For Better or Worse
Chapter 6 : Event Before Hand
[Eriol]
"Hi."
"Hello." I hissed in a graveled voice towards the subject of my irritation as I flipped the papers flagrantly, ignoring the presence of my fellow guardian.
Nakuru settled onto the stool opposite of me, let out a chirpy 'Finally!' and resume her morning by pouring herself a cup of coffee from the kettle. I continued my breakfast quietly, peering through my glasses occasionally to see her fumbling with a white envelope that was sealed with an all-familiar imprint. I eyed her bleakly as she tore away the corner of the envelope hungrily and chime in her squeaky voice, "Mail! Mail!". Some things never change.
It was then when I thought the morning couldn't have got weirder, series of loud thumps reverberated through the still morning air of the mansion, the source of rampage ensued from the particular chamber which I was been trying to avoid for days. Nakuru seemed the least disturbed as she proceeded with her work while Spinel had plonked himself onto the glass table in front of the television set, totally engrossed with the programme he was watching.
"Morning." A sleepy figure entered the kitchen, rubbing her eyes lethargically. "Coffee please."
I tried to mouth a reply but nothing came out from my mouth. I could only nod.
I found myself observed her from the corner of my eyes as she lounged herself onto the chair beside me, obviously half-asleep as the sounds coming from her room indicated something and her hair didn't seem twice as neat as it used to be. Staring unwittingly at the toast before me, my mind ran through some random thoughts. Ever since the last week incident, both me and Tomoyo never did share another word even though we were living under the same roof, not to mention surviving at one another's existence. It would be like this every other morning of the week – a placid breakfast and a formal exchange of pleasantries. She would utter 'good morning' in a hazardously half-asleep manner while I simply nod to return the courtesy. And then both of us would remain impassive, showing neither interest nor concern at the other's presence, each minding each business, each did everything but talking to the other.
All of this had became an aspect of morning life that I have begun to expect and to deal with.
Perhaps this will be like any other morning, I told myself and took a big bite off the marmalade orange toast.
"Morning." Nakuru placed a mug in front of Tomoyo and filled it up with an ambiguous smile. Tomoyo's rheumy eyes roved all over the kitchen and eventually fixated themselves onto the gratifying mug of the brown liquid. She stared at the brewing liquid for a moment to register the object and then slurped down the contents in a split second. Eriol could only crease his brow.
"More please."
Nakuru obeyingly poured her a second round. The envelope that she had busied herself moments ago was now left unfolded on the table.
Tomoyo drained the mug promptly; savouring the warm sensation it brought to her numbed throat. She hove in a breath and stretched herself into a comfy position after settling the mug down. Her hand was then stretched at the direction of the toasts when suddenly, a piece of parchment met her vision and Nakuru was hovering above her very head.
"Guess what, guess what??!!" She shrieked exuberantly while waving the paper-made material impatiently.
Tomoyo stared boringly into the parchment before her, scanning words after words with utmost listlessness as if the sheet of paper bore some ancient monograms that held no interest towards her. " You are cordially invited to the Charity Event Night at…" she mouthed the context to no one in particular, pausing once a while to decipher the meaning behind the text and the reason to that enigmatic grin on Nakuru's face. She read on till the last passage, chewing the toast absent-mindedly while trying to rephrase some of the words.
"Charity event?"
Eriol caught Tomoyo's eyes and disregarded it with a shrug and resume his reading on a particular article on technology and science. Tomoyo cocked her head lightly and then turned to Nakuru who was too delighted to even give her a proper answer.
"Oh, it will be a grand night! Imagine…the most glorious place in town." Nakuru said dreamily. "The whole arena would be adorned with beauteous fabrics of best materials and packed with rich men from all over the city as you sway to the rhythm of the soothing music. If you're lucky, you could even get an affluent and good-looking bachelor!"
Tomoyo yawned feebly while excusing herself for a third round of coffee.
"People from all walks of life, flocking from all over the country just to attend this spectacular event with a same reason…"
"What does it got to do with me then?" Tomoyo inquired dryly, totally feeling dreary of the lack of peace in the mansion, be it a Saturday morning. But then again, everyday is a Saturday to Nakuru.
"Of course it has got to do with you, young missy! Who you think is going to be Eriol's date if it's not you? You wouldn't want me to be his date, do you? Come to think of it, I wouldn't even want to be his date. He is…" She glared skeptically at the fore mention person. "—boring. And not to mention dull and lifeless."
Eriol looked up from the paper and shot them a questioning look.
"But…why me then?!" Tomoyo raised her voice.
"Well, firstly, he is apparently single and does not possess a girlfriend. He is too fogey to have one anyway." Tomoyo furrowed her brows. A nerve was twitched somewhere in Eriol's head. "You know…old-fashioned," she added on softly, afraid of the consequences if she muttered the word out loud.
"Secondly," she coughed, "you are definitely free on that night because I know you are free all the time."
"And thirdly, I now have a reason for you people to ditch all your work and take me out for shopping." She grinned wickedly and clasped her hands in pure joy as she announced cheerfully, "As soon as everyone is done, we are going to the mall!"
"Hey, I haven't even state my 'yes' or 'no' yet!" Tomoyo blustered, her cheeks suddenly flushed a cherish hue, bringing life to her pallid mien.
Nakuru looked down at her wrist watch. "Okay, you have three second to answer me…three, two, one…ping pong, you're going!" And sounds of popping balloons echoed from the background.
"Not fair! Even Eriol didn't have the chance to voice out his thoughts!"
"Oh, don't worry about him. He is definitely going." Nakuru said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Tomoyo darted her attention at the muted figure on her left hand side. An empty chair greeted her sight. "What the…"
"He's up in his room, changing. Going to drive us out to the mall after this." Nakuru replied assumingly to the confused Tomoyo.
"Whatever it is," she slipped into her chair, still shocked at the abrupt decision, "you're not making me go to that function of yours."
"Come on Tomoyo…if you won't do this for yourself, at least do it for Eriol. He hasn't been talking much for days and I'm afraid he might just develop a mouth tumour."
"What crap is that? There's no such thing as 'mouth tumour' to begin with."
"Oh yes there is. Okay, okay, if you don't want to do it for that poor master of mine, do it for me then. It would make me incredibly happy…and all those bachelors who will be attending for the event too." Nakuru looked as if she would cry and sulk in a corner if Tomoyo does not agree to this.
"You would not. They would not."
"Sure we would. Look," Nakuru bounced across the kitchen. "You've already made me happy."
"Bah." Tomoyo looked away. "You look like you need a serious kick on your head. Perhaps I could be the best person to kick some sense into that leaky brain of yours."
"Tomoyo…" Nakuru pouted, performed her puss-in-boots pleading action. "Tomoyo"
Swallowing a lump in her throat, Tomoyo's face faulted and quickly looked away, nodding slightly to acknowledge her pleading. Now I know why Eriol can't win over Nakuru when it comes to trivial matters such as this.
Nakuru grinned evilly.
Tomoyo glanced at Nakuru and then at the fabric she was holding, and then back to Nakuru again. She cast an eye over the piece of fabric that was fished out randomly from the rack of dresses by the older girl and couldn't help but to feel nauseous and somewhat disgusted at the sheet of material named 'cloth'. It was violet in colour, embroidered with glittery beads that stood out from the rest of the designs. Purely speaking, it was not the colour that disgusted her; it's the too-much-revealing parts that annoyed her the most. The dress was designed in such a way that the lower part cut up to her thighs and the handkerchief front was so thin that it acted only as a sheath for her breast. Her back would be bare until her lower waist and if she is not careful, perhaps the whole piece of what to be known as a 'dress' would just tore off right on the spot.
"I am NOT wearing that." Tomoyo pointed out.
"Who say that's for you?" Nakuru replied and quickly shoved it to Eriol who was leaning by the counter. "He would look good in it."
"Shut up." And Eriol chucked the dress aside.
"Heh. You're no fun Eriol." Nakuru teased, sticking out her tongue.
"I'm in a mall, darn it. What would you possibly expect?" Eriol retorted, stuffing his hands into the pocket and pretended he is going to just walk away and leaves the girl to their shopping while he browse the whole lot of shops around.
"You could at least comment something on the dress we are getting for our dear Tomoyo. She's your date after all."
"I didn't agree to your one-sided proposal before hand anyway."
"You have no veto power over matters such as this, my dear master."
"Since when?" Eriol roused a brow.
"Ever since you employed me as your faithful guardian. Now…feel my wrath!" Nakuru said through gritted teeth and her hands were positioned in a Hitler way.
"Whatever."
"Heh!" She pronounced blithely, "I win. Now Tomoyo…" She scooped a handful of glowing dresses into Tomoyo's opened arms and elatedly pushed her into the changing room. "—try all these dresses and show them to me one by one."
The dazed raven-haired girl struggled deflatedly under the weight of the dresses and clumsily spun herself at Eriol. "I will never hear the end of this, will I?" He simply shrugged in denial.
"Nope, you won't." Nakuru cried whimsically.
And the door of the changing room was locked shut.
Eriol was now left alone with his all-annoying Nakuru who surfed from rack to rack of dresses in hope to spot for a perfect dress for the perfect couple. A couple high-pitch voices soon drifted to Eriol's ears as a mini group of girls who were trying out on dresses, spotted him at the distant corner and were debating on how to walk up to him. He, of course, ignored them and fiddled with his mobile phone uninterestingly.
"Hey."
"…"
"Hello, hello? Earth to Eriol, earth to Eriol."
Eriol pretended not to hear them as if his ears were playing tricks on him.
"Eriol…oh, Eriol…"
Sputtering with anger, he whispered in a low, monotonous tone. "What?"
"Hi. Welcome back."
He frowned. "Haven't you reached the annoy-me quota of the day yet?"
"Didn't all this years teach you nothing? I'm an over-achiever." Nakuru waggled a finger at him.
"Aah." He replied with a huff.
"You know well that connivance doesn't pay, don't you? It would only encourage the evil me to keep going. And if you don't want me to annoy you, don't ignore me."
"As if that would work."
"Talk to me more often and I shall stop annoying you."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"Your promises are bull."
Nakuru grinned good-naturedly and patted his back. Eriol, if possible, frowned some more.
Toying with the gowns in the next rack and pulled them off the display corner before gathering them in her arms, Nakuru ventured a question. "It's okay to go with her right?" She asked in a quaver tone as she grasped the gowns tightly. A restrained look etched over her feature.
Eriol said nothing but had his head cast down. Nakuru made no attempt to pursue the question further and shouted at the cubicle occupied by Tomoyo as a remainder so that she could hurry up while she plowed into the cubicle next to hers to try out some of the gowns she gathered. As the sound of creaking and shutting of the door mingled with the chatters from the crowd in the store, Eriol nibbled his lips for the umpteenth time of his life as he cursed himself indiscreetly for not being able to forget the woman he once loved.
[Tomoyo]
I stepped out from the stuffing cubicle with heavy legs, fidgeting nervously at the end of the dress. I couldn't remember when was the last time I have actually worn a formal night gown and suddenly the whole process of putting it on seemed hard and tedious. I closed my eyes and held my breath as steadily as possible; willing the stress and the anxiety to drain away from my mind even though I knew it wouldn't help much. Ironical as it may sound, I was a tad bit nervous. Oh well…here goes nothing…
"How… do I look?" I stammered between the words as I pulled up the best smile I could to mask the nervousness.
"Whoah, Tomoyo… you look gorgeous!" Nakuru strode over and clamped a hand on my shoulder. "I almost thought you were someone else. This really suits you."
"Nakuru…" I started. "How the hell do you change so quickly?" I pointed out as I realized that Nakuru had changed into a shade of blue gown.
"I had the tricks up my sleeves." She chuckled.
"But, you were in that blouse a moment ago and now…"
"Hush now…twirl around and see."
I followed her instruction and made a small twirl. "Aah…great! Now that the attire part is done…ooi Eriol! What do you think?"
Darn! When I had almost begun to feel normal with this skimpy gown…
Why o' why must he stare at me with those unearthly eyes of his?
Aaah, I tried to update as soon as possible and this is what I come out with. The mysterious man and the mysterious letter shall be better explained in chapters yet to come. Maybe the next chapter or so because the ball coming!! Yeah, the ball is coming! Expect more funny scenes and heart-throbbing actions in the future chapters, till then!
Signing out,
Psychokyugurl