Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne - but I own everything else - MWHAHAHAHAHA!
Chapter Seven
Out of the Office
When Hitomi got in Van's car, she was more relaxed than she thought possible. It wasn't a fancy car, but an ordinary Toyota sedan, very much like the one her parents owned. The interior was even similar.
She gave Van directions to her apartment. Part way though her discourse Van stopped her by asking, "Couldn't you just give me the address? It seems like we're just following the number twelve bus."
Hitomi shuddered. They were following the number twelve bus. She wasn't very familiar with the city, even though she had lived there for almost a year and didn't know how to get anywhere without taking the bus. It was because she was a country girl.
She blushed and gave him the address.
Van changed lanes and look them onto a much faster moving road. Apparently, they had really been going the slow way.
Finally, he parked in front of her building. "Do you want to come in?" Hitomi asked nervously. She had never invited a guy up to her apartment before. Even the idea of it made her all twitchy.
"That was the plan," he said, taking off his seatbelt.
"Why?" she asked.
"Because, I came to watch you change."
"What!" Hitomi exclaimed. "I am not going to let you watch me change. That's just too … horrible."
"Look, Hitomi, I'm not trying to get a glimpse of you naked or something, but I want to watch you turn into yourself. Don't you think that'll take the spell off both of us?"
Hitomi looked at him carefully. What he said made a great deal of sense to her. He was probably right. If he watched her take off her wig, and all her other flare and then saw her in her regular clothes with no makeup on and her glasses then the illusion would probably be destroyed. If he didn't like her for who she truly was then it would come out right away and both of them would be spared the pain of not getting who they wanted.
"Okay," Hitomi said, thinking that there was a possibility that after he saw the transformation that he wouldn't want to make her supper anymore and would simply leave the apartment. For some reason, she couldn't let that happen. She wanted a chance to convince him that 'Hitomi' was a really amazing girl, so she had to have dinner with him. She absolutely had to. "But, I'd rather not do that here if that's okay. Could I just get a bag and come over to your place?"
Van looked shocked. "I guess that would be okay," he said reluctantly.
"Kay. I'll be right back," Hitomi said, getting out of the car and heading into the building.
Merle was ecstatic about the possibility of being Hitomi's makeup artist for the campaign and nearly hit the roof.
"Yay me!" she declared happily. "Well, should we go out to celebrate?"
Hitomi bit her lip and went into her bedroom without answering. She had to pack her bag.
"What are you doing?" Merle asked when she saw Hitomi fill up a duffle bag with clothes and shoes. "You're not doing something else that I shouldn't tell your mom, are you?"
"No," Hitomi said, realizing full well that it looked like she was packing an overnight bag. "I'll be back tonight. I won't be fooling around or anything."
"What will you be doing?" Merle asked seriously.
Hitomi thought about telling her what she and Van had planned, but decided against it. Merle probably wasn't the type to understand that level of understanding, and Hitomi didn't want to be ridiculed. "None of your business," she said, sliding her makeup remover into her bag.
"Okay, but phone if you're going to be in past two. If I wake up in the morning and you're not here, I'll call your parents and ask them if you went home for the weekend."
Hitomi nodded. She knew that Merle wasn't joking. She really would phone her parents over something like that.
Hitomi gathered the rest of her stuff together and went down to Van's car. She opened the backdoor and threw her bag in before she got in the front seat.
"Does it really take that much stuff?" he asked her.
"Yes, it does."
"Okay then," he said, shifting the car into reverse. "This is probably going to be a very illuminating experience for me."
Van's apartment was a lot nicer than Hitomi expected. There was hardwood flooring. The countertops were marble, the appliances were silver, the sofa was leather, and the plants were real.
Hitomi sat down on the couch and said, "You must make a lot more money than I do."
Van shrugged his
shoulders. "This isn't really my place. This is my brother's.
He's just not living here right now, so I pay rent to him. It's
not even my style, but it's a dang sight better than living in the
type of place I could afford. I haven't been working for very
long, so it's thanks to him that I get to have this kind of
lifestyle."
She nodded.
"Are you disillusioned about me?" Van asked.
"What do you mean?"
"I haven't got a fancy car. Surely you saw the Jaguar Dilandau drives. No? And this place; sure, it's nice, but it's not mine," he said dryly. It was like he was trying to pull the wool off Hitomi's eyes in the same way she was trying to disenchant him.
"Do you think I'm impressed with money?" she questioned.
"Well, I'm not sure. I can't get the way you talked about your escort service job out of my head. You really did it for the money, so I was left wondering how much you cared about that sort of thing."
"I only took that job because I was practically starving. Come on, I told you before that I didn't harbour any little dreams of becoming a model or an actress. I wanted to be an administrative assistant and live off that modest income honestly. I didn't want to live a glamorous life or anything like that." She paused. "Actually, this place is kind of intimidating. You'd know that my kitchen has lino flooring and that the fridge and the stove are different colours? We don't even own a dishwasher."
"But doesn't that make you aim for something better?" Van asked as he sat down on one of the arms of the sofa.
"No. Actually, I didn't realize how mismatched my apartment was until I saw your arrangement. Most of the stuff in my apartment isn't even mine. It belongs to my cousin. So, you and I are in a similar situation. You just have a wealthier relative," she said smiling. "Besides, I think I'm even more comfortable with you knowing that this stuff isn't yours. This is a pretty sterile place, isn't it?"
Van smiled and moved to a chair exactly adjacent to where Hitomi was sitting.
"Now it's your turn," he said. "I've shown you mine, now you show me yours."
Hitomi bit her lip. He was right. For men, it often seemed like their appeal was based on their purchasing power instead of themselves. She couldn't blame him for being a little nervous when she was the type of girl to sell herself for a hundred dollars an hour, which made her too expensive for his blood.
She reached into her bag and pulled out a mirror, which she propped on the coffee table between them and tilted towards her face. Then she crossed her legs and prepared to get started.
"The first thing to come off is the wig," she said pulling the claws out of her hair. Once it was off her real hair (though short) was pinned down in the front. It was terribly flattened, because wig hair is worse than hat hair. "Look at this," she said, showing Van the inside of the wig. "These claws go into my real hair to hold the wig in place."
"Are they uncomfortable?" he asked.
"They feel okay for the first couple of hours, but I can't wear it for more than eight hours or I'll have a legendary headache. But it also depends on how heavy the wig is. This is a heavier one because of its length. The wig is the last thing I put on before I leave for a job." Hitomi picked up a comb and brushed it before she put it away in its bag. "Next thing to come off is all this jewelry," Hitomi said as she started stripping her ears of their dangly earrings. "None of this stuff belongs to me," Hitomi explained.
"Whose are they?" Van asked.
"My cousin Merle's. She's the one who got me into escorting. I don't know how long she did it before she got me involved. She owns a lot of clothes, a lot of jewelry and a lot of makeup. She could probably start her own agency just on her personal store. The wig is borrowed from the escort service though. Merle has beautiful hair and would never degrade herself by wearing a wig. She's more like the real meal deal whereas I'm just a substitute for when she's got too many clients."
"I didn't realize you thought of yourself that way. You might be prettier," Van commented.
"I might be, but I think that depends on what you think is beautiful. So, once I've got all that crap off me, then the fake eyelashes come off," she said, getting enthusiastic.
"You wear fake eyelashes!" Van exclaimed.
"Yup. Not only am I sort of fair; I don't have dark eye lashes, but mine aren't very long, so fake eyelashes are an absolute must-have." Her appearance was extremely different once they were removed.
Hitomi couldn't stand to look at Van during this phase of her transformation. It was too much. No woman likes to be wiped completely clean of all makeup in front of the guy she likes. Besides, even Hitomi wore eyeliner and mascara on a regular basis. Now her face was all the same colour, except for her irises.
She reached into her hair and pulled out the pins. She shook her hair out and said quietly. "Now there's only the clothes left. Oh, and these," she said, reaching into her shirt and pulling her inserts out of her bra. This was a meaningless exercise if she didn't go all the way. She dropped them on the floor between them and was aware that her shirt was considerably looser.
She couldn't look at Van. That was just too hard.
"I'm going to go change my clothes now," she said, getting up and grabbing her bag. Then she disappeared around the corner and found the bathroom. She closed the door behind her noisily and tried to slow her pounding heart. What had she just done? What Van said in the car made so much sense, so why was she panicking now? Well, now she was certain that he wouldn't be confused anymore about whether or not he was attracted to her. This would be the end of it, but she might still be able to salvage their work relationship.
Hitomi reached into her bag and pulled out the clothes she decided would represent what she normally wore. As Tomi she was wearing a black off-the-shoulder top and a brown corduroy skirt. She brought baby blue capris and a white fitted t-shirt. It was plain and ordinary and exactly her style.
She looked in the mirror. Her hair was horribly flat. Well, there was no reason why Hitomi couldn't be pretty after her own fashion. She started the water running in the tub and put her head under the stream. At least she could easily give her hair volume when it was short. She towel dried her hair and then rooted around in Van's medicine cabinet until she found his gel. Sure, she'd smell like him, but it was better then letting her hair dry without any product in it at all. When she was finished, it wasn't so bad. It was just herself and she didn't think that she was ugly.
She clicked open the door and came out into the hall. Van was in the kitchen. He was cutting up vegetables on a glass cutting board.
"Can I help?" she asked, coming into the room.
Van turned and looked at her.
Hitomi wasn't sure how to read his expression. Was he disappointed in her and trying really hard to hide it? What was he thinking? "So, what do you think?" she got up the nerve to ask.
He smiled and then he started to laugh. "You know, this isn't what I expected at all."
"What do you mean? How could you not expect this?" Hitomi asked, indicating her appearance. "This is how I look every day at work."
"That's not what I mean. When I said that I wanted to see you change from 'Tomi' to 'Hitomi' what I was honestly expecting was for you to stand in front of your bedroom door, curtsy, go inside and come out again looking exactly like you normally do. But then when you said that you wanted to do it over at my place, I was really confused. From what you said, it almost seemed like you were going to try to seduce me, but what you had in mind was … different. I never expected you to practically throw your breast pads at me," he laughed.
"How is that funny?" she scowled.
"It's extremely funny. I don't have any sisters. I didn't see a crowd of teenage girls first thing in the morning after a slumber party. My mother is a very pretty lady who doesn't think it's her son's business to know anything about her morning routine. And to top it off, most of the girls I've been friends with would have died of embarrassment if I had seen them without their war paint. What you just showed me was … really eye opening for me. I had no idea makeup did that much. Now I'm suspicious that everyone looks completely different without it."
"So, you're not horrified?" she asked.
"No. I'm not horrified. It's actually pretty funny, and I'm hopelessly intrigued that you manage to pull it off, because you're right. You really do seem to have a different attitude when you're 'Tomi'. Come here and cut up the cabbage," he said, calling her over and giving her a knife.
They shared the same cutting board. He cut up the onion while she cut up the cabbage.
"So, which one of us do you like better?" she asked nervously.
"Well, my apologies to Tomi, but she's too cool to be real. She's really too spectacular for words. You're really perfect when you play her. Honestly, men drool over you from across the room. There's yet another reason for me to kiss you without breaking on New Year's Eve. Do you think I wanted every guy there kissing you? No Sir."
"That's thoughtful of you," Hitomi said, blushing.
"I'm very thoughtful," he said, jabbing her playfully with his elbow. "But, I don't know if a person could really be as cool as Tomi in real life. Something about it doesn't ring true – like a part of your personality is missing. You do an excellent job, but you turn yourself into a dream for a guy, like an actress or a poster girl. I guess that's why Dilandau is trying to make you a model."
"Or something like that," Hitomi said clicking her tongue on her teeth. She noticed that he didn't tell her what he thought of her – Hitomi – but she'd have to let that go for now. It would be too humiliating to ask him about it twice. But she could ask him something else, "So, what was the deal with you and Celena anyway?"
"Nothing much. She kept chasing after me and I kept running a little faster than she did. That doesn't mean that I didn't get stuck going on dates with her once and awhile, because I did. It was just never as meaningful for me as it was for her."
"Why don't you like her?" Hitomi asked.
"I don't know. She's a nice person. She's smart, successful, well-connected, and sort of pretty, but I can't make myself be interested in her."
"Why not? If she's all that?"
Van thought for a moment before he answered, "Celena is very disciplined. She eats the way she is supposed to, works out as much as she is supposed to, votes, and visits her parents. I don't know how to describe it. She lives on a tight schedule. I can't live that way and I know that if I were to get close to her she'd slide me into the appropriate timeslots and I'd just become another thing on her 'to do' list. I'd hate that. I don't want the woman in my life to hand me a number and ask me to wait in line."
"Makes sense," Hitomi agreed.
"The truth is that I asked her to go to the New Year's party with me and she turned me down because she had an offer to go with someone else the January before. The guy who asked her completely forgot about it, because he hadn't taken the invitation seriously. He asked someone else in the mean time and he wasn't willing to break his date for Celena. I don't know why she believed him in the first place. Who's going to remember something like that eleven months later? So, she came and asked me to take her two days before the event when she found out that Buddy wasn't serious. I was insulted that she was using me as her last minute life-line, so I lied and told her that I already had a date so she was on her own. Then I called your escort service."
Hitomi nodded. Yeah, that explained why Van had called her agency. She smiled. It was cute that Van's boss, Dryden, had been the one to suggest it in the first place.
"Celena surprised me that night," Van continued. "I didn't expect her to be so childish when I introduced the two of you. She was really threatened. That made me think that she liked me a lot more then she'd indicated, but I was still mad about being second fiddle to a loser."
"So, that's how she lost her chance to be with you?"
"I guess. I've tried to stay friends with her. She wouldn't be a good person to cross, but if she's really set on getting me then she's going to be disappointed," Van said, scooting the vegetables off the cutting board and into the frying pan.
"What are we having?" Hitomi asked, looking over his shoulder.
"Oh! So fancy! I'm making you a stir fry."
"Yum!" Hitomi said enthusiastically.
Van gave her a sideways glance. "You don't have to act so hyped up. Surely you've had men cook for you before."
"Actually, I haven't," Hitomi said as she checked on the rice. "Is there anything else I can help with?"
"Wash the bean sprouts, please," he instructed.
"Okay," she said, getting to work.
"You mean you've never had a guy cook for you before?" Van asked.
"Nope," she said.
"I find that hard to believe."
"Well, when I'm working as an escort I'm seldom at anyone's home. I'm usually out with lots of people. None of my dates would dream of doing anything as nice as make supper for me. They're all worried that if they don't show up with a woman on their arm that they'll look like losers in front of their friends. They're not actually trying to win me over," Hitomi explained.
"What about before the escort service? When you lived at home, one of your little boyfriends must have done something for you," Van persisted.
"What boyfriends are you thinking of? You mean someone more significant than a nervous boy approaching me at my locker and asking timidly if he can be my boyfriend. If you mean something more than that – then I haven't had one. No grand passionate love for me, and to be honest – I don't really see something like that in my future."
"Why not?"
"Oh, just because I'm more like the girl-next-door than a hopelessly unattainable escort, so I don't think it will be possible. I'll probably date an average-looking guy who works in accounting for a respectable year, get married six months later, have three kids and die old and happy. Nothing special."
"Accounting? Do you already have someone picked out?" Van suddenly flared. His back was to her as he flipped the contents of the frying pan.
"No," Hitomi denied. "I just meant that I don't have any extraordinary plans for my life, but you're very sweet, Van. You're the first man to cook for me."
"Put the spouts in, please," he asked, sounding weary.
Hitomi put them in.
"So, where did you get the idea to go work for an escort service?"
"I already told you that my cousin Merle works for one. I was poor because I missed out on a scholarship and a grant. I ran out of money and if I didn't want go home branded for life as a failure; I needed money fast. I couldn't go to a bank because I would never be able to pay the interest on a line of credit and I already missed the deadline for government student loans. On my darkest day, Merle asked me if I wanted to go to work with her and I said I would because it was my last chance to make enough money to pay everybody off."
"And did you?" Van asked.
"Yep. I don't work for them anymore. I have my dream job working for the 'golden boy' of the office—"
"The 'golden boy'!" Van exclaimed, interrupting her.
"Yep! All the girls ogle you. Didn't you know?"
"No," he said. Disbelief was written all over his face.
"It's true," she said, taunting him. "I'm very lucky."
"And you really don't hope for anything more exciting in your life than being my assistant?" he asked, looking at her incredulously.
The look in his eyes was confusing Hitomi and so was his question. She didn't know how to answer, but she did know one thing without question. There was no way a guy like Van would be interested in her if she was only 'Hitomi'. Her answer came out easily after she had that thought.
"Aw Van," she said. "I don't know what you're talking about. You don't think it would be exciting to bring a wholesome guy home to mommy and daddy? I promise you – it would be. Imagine if I took home a guy like Allen or Dilandau home. My parents wouldn't know what to do. If it were Dilandau, they'd be afraid to talk because he'd think anything they said was stupid. You know, he's so obviously critical of everything; he'd sneer at them. If it was Allen, they'd remember his commercials and advertisements and worry that I'd sold my soul to Satan."
"How about me?" Van asked boldly. "How do you think your parents would react if you brought me home?"
Hitomi almost squeaked. She hadn't thought about that. "Hmm," she said, trying to sound complacent. "I'm not sure – though I'm sure you'd do better than Allen or Dilandau. What about me? How do you think your parents would react to me?"
"I think they'd-"
Just then the doorbell rang and interrupted him.
"Were you expecting anyone?" Hitomi asked.
"No," he said, turning down the heat under the vegetables and going to the door.
Hitomi followed behind him. She hoped it wasn't Dilandau or something.
Van looked through the peep-hole and looked at Hitomi. Then he sucked in his breath and opened the door.
"Hello Celena," he said when he saw the blonde.
Hitomi wanted to disappear when she saw the look of utter horror displayed on Celena's face. Why hadn't Van warned her? She could have hidden in the closet.
"Van," Celena said quietly. "I didn't realize you had company. I thought maybe we could have dinner." She was carrying takeout bags in her hands.
Van frowned and said, "Well, if you don't mind having supper with the two of us, then why don't you join us?"
Hitomi's heart fell as he said it, even though she knew that he had no choice. If he sent her away then that might be the epitome of rudeness as far as their friendship was concerned. Besides, it wasn't like Hitomi and Van were in the middle of a hot date.
"I don't want to interrupt," she said mildly, but still not budging from her place.
"You're not interrupting," Van said smoothly.
"Well … if you're sure," Celena said as she stepped into the entryway and took off her shoes.
Hitomi followed the two of them back to the kitchen while biting her lip. Biting her lip as a reaction was mild. She wanted to roll her eyes back into her head in aggravation. She did not want to have dinner with Van and Celena.
"Hey Hitomi," Van said, trying to include her. "Would you mind setting the table?"
"I can do that," Hitomi said, feigning cheerfulness. She opened one of the kitchen cupboards to find the plates, but she opened the wrong cabinet and instead found rolls of paper towel.
"I'll do it," Celena said, when she noticed Hitomi's blunder. "It'll be faster. I already know how the kitchen it laid out. Why don't you go sit down in the living room, Hitomi?"
Hitomi glanced at Van before moving. She wanted to see if he was going to let Celena order her around like that.
He didn't say anything.
"Okay then," Hitomi mumbled and went into the living room. When she got there, she saw her breast pads lying on the floor and said a little thankful prayer in her heart that she got the chance to get them out of sight before Celena came in and saw them. With nothing else to do, Hitomi decided she might as well start gathering up her stuff. She had left her wig and other accessories on the living room couch. Charming! This wasn't her bedroom.
Finally, Hitomi set her duffle bag by the door. It was an action that Celena's watchful eyes didn't miss. Maybe she thought that Hitomi had been planning to stay the night, but had now changed her mind because of Celena's appearance. Hitomi didn't care if she thought something like that.
Hitomi was slowly getting an idea of the kind of person Celena truly was. She looked so regular and sensible that Hitomi had thought that the two of them must have a lot in common – things like common sense and regular female understanding. But the truth was that she and Celena must have nothing in common. Hitomi would never have barged in on someone else's date and demanded to be included. She also would never have asked her own brother to distract the girl her crush liked so that she could move in on the other girl's territory. The more she thought about what was going on, the more Hitomi felt her blood pounding irritably. This was a really sucky mess.
Hitomi sat down at the table and waited for Van and Celena to finish up in the kitchen when she heard a ringing sound. Hitomi didn't have a cell phone, so she didn't even blink. It wasn't her responsibility to answer it.
It rang twice before Van pointed out that Celena's back pocket was ringing.
"Hello," she said cheerfully as she put the phone up to her ear. "Yes, she's here," Celena said, glancing over at Hitomi. "Do you want to talk to her?" Celena covered the distance between them and handed the phone to Hitomi. "It's for you," she said.
Hitomi took the phone. Who could be calling her on Celena's cell phone?
"Hello?" Hitomi asked confusedly.
"Hey Babe," a mellow voice drawled plainly. "It's Dilandau. How are things going? Having fun on your date with Van?"
Hitomi turned around on her seat and pointed herself towards the living room. "Why are you calling me?" Hitomi asked nervously.
"Well, I thought that maybe you might not want to hang out with Van and Celena tonight. I wouldn't."
"So? What's it to you?"
"I'm waiting in my car outside Van's apartment right now. If you feel like taking a job as Tomi, I'll pay you five hundred dollars just to walk out of that apartment and get into my car," he drawled.
"What?"
"You don't even have to date me. I'll take you home if you want. Just let me offer you a little job that is clearly more profitable than hanging out with Van and Celena."
Hitomi bit her lip again. She never would have imagined that the devil would offer her an easy-out during a situation she desperately wanted out of. Yeah, she wanted to take him up on it. Five hundred dollars and a ride home? Did it get any sweeter? But what would she say to Van? She'd think of something.
"Can you wait ten minutes?" she whispered.
"I'd wait hours," Dilandau said suggestively.
"Great," Hitomi said and disconnected the phone. She turned around to see Van and Celena standing on the other side of the table waiting eagerly to hear what her phone call had been about. Hitomi felt a sudden gush of dislike towards Celena and glared at her openly. "Van, can I talk to you for a minute?"
Van set the frying pan he was holding on a hot pad on the table and nodded for Hitomi to follow him down the hall. "Sorry, hang on a minute," he said to Celena.
With that he led Hitomi into room beyond the bathroom and closed the door. Before the door clicked shut, Hitomi saw that it was a bedroom. It was clearly Van's bedroom. Was it okay for her to be here? She'd never been in a man's bedroom before.
The room was full of books and there was a desk with a laptop on it. His bedspread was light brown and the bed was sort of made. Maybe no one had ever taught him the proper way to make the bed, but the covers were smooth at the least.
He sat down on the edge of the bed and put his hands together. "What was that all about?" Van asked, referring to the phone call.
Hitomi didn't answer his question at first, but instead started by asking, "Van, are you aware of the awkward, awful situation you have put me in tonight?"
"What?"
"You said that you wanted to get to know me – Hitomi – and I thought that this night was all about wiping the fairy dust off our eyes and honestly learning about one another. Now that you invited Celena in, I have been completely knocked off balance. I left myself very vulnerable taking off my makeup in front of you and since you've placed me in this weird situation, I don't think you appreciate my sacrifice."
"What do you mean?"
"With Celena here, I don't know how to act. If you purchased me as an escort I would know exactly what to do. I'd just crawl all over you with my pretenses and phony flirting until she got frustrated and backed off, but since I'm here as myself – I am not experienced or poised enough to compete with her for your attention. I thought that part of the reason you brought me away from the crowds was to give me the chance to be myself without the charade. Now that chance is spoiled."
Van looked regretful and said quietly, "It's too late to send her away."
"Maybe," Hitomi said boldly. "But it's not too late for me to leave."
"What?" Van scowled. "You wouldn't seriously leave before dinner, would you?"
"Of course I would. I don't have your feelings about social etiquette and unending politeness as far as company is concerned. I'm not so experienced in public relations yet. I have no problem walking out your front door and relaxing at home with a bubble bath and glass of tonic water. In fact, I know I'd enjoy that more than watching Celena have her way with you. Besides, Celena wants me to leave so she can have you to herself."
Apparently, Van had no response to that. Hitomi thought that he must know it to be true.
"Please don't go," he said at last.
"Do you know who called me just now?"
"I can guess that it was either Allen or Dilandau."
"Dilandau," Hitomi answered unflinchingly. "I don't think he would have called if Celena hadn't phoned him and told him I was here."
"I don't think-"
"Don't be stupid," Hitomi interrupted. "Are you so dense that you can't see that she is dead serious about getting you? Dilandau has gallantly offered to remove me from this awkward mess and I'm going to let him."
Van's eyes bugged open.
"I don't think he'll be so interested in me once he sees me without any of my frills and flounces. Do you?" Hitomi asked, crossing her arms across her chest.
Van frowned. "I don't think it will make any difference to him."
"We'll see," Hitomi said, turning to leave the room.
"Wait!" Van exclaimed getting up and grabbing Hitomi by the arm. "Is this the last chance I'll have with you?"
Hitomi didn't want this to be the end of their 'relationship' either, but at the same time – dinner with Celena? Not likely. "If you get me a pen and a piece of paper," Hitomi said, getting an idea, "then I'll give you my phone number. You can give me a call the next time you have some spare time."
"I already have your phone number," Van said, still holding onto her arm.
"Then, I'm telling you that it would be nice if we could do something together sometime. I'd like it if you called me. Regardless, I'll see you at work on Monday."
With that, Hitomi smiled and left the bedroom. She was pretty proud of herself. She'd done a good job telling him what she really thought.
"See you later, Celena," Hitomi called into the kitchen cheerfully as she went into the entryway and put her shoes on. "I can't stay for supper after all. Bye."
Hitomi had one last look at Van before she closed the door. She wasn't sure, but she thought he looked pissed. Well, he could be pissed. That wasn't a bad way to leave things at all.
Of course now she had to deal with Dilandau. Oh! Goody!
Author's Notes: I did not have a beta reader for this and I am pitifully ill, so the whole thing is probably littered with so many errors that if someone pointed them all out to me I would cry. That being said - I am pitifully ill. I'll like to update more, but it's hard when I'm so pathetic and ill. Thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing - you'll make me feel shiny since I'm so messed up right now. Thanks!
