It's my 21st birthday and I've decided to give YOU all a present : ) SORRY for the forever delay. If you wish to know why I let you down month after month please see the author's note at the bottom of this chapter. Enjoy!
"Man can live about forty days without food, about three days without water, about eight minutes without air, but only for one second without hope"—Unknown.
Last night had been horrible. Kyouya had come home from work, an hour earlier than promised on his 'to-do' list and demanded Haruhi give him a massage. It wouldn't have been so bad if he'd kept his clothes on. The massage lasted for nearly an hour and a half in which Kyouya had made her keep the meaning of "full-body massage". Haruhi had scrubbed her skin raw trying to get the dirty feeling off her skin. It didn't help though, nothing helped.
~~Stolen~~
Kyouya felt the small vein on the left side of his head throb. In all of his planning, Kyouya had not imagined running his affairs, while still keeping his location an absolute secret, would be so impossible. He'd called in so many favors already that he knew he would start owing favors. The thought made his lip curl. But what could he do? He'd spent so long planning for this. He'd already made arrangements and used his favors. And it's not like he could just take Haruhi back and order her not to say anything. Not that he would take her back even if he could be assured of her silence. She was his, only his. No one would ever take her away from him, and he would not let himself quit. Kyouya Ootori was many things, but a quitter was not one of them.
Kyouya rubbed the bridge of his nose, a nervous fidget he'd developed as a young boy when he'd first started wearing glasses. He would take a short break from work to check in with his intel. Maybe they could provide him with something to help his mood.
~~Stolen~~
The big meeting was today. He had one final person he had to impress. Sure, the banquet had gone off without a hitch but that night's precedings would matter nothing if he botched up this meeting. The vice president of the company had been in attendance at the banquet in place of the president, who didn't much like banquets or press outings. Sunlight refracted off Tamaki's cuff-link into his eye bringing him from his musings. The last hour had been spent tidying, checking, and re-checking his appearance. It was all that was keeping Tamaki from playing through how many ways he could fail today in his head. Sighing for what seemed the hundreth time, Tamaki grabbed his breifcase and phone from the desk. Feeling more nervous than he ever had about a meeting, Tamki opened the door and stepped out into the sunshine.
~~Stolen~~
"He What!"
"He's gone, sir," The voice on the other end of the line had a slight quiver to it; even with an ocean in between them, Kyouya Ootori was dangerous when angered.
"Gone, where?" The question was slow, deliberate, and spoken through clenched teeth. Unable to immediately bring himself to tell Kyouya the bad news, the man stayed silent.
"WHERE?"
"No one knows...Sir."
"Find. Him. Im-me-di-ate-ly," The stress Kyouya put on his final word sent a shiver down the man's spine that had nothing to do with the frigid winter weather.
~~Stolen~~
The water had long since run cold in the small shower Haruhi was currently huddled in. She knew she needed to stop breaking down, but the situtation seemed so hopeless. Why, why, why had she been so stupid, so naïve! Why had she asked to be taken somewhere so very far away from her home and those that would care to find her? What on earth had possessed her to make such a fatal mistake. Had she really believed Tamaki would immediately realize something was up and search all over Rangitikei for her? If he even realized she was gone he would go straight back to Japan to search for her. What reason on earth would he have for believing she could be found here? Another sobbed racked her shivering body. Vacantly, Haruhi reached to turn the water off; she'd only just realized it was still on. As she reached for a towel haruhi noticed four small, angry half moons dug into the skin of her right arms. She wrapped the towel around her body and shook her head. A quick sniffle and two deep breath later, Haruhi was up on shaky legs. She had a killer headache and her stomach was in knots.
Ten minutes later found Haruhi in the small, well stocked kitchen of the house. After drying her body and her tears, Haruhi had put on the least risque pair of clothing, that wasn't pajamas, she could find in the equally well stocked closet. As the thought struck her that Kyouya must have been planning all this for quite some time, Haruhi almost let a tear fall but quickly reigned it in. She couldn't afford to lose hope like she almost had earlier. It would do nothing for her but give her a headache and she still had a long list of "chores" to do. First on the list was to start dinner. Although it was only 2:00 or so, the recipe Kyouya had left out would take a while to cook. Sighing, Haruhi walked towards the fridge to get started.
~~Stolen~~
"He is currently in a meeting. I will patch you through to his voice mail." The strawberry blonde sitting at the desk across from him looked highly harrassed. Since he had entered the office, Tamaki had seen the president's personal secretary answer around fifteen calls. All of them seemed to wish to speak with the president and none of them seemed to have wanted to take 'no' for an answer. Nervously, he looked up and gave the secretary and encouraging smile. Her returning smile was sardonic, but a smile nonetheless. Although he felt bad for her, listening to the woman's strange accent gave his mind an occupation other than worrying. A sudden buzzing drew Tamaki's attention away. He reached into his pocket and quickly ended the call. He didn't have time to take a call right now, nor did would he take the chance that he'd be on the phone when the president was ready to meet with him. He'd been thoroughly screening his call since he got to New Zealand. He couldn't take a chance at getting distracted. Unless the number was a verified company number or Haruhi, he would not allow himself to answer it. Voicemail was out of the question too, lest he be tempted to return someone's message, so he'd turned that capability off for the time being.
Another twenty minutes passed slowly; the suffocating silence only broken by the sharp ring of the phone. Nervously, Tamaki checked his watch. Had he gotten the wrong day? The wrong time? Not possible. Regardless, Tamaki reached down to grab his planner from his breifcase to make sure he hadn't entered the date wrong in his phone. A sudden click dicstracted Tamaki from his goal. Looking less than satisfied, a short,young man in a questionably green suit stepped out from behind the set of doors that lead into, what Tamaki assumed, was the president's office. The man walked up to Tamaki and looked down to where he sat.
" will see you now."
~~Stolen~~
Kyouya didn't notice the small red droplets falling onto his desk as the plastic from his now unusable phone bit into his hand. He had been wholly unable to sneak anyone in his employ into the Suoh mansion, or anywhere near it for that matter. The Suoh family had too many closely gaurded secrets to allow just anyone to work in any kind of proximity to anything that could cause problems for them. While it had bothered him, it did not really worry him, at first. Kyouya had heard from multiple sources that the energetic blonde heir was planning to spend a quiet and secluded winter season at home. Tamaki himself had made it know to the hosts that he would rather spend the next month or so alone, and would not be joining them during any of their celebrations. Something or other about needing to examine his options on his own. Kyouya had thought all Tamaki was going to do was spend the next month inside pinning for Haruhi and sleeping in. Kyouya knew the young man had never been one for forethought, so the idea of him actually planning for anything seemed utterly absurd. Now, though, he was beginning to reconsider his earlier disregard.
Suddenly, a thought came to Kyouya. Tamaki was probably off in Paris somewhere visiting his sick mother. He didn't know why he didn'think of it before. Kyouya chuckled to himself. He'd given far too much credit where it wasn't due. Tamaki wasn't capable of anything that could ruin his plans. After another short chuckle, Kyouya glanced down to the hand he'd just realized was injured and sighed at the prospect of getting a new phone all the way out here.
~~Stolen~~
"….Storms that are rolling in. Meteorologists suspect this months storms to be the worst in recent history. The damage caused could…." Haruhi turned the volume down on the flat television set into the wall. At first, she had wanted the comfort of another's voice, but now the idea of the storms finding her in her current prison set her teeth on edge. It was all any news channel seemed to want to talk about. 'I can tell it's going to storm because I can hear it,' Haruhi thought bitterly. The rain had started soon after she'd begun fixing dinner. As she was putting the prepared roast into the oven, the thunder had started, bringing the lightning soon after. She wanted to get dinner finished before Kyouya got home, though, so she tried her very best to ignore the storm.
Haruhi glanced nervously at the clock. Kyouya would be home soon and dinner was still not ready. She knew Kyouya well enough to know that if she hadn't finished everything he'd asked by the time he arrived home, there would be consequences. A tiny shudder of revulsion ran through Haruhi as she turned to take the roast from the oven causing a small amount of liquid to seep onto Haruhi's apron. It wasn't any kind of cooking apron Haruhi had seen before. The apron itself was a black organza with light pink lace around the edges. The neckline was a deep v and the skirt came only to her mid-thigh. She was no idiot, she knew it wasn't actually a cooking apron but she did not want to get her only pair of appropriate clothing dirty while cooking. And the apron added an extra, albeit flimsy, layer of clothing to Haruhi. And, the more clothing between Haruhi and Kyouya, the better. After turning the oven off, haruhi glanced toward the table she'd set minutes ago. A few side dishes steamed temptingly on the table. Two places were set and the glasses were filled with wine, per Kyouya's 'request'. The sight seemed all wrong to Haruhi. This setting seemed perfect for a couple in love who were about to have a romantic dinner together, not for a man and his kidnapped 'wife'. The word caused an involuntary tear to slip down Haruhi's cheek that was quickly wiped away and she heard tires on the gravel drive outside the house. "He's home."
A/N:a concerned reviewer (darkdragon emperess) added a couple of points to my safety tips and I would like to thanks her! Here are the tips:
"the spot between a persons navel down to their waist is the center of power and a strong enough hit there(and you don't have to be a pro boxer for it to be strong enough) will temporarily incapacitate someone. Also for male attackers, target not the esophagus but the Adams apple, it is much more painful." Thanks again drakdragon emperess!
Additional A/N: I sincerely apologize for not updating for so long. I won't go into details but I will give you a snippet of my year since I last updated.
-I had two grandparents die
-My other set of grandparents are getting a divorce
-My old computer's motherboard fried (LUCKILY I was able to salvage my data) So I had to buy a new one
-The girl who was my best friend for the last five years is no longer even my friend
-My car has needed multiple repairs
-I found out I cannot apply to a nursing program until next year because I am missing an interpersonal communication credit
- And the list goes on….
So, I apologize for the delay. I sorely missed this story also and ached to write it but with my computer breaking over three months ago and having to get a new one and deal with school, work, and all the tragedies going on in my life, I just couldn't make it happen. Sorry again and I hope to keep the chapters coming so that everyone of my readers can find out what happens : )