Disclaimer: Gundam Wing is not mine. This story is not for profit -- please don't sue.
Warnings: het, corniness, OOC
Author's Notes: Although the plot and the writing in this one are nothing special, I have very fond memories of it anyway. :) I think Heero and Zechs are my favorite part. Written as a birthday gift to sun.
Birthday Surprise
by Bryony
Wufei had arrived at work a few minutes early to dive into some final details on his report before he had to hand it in to Commander Une at nine o'clock. It was a beautiful day in the middle of June, not too hot, and although the weather had forecast a thunderstorm or two later in the afternoon, the morning sky was absolutely cloudless. Wufei's mood could not have been better, if it weren't for one thing, one little thing niggling at the back of his mind.
He heard voices outside his office door and recognized one of them as Sally's. That was it. She'd been acting really weird last night, and Wufei was a little concerned about her -- they had been dating on-again off-again for the past six months or so, and so when she had begun acting strangely last night Wufei was immediately concerned that it might mark the beginning of the end for them. Again.
Suddenly Duo's voice joined the mix, shouting, "Sally! Happy birthday! How are you?"
It actually took a few seconds for those words to sink in. Then, -- "Crap!" Wufei gasped, then suddenly clapped a hand over his mouth to silence himself. "Crap," he repeated into his hand. How could I have been so stupid?!
"Oh, hi Duo. I'm fine, thanks. Listen, you guys haven't seen Wufei have you?"
Without thinking, Wufei dove off his chair and under his desk. He couldn't see her, not when he'd forgotten her birthday. Of course, last night had been a test, hadn't it? To see if he remembered or not. And now things really would be over between them. And to think he'd actually thought things had been going well this time around!
"Last time I saw him he was in his office."
Wufei heard someone coming in and held his breath, praying no one would see him.
"That's funny," Sally murmured, "his lights are still on. Wufei always makes a big deal about turning them off when he's not in."
"Maybe he was in a rush and forgot," Duo suggested blandly, obviously not caring.
There was a click and the room was flooded with darkness as Sally and Duo walked back out to the hall. Wufei breathed a slow sigh of relief and crawled back out from his hiding spot. Okay, he thought, maybe it's not too late. Maybe I can still pull something together…
He had never dated anyone during their birthday; he had no idea what to do or get them for a present, he just knew it was supposed to be special. He cringed. Special was not his expertise. Clearly, he was going to need some advice. Unfortunately, advice was not something he was good with either. Especially when to get it he needed to admit that he'd made a mistake. A very big mistake.
"Look," he coached himself, "either you're going to have to ask for someone's help or you're going to have to lose Sally. The choice is pretty obvious here." The plain fact was, Wufei had finally realized this past go around with her, that he was falling head over heels for her. He'd always known he liked her, always known he'd respected her, but now he was finally starting to understand that he loved her, and this minute it was starting to dawn on him what love actually meant: In this instance, being uncomfortable.
The voices had all moved away so Wufei crept over to the door and peered down the hall. Sally was nowhere in sight, thank goodness, so Wufei came out and walked briskly down the hall towards Duo's office. All the girls he knew had had crushes on Duo at one time or another, he was obviously the perfect person to know what to do for a girlfriend's birthday. The young man was on the phone when he got there, but grinned and waved when he saw Wufei, motioning for him to come in and sit down.
"Hey," he said, hanging up the phone, "Sally and I were looking for you earlier. What's up?"
Wufei clenched his teeth and came out with the truth: "I forgot Sally's birthday."
Duo's eyes lit up. "What?" he asked innocently.
"Don't make me repeat it, Maxwell," Wufei growled. "What do I do?"
"Well," Duo said slowly, "that all depends. Does she know you forgot it?"
"I don't know. I don't think so."
"Then it's easy. You've just gotta find a quick fix and she'll think you had it planned all along!"
"Yeah, I know, but what? That's what I'm asking you to help me with."
"That's what I'm getting to if you'll let me finish!" Duo rolled his eyes. "Jeez, some people. Now, the perfect birthday date. You haven't been going out too long so it should be simple. How about…oh, perfect! The zoo in the park."
Wufei stared. "Come on," he finally scoffed, "Be serious, please!"
"I am serious!" Duo protested, his eyes alight with mischief. "It's cheap, it's fun, it's low-key. Trust me, it's perfect, I take girls there all the time. Now listen closely, you want to take Sally over to the seal tank, on the side by the steps where you can see beneath water level. There's this seal in there, Buster, who's trained really well so if you say the word 'dinner' he'll start splashing around. Sally'll get soaked, and then you can step in like the perfect gentleman with your jacket, take her back to your place to get dried off, and hey -- you're all set!"
"Are you kidding me?" Wufei exploded, "That's worse than doing nothing at all!"
"Fine then, think up something on your own." Duo shrugged. "I'm telling you, though, it works wonders."
"Well thanks for the advice," Wufei groused sarcastically as he left, "I'll let you know how it goes tonight when she dumps me on the spot."
What am I going to do now? Wufei wondered helplessly as he wandered aimlessly down the hall. Glancing at his watch, he realized the time was now 9:32 -- only seven and a half hours until work let out and Sally would expect him to sweep her off her feet with a fantastic surprise. Nothing like a deadline to get the blood pumping…
"Wufei."
He froze in his tracks at the sound of his name, then realized it was only Une. Relieved he turned around and faced her as she came striding towards him, her face somewhat less than happy.
"Where is that report?"
"Sorry?"
"The report, Wufei. The one about your last mission. The one that was due on my desk half an hour ago."
"Oh. Yes -- it's printing out right now," he lied, smiling calmly.
"Good." Wufei turned to go, but Une stopped him, saying, "So it's Sally's birthday today, is it?" Reluctantly, he turned back around and nodded. "Any plans?" Wufei nodded again, and Une continued, "Well I hope it's something good. Sally deserves a treat, she's been working very hard lately, don't you agree? So where are you taking her?"
Swallowing, Wufei replied, "It's a surprise."
"Oh come on, you can tell me." Une had recently developed a nasty habit of interfering in other people's love lives, probably because her own was so hopeless, Wufei reflected acidly.
"It's a surprise," he repeated more firmly. She'd probably spill the beans to Sally anyway. Women are all alike like that. "I'll go get that report." He hurried off before Une could call him back again, feeling disturbingly paranoid and horrified that such a trivial, meaningless mistake could cause so much psychological torment. He was, however, determined not to give up.
Back in his office, Wufei shut the door and switched off the light so it would look like no one was there and he would remain undisturbed. The computer screen, glowing faintly, showed his still unfinished report. He sat down in front of it, but didn't start typing, preoccupied with figuring out who to turn to for help. All the women were out -- first of all because he was convinced they would tell Sally his dilemma and secondly because he refused to humiliate himself like that. Heero would be even less use than Duo was, he'd probably recommend shooting Sally to get rid of the problem. Zechs? No, he never put any thought into relationships.
Quatre! Of course!
Why hadn't he thought of him before? He was more refined than Duo and being social had been ingrained into him from before birth, practically. He was the perfect choice -- he'd know what to do. Flooded with relief, Wufei pulled out the phone book right away.
As it rang he tucked the receiver under his chin and started typing in the finishing touches to his report.
"Hello, Quatre Winner's office, can I help you?" a pert voice asked him.
"Yeah, could you connect me to him please?"
"Is this a matter of business, sir?"
"It's urgent, all right? Just tell him Chang Wufei is on the phone."
The young lady sighed reluctantly. "I'll see if he wants to speak to you, but he's very busy at the moment." The line was put on hold, and about ten minutes later, just as Wufei hit print, Quatre's voice came on and apologized for taking so long.
"It's just been a very hectic day," he explained. "So what can I do for you, Wufei? I haven't spoken to you in ages!"
Wufei felt a small stab of guilt for calling with an agenda and resolved to be more social in the future. "I need a favor," he said, and suddenly found himself pouring out all his worries, "It's Sally's birthday and I completely forgot. You know how crazy things have been between us, and I just know this is going to screw things up if she finds out. What should I do?"
"First of all, calm down," Quatre reassured him. "Sally's a very understanding woman, I'm sure she wouldn't be as angry as you think -- but," he quickly continued, sensing Wufei's pending eruption, "seeing as that's obviously a chance we don't want to take, it's easy: here's what you should do. During your lunch break go out and get her a birthday present. If you're not sure what she would want, go with jewelry -- whatever you do don't cop out and get her something fake like cubic zirconium, it's got to be the real deal. A necklace or bracelet is always best, they're nicer than things like earrings. Then go to the florist and order a bouquet of roses that you can pick up after work. And dinner reservations are a must. Somewhere nice. In fact, I know the perfect place, it's a beautiful French restaurant, not too far from the Preventer offices, actually, on the corner of Cedar Avenue and Market Street. Auberge Maxim. They make the most wonderful roast duck -- you have got to try it. Let me just see if I can find the number for you…"
Wufei smiled and got a pen ready. "Great, thanks."
"It's no problem. And if you have any problems, just mention my name to the manager, and he should be pretty agreeable." Wufei jotted down the number Quatre threw at him and made his goodbyes, hanging up with a sigh of relief. Catastrophe was averted. Wufei felt calm and confident enough in his success that he decided he could drop off his report with Une before calling to make reservations.
When he got back, he wished he hadn't. Calmly, he told the person on the other end of the line, "Hi, I'd like to reserve a table for two please."
"I'm sorry, sir," the person said to him, "but we're fully booked for tonight."
Stunned, Wufei demanded quietly, "What?"
"We're fully booked. We have been for weeks, it's graduation today."
Feeling the slow burn of panic-fueled adrenaline begin to pump back into his system, Wufei started to breathe a little heavier. "Look, Quatre Winner is a friend of mine, he recommended this place to me personally. I just need a table for two, nothing fancy, I don't care what time…"
The person sighed. "I'll see what I can do. Hold on."
"Thank you." Wufei let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding and waited patiently. A few minutes later, a different person picked up the phone, speaking with a heavy French accent.
"Hello? I understand you are a friend of Monsieur Winner?"
"Yes I am," Wufei replied, his patience starting to wear just a little thin. "I'm trying to book a table for tonight." Inspiration struck, and he devilishly added, "For Mr. Winner and myself."
There was a sharp intake of breath on the other side of the phone, but the voice very stoically replied, "I really am most dreadfully sorry, but we are completely full tonight. We don't even have room for one, unfortunately."
"Is this the manager?!"
"Yes, Monsieur, it is."
"Well, dammit, this is important! I need a table!"
"I am sorry to upset such an important client as Monsieur Winner, but we really cannot squeeze another person in. You have my most sincere and humble apologies." Wufei struggled for words, his mouth working to force his voice through with some appeal, some persuasion that would work, but his hope was quickly blown out the window as the manager made his final apologies and hung up the phone.
Limply, disbelievingly, Wufei let the phone drop back into its cradle. Then his autopilot began to kick in, and his common sense informed him that even though they had no dinner, he could still go out and get the gift that Quatre recommended. All was not lost. He got up, and walked hurriedly out to the street, not caring that his lunch break wasn't for another half an hour at least.
It did not take long for him to find a florist, and buying roses went without a hitch. The card was slightly more problematic, but Wufei settled on simplicity and simply stated "happy birthday" and signed his name.
It was the jewelry that was the problem. It took him long enough to find a store, first of all, and when he finally had and began looking around, it became very clear that he was out of his league. "I would've had to be saving for months to afford any of this," Wufei muttered to himself. Sure, it was all right for Quatre the billionaire to throw around wads of cash like it was nothing, but unfortunately Wufei didn't have all that at his disposal.
"Excuse me," he asked a clerk, "Do you have anything less expensive for sale in here?"
The lady looked him up and down appraisingly and smiled, not exactly kindly. Wufei guessed that her own significant others had never deigned to buy her jewelry and that she was living in bitterness. "Let me just check in back," she said. "Exactly what price range are you looking for?"
"Well, to start, do you have anything under five grand?"
As it turned out, the store had exactly two pieces under that price, and both of them were ugly and not genuine gemstone. And they were small. Wufei couldn't imagine spending such sums of money on something so insubstantial, especially when Quatre had warned him against dealing with anything that was not the real deal.
And so it was that Wufei kissed that idea goodbye as well. Still, at least he had gotten flowers, he wasn't yet a completely lost cause, thank goodness for that. But who else was there to turn to, especially as time was running out?
He glanced at his watch again: 2:07, he'd wasted at least two hours on nothing at all, and he was late getting back, and he hadn't gotten anything to eat! His stomach growled to remind him of the fact, just what he needed.
To make matters worse, as Wufei stepped back into the building with a sandwich from the cheap deli next door in hand, Sally met him at the door. It was just as if she had been waiting there for him to return. "Wufei," she said smiling, "I haven't seen you all day! Where on Earth have you been?"
He shrugged and kept walking, hoping desperately that she would drop the matter and leave him alone. He really couldn't face her now, not when he had nothing to offer and was running around behind her back trying to make things right. It never occurred to him that maybe his methods weren't the best.
"Hey! Wufei wait up, what's going on?" she demanded.
"Nothing!" he snapped evasively. "Why does something have to be going on, I'm just busy that's all!"
"What, too busy to talk to me?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact," Wufei blurted out without thinking, walking quickly into the elevator while Sally was still too shocked to answer. The door slid shut in her face just as she was about to try and pursue him. Then suddenly, as he saw the expression on her face, everything he'd just said and what it must have sounded like hit Wufei full force. Now it wasn't just a birthday he had to deal with, it was an apology too.
He hated those.
But even more than he hated the embarrassment of having to admit he was wrong, he hated the guilt of knowing he was wrong and the regret in the pit of his stomach that even without meaning to he was able to hurt the people he cared about. It was almost enough to make him sit down then and there and give himself up for sacrifice to the gods, that others wouldn't make the mistakes he always did. Instead, he just smacked his head against the cool metal of the elevator wall and resolved to try harder. Eventually, he knew he'd be able to make things right. It might take a few decades, but Wufei wasn't one to quit when others told him he should; he was unfortunately stubborn that way.
With two failures already locked in place against him, Wufei's choices were becoming severely limited. At least, he pondered, I'm able to discern between a good choice and a bad choice. I knew Duo's suggestion was crap. There's hope right there.
Focusing on that small positive, Wufei walked into the Preventer coffee lounge, where he found both Heero and Zechs chugging their drinks at opposite ends of the wall-length counter.
He poured himself a steaming mug and then said, "I need to find Sally a birthday present." The question behind the statement went unspoken, but understood.
After a few minutes of careful sipping and pondering, Heero said, "I find a teddy bear always goes over well."
Wufei lifted a brow. A stuffed toy? That was so…juvenile. "Maybe when I was fifteen," he muttered.
"Well if you're looking for something a little more mature, I recommend introducing something new in the bedroom," Zechs said neutrally. Wufei stared at him in horrified shock. That was not something he'd ever needed to hear come out of Zechs' mouth, and he sincerely hoped he never would again. Honestly, as if he and Sally had even thought about going that far yet; he turned his mind immediately away from that path of thinking.
"That's not exactly a present," Wufei pointed out derisively.
"It could be," Zechs shrugged before rinsing out his mug and setting it to dry. "Chocolates, then."
Wufei frowned, deep in thought. He'd already gotten roses, combining that with chocolates seemed too like a Valentine's Day cop-out. No, it had to be something more special than that. He sighed, and fervently wished that not every year was going to be this difficult. That was assuming that he'd get a chance at another year, of course.
He sighed and tipped the rest of his coffee down the sink. "This is ridiculous. I'm just not thinking hard enough," he muttered. "The answer has got to be out there, staring me in the face, and I'm just not seeing it!"
Zechs started heading towards the door as Heero went and poured himself another cup. "If you ask me," he said, "you just need to relax. Noin hates birthdays, as do I. We never celebrate them. How do you know Sally's not the same way?"
"Because she's normal?" Wufei said after Zechs was out of earshot, then realized Heero had come up to him.
"Sexy underwear," he said. "I've always wanted to get Relena some but she won't wear it. I think I could convince her, but with Zechs hanging around all the time it wouldn't be very tactful…"
"I've gotta go," Wufei interrupted, leaving. Hurriedly.
Safely shut away back in his office, he pondered what to do. He had only a few hours left before he would be expected to produce something spectacular, and so far he had come up with next to nothing that would be useful. The advice of his friends and coworkers was clearly useless -- it was a miracle any of them had love lives at all.
Suddenly it dawned on him: there was still one person he hadn't talked to. Trowa. Wufei thought about it for a moment -- Trowa was tall, well-built, girls would surely be interested in him; quiet and thoughtful, certainly good traits for coming up with romantic gifts; and best of all he was bone poor so he wouldn't have any crazy suggestions. He might just work!
What was his phone number?
It took Wufei several minutes of rummaging through all of his desk drawers before he finally found it -- Trowa's circus traveled so his only permanent number was his cell phone, which had been a gift from Quatre and Duo several years ago. He dialed hurriedly and only hoped that Trowa wasn't in a show right then and unable to pick up.
"Come on," he muttered impatiently, "Pick up the damn phone!"
Then, just as he was sure he was about to be shoved through to voicemail, Trowa's soft voice asked, "Hello?"
"Thank God!" Wufei exclaimed. "Trowa! It's Wufei."
"Oh. Hi. What's up?"
"I need your advice. What is the perfect birthday surprise?"
"For a girl, you mean?" Trowa asked, his voice displaying a small measure of surprise. "Well that's easy. A candlelit dinner for two -"
"I tried that," Wufei hissed into the phone, "All the restaurants are booked! It's the high school graduation today."
"…That you make yourself," Trowa finished. "With a birthday cake for dessert, of course."
"I make the cake too?" Wufei asked, appalled. "Trowa, I can't cook!"
"Then how do you eat every night?" he retorted. "Of course you can cook, Wufei, everyone can. You just need to find the right recipe and it's easy. Besides, it's the effort that counts, not the quality of the meal; if it's horrible you'll just laugh about it later." Wufei thought about this and slowly relented. "So what did you have in mind for her?" Trowa asked.
"Roast duck," Wufei replied firmly.
"Roast duck?" Trowa repeated. "That's fairly ambitious for a first attempt, don't you think?"
"Do you have a recipe for it or not?"
Trowa was silent for a moment, thinking. "I think Catherine might," he replied finally. "I'll ask her and call you back in a few minutes. You're at work?"
"Yeah. Wait, Trowa -- what about a present?"
"That's something that should be from you, Wufei. But I'm told that gifts you make yourself are usually the most meaningful. I'll talk to you soon."
Wufei set down the phone and hung his head as he wondered aloud, "What is with all of this homemade stuff?"
Twenty minutes later Wufei was walking resolutely down the hall to Sally's office. The door was open, so he knocked gently on the doorframe as he went inside. Sally glanced up at him then dropped her attention back down her paperwork. "Hi," he said. "I'll see you at my place around eight?"
Sally looked up at him again, an incredulous expression on her face. "I have other plans."
"What? But…it's your birthday."
"Yeah. It is. Which I think means I deserve a good time, not to mention a little respect. So I'm having a girls' night out." She smiled up at him, false sweetness oozing out of every pore. "I was keeping a space in my schedule clear for you, Wufei, but you obviously have more important things to do. Too bad. Still, that's the way the cookie crumbles."
"Sally, come on. I'm sorry about the way I acted earlier, I know it was rude. I was just trying to make sure everything was right for tonight."
"Don't you think there are more important things than whatever surprises you might have planned? Do you really think I care about those? I care much more about how we get along. I don't know why you have such a hard time understanding that. Sorry, but you really blew it today, Wufei."
There was that guilt again, churning around in his stomach. "Well…if you change your mind, I'll be waiting for you," he said quietly, and stepped back outside, berating himself all the way back to his office.
Even though he now had some very severe doubts about whether or not Sally would even be coming, Wufei went about his preparations as he had planned. After work, he stopped by the florist's to pick up Sally's bouquet, and then bought a package of scented flower petals. Toting Trowa's recipe in hand, he then stopped by the supermarket and picked up all the necessary ingredients for his roast duck, and then he scouted around the shopping center for something, anything that would make an appropriate birthday/"I'm sorry" gift. Nothing seemed right, and Wufei was getting desperate. Finally, after about an hour of hopeless searching, he ran into a store and snatched up the first thing that seemed reasonable. He had to get home before the flowers started wilting or the meat went bad.
Once he was home it took another two hours before everything was ready, the duck and vegetables roasting in the oven, the cake batter standing ready in a pan waiting to go in once everything else was done, and the apartment vacuumed and the surfaces liberally dusted with flower petals. Wufei wrapped Sally's gift in gold foil paper, and tied it meticulously with a cream colored ribbon, curling the ends with a pair of scissors. He set the table with a scarlet table cloth, put out his best plates and silverware, and poured two glasses of wine. He lit candles and dimmed the lights. He put the bouquet in a vase, and the vase next to her package. He changed out of his uniform, showered and combed his hair, and put on his best black slacks and royal blue silk shirt…
And he waited.
It was past eight o'clock by the time he was even ready for Sally to arrive, past nine when he began nibbling on some crackers to pass the time. The duck finished cooking, and he put the cake in.
9:30. Wufei stared out his window and up at the stars, which looked surprisingly close for a warm June night when the city was alive and buzzing.
9:45. The cake had finished. The candles were burning down to nothing, and Wufei began blowing them out. She wasn't coming.
And then at ten o'clock the doorbell buzzed. "Crap!" Wufei swore when he realized nothing was ready anymore, only the flower petals remaining where he had scattered them. But he didn't have time to fix everything, or she'd leave -- he opened the door, positive that it was Sally. And he was right.
"Hi, I'm not too late, am I?" she asked, smiling sheepishly.
"No, not at all. I'm really glad you decided to come." He took her arm and led her in, admiring the way she moved in a skirt and high heels. Her hair was down, and fell in waves around her face. He put her on the sofa. "Um. Just wait here, I've got a few things I have to get ready."
As he turned to go into the kitchen, she grabbed his wrist. "You look really nice, Wufei."
"Thanks. So, um, so do you."
As Wufei frantically dashed into the kitchen and began rummaging around to get things ready again, it took him a few minutes to notice that Sally had dimmed the lights and found the matches to relight the candles. Just as he jammed the duck back into the oven, he noticed her standing in the kitchen, watching him with a little smile on her face.
"Sorry," she apologized. "I should've showed up on time. I will next time. I'll help you set the table."
"No!" he protested, wanting to make everything perfect himself. Then, remembering their argument that afternoon, he amended, "I mean -- why don't you open your present?"
Sally shook her head. "You still don't get it," she sighed affectionately. "I don't want you to do all this alone just to surprise me, Wufei. Come on, let's do it together, and then we can open the gift."
He pursed his lips, carefully contemplating the idea. "Fine," he finally agreed, beginning to think he might finally understand her thought process. "Silverware is in the sideboard over there."
"So…" Wufei began carefully, "What made you decide to come?"
Sally chuckled. "It took a lot of convincing from the girls," she replied teasingly, "but in the end I decided to follow their advice and just assume you weren't very good at this sort of thing and ought to be forgiven."
"Oh," Wufei said, not quite sure how to take that answer.
The atmosphere eased up quite a bit during dinner and dessert, admittedly with a wee bit of wine to help it on its way. And when all the dishes were piled in the sink, to be dealt with another day, and Wufei and Sally sprawled out along the couch, their stomachs feeling fit to burst, they were nevertheless finally comfortable. Sally reached out for her present, and tore off the paper, smiling lopsidedly at the album that was inside.
"Open it," Wufei ordered her, and she did, revealing that the first page was already carefully filled with photographs of them, not only from their past six months together, but the past several years, ever since they had become partners at the Preventers.
"Thanks, Wufei," she said sleepily, snuggling up closer to him. "This was a wonderful birthday surprise."
Wufei smiled, leaning in to breathe in the gentle scent of Sally's perfume, and replied, "It's a day I'll never forget."
-end-