Like I said in my profile, this was just supposed to be a trial story. I only had a vague idea of where I wanted this to go and typed away. After 20 minutes of adrenaline-fueled writing, this is what you get. Hope it's enough to get people interested until I finish this. Flashbacks and present events will be intersped, so be very wary.

Thanks for the reviews. For those asking why he's moving… well, I really haven't decided how to end this. I'm thinking of being evil just because I can, but let's see.

Special shout out to my first reviewer, Hakkyou no Tenshi. You've been very helpful, and don't worry, there is a plot. Somewhere.

Standard disclaimers apply. Enjoy.

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Boxed

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Chapter 2

He smiled at the memory. As much as he would like to deny it, he genuinely wished that she still made her regular visits like she used to do, just before…

The sudden change in his countenance belied the indifferent air that he would put on whenever he was confronted by anyone regarding her. Quickly, he headed to another part of the house to divert himself from where his current train of thought was heading.

As he walked into the living room, the first thing that caught his attention was the massive vase that sat adorning the center of his coffee table. Well, so much for distracting myself, he thought, as he resigned himself to reminiscing about her once again.

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He knew he was staring, but he couldn't stop himself. Who knew collarbones were so sexy? To be perfectly frank, if he were asked which part of the female anatomy attracted him most, they wouldn't even register in his mind.

But this was something utterly and profoundly new to him. He had never felt such a strong urge to touch and feel something. Great, just another thing to add to the growing list of fetishes that I had started to develop since knowing her. She was making him become more and more of a weirdo as time went by.

He knew he wasn't the only one affected by her looks tonight. Even that flirtatious co-actor of theirs in the drama who never even looked at her twice was drooling like a teething baby.

The drama they were in was nominated for quite a number of television honors this year and so most of the cast and major crew were invited to the awards ceremony. It was the President's idea for everyone to go together and so he had lent that ridiculously long Hummer for their use. She had been the last to be picked up, and the moment she stepped out of the restaurant where she had been working and living in, everyone was simply stunned.

She had on a simple dark green tube dress that emphasized her long and lean frame, her hair in a casual bun with a single jeweled pin to put it in place. She didn't have any other accessory on her aside from the necklace she had made out of the gem he had put inside the rose he gave for her birthday.

Perhaps it was the way she walked gracefully towards their borrowed vehicle, with the skirt of her dress billowing around her. Or the sparkle in her eyes that were emphasized by the light make-up she wore. Or maybe it was the smile she was wearing that was more dazzling than any of the jewelry the other actresses had on put together.

Whatever it was, one thing was for sure. She looked elegant, or to be more precise, regal. She looked and acted as though she wore dresses like that everyday and had parties held for her whenever she wanted.

She looked confident and self-assured, but not conceited. No, never conceited.

Was this one of her character inventions again?, he wondered. If so, she had everyone fooled. The usual her would be abashed by all the attention she was getting, but tonight she looked unaffected by all the stares. But then again, while she was acutely perceptive of other people, she was infinitely and helplessly oblivious to most things concerning herself.

She was seated directly across him and from his vantage point, he could see the curve of her slender neck and the slight protrusion of her clavicle. He had to keep himself from reaching out and touching the exposed part of her neck and chest just to see if they were as smooth as they looked.

Feeling disgusted with himself with the way he was thinking, he glanced to his right where the men were staring unashamedly at her. God forbid, if they looked anywhere lower than her eyes, he was seriously going to commit murder. He had half a mind to just grab his dinner jacket and throw it over her.

But if he did that, she'd probably think he was just trying to keep her ugly face from burning everyone's eyes. Not that she was ugly. Far from it. In his eyes she couldn't be anything less than ethereal. Ethereal? Where the heck did that come from?! He was sure that had it been possible for anyone to read his thoughts, the triteness would surely cause them to gag.

On the other hand, the mere fact that he didn't even so much as put two seconds of thought on how she would react to something he would do was a testament on how far gone he was. He had taken to observing her every time the opportunity presented itself and he had memorized and analyzed every one of her nuances as though they were proposed solutions to the Goldbach conjecture.

There I go again. He was disappointed at how easy it was becoming for him to have his thoughts stray into random varying directions because of her.

At the exact moment he resolved that he was going to put his mind to something more productive, his eyes met hers. She gave a small uncertain smile, which quickly disappeared when he gave no indication to acknowledge her. Instead, he fixed his gaze unto the crystal-beaded curtains just above her head, intent on his method of avoidance. He had decided that even a fleeting glance towards her would push him dangerously close to the edge of his control.

The rest of the ride was thus spent in a tango of near-glances and hit-and-miss eye contacts. It was pathetic, he knew. But it was the only way he could keep any rein on his emotions.

Their arrival caused a commotion amongst the press and onlookers present at the venue. And he was quite sure that she was the subject of more than a few whispers and mutterings here and there. A lot of them wondered who she was, her current appearance being very different from the evil character she portrayed in the drama. And as she walked down the red carpet on the director's arm, the whispers only grew louder.

He had been waylaid by ambush interviews on the red carpet, so by the time he got inside, the only vacant chair on their table was beside her. He tried to act normally, and seeing that there was no way he could ignore her for the whole night, he simply gave her one of his customary smiles.

And as per usual, her way of reacting to him smiling was to cower and try to lower herself as much as possible on her chair. Really, she shouldn't be making a habit of this. Seeing as she was starting to slide underneath the table, his left hand shot out to grab her arm and pull her back up to a proper sitting position.

Anything he would have wanted to say to her died on his lips, as for the first time that night, he was near enough to have a clear look at her face. Ah, her lips are so pink. For some ridiculous reason, that Beatles song about strawberry fields had started playing in his head.

He didn't know how long he had been staring at her face, or how long he had been holding onto her arm. He vaguely registered the sounds of applause around him signaling the start of the program, which he took as his cue to let go of her arm. He then faced forward and hoped to all divinity that nobody noticed the lapse in his normally indifferent façade.

He could feel her gaze boring a hole at the side of his head. Probably wondering about what the hell just happened. And he wasn't about to offer any of his stupid reasons this time, because he was just as utterly confused as she was.

The incident was pushed into the back of their minds as the night wore on. Their drama had swept most of the major awards, losing only the Best Actress and Visual Effects categories. He himself had won the Best Actor award, which, not that he was bragging, did not actually come as a complete surprise. The only real competition he had in the category was a senior actor who had played a terminally ill patient. But then again, the clichéd nature of the role did more bad than good for the senior actor's chances.

The real surprise of the night was her winning the Newcomer of the Year Award. She had been up against a pop idol who was heavily favored to win, owing to that girl's extreme popularity.

She had been obviously stunned when her name was announced and she had then looked at him as if to confirm that she wasn't imagining everything. He merely gave a brief nod and a smile as he helped her up from her seat, her hands visibly shaking.

You deserve it, he had said to her. And after taking a deep breath, she calmly walked up the stage to accept her award.

With a clear voice that belied the nervousness that he was sure she was feeling, she had rattled off the names of the people that she had wanted to thank. She mentioned her bestfriend, the President, the talent supervisor of the agency, the directors and all the people she worked with, even the old couple she lived with, as the people who made her dreams possible. When she had mentioned his name especially, try as he might, he couldn't contain the smile that appeared on his face. After her speech, with the trophy clasped close to her heart, she had taken a short step back, and gave a very sincere and heartfelt bow of gratitude.

It was very much like her, he thought, to be humble and grounded at all times. The small act was certain to endear her to everyone who was watching, and he was sure that he did not imagine the almost deafening applause that followed.

When she straightened up, he could see that her eyes had misted over and that tears were threatening to fall. With a last shaky smile to the audience, she made her way back down to their table.

Apparently, she was still in shock over the recent developments and he had laughed out loud at the nonsensical things she had been spouting out. She had been muttering about wishing that the dream wouldn't end, all the while wringing her hands and the skirt of her dress. Seeing this, he had put his hand over hers to calm her down and to stop her from wrinkling her dress any further.

He had then told her not to worry and just enjoy the night. Another one like this might be long in coming, he had told her. With a grateful smile and a mouthed thank you, she sat up straighter and tried to focus back on the rest of the program. He didn't take his hand back. He wasn't sure whether she hadn't noticed, or that she had, but just didn't mind.

The rest of the night passed relatively quickly, and before they knew it, the ceremony was over. After a few quick chats with acquaintances, together with the rest of the cast, they made their way towards the exit. They were invited to an after-party, but she had declined, saying that she had work the following morning, and upon hearing this, he had volunteered to accompany her home. She had tried to talk him out of his decision, but he would have none of it. He had reasoned that he was tired as well, having been to a location shoot just before attending the ceremony.

The President, who had chosen that time to conveniently pop out and butt into the conversation dressed as a Renaissance king, had offered one of his cars once again, not the Hummer since it was going to be used by the rest of the cast for the after-party. She had tried to refuse, thinking that she would only be causing trouble, and saying that she could just call a cab.

The President had been horrified by her suggestion and immediately called his driver. Within seconds, a black Cadillac had rolled up and both of them had been stuffed into it.

The driver had handed him the keys, and with a sigh of resignation, he started the car. With their cast members waving at them and amidst final shouts of congratulations, he drove them out of the venue.

Honestly, if he hadn't been so frustrated at the blatant match-making efforts of the President, he would have found the scene hilarious. It was like they were newlyweds, with friends and family sending them off to their honeymoon.

Sensing the worsening of his mood, she had started to blabber on about how great the program was and how beautiful the bouquets of flowers that they handed out to the winners were. She went on to say something about finally having flowers to put on the vase that she had originally bought for the rose he gave months before.

After a while, she had turned quiet, which in turn started to worry him. Just when he was about to inquire on her thoughts, she suddenly shot up from her seat, exclaiming loudly, causing him to suddenly step on the brakes.

Realizing that she had almost caused an accident, she started apologizing profusely and made to prostate herself on the floor of the car. How she was going to accomplish this with her seatbelt on, he didn't want to know. So he held on to her shoulders and asked what was going on.

Sheepishly, she tried to explain that she remembered that there were no flower vases in his apartment and that she thought that they could go buy one in the 24-hour convenience store where she got hers before.

He looked at her blankly as if to say, That's all? And she just stared innocently back, oblivious to the disbelief etched on his face.

That was when he realized that his hands were still on her shoulders. Her very bare shoulders. Drawing back his hands as if burnt, he sat back and resumed driving. He probably could manage to get them to their destination in one piece if he kept his mind from replaying the last few minutes.

When they got there, she had immediately opened her door, and for the hundredth time that night, he grabbed her arm to keep her from getting out. Confusedly, she turned to face him, and without a word, he took off his jacket and handed it to her. The night air could be quite cold, he told her. And to forestall any further arguments from her, he got out of the car and went around to her side to open the door for her.

Once inside, she had gone straight towards the vase of her choice. With a sinking feeling, he realized that she had chosen something similar to the one she bought before. Great, he was going to have something akin to a cremation urn smack in the middle of his living room.

Dazedly, he followed her towards the counter. It was a good thing that there were very few people around at that time of the night. As it was, they were both celebrities, and dressed as they were, they were sure to attract unwanted attention.

While he paid for the horrendous vase, she was busy trying to determine the kind of flower arrangement that would suit his apartment. Muttering terms that obviously only made sense to her, he started leading the way back to the car. He suddenly stopped in his tracks when he heard her say that she had chosen that vase so that the two of them would match.

He had turned around to see her face, and once again, he wondered how this child-woman could make his emotions go haywire with the fewest of words and the simplest of gestures.


Will anyone's names ever be mentioned?

Will this story ever make sense?

Stay tuned for the upcoming chapters. I'm thinking of breaking the next part into two which will be posted in a few days.

I'd like to hear from anyone who had bothered reading this. Yes, the story will end in the next two chapters and we will shed some light on a lot of questions surrounding the characters' present day situations.