A/N: Tadaa! Another chapter! And this fast! :D
I was surprised that someone pointed out that the first chapter had a lot of grammatical errors. But then again, I don't really read my stories after I finish writing them so I don't really know if there are errors committed. If you see errors in these chapters, please point them out! :)
For the first time, I've reread the first chapter and realized that there were errors, so I edited the chapter and added a few more scenes. From 2635 words, it became 4326 words. HAHAHA. Please point it out if there are still any errors from the first chapter. Thanks!
[Edited 20130728] Reread the first chapter to correct all the errors again. I'm pretty sure that the typos and what not would be gone, if not, very minimal. Also polished all the parts a bit, so you could say that I also 'remastered' it. Hihi.
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed/Destiny.
Chapter 2: Weekdays
-o0o-
"Here we are miss." The taxi driver stopped in front of Cagalli's house. She handed him a few bills and went out of the cab.
She made her way to the house, trying not to make any noise that would wake her sleeping brother. Glancing at her watch, she read. 8 o' clock. It was still early. Kira wouldn't be awake at this time. Hopefully, he didn't wait for her to come home and ask her where she was last night. If her brother knew that she spent the night at a stranger's house, he would definitely go ballistic. He was too overprotective of her, even though she was old enough to do what she wanted. Offensive as it seems, he still saw her as a high school teenager and his brother complex still hasn't changed since.
Knowing this brother complex of his, Cagalli was determined to keep this a secret from him. Her plan was to make her way up her bedroom, as quietly as she could possibly can, pretend to be sleeping all along and when her brother wakes up, she'll be waking up as well. If in any case that he asked her where she went, she'll just say that she and Shinn were stargazing and they didn't notice that it was getting late. The perfect alibi!
She didn't know how to tell him that she had broken up with Shinn yesterday. It would probably make things worse if she told Kira that he was seeing another girl while still in a relationship with her. Kira seemed to like Shinn for her. What would his reaction be if she told him? Adding to that the fact that she slept with another guy like nothing even happen. Kira would be so infuriated that all hell would break lose.
Opening the door, she took a step after another very carefully. She cursed the door inwardly when it creaked. Kira might wake up with that stupid sound! She was too paranoid to even think that her brother, a deep-sleeper, would be awake by that very minimal noise.
Relief replaced her anxiety when she didn't hear any sound coming out from Kira's bedroom. She tiptoed her way to the stairs until she heard a sound coming from the kitchen.
"Where have you been?" Kira was seated in the kitchen counter, with a cup of coffee in his hands.
"Ki-kira!" Cagalli was surprised that his brother was up this early. Or did he stay up until she got home safely? So he was still keeping in track of her. "Good morning!" She greeted him, desperately trying to change the subject.
"That doesn't answer my question." He said calmly, taking a sip from his cup. "But yeah, good morning to you too."
Crap. She was in a pinch right now. "Kira…" She gulped nervously. "I spent the night at Shinn's."
Cagalli crossed her fingers. Please believe it! Please believe it!
"Really?" He yawned, as he was still sleepy. "You could have called me, if you weren't going to spend the night here. I was very worried. Heck you weren't even answering my calls."
Her eyes widened in surprise. "You called?" She never heard her phone ring.
"A lot of times." He said in a matter-of-fact tone.
She brought out her phone and realized that he was really telling the truth. There were 12 missed call and all from Kira. Her phone wasn't even in silent mode. Why didn't she even notice? "I'm sorry." She apologized. "I must have been having too much fun to even notice." She couldn't believe that she even said that. Too much fun? From what? From making out with that hunk? True enough, Kira made those calls at the time she was with the good-looking guy.
"It's okay." Her brother smiled at her. "It was nice to know that you were having a good time." He put his cup of coffee in the sink and started to make his way to the stairs. "I'm going back to sleep now." With that, he went to his bedroom and closed the door.
She sighed in relief when her brother believed her lies. But at the same time, she felt bad that she had to lie to her brother, the person she cared for the most. "I'm sorry Kira. I just can't tell you, not right now." She spoke in a very inaudible tone.
-o0o-
Athrun yawned as he got inside his car. It was Monday, the day that he hated the most. Mondays meant he had to work for another five days. He had to wake up early in the morning for five more days, which he hated with much passion, as he'd rather sleep in until the afternoon. He had nothing against the bright rays of the sunlight, chirping birds and the cool breeze in the morning; it was just that he wasn't a morning person. That's why he loved weekends.
Mondays signify the start of the boring routine in his office. It starts with the daily antagonizing morning traffic, which he hated a lot. He was a man that drove with speed, so having to sit in his car without being able to move really pisses him off. When he gets to his office, a pile documents on his desk would welcome him, emails that needed to be read and responded, meetings needed to be attended. Phone calls would also start to come in from various clients, suppliers and employees.
What completely freaked him out with phone calls was that, squealing girls were sometimes on the other line. He wondered how the hell they got through the operator. The fragrance company that he was working in was one of the major players worldwide, so he couldn't even imagine the kinds of lies those girls told the operator to connect them to his telephone line. He wanted to blame his mom for forcing him get featured in one of those 'high society' magazines which caused all those crazy fan girl calls.
Other than those, his lunch would almost always be in with clients, board of directors or the other executives of the company, and they still talked about work. It would be nice if he could always eat out with his friends and family during his lunch break. In some very rare cases he would be dining with them too, filling them in on the progress or decline of the company. He wanted to roll his eyes, even the times that he supposedly was on break hours, and he still was preoccupied with work.
Afternoons would be spent in conference rooms, discussing about the operations marketing, financing, strategies, research and development of their company and products. Most of the time, he would just stare into space and nod like he was listening to what the people even say. He would pretend to be so absorbed in the topic they were discussing and sometimes even asked the questions, albeit he knew the answer in his head already. He would try to hard to speak during the meetings as if he was really interested and determined with everything.
There were times that he would spend his nights in his office, typing away things that needed to be done. His secretary would always say what was due the next day, but he ends up finishing even those that are due for next week. The only times that he would go home early is when he was meeting his family or when his girlfriend would invite him to go to dinner. Those were the highlights of his weekdays.
Now that he didn't have a girlfriend anymore, he was sure that he would be spending more time in the office. The reason why he always finished working on the files ahead of time is because Meyrin frequently asked him to eat dinner with her. Great. He thought while he drove to his office.
What happened last Saturday was a dream. It was the complete cycle breaker from his boring routine. That blonde girl really made everything better. It was sad that he didn't get her number, or even at least her name. If he had, he would have invited her out to coffee or dinner more often, or even dates to anywhere! There was something about that beautiful lady that drove him insane.
"Only five more days until Saturday." He sighed.
He got out of his car and brought out his suitcase. He clicked his car shut and went inside the building. Several employees stopped what they were doing and greeted him a 'good morning'. Although, he refused to think that it was a 'good morning' so he just gave them a nod to acknowledge their politeness.
It was a long ride in the elevator. Many stops were made before he could even reach the 24th floor, to where his office was. He got out of the elevator and his secretary was already there to brief him with the agenda for the day. He gave her a quick nod and asked her to prepare him coffee.
This was the start of his boring routine.
-o0o-
"Zala!" A tanned man opened the door of his office.
"You need something Dearka?" Athrun didn't even bother looking at him; he was too busy typing in his computer.
"No clients for today?" He grinned as he approached Athrun's table, amused that he was here when he was usually out for lunch.
"No." He replied nonchalantly. It was a good thing that there wasn't for he didn't really want to meet people right now. He was really in a bad mood.
Dearka smirked and closed his laptop shut. Athrun was shocked with what he just did; he didn't even have the chance to save his documents!
"What the hell Elsman?" Athrun fumed at what his colleague had done. He would be really mad if everything that he typed was gone.
"Eat lunch with me!" Dearka invited, ignoring Athrun's anger directed at him. "It's very rare that you happen to be free during lunch."
"Bug off." The blue-haired man opened his laptop again and resumed his work. "I'm too busy."
"Come on!" The blond guy tried to persuade him. When Athrun says no, it was hard to make him change his mind, so he thought of the perfect bait. "It'll be my treat."
There was a moment of silence, not including the sound of the keyboard while Athrun typed. After a few clicks, he finally closed his laptop and stood up. "If you say that it's your treat, then I really can't say no."
"You waited for me to say that didn't you?" Dearka raised an eyebrow at him as they made their way to the elevator.
"Of course I did." He gave him a ruthless smirk. "I wouldn't be wasting my precious time with you if I had to spend my money."
"What a friend you are! That hurt!" He clutched his chest in an emotional way and pretended to feel very offended. They got inside the elevator and Dearka pushed the 'ground' button. He then laughed. "I was just joking Athrun old buddy!" He patted Athrun's back. "You'll be paying for your own lunch."
"Dickhead." Athrun told his friend as they got out of the elevator. "Real men don't joke about stuff like those."
"Fine!" Dearka agreed, well he did make the offer anyway. "I'll be treating you this one. But next time, it'll be your turn to treat me."
"No way." He said, he wasn't planning to treat him anytime soon.
"Real men treat their friends!" Dearka exclaimed.
"No. Real men treat women, not men, you wuss." Athrun retorted. For him that was more reasonable.
Athrun and Dearka entered the restaurant in front of their office and grabbed the seats near the door. They motioned a waiter to take their orders.
"What will your orders be, sirs?" The waiter asked, patiently waiting for the two men to order, holding a pen and paper with his hands.
"I'll be taking the combo meal." Dearka said, browsing through the menu.
"And you sir?" The waiter turned to look at Athrun who was still deciding.
"I want the second solo meal with the mash potato side dish, mushroom soup, extra rice and upsize my drink please." Athrun handed the menu back to the waiter.
"Okay sirs." The waiter smiled at his customers. "Your orders will be served in ten minutes."
Dearka couldn't help but gape at his friend when the waiter left. "You sadistic bastard!" He cursed his friend in front of him. "You're planning to rape my wallet!"
"So what if I am?" Athrun chuckled. "Real men don't back down on their words."
"These 'Real men' shit is getting on my nerves." Dearka sighed. "Why are you in such a bad mood anyway?" He asked him, noticing that his friend was different today.
"Nothing really." Athrun didn't want to talk about his break-up with Dearka, all of people. He wasn't the type that you could talk to when it came to love and personal problems. His forte was only when you want to talk about sex, women, sex, sports, sex, cars and sex. Those were pretty much it.
"You didn't get to sleep with your sexy girlfriend this weekend now did you?" Dearka raised his eyebrows, trying to find out the reason behind his temper.
"No. No I didn't." Athrun sighed. In fact, he slept with someone else.
"That's too bad!" Dearka made a 'tsk-tsk' sound. "Sex is what makes your relationship grow fonder."
"Cut the crap about that relationship shit." Athrun rested his head on his palm. "I'm in no mood to talk about that." He really didn't want to be reminded about that.
"Ohh…" Dearka teased him knowingly. "A lovers quarrel!" He pulled out his cell phone out of his pocket and pressed some numbers. "Don't worry! I'll call Meyrin and tell her that you two should make up!"
"Idiot!" Athrun grabbed the phone from Dearka and pressed the 'cancel' button. "Don't even think of calling her!"
"Why not?" Dearka asked him, unaware of what happened during the weekend. "I'm Cupid! I can fix your love problems!"
"For your information Dearka, Cupid is a matchmaker not a psychologist, therapist, counselor or anything of the matter." He tossed the phone back to Dearka.
"You should go and apologize to her. I'm sure she'll forgive you for whatever you did." He encouraged his friend.
He felt his temper rising at that remark. Why should he be the one apologizing anyway? "It wasn't me that was at fault, you idiot." Athrun spat at him.
"What?" Dearka was confused. "So it was Meyrin's fault. Sorry about that, I thought that it was your fault. What did she do anyway?"
"She didn't do anything that bad really." Athrun said, with a hint of sarcasm in his tone. "Except for the fact that she cheated on me!"
"Woah. Dude…." Dearka was in disbelief. "Again?" He noticed that Athrun's eyebrow twitched at his remark. Oops. Wrong choice of words.
"Yes again." Athrun's relaxed demeanor was back.
"You should have called me! I would have treated you for a few drinks." Dearka tried his best to comfort his dumped friend the way he knows how.
"No need." Athrun calmly replied, remembering the only thing that went right that weekend. "I had company."
"What? Who?" Dearka demanded for an answer. "If it's Yzak then-"
"It was a girl, you twit." He told her as their orders came.
"You found a new girlfriend, I see." Dearka took a drink from his soda.
"She's not my girlfriend." Athrun sliced the beef on his plate. "It just happened that we sat beside the bar, and she also had a break-up with her boyfriend, so we talked."
"And?"
"And?" Athrun repeated Dearka's question.
"There was nothing else?" He gave him a smug. "No sex?"
A smile crept on his face, a genuine one at that. "There was."
"There was?!" Dearka was in shock. How could his friend get over Meyrin so easily? He knew that his buddy was the loyal type of guy, what happened? Was it because he was too crushed with what happened?
"Don't make me repeat myself." Athrun threatened him.
"Who's the lucky girl?" Dearka asked further, wanting to know more of his escapade.
"I don't know." Athrun replied while putting food in his mouth.
"What do you mean you don't know? You didn't even ask for her name?" He couldn't believe that Athrun skipped the standard operating procedure when flirting with girls.
"I was supposed to." Athrun replied. "But she stormed out of my flat the minute she woke up."
"Real men ask women for their names." Dearka joked. "Even before they have sex…"
"Don't start." Athrun continued eating with a very 'mad mood aura'. Dearka didn't want to anger his friend anymore, so he paid all his attention to what he was food in front of him.
-o0o-
"Are you okay?" It was Miriallia, her best friend, her voice filled with so much concern for her.
"Yeah." Cagalli answered her. "I'm okay."
"Liar." She stuck her tongue out. "You've been spacing out since yesterday. Tell me what's wrong?"
Cagalli couldn't help but smile. Her best friend could easily see right through her lies. She had to admit, she needed a friend in kinds types of situations. "Who wouldn't be spacing out if their boyfriend just broke up with them?"
Miriallia's eyes widened at her confession. She didn't want to believe what Cagalli just said. She thought that Shinn and Cagalli were so perfect for each other. She wasn't the only one to think that way. "Wait, what? When?"
"Just last Saturday." Cagalli sighed, the pain was starting to creep in again.
"What?" The auburn-haired girl was in shock. "Weren't you being lovey-dovey at the movie house last Friday?"
"Yes we were." Cagalli's voice was hoarse; she didn't want to cry anymore. "To tell you the truth, I didn't expect him to do that."
"Aww Cagalli!" Miriallia gave her friend a light hug. She felt too bad for her friend. That Shinn was insane for breaking up with her!
"He cheated on me Miri." Tears were now starting to fall from Cagalli's eyes. No matter how many times she told herself not to cry, she just couldn't control it. It was too painful. She felt like she was being stabbed repetitively.
"He did?!" Miriallia couldn't believe it. Back in college, Shinn would only lay his eyes on Cagalli. He continued to court her even if Cagalli kept rejecting him. His determination and devotion was the reason why Cagalli fell in love with him. Now he was blowing it off for another girl? What happened? What went wrong? She didn't want ask her best friend and make her feel worse.
Miriallia grabbed Cagalli and headed to the door.
"Where are you taking me?" Cagalli asked her as they went out of the pastry shop.
"We're going to get fresh air." Her friend smiled at her. "It's our lunch break. I don't see why we shouldn't use it. Now you can tell me all about it!" They walked until they reached the park and they sat down in one of the benches.
"I'm such an idiot Miri!" Cagalli continued on with venting out her sad and frustrated feelings. She didn't have the chance to tell Kira, because he would really get mad. Since Kira was always with Lacus, she couldn't tell her either. She had been keeping it all to herself for a days now. "To think that he was seeing another girl behind my back for a year now. I'm so stupid. I'm a stupid idiot! Why didn't I notice that?"
Miriallia was really getting irked at what she was hearing. She really liked Shinn because not only was he kind to Cagalli, but he was also kind to her friends as well. But how could he do this to her? Making her believe in his lies for a year! She'd like to give Shinn a piece of her mind if she would ever run into him. But she was unsure whether she could keep her composure if there happened to be a chance since she wanted to slap that two-timing bastard.
Miriallia's attention went back to her crying friend and tried to comfort her. "There, there." She squeezed her hand. "It's okay, Cagalli. You don't deserve a guy like that. You deserve better."
Cagalli looked at her friend but still was unable to control her emotions. "But why did he have to do that to me? Wasn't I good enough? Was there something wrong with me? What was it that made him leave me? I don't understand Miri, I don't understand."
"What are you talking about?" Miriallia pulled out her handkerchief and used it to wipe her friend's tears. "You were good enough! Nothing is wrong with you! He was just a sick bastard to not realize that!"
Hearing the words, sick bastard, she couldn't help but cry even more. So a sick bastard dumped her? If a sick bastard dumped her, then that made her even lower than him? A stupid loser perhaps?
"Miriii!" Cagalli pounced her friend. "I'm so stupid!"
"Cagalli!" You're not!" Miriallia wanted her to let out her frustrations. She wanted Cagalli to feel better already, but that wasn't really possible. That Shinn. She swore she wanted to slap that red-eyed demon for putting her best friend in this state. She would do that later, but for now, she wanted to be there for her heartbroken friend.
"It's okay." Miriallia hugged back. "Just let it all out. It'll be okay. I swear. I'm here for you."
Those words were all Cagalli needed to hear. She tightened her hug around her friend and cried her heart out. She cried for the days that she wasn't able to because she didn't want Kira to know. She cried for the days that she didn't cry because she didn't want her fellow colleagues to worry. She cried simply because it hurt. She really loved Shinn. She wanted to be forever with him. But she didn't expect him to do such a thing. It felt like Shinn made a hole through her heart with what he did.
Shinn Asuka. I hate you! I hate that you broke my heart.
"Do you feel better now?" Miriallia asked her as soon she stopped crying.
"I think I am." Cagalli wiped her tears using Miriallia's handkerchief. It did relief her that she let it all out.
"Let's eat!" Miriallia squeezed her hand, trying to cheer her up even more. "What do you like to eat?"
"I don't feel like eating." Cagalli sighed. It was true. She was losing her appetite these days. At home, she would just excuse herself to her bedroom or eat as little as she could. Good thing Kira wasn't able to notice anything.
"I won't accept that! You should eat!" Miriallia insisted. "Skipping meals isn't going to do you any good."
"But I don't feel like eating." Cagalli tried to reason with her best friend. She would have felt worse if just wasted food by eating when she really didn't want to.
"Nonsense!" Miriallia exclaimed. "I shall treat you lunch! I won't take no for an answer!" She stood up and pulled Cagalli with her.
Cagalli was grateful that her friend was with her. Miriallia sure knew how to make everything better. She didn't dare argue with her any further and let her drag her to wherever she wanted to eat.
They soon stopped walking when they reached a waffle house. Both of them went inside and sat facing each other.
"This place is just new here. I heard from Shiho that the waffles here are deliciously delicious!" She was full of cheerfulness and zeal, contrasted to the gloomy Cagalli in front of her.
"Come on Cagalli! Smile!" She put her fingers on Cagalli's cheeks and tried to pull her lips into a smile. "See? You look so much prettier with a smile!"
Cagalli didn't want her friend to worry about her any further so she gave her a half-hearted smile.
"That's better." Miriallia smiled.
Soon their orders came; both of them ordered waffles with cream. She made a mental note to take Kira and Lacus here. Miriallia was right; the waffles here were so delicious.
"This is so good!" Miriallia put another slice on her mouth.
"Sure is." Cagalli agreed and ate hers as well.
Pretty soon they finished their waffles and on their way back to the pastry shop. Cagalli couldn't help but feel a weird sensation in her stomach. It wasn't the strange-pleasurable-butterfly-sensation when she saw Shinn. It was more of a painful sensation. Something was swirling inside that needed to be let out.
"Miri." Cagalli started to say. "Do you feel something weird?"
"What do you mean?" Her friend answered her as she put back her apron.
"I don't feel so good." Cagalli was feeling nauseous all right. Now it was almost at her throat. "I think it's because of the waffles."
"That's strange." Miriallia said. "I don't really feel anything wei-" She wasn't able to finish her sentence because Cagalli made a run for the bathroom.
Cagalli couldn't hold it in anymore. She needed to let it out. She went inside the bathroom and couldn't help but vomit on the sink. She saw the bits of waffle all over the sink. So gross. She felt bad for Miriallia. She wasted Miriallia's money and threw it all out the sink. She cleaned up the sink and went out of the bathroom.
"Are you lactose intolerant?" Miriallia worriedly asked her.
"Not that I know of." She replied and decided to shrug it off.
-o0o-
I had fun writing Athrun and Dearka's conversation.
Reviewww!