Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor moon!, sadlyy...
She was avoiding him. Whenever he was in the apartment, she wasn't. When he'd call, she wouldn't answer. When he would attempt contact with her she would quickly dismiss him and walk away. He gazed outside his window. He could see all the buildings, his building being the tallest one. He saw the sun setting on the horizon.
"Mr. Shields?" his secretary asked from the doorway, he didn't turn to face her.
"Yes Raye?" he asked, she twisted a strand of her black violet hair which reached further than her middle back. She was the only secretary that had lasted, because she was married to one of his best friends; Justin.
"It's getting late, it's my anniversary, do you think I could leave?" she asked, she adressed him so formally in the office. But outside she would cuss the hell out of him.
"Get out of here Raye." he muttered just loud enough for her to listen.
"Thanks Dare, by the way there is someone here to see you." she said walking out.
He turned to see Lita standing on his doorway. She was almost as tall as her husband. She was beautiful regardless. Her brown short hair reached her shoulders, and her green eyes were concerned. She let herself in and sat at one of his chairs.
"What can I do for you Lita?" he asked taking a seat infront of her.
"You know that I own a restaurant right?" she asked, he knew this had nothing to do with the business, he nodded regardless. "Well, me and Nathan, were thinking about throwing a birthday party for you there." she said. She was forcing it.
"You and Nathan?, or Nathan against your will?" he asked chuckling.
"Well Nathan, listen I know how much you hate celebrations, so I told him no." she said hopefull, when he didn't reply she stood up, "Great I will tell him not to." she said walking out.
"I didn't say no Lita." he said leaning against his chair.
She groaned turning to face him.
"Yeah in fact a celebration for 50 persons sounds nice, and with your impecable cooking I would feel truly special." he said lowly. Then he just began laughing. "I'm joking. I don't want a party. Just a nice meal with my best friends."
Lita smiled brightly then. "I can do that." she said cheery. "Ohh just wait, this will be the best food you eat!" she almost screamed leaving.
He just chuckled shaking his head.
"You know as happy as I am that you finally chose to forgive me and meet me here... you have been awfully quiet." Mina said staring at Serena's calmed and lost demeanor.
She smiled sadly. "It had been almost a month since the last time I left my apartment, I'm adjusting." she said sipping her iced tea.
"You are always trying to adjust to something, maybe you should stop trying to adjust, and just live it out. Stop trying to plan every little thing and just wait for it to happen." she said smiling cheerly.
"Patience is a virtue I do not own." she mumbled.
"Yes you do, you just don't know it jet." Mina replied. "Come on now, I'm going to check catering it's been a nightmare ever since you began ditching me, no one else has patience for me, and the wedding is approaching with speed!" she said clapping. When they reached the small office she smiled and ran to her future husband who was already in there talking to the chef.
"Hey Mina this is Lita, and she will be providing the catering for us." he said motioning to the woman beside her.
Mina jumped suddenly. "Oh my God!, I can't believe it, I always go to your restaurant!, I can't believe that you are catering for my wedding!" she said yelling. Serena suddenly stepped in.
"Hi my name is Serena, I'm the older sister and maid of honor." she said extending her hand. "And I didn't get any of the drugs my sister got this morning." she said causing Lita to laugh slightly.
Lita shook her hand and smiled. "Nice to meet you, Kevin knows my husband he is the best man, I thought I could provide catering. Well we actually, " Serena smiled brightly. Mina had dragged Kevin to the side to gush about her favorite dishes. "Are you here with your husband?" she asked causing Serena's smile to fade. Lita noticed. "What I actually meant ..." she froze for a moment and shook her head. "Nop, no way to recover from that..."
"It's okay I should be, but I guess I am an exception." she said smiling crossing her arms.
"No, there is a lot of women who don't want to marry. I know plenty of women who like solitude, I couldn't imagine my life without Nathan," she gasped then, "not that there is anything wrong, with solitude, I mean you can always get a cat..." her eyes widened.. "not that you should, your still young there must be some guy that likes you.. not that there is anything wrong with you.."
Nathan appeared placing a hand on her shoulder. "Lita stop trying to make it better, your making it worst." he said smiling kindly to Serena.
Lita made a face of pain, "I'm just going to walk away now, and burn my tounge or something.." she muttered walking away.
"My name is Nathan, I'm her husband." he said shaking her hand.
She compared his appereance with Kevin's, while kevin had really light hair, Nathan had dark brown hair, his eyes were green a deep green in comparison to Kevin's greyish eyes. They were both about the same height and same built. They were both very handsome, why was it that always hunks traveled in a pack she wondered.
"Well I am Serena." she said shaking his hand back.
"Yeah, Kevin has told us about you."
She grimaced. What awful, pathetic things had he heard. As if catching her thoughts he placed his hands up in surrender.
"Woa, just that you were Mina's older sister." he left over half of the details behind.
"Well it was nice meeting you all, but I think this is enough brain activity for one day." she said walking away.
Mina caught the movement and stood infront of her.
"Hey!, where are you going? you were going to help me remember?" she asked pulling her arm.
"You have your fiancee here Mina." she said with pain flashing through her eyes. "You don't need me." she whispered. Mina released her.
"I'll see you tomorrow." she said as Serena left to her apartment.
She reached her apartment an hour later. She walked inside expecting to see Darien, but she didn't see him. She sighed and walked inside her empty apartment. She was alone by choice. Then she shook her head. She was alone because of the lack of trust she allowed herself to feel for other men. She went to her bathroom and saw her red puffy eyes. Her lips were also swollen. She had been crying all the way and not noticed. She laughed then, a bitter sound that rumbled through her chest. Then tears finally begin to fall freely followed by sobs. She sat on her floor next to the bath tub and hugged her knees.
She cried then. She cried because she didn't feel it was fair that her life was all of a sudden stuck. Everything she always dreamed of was just that, a stupid dream that was never going to accomplish. She couldn't get herself to date no guy because she automatically freaked out thinking that they wanted to take advantage of her. She hated this feeling. Whenever she felt she was ready to start dating her mind drifted to that night so long ago. And distrust formed once again. She couldn't understand her own feelings. She was so confused with herself.
Somewhere along her own mental rambling she fell asleep. She sighed feeling something warm enveloping. Then panic set in and she began hitting, kicking and yelling.
"Sere, stop its me.. its just me.." Darien said soothingly comforting her as well as he could. She ceased her movements for a moment and sat up.
"What are you doing here?" she asked looking around, it was almost dawn.
"I couldn't sleep in my apartment." he said shaking his head. "So, I thought I could come here, when I came in you weren't here, I went to the bathroom and saw you laying down on the floor. I carried you to your bed, but you wouldn't stay there, and you came to my bed." he clarified.
She rubbed her eyes. "Thanks." she got up and went to her bed and wrapped the covers around her. She closed her eyes attempting to fall asleep.
He knew she wasn't asleep. He went to her bed and stood infront of her. "Tell me what's wrong." he said demanding. Serena met his gaze and saw concern flash through his feautures. "You have been avoiding me ever since you couldn't tell me what happened to you in the past." he said in a softer voice now. He kneeled beside her bed and took her hands in his. "You have to tell me." he whispered. She used her elbow to lift herself from the bed, she met his gaze and felt naked. It was like he could see through her, like if he knew exactly what was happening to her. Seeing her hesitation and her eyes water he stopped and caressed her cheek with the back of his hand. "I won't push you." he finished.
She smiled softly, sadly. She wrapped her arms around his neck then. "Thank you." she said. He just smiled and held her closer to him. He didn't know what was this feeling he felt every time she touched him, every time she hugged him, or every time she simply smiled.
"I have to go to work by seven, but I can be late, that is if you would like to have breakfast." he said charmingly.
She smiled. "Of course!" she said excitedly, she got up. But he held her in place.
"It's four in the morning, you can still sleep for a few more hours." he said patting her head. He went into the restroom, by the time he got out she was in his bed, snuggled in the covers. He smiled and walked to lay beside her. He closed his eyes allowing sleep to take over him.
"Dear, we are having a rehersal dinner two nights from today, please ask your boyfriend to be here." her mother hesitated for a moment. "Honey why didn't you tell me you were dating the owner of Shields Inc?" Serena froze, she didn't know what was his job, she didn't know that much about him.
"I didn't think it was important." she gave her mother a questioning look. "Is it?" she asked.
"No of course not sweetie." she said smiling.
"Mom the rehersal dinner is supposed to be a few days before my wedding." Mina jumped alarmed.
"Mina don't you see this is just an excuse for me to bring Darien?" Serena said rising to her feet.
"Where are you going dear?" Her mom asked alarmed.
"I am going to tell my boyfriend to please have his schedule clear for friday." she mumbled walking out, her mother just gazed back at her, and exchanged glances with Mina.
Serena reached Shields Inc and glanced at the tall glass building. People were coming in and out in such hurry. She looked at most of the women, no wonder Darien was always getting laid. Over half of the women in there were tall and gorgeous. They looked like models straight out of a magazine. But then there were also a few women in there forties or fifties. But even they looked beautiful.
She reached the front desk to see a woman pobably in her thirties. The suit she wore revealed her breasts in a skanky way. Her red hair was in curls, it was very long. She wore a red lip stick. She was quite different from all the women she had seen. This woman looked like a stripper. She made a gesture of disgust and walked up to her.
"Hello." she said smiling. The woman just glanced at her and raised an eyebrow.
"We are not hiring, so why don't you go back through the way you came from?" she said pointedly.
"What's your name?" Serena asked with clenched teeth. The woman was about to open her mouth when Serena interupted. "Just so I can know who to tell my boyfriend to fire." she finished. The woman's eyes widened and her skin went through several kinds of reds.
"That's impossible." she said in laughter. "Darien Shields would never get a girlfriend." she said crossing her arms.
"Well he did." she stood her ground. She didn't have his celphone number. "I suggest you call him and make him come down here before I get agressive." she said pointedly. She regretted it, what if Darien denied having a girlfriend and laughed at her. That would be even more humiliating.
The woman picked her phone up. She dialed a number. "Raye?, yes there is a woman in here who claims to be Mr. Shields girlfriend. Would you be so kind to tell him to come down here, or should I call security?" she asked with laughter. Her smile soon faded. "Okay." she hanged up the phone, "Wait for him here." she said, then she ignored her and begined typing in her computer.
Darien sat reading some papers when suddenly his door burst open. He glanced to see Raye fumming.
"Is everything-" he didn't get to finish.
"No!, you get a girlfriend!, finally after years of me shoving women to you and all you did was sleep with them and then you get a girlfriend and I have to find out through Beryl?" she screamed. Darien stared eyed wide. "No wonder you have been leaving early!, and you haven't been booking dinners with girls lately." she said sitting down on one of the chairs infront of him.
"How did Beryl find out?" he asked leaning back on his desk.
"Apparently she is in the lobby asking for you." she said walking outside. Darien stood up and walked outside.
"And you are telling me this now?" he asked walking to the elevator. He was eager to reach the lobby for some reason, 'because you are going to see her.' His mind whispered. He shook his head. The elevator beeped, when the doors opened and he walked out looking for the blonde in question.
She stood with her arms crossed. She wore black leather boots, her jeans were tucked inside the boots. Her red raincoat reached almost her knees and underneath she wore a black turtleneck sweater. Her hair was in soft curls down her back. He couldn't help himself but smile.
"Serena!" he yelled, she turned to him and gave him the most beautiful smile he had ever seen. When he reached her he kissed her lips softly and looked at her up and down. She blushed slightly which only made her look even better. He gazed back at Beryl. "Beryl this is my girlfriend, next time she comes allow her to go to my office immediatly." he said demanding.
Beryl had several shades of red. "Of course Mr. Shields." she said formally. All traces of sarcasm and hatred gone.
He smiled and led Serena to the elevator. She stopped. "No elevators. Remember?" she asked sheepishly.
He looked amused. "This elevators are constantly checked. There is no way you could stay there for over two minutes."
She shook her head. "I don't care, I am not going in there."
"Yes you are, I will be with you, it's gonna be okay." he argued.
"You make it sound like you are some kind of super heroe, and if the damn thing fails you would be able to do something." she yelled.
"No, not me but I would be able to ask for help in difference from you who would be in a catatonic state" he said in clenched teeth.
"I am not going inside that thing!" she yelled.
"I am not going twenty-five floors up through the stairs!" he yelled back.
They looked around to see they had attracted the attention of other people. She met his gaze.
"I can't go in there." she said. "You are going to have to make me." she finished shutting her eyes. He gently took her arm and guided her into the elevator. The door closed, he pressed the button provoking a beep. Still she held her eyes closed. "Talk to me." she demanded.
He smiled slightly. "What are you doing here?" he asked.
"I came.." she began, "Because my mom made up a rehersal dinner for friday night." she muttered. "And I need you to go." she finished. She gulped as the elevator beeped again.
"Friday?" he asked. She nodded in response. "What time?"
"Around seven or so."
The elevator beeped one last time. "We are here." he said taking her hand and leading her outside.
When she finally opened her eyes she saw a huge glass wall. There was a portrait on the wall covering most of it. The man on it looked like Darien. His features were sharper. He sat on a chair, he wore a suit. There was a small inscription on the bottom. 'Damien Endymion Shields III' she gazed back at Darien to see him staring at her amused.
"He was my great grandfather. He founded the company." he answered before she even asked.
"What's your full name?" she asked in amazement.
"Darien Endymion Shields, not very sure of what number." he chuckled.
She looked at him with a gaze filled with admiration. "It's beautiful." she said seriously.
Their gazes met for a second but it broke at the sound of the glass door sliding open. Before Serena a gorgeous woman stood staring intently at them. But most of all her. She was a bit taller than Serena, she had long straight black violet hair. Her eyes were a beautiful violet color, that seemed to darken to her concentration towards her.
Serena was sure that he had something to do with the secretary. Just like the one in the lobby. Just like over fifty percent of the female workers in his company. Her posture stiffened visibly. She shook any sort of feeling she could feel towards him and returned the woman's gaze.
Darien entered allowing Serena to enter first. "Raye, this is Serena, my girlfriend." he said motioning to Serena.
"You have a call on line two, it's Evan." she said staring intently towards Serena.
Darien looked between both women. And then to Serena, "I got to take this give me a second." he dissapeared inside his office.
Just then Raye crossed her arms and stared at her. "So, Serena you are Darien's girlfriend?" she asked .
"Apparently." she answered frowning.
"So tell me what makes you believe that my dearest Darien will settle down with you?"
She smiled slightly at that. "I have no expectations from him." she replied relaxing a little.
"Meaning?"
"I don't think he will settle completly ever, maybe right now he is going through a phase in the one he is tired of going from women to women, that doesn't mean he plans to completly settle down. I am willingly to take whatever he offers to me."
Raye smiled and hugged her. "Finally!" she squeeled. "I'm Raye, I have known the moron since we were kids, I married one of his best friends." she showed her the rings. "Three years already, for the ones I have been personally shoving women into his direction, he either rejects them or sleeps with them, I haven't decided which one is worst jet." she finished. "Tell me about you, are you from New York?" she asked interested.
During her little explanation only one part caught to Serena. She was married. This was a fucking epidemy, everywhere she looked there were married people. She shook her thoughts aside. "Yes, I am from here, born and raised." she muttered.
"I didn't mean to sound like a bitch, it's just that there are so many girls out there that try to date Darien for his economic status." she clarified seeing Serena's hesitation.
"It's alright, when we started dating I didn't even think he had a job, he was always going home with different women, I didn't think that he would have time to work." she said smiling, technically it was true, she always thought that he just had that crappy apartment and that that was it. She never wondered about him further than she already had.
Raye began laughing. "It would seem that way, but he owns one of the most succesfull companies in the country, I know the work he does. I've been his secretary for two years now." she said smiling. Darien appeared on the doorway.
"Raye stop interogating her." he said taking Serena's hand.
"If you would have told me to stop shoving women your way and you would settle down, I would have stopped a lot sooner." she said smiling.
He rolled his eyes then. "Go back to work Raye." he muttered leading Serena inside his office.
"I shouldn't even had come up here, I could have told you in the lobby." she hesitated then, "You didn't have to tell them that I was your girlfriend, I appreciate it though." he smiled brightly then.
"It's alright, I enjoy seeing the face of people at the thought that I am finally settling down." he said leaning on his desk.
She frowned then, it was all a game to him, well what else could she expect. "I think I should go, I have done enough today ." she smiled, but the smile didn't reach her eyes.
"But you just got here!" he said rising to his feet and walking around so he was leaning against his desk. "If you wait a couple of minutes, we could have lunch." he said taking her hand and kissing the back of it.
She jerked the touch. A whole lifetime avoiding guys like him so she could end up head over heels for their king, hells no. "That's nice. I promised Andrew that I would have lunch with him, the last time I saw him he said he would go for dinner at my place, but I guess he couldn't make it." she said rising quickly. "I'll see you later I guess." she said walking quickly to the exit.
"Leaving so soon?" Raye asked making her jump slightly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to freak you out." she said.
"Um yes, I have things to do, excuse me." she said walking to the emergency exit through the stairs.
Raye stood up and crossed her arms. Darien emerged from his office.
"What did you do asshole?" she scolded. "And why did she just go through the stairs instead of using the elevator?" she asked confused.
"Nothing, we were talking and then she just said she had to leave." he said with clenched teeth. "And to your second question that is none of your fucking business Raye." he muttered going back inside his office frowning. She started acting weird all of a sudden. And she had to go to have dinner with Andrew?, Why did it bother him so much that she was going out with Andrew?, he wondered as he sat on his leather chair and stared out his window.
Thanks for reading! (: