Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon

I am sorry I haven't posted anything new in a while. I have been getting ready to go on vacation with my husband. But this idea came to me, so I hope you enjoy it.

There Goes My Life

Chapter 1

"Serena, come in here this instant!" The angry voice came over the intercom. Serena Tsukino glared at the intercom on the corner of her desk. The voice belonged to her boss, the president of Shields Industries.

"I'm coming." She mumbled to herself as she rose to her feet. Her long blonde hair cascaded down her back and perfectly complemented her light pink suit. She walked over to the office door and knocked lightly.

"Come in!" Darien Shields barked from the other side of the door. Serena planted a pleasant smile on her face and entered the room. "There you are, certainly took you long enough." He said without out looking up from his laptop screen.

"What did you need, Mr. Shields?" Serena asked pleasantly, trying to keep her temper in check. She had worked for this infuriating man for three years, ever since she had been a college graduate at the early age of 20, with a four business degree. She was currently working on her master's degree and was expected to graduate with honors the following spring. Going to school at night and working full time for a very demanding boss was not easy, but the pay kept her nice apartment and her new Beetle paid for. Midnight blue eyes finally met her lighter blue eyes as he looked up.

"Why haven't you gotten my Secret Santa present yet for the Christmas party next week?" He glared at her intently, trying to break through her pleasant resolve. Serena didn't take the bait. She never did. She was always very nice and pleasant around him, more because most of the time she didn't know if she wanted to ring his neck or kiss him.

"I don't know who your person for the Secret Santa is and honestly, I think it would be better if you bought this year's present yourself. Everyone always know it is from me. If you need to know, the email should be in your saved file."

"I do not have time to go shopping for some pointless gift." He said sharply as he opened his email files. The email was right where she said it was. He angrily click the button to open the file. The short message popped instantly.

Mr. Shields,

Your Secret Santa is Serena Tsukino. Please have your present under the tree by noon on the 23rd of December.

Thank you,

Human Resources

Darien read the message several times before he dared to look up at his secretary again.

"Is everything all right, Mr. Shields?"

"Yes, Ms. Tsukino, everything is fine. I think you are right and I will go shopping for this present myself. You may not worry about this anymore. Please return to your work."

"Yes, Mr. Shields. I will have those contracts ready to sign after lunch."

"No hurry. Take your time." Darien said absently. That statement made Serena pause in the doorway. He never told her to take her time. He always said something about why couldn't she do it faster or something like that. She was used to his crude comments, but she always got her work done and she figured that if he wasn't satisfied with her quality of work that he would just replace her, so she didn't think about his rudeness too much until he got on her nerves, which he did most of time.

There was a black haired, blue eyed man with glasses standing by her desk as she exited Darien's office.

"Good morning, Serena." Seiya Jones greeted her eagerly and warmly. Inwardly, Serena groaned. He was probably up here just to ask her out again.

"Hello, Seiya. What can I do for you this morning?" She questioned as she sat back down behind her desk. Serena shuffled some papers on her desk. In all her shuffling, she accidently set some papers on the intercom button and turned it on. Darien heard the buzz, but didn't hear Serena's voice, so he just listened.

"I was wondering if you were like to have dinner with me tonight?" Seiya smiled at her.

"I don't know if I can…" Serena began. Darien could hear the disinterest in her voice. "Mr. Shields just…." Suddenly, Darien's office door open and he stepped out into the small lobby area.

"Ms. Tsukino, do you have those papers for me yet?" He asked sharply.

"No, I haven't had a chance to work on them." Darien glanced in disgust at the younger man standing in front of her desk.

"Well, then I guess you will just have to stay late tonight until you get them finished." Darien snapped. He looked at the accountant, wondering why he had ever been hired. "Better not make any plans."

"Yes, sir." Serena nodded once. Darien whirled around his heel and stalked back to his office. "Oh, and Mr. Jones, shouldn't you be down in accounting doing your job instead of up here keeping my secretary from her work?"

"I'm sorry." Seiya hurried off down the hall without saying a word to Serena. She looked at her boss with wonder and confusion in her eyes.

"Thank you, Mr. Shields."

"You might want to be more careful about what you put on your intercom button." He smirked and walked back into his office, closing the door behind him with a sharp click. Serena shook her head, wondering if her boss was possessed or something, but she just continued her work.

Darien sat down at his desk with a sigh. He had wanted to kill that young kid. Serena was his secretary and he didn't want her dating any of his other employees, it would cause too much trouble. Running a hand through his dark hair, he sighed again and tried to reason with himself. That wasn't the real reason he didn't want any other man near Serena and he knew it. He had been in love with the woman since the moment he saw her, but he didn't want anyone to know that. It was the main reason he was never nice to her. He didn't want her to know because it would be very inappropriate for him to date his secretary. He wasn't even sure that she would very open to the idea. He shook his head. Seeing the email still open on his laptop, he thought for a minute, maybe it was time to reveal his feelings to Ms. Serena Tsukino. And this Secret Santa might be the perfect way to do it.

At five o'clock that evening, Serena sighed and stretched as she waited for her computer to shut down. It had been a long day. Seiya had come back two more times to see if she would be free for the evening, but she had told him that she had a pile of papers to get through before she went home for the night. Now, she thought about how she was going to exit the building without someone who would report back to Seiya that she had left on time. After the computer shut down, Serena walked over to Darien's door and knocked. Without waiting for a response, she entered the room. Darien was standing by the large windows that had a spectacular view of New York City with a cup of coffee in his hands.

"Mr. Shields, are you all right?" He turned at the sound of her voice.

"Yes, Serena, I am fine. I have just been thinking about something important."

"Well, I won't keep you. I just wanted to let you know that I am leaving for the day and I wanted to make sure there was nothing else you needed before I depart."

"There is one thing. I need some advice from a female perspective." Serena's eyes widen with surprise. "Will you help me?"

"Of course."

"Please have a seat." He gestured to the sofa. Serena found that a bit odd because she was used to him being behind his desk. Nonetheless, she sat down beside him on the sofa.

"What seems to be the problem?"

"Well, I have recently this certain woman that I would like to get to know better and she doesn't know that I am interested in her, in fact she probably thinks that I dislike her very much, but that is not the case at all. I just don't know how to go about telling her my feelings. I am afraid she won't like what I have to say."

"That's is understandable if you are not pleasant to her. I guess my first piece of advice is change how you treat her whenever you are around her. When did you wish to reveal your feelings for her?"

"I was thinking at a party I know her and I both will be attending over the holidays." Darien answered.

"That doesn't give you much time." Serena seemed to contemplate that for a moment. "If the party is over Christmas, I suggest you give her gift, something you know she will like and maybe write her a little note. I know if were going to receive something of that nature, I would want probably something I am going to keep for the rest of my life."

"Like jewelry?" Darien asked and Serena chuckled.

"I guess if that is what your girl is into, but if it was me, I don't know, something that would show that you were serious."

"So no jewelry?"

"If you are planning to propose, then yeah, I would get a ring, but if you're not, I wouldn't. Jewelry is so overdone." That day she only had a simple silver chain around her neck, one her mother had given her before she had left for America to attend Harvard University. She was lost in her thoughts as she thought about her family and how much she missed them. Darien watched her and wondered what she was thinking about.

"What was that house you were looking at earlier today?" Darien questioned, breaking into her thoughts.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to look at it during office hours."

"It is all right, Serena. What is it?" He probed. She looked at him curiously for a minute before she responded.

"It is this old Victorian house that needs a bunch a repair and I have always wanted to own an old house to restore it to its former glory. This place is huge and I would never be able to afford. It outside the city, in the suburbs, in the this beautiful old part of town. The price is set at almost a million dollars, but it would so worth it. It has eight bedrooms and six bathrooms. Someone painted the outside this horrible purple color, but that could easily be fixed." Serena face lit up as she spoke about the old house and then she sighed. "The money aside, I just don't know when I would find the time to restore an old place like that between work and school, I barely have time to eat and sleep sometimes." Her eyes widen as she realized who she was talking to. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply that you work me too hard because you don't, I just don't have a lot of free time right now. And I am sorry to talk your ear off about some house you know nothing about and probably don't care to know about. If you don't need any more advice, I should be getting home." She rose quickly to her feet, suddenly very nervous. She didn't look at him as she made a show of digging her car keys out of her purse. Darien stood up behind her.

"There is no to apologize, Ms. Tsukino. I was the one who asked you about the house. I think it would be great to see an old house like restored." She turned around to face him, trying to calm her nerves, but she wasn't used to him being so close to her. Oh, for goodness sake, you were in here giving him advice on how to attract a woman. Not that he needs any help in that department, but still, Serena, really, get a hold of yourself!

"Thank you, Mr. Shields. Now, I really should be getting home. I will see you in the morning." She said curtly without looking at him as she walked to the door and promptly exited through it, not looking back once for fear he would see the tears in her eyes at the thought of him with another woman. Darien stared after, not sure what to make of the last few minutes.

There goes my life. He thought with happiness and sadness at the same time. There goes my future.

Please review. I hope you enjoyed this first chapter.