Chapter 2
Kagome woke slowly, almost unwilling to leave her dream world behind only to return to a real world that had instantly become her idea of hell - what with Sesshoumaru's revelation of his reasons for demanding she return to Tokyo.
Effect a reconciliation? How can you 'reconcile' a marriage that was only ever in name only? Who the hell does he think he's fooling? She shook her head, her eyes narrowing as she rubbed the sleep out of them and sat up, pulling her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. There has to be something else going on. It's not like we were ever a couple. "Maybe one of his plethora of women has gotten out of hand and is demanding marriage, and since he's already technically married, flaunting me under the woman's nose is his response?" she murmured, but then shook her head again in frustration. No... Sesshoumaru wasn't the type to ever respond to anyone's 'demands', so that scenario made no sense.
"So what could it be?" she wondered aloud, seriously frustrated and terribly angry that he had the nerve to demand such a thing from her. She wasn't in any way his fool; she was absolutely positive he hadn't spent the last five years celibate and longing for her. No... he probably had a bitch of the week right this very minute. His words just made absolutely no sense whatsoever.
With a small, irate growl she pushed the blankets aside and climbed from the bed to head for the shower, knowing that the bastard would soon be arriving to begin his annoyance of her and wanting to be fully armored against him. She glanced around her at the rooms she was in with a slight frown and a bit of a shudder; they were the same rooms she'd been given when she'd first been forced to move into this mansion, and it looked as if nothing had been touched since the day she'd left other than to be cleaned.
The closets were even still full of all her old clothes, which she found oddly creepy – it was like this room had been left as a shrine to her, and she didn't like how that thought made her feel. This mansion already had a shrine to someone, and it still felt and looked like a mausoleum. She wanted no part of it and didn't want it to have any part of her, as odd as that might sound to someone not in the know.
She couldn't help the smile that crossed her face at sight of the bathroom, however; it was the one place in this moldy old pile that she'd loved and she was more than willing to take advantage of it during her forced time here.
It doesn't matter what Sesshoumaru's angle is in trying to 'effect a reconciliation', she thought with a snort as the hot streams of water began hitting her back, soothing her tense muscles. He can try all he wants – but he can't force me to stay with him, and I'll hold him to his words – once this month is up I'm gone.
Feeling much better after her shower, Kagome picked out a casual yet elegant dress from the clothes she'd packed and dressed carefully, the blue-green colors of the flowing material suiting her coloring and bringing out the blue of her eyes and making them sparkle. Slipping her tiny feet into a pair of matching sandals and pairing the outfit with her favorite opal earrings and ring, she left the room and closed the door, pausing for a moment as she tried to remember which way would take her to the kitchen – she was a bit hungry and a cup of coffee would be most appreciated, as well.
With a shrug, unable to remember for sure which way she needed to go she finally chose a direction and headed down the hallway, knowing that sooner or later she would either find her way or run into one of the servants and could then simply ask for directions. While the mansion was undoubtedly worth a great deal of money and was nice enough, Kagome wasn't impressed. It was pretentious and a waste, as far as she was concerned. After all, why would Sesshoumaru, his mother, and Rin need such a huge place to live?
She personally preferred a smaller, more intimate and comfortable home – something that was a true home and not just a showcase for a person's wealth. She just wasn't one to flaunt her assets – any of them.
It took a few minutes but she finally found the kitchen, with the cook already ensconced within and making coffee cake that smelled delicious to Kagome's suddenly starved pleasure. She was a friendly but efficient woman, and it wasn't long before she was sitting along the kitchen bar, sipping her coffee and trying out a piece of that wonderful smelling breakfast pastry, chatting amiably all the while.
The easy atmosphere was ruined, however, when the aura of the second person that lived in this mansion and had ruined Kagome's life the first time around entered the kitchen with her nose in the air and a click of her heels.
Kagome watched evenly as the woman stopped at sight of her and her lips tightened. "So the fool has managed to entice you to return, has he?" she said, her expression one of spoiled dissatisfaction as she looked her up and down. "I see you've been spending your allowance well, at least – I never thought I'd see the day you learned to dress correctly."
A faint, amused smile tilted Kagome's lips. "Allowance? You have the same blinders on that your son did. I haven't touched one drop of that allotment, it's still sitting in the bank. I work for my income, thank you very much."
Satori smiled condescendingly. "I somehow doubt that a waitress' salary could have afforded that dress," she returned, looking down her nose at the girl that her son had dared to replace Kagura with. She'd never understood why and Sesshoumaru had always refused to discuss the matter with her.
A chuckle left Kagome's lips. "I'm sure it would be out of reach for a waitress," she said dismissively, picking up her cup of coffee and thanking the cook for the food and conversation. Just as she was about to leave the room - a narrowly glaring Satori staring her way - Sesshoumaru stepped through the door, looking first at Kagome in her lovely summery dress and then at his sour-faced parent.
"Mother," he said, his voice cold and heavy with warning, "you had best keep your claws sheathed and out of Kagome, are we clear?"
Before the other woman could say anything Kagome laughed nonchalantly and continued on out of the room with an inward sigh for the drama being played out in front of the cook. "I don't need you to rescue me from your mother, Sesshoumaru. I can take care of myself quite well. An embittered, soured, and unhappy female who feels the need to assert her standing with everyone around her by being snide and bitchy is of little concern to me, after all," she finished, paying no heed to the gasp of outrage from Satori, or the surprise in her erstwhile husband's gaze. Without paying one bit more attention to either of them she stepped outside onto the patio and looked over the grounds.
The gardens were still the same, still immaculate and extensive, and Kagome decided to go for a walk through them with the idea that the more she could avoid the unhappy people living in this place the easier this whole mess would be. If she could avoid Sesshoumaru's company for most of the next month then she could get back on a plane and go back home to Auckland and file this whole thing away - and never think about it again.
~oOo~
"Kagome."
The young woman stiffened for a brief moment as she heard the voice of her worst nightmare, then continued to sniff the rose she'd been drawn to as though she weren't bothered by his presence. She'd managed to spend most of the morning outside and away from the rest of the people around here, and it was getting close to noon already, she was surprised to find. It was just too bad Sesshoumaru was here now to annoy her and ruin her momentary peace.
"Yes?" she asked pointedly after a moment when he didn't speak.
"We have a party to attend this evening after an early dinner, so you should head back to the house and get a nap in before it's time to get ready, because it will be a late night," he responded with a cynical twist to his lips that Kagome could hear in his voice.
She shuddered inwardly, but outwardly she just chuckled as she stood up and turned to meet Sesshoumaru's gaze. "Another party? Don't you ever get tired of them? I'd think by now you'd have become bored with chasing the bitch of the week through yet another pointless get together." She sighed lightly and shook her head. "Do I really have to go? It's not like you actually need me there – after all, I'm sure you've attended plenty of these parties since I've been gone. I'd much prefer to spend my time in the gardens – at least here I can still exercise my mind."
Sesshoumaru's lips twisted further into a sharp smirk. "Did you really think I would let you hide here in the gardens for the entire month, my dear? While I'm sure you would prefer it," he mocked, "that doesn't suit my ends at all – and since it's my ends that count you'll just have to deal, my lovely little wife." He paused, and then said, "And as for your little dig about chasing some bitch, you should watch what you say... you might just start sounding jealous."
Kagome's eyes hardened. "Not hardly. I could care less what you do – in fact, if you're busy chasing some other woman you can hardly be trying to shove this farcical 'reconciliation' idea of yours down my throat. So please, be my guest," she shot back.
"Farcical?" he murmured questioningly, one elegant black brow cocked haughtily. And then he chuckled. "Do not delude yourself, Kagome. There is nothing farcical about this. It will happen, so you had best accustom yourself to the idea, and quickly, my love," he said tauntingly, his eyes going heavy-lidded as he looked the bristling woman in front of him over with hot eyes, "for I don't intend to wait for very much longer to collect on my long-overdue 'wedding night'."
And for the second time in less than twenty-four hours Kagome stared at her nemesis with shock, her aghast and horrified eyes seeming to almost amuse him.
~oOo~
Wedding night. Huh. As if I'd ever let someone who's the male equivalent of a whore touch me!
Kagome was fuming. Sesshoumaru's suggestive statement and hint towards the fact that they'd never consummated their marriage and that he was intending to 'remedy' that particular oversight simply enraged her. And embarrassed her a little bit, too. Because there was no denying the crush she'd had on the bastard back then, and that she'd been expecting him to demand his conjugal rights made her blush like hell now that she was looking back at the incident from several years and much maturity away.
Her anger rose even further as her memories took her back through that humiliating night when she'd dared to bring the matter up and he'd practically laughed at her with such contempt on his face while letting her know in no uncertain terms that he had no intentions of touching a child. He'd acted as though she disgusted him, and that night had made such an impression on her that she'd not allowed another male to get anywhere close to her in all the years since. Trust towards the male of the species, human or youkai was not something she had any longer, and after Sesshoumaru's treatment of her she didn't miss that commodity at all.
She'd only been seventeen when he'd wed her and a complete innocent, but she'd learned that very night that he was a cold, unfeeling bastard that was only fulfilling his need to gain more wealth. By marrying her he took control of her fortune, and that ostensibly left her at his mercy.
Unfortunately he didn't have any, as she'd found out the hard way over the next nightmarish months.
So how dare he now act as though she were a runaway bride and he'd treated her with patience and kindness while waiting for her to return – to act like they had been a true couple and it had been her own doubts and fears that had interrupted what their new lives together should have been? She hadn't been the one constantly hurting and humiliating him by running around with other men! And she certainly hadn't been the one allowing a bunch of vicious, shallow hypocrites to torture him over the matter, either! Just who did he think he was to treat her that way and then expect her to run into his arms just because he'd decided he needed her around for some damn reason he wouldn't even speak of?
Well, he was in for a big surprise, she huffed to herself as she readied herself for this 'party' he was about to subject her to. And she could just bet that those same vultures that had so enjoyed tormenting her those few short years ago would be quite eager to try the same things when she appeared at this function at Sesshoumaru's side. They were all in for big surprises, because she wasn't that same frightened and intimidated young girl she'd been before.
Now she could hold her own – in fact, she would conquer their spite and turn all their bitter nastiness right back around on them.
She wasn't anybody's whipping boy anymore.
It was time to turn the tables and show them what she was made of – and that included that damned arrogant daiyoukai she'd been forced to marry.
~oOo~
Grimly determined to impress on everyone that had ever dared to lash out at her and gorge themselves on her pain and humiliation that she was no longer anyone's fool, Kagome readied herself for the get-together she was being ordered to attend with a vicious grin as she finished brushing her lips with a light gloss of color and set the tube aside to look herself over with a satisfied nod.
Make-up finished, she twisted her hair into several positions looking for a complimentary style. After a few different ones she decided on an elegant braided bun, with a lock of hair being left loose to frame her delicate face on each side and a whisp of bangs completing the look.
Blue eyes framed by a sweep of black eyeliner met their twins in the mirror with a pleased smirk. "Those bastards won't know what hit them," she swore. "And Sesshoumaru most of all. I don't know what his game is, but I'm going to win it. And this is just the start. When this next month is up he'll be glad to let me go." She nodded to herself firmly and then turned away and picked up her dress from where she'd laid it out.
An elegant little black dress, it could be dressed up or down. She loved its simple classiness, and when she slipped it on she couldn't help the smirk widening into a smile of satisfaction as it flowed into place just perfectly. She smoothed the mid-thigh hem against the silky skin of her leg and then looked around for her heels.
Slipping her shoes on, Kagome stepped lightly over to her jewelry box and opened it reverently. There wasn't much inside the large box yet, but the pieces that were there had been chosen by her with much care, every gem inside real and worth quite a bit of money. Gently she withdrew the brilliant sapphire pendant, ring, and matching earrings.
They had been chosen specifically because they were almost perfect matches for her eyes. A bright, brilliant blue with no gray to dull them, they were probably her most beautiful feature. Ringed by inky lashes and lined with kohl, those eyes were made even brighter by the contrast with the uncompromising black.
She grinned when she looked in the mirror at the finished product, more than pleased. She was going to knock a lot of people off their pedestals this evening. She glanced behind into the bedroom at the clock, wondering at the time - it felt like they should be due to leave soon. For some reason Sesshoumaru wanted to have an early dinner at one of his pretentious clubs before heading for the party that would already be in full swing by the time he intended to arrive.
He always was a drama queen, she thought with irreverent amusement at his sometimes almost prissy ways. The male couldn't ever just arrive somewhere quietly - no, he always had to make an entrance, which usually meant being late.
With a deep inhale of breath to fortify herself for the difficult evening to come she picked up her matching clutch, opened her door and stepped out of her room, this time turning right to head for the grand staircase that led to the front entrance of the house. She truly hoped the bastard was waiting there in the two story entrance for her - she'd certainly give him something to remember if he was.
Yes! she thought triumphantly as she rounded the corner of the hall leading to the stairs. Sesshoumaru was standing at the bottom looking at his watch a little impatiently. Deliberately making a little noise she walked gracefully to the top of the stairs and then with a casual elegance she hadn't been capable of the last time he'd seen her come down said stairs she walked lightly down the steps, one hand sliding along the banister as she descended. Her head was held high and proud in a manner he'd never seen from her until he'd walked into that airport coffee shop and there she was.
And despite the fact that her heart thumped just a little when she saw him, his fair beauty not having changed a whit in the last five years and only accentuated by the easy way he wore his slightly dressed down suit, she was pleased with the look on his face - he was staring at her enigmatically, but she knew him well enough to know that look on his face meant he was trying very hard to hide something.
That meant that she'd succeeded in stunning him with the fullness of her transformation from the frightened child-bride of five years ago to the capable, worldly, and strong adult she now was.
"So where are we going for this early dinner you informed me I had to attend?" she asked lightly as she stepped down onto the marble of the entrance hall floors and stopped before the daiyoukai. "Didn't you say it was one of your clubs?"
Sesshoumaru turned to pick up her coat from where the servant had left it but was beaten to it by Kagome as she completely ignored his outstretched hand and lifted it, sliding her arms into its soft but elegant warmth without his assistance. As soon as the coat was on she was moving towards the door as though she'd forgotten about him. His mouth turned down as she paused and looked back with an arched brow when he didn't immediately crowd her.
"Cat got your tongue, Sesshoumaru?" she prodded with a slightly smug smile before continuing on her way without waiting for him.
"Just a little surprised at your lack of manners," he shot at her as they reached the door and it was opened by the butler. He motioned mockingly to the car waiting for them, and Kagome smiled coolly at him and stepped over to the passenger side. However, before she could open her own door Sesshoumaru did, with a smile full of irony at her displeased expression.
After an explosive moment she slid into the seat without argument. When he shut the door and then rounded the car to get in on the driver's side Kagome answered his previous assertion. "Lack of manners?" she chuckled dryly. "Is that the best you've got? Don't strain yourself, Sesshoumaru," she finally said dismissively at his continued silence. "We both know a gentleman isn't something you are - it's just a facade you play with in the public eye once in a while to make it look good. I don't really expect anything much since I know the real you, so you may as well not bother trying so hard to impress when I'm the only one around. Wait to start your act until we're in front of those who live the same lie you do in front of the world everyday."
There was a dangerous moment as Sesshoumaru maneuvered the car down the long driveway with an expert hand, one that truthfully had Kagome on high alert - not that she'd ever give the bastard the satisfaction of knowing that. She waited on pins and needles for his response, hating the whole situation but having no choice but to play along.
"You've grown sharp little claws since you've been away, kitten," he finally said silkily as he glanced at her from the corner of one eye before turning his gaze back to the road. "But you're making a big mistake if you think a sharp tongue will keep me from getting what I want from you. I've had centuries to perfect my skills, and you, my dear, haven't had nearly as long to grow. You have no hope of escaping me, so you may as well give in to what I want. It would be much less stressful for you than trying for the impossible in what would be nothing but a losing battle for you," he finished condescendingly.
That sparked a bit of her temper; pink light glowing from her eyes as her reiko reacted to her anger she turned on him and let him have it with both barrels. "Despite your over-sized ego, Sesshoumaru," she spat, "you'll be the one on the losing end of everything if you insist on playing this stupid and pointless one-upmanship game with me. Never again will I allow you to put me in the positions you did before, always dancing to your tune. I'm not a frightened child missing her home and simple life any longer - I've been through the fire and it tempered me and forced me to grow up. So if you don't like what you're seeing then that's just too bad - because it was you that made me this way."
"Hn-" he began, only to be snubbed as she turned her head away to look out the darkened window of the car, her eyes going far away, back into the past that she remembered far too well. "You were the fire, you bastard," she breathed into the electric silence that had fallen with her refusal to look at him and deliberate rebuff. "And it's far too late to go back now and try to convince me that you really are a nice guy that just made a lot of mistakes and that I should give you a second chance. It's never going to happen."
"Never say never, Kagome... you should know that by now," he rejoined evenly. "And if you think telling me that I had a hand in creating the sophisticated and beautiful creature you've become is an insult, think again," he added with a self-satisfied chuckle. "I'm proud to have helped form something so stunning."
She narrowed her eyes on him, then looked away. "You would be, but believe me, it wasn't a compliment," she said dismissively as she turned pointedly away and stared silently out her window again. She was determined to ignore him as much as possible for the rest of the night, and his quietly returned, "I'm well aware of that," dropped into the silence and fell flat as she refused to be drawn into yet more verbal warfare and sniping before she had to be.
There was no doubt in her mind that was exactly what she'd be facing sooner or later during the evening to come. If not from Sesshoumaru's mouth, then one of his various cronies and their wives and hangers-on would spit venom at her and she was more than willing to spit it right back, which wasn't something she'd known how to do five years ago. She wished she still didn't, wished that she had never learned of the hypocrisy, lies, cheating, and backstabbing that was so much a part of 'high society'. She'd much preferred the illusions of the rich and famous she'd had as a child.
They'd been so much less painful, so much prettier. Damn, Kagome, put away the rose-colored glasses already. Haven't you had enough illusions painfully ripped away by this same bastard that sits next to you so easily as though you should welcome his presence with open arms?
By the time Sesshoumaru murmured that they were approaching their first stop the sun was already westering towards the horizon. Her blue eyes darkened as the road they'd been following meandered through a bucolic area with neatly trimmed hedges and landscaped grounds towards a large, ostentatious-looking building set in the midst of the park-like grounds.
They all look the same, don't they? she thought tiredly as the evening to come suddenly weighed heavily on her. She'd much rather be staying in for a quiet night with a good book than the horrible one ahead of her.
As soon as the car came to a stop she unlocked her door and opened it, one dangerously long leg flashing those standing around outside with a lovely view as she stepped out of the car and shut the door behind her as the valet exchanged places with Sesshoumaru and carefully drove the expensive luxury car to an easily accessible area to park it.
Kagome wasn't in the least bit surprised to find she and the daiyoukai the focus of all eyes as they walked up the carpeted entrance and then inside the building, and her tension increased as she felt her flesh crawl at some of the looks she was getting from the men.
Reluctantly allowing the hostess to take her coat and clutch, Kagome examined the interior of the building. It was beautiful, which of course was the point - everything was top of the line here, designed to make the rich snobs it was built to cater to feel like they were better than everyone else. But its beauty left her cold, and she was uninterested and unimpressed.
Sesshoumaru, watching her carefully, smiled inwardly with a great deal of jaded cynicism. No, she was not impressed with a place that most women would kill to be invited to dine in. That was one thing about Kagome - she wasn't a social butterfly like most of the women of his social strata, and she never would be, either.
"Sir, madam, if you will follow me," the maitre'd said discreetly, and Sesshoumaru nodded as he took his wife's elbow and escorted her towards their table.
"What would you like to drink, Sesshoumaru-sama?" the man asked respectfully after they were seated.
"A plum wine, I think," the elegantly dressed daiyoukai murmured. "Domestic - perhaps aged a little. For my wife as well."
The man bowed but before he could leave Kagome addressed him with a distrustful look at Sesshoumaru. While the plum wine actually sounded good, she knew better. She needed to keep her wits about her. "Iced spring water with a lemon spritzer for me, instead," she said with a smile, and the man bowed again and assured them he would soon return with menus and their drinks.
"Plum wine so early?" she asked after a moment spent looking at him quizzically.
He smiled deprecatingly. "Perhaps I need the fortification," he said with a self-mocking tone she didn't miss.
"Huh," she huffed softly. "Not likely. But if by chance you are trying to get me to become complacent and let down my guard you've got another think coming."
"And maybe I am simply trying to enjoy a peaceful evening with my wife, did you ever think of that?"
"No," Kagome instantly rejoined, "because one, we both know I've never really been your wife, and two, there's no such thing as peace when you're around."
Sesshoumaru chuckled. "You think you know me so well," he said lightly as a waiter approached with their drinks and the promised menus. He watched through lowered lids as the young man expertly set Kagome's drink before her with a bow and then turned to place a wine goblet before him. Quickly popping the cork on the bottle of expensive looking plum wine, the waiter poured out a snifter and then set the bottle near him with another bow before leaving them to look over their menus.
"So why are we really here tonight?" Kagome asked after a moment spent looking over her menu.
"Besides to eat a meal?" he asked with a knowing smirk that widened at the censorious look she shot him. "Does there need to be any particular reason?"
"There's always a reason for everything you do," she pointed out, deciding on her choice of meal and setting the menu aside as she discreetly glanced around. Eyes were still plastered to them, and Kagome didn't have to have advanced youkai hearing to know that they were the main topic of conversation, as well. She shook her head. "I get it. This was all about being seen. Your sense of the dramatic certainly hasn't faded with age."
Sesshoumaru shrugged carelessly. "It's the most practical way to announce your return. There is very little that is faster than the societal grapevine, and I don't doubt that by tomorrow the fact that my long lost wife is back will be in the society columns of every paper in Japan."
She sighed and tapped her fingers daintily against the table. "What's really going on, Sesshoumaru? After five years you suddenly remember that you're technically married and decide you might as well try being a husband out?"
"I'm well aware of what it is to be married, Kagome," he murmured coolly. "Or have your forgotten that I've been in that state before?"
Her features froze. "No, but then, as you and your mother and everyone else always pointed out, I'm not Kagura. You loved your wife, but I'm not her as evidenced by your deplorable behavior when I lived here under your so-called 'protection' before. So since everyone in Japan knows that this marriage was never a love-match like your first, there has to be an angle. There's some reason you're doing this, and I'd just like to know what it is you're using me for."
Sesshoumaru shifted in his seat, his muscles coiling and uncoiling beneath his skin in agitation. The bitch was testing and taunting him at every turn, determined not to believe one word he'd said to her. His instincts were even now screaming at him to make her submit, and he was having a hard time holding back from doing just that. This would all be so much easier if she'd been his mate as well as his wife, but she'd been too young back then for something so dangerous as mating, so he'd been forced to wait. And wait he had - for five years. But his patience had run out and he'd finally had done with the waiting, so when she'd sent him a request for access to some of her money he'd seen it as the perfect chance and closed his trap around his little runaway bride.
But now that he'd gotten her back to Japan it looked as if the hardest work was still to come - getting her to give up and give in. And so he fought his feral desires back and continued to sit at his leisure and watch her through hooded eyes, not giving away his agitation by so much as the flicker of a heavily-lashed eye.
"There is no angle, Kagome. It is simple. You are my wife, legally wedded these past five years. And now that you've grown up and are no longer that same little girl, it is time to begin living as the married woman that you are - with all that the state entails," he added in a suddenly sultry voice, and the young woman sitting across from him blinked for a moment and then cleared her throat a little awkwardly.
"And I say I don't believe you. Oh," she added at the look he shot her, "I don't doubt that you'd climb into my bed in a hurry if I offered, since you can't seem to resist climbing into any female's bed pretty much indiscriminately. But I'm not that indiscriminate, thank you very much, and it isn't going to happen. So the sooner you let me know what's really going on in that head of yours, the sooner we can get this done and go on with our separate lives."
Gold eyes glittered as he watched her with a predatory stillness that sent a shiver up Kagome's spine as soon as she spotted it. After several seconds of that intense, weighing gaze, he spoke. "Don't believe me, then," he said with a dangerously silky softness, "that will just make it easier for me to take you by surprise. But there's one thing you most definitely can believe - there are no more separate lives between you and I. And there never will be again."
Kagome stared at him with a faint frown in her eyes, a little uneasy with the intensity of his gaze and his insistence that there was no hidden desire behind his demand that she accept him as her legally wedded husband, with all that entailed. But if there was no ulterior motive... no, there had to be something else going on because he'd never lost any sleep over love for her, so there was no other reason for him to keep insisting on her living with him as his wife than some business-scheme or something along those lines. Maybe she should instead be asking him how much he was going to make by playing happy houses with her.
She found she was much more comfortable with that thought than even the possibility that he was really after her for some god-forsaken reason like plain old lust.
There was no way she could handle that idea at all.
~oOo~
A/N: I apologize for the wait and lack of responses to the reviews for the first chapter of this story. Unfortunately, these last two weeks have not been good and that doesn't appear to be changing anytime soon. On top of that the reviews for this one chapter have been INSANE. There are 77 reviews just on ff dot net alone, and that doesn't even count the other sites I post on.
As well, my main laptop that's where everything is stored is out of commission until the computer people get back to me on what's wrong and I try to put money back to get it fixed. That's going to mean no posting on SR, and slowed posting on this and anything else as I work with what I have.
I hope no one gets angry about my not responding to the reviews on this story, because there's just too many for me to have time to answer. I do read them all, and as always I will answer questions.
Amber
