Hello again everyone! This is my newest story. I actually wrote this for my english class. We had to write our own version of Cinderella and this is what I came up with. The idea actually came to me from another fanfic I read on here. I don't even remember the name of it so if one of you recognizes anything in this as matching with that, please tell me the name of fic and author so that I may give them proper credit.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the general plot of this story. None of the characters are mine and I am not making any money on this.
Warnings: Implied malexmale relationship...thats it really...This story is really lite.
Enjoy! Oh, and REVIEWS please!
Manhattan Violet Eyes
Duo walked briskly along the darkened streets of downtown New York, heading quickly for his small warmed apartment. He wasn't able to afford much, and lived in the poorer part of town. He was still in school working on his masters and had high hopes to be in a better situation someday. Everything he did have, little as it may be, he had worked hard for. He'd grown up with a rich family but was the odd one out and didn't get anything except the longer chore list. His mother had died when he was just a baby and his father remarried while he was still young. He had the typical "evil" stepmother and even two bratty step sisters that always got whatever they wanted. Sure Duo still got the clothes he needed and even got stuff for school, but he was the one that was forced to do all the chores while the girls went out and had fun. When he finally got to high school he decided to start working just to get out of the house and hasn't stopped since. Even now he's working his way through college doing several part time jobs. He works at a coffee shop, a book store, and even subs in at a fancy restaurant as a line cook whenever they need him. It pays the bills and keeps him busy so he doesn't mind.
As he was growing up his friends used to make fun of him calling him Cinderella, only Cinderella was a girl and he most certainly was not. Although his friends joked that he might as well be with his long chestnut hair and big bright violet eyes with lengthy dark lashes. His eyes were always a topic for conversation since they were such a rare color. The most common question he got was always if they were real or contacts. He usually just laughed at that one. His hair was another story entirely. He had always kept his hair long, originally it had been as a way to rebel against his step mother, but then it turned into something that was his alone. He didn't have to beg for it from his step mother, he didn't have to do any extra chores from his step sisters to earn it, it was his alone. Even now that he was away from them he still kept it long and refused to cut it. He always wore it in a long thick braid that trailed down his back and rested gently against his waist. He'd taken to having it trimmed every few months deciding that he didn't want it to be any longer than it finally gotten. Aside from the hair and the eyes, he was very slender but not skinny and was well muscled, but not bulky. At around five foot nine he was not short but not very tall either. If someone really looked at him they could certainly tell that he is a male but at a quick glance one would certainly think female. Aside from not being a girl, it was too late for his happy ending. He's going on twenty-seven years old! Cinderella got her happy ending in her teens he was pretty sure. He wouldn't be averse to having some prince come sweep him off his feet, hell, if it meant he could live in the lap of luxury then so-be-it. He's not gay, but he wasn't against it either. He believed that you fell in love with the person, not the gender. Yeah, his friends all thought he was crazy too. They all said it explained why he was still single when most of them were married.
He shivered as a particularly violent gust of cold wind whipped past ripping through his thoughts bringing him abruptly back to the present. He noticed with a start that he was standing in front of his old brick building with pieces of the brick chipped away in more places than one could count and covered in dark illegible graffiti on wall. It was old and run down, but it was cheap and only a short subway ride from all three of his jobs so he delt with the chipped bricks, the graffiti, and the occasional homeless bum sleeping on the front steps. He could deal with it all just fine as long as it was a place he could call his own. With a sigh of relief he promptly let himself in and made his way quickly to his apartment and to his welcoming bed hoping that the next day would bring something new into his mundane life.
'Tap tap tap' Hearing a strange tapping sound Duo slowly stirred from his dreamless sleep and popped open one eye, glancing quickly around his still darkened bedroom. Everything appeared to still be in order and since it was still dark that meant he still had time to sleep. Rolling over he decided to go back to sleep when the sound started up again, only with an added annoyance this time. 'tap tap tap scrape, tap tap tap scrape'. With a deep resigned sigh Duo opened both eyes and looked into the corner of his room to find his white Turkish angora cat busily cleaning out the chicken pan he had left on the counter in the kitchen. It was one of those thin aluminum pans that easily gets all bent out of shape, which apparently it was. The tapping sound was made every time she would lick it, the uneven bottom would hit against the hardwood floor and whenever it would move it would make a scraping sound. Jumping out of bed he ran over to the cat, yelling at it as he neared "Persephone! Dammit cat! That was not for you!" He quickly surveyed the mess, noticing that there was a nice trail of chicken juice leading from the kitchen, all the way into his bedroom. Grabbing the pan he growled in frustration and stormed down the short hall and into the kitchen to clean it up. The sun was just peaking over the horizon when he finished, and just as he was sitting back down on his bed, his alarm went off, announcing the start to yet another day for him. "Great, this day is going to be just freaking wonderful" he stated glaring at the long haired feline that was currently curled up happily snoozing on his bed. With a short laugh he decided to extract a little revenge and quickly pulled the covers up to start making his bed causing the cat to fall to the floor, where it landed perfectly on its feet and proceeded to curl up right where it landed to go back to sleep. Duo shook his head and sighed, "I can't even get anywhere with a cat…." he muttered.
Once his bed was made, he got himself ready for work. There was no class that day so he was just going to work all day. It was going to be a busy day as he had all three jobs, so that extra 45 minutes of sleep would have really been nice. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and kept reminding himself to only think positive. He would be out of here someday. Someday he would be rich and not have to live in the slums, and not have to work three jobs just to make ends meet. Someday. With a nod of his head and a smile on his lips he quickly headed for the door and stepped outside into the blistering cold that was downtown New York City.
Duo always enjoyed being the one to open the coffee shop in the mornings. It gave him a chance to enjoy his own cup of coffee in peace, and allowed him a chance of calm before the storm. Mornings were always the busiest time for the little coffee shop, much busier than even lunch. Hearing the bell chime above the door, Duo turned to inform the person that they were not open yet, but was unable to form a single coherent thought as he was met with the most incredibly intense blue eyes he had ever seen. They were deep cobalt and dragged you in holding you captive until the owner deemed you worthy to be released. "Are you open?" a deep voice drawled suddenly pulling Duo out of his temporary daze. "Umm…errr…No…not quite…." He managed to stutter out still stunned by the intensity of the man's, at least he thought it was a man, eyes in front of him. The person in front of him could have been of either sex for how androgynous they looked, dressed in sweat pants and sweat shirt, obviously fresh from the gym. The person was slim of build but toned, well defined. They looked to be of Asian descent, tall, but not overly so, maybe 5'9'' or 5'10'' definitely no taller than that. Shaggy brown hair that looked untamable adorned his head framing his expressionless face. Those eyes again, back to the eyes, Asian in shape, but then that intense blue. Duo just couldn't get enough. Duo was betting money on the fact that the person was male, judging by just the voice but still wished it was a female. This person was just much too beautiful to be a male. Apparently he'd been staring because the male customer then cleared his throat causing Duo to blush and quickly look away. "Umm… I mean….You can stay if you want. I'll be ready in a minute and can make you something. Uh…Sorry….." Without waiting for a response Duo quickly disappeared into the back kitchen to hide his growing embarrassment. He waited just a few moments and slowly walked back out to finish his opening duties and found that the mysterious man was gone. With a frown Duo walked around the counter and over to the door to turn around the sign, stating them as opened and immediately noticed that the door was locked. Puzzled, Duo examined the door wondering how the man had gotten in but wasn't given much time to ponder over it as people suddenly starting pouring in and the other employees started to show up as well. It was going to be a busy day, and Duo had better things to worry about than strange people showing up, even if they did have unique eyes.
Duo leaned heavily against the counter top at the restaurant as he pulled his apron over his head. He was bone tired. The coffee shop had been extra busy that morning, not allowing him a break at all, and he had run straight from there to his next job at the book store just barely making it on time due to a major traffic jam. He should have taken the subway, but stupid him, he'd thought a cab would be quicker for the mere 12 blocks. It turned out that he could have walked it quicker. It was just so cold out he didn't want to. Now he just made it to his last job and still hadn't had a break. Seeing something out of the corner of his eye he quickly straightened to see a young man in server garb walking toward him. "Hello!" the young platinum blond said as he approached. He looked to be about 19, blond hair aqua marine blue eyes, very boyish and cute looking. Duo could see him making a great little brother and could easily see people warming to him quickly. "You're Duo right?" the youth asked cocking his head to the side in question. Duo smiled, "That'd be me! What can I do ya for?" He joked seeing if he would catch on. Duo did this to a lot of the newbies especially the ones that seemed as innocent as this one did. The blonds face started to turn red but he stuttered only slightly when he spoke again, "Y-you, that is, I was wondering if you would be interested in serving on the floor for me." Duo's eyes widened in shock before he started laughing, "Hahahaha! Good one kid! Now tell me what you really want" Surprisingly the kid stood his ground and didn't even flinch. "Duo, why don't you and I go talk in private for a minute and I'm sure we can work something out." He stated very calmly earning a few cat calls and whistles from the rest of the kitchen crew. Still laughing Duo waved his hand to the kitchen letting them know that he would be back and led the young blond into the back dry stock storage room.
Collapsing onto a stack of grain bags Duo groaned rubbing his hands over his face and wanting nothing more than to go to sleep. "Alright kid, talk." He said suddenly feeling very impatient and weary and wanting nothing more than for this day to be over. The young blond smiled kindly and kneeled in front of Duo, "Duo, I am here to offer you the chance of a life time. It'll be hard, and you will have to work for it. But in the end it will be worth it. Now knowing just that much do you want me to continue or do you just want to go back to work and be done with it?" he stared right into Duo's eyes looking very earnest as he spoke. Duo gazed back at him puzzled and thought for a minute about what this kid could possibly offer him that he could want. Not one to ever look a gift horse in the mouth Duo decided to just go with the flow, it never hurt before, never really helped either, but what the hell, why not, right? "Sure thing, kid. Tell me what ya got." The kid smiled, jumped up and quickly hugged Duo before sitting down beside him to tell him everything he needed to know.
"Ok, I hope you are ready for this. I don't know how else to tell you all this other than just tell you. Obviously I'm pretty young which makes me new to this. Why I was assigned to someone older than me I'll never know, but I guess I just got lucky. And oh! I'm rambling now aren't I?" the young blond who was indeed rambling glanced over at Duo who was giving him a rather worried look. "You might want to hurry this along kid. I don't have that long of a break ya' know." He mentioned glancing down at his watch. Looking at the time he noticed something wasn't right. He tapped his watch a few times before holding it up against his ear and listening for the telltale ticking noise. "Damn…" he muttered "My watch must've broke…" the blonds smile seemed to only grow at this which made Duo all the more weary of him. "Oh! You don't have to worry. We have plenty of time. I stopped time so that we could talk." Duo looked over at him then like he had grown a few heads, "Haha, very funny kid. Good one, you almost got me there." The blond shook his head "I'm serious, go take a look for yourself if you don't believe me. Everyone in the entire restaurant is frozen in time right now. We should hurry though. We don't want to mess things up for them too much, and we will the longer we take." Duo's jaw dropped in surprise and rather than run and check on everyone else he chose to just believe the young kid. He was too tired to move at the moment and decided that it was just easier to give the interesting kid the benefit of the doubt. If he said he stopped time who was he to doubt him? Stranger things have happened after all, hell, this was New York City. Duo heaved a sigh and wearily asked, "Who are you exactly?" The youth smiled brightly, "I'm Quatre, your fairy godfather!" he stated happily. Duo almost fell over in shock before finding his voice. "My fairy Godfather! Are you shitting me? Like Cinderella's freaking Godmother!" A small laugh erupted out of Quatre sounding more like clear bells being rung than laughter stunning Duo into a temporary silence. "Aren't you a little young to be a Godfather?" asked Duo finding his voice once more. Quatre's smile faltered just a fraction before answering, "Oh! But I was top of my class! And I graduated early and everything! I promise I will take good care of you!" he sounded panicked which surprised Duo. "There are classes for this? Un-freaking believable! Not only am I here with a Fairy but a flippin Valedictorian fairy at that! I know I must have drunk too much coffee this morning and since I haven't eaten all day it's all just catching up on me. I know! Maybe I'm actually passed out in some hospital somewhere and this is all a weird dream my over-caffeinated underfed mind has come up with! Yeah that's it!" Duo was babbling now and was borderline hysterical when a sharp smack to his arm brought him back to his senses. "Ow!" he said looking over to the fairy whose arm was still raised, an angry expression now adorning the once angelic face. "What'd ya do that for?" Duo spat out rubbing his now stinging arm. "Stop! Just stop! I am real, not just some dream and I am here to help you! Now, we're running out of time so if you would please gather your senses so that we may continue I would greatly appreciate it!" Quatre angrily spat out. Duo groaned, leaning over he put his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands before speaking again, "this cannot be happening" he stated. Quatre smiled and placed a calming had on Duo's shoulder. "It's alright Duo, I'm here to help. Really I am. Are you ready to hear what I have to offer?" the young fairy asked. Duo sighed heavily before leaning back once more, "Alright bring it on!" Upon hearing this the young fairy let out a big "Woohoo!" throwing a fist up into the air in the process. "Alright, heres the deal. There is going to be a big banquet here three nights in a row for the big new corporation Techron Industries, you know the one, with the hotshot young CEO, the one that apparently didn't even graduate high school but built this business from the ground up by himself." Duo just nodded in response. He vaguely knew about it. He didn't really pay attention to that sort of thing; he had better things to worry about. "What kind of company is it?" he asked wanting to know as much about the people as possible. "Oh! It's an electronic company. They specialize in all things electronic; gaming systems, computers, gps, radios, you name it they deal with it. And the CEO is only 29 so it's pretty impressive." Quatre stopped talking and looked over at Duo to make sure he was paying attention. Duo just nodded to show he was and encouraged him to continue, which he did. "Anyway, the banquet is in response to some big business deal that was just completed. Apparently they've been working on it for years and now they want to celebrate. So it's a three day long event and they want the same servers on board every night. They were very specific about what they wanted; they even specified how they wanted their servers to look. Needless to say, you fit the bill and it's too good of an opportunity for you to pass up. You're an electronics and business major, get in good with one of these guys and you'll have your future set!" "Pff!" Duo blew air past his lips and started fiddling with the ring he always wore. It was his mothers and oddly enough it fit on his right ring finger. He had a habit of fiddling with it whenever he got nervous. "You see, Quat, There is one small problem here." Duo stated. Quat frowned, "What is it Duo? I'm sure whatever it is I can fix"
"I guess there's actually more than one problem. One; I've never served before, and two; my mannerisms are much too horrible especially for such an upscale place! I work in the kitchen for crying out loud!"Quatre just laughed at this and grabbed Duo in a hug, "Oh Duo silly! That's what I'm here for! I'll get you all fixed up don't you worry!"
"When exactly is all of this supposed to happen?"
"Why, the first is tonight actually!" the blond giggled eliciting a grunt from Duo, who followed it with a resigned short sigh and allowed the young blond fairy take over.
"Ok!" piped out the blond. "First off you need the uniform. All the servers here wear a sort-of half suit. The white button-down oxford with a black tie and a black vest, and of course black dress pants polished leather shoes and an ankle length black apron with two front pockets. You've got to look the part! So hurry up and get dressed so that you can get to work, the uniform is behind you. You'll find that it's all in your size." Duo turned around and sure enough there in a neat pile was a perfect uniform. "How'd this get here?" he questioned looking back at his fair haired companion before turning quickly around. "Never mind, I don't want to know. This hocus pocus shit is really starting to freak me out. I can't believe this is real." Continuing to mumble and complain under his breath Duo quickly changed into the foreign uniform but balked once he got to the apron. The strings were far too long for his slender body and he couldn't figure out what to do with the extra length. Turning back to Quatre he gestured to the strings, "Uh… a little help here…" Quatre fought back a grin and helped Duo to tuck the laces into the front of his apron and out of sight. "There! Perfect! You look just the part. Now, all we have to do is make you sound like one." At Duo's worried look Quatre quickly explained, "Oh! I won't do anything to you I promise! I was just going to give you a few lessons and pointers, that's all! I swear!" Duo didn't look convinced but managed to relax a little regardless.
What felt like hours later, but in reality was probably only a few minutes, finally had Duo sounding like a gentleman. After that Quatre quickly restarted time and ushered Duo out into the dining room where he could get some hands on training before the big banquet actually started. There were only a few guests at this early hour of the evening and Duo was given one table to practice on. He of course did fine and was moved on to two more before he was pulled away to help set up. The last of the guests were ushered out and the restaurant closed to the general public for the next three nights. Every server that was working the banquet was assigned three specific tables that they would take care of all night long. Every guest attending was either a big corporate owner or important dignitary. He was positively giddy with anticipation and was sure that he would mess something up drastically, or just embarrass himself. He wasn't the most graceful of people on a good day, and this definitely wasn't a good day. All too soon the preparations were complete and all that was left was to wait on the guests to arrive. Duo looked around at all the other servers chatting amicably among each other. He had never really talked to them since he worked back in the kitchen. He knew very few of them and unexpectedly felt very out of place causing him to pull at his suddenly tight feeling collar. Without warning a hand clamped down on his shoulder causing him to jump before the warm deep voice of his manager Mark met his ear. "How you feeling Duo? Getting a little nervous?" he inquired smiling reassuringly. Duo nodded before answering, "Yeah a little". The Manager just nodded in understanding giving his shoulder a quick squeeze before dropping his hand. "Don't worry you'll do fine. I have faith in you. If you have any problems or questions at all don't hesitate to find me and ask though ok?" Duo nodded quickly and turned as Mark continued on his way. It was just about to hit seven pm, 'Show time!' thought Duo, and quickly made his way over to his three tables to wait on his special guests.
The night had started out just fine and so far Duo had made no mistakes. The main Techron man himself had apparently not shown up yet either so that was a good thing as well. He just realized his last table had been sat; two males and one female, should be easy. He walked over to the table and quickly introduced himself. "Hello and good evening. My name is Duo and I will be serving you. May I get you started with some wine or champagne this evening?" The two young men, who looked to be about Duo's age, both ordered beer and the lady, ordered Dom Perignon stating that she only drank real champagne. Duo internally rolled his eyes at that, smiled sweetly at the guests, and immediately left to get the orders. He returned shortly and quietly placed their drinks in front of them. Seeing that they were still waiting on a fourth person he asked if they would like an appetizer while waiting, which they declined, so he nodded and left to allow them time to go over the menu. When he made it back to them after a few minutes the fourth person had arrived. Also a male, around Duo's age by the looks, dressed like everyone else in an expensive Armani suit or something like that. Duo personally couldn't tell one designer suit from the next, but guessed if you were that rich that came with the territory. He asked the newcomer what he wanted to drink got everyone's order and hurried off to complete it. This table was ordering the most expensive stuff off the menu and since everything on the menu was expensive that was saying something. The majority of the people joining the banquet were eating from a shortened menu offered just for the occasion, but his table insisted on the regular menu and was ordering only the highest priced items. Every few minutes other employees were walking by him saying things like, "way to go Duo! Got the big spenders!" or "Gonna make that money tonight Duo!" or even "Work it Duo!" Duo just laughed it off but secretly hoped that they would tip really high regardless of how nervous he was.
As the night wore on everything seemed to be going smoothly. The 'big spenders' were on desserts and had switched to drinking port to go with. Once he served the dessert he came back with the tray of Port wine and set one glass in front of each person. He was just about to set the glass down in front of the lady when she, in the middle of her conversation, gestured wildly with her hand and knocked right into his tray, unbalancing the glass spilling its contents all over the table and into her lap. She shrieked and jumped up from her seat. "I am soo sorry!" Duo exclaimed quickly grabbing a towel from around his waist to mop up the spill. "How dare you! This dress costs more than you make in a year! I demand you be fired for this!" she shrilled out gathering the attention of everyone around them in the restaurant, creating a scene. Duo was at a loss and couldn't think of anything to do other than to apologize. The lady had been ignoring him all night; it was her fault that she chose to ignore his presence again and knocked into his tray. He continued to apologize even as Mark, the manager, came over and tried to calm the now hysterical woman down. "Enough!" a rough deep commanding voice suddenly took over and everyone had no choice but to listen. It was the last person to arrive at the table; the one Duo hadn't even looked at the face of but only looked at the suit. The man was obviously a business leader used to commanding and good at it. He looked down at Duo who was currently kneeling mopping up the mess that had dripped onto the floor. Duo avoided his eyes, quickly looking away. For some odd reason he didn't want to look at this man. "I am sorry for the scene she has created. You have done nothing wrong. Tonight's service was wonderful. If you would please bring the bill to me and I will take care of it and we will excuse ourselves." Duo's jaw dropped in surprise for a second before he quickly stood. Before he could leave though the lady yelled out something about refusing to pay for such service and stormed out eliciting a shake of the head from the other two young men at the table. After watching this for only a few seconds Duo turned on his heel and quickly darted away to print off a new bill for the table, one with at least one glass of Port not included. Later on after the bill was paid and the table had left Duo cautiously went to collect the check thinking he probably got little to no tip off of them. If anything he probably only got the bare minimum, which is still a good chunk of money, but would hurt his pride since everyone seemed to think he would make more than average off of the table. When he made it back to the table he slowly reached for the little black book that held the receipt. Grasping it in his hand he slowly pulled it towards himself. Closing his eyes he pulled it open, turned his head down, steeled himself, and opened his eyes.
Duo's jaw dropped in amazement. This couldn't be right! There was just no way! A hand on his shoulder had him jumping in surprise and almost dropping the book. "Hey Duo! Good Job tonight!" Marks voice rang in his ear "How'd that last table treat you? Besides that last episode anyway." Duo couldn't respond. Instead he just held out the open book for Mark to see. "Holy shit!' Mark exclaimed noticing not one, but five hundred dollar bills sitting inside the booklet. Later on when Duo was counting out his money for the night he noticed a small piece of paper folded up between the hundred dollar bills the big spenders had left him. Picking it up he saw it was a small note. 'I wish to express my sincerest apologies for Miss Relena's behavior. Tonight was a set-up you see, my two friends were trying to set me up with her. I told them to never try that again. I do not go for spoiled princesses. Anyway, I just want you to know that you did a wonderful job. I enjoyed your service. You seemed more real than any of the other servers I've ever had here. More full of life. Next time I come I would like to be served by you again.' It was signed simply H.Y. After Duo finished reading he felt a pang of regret flash through him. He should have actually looked at the guy. At this rate he wouldn't recognize him from the next guy walking down the street. He only looked at his suit. He was tall, Duo remembered that much and lean but toned, at least the suit gave the illusion of that, and slicked back chocolate hair. Other than that Duo couldn't even remember his eye color or anything about his face, he didn't even look at it. Well, it didn't matter. Two more nights and he would never see the guy again anyway. With that final thought Duo pocketed the note and his money and quickly grabbed his jacket throwing it on. He paused once to look around the fancy dining room before heading home. It really was a beautiful restaurant. High vaulted ceilings decorated with gold and crystal chandeliers placed every few feet, small intimate tables covered in white floor length table cloths and adorned with one single candle, gave just the right atmosphere for any occasion. Of course no matter what Duo would never be able to afford to eat at a place like this. The cheapest meal on the menu was somewhere in the thirty-five dollar range and that didn't even include a drink. With a shake of his head and one last glance Duo quickly opened the doors and hurried out into the cold night air. It was well past midnight at this point and being mid-January meant it was well into the single digits outside. He was not looking forward to the walk home.
The next day Duo woke up to his alarm which was a blessing. No crazy cat wake-up call this morning! He quickly jumped out of bed, showered and dressed in record time and rushed to the coffee shop. He wanted to get there extra early to allow himself time to think over everything that had happened the day before. He made himself a cup of his favorite pumpkin spice latte and sat at one of the small tables in the middle of the tiny café to think. He was just in the middle of the thought about the stranger with the intense eyes when the bell above the door chimed, startling Duo out of his thoughts almost causing him to drop his coffee. Looking up in surprise his eyes once again met with the same intense blues from the day before. "You…." He whispered trailing off as his coffee slowly started to tilt in his hand. It wasn't until the scalding liquid splashed against his arm that he realized he was spilling it, causing him to cry out startled and finally break the much too intense gaze. The stranger was once again dressed in sweat pants and a sweat shirt, tousled chocolate hair framing that same emotionless face. The strangers eyes widened in surprised at Duo's cry and he rushed over to him pulling a towel from off the counter and pressing it to Duo's now burnt arm. "Are you ok?" the rough deep voice asked. Duo could only nod dumbly, suddenly at a loss for words. Stepping back and releasing his hold on the towel a spark of embarrassment flashed across the strangers face. He cleared his throat once before asking, "Are you open?" Duo gave a gentle smile meeting the strangers eyes once more and boldly stated, "For you, yes". With that he stood up grabbed his now mostly empty cup of coffee and moved behind the counter. Turning back to the stranger he placed both hands on the counter.
"What can I get fer ya?" he asked. The stranger smirked, "Whatever you were drinking, I'll have". Duo blushed at this, he was caught. That was out of season and he wasn't supposed to be making it any more. He couldn't help it though, it was his favorite. "Well you see….that was the last of that kind actually. I'm sorry. I can't make any more like it. But perhaps I can make you something else equally delicious?" he suggested. The stranger raised an eyebrow, "That was the last of that? Are you sure? Don't most of these shops buy things in bulk and reorder well before they run out?" he inquired. Duo almost started grinding his teeth, this guy had him. He was bound to get in trouble, but serving a customer before opening was against the rules as well too wasn't it. "Oh hell!" he exclaimed throwing his hands up in the air. "Truth is it's a seasonal thing and I'm not supposed to be making it anymore, but it's my favorite and I can't help it! As long as we still have the ingredients I'm going to keep making it dammit!" he huffed hands on his hips in defiance. The stranger now seated at one of the bar stools in front of him laughed suddenly at him. The sound of laughter coming out of those thin soft lips was so unexpected to Duo that he nearly jumped in surprise. It was surprising, but most definitely not unwelcome. It was actually some of the most wonderful melodious contagious laughter he had ever heard. He couldn't get enough of the sound and before he knew what was happening he was joining in.
After a long while they both finally settled down, holding onto their sides and breathing heavily. Duo couldn't remember the last time he had laughed like that. He always believed that laughter was good for the heart and soul and the key to health. He laughed all the time, and lived to make people laugh. It was probably why he was always so healthy. "Oh hell!" he exclaimed throwing his hands into the air, "I've already broken one major rule by allowing you in here before opening, why not break one more. If you don't like it though don't blame me, and don't tell anyone ok? This is our secret ok?" The stranger let out a full smile causing Duo to blink stupidly. Male or not this stranger really was a beautiful person and Duo didn't care what anyone thought of him thinking that. A person would have to be blind not to see that. Shaking his head he quickly rushed to the back, cup in hand, to grab the ingredients needed. Once back he quickly made the drink and passed it to the strange, but interesting, customer sitting at the bar. Duo watched as he quietly took a sip. The man had the best poker face in the world. When he wasn't smiling his face was like ice, or stone, completely unreadable. After he took the sip he slowly placed the cup down and pressed his thin pink lips together. Looking up intense blue eyes met violet, "Pumpkin spice latte, huh?" the question surprised Duo who was once again so focused on the strangers eyes that he didn't even notice the lips move. "Huh? Oh, yeah. That's my favorite." He replied with a smile. The stranger just nodded and went back to slowly sipping on it. If this stranger appeared every day from then on, it would certainly make is life a whole lot more interesting. 'I think I might have actually made a good friend' Duo thought to himself.
Duo charged in the back door of the restaurant, panting in exertion. He had run all the way from the subway station which was a good five blocks down. "Did I make it?" he panted out noticing that everyone in the kitchen was staring at him as if he had grown two heads. "Just barely," someone finally spoke up, "You'd better hurry though, their having a meeting in the dining room before the banquet starts". Duo took a deep breath, swiftly shed his coat throwing it on the rack, and ran to the dining room. Tearing through the doors once again caused everyone to stop what they were doing and turn in his direction. Once through the doors Duo straightened, adjusted his uniform, and walked calmly over to where all of the servers were gathered. "Nice of you to join us Duo" said a smiling Mark. "Yeah, I thought I would grace all of you with my glorious presence for one or two more days." Duo smirked, teasing back. Mark chuckled and turned back to the group. "Most of you already know, but for those that don't, This is Duo," he said as he gestured to Duo, "He will be working with you for the next two days just during the banquet. Last night was his first night and I believe he did exemplary. Should he need any help I expect each and every one of you to do so, am I clear?" heads nodded all around making Duo smile. "Good, Now for tonight I want everyone to take on the same tables. I believe that going by how well we did last night, should the guests wish to sit in the same tables tonight I would like them to feel even more at ease by having someone serve them that has served them before." Everyone nodded their agreement except Duo. Duo bit his lip but refrained from saying anything. Part of him didn't want the same table, the other part of him really wanted it just in case the big spender sat there again. He'd be sure to actually look at the guy this time.
Duo rushed from one table to the next trying to keep up with the overwhelming amount of drinks in which they were consuming that night. He so far had the same groups of people that he had the first night, with the exception of the Armani suit guy. If he was there Duo didn't recognize him nor did he have the time to try. This night was much harder than the first and once the servers were given their break, for the company's announcement period, Duo rushed into the back to collapse onto the grain bags in exhaustion. He had just blinked, or maybe he closed his eyes and fell asleep for a second, Duo wasn't sure but one second he was alone and the next Quatre was standing in front of him. "Good Evening Duo!" he said with a massive smile practically plastered on his face. Duo groaned and turned away. "Yeah, what's good about it?" he muttered. The blonds smile only fell minimally. "Oh Duo! You don't mean that! You're doing great! Keep this up and you'll be in a corporate setting in no time!" he exclaimed clapping Duo on the shoulder in the process. Duo knocked his hand away in a frustrated growl and jumped up advancing on the smaller blond in a show of anger. "Is that what I'm doing all of this for? To suck up to some rich snob in hopes of getting some crappy desk job working under some slimeball that thinks he knows everything? Is that your ultimate goal? Get me a better job by getting me to sell myself to these people? Because that's exactly what I'm doing with every table that I serve!" The blond looked like he was about the cry at this point but he also looked extremely angry at the same time. "NO! For your information that was not my ultimate goal you asshole! My ultimate goal was for you to get recognized for the genius that you are with electronics and get you the BACKING that you need to start your OWN business so that YOU can be that slimeball you were just talking about. There are you happy now! THAT was my ultimate goal. So screw you, you want to act like a bastard go do it somewhere alone I'm out of here!" and with a blink of the eyes Quatre was gone leaving behind a confused, worried, and guilty feeling Duo. "Well damn…." Was all Duo could think to say before he turned to leave the small room and get back to work.
The night didn't get any better after that, in fact it only got worse. He spilt two glasses of wine, one glass of whisky and a whole plate of some pasta dish that he couldn't even pronounce the name of. Luckily everything he dropped or spilt landed on him and not on his guests but the results was that now he was filthy. The only real saving grace was that his apron and vest were black hiding the majority of the mess. He was feeling the stress though and after the last thing he dropped he took a small bathroom break to clean himself up. Scrubbing his hands over his face he looked at his reflection in the mirror. He looked as bad as he felt. His braid was starting to come undone with pieces of it flying all over his face. He looked just worn down. Sighing he knew he needed to get back so he quickly washed and dried his hands and moved to walk out the open doorway and walked right into a solid chest. Without looking up he muttered an excuse me and moved to the side. A rough deep, familiar sounding voice let out an "I'm sorry, please excuse me" before also moving. Duo's head whipped around to look at the now retreating back but there was nothing familiar about it. The hair was a dark chocolate color that was slicked back to the persons head with what must have been a pound of hair gel. The color seemed familiar but Duo was sure that there were hundreds of people with hair that color. With a shrug of his shoulders he turned back around and quickly headed back into the dining room to finish up his shift.
Luckily the rest of the night went by uneventfully after that. He didn't make near as much money this time as he did the first night, but he still did extremely well. After he left the restaurant he immediately went home, it being well after midnight once again. Once he was home he practically fell into bed, exhaustion hitting him like a ton of bricks, and was out as soon as his head hit the pillow.
The stranger was waiting for him when he got there the next morning and greeted him with a bright smile. "Got any of that illegal coffee left?" he asked cheerily. Duo smiled back and quickly unlocked the door ushering the stranger inside and quickly followed him, relocking the door behind them both. Once inside Duo took both their coats and hung them up on the rack before quickly starting to take all the chairs off of the tables where they had been stored for the night. Surprisingly the stranger helped and once that was done he moved into the small kitchen area and proceeded to grab the cleaning supplies to clean the tables down. Duo watched in shocked silence for a bit and continued his other duties for opening up. Once everything was cleaned and ready to go he made them both a coffee and they both sat at the bar to drink. "Thank you for your help this morning." Duo stated "No problem" was the only explanation he got. "You sure do seem to know your way around really well. Did you used to come here a lot before? I mean I've only worked here about six months." The man let little reaction show for this and only responded with, "something like that". Duo sighed realizing he wasn't going to get anything more from his friend and quickly dropped the subject. He still hadn't even asked the guy's name, he just couldn't bring himself to for some reason. The longer they talked and the more of friends they became, the weirder it seemed to stop and say "By the way, what's your name?" It just seemed wrong especially since the guy never asked for his either. Maybe he should just ask. Duo cleared his throat once, "By the way, I never did ask. What's your name?" The guys eyes widened and a look of genuine surprise crossed his face, "Don't you know?" he asked. Duo was taken aback by this. How would he know? He'd never met the guy before now! All of this must have shown on his face because the man's shock turned into something else and he smirked into his coffee, "Hmph. interesting…." He started before trailing off. Standing up he downed the last of his coffee, left some cash on the counter, and walked towards the door. "I guarantee that the next time you see me you will know my name" he said right before he gave a small wave and walked out the door leaving behind a stunned and perplexed Duo.
Duo made it to the restaurant early that night. It was the last night of the banquet and his last chance to get noticed. He had to do something different tonight. He needed to actually talk to someone tonight instead of just serve them. He hoped that Quatre would be there that night as well so that he could apologize for the previous night. No sooner had that thought crossed his mind when Quatre appeared behind him. "Hello Duo." He said causing Duo to jump letting out a large gasp, "Damn Quat! Don't do that to me man! Shit!" Quat just laughed in response. Duo smiled and pulled the smaller man into a rough hug. "Hey man, I'm sorry about yesterday. I got a little carried away. I shouldn't have accused you of all that shit. I know you're only trying to help" he said as he released him. Quat nodded, "I understand. It's no problem and of course I forgive you. Now, are you ready for tonight?" Duo ground his teeth together and fisted his hands in his hair, "Ugh! No! This is my last chance! What am I supposed to do? I couldn't get anyone to notice me at all last night and I was spilling shit all night! I'm so beneath these people that they didn't even notice me then" he replied. Quat placed his hands on his hips and smiled a conniving secretive smile. "Don't worry," he started, "I've got this all figured out".
"You want me to do what?" Duo shouted. "Shh! Keep it down, people are going to think I'm asking you something drastic. Geeze." Quat scoffed looking around. Duo puffed and crossed his arms over his chest. "Do you trust me at all Duo?" asked Quat leveling Duo with a long pointed stare. Duo took a deep breath letting it out slowly; "Of course I do" was the hesitant reply. "Then just do it and don't ask so many questions. I swear on my job as a Fairy Godfather that you will receive your ring back. There, is that better?" Duo eyed him wearily and hesitantly nodded all the while running his fingers along his precious ring currently nestled on his right ring finger. He pulled it off and eyed it carefully. It wasn't anything fancy or even expensive; it was sterling silver with a thin band of yellow gold going through the center. It was simple and he loved it. He never took it off but now the Fairy was asking him to take it off tonight, telling him that he would definitely get it back. How could he be so sure though? "Ok here's the deal for tonight. I can only tell you some things and not all as that's the rules ok?" Duo nodded. "Alright, first off Fairies have the ability to see snippets of the future. Most of the time most Fairies can't do anything with what they see, but that's why I graduated so young because no matter what it is I see I can always do something with it. Are you following so far?" again Duo nodded. "Ok, so, tonight someone important is going to inquire about your ring. Don't just show it to him on your hand. Take it off and give it to him. When you do you'll be called away and you won't make it back to him for the rest of the night…." Before he could continue Duo's expression got panicked and he started to interrupt the younger blond "But-" Quat quickly raised a hand to cut him off, "I already told you, you WILL get it back. Please just have faith. I have seen that you will get it back. Do not worry so much". Duo let out an acquiescent sigh and moved over to his first table, leaving Quat alone who promptly disappeared.
Duo had mostly new people except at his third table was the original two young men that were sitting there the first night. They looked to be his age as well, one looked like he had to be close to 6'2'' or 6'3'' very tall easy to tell even with him sitting. The other was not near as tall maybe 5'10'' or 5'11'' definitely just under 6'0''. One had light brown hair with the bangs long and swept over to one side partially concealing one eye, the other eye a bright vivid green the only one visible on a stony still face. He was very well muscled; bulky even, looked like a bodyguard of some kind. He appeared to be of European decent. The other young man at the table was definitely of Asian heritage, most likely Chinese. Jet black hair was pulled back tightly into a ponytail and he was much leaner looking but with well-defined muscles that were noticeable even through the expensive looking Chinese outfit that he wore. Duo didn't see the girl with them and breathed a sigh of relief. He decided to take a chance with these guys and see if he could be more casual with them. Who knows maybe he could make friends of them.
Duo was really nervous walking up to the table for some reason he couldn't place. For some reason he kept feeling like whatever he said or did from this moment on could alter his whole future. Taking a deep breath and releasing it slowly he finally made it up to the table. "Hi guys!" He stated happily causing them to quickly look up at him in surprise. He blinked nervously before swallowing once, "I don't know if you remember me but—"
"Your Duo, You waited on us the first night. Of course, how could we possibly forget?" The green-eyed man cut him off with a wave of his hand and a smile. The Chinese quickly spoke up once he was done, "Heero spoke of no one else after that! How could we possibly forget!" he growled out. The green-eyed man chuckled before turning his eyes back to Duo. He reached out his hand, "I'm Trowa." He stated. Duo smiled and took his hand "Once again I'm Duo. Happy to meetcha!" he replied reverting back to some of his normal slang. Trowa smiled at this and turned to his partner who also held out his hand for Duo to take. "Wufei" was all that was said confirming to Duo his Chinese decent. Duo smiled and decided to strike up some quick conversation. "So you both a part of Techron? Or from somewhere else?" Wufei gave a half smile at this, "I am actually a private karate tutor to the Techron Industries President himself". Duo felt his smile widen a bit at this, "Really? That's awesome! I wish I could learn too. Man, maybe someday. And what about you Trowa? Are you the bodyguard or something?" Trowa just looked shocked at this question, "Actually no, I'm a professional boxer and also Heero's best friend." Duo blinked stupidly. "Oh? Who's Heero?" this question made the other two look at him like he was crazy. "You don't know who Heero is? As in Heero Yuy? Owner of Techron Industries?" Trowa asked "What? I don't have time for TV and magazines. Hell I don't even have cable and I'm too poor to waste money on newspapers. I'm a full time student, plus I work three jobs. Cut me some slack here." Trowa's eyes grew really wide, "Did you say you work three jobs?" he asked. Then Wufei cut in with "You're too poor to afford a newspaper?" Duo sighed, and thought that it was just great how he opened that can of worms. "Yes I work three jobs and yes I really am that poor. Well it's not as bad right now. I think this month will actually be alright." He smiled reassuringly at them and when they didn't look convinced he sighed, "Look it won't be like this forever. I'm just finishing up my master's degree in electronic business administration. Once I get that I should be able to get a good job and get a decent place to live and it will be all good ok?" Neither of the young men looked too convinced and the pitying looks they were directing his way were really bothering him so he decided to try and move things along. "So anyway! What to drink for you guys tonight huh? Anything special for you?" after he asked both men looked at each other, smirked, then turned back to Duo and in unison said, "Your finest Champagne!" Duo had to take a step back in shock and went from casual mode to complete professional in one split second. "But sirs," he started, "That is a $4000 bottle of Champagne!" he exclaimed hoping that they wouldn't actually want to waste their money on it. They both nodded and just said "We know, now bring it!' and with that he was dismissed.
Once he brought the champagne it was time for some dancing for the banquet goers allowing the servers a bit of a break. Duo went to into the restroom to run some cold water over his face in hopes of waking himself up a bit. He was just blindly reaching for a towel, still bent over the sink, when one suddenly appeared in his line of sight being held by an unknown hand. Grabbing the towel and quickly rubbing it over his face he mumbled out a quick thank you the stranger. As he stood up he was met with the same slicked back brown hair and lean solid back he had seen yesterday, only this time he hadn't run into the guy first. Stuttering out another thank-you to the retreating form he quickly threw the used towel away and made his way out of the restroom. Once his break was over and the guests were back in their seats it was time to check on them once again. The last night of the banquet was set up a little differently than the others. Instead of allowing the guests the choice between a simplified menu and the normal menu the restaurant set up a buffet so that they could come and go as they pleased and eat as much as they could want. The only thing the servers really had to do was make sure the guests were happy and keep their drinks. Overall it was a much easier night than the other two had been and Duo found himself enjoying the evening. He periodically walked back to talk with Trowa and Wufei, slowly getting to know them and liking them more and more. Trowa was more open and friendly than Wufei, but once Wufei opened up it was hard to get him to stop talking. Wufei was also very honest and would say exactly what he felt and how he felt about anything, this included telling Duo that his long braid made him look like a girl which in turn made Duo turn defensive. The two of them quickly got into a loud heated argument about the merits of long hair on men. Once the argument was over though, they were both smiling and Duo knew instantly that he had just made a new life-long friend. The night was looking up already.
Since all of his guests were taken care of and currently happy Duo decided to join Trowa and Wufei for a little longer and plopped down unceremoniously in one of the four chairs surrounding their table. He was in the middle of talking to Triton about his line of work when Wufei reached over and grabbed his hand stopping him mid-sentence. "Were you or are you married?" the Asian asked eyeing Duo's ring. Duo's heart stopped for a moment suddenly remembering Quat's words from earlier that day, "Don't just show it to him on your hand, take it off and give it to him" he had said. With that in mind Duo quietly slipped off the ring and passed it over to Wufei. "Nah, never married. That was my mothers, I never met her but she left this to me before she passed away." He said fondly. Wufei held the ring gently looking it over carefully and was just about to pass it back but was interrupted by a strong, rough voice cutting through their conversation, "Wufei, harassing the help now?" Both Duo and Wufei turned sharply towards the voice. Wufei smirked and 'hmphed' in recongnition before responding, "Good evening Heero, how kind of you to grace us with your esteemed presence". Duo smiled softly noticing quickly how close the two seemed. It was obvious the trust they held for each other and made Duo respect the young corporate leader, just a bit. Duo turned to get a better look at this 'Heero' that everyone was talking about. He noticed right away that it was the guy he had bumped into once and accepted a towel from the second time, he recognized the slicked back chocolate hair. There was something vaguely family about the guy but Duo couldn't quite put his finger on it. The lighting in the restaurant was very poor at the moment, allowing the few couples on the dance floor some privacy, so Duo couldn't see details very well. The man had thin lips, he could tell that much, looked to be lean but muscular like Wufei, and had slightly slanted eyes so had some Asian heritage, but not full Asian. Since the man was currently looking at Wufei, and it was so dark, Duo couldn't tell what color his eyes were, but something about the man was familiar. Duo was impressed with the suit the man had chosen to wear. It was dark, could have been black or blue he couldn't tell in the current lighting, and had white pin stripes all over. It was really nice and made the man look more the part of a mobster than a coporate owner, but then again what was the difference really?
Duo was just reaching out a hand to touch the other man; to get his attention, he needed to see his face full on, when someone shouted his name. He turned to see Mark the manager running over, "Duo! Theres a problem! I need to talk to you in private immediately please." He panted out. Duo nodded and spared one last longing look at Heero before reluctantly following the manager into the back storage room. "Duo, I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this but, theres been a fire…." Duo's eyes widened at the managers words. "What? Where? What happened?" he demanded thinking that maybe the small coffee shop had suffered. "I'm sorry Duo. It was your apartment. Your cat is safe, but there is nothing left. Everything burnt. They said it was an electrical fire, a short in one of the wires to the main outlets or something". Duo cursed silently as he listened to this, he had been telling his landlord for months that the wiring was bad, now it was too late. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "I need to go get my cat." He said and made to go get his coat but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder, "If you need anything Duo, we're here for you. Everyone here is, ok?" the manager said, true concern showing on every line of his face. Duo smiled sadly and gave his hand a gentle squeeze before turning away to grab his coat. After putting his coat on he made to go out the back door but changed his mind and decided to make a quick detour. Grabbing his server pad and pen he quickly jotted down his name and phone number. As he made his way through the swinging double doors into the dining room, he paused to gather his strength. He promised himself he would not break in front of these people. So with a fake smile plastered onto his face she sauntered over to Wufeis table and quickly gave him the folded up piece of paper. "I have to leave now, theres been a problem with my apartment and my cat. If you ever want to hang out please don't hesitate to call ok?" with that he turned and before anything else could be said, ran from restaurant leaving behind his precious ring.
When he finally arrived at his building he was surprised to see it still standing. Outwardly the fire appeared to have been confined to only his apartment. The two apartments next to him and the one above him were damaged pretty badly but the rest were unscathed. They had gotten to it in time apparently. From what he understood the fire alarm went off pretty early on and Duo's elderly neighbor, Mrs. Ellington, used his spare key to open his door and grab his cat. She then moved them both to the safety of the fire trucks and ambulances waiting outside. Both Mrs. Ellington and Persephone were currently wrapped up together inside a blanket in the back of an ambulance. It was this scene to which Duo arrived. He quickly strode over to his Neighbor, inquired as to her health and of course his cats. Once satisfied that both were indeed alright, and would be fine, he finally proceeded over to talk with the police on the scene.
One hour later found him sitting on the steps leading into his building, head in his hands with his cat in a crate mewling softly beside him. He didn't know what to do. He had nowhere to go, no other home to return to. His stepmother made it very clear that once he was gone, he would not ever be welcome back, not that he had any intention of returning anyway. The longer he sat there the more his thoughts spiraled, going further and further out of control. His whole body was numb at this point; feeling of any kind had ceased to reach him. Not even the cold was affecting him anymore. The one and only feeling he had was a strange stinging in his eyes. The stinging started a while ago. It was a new sensation for him, he knew what it meant, but he had never cried before. No matter what was done to him, or what happened, he had never found the strength of reason to cry. He guessed that now was as good a time as any but he still couldn't bring himself to allow the tears to fall. He was unsure of how much time had passed since he had sat down. The police, ambulance, and firetrucks had long since gone and even his cat had finally fallen silent presumably asleep. He noticed it was getting later only by the absence of shoes crossing his line of sight. It seemed mere moments ago countless people were passing in front of him, now though, in the late hour of the night, there was only him. He glanced at his watch, 'almost midnight, any minute now he would turn into a pumpkin and this would all be a dream right? Wait, somethings telling him he has that a little wrong. Wasn't there a prince in there somewhere, and well didn't the clock hitting midnight mean that something good was coming to an end? Well something good of his was over. It doesn't get too much worse than losing your home, crappy as it may be.' With a snort of short laughter his thoughts once again turned dark. Stopping his thoughts before they could get any worse was a spot of something cold gently hitting against his beared hands. He looked up just as several snowflakes came tumbling down, their cold icy hands reaching towards him captivating him. He usually loved snow and could easily spend hours just watching it, but not now. With a groan he hung his head again, placing his elbows on his knees, hands dropped in between his legs; he was the picture of despair.
He was just in the middle of debating with himself about what homeless shelter to go to when two glossy, expensive looking, black dress shoes entered into his line of sight and stopped right in front of him. Before he could look up a hand was shoved into his face and a rough, hoarse voice stated, "I believe this belongs to you." Duo pulled back slightly and focused on what was in the man's hand. It was his ring! Nodding, he slowly reached up and took his ring back, looked it quickly over before slipping it back onto his hand. He then slowly raised his eyes to see who had gone out of their way to bring it to him. He immediately recognized the pinstriped suit, which meant Heero Yuy, but why would a man he had hardly met go out of his way just to bring him his ring? The street lights were bright in front of the building where Duo currently sat and as his eyes traveled up the figure in front of him he noticed the color of the suit was deep blue, he had been wondering that earlier in the night. When his eyes finally reached the man's face he felt his eyes widen and his jaw drop slightly before stuttering out, "He-Heero Yuy?" Intense cobalt blue eyes laughed back at him framed by familiar unruly chocolate brown hair that was currently pulling free from its gelled prison of earlier. Most of the hair was still slicked back, but the bangs had broken free and were now framing the older man's eyes. Duo blinked a couple of times feeling that stinging sensation returning to his eyes. This was all just too much, he was at a loss as to what to do. He looked away again unsure of what to do or say next. He knew he should thank the man, knew he should talk to him more, make an opportunity out of this, but he just couldn't bring himself to. Suddenly a hand appeared in front of his face again and Heero was talking, "C-mon, Lets go get a coffee and talk". Duo could only nod in response before grabbing the hand to be hauled up by. Once he was standing he dusted himself off, grabbed his cat and looked to Heero for further direction.
Duo followed Heero and wasn't surprised when they wound up in front of the coffee shop where they met and he worked in the mornings. He was however, extremely surprised when Heero pulled out his own set of keys and opened the door himself. Duo's jaw dropped in shock but before he could ask any questions Heero stated, "I'll explain everything once we're inside and settled" and then ushered them both inside and took their coats. Duo didn't realize how cold he was until he was inside the still warmth of the small shop and suddenly was overtaken with shivers, his whole body wracked with them. Heero, noticing this, rushed over to the furnace and cranked up the heat before going behind the counter and making them both a cup of coffee. Duo slowly warmed up while waiting on the coffee thanks to the furnace and settled down to wait. Once the coffee was made and they were both happily seated at a table Duo decided to be the first to break the silence. "Ok, start explaining. First off, why do you have a key to this place? Secondly why didn't you tell me who you were to begin with? And third, why did you bring me back my ring and how did you find me?" he asked. Heero smiled, "All of that is very simple really. I own this place, if you paid any attention at all to the corporate world you would probably know my story. I was raised poor and never even graduated highschool. When I was 16 I got the job here in this little café, it was my first real honest job. I worked hard and saved every penny. Once I hit 18 I had enough money to invest in a small start-up company with electronics, which I had always tinkered with on the side. I ended up not just investing in the company, I bought them outright and have been running them ever since. Techron is now one of the leading electronic manufacturers in the country, eventually I want us to be seen all over the world". He paused to take a sip of his coffee a small fond smile passed his lips before he continued, "No matter how big I get with my company, I will always have a soft spot for this shop. So, when the previous owner, Mrs. Dee, told me she wanted to sell it, I jumped on the chance and bought it right away with the condition that I keep all her same employees. So, that was around three months ago, give or take, but this shop hasn't changed at all since I was eighteen." He smiled warmly at the memories as he waited for Duo's response. Duo was chewing on his lower lip, taking in all the new information. He wasn't quite sure how to feel about it all. As far as he knew, the stranger that came in every morning was just some average joe shmoe trying to keep in shape like most of New York was. He bit back a sigh and raised his eyes to meet the now curious blues. "Why didn't you just tell me?" he inquired softly. Heero shook his head, "It wasn't intentionally kept from you, I thought by now most everyone knew my face. It is a pretty unique one, or so I'm told." The blue eyed Asian responded. Duo had to agree that the face was certainly unique; most Asians certainly didn't have natural blue eyes. "I feel like such a fool…." He muttered. Heero looked concerned at this, his brows furrowing together, "Why would you feel that way?" he questioned aloud. Duo's eyes trailed downward and settled on his coffee cup, watching the steam rise slowly before replying, "All the time I spent with you, and I never even knew who you were. I mean, I soooo could have lost my job! I broke rules! Aren't you even the least bit upset with me?" Heero's concerned faded away to be replaced by a simple happy smile. "You have no idea how happy you made me with your common treatment. No one has treated me so humanely since I entered into the corporate world. If anything, I owe you an apology for not treating you well enough." Duo grinned back at Heero feeling better already until Heero spoke again. "As for breaking all of those rules; stealing from the stores for personal use, allowing guests in before opening not once but multiple times, and even allowing guests behind the counter; whatever shall I do? Should I fire you? Yes, I think that is perfect. As of this moment you are fired." Duo's jaw dropped and he jumped up to protest but Heero stopped him with one raised hand, "Also, for compensation for all of the coffee you have either given away or drank yourself, you will come and work with me as Vice-President of Techron Industries until every cup of coffee has been paid for, and then some." Heero's intense cobalt blues flashed with mischief as they met with Duo's overly shocked violets. Duo couldn't believe it and quickly fell heavily back into his chair. "Are you serious!" he practically yelled part of him just waiting for Heero to say something along the lines of 'no way, are you stupid?' but when nothing along those lines happened he blinked a few times and finally closed his still gaping mouth. "I don't even know what to say."
"Say yes"
"How do you even know if I'm capable of being your vice-president or vice-ceo or whatever its called?"
"I know because you told Wufei that you are working on your masters in Electronics Business Management and he looked into you, we found out that you are top of your class. You're exactly what I am looking for. Plus you run this place, small as it may be, perfectly. The employees you take care of love you, everyone is always happy, and everything is always right on point. You always order just what we need no more no less, you are very careful with the budget but know when to go over and when to make cuts. You really seem to know what you are doing. I think you will be a great asset to Techron Industries so please say yes." Heero was now looking into his own coffee cup a small blush making its way across his features. Apparently he wasn't used to having to praise anyone this much. Duo shook his head and his smile quickly returned. "Yes, I would be more than happy to come and work at Techron Industries." Heero looked up quickly and gave his own small smile at this. "Thank you, you won't regret your decision." Duo nodded, he was sure he wouldn't. One job certainly beat three. Suddenly without any warning, a white ball of fur jumped up on the table in between the two men. Duo jumped up and quickly grabbed his cat, "Persephone!" he exclaimed shooting Heero an apologetic stare. "I'm sorry, I guess she escaped" he sighed. This brought back a very important matter, "There is still one very big problem Heero" he started. "I know, I already have that figured out. If you don't mind living with me for a little while I can have you all set up in a new apartment within say, one week?" Duo again, was gaping like a fish. This man kept throwing surprises at him tonight. "Umm, I guess. Can my cat come?" he asked looking down at the much loved yet annoying furball that was currently squirming wildly in his arms. Heero nodded, "Of course. I have an extra bedroom so it will really be no problem at all. It will be nice to have some company". Duo sat back down and buried his head in his cats fur, inhaling her sweet now coffee filled scent. "I guess things are going to really get better for us Persy. What do you think girl, you ready to live the high life?" the cat looked at him as if to say, 'Are you kidding? I've always been ready'. Duo looked back at Heero who was watching them quizzically and said, "Maybe my friends were right, maybe I am like Cinderella." Heero laughed softly at this. "Well its past midnight and you haven't turned into anything else yet. However, you did leave the ball early, and I did have to bring you your glass slipper, or in your case your ring, and it did take me quite a bit of time to hunt you down" Duo's smile widened and he looked straight into Heero's eyes, "Does that make you my Prince?"
AND THEY LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER! THE END
-Tsuzukinyo