Chapter XI: Unfounded Suspicions
Cagalli awoke to the muffled shouts of a very angry female at work. Fumbling at her bedside clock, she moaned when the stupid chunk of plastic slipped off the dresser and onto the carpet. The wails suddenly increased in volume and Cagalli tugged the bedsheets frustratedly over her head, desperately trying to drown out the noise. It wasn't enough that the sudden fluctuations in his stocks had prompted Zala to give her an increased workload, now his fiancée from hell had to exacerbate her misery too? Damn it, what she would give to quit the job there and then…
Cagalli jumped when the heavy oak doors were suddenly violently flung open and the bedcovers rudely pulled away from her grasp. Blinking against the sudden blinding bright light, the quivering figure of Meyrin came into view, her fuchsia head of hair practically flaring like Medusa's.
With an annoyed screech, she gripped tightly onto Cagalli's shoulders, dragging her out of bed and out into the hallway, where servants and maids huddled around, whispering curiously. Despite her protests, Cagalli was hauled rather unceremoniously to the master study chamber, where, still perturbed about Meyrin's sudden outburst, failed to notice the presence of one more particular individual there with them.
Meyin released her grip with a definite shove, and then turned to face the window, her eyes still sparkling fury. "There. I've brought her here. You said yourself that you wanted to listen to her side of the story to make a judgment." Surprised, Cagalli whipped her body around, her lips parting slightly when she saw Zala standing solemnly against his escritoire.
Darn the man. Despite staying up even later than her last night, how could he still look so refreshingly handsome at this ungodly hour of the morning? The man had to be either inhuman or some annoying experiment of God sent to constantly remind her of her own physical inadequacies…
Zala regarded her with a resigned look. "Athha, I sincerely apologize for the rudeness of my fiancée, but if we don't settle this matter now, I'm afraid that she'll continue to give the both of us hell for hours on end. So please cooperate with her."
Great. Cooperating with Meyrin was akin to wanting her to take a dive off the highest spire of the mansion, but for the sake of a peace of mind…With no other option that she could see, Cagalli sighed and acquiesced.
"Thank you. Meyrin, she's all yours." Cagalli swallowed hard. To her ears, those words sounded rather ominous.
And ominous it was, for the very next second, Meyrin had once again directed her attention onto her.
"Last night, I was unable to sleep and came out for a little stroll. When I turned the hallway, what should I see but you sneaking about the pantry, dressed in complete black with a small torchlight in hand and poking about the corners. I swear, that from head to toe, you looked like a cat burglar of some sort. I'm starting to suspect that your choice of working for my darling is really some sort of underlying conspiracy on your part."
Cagalli stared blankly at her.
Annoyed, Meyrin itched to slap her. "Well, aren't you going to concede defeat? Now that I've revealed your true colours, there is no way I'm going to let you remain here to work."
Cagalli finally sighed, the sound especially loud in the tense atmosphere. "Firstly, I apologize if I have caused any misunderstandings between the two of you. I'll admit that I was indeed 'sneaking' about the corridors last night, but not for the reason you suspect me of." Glancing at Meyrin's wary expression, Cagalli smiled and continued.
"I had lost an important piece of earring around that area yesterday. Since I was worried that it might get vacuumed up when the maids go about the house keepings at dawn, I had no choice but to look for it in the middle of the night."
Meyrin stubbornly refused to give in. "Why the hell didn't you switch on the hallway lights then? And your black clothes, how would you explain them?"
"I didn't know where the light switches were, so I resorted to using the only torchlight I could find, that pathetically tiny thing. And about the clothes, that was purely unintentional. I had been so frantic at that moment that I had thrown on anything I could find and left. So…are you satisfied now? I am not attempting anything on your darling, your suspicions are completely unfounded."
Meyrin gave a snort. "Not attempting anything? Even if I was in the wrong when I accused you about being a cat burglar, you're obviously lying through your teeth when you say that."
Cagalli's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"
A smug expression crossed Meyrin's face. "The night of the gala, you deliberately wore such a revealing dress to seduce my fiancé right? Please. You're way out of your league. Did you think for once that such a dress would be able to stea-"
Meyrin went silent when Zala suddenly covered her mouth with his hand. "That's enough accusations for today, Meyrin." He exasperated.
Snatching his hand off, she turned to him with an imploring gaze. "But she…"
"I gave Athha that dress. It was merely a token of my gratitude to her for putting up with the immense attention required to organize the gala."
"What? But…"
"She was not to blame, sweetie. Now go prepare, else you're going to be late for the lunch appointment you have with your shopping girls."
As Zala gently shoved his protesting fiancée out the door, Cagalli turned to send a farewell message. "Oh, and by the way, Ms. Kane. You might need to get your eyes checked. Last night, the pants that I had been wearing weren't black, but brown."
Cagalli stifled a snicker when she heard Meyrin let out a shriek and stomp off down the hallway. Behind her, the door clicked shut and Zala's relieved sigh echoed throughout the newfound silence.
Smiling weakly, he turned to address her. "I sincerely hope that this little accident hasn't caused you to rethink your position in my office. My ex-secretary left because she was unable to put up with Meyrin's tendencies for rudeness anymore. I really do like the work you do."
Cagalli smiled smugly, and thumped her fist on her chest. "Fear not my lord, for I am not so weak-hearted. In fact, your fiancée is just beginning to get to know how stubborn I can be sometimes."
"Perfect. I really need a woman like you who could stand up to Meyrin around here. Oh and…that was the truth? About you losing an earring and all…?"
Cagalli turned to look at him. "What? You think I lied?"
"No but-"
"Good! I applaud you!" She suddenly exclaimed, taking him by surprise.
Athrun stared at her skeptically. "What…?"
"You're right. I lied. You should never judge a book by its cover y'now. These sexy looks I have now are a result of years of occult worshipping. You should see how I used to look 5 years ago, it's a complete difference!"
Her grin growing even wider at Athrun's bland stare, Cagalli continued. "Black is what I wear when I carry out my nightly prayers. I had been poking about your pantry only because I've run out of live sacrifices. Didn't find any though," she sighed, hanging her head in mock resignation.
Athrun finally gave a laugh. "Of course you wouldn't. I obsess over the cleanliness of my house. You could even say I have a mild compulsive cleaning disorder. Why do you think I had so many maids employed?"
"To deal with Meyrin's shopping escapades?"
Another laugh. "That too. But still, you'll never find any potential live sacrifices scurrying about the pantry at night."
She suddenly stared at him, a hopeful glimmer in her eyes. "In that case, would you…"
Snorting, Athrun dismissed the idea. "So. How was your first experience dealing with my harridan fiancée?" he continued, walking over to an armchair.
"It sucked." Cagalli moaned, "I hate waking up so early in the morning. And when she dragged me here, I half thought it was because she had found out about our little tête-à-tête that night of the party." Cagalli slanted a bland look at him. "You haven't come clean about that, have you?"
Athrun gave her a blank stare. "You want her to have my head on a platter and yours dumped in a ditch? Of course not."
Cagalli breathed a sigh of relief, something that did not go unnoticed by him. His voice laced with amusement, Athrun smirked. "What? Are you that worried that she would find out?"
Easing out of his armchair, Athrun strode fluidly towards her. "Well, how about we give her some more things to find out about?"
Still smirking, he slid his hand around her head and grasped lightly at her hair. Cagalli's mind went blank, her cheeks burning up with embarrassment. Struggling to regain herself, she swiped his arm away and glared pointedly at him. "Forget it, you ass. I'm not that loose."
"Maybe not, but you sure are liberal." Athrun grinned, whistling appreciatively as he looked at her from head to toe.
"What…?" Glancing down, Cagalli started when she realized her present state of dress. A stark red tube top matched with a tiny scrap of black gym shorts. An outfit, in other words, that revealed almost every curve on her body.
"Shit! Why didn't you say so?"
Looking frantically around for anything to cover herself up, she started again when he slid out of his robe, revealing his own utter lack of a top. With only a pair of black cotton jeans loosely hugging his trim waist, Athrun's washboard abs were put on full display.
Cagalli froze when he took a step towards her, his arms reaching around her to wrap the robe around her shoulders. With her nose barely two inches away from his chest, she didn't dare even breathe. Despite that, a warm scent pervaded her nostrils. The man smelled like clean soap, a tinge of aftershave and all hot, sexy male.
"There. Now you don't look so much like a hooker." Athrun said, giving her a warm smile. His insulting comment jolted her back to reality. Tucking the robe more securely around herself, Cagalli responded with a deciding snort.
"And you now look like a gigolo. Seriously, please go put on a top. I don't want anyone who suddenly comes in now to think I'm desperate and raped you just to ease my depression."
Athrun gave a loud bark of laughter. Still shaking with suppressed humor, he reached out a hand and ruffled her hair, before turning to the partitioned door between the study and into his own private chambers.
Leaving her with a sudden unexplained feeling of forlorn loss.
Damn it. She needed to get away from this man.
Now.
"Rosé! What brings you here today? I've got no new guns in store for you y'now."
Rosé reached out to wrap an arm around Doc's strong shoulders, smiling sweetly. "I know, Dad. Can a daughter not come to visit her father purely because she misses him?" "You're really too reliant on me sometimes, you know that?" But despite his chiding, Doc hugged her back.
Sliding down into a worn leather sofa, with Rosé's head resting on his shoulders, Doc continued. "Well, aren't you going to tell me what's wrong? Despite what you said just now, a father can always tell when something's on his kid's mind."
She remained silent for a few more moments before finally heaving a tired sigh, and leaned forward, her chin cupped in a palm. "I'm really not what I used to be, Doc. Someone's seen me in action. Last night. When I had been looking for a corner to connect a camera." She sighed again, her eyes slowly sliding shut, "Even though I managed to brush off her silly accusations, the feeling of being maligned really sucked."
Doc reached forward and pulled Rosé against his chest. "Sweetie. You're just overreacting. Tell me, how many years has it been since you signed up as a hired mercenary?"
"6. But what has that got to do with this?"
"Everything, my sweet. You've had 6 years of experience. Don't you think that if you were truly as incompetent as you think, you would have probably been apprehended long ago?"
Rosé tilted her head up to look at him. "Well…yeah. I guess so."
Smiling fatherly at her, Doc continued. "So see? You're good at what you do. Frankly, you're one of the best I know."
She punched him playfully in the arm. "One? Who else do you know are as good as me?"
"Let's see…we'll start with me…15 years ago, of course. And you know Juan right? That Spanish fellow who used to come over on occasions to train with you?"
"Yeah…he's good. Ok. Enough of this talk. I just want to rest now before reporting back to my boring office duties."
"My shoulder is all yours, my dear daughter, my sweet."
"Cagalli."
A/N: すみません、ほんとうにすみません!
I sincerely apologize if you have grown a few more white hairs wondering when this accursed chapter was gonna come out…Now that I think about it, this fanfic's been on hiatus for, heck, 4 months? Wargh! Guess I've been enjoying my new JC life too much, forgot about you people waiting for me.
But still, it's finally out! ばんざい、ばんざい!
I dare not ask for reviews now… See ya!
ファイ。
