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Disclaimer: I don't own any Sailor Moon character or any of the said products, designers, or manufacturers mentioned in this story.
Chapter 3
Serena beamed at Cali as she kept her eyes covered the whole ride there. When she pulled up to their designated destination, she clapped her hands and told the young girl to open her eyes. She gasped at the sight of the local Human Society sitting in front of them. She knew what this meant. She hopped out of the car immediately and started to jog toward the entrance. She stopped suddenly and turned around to wait for Serena to catch up with her hobbling foot. Cali held the door open for her and the two of them walked inside, hand in hand. A woman at the front desk greeted them with a warm welcome.
"How can I assist you today?" she asked.
"We're here to look at the puppies," Serena answered.
"Sure. Right this way."
She led them through a long hallway with windows where kittens on one side could be seen in cages and puppies on the other side could be seen. She unlocked the room for them to walk into and examine the whining, yelping animals. Serena stood back and let Cali slowly stroll up and down the aisle of screaming dogs. Her eyes were wide with amazement at how cute they all were. She finally stopped at the one cage at the very end of the rows of healthy dogs. She pointed to the very still animal inside. Serena walked over to her and leaned down to look into the dark cage. There was a golden colored dog lying down with one eye blinking. The right eye was sewn up permanently. On the description of the small puppy, it said that he was attacked by a raccoon when only a few weeks old and he lost his eye the process. He now had problems with depth perception and the previous owners didn't want to have to deal with him.
"You always like the rejected ones, huh?" Serena asked her.
"They need a home too," Cali insisted.
She tilted her head up at Serena and laced her fingers through hers, "Can we get him?'
"I don't know. Your father …."
"Doesn't care," she finished. "He'll never care."
Seeing the pain in Cali's eyes, Serena decided to take the initiative to help this child out, "Okay. Let's do it."
Cali jumped up and down, clapping her hands wildly and squealing with excitement. This made the rest of dogs in the rows of cages bark and holler along with her. The one-eyed puppy continued took look at Cali with a depressed expression. Serena turned around gestured for the woman to come inside. She pointed to the dreary looking animal.
"We want this one," she announced.
"You want Patchy?" she asked, dumbfounded by their choice of pet.
"Patchy? You named him Patchy? As in eye-patch?" she replied. "Wow … okay. Um, yes, we want 'Patchy'."
"Alright. I'll get someone to cage him for you while we sort through the paper work," she explained.
After they had gone through signing the proper documents, Serena asked the woman, "How do we go about changing his name?"
"We can do that now if you'd like," she smiled, pulling out a stapled packet of two pages. "Just bring this back with his name change and then we can put it in the computer in case he ever gets lost and we scan his information."
"Thank you," Serena nodded before looking over at Cali. She was pleasantly distracted by the sleeping dog in the small olive green pen. She patted the young child's head and gestured to the door. Cali picked the cage up which prompted the young pup to start whimpering; it was the first sound he had made the whole time they had interacted with him. Serena made sure they had gotten all the things needed for their new pet; puppy chow, a bed, pee pads, toys, a leash, and spot remover for the stains they knew would happen in the future.
When they arrived home, Cali opened up the cage and expected the puppy to bound out and be all happy, but instead he just slowly walked out and then plopped down on his bed. He looked up with his one dark brown eye at the two females staring back at him expectantly.
"What's wrong with him?" Cali exclaimed.
"He's like your father…" Serena mumbled under her breath.
"Why isn't he happy?"
"Been asking that myself…" Then she shook her head, "Oh! You mean the dog! Well Cali … he's probably scared."
"Batty was excited when we brought him home!" she said as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"This isn't Batty. This is … 'Patchy'," she grimaced. "That's such an awful name." Serena walked over to the bag of stuff they had and handed Cali the collar and leash, "Here. Take him outside down by the bank and play with him. He needs interaction. Tug him along if you need to."
"Do I have to go by myself?" she asked.
Serena smiled slowly, "No. Of course not. I'll go out there with you. Come on. But you have to hold my hand, okay? My foot still isn't working properly."
The three of them, the two humans and the dog, walked out the back door to the grassy field that ran along the bank of the local pond. Most animals would go wild at the sight of all the large fireflies fluttering around and squirrels that scurried from one tree to the next. But this one eyed dog just sat down and studied the water lapping at the muddy shore.
"He's weird," Cali concluded after a few minutes.
"Sit down beside him. See what he does," Serena suggested.
She did as she was told and immediately, the golden puppy snuggled up onto her lap. She stroked the dog softly as he looked up and then he tried to lick her face. Because of his depth perception being slightly off though, he didn't reach her cheek exactly. Thus, Cali leaned down a little bit and giggled as his tongue tickled her. It had been such a long time since Serena had heard that laughter; it was nice.
"What's going on out here?" a familiar voice asked.
Serena turned around and found Darien ambling down the lush green lawn while rolling up his sleeves.
"I thought you had work," she said.
"I do, but then after you left, I felt …"
"Like an asshole?" she finished.
"Serena!" Cali gasped.
"Yeah, yeah. You get some change in the curse jar," she waved off, still glaring at Darien. "It was worth every penny."
"I wanted to go to that dinner with you tonight," he shrugged.
"Wow … you make it sound so exciting with that tone and body language," she said with an eye roll.
"I want to go," he insisted. Then his eyes flowed down to the listless dog that looked like he was constantly winking. "What is that?"
"A dog," Serena answered bluntly.
"I see that…"
"Serena said I could keep it!" Cali said defensively as she cuddled the pooch.
"I thought she could use a new friend," she said sweetly and quietly.
"What's his name?" he asked.
"We haven't decided," Cali answered.
"The pound originally titled him 'Patchy'," she grinned.
"What happened to his eye?"
"He kind of came like that. A raccoon attacked him when he was a few weeks old."
He pointed to his daughter, "I suppose you were the one who picked him out?"
Darien chuckled a little bit and wrapped his arm around Serena's shoulders as he stared at the animal. She felt comfortable suddenly. This is what she had been missing. This feeling. These little moments … for longer than just a moment; for hours, days, weeks, months, years. But as soon as she had felt this normalcy, it was soon gone. He walked down to pick the lethargic dog up into his arms.
"What do you want to name him, Cali?" he asked, tilting his head.
"I don't know…"
Serena walked up beside him and stared at the dog, "He's awfully stoic … and seems like he's studying everything." She paused for a moment and then smiled, "I feel like he's a silent Mr. Peabody from Rocky and Bullwinkle. If he could talk, he'd school us all."
"He reminds me of Elvis with that constant wink," he smiled.
"Elvis Peabody," Cali decided with a strict nod on her head. "That's his name."
The two adults looked down at the child; her zen-like state was already coming back in full force. Darien smiled as he led the way back to the house with the whimpering puppy in his arms. When they entered the house, he put the dog down and it immediately went scampering toward the empty dog bowl that had never been moved or replaced. It was a ceramic dog dish that Cali had painted for Batty when they first got him. She pursed her lips in a depressing manner as she stared at the young dog who was looking at it expectantly; it had no idea that there had been a fellow friend before him.
"Your project for tonight while your father and I are gone is to repaint that dog dish," Serena ordered as she walked to the cupboards to retrieve a set of two bowls – one for water and one for food. As she prepared Elvis Peabody's food, she asked Darien, "Have you gotten a sitter for her?"
"I asked Abby. She said she would be glad to do it. I never told her about the dog though … because I didn't know you were planning on getting one without my input," he said with a biting tone that only Serena could pick up on.
"Well, being around helps a bit," she replied, not hiding any emotions from Cali. The girl had to have known by now that they were on the rocks.
"I'm going to take a shower," Darien announced.
Serena didn't respond as he bounded up the stairs to the master bathroom. She stayed downstairs and started to prepare dinner for Cali which consisted of left over spaghetti from the night before, steamed broccoli and carrots, and chicken nuggets in the shape of dinosaurs. She watched the little girl sit at the counter on a stool and chow down happily. She kissed the top of Cali's head and then ran up the stairs to get changed … well, she "ran" as well as she could with that thick brace on her foot. As she started to thumb through her closet, she wondered if it was going to be as awkward as she anticipated.
"How should I dress for this occasion?" Darien asked as he strolled out of the steamy bathroom with just a towel wrapped around his waist. Serena was caught off guard by his amazing body, chiseled out perfectly like a Michelangelo statue. She could feel herself turned on immediately.
"Um, I-I guess … uh …"
"Are you okay?" he grinned, tilting his head a bit as he closed in the gap between them.
She didn't have the heart to tell him that she was suddenly turned on by his body as though she had never seen him before. They hadn't had sex in … well she couldn't remember. She shook her head, trying to break the spell.
"It's semi-casual," she told him. "So slacks … a button down?"
"Which shirt do you suggest?" he asked.
"Are you serious?" she laughed. "You never ask me for your opinion anymore."
"Fine. I'll wear that Hawaiian button down I wore in the Caribbean last summer," he smiled as he tilted her chin up.
She didn't know where this affection came from, but it was making her slightly uncomfortable and awkward. She turned around and looked on his side of the closet, pulling out her favorite lavender Prada button down she had gotten for him as a gift two years ago when they moved in together. Darien had unpacked everything to surprise Serena and in return, she had bought him the most fabulous shirt ever made. Darien looked better than Cary Grant when wearing it.
While he got dressed, she averted her eyes and started to remove her foot brace. The sound of Velcro made him turn around, "What are you doing?"
"I'm not about to go out with this thing on; it's a liability," she whined.
"A liability?"
"I've already been photographed today with this stupid contraption on my leg. I don't want it to hinder my perfect outfit for tonight," she smiled, as she stood up carefully, trying to adjust her weight to her other foot. "I love my shoes."
The two of them finished getting dressed and he helped her down the stairs where Abby was already cleaning up after Cali and the dog. Serena smiled at the young receptionist and walked up to the little girl, giving her a hug goodbye.
"I want all of your homework done and on the counter by the time I get back, alright?" Darien instructed. "And don't stay up too late. Bed by nine."
"You should take a bath tonight," Serena said as she combed through Cali's thick black hair.
"I don't wanna take a bath," she pouted.
"Well it's either a bath tonight or a shower early in the morning," she stated. "Choose your poison."
"Fine … bath."
"Atta girl. Be good for Abby," she smiled, kissing her forehead.
She and Darien waved goodbye to the child, the puppy, and the babysitter. They both climbed into the dinged up SUV and drove into the city where Serena's friends were all waiting for them in a VIP room. The couple paused for a few minutes on the red carpet in order for their picture to be taken together and for Serena to answer a few random questions from reporters. After walking through the throng of flashing lights, she and Darien entered the restaurant, Classic. They walked into the very back where the special rooms hidden from normal patrons were. There, the couple discovered Rei sitting beside Jadeite looking head over heels. There was something about this man that changed Rei. She was a whole different person … yet she was still herself. It was weird to say. She didn't have her wall up anymore.
Darien pulled out Serena's chair as Jadeite asked, "So how's that foot Serena?"
"It's okay," she smiled. "Thanks for asking."
He leaned over and looked under the table before inquiring, "Where's your brace?"
"How does he know about that?" Darien asked as he sat down. "You just got it today…"
"I saw her earlier," Jadeite answered as he sipped his drink.
"He's a doctor," Serena answered awkwardly, scratching the back of her head.
"A doctor? You went and saw another doctor?" he said. He wasn't hiding the pain and question in his voice. "I'm right down the street. Why would you go to another doctor?"
"Can we not bring this up at dinner?" she whispered through gritted teeth.
A waiter came around and Serena immediately ordered a double cranberry vodka on the rocks. As if the air couldn't get any more tense, Rei announced that the other girls would be late. Excellent. How they ended up here, she really didn't know.
"So I assume you practice in the city," Darien said as he sipped his scotch.
"Yeah, I do," Jadeite nodded.
"What hospital?"
"New York Downtown Hospital."
"I used to work there."
"I know … I'm your replacement," Jadeite nodded as the salads were dished out to them.
The word "replacement" made Darien nearly spit up his drink. Serena knew it was hitting him harder than he would admit. He had worked so hard at that hospital; it was his whole life. So to hear that he had been so easily replaced both there and in Serena's medical life … it was a bit difficult to swallow. But how can you blame her for going to a new doctor? The man had been so m.i.a. lately that she had been contemplating replacing him in her relationship world on top of the professional world. Serena's eyes dropped down to her hand which was now ring-less. She was going down the path that everyone hated and most of the tabloid world had predicted; the path to a break-up … possibly. Maybe. She didn't know. Confusion was killing her insides and sitting next to Darien made it worse.
After what felt like ages, they were ready to order dinner. During that time, two things happened; Mina and Ami showed up – dateless – and Darien got a phone call from a patient who was in labor. Serena excused herself and limped out to the back entrance with him where the paparazzi wouldn't try to snag a photo of her vulnerability. She was upset that he had to leave so suddenly during their dinner. She partially blamed it on the tension that was sitting between them and partially on the perfectly timed anonymous pregnant woman.
"Sorry I have to go," he said, tilting her chin up for what she thought was a quick kiss. Instead he asked her, "Why did you have to go to him? Of all people?"
"Why are you berating me with this right now? You have a woman in labor waiting for you," she protested.
"Why wouldn't you see me?" he exclaimed.
"Because we had a fight! We were still angry this morning and clearly we're still angry today!" she snapped. "How did you not notice that I had the foot brace in the first place? I walked into your office this afternoon like an old woman!"
"What? You want me to notice every little detail?" he fought back.
"Jesus fucking Christ! I just want you to notice! Why am I doing all the work here?" she shouted. She took a deep breath and tried to calm down a little bit, "Look … we are not in an okay place right now. I … I don't know what we can do…"
"Couples counseling?"
"Oh god no. I'd rather break it off…"
"Wow. You're so confident in our relationship," he said sarcastically.
"I love you, but … I can't keep forcing this to work," Serena mumbled.
Darien shifted his weight to his other foot, "You know what? I gotta go. We'll discuss this when you get home … or when I get home. Whichever comes first."
She watched him walk away to their secretly parked car. She turned around carefully walked back inside to the table where her friends were anticipating her arrival. During the allotted time, Lita had showed up during and brought a friend along with her. Her name was Seiya and she was the head chef at a competing restaurant across the city called Rebelle – which was a mix of the word rebel and belle. It was a place where class dishes met her rebellious streak that had been the bane of many culinary schools. She was a tall, slightly masculine woman with a charming smile a concerned look etched over her face as she watched Serena sit down in a dejected manner.
"Are you alright?" she asked.
"I just need another drink," she answered as she downed what was left in her glass.
"I ordered for you," she smiled.
"You ordered for me? Who are you?" she laughed.
"I'm Seiya. Pleasure to meet you," she beamed, holding her hand out.
Serena shook it across the table and then looked at the rest of her friends, "So what did I miss?"
"Nothing much," Lita shrugged. Her eyes drifted over to the lovey-dovey couple Rei and Jadeite. "Hey you two! Come back down to earth!"
Rei pulled back away from the golden haired god and sighed, "Sorry ladies. I'm … er … not feeling very well. I should go home. I have a splitting headache."
They all whined and watched as their friend was dragged out of restaurant and into the gauntlet of paparazzi. If she really did have a headache, then the doctor could cure it, they were sure.
"Wow … not even a second drink and she's already showing him off to the photographers," Mina mused as she arched her neck to get a better look at them.
"She's uncannily smitten," Ami scoffed as their food was brought to them.
Serena furrowed her brow at what Seiya had ordered for her; fettuccini with wild mushrooms, basil, grilled chicken and white wine sauce. She hadn't been in the mood for pasta, but the moment she took a bite, she was overwhelmed by the flavors. Her eyes lit up and Seiya immediately tossed her a cocky grin.
"I knew you'd like it," she smiled.
"And we've only just met," she replied slyly.
"Have you read any of the new scripts?" Mina interjected, trying to get Serena's attention.
She shook her head as she swallowed her food, "Yes. But none of them are what I want."
"What do you want?" Ami asked exasperatedly.
That's when Serena actually stopped what she was doing and thought for a moment. What did she want? She wanted her relationship back to the way it was. She wanted to get some recognition for all of the work she had put into her relationship, her life, everything. Was that too much to ask for? She was taken out of her dizzying thought process by Seiya snapping her fingers in her face.
The short-haired beauty leaned back with a smirk covering lips, "That question threw her off into a whole other world."
"Sorry. Just … you know … stupid bullshit," she wafted.
The women all turned on their concerned expressions which she tried to ignore by downing another drink. By the end of the night, Serena had become so drunk that no one wanted to deal with her or her ranting. She was constantly rambling about Darien and how he didn't do anything for her. After a while, none of them could understand what she was crying about. It was embarrassing. Luckily they were in a private room so no one had to see her, but that didn't mean people couldn't hear her.
"He doesn't care about me anymore!" she wailed. "What am I doing wrong?"
"Okay honey. It's time to get you home," Mina said as she tried to quiet her friend down. She looked around at the rest of them and asked, "Who's going to do the honors?"
"I can take her back to my place," Seiya offered. "It's right up the street. Then I can take her home in the morning."
"Please, please do," Lita begged as she cupped her head in her hands.
"I should be allowed to express my feelings!" Serena shouted at her. Then she started to break down sobbing, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry Litaaaa ….!"
"Come on gimpy," Seiya sighed as she wrapped Serena's arm around her shoulders and helped her out the back door.
The two stumbled along the dark streets of New York until they made it to a brownstone a couple blocks away. Seiya had to literally carry Serena up her stoop in order to get her inside; her foot was still bruised after all. They made it into the apartment, both of them nearly falling face first onto the hard wood floor. Serena flopped down onto the couch while her newly found friend dug around her purse to find her cell phone. She thumbed through the contacts list to find Darien's phone number.
"Where the hell are you?" he exclaimed immediately.
"Um, this is Serena's friend actually," she replied bashfully.
"Oh. Wow. I-I'm sorry."
"Yeah. She's drunk. Very drunk and I—"
"No I'm not!" she exclaimed suddenly, lifting her head out of the couch cushions. "Is that Darien? Give me the phone!"
Seiya hesitantly handed the phone to her and watched as the flighty blonde tried to rip her lover a new one.
"You sir do not deserve me! What is wrong with you?"
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me! You're an asshole!"
"And you're drunk."
"No. This is not about being drunk. This is about you being scared. You are scared of getting really close to someone who isn't your blood relative!" Serena growled.
"Are we really going to hash this out now? I just want you home, Serena," he sighed. "I've been up all night wondering where the hell you are."
"What about labor?"
"What?"
"Labor … that woman who was in labor?"
"She had a false alarm. The doula is with her now and her contractions should be closer in time by tomorrow – wait. Why am I telling you this? That woman has nothing to do with this situation," he groaned.
"You're right! But you know what woman does?"
"No."
"Heather!" she shouted as she started to pace around the apartment like a mad woman with her head cut off.
"Heather? What about her?"
"You're still in love with her, aren't you?"
"That's quite an accusatory tone you got there, missy."
"Don't missy me!" she snapped. "What if I just pull a Heather on you?"
"Pull a Heather? What does that even mean?" he replied. "You're not making any sense Serena. Hand the phone back to that friend of yours."
"That's just it! What if I go lesbian like her? Seiya would satisfy me, wouldn't you?" she said half to Darien and half to Seiya.
"I um …" she was dumbfounded by the proposal partly because she hadn't expected it and also because she kind of wanted it. She had been infatuated with Serena all night. Even under this surprising drunken stupor, the woman exuded a type of captivating energy. She was the flame and Seiya was that pesky black moth with grey flecks on the wings.
"I want someone who will be there for me! Seiya has been there for me!"
"For one night Serena! I've been there for over two years!"
"No you haven't! And until you can understand that, then I don't think we should be living together!" she yelled.
There was a long pause and then Darien said softly, "Are you serious? Is this the alcohol talking or are you really wanting this?"
The truth was, the alcohol was the lubricant for these words to come out. Now that she said them, she could feel the hangover slap her across the face unexpectedly.
"I … I am serious," she said defiantly as she sat up straight and pushed her long blonde hair behind her ear. "You've been so on and off. You've been so confused … you know we can't keep going on like this."
"Jesus," he whispered.
"Look … I'm gonna go to bed. You … I … we'll talk in the morning," she stammered.
Before she could hear any agreement or protest from him, she hung up the phone. Her eyes jumped over to Seiya who was prepared with a pillow, a blanket thrown over her shoulder, and glass of water. Serena took the offer and decided to try to sleep on the couch. It didn't help at all. She just stared at the ceiling above her, wondering if she made the right decision.
Next up: Serena and Darien confront one another! Please review! Let me know what you think!
