Title: Revenge is Sweet

Chapter: Three

Author: Silent Figure

Disclaimer: Alright I do not own these characters and never shall...they all belong to that one chick who wrote sailor moon…alright on with the story!

Serena massaged her forehead and tried to keep awake as her cousin droned on and on about Darien and how exciting it was to see him again and how the two were planning on having dinner that very next week. 'It probably has to be next week because every other night is taken by other women', thought Serena with a somewhat rueful smirk. If he hadn't grown out of his arrogance then more than likely he hadn't grown out of his love of being a pathological womanizer. When Mina had arrived earlier that evening Mina had scolded Serena on her attire, or rather lack there of, before letting her change. Almost as soon as Serena came out of her room fully clothed Mina went on a frustratingly annoying and seemingly repetitive rant about her run in with Darien just outside her door. And frankly Serena was getting sick of hearing his name already. "Mina it's great that you're seeing Darien again, but do you think we can finish this conversation later on, I mean it is late at night and unfortunately for me I have work in the morning."

Mina stopped talking and looked at her with a knowing and rather mocking smile, "I'm sorry Serena I forgot that you were never really fond of Darien or the fact that he dated your friends. But you have to see that he truly is a gentlemen underneath that rather rough, handsome, and hard exterior." As Mina described him her words took on a rather over exaggerated husky and lustful tone.

Serena at first stared at her cousin in absolute amazement. Mina truly had to be delusional to even think of describing Darien in such a fashion. With a roll of her eyes and a cynical tone Serena replied, "Yeah I'll pass on getting under Darien's exterior or otherwise. Look maybe you should date someone you could describe a little more accurately."

"You wouldn't be saying that if you actually gave him a chance. Seriously how many seconds did it take for you two to slip back into your old routine", Mina asked already guessing at the answer. When Serena said nothing Mina nodded her head in understanding, there had been no moment of consideration, the two had slipped into their heated routine automatically without a second thought. "That's what I thought. Besides last I checked you were single and it's been awhile since you've had a man on your arm, let alone your bed. Please by all means name me a guy you know who is worthy of dating that is also more handsome and more of a gentlemen then Darien, I'm all ears since apparently you're the expert ", Mina countered with an arched and triumphant raised brow.

"What about Andrew? I heard he was back in town", Serena replied haughtily, though she found that she regretted the words almost as soon as she let them out.

Mina looked away at the mention of Andrew, somewhat shocked her friend had hit that old sore spot. After he had graduated from high school the two had promised to write and call and they did for quite some time, however, overtime their communication had begun to slow down until it was non-existent. Andrew had simply cut off all communication with her, which had left her dear friend broken hearted. "I would rather not see Andrew", Mina half whispered. Serena nodded her head and then walked Mina to the door angry at herself for being the cause of her friend's attitude change, which had changed from happy and excited to quiet and solemn in a mere matter of seconds, and all because Serena had stupidly opened her mouth. They said their goodbyes and Serena attempted to apologize but Mina only waved her off describing the mood change as " I'm just tired is all." Serena watched after her friend with a sigh before going back into her apartment and flopping onto her bed where she could finally get some true rest, albeit she was still quite stressed out for it seemed all too much had occurred in one day, all she could really hope for was that her dreams not be anything like they were last night.

Serena sorted through the files on her desk looking for something interesting, since the whole day had pretty much been a bore. 'No surprise there', Serena internally groaned to herself. Darien had sat in his office the whole day taking calls and going through different cases whether past or present, barely making his presence known to her, mostly to her fortune. Thankfully her day of work would soon come to an end and she would be able to go home even if it was only for a couple of hours before the dinner party that she was practically being forced to go to at her parent' house. She knew it would be casual and probably boring since she had been going to them practically her whole life, even when she was in her senior year of high school and had already made up her mind about becoming a lawyer and aiming to work for her father's firm she had still found the parties ridiculous and quite unnecessary. 'Sammy's lucky he's out of the house', she practically envied her brother for his ability to escape the "party", mostly due to the fact that he was in another city far away attending college. Switching her thoughts to a slightly less dismal subject, she sighed and tapped her pencil on the desk waiting for the damned clock to strike 4:00 so she could finally go home. "Ms. Tsukino stop day dreaming and do your work, this isn't high school, you're getting paid to do your work", said a voice on the intercom that she recognized to be none other then Darien's.

Serena's face immediately soured and she without hesitation pressed the button that allowed her to reply, "You should be talking if you have enough time to study what I'm doing than obviously you're not doing your work either Mr. Shields." Nothing came back and Serena smiled smugly before she heard the doors to Darien's office open.

Serena smiled innocently at him as he walked up to her. "Times up your off and be gone before I get a head ache."

She giggled to herself and picked up her brief case which held within it aspirin, something she had decided she would need when she first found out she would be working for Darien. She took out two tablets and handed them to Darien with a sickeningly sweet smile, which brought a grimace to Darien's face. "For your oncoming headache", with that said she walked over to the elevators and disappeared from Darien's heated gaze.

Darien rubbed his temples in frustration, why of all the women who were stunningly beautiful did she have to be the one with a personality that could kill, he wondered. "That woman will be the end of me by the time this month is over", muttered Darien to himself before he turned back to finish up for the day.

Serena pulled her hair into a twist and sprayed it in place. Two soft golden curls framed her face and she smiled at her reflection. She wore a simple yet elegant black dress. It dropped to her knees and had spaghetti straps with a v- shaped neck that showed off a fair amount of cleavage yet was modest enough not to make her look too flashy, as her mother would say. She outlined her eyes with dark silver eye shadow and had clear lip gloss on her supple mouth. After checking herself over she put on her favorite strappy black high heels before she walked out of the apartment feeling confident though knowing full well she would be bored by the end of the night.

.

Serena knocked on the door waiting for her mother to answer with her as usual and always constant happy smile. She wasn't too surprised when her mother did just that only hugged her and took her coat as if she too were one of the employees that worked under her father or was one of his business partners. "My, my Serena look at you …so beautiful I love your dress", her mother complimented in a way almost as if Serena wasn't even her daughter, causing Serena to shake her head in amusement, and a bit of annoyance.

Serena leaned over to her mother and spoke, "Mom I am your daughter it's ok to say hi the normal way."

Her mother kept her smile and whispered so only Serena could hear, "Don't worry I still love you honey but I can't show favoritism in front of all the other employees now can I?"

Serena rolled her eyes and walked on into her child hood home, the place she had grown up in. Looking over her mother who was hanging up her coat in the closet Serena realized that even after so many years of being the house wife her mother hadn't changed a bit, not even her appearance, her black hair that shined blue had yet to have a strand of grey hair in it and though her soft blue eyes hadn't dulled they had grown wiser, and no wrinkles marred her mother's face. All of which was surprising since she had gone through bringing up two hell raising children. As she spared a glance at the actual home her parents inhabited she found that nothing had changed since the last time she had been there, with the exception of the amount of people in the house, some staring at her while whispering something to whomever it was they were talking to. Serena smiled and nodded as she walked through the crowd of people that worked for her father.

Darien smiled at Kenji Tsukino who was talking to him about his future, patted him on the back proudly. Kenji had thought of him as a son and liked the idea of him starting a firm of his own financed by Kenji, expanding Kenji's firm. The idea was appealing to him being able to run his own business, but it was far too early for that. He wasn't experienced in running businesses only in the court room and there he could argue about things that mattered and honestly that was where he liked to be best. Just then everyone started mumbling and asking questions like "who's that?" or "where did she come from?" Kenji had heard it too and looked up to see who it was that so many were talking about, Darien followed his gaze, his breath caught in his throat as his gaze landed on the woman that was Kenji's daughter. All Darien could say was a breathless wow as the woman smiled at them and walked towards them.

..

Serena looked around the place feeling all eyes on her; she finally caught sight of her father who had a warm and proud smile on his lips. She smiled back and walked over to him only to notice whom was standing by him a little too late. She was already too close to turn back. For a moment she paused as she looked him over, he looked amazing even if he was only wearing a black suit with a dark blue tie that matched his eyes; it left her to briefly wonder what he would look like in a tuxedo. She ignored the hesitation and walked toward them with her head held high. Her father stepped forward all conversation forgotten with Darien as he saw his little girl and hugged her. She smiled and hugged him back before pulling away. "My Serena is the talk of the party", Kenji stated proudly.

"Yeah and you hugging me really helped don't you think daddy?" Her father shook his head at his daughter knowing exactly what the crowd could and probably would think.

"Come now Serena it's time to introduce you to all of our colleagues and employees", said her father who offered his arm which she took. Her father brought her around to meet all the people. For what seemed like hours she plastered a smile on her lips and shook hands with old couples and talked about the law and other competing firms. The whole time she prayed for a fire to start or even for an emergency with her friends, just so she would have an escape though she never let on that she was thinking such things. Nope, she was behaving as she should though begrudgingly so.

Serena sighed and meddled with her food that was on her plate, already full she was still bored as people around the table talked on and on about various subjects that just weren't in the least bit interesting. Looking up from her food she caught her mother's eye that had a disapproving look on her face, something she had forgotten, playing with her food was something she had always done at dinner parties and her mother always told her it was very unladylike. Thankfully her mother was on the other side of the table so she couldn't be lectured about being lady like tonight. She almost let a triumphant smile slip onto her face, but she quickly dismissed that idea. Her mother would most definitely catch it and reprimand her daughter for having even a slight amount of disrespect for her mother. The direction of her thoughts changed when she felt eyes watching her and immediately looked to her left meeting the gaze of none other than Darien Shields. For a brief second she allowed herself to appreciate the beautiful color of his midnight blue eyes. 'If only they didn't belong to him', she thought regrettably to herself. They truly were the most beautiful eye color she had ever seen. She could honestly understand why women would get lost in that gaze of his, though she'd never admit that out loud. Serena smirked as she noticed his eyes hadn't left her even as she turned to face him, she couldn't help but entertain the idea that he was having fantasies about her and that towel. She wouldn't put it past him. He did seem to sniff after anything that was beautiful with a pair of tits and legs and while it seemed egotistic, she figured she was definitely in a category of woman he'd like to sleep with.

Finally everyone was leaving and Serena couldn't be happier, this meant she could leave as soon as she was done playing the role of a dutiful and loving daughter, meaning as soon as she was done doing the dishes and cleaning up. Unfortunately for her someone else decided t stay and help with the after party clean up and that someone's presence was starting to irk her. Her parents were cleaning up any trash left over from the guests and washing the table while they left her and the apparently outstanding and upright man her parents seemed to think Darien was to washing the dishes. Her mother winking at her as if it were some kind of set up. Once more Serena found herself completely out of luck when it came to escaping Darien's presence. To her surprise as they were doing the dishes Darien kept sneaking glances at her, something that was beginning to become a bit of an annoyance. Why on earth would he be sneaking glances at her? Was he waiting for her to say something? 'He's probably just trying to get under my skin. He always did try to get a reaction out of me', she thought to herself. And as much as she tried she couldn't help but give him that response he was craving, "Will you stop staring, it's rude."

This appeared to break Darien out of his reverie. He quickly masked his brief moment of surprise and covered it up with a, "Sorry most people take it as a compliment to their looks." Truthfully he had actually been lusting at her rather than trying to annoy her, but he sure wasn't going to let her know that.

Serena's eyebrows rose and she replied haughtily, "Not when it's a look that makes you feel like a piece of meat."

Darien smiled and scooted closer to her so their bodies were closer, Serena noticed but ignored it figuring he was just trying to provoke an even bigger response out of her, one that would probably embarrass herself and thus cause her parents to get angry with her. A spark of electricity went through their bodies as their sides rubbed against one another which almost caused Serena to jump, though she couldn't keep herself from going rigid even for a brief moment, to her surprise she noticed that Dairen had done the same. Nothing was said by either party and the two just kept up with the cleaning, the mood suddenly changed from routine to something more ackward. As she was handed the plate his fingers brushed hers and she involuntarily felt a shiver run down her spine, a reaction she found she couldn't stop from happening. For a moment she hoped he hadn't noticed, but the smirk on his lips told her otherwise.

Serena hugged and kissed her parents goodbye, thanking them for the home cooked meal and promising to visit their home soon. She departed knowing Darien wouldn't waste too much time saying farewell to her parents and that soon she'd be left to just him as she walked to her car that was a little ways down the road, since most of the best parking spots had been taken by the time she'd gotten to her parents home. She nearly groaned when she heard her parents door shut and Darien's footsteps join hers in the night's silence. "Tell me am I really so unbearable that you have to walk that far ahead for fear of being seen with me?" asked Darien with a smile, his keys jingling in his hands.

Serena glanced at him over her shoulder instantly recognizing that evil grin that meant Darien was up to no good. "As a matter of fact Darien yes, yes you are."

Darien smiled at the woman who had suddenly picked up her pace. His eyebrows lifted as an idea came to mind. He caught up to her and grabbed her wrist spinning her around so she crashed into his well muscled chest. "Is this unbearable?"

For a moment all Serena could do was stare into Darien's eyes before her anger flared and she pushed herself away from Darien. Unlucky for her she tripped over a rock that would have been seen if she hadn't been walking backwards. She waited for the crash to the ground but nothing happened and finally Serena opened her eyes knowing full well what she would find, it was the same situation she had been in many years ago at Darien's graduation. Darien smirked and spoke as she pulled away from him once more, "History has a way of repeating itself aye Serena?"

Serena ignored what Darien said and untangled herself from his embrace grumbling about his ridiculousness aware he would hear it, trying her best not to respond to any of his attempts to bait her into a real argument or into flirting. She kept walking, but knew he was following. She was practically biting her lip to keep herself from saying anything which was getting harder and harder as she came closer to her car and he still tagged along behind her. As Serena went to open her door she spotted Darien's reflection on her car window. "What do you want Darien", she bit out without turning around.

Serena froze as Darien leaned in to her closing the distance between the two and whispered in her ear, "What any man would want."

Serena whipped around to face a surprised Darien. "For your information Darien I will not sleep with you."

This only made Darien chuckle which she found to be confusing thus leading her to ask in a rather annoyed tone, "What?"

"Serena, yet again, you think too highly of yourself. I wanted a thanks for keeping you from having another one of those "bruises" . Believe me I don't want to sleep with you. I already get enough of you at the office", he replied as he bent over laughing.

She glowered at him for though she didn't want to sleep with him she still felt insulted. She watched somewhat at a loss for words as he straightened from his bent over position and walked away from her towards his own car laughing the whole way.

"Oh screw you Darien", she shouted out to him finally giving into his immature game. He only turned and waved at her while shaking his head with an amused grin still on his face. Serena stepped into her own car and slammed the car door shut. She mumbled to herself about how immature he was and how much she hated him. Lucky for her it had been night and he hopefully hadn't seen the blush that had stained her cheeks when Darien had spoken in her ear. She heard a loud honk that broke her out of her reverie and scarred the living hell out of her. Looking over to her side she saw a black corvette pull up to the side of her car with a certain someone in it. Someone she wanted nothing more then to kill. She rolled down her window and flipped him the "birdie".

She heard him laugh before he drove off leaving a very pissed off Serena. "Jack ass", muttered Serena before she turned on her own ignition and sped off towards her apartment.