Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of it's characters. If I did, things would flow a little bit differently. Just a tad.
Chapter I
Scented Candles and Strawberries
Rukia tucked behind her ear a strand of hair that was tickling the bridge of her nose. She was laying on her stomach. Sighing, she repositioned her face. Her chin was rested on her palms propping her head up.
The house seemed serene. Every other light in the rooms of the house was put out. Except for one. The room was dimly lit though. The only light visible was coming from a few scented candles and a bedside lamp.
The raven haired girl was getting impatient. She sighed again and tapped the bottom page of the book with her index finger. Rukia knew she was lost in her thoughts and paid no attention to the book that she was reading but she liked the company. Try as she might, she can't focus. She was just plain impatient.
A flash of light came through the window. That flash of light soared through the room twice. It attracted Rukia's attention. She turned her head. She could now see beads of water slapping against her window dragged by the wind. She turned back to her book and flipped to the next page. Sigh. The droplets of water were starting to drum violently against the windows.
The small figure beneath the sheets began to stir. She rolled out of bed and walked towards the window. Her small hands tugged on a slim cord. Before shutting the blinds all the way down, a hint of light shone within her peripheral vision. It was a car. A car with very blinding headlights. Rukia didn't care. She intently followed the car with her gaze, hoping it would slow down in front of her house and turn to her lot. Her eyes glistened. It was too dark to see outside but she still saw the color of the car. It was a dark shade of red. It wasn't what she was hoping for. She was expecting a black one. She sighed, knowing that it wasn't it. Still, an inkling of hope jerked her gut.
"Maybe he got a ride from someone else..."she thought.
The burgundy car kept going and Rukia resumed to shutting the blinds all the way. She was tired. Who knew waiting for someone could be so consuming? She removed her silk robe and set it on the chair.
Chills went up through her spine. It was late into autumn after all and it should start snowing soon. She rubbed her arm wishing that the friction would create enough heat to satisfy her. Crawling back to bed, she situated herself under the blankets and picked up the book once again.
Ichigo walked through the parking lot while massaging his temples. As he neared a black car, he adjusted his tie lose. He then switched hands holding his briefcase. Stopping clear on his tracks in front of his car, he fished for the keys in his pockets. A beep came audible throughout the parking lot after pushing a button.
Click.
The doors were unlocked. He grabbed the handle and entered the car, sitting on the leather seats. He plopped his briefcase onto the passenger's seat and twisted his car key into the ignition.
Ichigo stopped on a red light. He took this chance to fiddle with his phone. He plugged it into the handsfree speakerphone.
"Handsfree activated."the machine said. It sounded like a female robot, stopping at a certain syllable making sure it was saying it right.
Green light.
Ichigo stepped on the gas as he put his other hand back to the wheel.
"Rukia."Ichigo declared. He shifted gears.
"Calling Rukia Kuchiki..."the machine replied.
The strawberry kept driving while listening to the ringing on the other end of the line.
Ring.
"Come on, please pick up." he whispered to himself.
Ring.
"Please be awake..."
Ring.
"Pick up..." he muttered.
Ring.
"Hey, this is Rukia. You know what to do." Beep.
"Hey baby. It's me. I'm really sorry.The meeting took longer than expected. And I know I'm extremely late but I'm on my way home right now. I'm really sorry, sweetheart. I know we had plans tonight but I'm gonna make it up to you. I'll see you in a little bit. I love you." Click.
The rain started pouring down harder. He turned the wipers on and kept driving. Minutes later, he pulled up on the driveway. Grabbing his briefcase, he got out of the car and positioned it above his head as a shield from the pouring rain.
It didn't help much. He still got wet. He turned his keys, unlocking the front door. He climb up the stairs and headed straight to the bedroom.
Upon entering the bedroom, he immediately searched for a certain figure. Rukia was fast asleep. He could see blanket that was covering her chest rise up and down due to her steady breathing. He set his briefcase down and started removing his tie and his suit. His eyes wandered. He saw candles that were melted down to the bottom tip of the wick. The room smelled like strawberry. He smiled as he shook his head.
"Scented candles," he thought.
Rukia stirred. Ichigo bent down and waved away a lock of her hair that fell out of place. He kissed her on the forehead and closed the book that was abandoned beside Rukia. He ran his fingers through her hair before carefully placing the book on the bedside table. Ichigo noted that Rukia was wearing her recently bought lingerie. She wanted to wear it tonight. She wanted to wear it because she and Ichigo made plans. Ichigo felt a tug of guilt in the back of his throat. He sighed.
If only he came home earlier. If only he chose not to go to the meeting. If only...
"I'm really sorry, Rukia."
There was one last candle that was lit. Ichigo stretched across the bed and blew out the pink candle. Beside it, he noticed a plate with the familiar red berries. In the middle was a small bowl of what was once melted chocolate
A/N: I'm not sure where I want this story to go yet but I think I have a pretty good idea.
This is my second story for Bleach. I'm sorry if this chapter is a bit pale and boring but I'm going to start picking things up in the next chapters. School stuff is slowly dying down so I can update soon!
Rated M for safety. It'll go M in later chapters. Plus, it's my first time doing a drama/M fic. So please bear with me.
P.S. Sorry for the sucky summary. Sue me.
Read and Review. I want to know what you think.