location shoot?”

	“Task?” Lita Ann asked

	“Come on, Lita Ann.  Don’t mess with the boy.  You know 
you send one or both of us off on some ‘Mission Impossible’ 
task for every location.  When we were in Switzerland for 
the first part of the Flipside shoot, we had to find you 
the perfect hot chocolate.”

	“When we were in England, you sent us to Richmond 
to take pictures.  And we had to find out where to get the 
best fish and chips and where to have high tea.” Patrick 
added.

	“When we were in Los Angeles you did sent Spencer 
and Ms. Jefferson to find a good soul food restaurant,” 
Marcos chimed in.

	“And when we were in Montreal –“

	“Okay, okay.  I get the point.  I do tend to ask 
for a few errands.  I would do them myself, but-“ 

	Patrick raised his hand to stop the apologizing 
actress.  “It’s okay, Lita Ann.  I don’t mind; it’s my job 
after all.”

	“You don’t mind,” Valerie Ann muttered under her 
breath.

	“But, is there any errand that you would like us 
to run?” Patrick asked gently.

	The actress took a deep breath, as if readying 
herself for something.  “Actually, there is something 
that I would like you do.  And you’ll need Valerie to 
help you.”

	“Wait, how did I get pulled into it this time?’ 
Valerie Ann objected.

	“Normally, I wouldn’t ask this of anyone.  I’d 
do it myself.  But…to be honest, I’m a little scared.  
That and I don’t know where to start,” the actress 
finished quietly as she looked down at her hands in 
her lap.

	“What are you asking of us, Lita?” Patrick asked 
softly.

	“I want you to find someone for me,” the actress 
answered after a pause.  Taking a deep breath, she looked 
up at Patrick and said, “I want you to find Melissa Sakura 
Carlyle Kino.”

	“What?!”  Valerie Ann erupted, jumping up from the 
counter on which she had been sitting.  “You want us to look 
for your sister?!  Your sister who chose some foreigner over 
the family?  Your sister who hasn’t contacted any of us in 
years?  The sister that physically pushed you out of the way 
when you tried to get her to at least talk to your mother 
before she left?!  That sister?!” the young woman continued, 
her voice rising at every question until she was shouting.

	“Yes,” Lita Ann admitted as she looked down.  A few
seconds later, her head shot up and she turned to look 
at her much darker cousin, as if recalling something important. 
“And you can’t tell my mother about this.  Not until I talk 
to Melissa,” Lita Ann pleaded.

	“Like I would,” Valerie Ann snorted.  “I like my 
aunt Cynthia.  I wouldn’t inflict that kind of pain on her 
for kicks.”

	“I didn’t ask for your approval, Valerie Ann.  
I just asked you to help Patrick,” was Lita Ann’s quiet 
reply. 

	“So where do you propose we start?  Japan is a 
little bigger than Tokyo, and we don’t even know for sure 
if she’s still in this country,” Patrick interrupted, 
trying to head off a fight between the cousins.

	“Actually, you can start here,” Lita Ann said 
as she pulled a folded envelope out the pocket of her 
leggings.

	“A sixteen year old letter is not going to help,” 
Valerie Ann sneered and she rolled her eyes and crossed her 
arms.

	Lita Ann nodded, “I agree.  But a two year old one 
might help.”

	“Two year old?” Patrick asked after shocked silence 
met Lita Ann’s statement.

	“Yes.  Apparently Years was distributed internationally 
and was shown in Japan,” the actress shrugged, as if to slough 
off the irony.  “My sister saw it and wrote me.  I wrote back…
but I never received a reply.  I don’t know why.” The young 
woman sighed.  “I just want to know what happened to her and 
why she cut off contact or why she tried to contact me again.  
She’s my big sister,” the actress continued.  “If there is a 
chance for me to see her again…I just have to try.”

	The actress’ quiet plea brought silence to the room.  
After a few minutes, Valerie Ann seem to grudgingly relent, 
“Well, if I’m going to waste time helping ‘The Baby’ find 
that woman, I better get to a lot of stuff done now.  Beep 
me if you need me.”  And with that, the young woman sailed 
out the door, anger and annoyance clearly conveyed in the 
force with which her heels hit the floor with each step.

	“And I have a few calls to make.  I’m also having some 
scripts sent here for you to look over, Lita Ann.  We do have 
to find out what your next project will be, after all.” Marcos 
said as he stood to return to his room.

	“I guess I better get reading on this new script.  Not 
exactly how I planned to spend my morning, but oh well.” Lita 
Ann rose from her chair, slowly opening the brown package.  
Walking toward the chairs by the window, she turned around 
to look at Patrick.  “Thank you,” she said as smiled.  “Thank 
you for agreeing to look for my sister.  It means a lot to me.”

	And, as Patrick looked down at the letter in his hands, 
he thought of the all the things that soft smile and quiet thanks 
had gotten him into over the years.

****

	As the alarm rang at six forty-five that morning, 
Makoto moaned as she reached to cut it off. Almost four hundred 
mornings of that alarm and it was still so hard to get up.  It 
wasn’t that quarter after six was such an early time to get out 
of bed; in fact, two years ago she would be up ten minutes earlier.  
The hard part about waking to an alarm was the reminder that 
she could no longer awaken to her mother.

	Unchanged since she was little, Makoto could clearly 
remember how she’d been awakened every school day.  At about 
six thirty-five, her mother would come into her room and open 
her curtains.  As Makoto would begin to stir in her bed, she’d 
hear her mother start out with a very formal, “Good morning, 
daughter.”  Of course the effect was ruined, as her mother 
would promptly jump on her bed, give her a hug, and ask, “How’s 
my little LiLi-chan this morning?”  After that, her mother would 
talk to her about any number of things for about fifteen minutes; 
then, it would be seven and the two of them would do their 
morning exercises together.  Occasionally, her father would 
join them, but in general he tended to leave the woman to 
themselves in the morning.  

	As for the nickname, her mother had decided that Makoto 
needed a nickname pretty early on in life.  “Nicknames are 
important in my family,” she said.  “They revealed all kinds 
of things about people.  Sometimes a nickname reflected hobbies 
or character traits.  Sometimes they represented ties to other 
people.  Sometimes they were easier forms of difficult names.  
But,” her mother would insist, “nicknames always meant love in 
my family.  And I love you to bits, so you need one.”

	Makoto’s nickname came from her second name.  Personally, 
she always thought it was a little odd that her mother insisted 
on giving her two names.  She knew her mother had two names as 
a child, but her mother rarely talked about her other name.  
Her mother tried to explain it to her once, but the designations 
of “first” and “middle” never made much sense to Makoto.  
Nevertheless, Makoto was given two names and LiLi-chan was a 
cuter version of her second name.  At first, Makoto’s mother 
tried calling her just plain LiLi, but soon after that, she 
quickly added the chan.  A few years ago Makoto finally asked 
her about the nickname change one morning.  After a pause, her 
mother shared, “I know…knew a LiLi.  I named you after her, actually.  
She was a very special person, too.  So, she deserves to keep LiLi 
all for her own.  Besides,” her mother added with a smile, 
“Connotation issues in Japanese aside, you look more like a 
LiLi-chan anyway.”

	Makoto smiled to herself as she thought about what 
Usagi and the others called her.  She found Mako-chan rather 
sweet, and, because of what her mother said about nicknames, 
she took the label of Mako-chan as a sign of acceptance by 
her “new family,” although she never shared those thoughts 
with them.  She was also a little happy that no one else 
was calling her LiLi-chan.  Somehow that name seemed something 
that was only reserved for her mother.

	As it was nearing seven am, Makoto climbed out of 
her bed and turned on her radio.  “This morning,” she thought 
to herself, “I’m going to make through these exercises without 
crying.”

	In thinking about it, her mother would probably be 
horrified by Makoto’s tears over the morning ritual, if only 
because her mother seemed to be endlessly intrigued by it.  
“You know,” she once said in the middle of morning exercises 
one Saturday morning, “One day, people from the United States 
are going to marvel at how healthy people in this country are, 
and they are going to think it comes from soy products or the 
sushi.”  Then she laughed.

	Later that morning, as Makoto put on a familiar brown 
uniform, she reflected on how mornings were the hardest.  And 
this week they would be harder than they usually were.  The 
anniversary of her parents’ death was the coming Saturday.  
Of course, she had made plans to go to their grave alone.  
It was an intensely personal time for her.  This year it had 
briefly crossed her mind to tell the other senshi about it, 
but she decided against it.  Except for Rei, they weren’t even 
really aware that her parents were dead; and, after the whole 
thing with Usagi and Mamoru and with aliens and alien trees, she 
wasn’t sure she wanted to burden Ami, Mina, or Usagi with her 
own problems.  And, for some reason, she didn't want to tell 
Rei what Saturday was an anniversary of.

	Thankful that she didn’t have cleaning duties at school
that morning, Makoto began toward the kitchen.  She paused for 
a second to think about the tube in the bathroom, but she 
decided against it.  She wasn’t strong enough to wear the 
lipstick this morning.

****



	As Patrick stood on the other side of the door, he took 
a big fortifying breath, hoping that it would give him the courage 
to open the door to the suite.  It didn’t, but it was worth a try.

	He just didn’t how he was going to tell Lita Ann. How 
does one share that kind of news, anyway?

	Valerie Ann was no help.  She almost seemed happy about 
the way things turned out.  “This way Melissa can’t hurt Lita 
anymore," she shrugged.  When Patrick mentioned that such a 
sentiment was kind of cruel, Valerie practically growled, 
“First, you never met Melissa!  Even as a child, she – but 
that’s not the point.  Look, Lita Ann Carlyle is practically 
MY sister.  We grew up together.  You weren’t there to see 
how Melissa’s leaving devastated Lita and you weren’t there 
to pick up the pieces.  So excuse me if I don’t morn the selfish 
witch.”  

	Valerie Ann also refused to tell Lita Ann what they 
found.  “Just tell her that we couldn’t find her or that the 
witch turned us away.  Why tell her what we found?  At best, 
she’ll just shrug it off; at worse…well, she doesn’t need that 
stress right now.”

	Privately, Patrick disagreed with Valerie Ann’s view of 
the situation.   Admittedly, out of her entire entourage and 
circle of friends, he knew Lita Ann Carlyle the shortest amount 
of time.  In fact, he and Marcos were the only two in Lita’s 
inner circle who had never met Melissa Sakura Carlyle before 
she left the family sixteen years ago.  Yet, at points, he 
would see Lita hug the stuffed animal that she told him her 
sister gave her when she was six.  And he noticed that for 
every special occasion she would wear those special rose earrings.  
She told him one night, after he asked her about her lucky 
earrings, “I’ve had these since my ears were pierced when I 
was nine.  Melissa, my sister, got a pair just like them.  
Even though she was a much more sophisticated fifteen, she 
wore them when I wore mine. She called them ‘sista earrings’.  
It’s a little silly, I guess, but when I wear them, it’s like 
she’s there with me, smiling in the wings.”  Then the actress 
had laughed and quickly changed the subject.  

	Valerie Ann may have known Lita Ann longer, but Patrick 
had a feeling that Lita Ann was more honest with him about how 
she felt about her sister.

	So that left Patrick standing outside their suite door 
trying to figure out how to share news that would devastate a 
young actress, one who was already under stress from working 
on the movie.  Regardless of Valerie Ann’s low regard for 
Melissa Sakura Carlyle Kino, Patrick knew Lita Ann Carlyle 
loved her sister very much.  Even without the happy memories 
and even though Lita hadn’t seen her sister in sixteen years, 
Melissa was her older sister.  And the Carlyle/Jefferson clan 
was very big on family; he knew, he’d been introduced around 
when her was hired and he had been dragged to family reunions 
ever since.

	“Better to get this over with,” the young man muttered 
as he reached for the door handle.

	Before he could touch the door, however, it swung open 
and a member of the MTV crew stepped.  “Oh, Mr. Spencer,” the 
young woman said quietly when she noticed him on the other side 
of the door, “They are almost finished the taping in there.  
You can go ahead in.”

	Nodding to the young woman, Patrick entered the suite.  
Across the room, in the chair and loveseat by the window, Lita 
Ann was in conversation with Bill Bellamy, which Patrick personally 
thought was a strange VJ choice.  As it was, he was just in 
time to hear Lita Ann finish up an answer.

	“I really do think ‘Take On Me’ was a visionary video.  
But then, so was ‘Thiller’.  Honestly, the music video genre is 
just beginning and things will come down the pike over the next 
decade that will utterly amaze us.”

	“So, Lita Ann, I have to ask.  With your voice, have 
you ever considered the music biz?”

	A gale of laughter came from the actress.  “Absolutely 
not!  The ability to carry a tune has nothing to do with the 
ability to succeed in music.  Besides, I’ve noticed the way 
music is going with this new ‘Seattle Sound’.  That’s not my 
style and I’m not nearly that angsty or troubled.  I’d be too 
‘bubble gum pop’ for the industry.”

	That answer seemed to be the end of the interview, 
as Bellamy signed off and the crews began to dismantle the 
lights and remove the microphones.  Ever the polite actress, 
Lita Ann was in the process of thanking Mr. Bellamy as Patrick 
walked over.  As he reached her side, she paused to smile at 
him, then she returned her attention to the press in room.  
Ten minutes later, the room had completely cleared out and it 
was just the two of them.

	Lita Ann sighed as she flopped down on the couch.  
“Why did they have to send Bellamy?  I mean, he’s a nice guy 
and all, but I suddenly felt that I wasn’t being ‘R&B’ enough 
in my answers.  That, and I was waiting for him to compare me 
with breakout star Toni Braxton.  I think MTV sent him to 
interview her, too.”  After shaking her head, she patted the 
couch and turned to Patrick, “Sit down.  What’s up?  And please 
don’t tell me they’ve changed the script again.”

	“No, they haven’t changed the script again,” Patrick 
said as he sat down.  He sighed as he looked at the happy 
actress.  He really wished he had different news.  “Although I 
think I’d rather have to tell you about another script change,” 
he muttered.

	“It’s worse that a script change?  Okay, Patrick, now 
you’re scaring me,” Lita Ann laughed as she turned to look at 
her assistant manager.  After looking at him for a few seconds, 
Lita Ann began to speak in a quieter voice.  “Wait.  You’re 
serious.  Patrick, what-?” the actress began to ask as she 
reached for his hand.

	Taking both of the actress’ hands in his, the young 
man took a deep breath.  “Lita, it’s about your sister-“

	
- to be Continued -