12: Lead Up
1st February, Wednesday. Magnolia City. Apartment unit 487. 8:15pm.
"You would not believe the audacity of this guy! First, he shows up late, then he disturbs me during my lunch and later when I try to show concern for him, he has the absolute gall to thro-"
"-Throw you out of his office. Yes, the gall, the temerity of it all."
Lucy instinctively brought her hand up to her face to hide her sheepish blush, even though she knew it was not possible for Dan to have witness it at all.
"Sorry, have I mentioned that already?"
"Only about three times in the past half hour." Dan chuckled. "If this Natsu person irritates you so, why not work with his secretary instead? She sounds like a nice person."
"Yes, but she's-"
Beautiful, gorgeous, foreign and has the most exotic eyes and hair combination and simply being beside her makes the blonde's stomach turn in the most infuriating manner.
Lucy bit her lip and grumbled out instead "She's a bit dumb I think. Sometimes, I see this look in her eyes and I feel that she's not… well, not all there."
"You're not all there, if you're spouting such nonsense," Lucy's conscience stated bluntly. Lucy grimaced and slapped herself, a little too hard for she let out a little "ow" that no doubt caused the man on the other side of the phone to speculate if his… girlfriend was functioning properly.
Ugh, she hated that word.
All the commitment that came attached with that word. The last time she had committed herself it had ripped her in two, and those halves into halves, and then those into fragments that scattered with the wind.
"Surely she can't be that bad. I'll bet you're just jealous of her."
Lucy sputtered out a mouthful of tea, nearly dropping the porcelain "I Heart Myself" mug. Thank God she hadn't though, Levy would have killed her.
"Wh-what are you talking about? Jealous? Pfft! You're jealous, you jealous boy."
"Real grown up, Lucy", her conscience tattled.
Dan snorted disbelievingly into her ear. "Let me see if I have this right. You described her as a foreign…-y, petite female with a tiny bum and even tinier tits and catty eyes. The last time I heard you refer to a woman using nothing but physical attributes, she was standing next to that Audi model you had been drooling after. I know what I'm talking about, do you?"
Ugh, she hated his logic.
"Fiiiiiinnne… but I hate her only cause she looks so perfect no matter what she wears. I saw her the other day in one of those Michelin Man jackets that actually made her look slim. How the hell does she pull that off in a piece of clothing that makes me look like I am hiding love handles?!"
Not to mention that she hadn't seen her ex throw her out even thought Lucy was clearly not welcome in his office. Shit. Their office.
Fuck you, logic.
"Well, my mood is ruined now." Lucy drawled sarcastically as she stretched herself out on the couch.
"Wanna get ice cream?"
"Don't be ridiculous."
"I'm serious, not right away of course. I'm heading to Magnolia sometime next week to meet some clients. I'm planning to stay one night before taking an early flight back."
"Oh. I could recommend you a nice hotel in town, though I'd suggest you avoid the Purvis, their-"
"Actually… I was thinking of staying over at your apartment. If you don't mind, of course."
"Oh."
Instinctively, Lucy's eyes darted over to the bedroom, the middle of which sat a plush bed large enough to accommodate two.
"Uh…."
"Lucy, it's alright. I actually meant to ask if I could sleep on your couch or something but if you're uncomfortable I could just as easily book an room somewhere else."
"That sweet man," inner-Lucy sighed. "Well, you bimbotic blonde, say yes! Tie this hunk of a male down before he becomes another unwitting victim of some sexbomb secretary!"
"Shut up."
"What?"
"No, no! Sorry, I wasn't talking to you. Just… some noisy neighbours next door. Uh, yeah sure, you can stay."
"Really?"
"On the sofa. I'll prepare a makeshift bed for you, but you'll have to tell me at least two days in advance so I can get my shit together."
"Thanks, Luce. I'll see you soon."
A familiar shiver sizzled through her and Lucy was too startled to reply. Before she knew it, the voice in her ear had been replaced by a dial tone.
It was funny how a single word could bring a sudden surge of memories that overwhelmed her in their intensity. Crawling and struggling up from the couch like an obese sloth, Lucy padded into the kitchen to splash on cold water.
3rd February, Friday, Magnolia city. Fairy Tail Corp. 4:55pm.
"And there's that. Any questions?"
Lucy beamed at the group, an expectant look on her face. For a second, she reminded herself of the over zealous teacher she had in high school who never ever dismissed the class without asking this exact question. Why, letting freedom-hungry students go just a second earlier than was dictated by the school bell was a crime unto itself. Lucy resisted the urge to check if her boobs were also starting to sag.
Sherry and Lyon traded looks before both turned toward her and shrugged. "Nope, I think we pretty much covered everything in the discussion."
"Perfect, and you? Sena – san?"
The brunette did not answer, but shook her head with an elegant (Damn her!) twist of her neck as she continued to tap away on her tablet with nimble, perfectly manicured (Damn her again!) fingers.
"Alright then." Lucy pursed her lips as she stood up. "As always, it has been a pleasure talking to you guys." She stretched her arms out dramatically. "Discussions always go fantastically well when it is just the three of you. Sena, are you sure your boss could not make our meeting again?"
Sena looked up at that moment. "But you told me not to tell hi-"
"Well, would you look at the time! Just as well that he could not make it, time's up anyway. Time to go home people. Shoo! Shoo, out my room."
Lucy strode around her table and herded the trio out of her room, ignoring the quizzical stares Lyon and Sherry were throwing her way. Just before Sena could step out however, the blonde grabbed her by the arm and tugged her back in.
"Hey, sorry about that. You know how I don't work well with your boss and it is true that the meetings yesterday and today have been going exceedingly well. So you just go back today and update him about everything that transpired just now and we'll see where it goes alright?"
"Actually… I won't be staying back today. I'm meeting some friends at right after I get off at 5. Is it alright if I update him on Monday instead?"
"Oh." Damn. That will throw my schedule off.
The blonde bit her lip and clenched her fist.
"That's alright. I'll… pass him the information instead. I'll just put together a Cliff notes version and leave it on his desk. Is he around?"
"Yes."
"Alright, then I'll see you next week."
The clock ticked half past five by the time Lucy managed to compile a satisfactory set of notes. Strolling leisurely through an office that had mostly emptied out, she crossed her fingers, half-hoping the man she detested to see was still there.
"Keep it simple, keep it short. Showtime."
Knocking and without waiting for a reply, Lucy pushed the door open and strode in confidently.
"Dragneel, here are the- what the-"
The blonde stumbled over something and her entire body tensed, her fist clenching around the sheets of papers, eliciting a "damn".
Looking back round, her brow shot up when she realized the infernal object she had tripped over was a brown moccasin. Behind it, strewn in an equally askew manner was its left foot counterpart and Lucy's lips instantly parted when her gaze trailed higher up to notice a long male figure draped over the couch wall.
His jacket thrown haphazardly onto the coffee table, the pink haired male was stretched out across the length of the cushions, with his white scarf folded neatly into a makeshift pillow. His tie had been ripped away from his neck and now lay crushed beneath his frame.
Lucy gingerly took a few steps toward him and lightly prodded him on the shoulder, her finger barely glancing the cloth of his shirt. She deliberated the idea of smacking him awake on the head with the papers just for the heck of it but that idea seemed downright petty. Tiptoeing as lightly as she could toward his work desk she spun around quickly to leave. Only that action did not go exactly as planned.
As she turned, Lucy's foot caught on the strap of the messenger bag thrown against the wall and without anything to hold onto for support, the blonde felt her entire body pitch forward. She "oofed" loudly when her face smacked right into a wall of granite. Beneath her, the wall of granite shifted and then came a rumbling growl as the blonde hurriedly stumbled to her feet only to realize that one of her wedges had flown off her foot.
Natsu Dragneel's eyes shot open as dull pain throbbed throughout his frame. His arm reaching behind to stroke the soreness of his back, he climbed to an upright position to witness a most peculiar sight – the sight of a women's rump arched high, wiggling left to right as the owner crawled about under his desk. His brow went up even higher when he noticed a thick lock of blonde hair curling down her shoulder.
"Luc- Heartfilia – san?"
"What-" Thump! "Shitballs! Ow!"
Lucy groaned as she sat backwards onto the carpet, carefully lowering her head so as not to hit it again on the underside of the table. She turned around, one hand clutching her head, her eyes widening as she took in the sight of a befuddled male staring right at her.
Godamn, his messier than usual hair is so se-
"Uh… you're awake."
Natsu continued to stare at her. "So I am."
"Uh…. Cool."
He snorted. "Cool? Just to inform you, there's no goodies left under my desk. I finished them all the other day."
"What? No! Oh geez, no. I was… uh, looking for..." Lucy reached blindly behind her, her fingers fumbling across the carpet but failing to hit anything substantial. She startled when Natsu got to his feet and walked towards her. The blonde felt her heart leap into her throat in the most uncomfortable manner when he squatted down next to her, reached to her left, and procured her missing piece of footwear.
"Your shoe?"
"Uh… Yes. Thank you. I did not… notice it there." Lucy stood up quickly in what she hoped was a confident, deft move only to stumble again when her feet registered two different heights and she swayed to the right though this time she did not hit the ground.
A lean arm was around her waist before she could utter an invective again and she instinctively reached out and grabbed the shoulders of her support, a move that put her in the rather awkward position of staring at a bare triangle of skin peeking out from between the fold of an unbuttoned shirt.
Unfortunately for her, Lucy's mind shut down at that very moment and she blurted out the first thing that came to her mind.
"You're not as tan as before."
Natsu's brows shot down and just as quickly as it had happened, he stepped away, releasing his grip.
Lucy's eyes widened as her balance faltered again and she stumbled backwards onto her rear, effectively bringing her head into contact with his desk again.
"Oh crud. Are you alright?"
"Does it look like-?!" Lucy paused before she started yelling. Getting to her feet, she tugged her blazer down firmly. "I'm fine."
"I highly doubt you came in here to assault my desk with your head." Natsu chuckled as he grabbed her chin in one hand to turn her head left to right, his eyes roaming to check for bruises. Ignoring her startled gasp, he released her and proclaimed that she was right, a comment that elicited a very strong urge in the female to shove him against the table.
Godamnit, but simply being near this man, just like it had been before, conjured up the most childish, petty side of her behavior.
"As a matter of fact, I did not. Grabbing the forgotten sheets of paper from his desk, she thrust them unceremoniously into his face. "This is what you missed at today's meeting."
"Missed… or being banned from?" Natsu snorted sardonically under his breath as he leafed through the pages. "Damn, that's a lot."
"And there's that. I'll leave you up to it. Make sure you pay attention to the sticky notes. Have a good day, Dragneel."
"Alright." Came the distracted reply, and Lucy peered over her shoulder to see the man dropping back onto the couch, his eyes trained on the papers when he gave a painful hiss. Laying the sheets onto his lap, Natsu leaned forward, his hand clenched against his back as the hiss died on his lips.
"What's wrong with you?"
"What?"
"I said, what's wrong with you? Did you injure your back?"
"Weren't you leaving?"
"I was, but I can't in all good conscience ignore someone who's in pain in front of me, even if that someone is a complete asshole."
"You bit-"
"Wait here."
Without waiting for his reply, Lucy strode quickly towards the office pantry, rifled through the cupboards before grabbing a small white kit and then turning to return, all the while resisting the urge to sprint instead.
Much to her annoyance, the man had moved from the couch to his desk and was in the midst of sliding on his jacket. Even the simply movement seemed to be a arduous task for him as he grunted while tugging on a sleeve.
Huffing with annoyance, Lucy dropped the kit down onto his desk. "There."
"What- Oh. Don't need that."
"Don't be stupid. Anyone can tell that you need some kind of medical attention. Get up."
"Go away, Lucy."
"It's Heartfilia to you. Now get up. I haven't got all day to waste."
"Do you understand me? Go. Away."
"And I'm telling you no. My God, how I survived you and your childish stubbornness before I don't know."
"I'm sparing you that now so- FUCK! You bloody bitch!"
"Language." Lucy stated plainly as she watched the man crumple forward onto his desk after she had thumped her fist on his back. "Now come."
"You're a terrible person."
"Yes, I get that a lot."
Natsu groaned as he let her wrap his arm over her shoulder, more due to the fact that he was numb with pain rather than because he had admitted defeat. Shuffling them both over to the couch, Lucy wrapped her fingers around the collar off his jacket and tugged it off, muttering a hushed "sorry" when the man winced again. Natsu collapsed back against the sofa, too tired to resist as she carefully unbuttoned his shirt, all the while cursing the Gods for having led her up to this very awkward situation.
All she had wanted to do was drop the papers and leave. What the hell was she doing now, unbuttoning the Accursed's shirt?! Thank God the office had mostly cleared out, else she would never reach the end of gossip grapevine that first sprouted its roots the second she had revealed herself to everyone.
"You have to stand up, else I can't remove your shirt." She whispered, afraid that if she went any louder, the paparazzi would burst in, or worse, Levy and Erza would. Whispering it also made the entire experience feel more surreal, as if she wasn't truly in her ex's office, stripping off his shirt before she-"
Her train of thought instantly dies the instant his shirt slid off his back. It wasn't the contoured shape of his muscles, so familiar and still so attractive that drew her attention nor was it the interesting tattoo that he now sported over his right bicep.
It was the huge blue and black bruise that stained the lion's share of his back that took her breath away.
Ohmigod. I am so sorry about this.
Sam.
