Disclaimer: I hate to say this…I don't own CCS….
Summary: Two frustrated psych docs and a drunkard meet in a bar…. and one thing leads to another.
Sorry for not updating 'Cross Connections' yet…the one shot came up on my mind and I just went for it!! Please Read And Review!!
NOTE: This story got deleted accidentally, due to which I have reloaded it again. Sorry :(( this sucks cos I had to sit and upload all my stories all over again. Especially since I had about 23 reviwes.
Flames, the bar
'Flames, the bar'- a small well-known pub, was located at the corner of St. William's road that was as busy as any main road could be. Couples danced and drunk all night in the dim light of the bar, listening to the soft soothing music, which was as comforting as any alcohol. Two men gobbled down their drinks at top speed, not bothering to take in what was going on around them. One of them slammed the glass on to the counter in front of the girl across him, smiling sweetly. The bartender spared the bespectacled man a glance before filling up his mixture of rum and coke and went back to cleaning the glasses. His companion stared at the contents of his glass, shaking it dreamily, thinking about his completely messed up life.
A sudden crash shook him out of his reverie. He looked up to find a bag on his table, which seemed to have been thrown on it seconds ago. His gaze shifted to the person who had just arrived. She looked very frustrated, as she pulled out the chair next to him and settled down. Without a moment's hesitation, she snatched the bag and threw it to the floor, beside her. Ok very frustrated is probably an understatement.
"Get me a bottle of rum" she said, in a tight voice, to the bartender, who was staring at her in wonder. She quickly mixed the alcohol into a glass and placed it in front of her.
"Hello" Syaoran said, trying to start a conversation. Her gaze shifted to him and he watched unceremoniously, as she studied him.
"Hello" she said dully after sometime before turning back to her drink.
"I am Li Syaoran" he said and smiled slightly, stretching out his hand to her.
"I am Kinomoto Sakura" she replied, shaking his hand, smiling back. Before he could say anything else, the man next to him jumped from his seat and leant in between them, a silly grin spreading on his face, as he stared at Sakura.
"Wooooow! Niiiiiice leeeeeegs!" he remarked in a slurred voice, hanging sluggishly on the counter. Sakura jumped away from him, looking disgusted.
"Eriol!" Syaoran whispered in a low voice, holding on to the guy's arm, as he rested him back onto his seat.
"These things," he said, turning back to Sakura, waving his had at the man "should just be ignored." Sakura nodded, settling back on her seat looking even more frustrated.
"So, what are you doing here? I mean, I've never seen you here before." He said, looking at her curiously over his drink.
"Where ever I go, there is some or the other ass to irritate me! My life totally sucks! I am getting tired of it! And, this seemed to be a good place to take my frustration off." she said, through gritted teeth.
Syaoran took a long sip from his glass, and dropped it soundly on the table before turning to look at her.
"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked.
"Look, I don't think you'd understand. I mean, my life is kind of different. You see I am a shrink. Well, you are probably wondering what a shrink is doing at a place like this. But there are so many reasons as to why I am being tormented always and no one tries to understand me and look at me! Every damn guy is like that 'ass' over there!" she said, waving her hand towards Eriol, who was trying to grab the bottle of rum from the bartender's hands. He giggled childishly when she slapped his hand away.
Syaoran smiled in understanding. "You see, I happen to be a psychiatrist too." He said, taking a sip from his glass, savoring its taste in his mouth.
"Oh really!? Then you are probably experiencing the same thing as me too." Sakura said, looking at him inquisitively.
" Well, there is a reason why I am in this condition too…" He said pointing his hands at himself. Sakura took a moment to stare at his form up and down. Yes, he did look a mess… his hair unruly, his face unshaven for possibly two days, his eyes tired looking, loosened tie and one side of his shirt un-tucked. 'But, that doesn't make him look less handsome', she noted. She was very curious to know what he would look like if he were all dressed up and well groomed.
Sakura sighed and stared at her drink. " I mean…" she started. Syaoran looked at her expectantly. " I mean, people look at us as if only they have problems in this world! They don't even care about what we feel! I mean, don't they understand that we are humans too!? Don't they know that we face enough problems ourselves!? Don't they think that we have feelings too!?"
" Hey! I have feelings for you darling!" Eriol shouted suddenly sagging against Syaoran's shoulder, staring at Sakura with the same stupid grin, his azure eyes filled with glee.
" Woah there! Sit in your seat man." Syaoran said, resting him back on to his chair.
" Yeah I completely agree with you in that matter…" Syaoran continued nodding his head, looking upset himself. " Yeah, one moment they look at us like we are god, they approach us as if we are the sole reason for their existence and the next moment, they'll
be like " Oh you go to a shrink!?" he said shaking his head in exasperation, before turning back to his drink.
There was a long pause, as they contemplated their lives, only feebly aware of their surroundings. They could hear Eriol begging the bartender to dance with him.
" Come and dance with me baby or I'll drink till I shrink!" He said before dissolving into laughter.
The bartender rolled her eyes at him and switched her attention to Sakura's drink.
"Well, you should see the problems I face in my work place. I always end up with the weirdest patients." Sakura muttered glancing back at her glass, once the bartender refilled it.
Syaoran stared at her expectantly. "Well, do you wanna talk 'bout it?" he said, when she didn't continue.
"You see, there is this really weird guy who comes to me. He is kind of in an illusion always."
"But all those who come to us are like that…." Syaoran said, interrupting her mid-sentence.
"No, let me just finish it… you see, he is not like the others, he is one very different person. He keeps imaging a person called Zeebo who doesn't even exist!"
"Oh?" Syaoran remarked frowning thoughtfully.
-Flashback-
She rung the bell for the next person to come in and looked up with a smile when the door opened. A middle-aged man stepped in. He paused longer than necessary before closing the door shut.
"Please take your seat." Sakura said standing up, gesturing towards the seat next to her.
"Oh but that seat is for Zeebo. I prefer to sit here anyways." He said, taking his seat across her.
"Oookay. Well…tell me Mr….?" "Williams" the man interrupted her.
"Yes, Mr. Williams. So, what is the problem?" she asked patiently.
"Oh nothing is wrong with me…it's Zeebo here.." he said, gesturing towards the empty seat next to him. "He has high fever and cold."
"And who is Mr….hmm Zeebo?" She asked, smiling slightly.
"Oh he is my long time friend. See, this is Zeebo…Zeebo! Say hello to the doc bud…" he said looking at the empty spot.
-Back to the bar-
Before Syaoran could continue, their attention snapped to Eriol.
"Hey! Loooook there!" He said in a slurry voice, pointing his finger at something. "Where?" Syaoran asked, staring at the place where he was pointing.
"There!" he said moving his finger, pointing at something that seemed to be walking according to him. "Where? I can't see anything!" Syaoran said frowning in the direction to which his finger was pointing.
"There man there!" Eriol repeated, his finger slowly shifting to the exit.
"A zebra just ran out of this place man…" he said, before slumping onto the counter again.
Syaoran and Sakura stared at him for a few minutes before turning to their drinks again.
"Well, you see the problem now?" Sakura said sighing tiredly.
"That was interesting. But, wait till you here about my patient…" Syaoran said matter-of-factly.
"Oh yeah? What's he like?" Sakura asked curiously.
Syaoran scowled at the thought. "You see he loves stealing my paper weights!"
" What?" Sakura uttered, incredulously.
" Yeah, he is a kleptomaniac…who has a fetish for paper weights."
-Flashback-
Syaoran stared at the man opposite him pleadingly.
" Look Mr. Carson, this is an apple…" he said pointing to the apple on one side of the table.
The man nodded his head vigorously, staring at the apple and back at Syaoran.
" Concentrate on the apple and the apple only ok? Forget about this paperweight ok? Look at only the apple. You have to take only the apple, not the paperwei…" the ringing of his cell phone interrupted him in mid-sentence. " Oh just a minute Mr. Carson, I'll be right back." He said, getting up.
" Hello? Oh hi listen, I am in the middle of an appointment…" he said turning away from the man to stare out of the window, trying to get off the phone as soon as possible.
Carson stared at the doctor's back, before turning his attention to the apple and the paperweight. He looked up at the man by the window again to make sure that he wasn't paying attention. Grabbing both the apple and the paperweight, he scampered out quickly before he could be caught.
" Ok bye, see you today eve…" he turned around but froze at the sight of the empty room.
-Back to the bar-
" And, I turned around to find the room empty and both the paperweight and the apple were gone!" He finished exasperatedly.
" Wow…" Sakura muttered, taking a sip from her glass.
All of a sudden, Eriol jumped off his seat and pointed a finger at Sakura.
" You are the apple of my eye!" he bellowed, before falling on Syaoran's lap. Syaoran rolled his eyes before resting him back on his seat for what looked like the hundredth time that day.
Shaking her head in apparent exasperation, she turned back to Syaoran.
" Even my personal life is messed up. Well, mainly because of my fucking ex-boyfriend, Mark." She said, once she got back Syaoran's attention.
-Flashback-
Cool breeze blew on Sakura's happy face in the late hours of the evening. She sighed in contentment, tightening her hold on Mark's hand. He gave back a reassuring squeeze before tuning to face her. They were standing on the edge of a hilltop overlooking the sea. The moonlight shone on their faces and the twinkling lights from the ships and the port down below gave an impression of sparkling golden jewels. Things can't get anymore romantic! She sighed happily, staring into Mark's blue eyes.
" May I have this dance, my lady?" he asked in his amazing deep voice, bowing to her.
Sakura giggled lightly. " Of course Mr. Conner."
They danced and danced in circles under the moonlight singing happily.
" I wanna lay you down in a bed of roses…" He sang, with Sakura humming along. He is so romantic! She mused, even though she was the one who always forced him to come on a date to a romantic place such as this…
" Come lets sit down…" he said, taking her hands into his. They settled down on the blanket near the edge and stared at the sky.
" Wow…so many starts…" Sakura said, sighing blissfully.
" Speaking about stars, that constellation is the 'great bear' right?" He said, pointing at the cluster of stars.
" Yeah!" Sakura said smiling.
" Speaking about 'great bear'…Uncle Ross's favorite animal is a bear!"
" What?" Sakura stared at him incredulously.
" Uncle Ross is my favorite uncle. You know? I live with seven uncles! They are all great…and uncle Ross is the best! His favorite color is red…that's why my favorite is red too!"
" Er…Mark…" Sakura started uncertainly, but was interrupted by his rants again.
" My other uncles are Sam, James, Bill, Harris, Timothy and John! Oh look there! A black cat!"
" Mark!" Sakura snapped.
" Oh! Wait till you hear more about them…."
-Back to the bar-
" See!? He goes on and on about some stupid uncles of his for ages! It was so damn boring!" Sakura finished in sheer irritation.
They turned to Eriol when he jumped off the seat again.
" I wanna lay you down on a bed of roses! And drink and drink the juices!" He bellowed.
" Hey! Calm down man! Chill it!" Syaoran said, pulling him back to his seat.
" And, that's beer! Not a juice!" he added, steadying Eriol.
" Of course baby, of course!" Eriol said, grinning sheepishly.
" And on top of that…" Sakura continued. "I have this cousin, whom each and every damn person worships. I always end up getting compared to her! They don't give a second glass… Megumi this! Megumi that! Even my stupid ex-boyfriend thinks she is some goddess or something!"
" Oh! You have a cousin?" Syaoran said smiling excitedly. Sakura stared at him. If looks could kill, he would probably be dead by now.
" Sorry…" Syaoran mumbled, turning back to his drink.
" That's ok…I should have expected it. All men are alike." Sakura muttered bitterly.
" Hey, there is a reason why I am like this too, you know!?" Syaoran said, defensively.
Sakura looked at him expectantly.
" Hmm…do you want to talk about it?" She asked, when he didn't continue.
" I'd rather not..." he muttered, looking very put off.
" Well… Its about my wife…" he said, before gobbling down his drink quickly. He watched desolately, as the bartender refilled his drink.
" Do you want to talk about it?" Sakura asked again softly.
" I'd rather not…" He muttered again. He remained silent for a long time.
" She left me for another man." He said finally.
Sakura stared at him in shock. Which woman in her right mind would leave a man like him?
-Flashback-
Syaoran was jerked awake from a very pleasant dream by loud voices. He sat up on his bed rubbing his eyes, as he peered at the blurry figure that seemed to be cursing aloud, standing by the cupboard.
He blinked a couple of times, frowning to clear his vision. The sight that met him when he opened his eyes caused his jaw to drop down. The room was a mess. Clothes were scattered all around the place and a solitary figure was cursing in colorful language, as she stuffed her things inside a giant suitcase.
" What's wrong woman? What are you doing early in the morning?" He snapped, getting off his bed.
" What the hell does it look like? I am leaving!" she snapped back before going back to her work.
"Leaving?" he asked confused. " Leav…hey leaving!? Why the hell are you leaving!? What happened!?"
The woman looked at him in shock. " What happened!? Wha…what happened!? What is there left to happen now!?" she shrieked causing him to clamp his ears shut.
Syaoran massaged his head to try and ease the pain that was slowly creeping in his head. He dully listened to her cursing. Why the hell had he bothered to marry her?
He shifted his attention back to her when she snapped the suitcase shut. She snatched the box off the ground and glared dangerously at Syaoran.
" Now listened darling…" he started but was interrupted by a shriek.
"Hey, don't you dare call me darling. I told you I am leaving which means I am walking away from your damned life! You deal with psychos and lunatics who have replaced bums for their brains and you expect me to continue living with you, and that too when I am scared that they might be having an influence on you!? No way sir! I am going to get a life!"
" But where will you go!?" he shouted feeling very annoyed now.
" To Nick." She said simply. Syaoran looked at her incredulously.
" Now wait just a minute…who exactly is this Nick?"
" He is my student" she said shrugging matter-of-factly.
"What!?"
" And," she continued, " he looks like Hugh Grant!"
" What!?"
" Good bye" she said with finality in her tone and left.
-Back at the bar-
" She left you because she thought you might go nuts too?" Sakura asked incredulously.
" Yeah…and for a man younger to her too! Just because he looked like Hugh Grant!" he said shaking his head looking very disgusted. " I mean in all our 7 years of marriage…." He said leaving the sentence unfinished.
All of a sudden, Eriol shot out his hand in between them. " Hi I am Hugh Grant!" he said, giggling feebly.
Sakura laughed patting his head lightly before turning to Syaoran again.
" But it's ok…I really didn't feel bad when she left. We never really loved each other or anything. It was an arranged marriage anyways…we tried to be couples for the first two years, but decided that it wasn't going to work by the end of it. Just that I felt very insulted when she did that. Made me sound like a looser." He grumbled before gobbling down another cup.
" Sorry, I think I should stop drinking now…I am feeling light headed…" he said laughing softly.
Sakura smiled. " You were at least married once, but look at me. I couldn't even achieve a proper relationship with a guy!" She sighed, placing the glass back on to the table.
" Hey you know what?" Syaoran said suddenly. Sakura looked at him questioningly.
" I really don't know why you are still single. You are quiet good-looking you know. Your eyes especially…the greenest I have ever seen. It's beautiful." He whispered, cupping her cheek lightly staring into her emerald pools which dilated.
Sakura stared into his burning amber eyes, trying to control the speed of her heartbeat. She swallowed audibly before smiling up at him.
" That woman you married must have been blind for preferring some one else to you. You look amazing too Mr. Li…" "Syaoran" he interrupted smiling at her slightly.
"…yeah Syaoran, tall dark and handsome…hmmm.." The rest of her sentence was cut off as he captured her lips lightly. She moaned feeling her whole body heat up when he licked her lower lip and nipped it to gain access to her mouth. He crushed her body to his, as their tongues battled for control. She clutched onto his chest fiercely as the kiss intensified. He groaned pulling her on to his lap.
Syaoran felt something stir deep in him. The softness of her lips was driving him off his control. He felt the burning need to have more. Licking and nipping her lips to gain access, he plunged his tongue into her mouth repeatedly, drawing her sweetness into his tongue. Groaning deep in his throat, he crushed her body further into him, playing languidly with her tongue. God! It was like a drug for him, he could feel the blood pounding in his head and his heart beating wildly in his ribcage. He felt himself harden and groaned releasing her immediately in fear of doing something stupid.
They stared into each other's eyes gasping for breath, still clutching each other, shocked at the intensity of the kiss. Realizing their current position, they jumped away sputtering awkwardly.
" Whaaaaaaaa!!!!!!! Am I left alone!?"
Their attentions snapped to Eriol, who was now sitting on top of the counter acting like a child.
" Kiss me too!" He said pouting at Sakura. She went redder if possible.
The bartender burst into laughter. " Oh will you kiss me then?" Eriol asked looking at the bartender hopefully.
" Absolutely not" the dark haired girl said, pushing him off the counter, her amethyst eyes narrowing at him.
" Eriol shut up and sit down man…" Syaoran muttered before turning to Sakura who was avoiding eye contact.
" I am sorry…" Her head snapped towards him. " I am really sorry I shouldn't have…"
" No! That's ok…you didn't do anything wrong…" she said blushing crazily.
Syaoran gaped at her. Seeing that she was being honest, he cleared his throat, daring to ask one question he had really wanted to ask all evening, ever since she had taken her seat next to him.
" Er…Sa..Sakura?" He started nervously. " Yes?" She looked at him expectantly.
" Are you free tomorrow evening? You know, may be we can hang out somewhere…"
" Of course!" she gushed out blushing.
Syaoran's face broke into a grin, as he took her hand into his. " All right! Tomorrow evening at 6 it is then…"
Sakura grinned back, her eyes gleaming with a new meaning.
"What!? Are you going to kiss me tomorrow evening at six?" Eriol asked staring at her anxiously.
They burst into laughter, as the bartender bonked Eriol on the head.
" Hey what the hell was that for woman?" He howled, massaging his head before bursting into loud wails.
" Oh no…Eriol!" Syaoran groaned, slapping his forehead.
AN: What do you think? Good? Bad? Hope you enjoyed it…please Review and let me know! REVIEW! Thanx & bye!