AN: Hey guys, I'm baaaack! I know it's been forever and you probably want to stick both feet up my ass for taking sooooo long. But, seriously, it wasn't by choice. School is a butt kicker. I had my last final today so I wanted to give you guys a chapter. I've missed you all! Can you guys forgive me?? Here's chapter 10, I hope you like it. Please Read and Review!!

Oh yeah, I have a new story, Unlikely, it's a Twilight fic, so check it out.. Also, I'll be posting another Twilight fic very soon, like maybe tonight or tomorrow. It'll be called Merri-go-round. So keep a watch out for that. Okay, enough of my blabbering. To the important stuff, the story. Happy Reading!

Oh! Sorry one more thing, a lot of you asked who Saori is.. she was in SSM I believe. She wanted to become a cop, really liked Darien, and bought him a tie. Hope that helps!

No flames. My First story

Disclaimer: I don't own SM or the characters. But, this particular story is mine.

Summary: Serena Tsukino is your regular high school teenager who happens to meet a handsome stranger at a New Years Party she went to with her parents. What happens when that handsome stranger, Darien Shields, shows up at the most unexpected place – her class.

-misslorraine

UNCHARTED WATERS

Chapter 10 – The Start of New Beginnings

June 20 5:30 p.m. Chiba Tech Inc.

The fax machine receiving a new fax was the only sound that could be heard, aside from the swiveling of a chair. Serena sat with her feet, ankles crosses, propped on a box and a book in her hand. It was five thirty in the afternoon and she was suppose to be finishing her work.

However, since the entire office was cleared and relatively quiet, she was enjoying her guilty pleasure. No, not porn, romance novels. She always felt a little silly reading them and tried to hide this recreational activity from her friends, but they all knew. And teased her endlessly. Assholes. She could care less though, these erotic love stories were enough to keep her content without men.

Serena started when she saw a black suited figure enter her peripheral view; her intake of breath was sharp and fast as her head snapped up. There in front of her, standing as a Greek God straight from heaven, was Liles Carter. His smile flashed his pearly whites, his eyes burning intensely into her before softening.

"Ah, the beautiful Serena," he cooed.

Of course she blushed, who wouldn't? This guy was almost as hot as… "Mister Carter," she stood up, simultaneously hiding the book, cover face down, on the desk with the bind facing her thighs.

"Liles." He encouraged with a sexy smile.

A smile involuntarily formed on Serena's lips, "Liles, it's nice to see you again…" her brows pulled together. "Do you have an appointment?" Small fingers clicked her computer from its sleeping mode to see the calendar. "Darien went home early today."

"I don't have an appointment. I just stopped by to drop off a file," Liles withdrew a file from his briefcase and handed it to her.

"Oh. Okay, I'll make sure he gets it," she said, setting the file on the corner of the desk.

"Thank you. I'm a little surprised Darien isn't still here," he admitted while smiling warmly and gazing around the around the empty office. "Are you here alone?"

Serena took an involuntary, reflexive glance at the desks around her. "Yes," she answered, smiling sheepishly. "I was suppose to be finishing some work for a friend who had to leave early."

Liles noticed the small stack of papers sitting next to the computer screen, "Ah, I see. Well, have you finished?"

"No…" she paused, trying to figure out his direction.

"Do you think you could finish tomorrow?"

Her delicate brows pulled together in confusion, "Um.. I guess. Why?"

"I was wondering if you would like to get something to eat." He stated.

Well, she hadn't been expecting that. Then again, why not? She wasn't blind to the way he would look at her every time he was in the office or the way he flirted shamelessly with her in front of Darien and her other coworkers. Serena had always tried to keep it at a professional level, but who was she kidding? This man was fine. Though, she still wasn't quite sure how to respond.

"You want to go out?" Serena was still caught off guard by his forwardness. Okay, so maybe three weeks of flirting wasn't that forward, but it had been a while since she went out with a guy.

"…To eat, yes." Liles smirked as he studied her facial expressions.

'Great, he must think I'm a total idiotic, nut case now, ugh!' she scolded herself and blushed lightly. "Uh… I don't-,"

Apparently, not that it was a difficult feat, he picked up on her hesitation and nervousness, "It won't be fancy. You like Chinese?"

"Yes!" Serena replied a little too excitedly. What could she say, she was hungry and Chinese was her favorite.

A deep chuckle erupted from Liles' chest as he smiled his sexy smile at her, "Good let's go, then. "

She quickly collected her things, shoving her book into her purse and draping the strap over her shoulder before shutting down her computer and following him to the elevators.

Darien's House 5p.m.

The house was quiet as Darien stepped into the kitchen through the garage entrance, a dozen red roses in his hand. He had to admit work was taking up a lot of his time and Saori was growing tired with the decrease of quality time they spent together. It wasn't that he was avoiding home, or at least he didn't think so. He had been missing his fiancé, so today he came home early to surprise her. Hopefully this would make up for the sudden absence in the past few weeks.

Making his way through the kitchen filled with marble and steel appliances, Darien cut through the dining room and made his way down the hall and toward the staircase. Taking the steps two at a time, sounds started to reach him at the top of the stairs. Perhaps Saori was watching an erotic DVD. A wave of shame and guilt passed over him. Had he been so inattentive that she was now pleasuring herself? This was just so wrong.

As the ajar bedroom door loomed closer, the moans, groans, and gasps had become louder. Silently pushing the door wider, he inhaled to greet his fiancé, but almost choked when he took in the scene taking place on his silk covered bed. The red roses fell soundlessly onto the carpeted floor.

Covers were thrown everywhere, hanging off the bed, and scattered on the floor. Not one, but three figures were naked on his bed very actively engaged in their activity. The sounds he had heard early weren't from a DVD.

A thin, petite blonde woman lay on her back near the head board. Her head thrown back with eyes sealed shut and mouth slightly open while panting. Fingers grasping brown tendrils. Saori, tucked between the woman's wide spread legs, her face pressed against the blonde's core; knees under her, pushing her ass up in the air, into the hips of the man behind her. The man was of medium build with blonde hair also. He was on his knees, hands clamped tightly onto Saori's hips, his pelvis was thrusting erratically into her bottom side.

Darien's stomach dropped as red nearly blinded him. This was not some erotic movie, this was his soon to be wife, munching carpet and taking it from a stranger. He felt sick, disgusted, and angry. No, furious. This was his house and they were in his fucking bed. He snapped out of clouded, rage filled thoughts and focused on the scene continuing in front of him. He had had enough.

"WHAT THE FUCK?" he roared, causing the three to jump out of their ecstasy filled moment.

The man jumped off the bed, giving Darien a full frontal, his member dripping with juices. Darien just about puked out the Italian he had for lunch. Saori whipped around between the woman's legs, desperately trying to clutch any sheets to cover her naked body as well as her friend. All three faces looked shocked and bewildered like they had gotten caught with their hands in the cookie jar. And, in fact they had.

Face turning red and fists clenched, Darien tried to maintain a calm over his raging insides as his gaze set on Saori.

"Baby," her voice shook as Saori clamored off the bed, awkwardly wrapped in a bed sheet, and took a step towards him. He automatically stepped back, raising a flat hand to her, keeping her away from him. Touching him right now would be an extremely bad idea. "I can explain."

His eyebrows rose as he silently waited for her to continue.

"They're just friends," her eyes looked at him pleadingly.

Yeah, that made everything better. Just friends. What the hell kind of explanation was that? That wasn't an explanation at all. It was nothing. They were suppose to get married; this was going to be his wife. The best answer his to be wife could give him for hurting him so deeply was…nothing? He looked at the other two nervous faces before turning back to Saori,

"Get. Out. Now."

"What?" she asked clearly exasperated.

Taking a deep breath, he spoke through clenched teeth, "Pack your shit and your 'friends' and get out of my house. If I see anything that belongs to you when I return, I'm burning it. Robert will escort you out." The implication that they would be watched like hawks so they didn't steal anything was evident. Darien knew he could trust his butler, Robert, at least he could still trust someone.

"Darien, please," Saori cried with tears streaming down her face. "I love you. You've just been at the office so much and I…I got lonely-,"

He cut her off with a raised voice, "You were lonely, so you had a threesome?" he scoffed. "I could understand you sleeping with another man if you were lonely, but a threesome? And you were…what the fuck. Are you lesbian, bisexual? How the fuck long have you been doing this?" Darien yelled as he slammed his palm against the door. The only noise to break the silence was Saori's sniffles. The other man and woman were frozen silent, unsure of what to do.

After a few deep breaths, Darien managed to calm himself down, though just barely. "Nevermind. I don't want to know how long you've been having sex with other people on this bed and then letting me sleep on it." He turned to leave when a slender hand reached out and grabbed his elbow, "Don't touch me," he growled.

"Wait, please, where are you going?" her voice begged him to stay and work things out.

"None of your damn business."

Saori gained some strength, "You're going back to work aren't you? Back to her!"her tone was full of accusation as she sneered at him.

"What?" he asked, turning slightly to see jealousy in her eyes.

She laughed, though nothing was funny. "Come on, Darien. You don't think I know? I've seen the way you are around her. The way you have changed. You think I don't know that the sudden overtime that you keep putting in doesn't have anything to do with her? That I don't know you're fucking that whore?!" she practically screamed.

Darien could feel his temper sky rocket as his brow pulled together in disbelief. She had the nerve to accuse him? "So, let me get this straight, I come home and find you fucking around with Dick and Jane, and you want to accuse me of cheating? You don't know what you're talking about, Saori. The only whore I have been fucking is you!" he roared as he turned and started walking away. "GET. OUT."

Next Morning – Darien's Office

Stepping into Darien's office, her nose was assaulted by the reek of alcohol. With the file set on the mahogany desk, she turned to her left and spotted the reason for the foul order. Serena's nose crinkled with a slight burn.

This was just a lovely image, Darien, sprawled across his black leather couch with a two, thirds of an empty bottle held limply in his drooping hand. What the hell was he doing here? From the looks of it, he was wearing the same clothes he had on yesterday. His dark gray suit still on, however, disheveled. The jacket hung on the back of the couch. His striped black and gray tie lay loosely around his neck above his unbuttoned dark gray dress shirt.

Serena contemplated what her next move should be. Obviously she had to wake him up, but how. Walking over to him, thus getting closer to the smell, was certainly not her first option. If she had a choice, that is. However, going with the surprise approach by yelling out 'Darien' did not seem like the best idea. The picture of him startling awake with that opened bottle in his hand made her wince. Surely the man would not want his couch permanently perfumed with liquor. No. That left option one.

Walking over to his still, even breath form she sighed and automatically regretted the reflexive intake of air as the stench filled her senses. Bending slightly over, Serena shifted the bottle to her small hand and whispered,

"Darien."

Nothing. Of course. Darien didn't even flutter his eyes to acknowledge he had heard her. Serena eyed the bottle reading the huge "150" printed on the label. Whatever that meant. Drinking, alcohol in particular, had never really been her forte; usually satisfied with downing any drink her friends put in her hand. The actual names and mixing of alcoholic beverages was just an inch above her head. But since 150 was a fairly large number, she guessed it was a strong drink.

Her eyes roamed his face longer than they should have, but Serena couldn't help it. It had been so long, three years to be exact, since she had seen him like this; peacefully sleeping. Darien looked like a little boy. She almost swiped at the hair falling across his forehead. His lips were turned down, he looked sad.

Placing a small hand on his right shoulder, Serena shook him until he stirred, groggily blinking his eyes before focusing on her.

Darien was so past drunk. His vision appeared with two Serenas leaning over him, her soft touch grazing his should. His head was spinning, he could barely think straight, or at all. "Buns, what are you doing in my bed room?"

'You wish,' Serena thought, fighting back a smirk. "Huh?" Obviously, he was way more plastered than she had originally perceived, using that name,

"We aren't in your bedroom, we are in your office."

A confused look was all she got in return. Serena waited for a few moments to see if he was just collecting his thoughts. Again, nothing.

Heaving a small sigh she straightened, still looking down at Darien, "Right. I think.. well, you probably fell asleep here." Which was odd since he left before she did yesterday.

Ocean blue eyes darkened and clouded as memories floated back into his hazed filled mind and realization dawned. After his wonderfully splendid encounter with his ex fiancé last night, Darien had stopped at the liquor store, grabbed the biggest bottle on the shelf without looking at what it was, came back here, and drank himself to a drunken stupor. Shit.

Serena broke him out of his recollections, "Why aren't you sleeping at your place?"

All he could do was groan in response. The last thing he wanted was to tell her what has been made of his pathetic engagement. She would find out soon enough, when no wedding planning nor wedding took place.

"It needs to be fumigated."

Little fingers snapped two centimeters from Darien's nose, effectively gaining his attention. Her eyebrows had risen and pushed together in confusion, "Okay, you need to get up. People will be coming into work in," Serena glanced at her watch before continuing, "17 minutes. You wouldn't want to give the impression that your company is run by a drunken slob, right?"

"No," he muttered against his arm which he had raised to block out the blinding light that made his eyes feel as if steak knives were jabbing into his eyeballs.

After studying his hung over features, Serena turned toward the door, "I'll get you coffee."

'It's a good thing I made a pot when I came in,' she thought to herself as she entered the little kitchen. She poured the rest of the bottle down the drain before throwing it into the recycle and making a cup of coffee. Black, just as he liked it. Serena's smile turned into a frown as she realized she still remember nonessential factoids about Darien. Ugh.

Careful not to spill the hot coffee on her hand, Serena made her way back into Darien's office to see him moved to a sitting position, his head resting against the back of the sofa.

"Here, take a sip," she didn't trust him to hold the coffee on his own when it was filled to the rim without spilling and burning…his crotch most likely.

His black hair was wild as his sat up and sipped at the cup held carefully in her hands. Serena stifled a laugh. "Thank you," he whispered feeling pretty damn stupid and child-like at the moment.

Once Darien replaced her hand with his, she made her way to his 'closet,' which was just a big, oversized cupboard with a pole across the top for hangers; it still had an elegant, polished shine to it. Only then did he finally register what she was wearing. A dark blue, skirt, business suit that showed off her petite hour glass figure and muscled calves with black heels. Her hair was in its, new, usual style of up in one pony tail.

Opening the closet doors and expecting the two suits in there, Serena finally spoke, "What do you think? Light gray or black?"

"Gray," Darien muttered into his cup.

She turned to glance back at him before announcing, "Black it is." So, apparently she was talking to herself. Serena took the suit and the bag of toiletries sitting on the bottom shelf and walked over to the couch. They switched items and she pushed Darien out of his office, toward the bathroom to change and make himself presentable.

Ten minutes later, Darien came out of the men's bathroom looking like his usual fresh and sexy self. He shaved, his hair was wet and slicked back but somehow remained falling sexily across his forehead, above his smoldering eyes. The black suit was clean, crisp, and combined with his raven black hair, his sapphire eyes shown brightly. Serena had to remember to breathe when her gaze fell on his handsome figure. She lightly shook her head and cleared her throat,

"I refilled your coffee, it's on your desk," Darien stood quietly beside her desk, holding his crumpled clothes and the bag of bathroom necessities, nodding. "Also, I put a bottle of water and two aspirins on your desk."

Darien smiled his gratefulness, "Thank you."

"After you take the aspirin, there's a file on your desk Lil- Mister Carter wants you to review."

He cocked a brow, "Liles was here?"

Averting her eyes from his all too knowing gaze, Serena straightened an already organized stack of folders, "Um, yes. He stopped by yesterday after you had left."

"I see," nodding curtly, he walked into his office and shut the doors.

Serena exhaled the breath she didn't realize she had been holding. What was she so afraid of? Oh right, telling her boss she had a dinner date with his business partner.

11:15

Busy bodies were quickly shuffling around the office space, Molly sat, typing at her desk as she gushed to Serena about her romantic anniversary dinner with Melvin.

"It was the sweetest thing ever," the red head's heavy Brooklyn drawl made the word 'thing' sound like 'thang.'

"He took me to the beach and had little white tent set up…"

"Awww Mol, that is so romantic," Serena couldn't help but feel a pang of envy as she separated files of insurance papers into different piles.

Molly nodded and sighed, staring off into space, "Yeah, Melvin's always been so thoughtful. I'm lucky to have him."

"You guys were obviously made for each other."

"Ya know, when we were younger, before we started dating, I mean, I used to think Melvin was the most annoying guy ever. He was such a nerd!" she giggled as Serena's mouth dropped and eye brows shot up.

"Nu uh! I thought you guys have been like," Serena waved her left hand in the air in a circular motion, "in love since forever."

"Nah," Molly shook her head and turned to stare straight into her friends sky blue eyes. "Love isn't always perfect, in the beginning, ya know, or any time actually," she gave Serena a knowing look. "But that doesn't mean it wasn't meant to be. Sometimes love has to overcome some obstacles before it's forever, ya know?"

Serena's smile disappeared as she narrowed her eyes to slits and pursed her lips, "No, I don't know," she said not breaking the gaze.

"Okay," she shrugged before turning back to her computer and continued typing, "if you say so."

"I do," the blonde grunted, turning to face her desk only to be greeted by Darien's not too happy looking fiancé, Saori, walking quickly towards her desk. She plastered on a smile. "Hello, Saori, how ar-"

Walking past the desk, Saori didn't even stop when she cut Serena off, continuing to the closed doors, "Darien in?"

"Yes," Serena answered, not that the brunette waited for a response before throwing the door open and slamming it shut.

Glancing to her left, she saw Molly raise her brows and shrug before mouthing "Uh oh."

Darien looked up from the contract he was going over, papers were scattered all over, completely covering his desk, and frowned, "What the hell are you doing here?"

"We need to talk," Saori stated, making her way across the room.

He raised his right hand, flat, in the air to stop her from coming closer. He still didn't have his anger in check, "We talked enough last night."

"No we didn't. You just ran off."

"I left," Darien corrected, resting his fists on his thighs.

"Look, things just got out of hand. We can work through this. I love you," she tried taking another step forward, but the rage in his eyes made her pause.

He spoke through clenched teeth, his voice gravely low, "You cheated on me."

"Come on, Darien, like you have never made a mistake and cheated before?" Saori annoyingly pointed out.

"I've never cheated on my fiancé," he spat back.

"You've never been engaged before this."

"Exactly, that should tell you something," Darien stared at her silently for a few minutes before taking a deep breath. "I don't want to fight. This is a professional business place. It was fun while it lasted, I guess. We're over, I don't want to marry you. You need to go. Now. And don't come back."

She wiped her tears away with long fingers, "Surprise, surprise, you don't want to work things out with me." Saori turned around and left his office. She walked by the desks, pausing when she heard a soft voice,

"Are you okay, Saori?" Serena's voice was filled with concern.

Smiling, she turned to the blonde beauty and took off the only ring she wore, "Here," Saori gave a weak smile and set the ring on Serena's desk, "I think you'll have better use for this."

Mouth agape with her eyebrows furring in total confusion, Serena could hardly speak as she saw the little piece of jewelry, "Ummm…" she looked up, but Saori was already gone.

"Whoa," she heard Molly exclaim a second before Darien appeared in front of her.

"Serena, you look pale," Darien observed.

How nice. She looked up at him and pointed to the ring, not wanting to touch it like it might be some bad omen, "Darien, I think this is yours," she whispered.

He glanced down, "Oh, yeah, thanks," mumbling as he shoved it into his shirt pocket. "Let's go to lunch, Serena."

"What? I don't think that'd be a good idea, Darien," her eyes darted around the room to check who was listening. Molly. Of course.

"Serena, I have a business luncheon at noon. It's 11:27 now, I hate being late. If you don't want to go, tell one of the other office administrators to take your place." Darien explained with a roll of his eyes and tightening of his jaw.

"A business luncheon," Serena berated herself for her stupidity. "I'm sorry, I forgot."

Darien just nodded before heading to the elevator, "Do you have the Johnson files?"

"Yes," she responded, grabbing four files from the top of the stack and rushing into the elevator after Darien. The very quiet, empty elevator.

This was beyond awkward.

AN: Okay, there it is! I hope you guys liked it! Please review!

What's next for these two? Fun times.