Chapter 10
Since he woke up in the hospital, the hardest part was leaving Maka. Not the tense muscles or the anxiety that would come over him and paralyze him, but the absence of her. He was now on his own. He could no longer call on her and she would rush to him to comfort him. Now, he had to take care of himself.
He had to find himself.
When he had done that, he could return to Maka. He wouldn't have to be a burden to her and he could finally start giving back to her for everything she had given and done for him. He needed to step up to be the friend she deserved. He wanted to contribute to their finances, support her when she was down and… and make her happy. He wanted to see her face lit up when he cooked something delicious or hear her cute giggle when he told her a funny joke. He wanted to be there for their movie nights and share his meals with her. All he wanted was to be the friend she deserved.
And that was what he was doing.
He went beside his father, the sliding doors opened to his father's company and instantly the employers behind the front desk greeted them.
"Good morning Mr. Evans," the employers spoke as if in a choir and his father did nothing to acknowledge them, just like he remembered it.
The company didn't look much different now when he thought about it. He didn't recognize everybody at the front desk, but the building looked exactly the same. The employer's elevator was exactly where he remembered it, and it was there where he learned he got his scar from the attack he couldn't remember. It was… eerily knowing in this exact spot, he had laid on the floor bleeding out, almost to the point he lost his life.
His father silently pressed the button and the doors slid open. He bleeped his card and pressed the top floor button. The doors slid shut and it took them to the top floor. Alistair remained silent as he stared at the red digital number growing higher and higher. It came to a stop and the doors slid open. They exited it and went through a corridor until they arrived at the desk just outside of his father's office.
"Kitten!" Blair exclaimed, dropping the papers in her hands excitedly as soon as her eyes settled on him. "Finally I get to see you again!" She jumped up from her chair, arms spread wide open and gathered him in her embrace.
"Hi Blair," he choked out.
She pulled away from him and smiled wide toward him. More wrinkles had appeared on her face. She had certainly aged the years he hadn't seen her, but she was still a beauty for an older adult.
"So, how is the wife?"
"Um," he gulped, feeling the sadness root in his belly at the thought of being hours away from her. "She's good. She's left in Death City."
"Enough chitchat." Alistair interrupted just in time. "Blair, Soul is here to work as my second assistant, which means you're his boss. I want you to show him the ropes to this company."
"How exciting! It will be just the same like when you were just a little boy! We'll go to the cafeteria and eat and we'll―"
"Focus, Blair."
"―and we will work of course! You have nothing to worry about Mr. Evans! I'll make sure Soul knows everything about this company!"
"Good. You can carry out a desk from the conference room for now until I've settled up a more appropriate one," Alistair said before he disappeared inside of his office and closed the door behind him.
"Are you excited to start working?" Blair asked excitedly.
"Yeah, it's going to be nice to finally work."
It was. After months of just doing whatever he felt like doing, it was going to be nice actually doing something productive and have somewhere to go during the days. This was the beginning to finding himself, it had his parents assured him. The beginning to finding himself laid in him creating a daily routine, why not go back to working at his father's company? It had been the plan after all.
It was really nice working. After they had set up a desk for him and she started handing him easy tasks to do, like getting papers form the copy machine, familiarizing himself again with the layout on the top floor. Some offices and conference rooms had switched and the higher ups were seated in their offices, working on their things.
Once again he stood by the printer and his phone started ringing. He smiled when he saw Maka's caller ID on the screen.
He answered the call and pressed the phone to his ear. "Hello Maka."
"Hello Soul," she greeted playfully back.
"So how's it going back there?"
"It's going well. We're still waiting for Lady Arachne to show us the advertisement, but otherwise, everything is going smooth," she briefly explained. "Tell me about you, have you settled in over there?"
"Yeah, yesterday I just packed up my things and got settled into my room. Now, I'm actually working at my father's company."
"You are?"
"Yeah, considering I don't have any experience that I can remember of working in an office and I managed to get a job without even applying. Pretty good right?"
It was meant as a joke, but he received no laughter from the other end, just silence.
"You're working at your father's company?"
"Yeah. Is something wrong about that?"
"No, it's just…" she paused. "… I guess I didn't know you wanted to work in your father's company."
"I don't really know if I want to either, but they made a point when they said I should construct some sort of daily routine and it feels good to have somewhere to go and work at every day."
"Are you sure it's what you want?" she insisted
"I'm sure."
"Good," she sighed into the phone. "Do things you want to do. It's only you who can find who you are. That's why you left for L.A, remember?"
"I remember," he breathed out. "I really hope I'm going to make some progress here. Otherwise I would've rather been in Death City."
"I hope so too. I'm sure it ought to at least teach you something more of what you like and dislike. Finding an identity isn't easy. I mean, for kids it takes their whole teenage life to find out who they are, right? But I believe in you. I know you'll do well."
A smile spread on his face as he leaned against the wall. "You do?"
"Of course I do. I know when you put your mind into it, you'll do it until you succeed."
"Thanks."
He couldn't help but to smile. Hearing she believed in him was exactly what he needed. He didn't need to hear it from his parents, but from her. Knowing she still had his back miles away from him really encouraged him. He was going to pay her back for everything she had done for him. She just had to wait, he was going to find out who he was, work his butt off so he would be able to pay all of their loans and debts off.
"I was wondering, will you come back for the launching party with Arachnophobia?" Maka timidly asked.
"When is it?"
"First Friday after New Year's Eve."
"I don't know if I can make it. Mom's talking about throwing a party and she wants me to help her organize it."
"Oh…" his stomach knotted at the disappointment in her voice. "Well I guess then I'll go alone."
"But we could go together for my mom's party." The words left his mouth before he had thought it over. "I could help you pay for the flight ticket. It will be cool and I bet some important people from the finance world will be invited. You could make some really important connections and maybe get more opportunities to start more projects if you want."
"Okay." He relaxed after hearing her much chipper voice on the phone. "Yeah, it would be a lot of fun and it will be nice to see you again."
"You too―" Footsteps rung through the corridor and Soul quickly straightened his back. "Someone's coming. I got to go."
"I'll call you tonight."
"Great, bye."
"Bye."
He hung up right in time when Blair rounded the corner and found him standing by the copy machine which had already printed the papers for a long time ago. A huge grin grew on Blair's face as her eyes drifted down to his pocket.
"Were you talking to someone?"
"No," he quickly answered, turning away from her and collecting the papers.
"I heard you talking to someone."
"You imagined things."
"No, I didn't," she sang as she stepped in front of him as he tried to leave. "Were you talking to Maka?"
His jaw tightened as he pushed passed Blair, knocking her shoulder in the process.
"You totally were! You sly little foxy getting naughty with your wife on the job!"
"Not so loud, okay?" He came to a stop and turned toward her. "Fine. I was talking to her, but we're not like that. We're just friends."
"But you've totally boned her, right?"
"No!"
"Oh my, oh my, have I taught you nothing? You got to keep your lady pleased―"
"God damned it, Blair. We're not intimate and we are not a couple."
She silenced and she fluttered her eyes astonished. "… you're not?"
"No," he confirmed.
"But why? She's such a cutie and she's so successful and she looks like she loves you a lot."
He stared at her quizzically. He hadn't talked that much about Maka to Blair, knowing she would be like this if he did. "How did you find out about that?"
"Well." She slowly started as she pulled up her phone from her blazer. "Social media are very handy when it comes to finding info about a certain person," she spoke as she tapped on her phone and showed him the screen.
He accepted the phone and there was Maka's account with plenty of pictures of them. Not just pictures of them, but pictures before the accident. He was aware they had different social media, but he wasn't really interested in the ones he had since he didn't know how to use half of them and he hadn't any interest in learning. The only one he had even bothered learning was Deathbook since he remembered creating it when it became a thing in college.
But this was one he hadn't cared about.
There were a lot of photos. A lot of photos he didn't remember, they certainly had to have occurred before the accident. He scrolled through the pictures and it indeed happened before the accident, the dates were all before the date of the accident, she had no pictures of after the accident. They were all mostly of her food, book recommendations, movie night pictures of popcorn and her favourite fuzzy blanket, but there were some of him in his signature leather jacket and ripped jeans and the atrocity of his messy hair. There was also a whole gallery of photos from their wedding day from their court house ceremony, silly pictures with Tsubaki and a dude with blue hair.
He came to a stop at a certain picture of them kissing. In the background it was raining and they shared an umbrella. A sweet romantic kiss in the rain. The picture… it was… sweet? Romantic? Adorable? He didn't know. But it definitely moved him.
Quickly he handed the phone back to Blair. "So you've been stalking her."
"Not stalking, just gathering information." She locked her phone and returned it in her pocket. "She looks like such a sweet girl. Why not give her a shot?"
He rolled his eyes. He wasn't feeling like that for her. They were great friends and he didn't want to ruin it with complicated feelings or trying it out when it would just fail. And… Anya, his mind was still on her. Even now when she was an engage woman to be married in spring, he still loved her so much. He wanted to be with her even now when he knew it was impossible. That ship had sailed. But he couldn't move on.
"Let's just return to work."
"But I want to know―"
"For goodness sake let it go!" he sneered and went away from her.
…
A smile played on Maka's mind as she went through her papers on the fund rates inside of Wes's office. He lazily relaxed in his chair with his feet swung up on his desk, watching her go through the papers.
"You seem happier than normal." Wes finally commented. "Ever since Soul left with my parents, you've been down but now… you're happier."
"Nothing goes by unnoticed by you, huh?"
"Not now when things are the way they are." He dropped his feet from his desks and leaned closer as if he was eager to hear it. "So spill."
She put down the papers and she took a seat by Wes's desk. "Well," she started, almost singing. "It feels like Soul is really falling in love with me again."
A huge grin grew on his face. "I knew it would happen!"
"I know," she giggled, barely containing the bubbling joy in her chest. "It's just such a relief knowing he'll soon be my husband again."
How she had missed him. It had been such a long time since she could hold his hand and kiss him, touching him as if it was her own body. Feeling him seeking out her touch and leaning into it when he did, it was so many things she missed, especially the deeper and more intimate connection her needs constantly reminded her of. All she wanted was to regain back what Soul had lost and love her again with a passion.
And he was falling in love with her again!
"Tell me, what are the signs?"
"Well, Soul always calls me whenever he has the time and we talk for a while. He always says how he misses me and how he wants to see me and when we skype, he always tells me how good it is to see me," she sighed contently as she thought to the moment when they first videochatted. His eyes had brightened and smiled wide the moment she picked up the call. He was so vibrant and happy to see her it melted her heart.
"That does sound like him."
"It does. He never usually shows his feelings so openly like that."
"He's totally falling in love with you."
He certainly was and she was sure, when she was going to attend the party he and Mrs. Evans was throwing, it would be the night they would get together for real. It would be a magical night where she would woo him and he would realize he had fallen head over heels in love with her. She could picture it so clearly. How they stood under the starry night sky, lights illuminating his hair as if it was glowing threads and his eyes would twinkled brighter than any star in the sky. His eyes would stare into hers so softly as he uttered those three words she starved to hear him say. He would cup her cheeks and bring her lips to his.
It was so close. She could almost taste his lips on hers.
This was really it, in a couple of weeks she would travel to Soul and they would finally get together. He would pack up his things and return home with her where they would go back to living happily ever after.
"I can't wait for the party. I'm so excited to see him again and I just know it will be the night he will confess his love for me," she sighed happily.
"I'll be hiding around tapping the whole thing."
"Wes!"
"What?" He shrugged his shoulders. "It will be just like your wedding day again. You two will practically be married again."
She raised her eyebrow at him. "But that implies we were divorced."
"Not like that, just, you two renewing your vows and all of that."
"Okay, but you're not going to hide around in some bush—"
Her voice faltered when the fax machine went off. They both turned toward it in shock as the paper slowly rose toward the top with a message.
Usually nothing came through the fax machine. Everybody sent emails and she had nagged at him to throw away the piece of equipment since it had just been collecting dust. It was nowhere near useful… but now… who in the world would send them a fax?
Wes got up from his chair and strolled over to the machine, grabbing the paper.
"Channel two 13:45," Wes read out loud. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Who sent it?" Maka asked.
"It's from… Arachnophobia."
Maka's eyes lit up. "It has to be the commercial! They must've finished it and is airing it soon!"
"It's possible, but wouldn't they show it to you before they went live with it?"
She shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe but they were in charge of it and I'm confident in their skills." She started walking toward the door. "Come on, I got to see this commercial they came up with!" she cheered from over her shoulder.
They went toward the nearest conference room with an available TV and turned it on. They didn't have to wait for too long before the commercial came on.
Maka excitedly stared at the screen as their commercial came on portraying an old man sitting on a bench, holding a piece of cardboard in his hand begging for money. In the background Miss Arachne's voice appeared, warning the viewers of this reality. The joy she had felt came crashing down when she referred to one of their pension saving funds. Her jaw hit the floor as she stared at the screen as they kept on telling the viewers all of her points to her pension saving fund!
The commercial ended with Arachnephobias logo on the screen, not even mentioning or hinting toward her or Evans Finance Group.
She had been ripped off!
They had stolen her fund!
"What the hell!" she burst. "She stole my fund!"
"I'm getting our lawyers ready on this case," Wes barely contained his growl. "We'll teach her what happens when she messes with the wrong people."
"I can't believe she has the nerves to do this to me!" Maka exclaimed, storming out of the conference room. "That was my idea!"
"I know, and we will fix this," Wes said, following her behind and they entered his office. He came to a stop when there was another message in the fax machine. A lot of papers were there.
She went over to the fax machine and grabbed the paper.
Thank you for helping us launch our project
"What the hell is this stuff?!" she shrieked and Wes grabbed the paper from her hands, reading it quickly. She grabbed the rest of the papers and skimmed through them.
She recognized the papers. At least the first few pages. It was the contract she had to sign to approve them to take care of the advertisement. The contract she had signed in her hurry to go after Soul.
"What's that?" Wes asked as he peered at the papers from over her shoulder.
"It's a contract I signed to approve Arachnophobia to take care of the advertisement."
Wes went silent. She gazed at him over her shoulder at his stern face, glaring at the papers in her hands. "… did our lawyers go through the contract before you signed it?"
She opened her mouth before she closed it. "… no," she admitted. "She told me I had to sign it quickly so they could get started on it and I saw Soul running through the corridor! I had to warp up the meeting fast so I could go after him and at the same time not bail on Miss Arachne again."
"Maka!" he groaned, running his hands through his hair. "You know to always let our lawyers go through the contract before you sign it!"
"I know, I know!" she exclaimed, the papers spilling from her hands and raining down on the floor.
Realization hit her hard. The contract was that long for a reason. There was a reason behind her rushing her toward signing it. They presented it when Wes wasn't present. They singled her out and did all of this to steal her hard work away from her. Within the pages of the contract, she knew it had to be some sort of transaction of her project from her to them.
Her legs gave in and she fell to the ground, tears rolling down her cheeks and she clutched her hair. "I-I trusted them and— and I had to go after Soul," she bawled.
Wes sighed and kneeled down beside her, rubbing her back comfortingly. "What's done is done. Go home and take the rest of the day off. I'll get the papers to the lawyers and see if they can do something about it."
"Tell me we can get it back! Please tell me we can save my project!" she cried.
He stayed silent, rubbing her back, both knowing a contract like that signed, it was nearly impossible to revoke.
…
Soul's breath was taken away as he stared at Maka on his laptop screen. Red nose and mascara smudged on her cheeks as she wiped her eyes with a tissue.
"You can't be serious!" Soul exclaimed. "It has to be a joke, right?"
She slowly shook her head, biting her lower lip. "I messed up," she whispered.
"They tricked you! There has to be something you can do!"
"No," she sobbed.
His heart was tearing wide open at the sight of her so distraught and not being able to comfort her. He had witnessed her working hard on her project, even finding her passed out on the couch from time to time with her laptop and papers scattered around her. She cared about the project as if it was her own child, and now when she was on the threshold on launching it, it was stolen from her.
He couldn't take seeing her like this. There had to be something to reverse all of this!
"I'll ask my father to look at the contract! He's a bunch of contacts and he will have the top lawyers on the case! Maybe even judges could help you out!" Soul desperately counted up different options, but she kept on shaking her head.
"You'll be wasting your time. The company's lawyers have checked on the document and they said it's a real contract. The transaction of the project wasn't hidden inside of the contract. If I had just read more of the contract I would've found it out." She turned her face away from the screen, sniffling as more tears trickled down her cheeks. "It's all lost."
"You can't give up this easily. One stupid contract shouldn't stop you—"
"It's all over!" she exclaimed, bawling her eyes out as she grabbed another tissue. "They've won. They chose my project for a reason. They wanted to steal it because I'm just a stupid woman who stumbled upon this position without working for it."
"Hey, you earned that position. You worked your butt off and you're unbelievable smart and passionate about this stuff. You've done everything right up until now and this isn't going to end you." Soul leaned closer to the screen as if she was actually there, sitting on his bed instead of hundreds of miles away in front of her laptop.
She peeked at him. "Y-you think so?"
"I know so. You've worked so hard and juggled me at the same time. I don't know how you did it, but it's incredible— you're incredible." He watched her carefully as she wiped her tears away with a tissue. "You earned your position in Wes's company. You worked hard and you deserve everything you have because you worked your way up to that position."
She sighed and tossed the used tissue in the huge pile of dirty tissues. "I don't really know…" she muttered. "Wes took a liking to me in college because I challenged his thinking during his guest lecture… ever since I've just worked as his intern until I graduated and became his assistant and partner. Did I really work my way up or was I just given the position?"
"Of course you worked for the position. If you weren't a good intern and good colleague, then he wouldn't have hired you."
He saw it in her eyes, the doubt clouding her eyes and refused to believe his words. The contract had changed her. Thoughts that didn't exist before had polluted her thinking and created doubt. The fierce confidence in herself and her own ability was no longer present. Instead caution was present and he could see herself tiptoeing around in the dark. He knew all too well. He was in the same place as her since the moment he woke up in the hospital. It wasn't fun and he knew, there had to be a way to help her. She couldn't stay in the dark for too long without driving herself insane.
He had to help her.
"I wish I was there," he whispered.
"Why don't you come here?" she timidly asked him.
As much as he wanted to jump on a plane and hold her in his arms within the nearest hours, he couldn't. His job at his father's company along with helping his mother preparing for the dinner party was keeping him busy. He couldn't leave it behind.
But there was something he could do.
"You know I can't do that, but why don't you come here?"
Her eyes fluttered. "What?"
"You could come here. I could pay for your ticket and you could spend a few days here. I could show you around and show you all the cool places here, and I could introduce you to some of father's finance friends."
"As much as I would love to see you again, I can't leave either. I need to take care of my work at the company. I've already been off for two days and I can't put the inevitable off anymore."
"Oh." He couldn't help but feel sad. "Yeah, I get it. I guess we will see each other when the dinner party arrives?"
Maka nodded. "Yes, but I really appreciate the offer and I do want to see you. It's just…" her voice faltered and she stared down at the coffee table.
"Don't worry. You don't have to say anymore if you don't want to. We'll just stay in touch and we'll see each other soon again at the dinner party."
…
Soul stirred his spoon in his cup, staring at his black coffee swirling around and around. His mind bobbling and the people of L.A went by the out-door seating. Anya held her mug in her hands, resting her elbows on the table.
"What are you worrying about?" she asked.
What wasn't there to worry about? Something had happened between him and Maka, and he didn't like it. Ever since the contract business revolving around Maka's project, the calls had been fewer and video-chatting had been out of the question. He was… really nervous. He had changed. He admitted it. He was finding out who he was and he hoped Maka would accept him and the changes that had happened.
Were they really the same? He had changed, they had changed, were they still as good friends as they were when he lived with her? He had absolutely no clue. His brother and Maka would land within an hour and they would come to spend the weekend with him and his parents and to attend the dinner party he and his mother had planned now for weeks. He just hoped it wouldn't be an awkward weekend. It wouldn't be, right? They were still friends and even if things had changed, they hadn't changed that much, right?
"You tell me." He released the spoon and stared at his coffee.
"You've nothing to worry about. So suck it up and go home. It would be awkward if they arrived at your home without you being there."
"My mom can charm them both for me."
"Hey." Anya reached across the table and nudged his forearm. "Go home. We both know Maka isn't here to hang out with your mother."
"Just a couple of hours more—"
"Soul." Anya's voice dipped and became stern. "Go home. You can't hide away in this café forever. You know you'll have to see her eventually."
"Yeah, but…" he sighed. "I don't really know what to do."
"Yes you do. Just listen to your heart. You'll know what to do."
"There you go sprouting that poetic shit." He grabbed a hold of his spoon and started swirling his untouched black coffee again. "It's not as easy as just listening to your heart when you don't even know what it's saying."
"Then spill it. What is it that's preventing you from going home? Why did you call me out of the blue like this and asked to see me?"
His mouth tightened as he looked into Anya's blue eyes.
He knew why. He was nervous. The conversations between him and Maka had… he didn't know how to describe it, but it had changed. It wasn't their usual banter anymore, it had become more… intense. He feared a little what would happen when he met Maka. That intensity was making him nervous and he didn't really know what to do. All he hoped was Anya could make it all better like she always did. If it was studying with him when they started law school or if it was lunching with him during his breaks to get him out of his head and do a good job to make Blair and his father proud. She always had a healing effect on him.
"… I want you there at the dinner party."
"That's it?" She raised her groomed eyebrow.
He nodded. "It would feel less awkward if you were there."
"No Soul, what's more awkward is having your ex who you still fancy at the same party with your wife. What would Maka even think?"
"She wants what's best for me. Trust me, she wouldn't mind."
Anya sighed. "All right, fine. But I'm bringing Tsugumi with me."
"That's fine. As long as you're there, it will help a lot."
"Just promise me, you won't hang around me all the time. Tsugumi is okay with you hanging with me, but I'm sure she certainly isn't."
He didn't have to be a genius to understand she wasn't okay with him hanging around Anya, his ex he remembered being together with instead of her. Of course she wasn't happy when he had talked about her, but what was he supposed to do? Feelings weren't like a switch you could turn on and off. He wished his feelings for Anya could just disappear and he could love Maka the way he had before the accident, but he couldn't. He loved Anya and he wanted to be together with her, but he couldn't. There was no longer any room within her heart anymore, Tsugumi had taken his place. She was happy. That's all that mattered, right?
"Don't worry, what makes me happy, makes her happy."
Anya nodded understanding, but the glimpse in her eyes told him otherwise. "Okay, as long as you're both comfortable with it."
"We are."
"Good." Anya rose from her seat and grabbed her purse. "I got to go home now, and so should you."
Soul pushed his cup of coffee away from him. "Yeah. I'm sure Maka will flip if I'm not home."
"Good, now get your head out of the gutter and make sure she has a good time here. You know you got to keep the wife happy."
Soul blew a raspberry as she exited the café.
He was left smiling, rubbing his neck before he also headed to his home.
…
He returned home just in time for when Wes and Maka's taxi pulling up on the driveway. He stared out the window as Maka stepped out of the taxi, sunglasses on and hair up in a ponytail. The taxi driver immediately hopped out from the car to take out their luggage from the trunk.
"Soul." Kathrine called up the stairs where he sat, spying out from the window. "Maka and Wes have arrived."
He didn't move an inch.
"Don't make me yell," Kathrine's shoes clicked as she headed up the stairs, finding him where he sat. "What are you doing here? Aren't you going to greet them by the door?"
He remained silent.
"You know I raised you better than this. You always greet your guests by the door," she sternly said as she rested her hand on her hip.
Absent-mindedly he got up from his seat and headed down the stairs.
"There. That wasn't so hard."
It might be. He didn't know.
He gulped as his mother opened the front door and opened up her arms wide. "Wesley! Maka! You finally arrived!"
"Hi mother," he heard his brother greet their mother from outside on the front porch.
Okay. He got to go out.
He took a breath of courage and he rounded the corner, walking out on the front porch. Maka's head turned toward him and her suitcase fell from her hand, crashing down on the ground. Her mouth hung ajar and she took off her sunglasses.
"Soul?" she said astonished.
"Hi," he answered.
He had changed since he last saw her. His hair was a darker brown and his eyes were no longer red. His mother had helped him out getting blue coloured contact lenses and he had gone to the dentist to get prosthetics to cover up his sharp teeth. They were just temporary till the dentist would slowly shape them down to normal teeth, either by filing them down or filling them. The prosthetics did keep the weird glances away from him and he felt… so incredible normal. No outsiders or customers at the office would give him any weird glances now when he covered up the freakish features.
"Oh my goodness," she whispered as she slowly went up the porch, not even blinking as she stared at him. "Are those coloured contact lenses?"
He nodded.
"Wow…" she tilted her head as she inspected him. "They look so real… if I didn't know you had red eyes before, I wouldn't have suspected a thing."
"Yeah, that was the point."
Her eyes immediately darted down to his mouth. Her hands grabbed his cheeks and pried his lips open.
"H-hey!"
"You've fake teeth too?"
"S-stop it." He pulled her hands away from his face. "Yeah, they're prosthetics."
"Did they get knocked out or what?"
"No, I just…" he sighed as he tightened his tie. "I wanted to cover them up. It's essential to look good when you do business. It could help the customers be more agreeable, you know. It's scientifically proven."
She raised her eyebrow. "… okay?" She hooked her sunglasses on her blouse. "I'm just… it's a shock seeing you like this. It's not that you don't look good or something because you do look handsome, I thought you would tell me about these changes."
He sighed and looked away from her. "It wasn't important."
"Maybe so, but it's something I would've been interested in knowing."
He stayed quiet.
"Maka." Kathrine almost sung her name. "It is nice you wanted to join us this weekend." She collected Maka in her arms and she hugged her back, but her eyes stayed glued on him.
"It's nice to be here," Maka said as she pulled away.
"Kid bro, I see you've changed as well." Wes grinned wide and came to rest his arm on his head.
"H-hey! You're ruining my hair!" Soul exclaimed as he smacked his brother's arm off, carefully patting his hair back to the well combed state it was.
"No fights now, darlings. Wes, why don't you go and greet your father while Soul shows Maka her room?"
"Um, sure." Soul nodded. Soul went down the porch and grabbed the suitcase she had dropped, returning to her. "It's this way." She followed after him as they went up the stairs. He went toward the west wing of the mansion, away from his room.
"Wow… you grew up here?" Maka asked as she looked around astonished at the luxurious paintings and high ceilings with the chandeliers.
"Yeah," he breathed.
"You must've lived the good life."
"Something along those lines." They reached the end of the corridor and he opened the golden doorknob. "This is your room." He held it open for Maka and she gasped as she entered the room.
"Soul," she breathed. "This— our apartment would fit in this room!"
And it certainly would. His parents wouldn't allow guests to live in tiny rooms without their own private bathroom and walk in closet. Something less extravagant than this wasn't allowed.
"This isn't even the best guest room." He entered the room and placed the suitcase by her bed.
"This isn't?"
He flashed a smile. "Not even close."
"But this has a sitting area with a huge ass TV! How big even is this bed? It's definitely bigger than a king's bed!"
"But it doesn't have a Jacuzzi, the big balcony or the wine cooler."
Her eyes fluttered. "Who would even need that many things? The guests aren't supposed to spend the whole visit inside of their rooms."
"No, but you know my mother. She got to show off her wealth." He leaned against the wall. "She would've given you one of the more exclusive bedrooms if some important finance people wouldn't stay here."
"Just sleeping on a couch or on a mattress would've been enough for me."
Soul chuckled. "You're not in Death City anymore. To impress these people you need a fine taste, knowledge in the odder refined things and a shit ton of money." He straightened his back and showed his hands in his pants. "You need to know all about the talk and the walk. You've a lot to learn until tomorrow's dinner if you want to impress some of the people here."
She blew a raspberry. "So do you, mister bad mouth."
He shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not trying to impress anyone. It's hard enough trying to please myself. I don't need to start kissing asses on top of that."
"You're right about that," she giggled.
He couldn't help but smile at her. She was cute when she laughed.
"So, care to show me around? I'll either need that or a map of the place or I will definitely get lost."
"You'll probably get lost either way." He nodded toward the door. "I'll give you a house tour."
And he did. He showed her the other guests' room to see her jaw drop in shock at the luxurious decorated room. He showed her the rooms which she would absolutely stay out of because it was there the guests would be staying for the night. He showed her his father's office where she had greeted his father, the kitchen where she got to meet the kitchen staff. He showed her the arcade room where he and Wes had spent a lot of time when they were younger. She absolutely drooled when they arrived to the library and when he managed to rip her away from it, she had taken a book with her to have as light reading before she went to bed.
"… and this is where Wes sleeps." Soul gestured toward a door at the beginning of the right wing of the mansion on the upper floor. "And this is my room." They came to a stop by his room right beside Wes's.
"May I see it?" she asked timidly.
It was something… intimate about showing her his safe space, but he agreed. "Sure." He opened the door and let her inside.
His bedroom wasn't even near the simplicity of the guest room she was staying in. His sitting area was far bigger and more comfortable with a fire place and a huge TV taking up a large portion of his wall. His bed was humongous and he remembered the hassle his mother had to go through to get the bed custom made to fit the pocket in his room. On the night stand decorated the picture frame Maka had given to him with his wedding vows and the pictures of them. He'd a couple of bookshelves filled with books and his desk littered with papers, open notebooks and books. Right by his desk was a door out to the large balcony with a sitting area.
"Wow… I don't know where to begin," she whispered.
"It is quite messy. My mother and I haven't quite finished decorating it to my liking. It's still quite… childish."
"Childish? Where is it even childish? All I can see sophisticated furnishing."
Soul gestured toward the arcade games that were in his room when he moved back in with his parents. It was his favourite games and it was nice to play them for the nostalgia, but he didn't need them in his room. They could be in the arcade in the basement.
"Come on, any child with an arcade game in their room would be very lucky."
"Maybe so, but I feel like my room needs to look more… well… grown up, you know. I am twenty-six and not nineteen after all."
"You don't have to prove it with furnishing or something like that. If you liked your room as it was, you should live so."
"Nah, I like this better. My mother helped me out a lot to get it to look like this and I'm sure she wouldn't be happy if I threw all her hard work away."
"I get it." She nodded understanding. "As long as it was your decision, I'm happy."
She started circling around in his room, examining all of his decoration. She came to a stop by one of his bookshelves, hand running over the backs of the books. "Faust… Pride and Prejudice… Crime and Punishment… Tell me, are these just for show or are you actually reading them?"
"I have read them." He flashed a grin.
"Really? That's impressive. I never thought you enjoyed reading books, especially books like these ones."
"What? Did you expect me to read sci-fi or something?"
"No, more like Harry Potter with your low reading ability, but I guess I'm wrong. You do know a thing or two about reading complicated books."
Soul chuckled. "I guess so."
He watched her as she ran her hand over the papers scattered on his desk. "What are you working on?"
"Just some light studying."
"Doesn't look so light." Her hands ran over the law book he had highlighted some paragraphs. "Are you studying law?"
"Something like that. I think I want to start studying law again, but since the semester is in full swing and I've missed the application period for the next semester, I don't really know. It might be too much of a hassle to go through the application process again."
"I see."
He gulped when she started to near him, her green eyes looking at him with that gentle touch again.
"Y-you should see the view from my room." He backed away and opened the door to the balcony. "It's really great."
Maka was close behind him, joining by the railing and looking out over their well-groomed garden. "It's so big… you've a gardener who takes care of all of this, right?"
"More like ten. This is actually the less exciting side of the house. You should see the backyard. Now that's what I call an Eden. It even has a gazebo."
"You got to show me around the garden then."
"It's a mess right now. My mom is preparing the garden for the dinner party so even if we can't mingle outside, it will still look nice and presentable."
Maka raised her eyebrow. "Why won't we be able to be outside?"
"According to the weather, it's going to rain, but she still wants out guests to notice the garden."
"So she wants the guests to see how well-maintained it is?"
"Something along those lines. You should just see how much she prepares when we have parties in our backyard. Those parties are over the top."
"I bet it is." Her gaze found his and she smiled gently toward him. "So how are you?"
"What?" he questioned.
"You know, how have things been? It was now two months since I last saw you and you have obviously changed."
"It's good, I guess." He shrugged his shoulders. "It has helped me a lot being here. I feel like… I don't really know, but it feels like I'm slowly finding out who I am and what I want to do."
"That's great!" Maka beamed toward him. "I'm happy you're finding out who you are." She placed her hand on her arm.
His throat ran dry and his eyes darted down to her hand. Had she been this close to him? "Um, t-thank you."
"Do you feel like you're finding out the base of who you are now?"
"I think so?"
"Good." He thumb ran over his arm. "I have been thinking a lot about you when you were here. I've wanted to ask you this for quite some time, but I didn't want to burden you when you didn't really know who you were. I think now is the right time."
"What is it?"
"I was wondering…" her eyes glimmered beautifully as she smiled at him. "… do you want to grab some dinner with me?"
"Uh, it's a little bit early, but if you're hungry, I guess I could ask the chefs to cook something up for you."
She shook her head violently. "Not that!" she squeaked, cheeks blushing. "I want to know if you want to have dinner with me, as in a date."
His eyes widened. "A- a date?!"
"Yes, a date. You know a little bit more about who you are and I think right now is a good time to try it out. You're ready for this step. Dating you was one of the best times in my life and experiencing that with you again is like reading my favourite book for the first time again, and I want you to experience that too."
"I-I don't know," he stuttered, feeling his own face heating up. "L-like, uh, I've got a lot on my hands preparing for the dinner party and…"
"But if we go out before the dinner party, you'll be able to take me as your date." She beamed toward him. "I can't promise you anything, but I'll put in a good word for you," she playfully spoke.
She wouldn't accept a no, would she? Besides, didn't he owe her a date to ate least give her a try and see if there could be anything romantic between them? Maybe this could even be what he needed. Maybe she could take his mind off of Anya and move on from her by going to Maka.
"Alright. It's a date then."
She barely contained her joy as she jumped on the spot. "Okay, I'll go and change and I'll meet you downstairs?"
"Sure."
…
It was… weird. Really weird. Just the thought of going on a date with Maka whom was his best friend was something really odd. He cared about her. He really did. He wanted everything sweet for her in life for her selflessness and devotion to her career. Especially now after she had lost her project and she had seen Miss Arachne spread the commercial for her project and how successful it had been. If this date could lift her spirit, he would go on this date with her.
Hopefully she wouldn't be too attached to him.
He leaned against the door, hands shoved in his pockets as he waited for her. How long did she plan on prepping herself? It was a date. Not a ball. It wasn't hard. Just pick a dress, do your hair and you were ready to go.
"Hey, little bro." Wes greeted cheerfully, ascending from the stairs with a bottle of wine in his hands. Obviously he had paid a visit to their wine cellar and judging from his small stumble, he had been there for a while. "You ready for dinner? Mom gave me the privilege of choosing today's wine."
"Not today, brother."
"Whaaat?" Wes gapped at him, stumbling and supporting himself against the wall beside him.
"I think you had a little bit too much of wine down there. You might want to start chugging water or mom won't be too happy."
"There is so much wine down there. I had to try out all the new stuff to decide which one, okay? And I tried out some of the whiskeys for dessert too." He grinned wide. "Believe me, you'll be super happy with this choice."
"Yeah, you and father will have to enjoy it by yourself."
"Why?"
"Because Maka and I are going out for dinner."
"No way!" Soul wrinkled his nose at the strong alcohol breath hitting his face. "Are you finally dating her?"
"We aren't dating anyone. We're just going out for dinner and seeing if there could be something between us."
"A date after all."
Soul rolled his eyes at his drunken brother. "Call it whatever you want."
"I'm so happy for you!" he exclaimed in his ear as he hurled his body at him. "You're finally going to date your wife again! You're going to love her again and you'll come back to Death City and everything will be back to normal."
A wrinkle between his eyebrows appeared as he held his hands up in the air.
Going back to normal? Was that what everybody expected from him? Just falling back in line with who he was before the accident?
Soul pulled away from Wes and his brother's expression suddenly went blank and mouth hung open. "Wow…"
He raised his brow at his brother and turned around to look at what had his brother so amazed. His eyes almost bulged out of his own head when he saw Maka walking down the stairs like a beauty queen, hand feathering over the railing and her eyes twinkling brighter than crystal chandeliers.
She… she looked gorgeous!
Her hair flowed down in graceful locks and her green dress brought out her eyes. It made her legs look longer with her dress short in the front and long in the back. Her smile beamed and lit up the room as she reached the ground floor. She gave a slow spin, allowing them to see her from every angle.
No wonder she took her time.
"How do I look?" she asked.
"Slamming! Ouch!" Wes cursed as he massaged his ribcage.
"Don't be a creep," Soul muttered.
"What? You jealous?" Wes purred.
Soul rolled his eyed at his brother's fanatics. "Don't listen to him," Soul said, stepping in front of him. "You look really good."
Her cheeks heated up as she neared him slowly. "Thank you."
"Why are you all gathered here for?" His mother asked as she and his father strolled inside of the entrance hall, his father a couple of steps behind. "Come in the dining room. The chefs are wrapping up in the kitchen."
"Soul and Maka are ditching us," Wes sang.
"What? Why?" Kathrine tilted her head quizzically.
"Because they are going on a date." If Wes was singing before, he was full on out singing like a nightingale.
"Wes," Soul sneered.
"Oh how lovely! That's why you two are so dressed up."
"Yeah, and we're actually just leaving," Maka said.
"Then we better make it quick," Kathrine smirked wide and she snapped her fingers. Alistair neared his wife and pulled out a nicely folded paper from the inside of his blazer. Soul raised his eyebrow as he accepted it from his father.
"What's this?"
"Why don't you open it?" Kathrine radiated with excitement.
Soul obliged, unfolding the paper piece of paper and started reading it.
Dear Mr. Evans.
Congratulations! We're pleased to inform you that you've been accepted to University of Los Angeles beginning in fall 2018, in law.
His mouth hung open and he looked up at Kathrine barely containing her joy. "Oh my goodness…" he breathed out.
"Are you happy?"
"Yes! This is incredible!"
"What is it?" Wes grabbed the paper from his hands and Maka peeked at the paper. "You're accepted to law school?" he asked.
"I don't know how, I didn't even apply," he bubbled with joy.
"We took care of it, but rather, your father did. Mr. Enrique represented your father in the past and he's now the dean. He managed to pull some stings and got you accepted to school," Kathrine explained.
"Thank you so much. I don't even know what to say."
It was all so surreal. It was like he was receiving a do over in life. He was going to attend law school and retrieve the degree he had missed out on. It was all going to be okay again.
"That's great, Soul," Maka spoke up. "Do you still want to go out for dinner or do you want to stay in and celebrate with your family?"
It was the greatest opportunity to cancel their date. But could he? She had done so much prepping to make herself look like that. It wasn't like her ordinary professional blazer and pencil skirts. This was Maka looking like she was going to a gala. As much as he wanted out of this awkward dinner, he couldn't do that to her. Not now when she was all prepped up and bubbling with excitement for the date. She would surely be disappointed if he cancelled it. One awkward dinner he could endure for her sake.
"Nah, let's go."
"Have fun, lovebird," Wes chuckled as Maka joined his side and they headed out of the house.
"Have you been drinking, Wesley?" Just before the door closed, they heard Kathrine sneer at his brother.
Soul grinned wide and Maka giggled. "I take it your brother will be in trouble. "
"Yeah, he's up for a huge scolding."
…
After Maka had described the type of food she wanted, he narrowed it down and she took her to a cool place serving quirky foods. She insisted on having either waffles or soup for dinner. He'd no clue why, but if that was what she wanted, she would get it.
So he took her to the coolest breakfast place in Los Angeles. They had some dinner items, but he was sure they could prepare some of the breakfast items for them as dinner. At least he hoped so.
They went inside of the small café Mnemonic, as unique and quirky as her apartment was.
Her eyes lit up as she drank in the surroundings. "This is perfect," she breathed.
"I'm happy you like it, just too bad you overdressed if we were just going to eat at a place like this one."
She looked over her shoulder, her hair whipping over her shoulder and caressed her bare shoulder. "Maybe I didn't dress up to fit in some restaurant's dress code."
He gulped nervously at her dark and intense stare at him. He recognized that look. Not exactly this look, but the intensity he remembered too well. The frightening seriousness and the depth in her eyes reflecting the barely contained emotions she had kept buried all this time. It was in the hospital he last saw it. The day after he woke up. Her feelings dancing in her eyes like a dancer boldly taming balls of fire in an eloquent act. It had terrified him being at the end of her heated gaze, and it was just as frightening, if not more.
She caught on his state and immediately her face softened, holding her hand out to him. "Come on, I'm starving."
"R-right." He wet his suddenly dry lips, hesitantly reaching out for her hand.
What was he going to do? Hold it? They were on a date and he knew some sort of hand holding was expected of him. But now? It was expected of him, so why not start now so he would get used to it?
He chose to grab her hand and thankfully she didn't entwine their fingers, just holding his hands as she tugged him along.
She didn't even need to look at the menu on the wall. With conviction she ordered the breakfast waffles only to receive a surprised raised eyebrow from the cashier. She was quick to assure him it was what they wanted, and they would enjoy it with a glass of red wine. As soon as their order had been doodled down on a piece of paper, Maka dragged him to a quiet table in the corner of the tiny restaurant.
"So," he started as they were seated. "What's up with the waffles? I thought you were hungry."
"Well, it is strange, but…" she beamed toward him, reaching across the table and gently resting her hand on his. "… on our first date, we were both so poor we couldn't afford going to a restaurant for dinner, so we went for breakfast and it was waffles."
"I see…" he whispered anxiously.
"I know I can't replicate our first date perfectly being in a different city… but I really want you to experience it again because that date was the best one in our lives." Her thumb caressed the back of his hand as she smiled at him wide. If she smiled any wider, her cheeks would tear open. "It was the beginning of us and I want you to experience just how great it is."
"Okay," he almost squeaked like a mouse.
"And if you're going to start studying again, I'll move to Los Angeles too."
His eyes blinked in shock. "Y-you're moving here?"
"Yes, if you're going to start school here, it's more permanent than I thought you would stay here, and I don't want to be that far away from you. I can find an apartment and maybe you could move in with me again, just like before."
He gulped and pulled his hand away from her. "Just… slow it down a little. Our date has barely even started and you're already planning the rest of our lives."
She grinned wide toward him as she leaned closer to him over the table as if she was gazing at her delicious prey. "I've been planning ever since we first got together," she whispered in a low sultry voice that made his skin crawl with uneasiness. "But for you…" her voice brightened and she leaned back in her chair, the intensity of the more returned back within her from his sight. "… I'll slow down my horses."
Her words didn't sooth the uneasiness eating away at his flesh, the glimpse of the intensity and the hunger that he knew existed within her, a hunger he knew now for certain, it hadn't gone away. It had been hibernating within her and the moment he accepted to go on a date with her, it had awakened. Now it was barely contained, ready to bounce on him at any given minute.
It was eerily.
Any ordinary guy would've jumped up and down in joy having a girl like Maka so confidently go after them. She was successful, bright, so incredibly bright and hey, she was beautiful. He wasn't going to deny it.
But… he knew he wanted to forget Anya and the way to do it was to get involved with Maka. But it was scary. So incredibly scary to have her go after him so confidently. The intensity and the depth of her feelings were terrifying him shitless. They had only known each other for a couple of months and she still cared about him so deeply without a filter. It was so incredibly terrifying, but he knew he had to see passed his fear. He needed this. For Anya.
Dinner came and the cashier brought them their waffles and wine. It was an odd food combination, but it was good for waffles and cheap wine. It was far from the delicious flavours from the variety of wines in his parents' wine cellar. Maka kept on smiling and laughing as they kept on talking throughout the dinner and as soon as their plates were empty, he expected them to head home, but Maka had other plans.
"And now we have dessert," Maka sang as she took a seat by their table with a small box of chocolates.
"Okay, any chocolates with almonds in them?"
"Not what I know."
"Doesn't it say it on the box?"
"That's the point," she gushed as she pulled off the ribbon on the box. "It's like a game of Russian roulette. We'll see which one of them we like and didn't like."
Soul raised his eyebrow at Maka. "I take it we did this on our first date?"
"Exactly!" she opened the box and held it toward him. "Try one out."
He settled on a chocolate looking like a milk chocolate with white chocolate drizzled on top of it. He popped it in his mouth and instantly refluxes kicked in when a strong taste of oranges hit him. He swallowed it quickly and devoured wine to the sound of Maka giggling.
"Was it liquorice?" Maka asked.
He shook his head.
"Oh! It was those nasty champagne pralines, wasn't it?
He shook his head again. "Orange," he spat out.
"That was my third guess, I swear." Maka giggled as she grabbed a chocolate with yellow dust on top of it. "Try this one. I've a feeling it might be marzipan. Or it might be lemon."
"Okay." He took the chocolate in her hand and put it in his mouth. Indeed, it was a good one when the delicious flavour of marzipan coated his mouth. He lit up and nodded toward her. He swallowed and smiled toward her. "Marzipan. That one was really good."
"I told you," she bragged.
He could only laugh as he turned the box of chocolates toward her. "Now it's your turn."
He was so torn. As soon as the intensity in her gaze was gone, it was back to the way it was when they lived together. Relaxed, comfortable and fun. But as soon as she would make a flirtatious comment or her thumb would run over his hand, the intensity would return and the uneasiness would come right along with it. It was like he wanted to hang out with her and like her, but as soon as that side of her showed up, he wanted to run away and hide somewhere while he cried to Anya. Hand-holding he could do, but as soon as she started caressing it or squeeze his hand, it reminded him of the something more in her eyes.
Overall, he could say the night was enjoyable? The cons were fewer than the pros and that was a good sign. The date had been quite odd with the waffles and chocolates. It's not something he would come up with, but then again, he went on a date with the woman who lived in a quirky apartment with a blue door and furniture from a garage sale.
They headed home. They greeted his parents and brother who were seated in the living room before they headed up the stairs. Maka came to a stop and her hand in his stopped him, tugging him slightly toward her. She stood tall and he gulped.
Oh no. She didn't expect him to… kiss her.
"So…" her voice dipped and she was standing way too close to him. "… I'm not really tired or ready for our date to end and technically we did watch a movie on our first date, so how about we watch some movies on that big TV of yours?"
He exhaled so loudly with relief to earn a raised eyebrow from her. "Yeah, why not?"
"That's great." A huge smile spread on her face.
They went inside of his room and he started the TV while Maka was busy bouncing between checking out the small wine collection he had and the movies. He didn't really care what movie she chose. He just popped the DVD into the player and opened the wine bottle she chose.
They were seated on the couch. Maka just had to take a seat right beside him, thighs touching and their shoulders bumping together. In the apartment they could be completely snuggled together under a blanket and he wouldn't care, but now it was so awkward, but damn it was so nice. Hugging wasn't something that he got a lot of, and every single one he got from Maka felt so good, and she always wanted to give them to him.
The movie kept on playing and they drank glass after glass of wine, him maybe more than her because, oh, he needed the liquid of courage. They got closer and closer and the wine helped him accept the touch and push away the uneasiness in his mind.
This was what he needed. She was the only one who could take his mind off of Maka.
He found himself lying in the couch, not giving a damn about the movie, just concentrating on Maka lying squeezed between his side and the couch. Head resting against his chest just above his heart and he beat she could hear how fast it was beating.
It was scary. Having his senses dulled by the wine and allowing himself to actually look at her was terrifying. Watching her hair flow down beautifully and he couldn't help but to play with her beautiful hair. Twirling a loose lock of hair and running his hand through her hair. It helped him sooth his racing heart and focus on what he needed to do.
He didn't want to do it, but he knew it was for the best. He needed to move forward and forget Anya, to sooth her own consciousness when the wedding finally happened. Maka also expected it. They had gone on a date and he knew as soon as the movie ended, she would expect it of him.
He needed to kiss her.
It was a wild and crazy thought. Kiss Maka, his best friend. There wasn't a bone in his body which felt the slightest bit of romance toward her. They were just friends. But there they were. He had to kiss her. For Anya and for her, and, himself.
And he had to do it before the movie ended. It had to be on his terms. No one else's. If he was going to kiss her, he had to be the law-maker.
He inhaled shakily as he gently nudged her chin up. Instantly her eyes twinkled with worry. "Is something wrong?"
He shook his head, swallowing the little saliva to wet his throat. "No."
"You seem so… stiff."
"It's just…" Gently his thumb caressed her chin as his eyes stayed fixated on her deep rosy lips. "Hold still." He slowly leaned in and captured her lips.
A jolt of surprise travelled through him the moment his lips touched with hers. It was… odd. He had kissed a few girls before, but it had never felt like this. Not even when he kissed Anya it had felt like this. He couldn't describe it as their lips were pressed together. It wasn't as tame and enjoyable when he had kissed Anya. This… he could only describe it as wild. The jolt the moment their lips touched never ceased. It kept on dancing and sparkling on his lips, shocking him every second with the intensity of it. What made it all worse was the fact Maka didn't even hesitate. Her eyes fluttered shut a second after their lips met and she kissed him back eagerly.
He liked it.
Her lips moved deliciously against his and he accepted it heartily. The sensation and the jolts of the something unknown were addicting. He wanted to stay like this. Eat up this sensation and preserve some in a jar for later. It was so… so… so… so good. He hadn't expected kissing someone could feel this good.
She deepened the kiss even more and he received it eagerly. Her hands entwined in his hair, pulling him closer and his arms tightened around her waist and pulled her flush against him. He devoured her lips, enjoyed the jolts sparking along his―
He gasped and suddenly pulled away when Maka was suddenly straddling his lap!
"What's wrong?" Worry clear in her eyes.
"I-I'm not ready for t-that," he breathed shakily, eyes not being able to take off her rosy lips with smudged lipstick all over them. He couldn't ignore his own pulsing lips and the lingering sensation of her silken lips.
"Oh, I wasn't trying to push you to do that."
"I-it's just…" he gestured toward their hips. "… I'm not… i-it's not okay."
"Oh, okay." She slid off of him to her original spot beside him. "I still want to touch you more… is this okay?" she asked as she timidly slid her one leg over both of his.
The warning bells went off in his mind and he shook his head. "N-no. Just… like this." He cringed when his hand settled on the back of her thigh and he steered it to hook it around his one leg. Now it wasn't any suggestive and even if she sat up, there was no way their privates would even come close.
"Good," she whispered and leaned close to him. He closed his eyes and welcomed her kiss.
It truly was addicting. She tasted so good. He could still taste the wine from her tongue and a little of the chocolate they had stuffed their faces in. His hands snaked up and cupped her cheeks, bringing her as close as he could.
In his mind, he could almost picture how her sandy blonde hair went paler and her green eyes turned blue and it was no longer Maka he was kissing, but the person who held his heart. A smile spread on his face and he kissed her back eagerly, mouths smacking and tongue running lapse.
But it wasn't Anya.
He pulled away and she didn't seem to mind. A huge grin played on her lips as she stared back at him with so much intensity in her eyes.
His stomach knotted as he came to the realization he had actually kissed Maka. He had… he had cheated on Anya! Not really, but he was still faithful to her! What was he doing with Maka? He couldn't use her like this to get over Anya. He didn't even want to get over her. He… he was a monster for doing this to Maka, and Anya and himself. This wasn't good for anybody!
He was so stupid for thinking this was good for anybody.
All of this was so fucked up. This whole situation. Him having his life set up for him and his mind was somewhere else while Maka tried to shape and bend him to fit into that mould. All this time, fucking every waking moment since the day of the accident, she pushed and pulled him to love her. There wasn't any choice for him. There was no other girl he could love or fall in love with. There was only one option and it was Maka. She wouldn't settle for anything less.
Fuck. He was unable to do anything really.
Maka fell asleep on his chest. As much as he wanted to wake her up and drive her away from his room and reflect upon what had happened, but she looked so peaceful. Smooth face and her make up smudging on his shirt. He wanted to wake her up, he even tried to move his shoulders to awaken her from her slumber, but she was already long gone. There was nothing he could do but to fall asleep as well and fast-forward until morning.
Morning couldn't come too soon. As soon as he opened his eyes, he found Maka staring back at him as she caressed his chest with her fingers. Her face smudged with her makeup, but even though her face was a mess, she was still cute.
"Good morning," she whispered.
"Morning." Slowly he sat up and Maka moved away. He flinched at his tense muscles aching and he massaged his shoulder. Fuck. His muscles were getting worse again. Hopefully not another anxiety attack would hit him again.
"Are you okay?" Maka asked worriedly, hands hovering as if she wanted to touch him.
"Yeah."
"Do you want me to give you a massage?"
He shook his head. "Nah, I'll be alright. Besides, you got to get ready for the dinner party."
"But you always come first to me. I don't need the whole day to get ready."
And that was what creeped him out the most.
"You don't have to do this for me. Just go and get ready for the dinner."
"Okay, if that's what you want me to do, I'll do it."
"Good." He rose from his seat, grabbing his blazer he had discarded the night before and hid the makeup mess on his shirt with it. "I'll see you at the party."
Her eyes fluttered in confusion as she followed him to the door. "But don't you want to have lunch together?"
"No, I'm sorry, I'll be preparing for the dinner party all day. I'll see you at the party."
"Oh… okay." She grabbed his hand, entwining their fingers as she neared him. "I had a really good time yesterday." The intensity returned in her eyes and a sultry smile appeared on her face.
His throat tightened at the proximity. "Yeah. It was… fun." He laughed nervously.
"It was really romantic. And…" she bit her lower lip and her forehead feathered over his. "… I fell in love with you all over again."
He cringed and backed away from her, hitting the door frame in the process. "Maka…" he started.
"You don't have to say anything," Maka quickly added. "I already know you don't love me like that yet. I just wanted you to know my love for you has never wavered. I still love you in all of your states of mind. Nothing is going to change that." She took a step closer to him, fingers feathered over his hand as her lips pressed a soft kiss to his cheek. "I'll see you at the dinner party." She slipped out of his room and the door clicked shut.
Yet?
…
His primary goal was to keep Maka away from him. His first goal was to involve his mother in all of this by keeping her busy and his mother knew exactly how: by taking her to shopping for a better dress. It didn't take much to convince her, just telling her he wanted to keep her occupied was enough for her to agree on.
Secondly he had to involve his father. He knew he wasn't as social like his mother, but he was the spider in the web, he had contacts. Contacts Maka was in grave need of. If she was going to move to Los Angeles, she would be very much interested in the contacts. Important people from the finance world would arrive to attend their dinner party and he knew if his father introduced her around to the people, they would do the work for him.
It was a brilliant plan.
His father however needed a little more convincing facts to be recruited, especially when it was to introduce Maka to his friends. She was smart and brilliant Alistair knew, but the side step in not having a lawyer check the contract before she signed it had him doubt in her judgment. He hadn't witnessed her abilities in the finance world, so it was a gamble, but then again, he was his son.
He was aboard on his plan.
That only left his brother, his wildcard.
He might be a part of the Evans family, but he knew he stood behind Maka. Had done so ever since he woke up in the hospital. He pushed him toward her instead of his family. He knew he wouldn't accept him distancing himself from Maka. Wes was his wildcard and he knew he had to stay away from him. Keep him busy from the shadows so he wouldn't be able to help Maka out. He knew just the person to help him out.
Tsugumi. If he reached Anya and asked for some time to talk alone, he could steer her right to Wes.
This way, he wouldn't have to talk to Maka. He could spend the whole night talking to Anya.
It was a brilliant plan.