A/N: Alright, I hope you guys enjoy this...I've been toying around with the idea for it for about two weeks now, and I think I have the plans finalized.
For certain purposes of this fic, I've made Bura (Bra) and Marron best friends.
AGES: Marron=22; Trunks=26; Goten=25; Bura=20 (I know the age differences aren't exactly right, but use you imagination.)
For future reference: "..." = speaking; '...' = thought; *...* = action.
Remember to review!
Chapter I - Her Heart's Desire
Marron closed her eyes and sighed. Today was her last day working at Capsule Corp. It was sad to be leaving it...sad to leave him. She had thought that seeing him everyday, with the flavor of the month firmly attached to his arm, would make the feelings go away, but instead, they had only grown stronger.
"Marron dear," one of the older ladies, who she worked with, began, "you know you don't have to do all of that stuff. We will get it. You just focus on the grand opening next week."
Marron smiled, opening her eyes to the kind woman. "Remember, you guys have to come and visit me. I'll give you a 50% discount."
"I'm sure we'll all be there to take advantage of it. You know the elderly...always trying to find a bargain. Besides, I'm absolutely bored with my arts and crafts class. I've already made twenty-five quilts. A woman only needs so many quilts."
"Sarah! You just gave me a wonderful idea. Are there a lot of others who have surpluses of quilts and other crafts?"
"Well sure. Why do you ask?"
"I thought that maybe I could sell them in the studio. It would give you guys some extra income and attract more people."
"How novel! I'll spread the word."
"Good. We can discuss it some more at lunch."
"Sounds marvelous."
Marron sighed again as she watched Sarah go. She was excited about getting her new business going, but the fact was that Trunks still hadn't asked her to stay. A month ago, when she had submitted her resignation, there had been a brief meeting, in which he merely told her that she was "an invaluable asset to the company" and that the loss of her skills would be "significant." And that was all. No "Marron, what will I do without you?" Or "Isn't there anything I can do to persuade you not to go?"
The truth was that she didn't really want to stay at Capsule Corp., but, had he asked, she would have jumped at the chance. Now, she was getting to fulfill her dream, and Trunks wasn't anywhere in it. 'Why can't I just have my cake and eat it too?'
The ringing of the telephone beside her made her jump. She picked it up. "Capsule Corporation, this is Marron speaking. How may I be of service to you today?"
The voice sounded like some crazy old woman. "Hello there, little girl." There was a slight Southern accent to it.
"Umm, what can I do for you today, Ma'am?"
"Well, I was wondering if you had seen that fine hunk of a man, Mr. Briefs today."
Marron laughed nervously. "Well, I can actually see him right now. I have a great view of his office."
"Is that right? So tell me, Deary. Can you see his tight ass?"
She caught the slight change in voice, which the caller attempted to cover up with a cough. "Well indeed, I can, and it looks mightily fine."
"Do you have a thing for this young man?"
"Unfortunately, yes."
"Does he make you...hot?" the "old woman" was becoming a little too excited.
"Oh yeah," she purred.
"So why don't you tell him how you feel?"
She sighed for the twenty-sixth time that morning. "Goten, you know I can't. He doesn't feel the same way...he never will. You should know it even better than I. You're his best friend." She lounged back in her chair and propped her feet up on the desk.
"He could change his mind, Marron," he said speaking in his normal voice. "He just needs a hint...a shove in the right direction."
"I don't want him to be *shoved* into anything with me."
"Alas, my Sweet. He will come to his senses one day."
"Goten, stop talking like that. You sound fruity."
He chuckled. "Bura doesn't seem to mind."
"Bura is weird. But, she does have a sound mind. Like me, she understands that there is no hope for myself and her brother."
"You'd be surprised..."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Oh nothing. Just that Bura and I have been talking."
She clenched her teeth. "Oh you have, have you? Well stop it. I'll not have the two of you getting mine, or your own, hopes up for no reason."
"We just want what's best for you."
"I'll choose what is and is not best for me."
"You already have. You chose him."
Goten was right, and she knew it. For years, she had loved the same man, right from boyhood. What she had once thought to be infatuation or obsession had just simply never gone away, and that was the problem. Trunks didn't love her. She had come to terms with it, but the fact was that she couldn't make herself stop loving him. She had tried dating. It never worked. They all ended the same way--she terminated the relationship. And why did she do this? There was only one explanation. Those guys weren't Trunks.
"Come have dinner with me and Bura tonight. We can celebrate your leaving Capsule Corp."
"Trunks, I don't want to be a third wheel."
"What did you just call me?"
"Duh, I called Goten, Goten."
"No. You said 'Trunks.'"
"I did not."
"Whatever. Look, you won't be a third wheel. Bura told me to ask you, and we haven't seen you in a while anyway. Besides, it'll be fun."
"Fine, Goten," she agreed, knowing that it could take forever to get him to shut up about it. He was rather persistent when he wanted to be.
"Great! I'll tell--"
Trunks came out of his office. "Marron, I realize that this is your last day and all, but I'm not paying you to gossip on the phone all day."
She snapped. "Look here, mister. If you've got a problem with it, then tell *your* best friend to stop calling me on *your* valuable time!"
Everything in the office came to a stop, everyone taken aback at sweet little Marron's sudden change in character. All eyes went to the boss and his secretary.
The silence lasted a short time before Trunks narrowed his eyes a bit and spoke quietly. "Transfer the call to my office."
Marron couldn't really think of anything else to do, so she raised the phone to her ear, hand shaking a bit, and nearly whispered, "Please hold while your call is being transferred."
"Thank you." He looked around the quiet room. "You may all return to your work now." He reentered his office.
Marron set the receiver back into the cradle and punched in the transfer code.
She went back to her typing and soon heard Trunks raising his voice. She was hoping that Bura had been somewhere around Goten and was blessing out her brother, even if she didn't have a good reason. He deserved it after embarrassing her like that.
"Marron!!"
She jumped at his yell, and slowly entered his office.
He was off the phone now. "Close the door behind you."
She did.
"Have a seat."
"I think I'd rather stand, if you don't mind."
"I DO mind. SIT!"
"You don't have to yell, damnit. I'm not deaf," she said, making herself comfortable in one of the plush, leather chairs across from him.
"Could have fooled me."
"Damn you, Trunks Briefs. I took this job as a favor to your mother, then kept it for college. I did not start working here to become your punching bag, or whatever you want to call it."
"What is wrong with you lately? You've become so...irritable."
She ignored the question. "Look, did you have some reason for bellowing my name, *Master*, or do you simply delight in yelling out miscellaneous names any time you please."
He shrugged off her still odd behavior. 'Probably that time of the month,' he thought to himself. "My sister told me to offer you your job again with more benefits. I'll give you a raise and more vacation time."
She had thought that she wouldn't have the guts to turn him down, but *he* wasn't the one who was wanting her to stay. "No."
"That's it? Just 'no'?"
"What did you expect?"
"I don't know."
"Look, I'm sorry to be a spoiled sport, but I'm leaving early today. In fact, now will be quite nice for me. The sooner I get out of here, the sooner I can..." she dropped her sentence.
"What?"
She had been about to say, "...get over you." She had just caught herself in the nick of time. (Hmm, why is it the NICK of time? Why not the Alex or Jack?) She made up something lame. "The sooner I can get to work on the business."
"Well it's fine with me. Your temp is coming in later anyway."
"Good. If that's all, I'll take my leave." She moved to go.
"Marron."
'Oh just let me leave!' She turned to face him again. "Yes?"
"Good luck with the studio. I might stop by sometime."
"Thank you, Trunks." It was nice to know that he still knew how to be friendly, though she doubted that his stopping by would help her at all. Then again, what was she worried about? She was pretty sure that he wouldn't be caught dead in the studio. She quietly left his office, then proceeded to get her things and leave Capsule Corp. for the last time.
Marron looked at herself in the mirror and began fixing her hair and make-up. Bura had called and informed her that she needed to wear something formal, so she had gone shopping earlier, hoping that it would help her clear her mind--and it had worked, for about twenty minutes. She was at the mall around one in the afternoon, when she saw him. Her rootbeer float began to taste bitter as she watched Trunks make out with the woman, whom she supposed had been her temporary replacement. 'Not for long,' she thought. Trunks's temps had a habit of quitting after he had had a little fun with them. This was the main reason that Bulma had first asked her to start working at Capsule Corp.
Now Marron had her own company and responsibilities to worry about.
She looked at the dress that hung on her door. It was a jet black color made of satin. It was pretty concealing, with thin straps and an imperial waist. (I know; it's supposed to be plain.) She had decided put her hair in a bun. Once done, she grabbed her purse, and left the little apartment. She did not want to be late.
She arrived at the Briefs Mansion with time to spare and re-capsulized her air car. She was about to rap on the door, when it swung open.
"Hey, Marron!" Goten excitedly pulled her into the house.
She looked around the room and saw that everyone she knew, and many whom she didn't, between the ages of 20 and 29 was there. "Oh my." She tried to put a smile on her face, but it looked more like she was going to cry.
Bura came to stand beside her. "We decided to have a little get-together in your honor. Congratulations on your new business and leaving my brother without a five-star secretary!"
"Hear, hear," Trunks said mockingly, as he strolled into the room.
'This is *not* happening. It's just a dream, just a stupid dream.'
Goten noticed her facial expression. "Are you okay, Marron?"
"I-I...I think I'm going to be sick." She rushed from the room and into the nearest bathroom, where she deposited her lunch and breakfast into the toilet. She knelt over the commode and closed her eyes. What was with her? She had seen and known Trunks all her life. Maybe it was just seeing him so much today, having words with him, and the surprise of a party that had made her feel so ill. Maybe it was bad food. Or maybe it was because she knew she wouldn't be able to see him everyday from now on. 'There must be some way to move on. He's never going to love me. Why can't my heart seem to understand that?' A few tears slipped from her cheeks. She flushed the toilet, and sat back on the floor, pulling her knees up close to her chest. "Oh Kami, Mr. Popo, Piccolo, Dende--anybody up there who can hear me, please help. I don't know how much longer I can go on like this. I don't have the heart to hurt my parents by leaving this place. Please."
The was a quiet knock at the door. "Marron?"
"I'm okay, Bura. I had some bad food earlier. Go on back to the party. I'll be there in a bit."
FAR AWAY FROM THE BRIEFS MANSION
"There must be something we can do."
"Yes, I think I have the perfect thing in mind. Go get the dragonflies."
"Right away, Sir."
Marron stood alone, against a wall, watching Trunks out of the corner of her eye. As usual, he had found some stray beauty to give his attention to for the night. 'He's such a player,' she thought. 'How can I be in love with him?'
Another guy walked up to her. This one actually wasn't so bad. His body was pretty nice to look at, and the only thing that she could see wrong with him right now was the excessive mount of gel present in his short black hair. She doubted that even Vegeta needed that much gel.
"Hey there, Beautiful." He put a hand on the wall to the left of her face and leaned in. "Wanna get out of here?"
"Rather forward, don't you think?"
"I like to get right to the point."
She looked around for some help, but instead saw Trunks leading the girl he had been making out with up to his room.
"Whadya say?"
"Sure."
She took him to one of the empty wings of the mansion and into a bedroom. He was already all over her before they got to the bed. She felt him start caressing her breasts, and was barely able to keep herself from moaning Trunks's name. The top of her dress was already off, and he was about to undo her bra when...
"Don't do it!"
She pulled her mouth away from him and looked up. "What did you say?"
"Nothing."
"Must be hearing things." She kissed him again.
"I said 'don't do it!'"
She pulled away from him again.
"What now?" he snapped.
"I-I thought I...are you sure you didn't say anything?"
"Yes, I'm sure." He started kissing her neck and shoulder, while tugging the dress down farther.
"You're going to regret this."
He wasn't in her way now, and she looked around the room. A woman suddenly came into view.
"What are you doing? Can you see we're busy?"
He stopped and looked around the room. "Who are you talking to?"
"That woman. She's at the foot of the bed. Don't you see her?"
"I see nothing."
"But she's *right there*," she pointed to her.
"Okay, I don't know what you've had, but I'm not into druggies, so I'm outta here." He zipped and buttoned his pants, grabbing the shirt and muttering, "Of all the fine women out there, I have to pick a paranoid freak..." He left.
Marron sat up on the bed and started pulling the dress back up, still staring at the woman.
The woman crossed her arms. "You can thank me later." She wore a soft white dress, which looked like it was made of chiffon, and had exceptionally long, silvery hair.
"Thank you! I have no intention of thanking you. You just ruined a perfectly good one-night stand, I'll have you know."
"What's one night with him compared to an eternity with the one you love?"
Marron didn't reply.
"That's what I thought," another woman appeared from the shadows, wearing a black fighting gui, similar to Goten's, except with a violet undershirt and sash. Her white hair ended at her back, and was pulled back into a ponytail at the base of her neck.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Epica, and this is my sister, Elese. We're here to help you."
Reviews! Gimme reviews! I'm greedy!
