Chapter 12
Sakura was standing in front of a mirror, staring at her figure. When she first saw the dress Tomoyo had picked her for the rehearsal dinner she wanted to kill her friend; but after seeing how the dress actually fitted her like a glove she started considering the idea of forgiving her best friend for buying her such a dress.
Syaoran told her he would go help Eriol with some things he needed, but he had assured her he would be home by 7:30 p.m. to get dressed and drive them both to the fancy restaurant where they were having the event.
It was now 7:00 p.m. All Sakura had to do was get out of the dress, go to the bathroom, do her makeup, and then get back in the dress.
Tomoyo had been so consumed with the planning that she decided to trust her friend with the hair and makeup subject, and Sakura decided to take the opportunity and keep it simple.
She got out of the dress and headed to the bathroom, wearing just her underwear. She started taking out the makeup Tomoyo had left her and started by applying the foundation. After 10 minutes she looked at herself in the mirror, and was proud of what she saw.
She kept it very simple, just the foundation, coral colored blush, a light shade of pink and some mascara on her eyes, and some shiny lip gloss.
She had straightened out her hair earlier that day. It was a little long so it took her a while to do that job.
She turned around and opened the door from the bathroom to her room. The dress was resting on her bed. She took it and slid her petite figure in it.
It was a black cocktail dress that fell down to her knees, it was made of a material that just hugged her every curve and the skirt fell off like cascades that made it look as if it floated around her. The back was open, showing off her perfect skin.
She looked at the watch again, it was 7:15. Syaoran should be there any minute now.
Being a little anxious, Sakura decided to go downstairs and have some water. She entered the kitchen and opened the fridge to grab a cold bottle. The cold air emanating from the fridge made her shiver a little.
She closed the door and proceeded to have a drink.
"Wow," she heard someone say behind her.
She took down the bottle and turned around to see who it was. Syaoran was standing leaning on the edge of the door, staring intently at her.
"What?" She asked feeling her cheeks blush.
"You look absolutely amazing." He said with a slight smile on his face.
"Thanks." Was all she managed to mutter.
"I should go get ready then, I don't want to keep you waiting, especially when you are looking like that," he said taking a deep breath and still staring at her.
"Yeah, it would be ungentlemanly of you to keep me waiting if I'm wearing a dress like this one," she mocked him.
He turned around and headed upstairs to take a bath and get dressed.
Fifteen minutes later Syaoran was walking down the stairs, wearing a black pair of pants and a blue shirt. He left the top buttons undone, giving him a scruffy sexy look that suited him perfectly.
"Ready?" He asked walking over to Sakura who was trying hard to repress the thoughts she was having about Syaoran at the moment.
"Yeah, just let me get my heels," she said as she headed to her room to get them.
She went down the stairs with the shoes on her hands, making Syaoran laugh.
"What?!" She said a little concerned. She was pretty sure she hadn't done anything stupid so there was no reason for Syaoran to be laughing at her.
"Usually girls wear their shoes in their feet," he told her, "especially if they are coming down the stairs, it gives them a diva effect I think."
"Yeah well I'm not a diva," she said smiling at his comment, "I'm Sakura, and being Sakura is way cooler than being a diva, divas aren't as interesting as I am."
"Well you are right about that."
Sakura grabbed her purse and started heading out the door, Syaoran followed her, admiring her body as she walked. It was as if that dress was made for her, no woman had ever looked better in a black dress.
They went to the car that Syaoran obviously drove and they reached the hotel in no time.
Sakura growled when she noticed it was time for her to wear the dreaded pair of shoes. She hadn't convinced Tomoyo to let her wear a normal pair of sandals; she had to wear the high-heel-kill-your-feet shoes.
"What is it with you and the shoes?" Syaoran asked when he noticed Sakura was suffering by the sole thought of wearing them.
"I… I can't walk in high heels…" she admitted in a low tone of voice.
He started laughing loudly, making her raise her head and glare at him. It was hard for her to admit that kind of thing and he was laughing at her!
"Hey!" She sucker punched him on the arm "You try walking in a pair of these!" She said annoyed.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he began, "it's just the first time I've ever heard a woman admit to that, every girl I've ever known tries to act all ladylike wearing those heels, it's obvious they are killing them!"
He paused for a second to compose himself. Then he looked at her sweetly, melting away any trace of anger she had.
"I'll stay by your side the whole night making sure you don't fall down," he said all of a sudden.
"What?" She asked astonished. No guy had ever been so nice to her.
"Yeah, I won't let go of you, so you can be sure you won't fall down."
She paused for a second, taking in what he had just said. She wasn't used to guys treating her that way. She was used to Koji, and Koji had never been that chivalrous with her.
"Thanks," she said softly to him.
He got out of the car first and then headed to open the door for her, giving her his hand so she could support herself on him and stand up.
They started walking towards the restaurant. He had his arm surrounding her waist, holding her.
An usher opened the door for them and they entered the huge room. There were lots of table placed together for their big party. Almost everyone was there.
It didn't go unnoticed to Sakura how everyone seemed to be staring at herself and Syaoran as they walked around the room looking for Tomoyo and Eriol.
"Oh my God! You look so nice!" They recognized Tomoyo's voice from across the room, signaling where they had to walk to.
When they reached them Tomoyo forgot all about the people around her and she started congratulating Sakura for her hair and makeup.
"Honey doesn't she look great?" She asked Eriol who was standing next to her.
"You look great Sakura," Eriol told her, "you almost managed to look as great as I do." He said mockingly.
"Well Eriol I know you are always the best looking person in the room so I really don't bother to try and look better," she said with a sarcastic tone of voice.
After that little hello they headed to their tables. Eriol and Tomoyo were sitting together obviously, and Sakura was sitting next to Tomoyo. Syaoran sat next to Sakura. There was an empty seat next to Eriol was meant for Yamasaki, one of Eriol's best friends.
Not ten minutes after they took their seats Koji appeared in the room, taking a seat almost across Sakura and Syaoran.
"Just ignore him tonight," Tomoyo told Sakura, almost whispering. "He's been really moody lately; I think he's finally bought your act."
"Really?"
"Yeah, one of these days he started saying something about how he didn't likeSyaoran, but that you deserved him and stuff like that. I can't wait till he leaves, he's driving me crazy!"
"Yeah well they wedding is in two days, after that you probably won't see him again in a long time." Sakura encouraged her friend.
"Well it would be so much cooler if you and Syaoran could act it up just a little bit more, not just holding hands you know? Maybe a kiss here and there… it would definitely kill him." Tomoyo said deviously.
Sakura started to blush, so she had a drink from the cocktail in front of her and she turned to look at Syaoran, who was talking to another guy.
"Yeah well… I doubt Syaoran is interested in playing it out so much." She said more to convince herself that Tomoyo.
"Oh Sakura don't be silly, I bet Syaoran is having more fun than you are with this whole act! I and I am more than sure that he is dying to act it up as much as he can."
"Don't be ridiculous!"
"Ok, ok, whatever you say Sakura." Tomoyo said rolling her eyes.
Sakura could be so blind sometimes.
The dinner began; they all started eating and drinking, and when they where eating the dessert Sakura felt Syaoran's hand caress her shoulder. She turned to look at him and was surprised to find his face just inches away from hers.
"You have an audience tonight," he whispered at her ear, sending shivers all through her body.
She was about to pull back a little but his intent gaze pulled her closer, making it impossible for her to pull back.
"What do you mean?" She asked finding it hard to breath.
"Your beloved ex has been staring at you all night," he said in a low husky deep voice that was almost killing her.
"I don't care," she retorted, never breaking the eye contact.
"Would you let me have some fun tonight?" He was now staring from her lips to her eyes.
It was becoming harder for Sakura to breath, she was sure her heart was going to pop out of her body any second now. Either that or the whole room was able to hear it.
It wasn't until that moment; having Syaoran so close to him that she started to realize that maybe Tomoyo wasn't so mistaken. Maybe Syaoran would really be interested in her.
"Huh?" was all she managed to mumble, not really understanding what Syaoran meant with 'have some fun tonight'.
"You see, I really loathe that ex of yours, and nothing would please me more than see him realize that you are over him, that you are with me."
She felt her knees weaken, if she hadn't been seating down she was sure she would have collapsed on the ground right then and there.
"What do you have in mind?" She asked a little more confident of herself.
"Just something minor," he began moving his head closer to hers, whispering in her ear. "Just maybe… a kiss here," he kissed her softly on the spot beneath her ear, and then he kissed her again a little lower.
She felt her heart quicken, her arms freeze, her breath stopped. No man had ever made her feel that way, and he was only kissing her neck.
She couldn't help but imagine how a kiss from him would feel like, how the softness of his lips would feel on her lips.
Suddenly he realized Syaoran had pulled away. She tried to compose herself; she tried to shake off that feeling that was starting to grow in her.
"I think we managed to bother him." Syaoran said looking down the table to the place where Koji was seating.
His face was still too close to hers, so she tried to pull away just a few inches. The scent of him was driving her mad.
"Thanks," she said trying to smile but she was still too astounded to make any coherent sentence.
"That was just the beginning." He told her, a devilish grin on her face that made her want to jump into his arms right there; but she had to control herself.
"Ehem…"
She heard someone else's voice near her but it took her some seconds to realize she really was in a room full of people and someone was calling her name.
She turned around to find Eriol standing next to her, looking at her and then at Syaoran, with that know-it-all smile she hated sometimes.
"I'm sorry to interrupt your love session but Naoko and Rika are looking for you."
Sakura cursed to herself. She stood up from her seat and started walking around the room to look for her friends.
Syaoran gazed at Sakura's figure as she walked through the room until he lost sight of her. Eriol and Tomoyo obviously caught him and they started laughing between themselves.
"What?" Syaoran asked when he noticed they were laughing at him.
"Man you are so obvious… at first I thought you were doing this just as a favor but now it is so obvious you've fallen for her!" Eriol said softly so that only Syaoran and Tomoyo could hear him.
"What are you talking about? I'm doing it as a favor," he said trying to have a serious expression on his face.
"Well as long as you are acting maybe you should consider playing it up a little," Tomoyo told him.
"Play it up?"
"Yeah, give her a passionate kiss, call her sweet names… I think the staring part you are doing pretty well," she threw in casually.
"The staring part?"
"Well you haven't been able to take your eyes off her for the past days…" Tomoyo was trying to be very casual about it, making sure that it was Syaoran the one who did the whole reasoning.
"I haven't been staring at her," or at least he thought he hadn't been so obvious about that.
"Oh come on!" Tomoyo said a little annoyed. "Ok look, if you want to act all cool about it is ok, I really don't care, I would just really love to see you give Sakura one of those passionate kisses."
'Maybe that way you guys will realize what you have in front of you,' Tomoyo thought to herself.
Syaoran smiled to himself. Eriol recognized that smile; it was the devilish smile he made whenever he was thinking of either annoying someone to death, or a technique to get a girl.
"Honey," Eriol said to Tomoyo, "let's let Syaoran do things his way, I'm sure he was planning to give her one of those passionate kisses, he's just waiting for the right time." He paused to look at Syaoran, "aren't you?"
"Yeah… yeah… that's what I'm doing." He said not really sure.
He knew he had grown to like Sakura more than he had planned to. She was just too exceptional. And he had this weird feeling inside him… he felt like he wanted to protect her. He wanted to see her happy more than anything in the world.
But he was going to wait for the perfect moment, he was going to wait and see where the situation led him. If it was meant to be then they would find a chance. He really wasn't the guy who would risk it all for the girl; he was too used to the idea of girls wanting to be with him for his money.
He knew Sakura was different, but still… he wanted to play it safe.
Meanwhile, Sakura was on the other end of the room. She had managed to find her friends, and they were staring at her as if she was guilty of a horrible crime.
"Could you please explain to us why you are there, sitting next to this extremely gorgeous guy and then suddenly he starts kissing you?" Rika said with her hands on her hips, trying to look upset.
"I had no idea you were dating someone?!" Naoko said excited.
"Um… yeah well, I'm kind of dating him." Sakura told her friends.
She wasn't sure if it was a good idea to tell them the truth, but she figured that it was better to keep it to herself. The fewer people who knew the fewer chances there were of Koji finding out the truth.
"When where you planning on telling us?!" Rika asked a little frantic.
"We aren't really that serious yet, so I didn't think it was a good idea to talk about it… I was afraid to jinx it," she lied.
They both looked at her with narrow eyes, trying to see if she was lying or not, but they fell for her bluff. Seconds later they were asking for all the details.
Sakura of course gave them little information; she just said she met Syaoran thanks to Eriol, and that they had been going out casually for a while now. To make it seem more casual she even said that if he hadn't been Eriol's friend she wouldn't have invited him.
Lucky for her they bought the whole story. She was about to head back to her seat when Rika and Naoko started giggling at something happening behind them.
She turned around to find Syaoran leaning on the wall, staring at them. When she noticed he was staring at her she gave him a confused look.
He laughed a crooked smile and started heading towards them.
"I just remembered I told you I wouldn't let you walk alone, and you came here alone so I felt a little guilty and came to make sure you made it here safely."
Sakura started feeling her heart beat faster and her cheeks flush. She heard the 'awwwwwwww' that Naoko and Rika were uttering behind her.
"That was very kind of you," she began, "but there was no need, I can walk by myself for a few steps."
"I'm sure you can, I just want to keep my promise. I'd be mortified if you feel down walking in your heels and I wasn't there to catch you."
She was sure her heart was going to stop any second now, or she was going to wake up and find that this had all been a dream.
There were two options, either he was being truthful or he was just being a flirt with her. She was inclined to believe the first option; she just didn't want to get hurt.
She then noticed Rika and Naoko were still standing there, staring at them, probably waiting for her to introduce Syaoran.
"Um yeah… Syaoran these are Naoko and Rika, two of my best friends."
"Pleased to meet you," he said politely.
She noticed how both her friend blushed. It was the effect Syaoran had on women. She looked at him through the corner of her eye. He really was perfect. Too bad he was just pretending to be hers.
Hi guys! I wasn't planning on uploading this chapter just yet, but I broke up with my boyfriend today so I felt a desperate need to do something that would cheer me up and I finished writting this chapter. It's amazing how writting can help you feel better about stuff... I hope you guys liked it, it cheermed me up so it accomplished one of its missions. By the way, I just stared a new story for Twilight. It has only two chapters but I'll be updating it next week I think. If you like Twilight please read my story! I actually like it a lot because it's like a version of my life in a sick way... only without the hot Edward falling in love with me hehehe.
Anyways, thanks to everyone who has been reviewing, you guys are the best, I'm glad you are liking my story.
So again, thanks for reviewing and reading my stories!