Disclaimer: I don't know anything…. Wahhhh

Eyes tend to become the only things that remain true in a person. –hc-

Concinnous Pleasure

Chapter 2

I'm DOOMED… I'm DEAD

And I'm… I'm…

"My apologies Hiirigazawa-san, there has been some unexpected circumstances that prevented me from attending our meeting… uhh.. on time."

Calm…

For some reason, Tomoyo's brain decided that enough was enough and that though she had hit rock-bottom hours ago, she was NOT gonna stand for this turbulence in her heart any longer.

She had a LIFE, and by God, she's gonna live it. Boredom or Loneliness not withstanding.

The man turned around with his hands on his back, cocked an elegant brow and smiled conscientiously.

He's… He's

"It's quite all right, Daidouji-san. Let's just say I had enough free time to accommodate a bit of delay."

Handsome!

Tomoyo felt a rush of heat on her face and coughed rather awkwardly but managed to sweep her hand graciously. She wordlessly offered him a seat as she called for her butler and spoke with him for a brief moment before she returned her attention to her guest.

"Hiirigazawa-san, I trust you had a pleasant dinner nevertheless?" She raised her brow in question and waited for his response.

Eriol eyed her appreciatively behind a façade of nodding and settled himself to the burgundy couch.

Hmm… she's pretty…

He started to think but…

No, no… business,

proposal,

no distractions needed.

He frowned thoughtfully.

"Is something wrong? The couch not up to your taste?"

He heard her ask behind a condescending tone and he smirked. For some reason, he had made her slightly nervous perhaps?

"No, the couch is of excellent quality as I presume everything else here is as well."

He had said matter-of-factly that Tomoyo thought perhaps she had imagined the frown she saw earlier. She decided to let the matter slide and asked as she glanced at his half empty glass instead.

"More wine, Hiirigazawa-san?"

"Eriol"

He had said immediately. She cocked a brow in question.

"I'm sorry?" Tomoyo asked, now thoroughly confused.

"Call me Eriol." He paused to sip his wine then eyed her thoughtfully. " After all, if this goes well, we'll become business associates and I want my associates to be marginally comfortable in dealing with future prospects. Don't you agree?"

He was making her suck up to him. She thought. Eriol raised an inquisitive brow and sipped his wine again. A flitting frown marred her features as she saw him eyeing her disturbingly but it went as fast as it came.

"I..." she started but a twinkle in his eyes made her pause. She looked away abruptly as a blush threatened to rise. How can a man three feet away disturb her with just a gaze? She resolved to put up more barriers around her. Wasn't she supposed to be mourning and depressed? She didn't have the time for this idiotic feelings... She was supposed to be a shrewd businesswoman who had built her empire from scratch since her mother was cheated by a depraved psychopath. But here she was, blushing like some school girl at the first sight of her crush. Damn! She fisted her hands on her lap

Eriol grinned a bit mischievously. Tomoyo momentarily had her equilibrium disturbed but she regained her composure almost immediately and replied demurely.

"Of course." "Hmm.." Eriol suddenly stood up and with one fluid motion came and knelt one knee before her. Tomoyo blinked in surprise as he closed his palm over her fisted hands and opened them carefully with a slow massage. She felt her hand tingle but she didn't say a word. Audible sentences wasn't in her capabilities right now so she opted to shut up and stare at him incredulously.

He took her now open palms and kissed them briefly before laying them down on her palm. He covered it with his own for a moment to wink at her before he stood up and returned to his seat. "You're too tense." he spoke quietly but not without a hint of amusement.

Panic…

Turmoil….

She had nothing to say… She was too stunned to speak and a ferocious blush threatened to surface but she fought to beat down the heat. It wasn't easy but years of practice made it possible. She wasn't about to be swayed by that performance as she placed on an uninterested look and eyed him coolly, but she inwardly panicked. Her mind was still in a mess.

Speak dammit…

Say something.. you're the host… speak…. Brain…talk… I beg of you….

Then, she remembered.

The proposal…

He had a proposal remember?

Relieved that she had a topic on hand, she smiled politely albeit lacking emotion. He was eyeing her quizzically. More wine had arrived and he was holding it elegantly by the stem.

Now, when did she ask for it again?

He sipped. She gulped.

Ok! Get a grip… the topic, the proposal…

"Hiiri-- ?"

"Eriol, Tomoyo-san? I can call you Tomoyo can I not?" he interrupted before she even finished a word. He spoke calmly but she noticed another twinge of amusement in it. Darn it, what was so amusing anyway? she thought, fuming.

Dammit!

Her vocabulary HAD turned into a myriad of inappropriate words…

Shit!

Quite elaborately if not repetitive, if she had a say on the matter.

"Hiiri-"

She stopped herself in time… before he noticed.

Eriol

Eriol

You're supposed to call him Eriol.

Has a nice ring… STOP!

She sighed a little wondering how in the world, did that man manage to get her senses so muddled. She never had this kind of trouble with associates before. There had been so many men equally or more powerful than he. Some men had even been more handsome than he but they never managed to get under her skin so annoyingly. The proposal Tomoyo... she reminded herself as she watched Eriol watching her. She stifled a gasp. when did he...? She gave herself another mental shake and spoke fervently.

"Eriol-san, about the proposal…"

She started and turned to glance his way...Now when had she turned away anyway? And did she saw him start?

He did looked a bit startled but his gentleman's smile came to place almost immediately.

"Aah yes, the proposal…"

He had thought that Daidouji Tomoyo was an old maid. Hard-handed and wrinkled with age. This Daidouji Tomoyo in front of him was anything but. He had prepared himself for cold indifference and a matter-of-fact kind of person. He certainly hadn't bargained for this calm, elegantly-clad, soft-spoken beautiful YOUNG woman speaking to him.

Damn it!

If this ain't distracting, I don't know what is.

He had to hold his emotions in check. He knew.

He should.

He must.

I need this proposal to be accepted.

He had to. It was the only way he knew how. The only way he would be able to keep his promise. And the only way he could curb this morose feeling in him. Daidouji Tomoyo is only a means to an end. He thought gloomily but for some reason he felt melancholic about it. There is no other way. He knew. He set his lips in a grim line and his face darkened.

When Tomoyo saw him earlier, he had an aura of calm sincerity. When the proposal was being explained, he became an emotionless businessman, cool and calculated. She found that she didn't like this sudden change.

Not that she LIKED him…

Me? Like Eriol? Like a guy like that?

Like anyone for that matter like that?

The idea was preposterous and if she could have laughed, she would have hollered. Instead, she screwed her face into a mass of concentration and read the proposal being handed to her.

"In effect Tomoyo-san, half of your share in the Daidouji Conglomerate here in Japan would essentially become mine in exchange with half my share of the Clow Corporation."

Eriol finished satisfactorily and leaned on the couch to let the idea sink in to the woman opposite him. To an ordinary bystander, Eriol would have looked like a man just enjoying his afternoon tea but when one looked closely, his jaw was set, his eyes were dark with determination and his body projected a tightly coiled spring knotted in tension. His sudden change in demeanor did not go unnoticed by his only audience. Tomoyo tensed as well.

"I understand that part Eriol-san…"

She started a bit apprehensively…

"what I don't understand is .. why?"

Eriol cocked another brow waiting...She continued listlessly…

"my half of the share doesn't even compare to your half in the Clow Co…"

This time, she eyed him distrustfully… like a prey watching its predator warily wondering when and where it would strike. Business proposals were always like that. A game long played by nature. Deceive or be deceived. It was this that forever condemned businessmen to a life of distrust.

"Why Eriol-san?"

He clasped his hand and nodded understandingly. He had prepared for this question and he had the perfect answer.

"Tomoyo-san, there are some things I want to recover here in Japan. And I need the power of your expansive telecommunication devices without inconveniencing you or your acclaimed group of scientists."

He leaned forward to emphasize a point. Making sure to capture her eye in his. Eye contact was essential in making a person believe, just as how hypnosis was almost always using the eye as its gateway so it is in faith as well.

"What I'm trying to say is that; by making this exchange I'll have enough authority on these… technologies and other such… here in this country without imposing on your good-will and influence…"

He paused thoughtfully and looked at Tomoyo for her reaction. "In exchange, you'll have as much in England and possibly more…"

He left the sentence to be finished with whatever she deemed appropriate and waited for her consensus.

She eyed him suspiciously albeit disbelievingly. She still did not understand why'd HE make such an incredulous exchange. Especially.. with a stranger.. Because that's what they are at the moment…

Strangers.

She reasoned…

She had leafed through the proposal. Read it and then reread it. She hadn't found anything that would make her at a disadvantage in this exchange. She was known to be very meticulous in exchanges. She would rather trust her own judgment than what any lawyer told her. She was better than most and she had proved it countless of times in the past. But she couldn't find anything... not yet...

And that's why she was suspicious.

She was no ignorant bystander. He had to have something up his sleeves. He had to… she just didn't know WHAT. It gnawed on her brain. Mocking her senses and the belief in her abilities. She eyed him closely looking for deceit, lust for power, lies… anything…

She usually was a good judge of character.

She could tell nastiness disguised from sincere truthfulness.

She eyed him again…

and looked totally and utterly confused

What she saw in him was…

A devoid expressionless blank…

She looked a bit dazed….

And terrified…

Eriol Hiirigazawa…

This was one man…

She couldn't READ.

// Nothing I could say //