Chapter 21
"Everyone," Igneel announced, "I would like to introduce our new employee. She's straight from my personal staff at home. Please welcome and treat Erza Scarlet as one of us now."
Walking into the business meeting confidently in her new business attire, Erza made her way to the seat next to Natsu, sitting down next to him.
As for Natsu, he internally died right at that moment, his jaw dropping to the floor.
Someone should just kill him now.
"What are you doing here?" he gritted through his teeth after regaining his composure, "I thought you were supposed to be at home."
"Well," she hissed back, "Your father said he needed one of us from home to watch over you and become your assistant during your job, so I volunteered. You should be grateful."
"I'm not grateful!" Natsu stated quite loudly as he stood up, accidentally directing everyone's attention to him. He blushed in embarrassment and looked down, waving as if he had done nothing.
"Why don't you sit back down, Natsu?" Igneel suggested, a vein almost popping out of his head.
"I think that's a great idea," his son replied, taking his seat and knowing that he was in trouble. It wasn't his fault! It's not his fault that Erza was a strict control freak and scared and annoyed the living daylight out of him!
"As I was saying," Igneel continued, but Natsu tuned him out. There were way more important things for him to focus on.
Like how Lucy was coming home in a week.
He was so excited to finally see her in person, again! Just the thought of her-
"Natsu!" Erza snapped, pulling him back to reality, "Are you paying any attention to the business meeting your father worked so hard on?"
"Well, no, but-"
"Pay attention!" she ordered but like Natsu, she had also said that quite loudly. Everyone's attention was now directed to her now.
But at least, unlike Natsu, a majority of people who were tuning Igneel out started paying attention once they saw her death glare.
"Erza," the other redhead asked, "Is there a problem?"
"Not at all, sir!" she protested, "Everything is perfectly fine!"
"Are you sure?" he questioned once more, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes," she replied, "Yes, I'm sure."
Igneel examined her for a little while longer, making sure she wasn't suspicious or anything. Erza held her breath. Once he was sure about whatever was going on through his mind, he grinned at her.
"Well, good," he spoke, "Shall we continue?"
"Y-Yes, sir," the maid stuttered, her sweat dropping.
As he went on with the meeting, Natsu snickered at her. Turning to her side, she glared at him.
"That's my old man," the pinkette laughed, "He'll scare and chide you at first, then grin at you like nothing happened."
"I can see where you get it from," Erza mumbled.
"What was that, Erza?"
"Nothing!"
-X-
Surprisingly, working with Erza wasn't as bad as Natsu thought. She was actually quite helpful when she wasn't yelling at Natsu for every time he made a mistake with something as easy as paperwork.
"Natsu," said person called, popping her head into his new office, "you have a business meeting in twenty minutes."
"Another one?" he complained, slamming his head on his desk, "I don't want to go, Erza. I'm just going to end up falling asleep, again!"
"You're going," the redhead commanded, grabbing him by his collar and dragging him out of his office against his own free will.
"Aw, come on!" Natsu whined as he was dragged through the hallways of the building, "Why does the world hate me?!"
It was so boring.
Business meetings were so boring.
Natsu hated them with a burning passion. Almost as much as he hated going to school.
"I'm never sitting through one of those again," he groaned after the second one of the day, planting face first into the couch in his office, "I'm going to take a nap."
"No, you're not," Erza laughed, ruffling his already messy hair, "You have to get back to work."
"Can't I just go home?" Natsu wondered aloud, "We still have to plan Lucy's welcome home party!"
"If your father allows us to go home," the redhead offered, feeling some sympathy for him, "Then we will."
"Okay, then," the heir exclaimed as he stood up and bolted to the door, "I'm going to find him right now!"
"Natsu, wait-"
It was too late for her. Erza sighed.
"Poor Lucy," she chuckled to herself, "How do you cope with this idiot? You must be truly gifted."
"I think I must be truly gifted if I have to deal with him twenty-four seven," a familiar voice behind her giggled, Erza's eyes widening. Erza turned around, and there she was, standing in the doorway and holding her purse in her hands. Someone who they haven't seen in quite a long time, a certain person that is also Natsu's fiancée.
Lucy.
The blonde grinned at her, walking up to the redhead and hugging her tightly, her heavy winter coat still on.
"I missed you so much, Erza!" she exclaimed, letting go after a while.
"What are you doing here, Lucy?" Erza asked in shock and disbelief, wondering if she was really here or not, "You're not supposed to come back home until next week!"
"I know, I know," the heiress laughed, setting down her bag on a nearby chair, "The business meetings were quicker than Dad expected, so he let me go home early and skip the last few. After I got that information, I booked the quickest flight home, and Gray picked me up from the airport and dropped me here. He's taking my bags back to the house at the moment."
"And he kept this a secret from all of us?" the redhead inquired.
"He did," the blonde confirmed, "Surprisingly, he did."
"Does Natsu know you're here?" Erza asked, and Lucy shook her head.
"I don't even know where he is," she sighed, "I asked the lady up front, and she told me to look for the office with Natsu's name on it. She wasn't very clear about that, though, so I've spent half an hour wandering around this ginormous building looking for this one place where he isn't even here. Come to think of it, I spent another fifteen minutes arguing with her before since she claimed she didn't know who I was and wouldn't let me in. You should have seen her face when she finally realized who I was."
Erza laughed, hugging Lucy again.
"I can't wait to see Natsu's face when he sees you," the redhead remarked.
"Speaking of Natsu, where is he?" the heiress asked, looking around, "Where did he go?"
"He went to his father's office to try to get the rest of the day off," Erza explained, "He can't stand business meetings." Lucy rolled her eyes and laughed.
"Of course he can't. He doesn't have the patience for it," Lucy chuckled, "How does that not surprise me?"
"Well, what about you?" the maid questioned, "Did you like them?"
"They were very informative," the blonde pointed out, shaking her head, "but they did get extremely boring at points. I bet you that Natsu-"
"Erza!" said person whined as he walked into the office, interrupting and oblivious of his fiancée standing right next to her, "Dad said we can't go home! That means I have to sit through the next two business meetings until we can go home! Ugh!"
Flopping onto the couch in his office, Natsu sat there with his head buried in his hands.
"This is almost as bad as having motion sickness," the pinkette moaned in agony.
"It's going to be okay, Natsu," Lucy consoled, patting him on the back, "I've been through many of them."
"Well, so have I, Luce!" Natsu protested, "So, I don't understand - wait, what? Lucy, you're here!? LUCY, YOU'RE HERE!"
Natsu wrapped his arms around the blonde and hugged her tightly, not ever wanting to let go. When he did pull away, though, he cupped her face and examined her as if she was suspicious, narrowing his eyes at her.
"Wait," he inquired, "Are you even the real Lucy? Or are you just someone Erza hired that looks a lot like her as a prank?"
"Of course, I'm the real Lucy, idiot!" the blonde yelled, "How can you not see that!"
"But the real Lucy isn't supposed to arrive until next week!" the pinkette protested.
"Well, I got on an early flight!" she explained loudly, kicking him in the shin and causing him to wince.
"But-"
"Natsu," Lucy breathed, "if I wasn't the real Lucy, would I do this?"
And then she kissed him, her soft lips pressing against his as Natsu eagerly kissed back. Yep, this was definitely his Lucy, violent and crazy and all. Oh, how he missed her and the way his lips felt against hers. This was the first time he had kissed these pair of lips in a month.
"Natsu, I have something to tell you-" Igneel started, freezing at the sight of his son and his fiancée. He smiled, teasing them. "Natsu, if you knew she was coming back today, you could have told me, and I would have let you go home. Then, you could've made out with her all you want."
Pulling away from the kiss, breathless and flushed, Natsu turned a shade of pink darker than his hair as he glared at his father.
"Did you know about this, too?" he accused angrily, "That she was coming back today?"
"I did," his father admitted, "but she didn't want me to tell you and keep it a surprise. The only other person who knew was Gray."
"Gray!?" Natsu shouted, facing Lucy once again, "You told that bastard you were coming home, but you didn't tell me!?"
"He picked me up and dropped me here," Lucy shrugged, nudging him playfully, "Why? Are you jealous?"
"Yes, I am!" he scoffed, "I'm jealous that you told Gray that you were coming home but not me!"
"Calm down, Natsu," the blonde laughed, "or you'll be late for your business meeting!"
Natsu, you idiot.
"Shoot!" the pinkette exclaimed, kissing Lucy on the cheek before sprinting across the building, "I completely forgot! Thanks, Luce!"
Before she could respond, he was already out the door and out of sight.
"So, Igneel," Lucy mused, "How's Natsu been doing here?"
"He's...been okay, I guess," the businessman answered, scratching the back of his neck, "It turns out Natsu has quite the talent for negotiating since he argues with almost every client, public speaking, and he's quite intelligent when he puts his mind to something, but..."
"But?"
"He doesn't think things through, sometimes," he finished.
"I figured," the heiress huffed, crossing her arms.
"Well, at least now you're here, Lucy," Igneel stated, "He's been so out of it since you've been gone. Maybe now that you're back he might focus for once."
"Maybe," she agreed, "but I doubt it. He'll probably fall asleep every single business meeting."
"He already does," Erza scoffed.
"Speaking of meetings," Natsu's father requested, "Can you join Natsu in this meeting room?" He took out a piece of paper, scribbling a room number in messy handwriting. "I know you just got back and all, but could you help him?"
"Sure," Lucy accepted, taking the paper and walking in a random direction.
"It's the other way, Lucy!" Erza directed.
"Thanks!" the blonde called back as she then walked the way Erza told her to.
Minutes later, she found the room number written on the piece of paper. Lucy stood at the door, taking a deep breath before knocking softly.
"Come in," a voice permitted. It was Natsu's.
Opening the door to poke her head in, Lucy froze at the sight of all the people staring at her, waving shyly.
"Hey, Luce," Natsu greeted, giving her a smile. He was the only one standing up which indicated it was his turn to present.
"Your father told me to attend this meeting with you, Natsu," she murmured.
Natsu nodded, pointing to the seat next to his as he continued on with his presentation.
Lucy listened as Natsu went on and on about the statistics and future of the company and such. Igneel was right; Natsu did have a knack for public speaking. Compared to the other presenters she had heard, he was the most energetic and attention-grabbing. And it wasn't because he was her fiancé; he really did seem to have talent.
"So how'd you like my presentation, Lucy?" Natsu asked as he took the seat next to her.
"It was great," Lucy replied but then decided to tease him, "but you really need to work on your vocabulary."
"Hey," the pinkette defended, "You know you're the one who's good with words, not me."
"But, still-"
"Who is this girl, Mister Dragneel?" an employee asked, "I've never seen her before. Is she new?"
Clearing his throat and standing back up, Natsu spoke.
"Everyone," he introduced, "I would like you to meet Lucy. She's my fiancée."
And right then and there, everyone in that room's jaws dropped.
"That's your fiancée?"
"I didn't even know you were engaged!"
"Congratulations!"
"Wait, Mister Dragneel actually had a girlfriend?"
Natsu sighed; why was that so surprising to everyone?
"It's okay, Mister Dragneel," one woman said, "I know who she is. That's your fiancée, Lucy Heartfilia."
After her statement, the whole room went silent, jaws dropping once again.
"LUCY HEARTFILIA!"
"How did he get someone like Lucy Heartfilia to agree to marry him?"
"Are you two really engaged?"
"I don't know about you; I think she's pretty hot."
"Back off!" Natsu snarled at the one employee who made the comment, "She's mine! Do you want me to fire you?"
"No," said employee mumbled.
"Never say that again," the pinkette snarled, "or I will not hesitate to kill you."
"Natsu," Lucy chided as she stood up next to him and spoke, "Hello, everyone. Yes, I am Lucy Heartfilia, and yes, I am engaged to Natsu Dragneel. I know you may have other questions to ask us, but please put those aside, so that we may continue this meeting. And furthermore, starting from today I will start to work here with all of you and my fiancé, so please treat me as one of your own."
After she sat back down, her directions were followed, and the rest of the meeting then went by smoothly.
That is, until the very end.
"Hey, Mister Dragneel," an employee snickered, "Before we leave, maybe you should kiss Miss Heartfilia in front of all of us."
"What are we in, middle school?" Natsu scoffed, crossing his arms, "I'm not going to do that."
"Fine," the worker huffed, "I just won't believe you're engaged, then!"
"Yeah, me, too!"
"Why should we believe you?"
"I can see the people that work for you are just as immature as you," Lucy muttered to herself.
Scoffing, Natsu accepted the challenge, grabbed Lucy by the wrist, and smashed his lips against hers, the blonde eagerly kissing him back . He pulled away after a short while, his breathing heavy as he gave a cold stare to the rest of the people in the room.
"Are you happy now?" he inquired angrily. When he saw them nod, he gathered up his things, grabbed Lucy's hand, and dragged her out of the room with him. "See you next week."
"It was nice meeting you all!" the blonde cried before they were out of earshot, "Natsu, let me go!"
"Not until we get back to my office," the pinkette replied, "You have some explaining to do about you coming here without telling me but telling Gray."
"Will you just let it go, already?!" Lucy yelled.
"No!"
Work could be so stressful sometimes, but Natsu and Lucy knew they would make it now.
After all, she was back, and they were together again.
And hopefully, this time they wouldn't be separated.
Author's Note: I wrote this in two days when these chapters usually take about a week, so sorry about the length and quality.
I know a month was kind of rushed here, but this story does take place over a span of a year, and I still have a lot more to go. So brace yourselves.
It might be a while before I update this story with chapter twenty-two. I'm currently planning and writing two one-shots (which I will hopefully post the same week), and I have family coming over tomorrow and staying for a week or two, so I won't have time to write. I hope you can understand.
Leave a review, please? And a follow/favorite?
See you next time!