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Chapter Four
To Get Her
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-"Why isn't she picking up?! I just said I would be 10 minutes late."
-"She probably thought she was imposing on you... That's Sakura for you, doesn't get in the way if she can help it. Now get back to work, we made a deal." Scolded Eriol going through a pile of paperwork.
-"Well if she doesn't pick up, the deal is void." Complained Syaoran.
-"Hey now! I gave you her numbers, you've been texting -haven't you? I am in no way responsible for the outcome of your calls. Now keep your end of the deal." Demanded Eriol sorting out papers. "Besides, this is your mother's precious engagement gift. Aren't you grateful to her?" Said Eriol in a resentful voice.
-"She wouldn't be attacking you with work if you had remembered to send her an invite to your wedding." Said Syaoran with annoyance.
-"The thing is: I didn't forget! I bet she would have refused to come even if I had sent her an invitation; She hates weddings. In fact, she hates all kinds of celebrations: birthdays, christenings, weddings, christmas. God! She hates funerals and she's been the cause of many of them! She even hates Halloween and she is a witch." Ranted on Eriol making his cousin laugh.
-"My mom may hate celebrations but she loves you. She's not gonna let this one go." Syaoran warned him.
-"When has she ever let anything go?" Complained Eriol.
-"Oh believe me, she lets you get away with more than she ever let me do."
-"Like what?"
-"Like the time you decided to stay here and leave the England branch to manage itself on its own." Syaoran reminded him .
-"And hasn't she made me pay for it till this day? The wedding has been postponed more than twice now!" Replied Eriol defensively.
-"Oh, that has nothing to do with you leaving. That has all to do with your guest list."
-"What's wrong with my guest's list?" Complained Eriol.
-"She's not in it!" Answered Syaoran cheerfully. "That aside, if I had merely dreamt of doing something like that, she would have cut my head off and put it on display in the main branch's entrance as a reminder to all other employees that work comes before dreams..." Sighed Syaoran.
-"No, she wouldn't. Then who would help her manage the whole company?" Joked Eriol. "The problem is, she knows she's got a hold on you. You need to stop feeling guilty about living your own life."
-"That's bs. What I need to do is to get a hold of this stubborn woman and that's not gonna happen if I stay here sorting paperwork with you so..."
-"Hey! Hold on! We made a deal! Y-you can just... you can't!... You just did..." Sighed Eriol seeing his cousin disappear through the door. "You owe me two favours now!"
Syaoran pressed the elevator button frantically while trying to ignore his cousin's outraged threats. Good thing he had his tux on the car, he had time to change then pick her up... unless she decided to leave home earlier...
"Damn it! Why is she so radical? Is it really that hard to wait ten extra minutes? I'm sure she would have made me wait longer anyways! Women always do... But she's not like other women so I can't be certain. I'm doing this for the house, it really is for the house... I might find housing in an asylum if this goes on!"
Syaoran got to her house earlier but barely in time to catch her. He saw her car parked on the driveway so he walk calmly to the front door with his tux under his arm and pressed on the doorbell. Her voice came, she obviously thought he was the taxi she had called. Then the door burst open.
-"I'm sorry I made you wait, they told me you would be here lat-... Syaoran! What are you doing here?"
-"Meet you there? Really?" Syaoran had been ready to be angry but sarcasm is as far as he got when he saw how beautifully she was dressed.
-"I thought you were busy." She explained. "What ar...? Did you left things undone because of me?" She asked ready to be outraged.
-"Don't worry, Eriol's taking care of it." He joked.
-"Get back and finish what you have to!" She scolded him.
-"Wha..? But I... You..."
-"I told you I could take a cab there. It's already on its way. You can't just leave Eriol to do your work, it's his engage-"
-"It was his work to begin with and why are you scolding me?" Complained Syaoran.
-"Because you are being irresponsible and..."
-"And you don't want to go with me." He guessed.
-"What?" She said confused at his conclusion. "That..."
-"You could have just said so." He sighed. "Fine, take your cab there."
-"H-Hold on! I never said..."
-"You didn't have to. I get it." He cut her off walking towards his car.
-"You get what, you idiot?!" She yelled before she could stop herself. Syaoran turned around surprised, she was red as a tomato and it was not all makeup.
-"What did you say?" He asked not believing his own ears. The sweet Sakura, his sweet Sakura had called him a -what?
-"N-Nothing. You are right, just leave." She tried to flee inside her house but he caught her by the wrist.
-"Did you just call me an idiot?" He laugh at her embarrassement.
-"No... Maybe, just a little. I was mad, I'm sorry. Please, leave now..." Sakura begged feeling like a fool.
-"Why? I must be an idiot if even you say so." Said Syaoran trying to make her look at him, she was avoiding his eyes. "Why exactly am I an idiot for? Didn't you want me to leave?"
-"Iiii- I don't want you to... That's the problem. I wish you would but I don't want you to..." She admitted. "Isn't that crazy? I just met you yesterday." She laugh feeling stupid now. "I'm not ready for -whatever this is."
-"And what do you think it is?" Syaoran asked feeling the twinge of guilt coming back mixed with an odd kind of pain.
-"I don't know but it's not gonna last... I've worked so hard -to find balance and you are just...not." She felt his lips on hers. "Obviously." She thought. "We are having two different conversations in one cause he did not understand what I just said."
Syaoran wanted to hit himself... hard. If there ever was a time for him to stop his stupid plan, he had just missed it. Why was it so hard to just let Sakura alone? Was Eriol right? Maybe he was in need of a sex life but why couldn't it be somebody else besides Sakura? She had been honest, why couldn't he?
"Because I feel the same way... She knows is not forever. I'm leaving in a year, I told her that. I've worked to keep away from relationships that last and that is exactly what she is... only, it's not gonna last this time."
-"Syaoran..." She said pushing him softly away.
-"I know I can't promise you that I'll stay but you can depend on me." He heard himself saying while having an out of body experience. He wanted to hit the Syaoran speaking, he was making his life a mess. "Even after I leave, whenever you need me, you just have to call. It doesn't matter how busy or how far away I find myself from you, if you need me for anything -whatever it is you need from me- I will come to you. I will always be there for you."
Sakura breathed in deeply and was about to say something when a ear-splitting honk made both of them jump. Her taxi had arrived.
-"Do you still want to meet me there?" Asked Syaoran pleadingly. She catched her breath but couldn't say a word so she just shook her head. He smile and kissed her lightly before paying her taxi off. "Did I accidentaly eat your tongue?" He asked recovering his good humor while he returned to her side. She blushed furiously and cleared her throat.
-"No." She finally said.
-"Why weren't you picking up the phone?" He asked archly.
-"The phone? I didn't hear...?" Sakura asked confused.
-"Your cellphone." Insisted Syaoran. Sakura gasped and ran inside the house.
-"I knew I was forgetting something... Tomoyo is going to kill me!" She ranted on. Syaoran who had followed her inside the house saw her turn the house upside down looking for her cellphone. "She said she was gonna text me the address and I promised I would reply... Where is it?!" She said in a panicky state, Syaoran hugged her from the back making her stop.
-"How were you ever planning to get there without an address?" He mocked her while kissing her neck.
-"I... I didn't think about it." She admitted sheepishly.
-"What is the last thing you did with your cellphone?" He asked patiently and got his answer from her burning cheeks. "Where were you then?"
-"My room." She admitted, not asking how he knew.
-"Then let's go look there." He proposed.
-"W-what? You- You are coming too? I can go look for it by myself." Sakura said nervously.
-"Why? Are you hiding something in there?" Syaoran asked, amused once again by her attitude.
-"No."
-"Someone?" He teased.
-"Y-y-you can't come inside a woman's room just like that." She scolded.
-"Why not?" He insisted, teasing Sakura was always fun.
-"You just can't!"
-"Fine, then I'll get changed while you look for your phone." Syaoran sighed giving up on his teasing since Sakura was being particularly stubborn about her room. Sakura showed him the way to a bathroom then ran to her room. She found her phone under the bed, it had a thousand messages from her best friend with different degrees of alarm. The last one was a threat to call the police and file a missing person's report. She decided to call Tomoyo inmediately because Sakura knew she was capable of really calling the police. After being yelled at for a straight half hour, they agreed to meet at the hotel where the engagement party was taking place. Sakura hung up feeling exhausted, she wished she could just stay home and catch some sleep. God knows she needed some...
-"So this is the mistery place." Called Syaoran from the door, Sakura jumped gasping in surprise.
-"What are you doing here?!" She yelled.
-"It's a bit messy but quite cute." He went on ignoring her dissaproving glare.
-"You are not allowed to see." She complained trying to block his view.
-"Is a little too late for that." He laughed holding her arms out of the way. "Although, I thought you would have taken over the master bedroom by now." He confessed.
-"I don't need a big room." She justified herself feeling like a kid caught red handed.
-"You..." He said letting go of her arms and advancing towards her, Sakura took a step back unsure of Syaoran's next move. "Need to take control of the house." He said stopping when Sakura dropped in a sitting position on top of all her shopping bags.
-"I don't know what that means." She complained crossing her arms and legs.
-"I think you do." Disagreed Syaoran starting to crawl on top of her. She undid her arms and hesitated between putting her hands as a barrier between them because that meant touching him, but when he closed the distance with a kiss, her hands went involuntarily to rest at the base of his neck.
-"We are going to be late." She said gasping for air after a long kiss.
-"I hate it when you are right." Complained Syaoran letting her scape. He flopped on her bed and watched as she touched up her make-up. "You look stunning, Tomoyo will be mad at you for unshinning her."
-"Why is that?" She asked distractedly. Syaoran made a silent tantrum like he'd seen her do before, she was the most infuriating woman he had ever met. There he was, telling her how beautiful she was and she was too busy journeying through la-la land and beyond. "What's wrong?" She asked with concern sitting down next to him.
-"What's wrong is I'm not making love to you right now." He said and left the room leaving her speechless.
-"That sneaky man..." She hissed under her breath trying to calm down her cheeks and her heart. Syaoran waited for her downstairs, he was satisfied by the glare she threw his way when she finally calmed down enough to face him.
They got to the party late, which was enough to make Tomoyo want to plan Sakura's funeral and wedding all at the same time. Syaoran was surprised to realize how many of the couple's guests seemed to know Sakura, he had thought she was the sort of reserved person that kept only a couple of close friends, but many of the guests just casually picked her off her feet and twirled her on the air as soon as they saw her. The last of them, a gray haired young man caught her by surprise and Syaoran saw with a twinge of jealousy as Sakura's face lit with extreme happiness as soon as she recognized the new comer.
-"YUKITO?!" She yelled in ecstasy
-"SAKURA!" Answered the man still rocking from side to side in a hug that was too tight for Syaoran's taste.
-"What are you doing here? I thought...!" Asked Sakura feeling overjoyed.
-"I'm here just for a couple of weeks but I might stay the month though. I actually kind of invited myself to the party... Touya told me you would be here so I couldn't resist..."
-"I'm sure Tomoyo will be thrilled to know you're here. I'm so happy to see you again, it's been such a long time!" She said hugging Yukito once more and it took Syaoran all the self control in the world not to tear them brutally apart.
-"I'm happy to see you too, you look amazing." Smiled Yukito making her blush; he looked at her with surprise, thinking that maybe his eyes or the light were playing tricks on him. "I'm glad... Although you need to start eating properly, you are way too skinny!" He started scolding her. "If Touya knew this, he would force fed you! By the way, he sent this for you when I visited him earlier." He continued giving her a strange looking whistle.
-"W-What is it?" Asked Sakura, still taken aback by the sudden scolding.
-"It's a custom-made rape whistle." Smiled Yukito with good humor. "He said that you should use it if a boy gets close, less than a mile of distance, that he will hear it no matter where you are."
-"You are lying to me!" Accused him Sakura that for a moment had believed him completely.
-"No, it really is! And he really told me that, but I think he was kind of joking... Anyways, it doesn't harm for you to have it on you. Especially since you are looking more beautiful each da-..."
-"H-how is Yue?" Cut him off Sakura, feeling awkward and embarrassed. Syaoran looked at her from the sidelines, he was feeling dumb for thinking that he was the only one that could make Sakura blush. "Is he with you?"
-"Yeah, he came to see me since I'm not staying here for long." Answered Yukito and his brow creased the slightest bit. "At least that is his excuse, he disappeared as soon as we got here. So much for missing his little brother."
-"I miss you bro." Came Yue's voice. "When you are out of the country." And that said, he too picked Sakura but unlike his brother, he picked her up princess style. "How's my lovely baby been?" He said rubbing his nose against Sakura's who launched her arms around him in a chocking hug. Syaoran was beside himself with outrage.
-"You are here too!" She said and her feet found the ground again. "You are such an uncaring pair of brothers! You leave for two years and don't even call!"
-"I've brought gifts to bribe forgiveness out of you." Smiled Yue. "I just have to get you to follow the trail of gifts to my hotel's room, there you'll find a tastier gif- !" Yue had received a punch in the stomach from his brother.
-"Don't mind him. I brought you better gifts, the kind that Touya would not reap appart from their bodies." He said the last looking reprovingly at his brother who just laughed.
-"I was just testing if Touya still got it. Where is he by the way? I thought he would be clearing the perimeter." Yue said looking at Syaoran. Sakura couldn't follow the conversation, her head bobbed from one side to the other with curiosity, Syaoran however understood enough to know that he hadn't go unnoticed.
-"Touya said he couldn't be here today." Said Yukito.
-"Shame, I guess I'll go see him tomorrow. I'm leaving in two days." Said Yue. "I already gave Tomoyo my wedding gift."
-"You are leaving so soon?" Complained Sakura.
-"I'm afraid so, I faked sickness at work. I bribed my family doctor but it can only last a couple of days." Explained Yue.
-"Then I'll give my gift to Tomoyo too." Said Yukito.
-"Are you leaving too?" Asked Sakura, feeling betayed.
-"No, I told you I'm staying a little longer. So we will see each other around at the agency but they are sending me somewhere after." Told her Yukito.
-"Then just say no! Tomoyo does..." Urged Sakura.
-"Tomoyo is planning a wedding. Besides, who will ship designer's clothes to you if I don't go. They are chick and free." Tried to sweet talk her Yukito but only managed to make her pout.
-"Could this be real? Is this what you call a date?" Asked Yue who had wondered around Syaoran and was analizing him. He started smelling Syaoran, who didn't really know what to do, when Sakura turned to see Yue and with a gasp, smacked him away from her date.
-"Who is he, Sakura?" Asked Yukito curiously, he had noticed Syaoran before but he did not ask, trying to spare Sakura from embarrassement. Yue who was less discreet couldn't help himself and had given in to curiosity.
-"He's... He's..."Cowered Sakura trying to find a good description of what Syaoan was in her life without sounding like she was having a fling or scaring Syaoran away.
-"I'm Eriol's cousin, Syaoran Lee." Saved her Syaoran but then pulling her by the waist so that she would be next to him, he said: "We are dating, aren't we?"
The brothers looked surprised but not angry, they exchanged a look in silence; There was no way they would be the ones breaking the news to her brother, no matter how close they were to the family. Touya had better find out when Sakura elopped or something...
-"You look great together." Said Yukito smiling at Sakura's crimson cheeks.
-"You better watch out..." Warned Yue in a whisper. Syaoran wasn't sure but it had sounded more as concern rather than a threat. The two brothers left short afterwards and Sakura stared at her date.
-"What? Are you angry about something?" Asked Syaoran disoriented by her glares.
-"Are... Are we? Dating, I mean... Are we?" She asked now looking at him with fear mingled with a pinch of hope.
-"What kind of man do you think I am?" He asked acting insulted. "Am I the kind of guy that enters a woman's room if I wasn't dating her?" He went on, pulling her towards him until their foreheads touched and then a thought came to Sakura.
-"How did you know where to come?" She asked. "I forgot to tell you the address!"
Syaoran laughed, he had thought that Sakura would never notice.
-"Because this is the hotel I'm staying in." He answered simply.
-"You are staying? Here?" She said shocked. "But you are here for a year! This hotel is really expensive!"
-"I'm looking for better options but there aren't many...pleasant ones" Admitted Syaoran.
-"Yeah, looking for a good place is hard right now." Agreed Sakura.
-"You mean, looking for a good, affordable place is hard." Said Syaoran. They both stayed quiet. Syaoran could see they were both wondering about the same things. It was clear that Sakura was debating whether to invite a complete stranger to live with her even if they were dating... They only knew each other two days. Syaoran decided not to push his luck and changed the subject. They continued meeting many of Sakura's friends. Eriol didn't have as much guests as Tomoyo and the little he had were their collegues so Syaoran didn't have much people that he wanted to mingle with. He wondered after Sakura looking around, distracted by his own thoughts.
-"They are really an odd mix." Thought Syaoran aloud.
-"Who?" Asked Sakura with curiosity.
-"Those two." He said pointing at his cousin and her friend slow dancing and whispering at each other's ears. "They look happy, don't they?"
-"They do." Sighed Sakura. "Tomoyo always had bad taste in man."
-"And Eriol a good one in women." Laughed Syaoran making her smile at her friend being spoken of so kindly. "That's why I think they are an odd couple, they have very different tastes."
-"Mmmm... But they are both nosey and gossipy... Don't let Tomoyo fool you, they are both really old fashioned when it comes down to it." Pondered Sakura aloud. "She's the type that still thinks a guy should carry a handkerchief at all times."
-"Is that so? She really does have bad taste in men... Who wants to carry around a snot-filled handkerchief in his pocket all day long?" Joked Syaoran making Sakura laugh. "Although, if it meant carrying a little bit of you with me, I wouldn't mind as much." He whispered getting extremely close to her.
-"Sneaky man!" Accused Sakura pushing him lightly away. "You better not remember me by snotty souvenirs!"
-"I'm the sneaky one? Who's the woman who kissed me for two days and still would not call me her boyfriend infront of her friends?" Asked Syaoran and he was satisfied to see Sakura colored and speechless. "Plus she gets hugged every five minutes by different men."
-"I do not!" Exclaimed Sakura.
-"You do too. I think I deserve a kiss for the admirable patience I've shown today." Teased Syaoran getting closer again but to his surprise Sakura did kiss him.
The kiss had not gone unnoticed; Not too far from them, Eriol and Tomoyo were distracted from their lovey-dovey mood by it. They were both really curious about the new couple but after discussing it with each other, they had decided to let them be for the moment.
-"I wish I could know more about him... I know he's your cousin but he is not staying, right? I don't think Sakura is ready for more separations just yet..." Worried Tomoyo.
-"Syaoran is a really great guy and we don't know what could happen in a year. This is good for him too. He left work undone for her! Do you have the slightest idea of what I would have to do if I made him lose a minute of work time? He would skinned me alive and make me do a thousand times double the amount of work I made him miss." Said Eriol.
-"Still! I should meet him. He's gonna be my cousin in law, right? He should know a thing or two about what would happen to him if he hurts her." Complained Tomoyo.
-"He wouldn't, he knows what would happen to him. I told him what I would do." Said Eriol in an attempt to calm her down. Tomoyo pondered what her fiance had said and was a little satisfied but suddenly a better idea popped into her head making her gasp.
-"We should go on a double date with them!" She said.
-"Sakura would never agree to that." Said Eriol
-"She agreed to a date with him next saturday, we just have to know where and bump into them!" She explained excitedly.
-"That could definitely work!" Agreed Eriol in on the plan already. "I'm sure I can get Syaoran to tell me where he's taking her, he would never think I would drop in on his date."
They both celebrated their evil plan and didn't worry about the couple for the rest of the night. Not even, when they saw them leave the party together.
Sakura could barely stay awake but she didn't want to show him her drooling self yet again in such a short amount of time so she focused on keeping her eyes open all the way home. This only made her look surprised, which confused Syaoran for a while before he caught her yawning. He almost laughed but returned his eyes to the road instead.
-"What's so funny?" Asked Sakura curiously. He had contained the laughter but there was a smile dancing on his lips.
-"Nothing, are you tired? You can recline your seat and sleep until we get there." He offered.
-"I'm not tired." She lied sheepishly and she looked out of the window containing yet another yawn.
-"It's a shame, you look really pretty when you sleep." He tried to convince her but she only blushed and ignored him. Nevertheless, by the time they got to her place, she was snoozing peacefully; It made him feel bad when it was time to wake her up. Sakura stretched her arms and caught Syaoran by the neck pulling him in a kiss. He had just tried to carry her out of the car but he wasn't about to say no to a kiss from her. "Honey, we are home." He said softly on her lips still awkwardly caught by her arms. She fluttered her eyes a couple of times before she fully woke up and pushed him away.
-"Where are we?" She asked to the man she had just thrown on her driveway.
-"Well, I'm on the floor." He said resentful. Sakura apologized getting out of the car and helpping him up. "It's a good thing you weren't tired, God knows what would have happened to me then!" Teased Syaoran walking her to her door.
-"I said I'm sorry." She complained.
-"I'll forgive you on one condition." He said and Sakura waited for the condition hoping it was a kiss. "You'll never lie to me again." He said and seeing she was going to deny it, he gave her a warning look.
-"Fine!" She said pouting. "Then you don't lie to me again too!"
Syaoran looked at her shocked, had she found out? But how?
-"When did I?" He asked fearfully.
-"When you said I looked pretty sleeping." She accused. Syaoran laughed despite himself and hugged her.
-"But you do look pretty all the time." Said Syaoran while trying to forget the guilt. He did care for her, he didn't want to hurt her but he couldn't stay with her forever. There was work, the company and his mother...
-"You are lying again!" Said Sakura outraged and Syaoran caught her in his arms.
-"It's not a lie, we just have different tastes. You have bad tastes and I have the greatest ones." He said kissing her happily. They stayed in each other's arms ignoring the cold air of the early morning.
-"Stay here." Said Sakura after a while.
-"It's pretty late already, you need to sleep properly." He said stealing kisses from her.
-"I meant... live here. You know, f-for the year." She said nervously. "I have spare rooms and you don't have to pay rent. It's better than a hotel room anyways and... and... you can think about it. If you run out of options..."
Syaoran was speechless, somewhere in the back of his mind he had wished he'd fail. Yet, just thinking he would live one year with her, under the same roof was enough to fade away all his doubts.
-"On one condition." He said smiling mischieviously.
-"What?" She asked with concern.
-"I get half of your room..."
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TO BE CONTINUED...
