Disclaimer: Still broke… still own nothing… too tired… ugh… I like ellipses. Yey…

IV-A. Interlude: Idealism

After the festivities, after the guests have left, after the grand reception, after that incident with Kaidou, Rei, for the first time in weeks, breathed a sigh of relief. For so many weeks, she had to keep up a rather exhausting charade. Now that the wedding and the reception was done, there was no need to keep up the charade. Well, except for when they were to attend parties, galas and such.

Ungracefully hoisting the train of her gown, Rei proceeded to walk to where the elevators were. After an exhausting couple of weeks, she wanted nothing more that to cry herself to sleep.

When she neared the executive elevator, she saw the familiar blonde head of her husband and another unfamiliar blonde head talking by the elevator. She hid before she could be seen and observed her new husband philandering on their wedding night with some woman in a dress that left very little to the imagination. A few seconds later, the blonde laughed and stood on her tiptoes to give Jared a little peck on the cheek.

She didn't know why, but that little peck and the fact that Jared did nothing to discourage it, had her tightly clenching the train of her gown. The rational part of her tried to reason- the woman could be an associate, a close friend… or a mistress. Rei tried to ignore her latter suspicion, but her mind wouldn't listen and she wasn't able to cast the suspicion aside.

When the blonde was out of sight, Rei resumed walking back to the elevator where she joined a surprised and rather guilty-looking Jared. That look, that guilty, I just got caught look was all she needed for evidence. She wanted to accuse him, call him out, ask him about the blonde… but she didn't. She was too tired to even accuse him of anything. Her little episode with Kaidou had exhausted her and she just wanted to rest.

Neither one of them said a thing on the elevator ride to their suite. Rei kept looking forward, her face nonchalant- albeit, tired. She cast a sidelong glance to Jared and found him leaning against the elevator, his eyes fixed on the elevator door. Once they entered the lavishly decorated hotel suite, Rei headed straight for the plush, canopy bed while Jared headed for the bathroom.

There was nothing vaguely romantic about their first night as a married couple. Jared had not offered to carry her to their suite in his arms, nor did he even try to make a move on her- not that she wanted him to. The only thing that could be considered remotely romantic was the red rose petals scattered on top of the frilly, canopy bed and the lit scented candles. Rei huffed angrily, she never really liked roses and all the scented candles were making her lightheaded.

Jared immerged from the bathroom, sans jacket and tie. His once crisp, white shirt was untucked and unbuttoned halfway. It was the first time she'd seen him look so casual, and, as much as she hated to admit it, he looked unbelievably good. Without even looking at her, he walked towards the door and quickly mouthed, "I'm going out. I'll be quick."

Rei refused to dignify whatever he said with a response.

When she heard the door slam shut, she began the tedious task of removing her gown. Rei had no time to worry about Jared and his little affairs on the side- she didn't even love the man, why would it matter? If he wanted to jeopardize their marriage, then she'd let him. She didn't even know why she gave a damn when she saw him talking to that blonde.

Just another man…

Rei reached and flailed helplessly as she tried to undo the laces of the corseted gown. Sadly, it wasn't an easy task. When she put on the gown, she had an Abigail of sorts to do the intricate lacing. When it was clear that she needed help unlacing the dress, she fell to the bed and started to cry. How was it that what was considered the happiest day of a woman's life turned out to the most miserable day of her life?

It was unusual of her to cry. She had always been a strong person, but the present circumstances left her tired and weak. What was worse was that she had no one to comfort her or anyone to just listen- she was alone.

No! I am not beaten. I can still win this.

She sat up, determined not to feel down despite all the unfortunate events that happened as of late. She tried the corset again, and yet again miserably failed. Then, she felt two large hands working undoing the laces.

Jared…Back so soon?

"Thank you." Rei mumbled almost incoherently when he finished. She didn't even hear him come in.

A part of her wanted to despise Jared, but the other part wanted to learn to like him, that part of her wanted things to work out… that even if this wasn't what she had planned for herself, maybe, just maybe, she could make things work. But how could things possibly work? She saw him with another woman on their wedding night.

Rei tried to clear her mind. Why was she thinking about this again? She did not love the man; she didn't even care for him. There was no possible way for things to ever work out- and the man had a mistress!

Idealism can only go so far.

Being optimistic never helped her. She had been optimistic about her father and his intentions of taking her back, but look where that got her. She had been optimistic about Kaidou and that kiss, but he married someone else and forgot about her. Rei had given up on optimism- and on men. They have brought nothing but pain in her life. She was tired of pain- she wanted to be happy.

Everything had always been a struggle. Her mother's life, her father's love, even Kaidou's love… Now, even her happiness has become a struggle. She was growing tired of struggling- if happiness was not for her then she would just accept the fact that her life will always be miserable.

She was too lost in thought that she did not sense that Jared was kneeling right in front of her, looking intently at her face.

She felt his rough hand cup her face, his thumb wiping away the trail of black smear that her tears and mascara made. "So you do know how to cry."

Rei batted his hand and pushed him away. "Go to hell."

Jared lost his footing after Rei's non-too-friendly shove, but regained it and quickly stood back up. He smirked the smug smirk he knew irritated her and said, "This marriage-"

"…is a charade and nothing more." She interrupted before he could even finish.

He gave a little shake of the head and tried to calm himself down. He never liked being interrupted. His subordinates knew that very well. The unfortunate soul stupid enough to interrupt the notorious Jared Masato was fired on the spot- the poor soul didn't even get to plead his case.

Jared cleared his throat and spoke as if he hadn't been interrupted, "-could work."

His lips curved into an all-to sexy grin at her bewildered expression. "What?" He heard her ask.

"Us…we can try to make this work." He gestured to the two of them.

She snorted again, something he realized she often did, "Work? What makes you think I want things to work? I want nothing to do with you!"

Undaunted by the coldness in her voice, Jared once again walked towards his lovely wife. This time, he opted to sit on the bed rather than kneel in front of her- lest she shoves him away again. As he moved closer, he noticed her slowly inching away from him. Before she could get off the bed, he grabbed her arm and yanked it, making her clumsily fall on top of him. He clamped a strong arm around her waist to keep her immobile and held her face.

In a deep and husky voice that epitomized sensuousness, he said, "You're a terrible liar, sweetheart."

TBC

A/N

I know, I know. I promised this a loooong time ago, but I got busy and had an extreme case of vertigo. Vertigo is unbelievably terrible- the whole damn world was effin spinning!

So yeah… Interlude. But technically, not an interlude… Well, in a way, this chapter is. Gawd, I'm no good at explaining technicalities. Anyhoo, just try to understand it, okay?

IV-B. Interlude: Touch

Review, flame… whatever. :D

This is so long overdue: THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH TO ALL THE REVIEWERS. DisconnectSelfDestruct, Jared or Kaidou? hmmm… hmmmmm