Disclaimer: I think this is kinda getting old, but, oh well, to all, i'm sad to say I never own GS or GSD…there XDD
AN: Wohoo! The seventh chapter! Now the climax is close at hand XDD…anyway, here it is
Athrun's Fall
Chapter Seven
OOOOoo
"Do you always sleep naked?"
"Hmm?"
"Do you always sleep naked?"
Cagalli stretched languorously between the sating sheets. She yawned broadly. Her eyes come open slowly. To a point. Then they popped wide open.
"Athrun?"
"You remember my name. I'm flattered."
Cagalli pushed the tousled hair away from her face, clutched a handful of satin to her breasts, and propped herself up on one elbow. "What are you doing in my room? How'd you get here?"
"You haven't answered my question yet."
"What question?"
"Do you always sleep—"
"Yes! Now tell me what possessed Pete to let you come in here."
"Pete doesn't know I'm here. I did it all by myself."
Amazed, Cagalli peered over the edge of the bed. Athrun was sitting in his wheelchair. "You got out of your bed and into the chair all by yourself?"
"Proud of me?"
"I certainly am." She flashed him a brilliant smile, but it vanished as quickly as it appeared. "That doesn't answer my question, though. What are you doing in my room?"
"Invading your privacy."
"Exactly. Would you please leave?" something else suddenly occurred to her. "How did you know I was naked?"
"I looked under the covers." She gaped at him with disbelief, and he started laughing. "Actually, your bikini is lying on the floor, and I don't see any nightgown straps over your shoulders."
"I brought you something." She had noticed the flowers, but they hadn't truly registered with her until now, when he slipped the pastel plumeria lei over her head and arranged it to his satisfaction around her neck. "Welcome to Hawaii, Cagalli."
"You're several weeks late, aren't you?"
"What are you, a stickler for detail?"
Cagalli looked down at the fragile, fragrant petals and touched them reverently. They were dewy and cool against her skin. "Thank you, Athrun. It's beautiful."
"You know what goes with a lei, don't you?" she glanced up quickly. Athrun's eyes were twinkling. "Ah, I can see that you do."
"We'll dispense with that part of the tradition."
"That part is the reason the tradition has lasted this long. Besides, I never break with tradition."
Cupping the back of her head in his palm, he drew her forward and kissed her leisurely and expertly. "That's not the way it's done," she said when he lifted his lips off hers. "It's supposed to be a peck on both cheeks, isn't it?"
"Usually."
"I thought you never broke with tradition."
"Unless your mouth and my tongue are involved."
He kissed her again before she had the wherewithal to stave him off. Finally she mustered enough willpower to say, "Go away! I've got to get up and dress."
His eyes lowered to the sheet, which was doing a poor job of concealing the full shape of her breasts. "I think you look great the way you are. So please, don't dress on my account."
"Specifically on your account. It took a lot of stamina and strength for you to get out of bed alone. We need to maximize that momentum."
"I have a better idea. Let's take the day off and celebrate my progress."
"By doing what?"
He ran his thumb over her lips. "By staying in bed." Then he raised his compelling eyes up to hers. "One bed. This bed. It's for damn sure we would maximize my momentum."
For a moment Cagalli was captivated by his husky voice and enticing suggestion. Too soon, reason returned. Cantankerously she said, "Don't be ridiculous. Besides, you don't get a day off. Consequently neither do I."
He took her refusal good-naturedly and pushed his chair away from her bed. "It ain't gonna wash, Cagalli."
"What?"
"Pretending that last night didn't happen. But I'm hungry for my breakfast, so for the time being I'll retreat." He spun his chair around and headed for the door. When he reached it, he glanced at her over his shoulder. "And I did look under the covers."
She narrowed her eyes at him. "You're bluffing, Zala."
"Oh, yeah? Love that sexy little mole just inside your bikini line," he drawled.
Before she could stammer a reply, he wheeled out. Cagalli threw off the sheet and flitted across the room. She slammed the door closed and locked it, making sure both were heard. Then she stamped into the bathroom and turned on the faucets in the shower.
Athrun was making a big joke out of her attitude toward last night. He thought she was being coy and wasn't taking her seriously. Last night might have appeased their libidos, but it had cost valuable ground as far as getting him to walk again. That, not romance, should be his driving force. It was critical that she reestablish herself as his therapist, not his paramour. Desperate measures were called for.
When she entered his room an hour later, he was shooting a Nerf basketball into the net he'd had Pete attach to the wall. "Twenty-seven straight free throws," he boasted.
Cagalli walked in as stiff as a starched shirt and yanked the basketball out of his hand. "That's enough play for now. You can do that on your own time. For the next hour and a half, we're on my time." She went to the stereo system and switched it off. Whitney Houston's voice was arrested in mid-chorus.
"What's with you?" Athrun asked. "Get your period?"
Cagalli rounded on him. "That wouldn't be any of your business, now would it, Mr. Zala?"
"Or does your foul mood stem from sexual deprivation?"
"You can't. Not any better than you can ignore last night. Where's the lei I gave you?"
"In the refrigerator in my room."
"Why not around your neck?"
"Be reasonable. I can't wear it while we're working."
"Then when?"
"I don't know."
"Dinner tonight?"
It was time to drive the point home. "Look, Athrun. It occurs to me that we've been together too much lately. A therapist should b a taskmaster, sometimes a confidante, but never a . . . a . . . "
"Lover."
"That wasn't what I was going to say."
"Oh no?"
By any act of will she contained her temper. "We can't be such good pals, Athrun."
"I've never French-kissed a pal."
"Right. We're way beyond the sweetheart stage. In fact, we're way beyond foreplay. We're ready for the real thing."
His provocative words elicited delicious little shudders inside her. Trying to ignore and deny them, she cleared her throat and said sternly, "If this goes any further, you'll lose respect for my authority. I'm asking you one last time to cease and desist making these juvenile sexual overtures. Today marks a new beginning. It's going to get tough from here."
During her speech his face had grown increasingly dark. Her temper had been close to blowing, but an eruption of his appeared imminent. By the time she finished, his fists were softly thumping the armrests of his wheelchair. "Tougher than it's been? What could be tougher than having you nag me hour after hour, forcing me to do things I can't do?"
"It's not suppose to be easy."
"Well, good!" he yelled. "Because it sure as hell isn't"
"Enough of your whining. Let's get started," she said peremtorarily.
The morning therapy session was a disaster. She worked him through a series of exercises intended to tone the muscles that were now facile. The effort he put forth was halfhearted at best. Then when she reprimanded him for his sloth, he pushed himself too hard and ended up with a cramp she had to message out while he cursed her along with his pain. She consigned him to bed to rest, moving his wheelchair out of arm's reach, which won her even more epithets.
Of late she had loitered in his room between sessions. They watched game shows and soap operas on TV, listened to music, played board games and cards, or simply talked. Today she avoided his room until time for the afternoon session.
It went worse than the morning's. her nerves began unraveling from the moment she went in and he said, "Don't ever keep my chair away from me again," until they finally became completely frazzled when he flatly refused to complete a knee exercise by saying, "I'm not going to do it anymore."
"Fine!" she withdrew her support of his leg. It landed with a thud on the mat. "As long as you feel that way about it, I think I'll take you up on that day off you referred to this morning. You reminded me that I haven't had one since I got here."
An hour later she left her bedroom suite trailing the scent of perfume in her wake. She was wearing a strapless red cotton dress that showed off her tanned shoulders and cleavage. The wrap-around skirt was narrow the overlap formed a slit that widened to display long, shapely thighs with each step she took in strappy high heels. One side of her hair was pulled behind her ear was pulled behind her ear and secured there with a large, sparkly barrette. The plumeria lei was around her neck.
When she walked into the kitchen, she dazzled both men. "Don't wait up for me, Pete. It'll probably be very late before I get back."
Athrun was sitting at the table in his wheelchair, eating the cold supper Pete had prepared. She ignored him as though he weren't there. She gave the butler a gay little wave and backed out the door.
As she drove down the curving mountain road, she wondered if she had laid it on too thick.
No. Athrun hadn't taken her seriously when she had told him that there could be no recurrence of last night's kiss. If she was going to succeed in getting him to walk, he must continue to think of her as his therapist and nothing more. Slave driver, yes. Cheerleader and coach, yes. But he mustn't look upon her as a playmate and love object.
Mild flirtations were fine. They served to boost his confidence and ego. Naughty bantering kept the mood light and lively. But not by any stretch of the definition did last night resemble mild flirtation.
She ate dinner alone at an elegant Oriental restaurant, ordering courses she didn't want to drag out the meal as long as possible. She warded off the attentions of two sailors who accosted her on the street, offering her money and a night of seriously doubtful ecstasy. Purchasing two tickets at a multiscreen movie theater, she watched first one film, then moved to the next. The first was mediocre, the second nearly put her to sleep.
Having wasted sufficient time, she drove home. Quietly she let herself into the house. Standing just inside the front door, she slipped off her sandals and headed for the stairs.
Athrun's wheelchair shot out of the living room and nearly collided with her. She let out a squeak of fright. "Watch that damn thing, will you?" she snapped. "You nearly ran over my foot."
"Have a good time?"
"I had a blast."
"Where'd you go?"
"To Lahaina."
"Lahaina! You drove all the way to Lahaina by yourself?"
"I've been driving myself since the day I turned sixteen, Athrun. Most places I go, I drive myself."
"Don't get smart."
"And don't get possessive. Yes, I went to Lahaina because I'd never been there. It's a nice place to visit, etcetera. I saw some charming sights, ate a wonderful dinner, and had a lot of fun. It was just the kind of diversion I needed. But it exhausted me, so I'm going to bed. Good night."
"Just wait a minute. Where'd you go?"
"I told you."
"I mean, where'd you have this 'lot of fun'?"
"I don't remember." She would be damned before she'd tell him she had spent the evening alone in a movie theater.
"Is your memory clouded by drink and drugs?"
"Now who's being smart? I don't remember the name of the place. What difference does it make? It had a thatched roof, I think." She searched her memory for the name of club she had passed on the outskirts of the tourist town. "Shack something, I think."
"The Sugar Shack! You went into the Sugar Shack by yourself?"
"Same song, second verse."
"That's the main pickup joint in the island. You can get everything from cocaine to venereal disease in that place."
"Is this the voice of experience speaking?"
His eyes shot daggers at her through the darkness. "But you would fit right into the crowd, wouldn't you? You even dressed the part of a pickup. You blended right into the dare-anything, do-everything, what-the-hell crowd."
She tilted her head to one side and said cockily, "Let's put it this way, Daddy. I had some kicks, but I didn't meet anybody I could have a lasting relationship with."
"Did you get laid?"
Cagalli went hot all over, first with embarrassment, then with rage. She was too angry to speak, so Athrun use the opportunity to rub salt into the wound he'd just inflicted.
"That's what you went out for, isn't it?" he reached up and flattened his hand against her lover body. "To let some other guy put out the hot fire I stroked here last night?"
Glaring down at him, she stepped out of his reach. She removed the lei and threw it into his lap. Only then did she notice the highball glass in his hand. "You're drunk. Therefore, I'm going to ignore your cross-examination and your insults. But just for the record book, if I had gone out to get laid, as you so coarsely put it, that would be no concern of yours." she took one final dig at him from the top of the stairs. "Lord have mercy on you tomorrow if you've got a hangover."
OOOOoo
The Lord had no mercy.
The following morning when Cagalli entered Athrun's room, he was propped up against the pillow of his bed wearing a green cast to his skin and a death-wish facial expression.
"No basketball this morning?" she asked in a high, piping voice. "No Whitney Houston?" Athrun gave her a dangerous look form beneath his shelf of drawn dark brows. She executed and awkward but enthusiastic pirouette and said, "I feel great! It's a positively beautiful morning. Did you have Pete's special omelet cooked in ham drippings?" Athrun groaned. "It was delicious. Very cheesy. It fairly oozed when I—"
"Shut up, Cagalli," he threatened between his teeth.
"Oh, what's wrong?" she pooched out her lips. "Does Athrun has a tummy ache?"
"Get the hell out of here and leave me alone."
Laughing, she said, "I warned you. Don't blame me for your condition. What was it, gin? Vodka? Scotch? Brandy?" he moaned in misery and clutched his stomach. "The brandy, huh? Pretty expensive drinking binge. But then you can afford it, can't you, King Midas?"
"I'm going to murder you."
"You've got to catch me first, Zala. And you'll never do that by lying your butt. Come on, get up, let's get started." She took his hand and tried to pull him up. He stayed glued to the pillow. "Come on, all joking aside. It's time to get started."
"I'm not moving from this spot."
Placing her hands on her hips, she gazed down at him in disgust. "Would an aspirin or two help?"
"No. Dying might."
"As far as I know, nobody has ever died of a hangover, though there have been millions of prayers to that effect I'm sure." Her voice was still brimming with good cheer. "You say another one while I get the aspirin . . . just in case God turns deaf ear and lets you live."
She went to the bathroom and returned in under a minute carrying three aspirin tablets in one hand and a glass of water in the other. "Here you go."
"I don't want any damn aspirin."
"You'll feel much better during your workout if you take them."
"I'm not doing any exercises this morning either. I feel like crap."
"And whose fault is that?" her patience had run out. By this time her voice had developed a serrated cutting edge. "Now stop behaving like a baby and take the aspirin."
She opened his hand and dropped the tablets into his palm. He hurled them across the room. They landed on the floor with tiny pings that might just as well have been bombs landing and exploding. Cagalli's temper snapped. She tossed the full glass of cold water into his lap.
That got him off the pillow. He bounced up, gasping in surprise, cursing lividly, and staring down incredulously at the puddle of water forming in the V of his thighs. Before he could overcome his astonishment and fury the doorbell pealed through the house.
Pete had gone into the nearest town to do the marketing, so Cagalli had to answer the door. Giving Athrun one last glare, she left the room and logged down the stairs. She pulled the wide doors open. It would have been difficult to say which woman was more surprise to see the other.
The caller regained her voice first and asked Cagalli, "Who are you?"
"We don't want any."
"Any what?"
"Whatever it is you're peddling, Lady."
The dark hair drew herself up to her full height. The skin over her face's classic bone structure smoothed out until there wasn't a single line or wrinkle in evidence. Icily she said, "I asked you a question, young woman."
"Now I'm asking. Who are you?"
But Cagalli already knew. The pieces of luggage surrounding the woman cost more than Cagalli's compact car. Her clothes didn't need any visible tags to label them expensive. She had white skin, blue eyes, black hair, and red lips, result from too much application of lipsticks.
"It's freaking Snow White," Cagali muttered.
"I beg your pardon?"
"Nothing. Come on in."
Cagalli stood aside and let the woman step into the foyer. She was careful not to let her skirt brush against Cagalli's bare legs, a snub that Cagalli found amusing.
"Where's Pete?" she asked.
So she'd been here before. "Grocery shopping."
"Where's Athrun?"
"Upstairs in his room."
"And for the final time, who are you?"
"Cagalli Yula Attha."
"Meer von Campbell." Cagalli failed to respond. Obviously she was expected to drop to her knees and genuflect. She only stared back at the woman, unimpressed and giving no ground. "What are you doing here, Miss Attha?"
Cagalli lowered her eyelids in a slow, suggestive wink. "Wouldn't you just love to know?" she took a perverse pleasure in watching those facial muscles tighten up again. "Relax, Meer. I'm Athrun's physical therapist."
The woman's chilly blue eyes over Cagalli, taking in her bare feet, skimpy gym short, and sleeveless tight T-shirt—which promoted a rock radio station. "I want to see Athrun. Immediately." She stressed.
"Shall I lead the way?" Cagalli asked sweetly.
"I know the way."
"I figured as much." She swept her arm wide to indicate the staircase.
Meer shouldered her Louis Vuitton handbag and started up the stairs. Just as she reached the top, Cagalli called up to her form below, "Oh, maybe I should warn you. He just had an accident in his bed." She shrugged, bringing her shoulders up level with her earlobes. "Hey, it happens."
OOOOOOooooooo
AN: Finally! ~sigh~ there might be some questions…yes, I used Meer's original image, but I forgot how she look, I just remember she had black hair and then I just use the Lacus blue eyes and rest follows. The von thingy on the center of her name just came into my mind while I was watching some aristocratic blah movie, and almost all of the characters have this von before their last name like some royal title or something. So since Meer is acting the part like it I just thought she could have the name for it too, you know words and all, yeah blah. Anyway, I hope you like it and still hoping for the next chapters. ^-^…I really like to receive some more reviews, it keeps me going and smiling ^-^… thank you and please R&R.
OOO
