Thank you so much to IAmOneWithTheForce for beta reading!
Chapter 10 – A Visit
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"Milady," Moon called, gently knocking on the door. She took a deep breath and placed a hand on her chest. She watched Lady Platinum closed the book she was reading to let her come in.
"Yes, Moon?" Platinum asked with a raised eyebrow. She sat up straight and watched Moon sat on the chair beside her. Judging by her looks, she seemed troubled. What made her be like that in the first place? She hoped it was nothing serious.
"Sapphire requested if she could talk to us later this afternoon."
"Oh," Platinum spoke, surprised from the conqueror's request. Questions started lingering in her head. She remembered something. She, too, wanted to have a nice chat with her senior Sapphire again. She hoped whatever talk they would have would bear good news. "At what time?"
Moon bit her lip, taking a glance at her phone. No new notifications were popping out just yet. Sapphire must be still typing. "She hasn't responded yet."
"Then tell her she could go anytime. I will just be here in the library."
Moon bobbed her head for a nod and did exactly what the Lady requested. She sent a text message to Sapphire and at the same time, her message appeared, saying that she would be there around one in the afternoon.
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"I'll be going to the Berlitz mansion today," Sapphire announced while adjusting the red cap on her head. She rose an eyebrow and poked her head from the wall behind her. She looked at Ruby with eyes curiously piquing its attention on his phone. He'd been using it all day, and if it meant that's from his work, then she's happy that at least he was still working even though he wasn't leaving the house today. She watched him stop using his phone to look at her.
"Take care." He said, smiling.
Sapphire just nodded and went outside. She wondered why Ruby hadn't insisted to go with her, but she shook her head at that. She could talk to him later about it and she promised she would tell him about her conversation with Moon and Platinum; he wouldn't miss out anything. He would be stressing himself if she wouldn't tell him, and she didn't want that.
After grabbing a taxi, she told its driver to take her to the Berlitz Mansion. The driver was shocked at first, but he wasn't the type of person to meddle into people's businesses. With a nod, he safely drove from Hoenn Homes Condominium up to the desired destination.
Berlitz Estate
Berlitz Mansion
1:30 PM
It wasn't difficult for Sapphire to get into the Berlitz's mansion; she is Moon and Platinum's friend, and she is also the daughter of the late Professor Birch. Her father did work with Professor Yanase Berlitz one time, and she and Platinum were already acquainted in such a young age. As expected, her father's reason to work with the Berlitz's was research as her father was known to be the best field researcher until his death.
Sapphire and Platinum have a great friendship throughout the years. Despite being opposites, as she was raised as a country girl while Platinum was raised like a princess, both considered each other as their friend. Sapphire had close female friends like Blue, Crystal and Yellow, but Platinum was the closest female friend she had. It was not only because they were acquainted as children, but they both grew to be good friends with each other. And she was happy and honored to be friends with such a refined person like Platinum.
The drive from her home to the mansion was quiet. The only thing accompanying Sapphire and the taxi driver was music of various bands from the nineties. When the cab arrived, two guards blocked them from going further. It was easy getting past them, since the guards knew she was coming. The guards let the taxi in, but strictly told the driver to stop at the main building before leaving the mansion immediately.
Acknowledging the guards' wishes, the driver smoothly did as he was told then left. Sapphire wondered why he didn't charge her anything and it turned out that Platinum already paid for her ride since they arrived. She sighed, knocking on the door. She told Platinum that she could take care of her expenses but did she really had to pay her travel fees? She had enough money for it.
She snapped out from her trance when a butler around his late sixties greeted her with a smile.
"Good afternoon, Miss Sapphire. Lady Platinum is in the library. I'll lead you there."
She returned the gesture, as the butler bowed at her and further opened the door to let her in.
She is always stunned by its unique architecture every time she paid a visit here. A large, expensive chandelier was placed on top, the welcome hall was almost the size of a ballroom, and stairs with silver handrails were placed in the middle of the hall. She took a deep breath and removed her red cap, silently following Sebastian.
They stopped in front of a white door and Sebastian knocked on it three times before opening it. It revealed Platinum reading a book and Moon was sitting beside her with a laptop placed on her lap. There was a pot of tea and two plates of pastries placed on the table.
"Lady Platinum," Sebastian called, gathering her attention. "Miss Sapphire has arrived."
"Ah," Platinum closed her book and stood up to welcome Sapphire. "Thank you, Sebastian. You may return to your duties."
Sebastian nodded then bowed at the heiress. He watched Sapphire get inside the library before closing the door.
"Senior Sapphire," Platinum approached her older friend and gave her a warm embrace. Sapphire just smiled, accepting it. "It is a pleasure to see you again."
"You too, Platinum." Sapphire smiled and the two sat on the chair. Moon closed her laptop and set it aside.
"It's nice to see you again, Sapphire." Moon smiled as she watched Platinum pour three cups of tea. She gently handed them their own cup gracefully.
"You too, Moon." Sapphire's smile widened and accepted the cup of tea. She took a deep breath, inhaling the fragrant smell of the jasmine tea. It made her heartbeat return to its normal pace. Teas certainly have its way to make her calm down.
"What brings you here, senior?" Platinum asked and sat up straight. She eyed her senior with a smile. They haven't seen each other for a while. She believed it was a month or two, but nonetheless, she was here now and that's what mattered. Seeing one's friend after a while was enough to lift her mood.
Sapphire finished her cup of tea and placed it on the table. Her palms were on her lap, gripping the fabric of her jeans. Her eyes scrutinized the two ladies before letting out a sigh to ease her mind. She knew they wouldn't like what she was about to say, but she hoped they would at least understand the situation. "It's about the research..."
"What about it?" Moon asked gently. Sapphire did mention in her previous messages that they needed to talk about their research. She didn't know what it was since Sapphire hadn't respond.
Sapphire took a deep breath, calming herself. It was true that she did send a text message to Moon days ago but hadn't told her what really happened. She's frightened to tell Moon the truth, which is why she opted to go to the Berlitz Mansion herself to tell everything. And maybe, just maybe, would have the courage to tell it. "I..." She swallowed the lump in her throat and looked at her hand. It was now or never. "I'm...I'm sorry, b-but our research was stolen."
There was an eerie quietness around the library. Chirping birds were heard as a cold breeze blew them away.
Platinum managed to keep her poise and sat up straight, but her hands were covering her gasping mouth. She couldn't believe it. Devon Corporation is a good company and it was unbelievable that such a terrible thing happened. How in the world?
Moon's eyes widened. She placed her cup of tea on the table. Sweat fell from her forehead. Her heartbeat raced. She swallowed hard. This what she was worried about and she hated that she was right. She should have spoken her mind to President Stone when she had the chance.
Sapphire kept her gaze on her clenched fists. She bit her lip. No, she couldn't cry. She was tired of crying. "There were four suspects, but President Stone said that Professor Cozmo is the one who stole the research. I believe the professor didn't steal the research. He's a man interested in the cosmos, and our research was related to medicine. I don't see why he would steal it. I tried to convince President Stone to reconsider...Ruby and I tried to, but he said Professor Cozmo was found guilty by his CCTV camera."
"Did he show you the footage?" Platinum intervened while Sapphire shook her head. "I see." She placed her thumb on her chin, thinking. Then how did President Stone find out that Professor Cozmo stole the files?
"President Stone seemed mad when we tried to convince him. He was probably shocked that his friend stole something from us." Sapphire finished with a sigh. She stood up and bent her body to bow at the ladies. "I'm really, really sorry. If I listened to Moon, then this wouldn't happen."
"It's...not your fault..." Moon spoke, biting her lip. "Sapphire, I know you were very eager to help people in this project and I don't blame you for that. Besides, I should have told President Stone myself that I disagree on leaving an important document in his office..."
"But..." Sapphire tried to reason but Moon looked at her and shook her head. She sighed, giving in.
"We both have our faults in this situation," Moon said after a moment of silence. Her lips curved into a frown "Blaming ourselves wouldn't get us anywhere."
"Moon is right." Platinum joined in, placing her hand on Sapphire's shoulder. "Let us just focus on how we will retrieve the missing documents."
Moon smiled and nodded. "Let's put that mistake behind us."
"Thank you," Sapphire mumbled, smiling weakly. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I should be the one who's reassuring you two, but..."
"Do not fret about it, senior." Platinum let go of her hand and handed her a plate of chocolate cake. "You have done so much for the cancer foundation. You still continued it even though you were not feeling well. That was very brave of you."
Moon just nodded, agreeing on every word that the heiress said. It was true. She couldn't have done it without Sapphire's persistence and hard work. She wouldn't have the 'best thesis' award if it weren't for Sapphire as her research partner.
"We'll get to the bottom of this." Sapphire clenched her fists and bit her lip, her right fang poked from her top lip. "I promise you that."
A phone call interrupted their talk. Its ringtone echoed throughout the library as Platinum let out a sigh to answer the call. "Hello?" She asked, her eyes slowly widening in shock. "Oh...senior Sapphire," She removed the phone from her ear, her free hand covering it. "Senior Blue wants to talk to you."
Sapphire furrowed her eyebrows. Questions roamed around her head. First of all, how did she know she was at the Berlitz's? Second, why did she have to call in Platinum's phone number? She had her own phone so why not call on her own phone number. She shook those thoughts away. She would probably know once she talks to Blue. "Alright," She said slowly, gently receiving Platinum's phone. She placed it close to her ear. "Hello?"
"Sapphire, hello!" Blue answered from the other line. She sat up straight, turning her chair. "You and Ruby really need to talk."
"Talk about what?" Sapphire asked. She's now more interested as to why Blue called her. What was this about her and Ruby needed to talk? Did he do something again? She really hoped he didn't get himself into trouble.
Blue bit her lip and let out a sigh. She couldn't just spill all the beans to her friend; she had to know herself. She knew Ruby only wanted to help, but not telling this to Sapphire was his big mistake. It could lead to bigger trouble and she hoped it wouldn't. This was why she was calling Sapphire now. She wanted to prevent a possible misunderstanding between the two lovebirds before it's too late. But, as she thought before, telling all the details to Sapphire would be too much. She had to give over the information one by one, slowly yet surely. "You'll find out tomorrow. Keep a close eye around Devon, okay?"
"I...I will." Sapphire reluctantly said. She was about to say something until Blue ended the call. She sighed, returning the phone back to Platinum. Why did she need to keep an eye around Devon? What was with that 'needed' talk with Ruby? Unless... It was just her hunch, but did Ruby tell her or did Blue find this out on her own? Nonetheless, she would eventually find it out by tomorrow.
"What did senior Blue say?" Platinum asked, snapping Sapphire out of her trance.
Sapphire looked at Platinum and her eyebrows started wrinkling. How would she tell them? "Well..."
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"You what?!" Ruby roamed around the living room, walking back and forth. His body continued to sweat madly as his heartbeat continued to thump wildly. He swallowed hard, still walking back and forth in the living room. He held his phone closer to his ear. "How could you tell that to her?"
"Knowing you, you would just make the situation worse than before," Blue responded sarcastically, letting out a sigh. She wanted to prevent any complications between the two lovebirds and giving a vague hint to Sapphire was one of it. According to Sapphire, Ruby often acted rashly. His mind and his heart didn't agree unanimously whenever he would do such reckless decisions, and it kept on proving as Blue got to know him. The first one when he accidentally confessed to Sapphire at a wrong time and now hiring Rakutsu to find the thief. He really needed to think logically first before acting. "I don't want to see you two get hurt because of your recklessness and I'm here to guide you and Sapphire along the way. Don't make this hard for me."
"But—" Ruby tried to reason with Blue, but she ended the call. He just let out an irked sigh and fell on the couch with a hand on his forehead. He hated to admit it, but Blue was right; he didn't want to hurt Sapphire. He wanted to help her and asking for Rakutsu's help was his only option. Blue was his second option. He knew Sapphire was sympathetic enough to understand the situation, but he still hoped he wouldn't see any negative emotion in her eyes. It's what was he was preventing to see every single day. "Dammit."
Well, it looked like he needed to deal with its consequences, but for now, he had to look okay before Sapphire comes home.
...wow, chapter 10 already. I really don't know what else to say since my mind is focused on other projects but hey, it's always fun writing this and daily to reminder to myself that...I wrote this for myself. Dang. Anyway, next chapter will be in 3 weeks. I need to focus on the other chapters plus real life stuff which is why the next one will be in 3 weeks, so yeah. ^^;
I'm always active on twitter, discord, and recently, reddit so if you have any questions or just wanna chat, don't be shy contact me anytime! (Also, there's now a subreddit for franticshipping! :o)