"Haruhi, a moment," I requested. Her shoulders drooped and she slowly turned and marched back to me.
"Tamaki, your wallet," I demanded. He had extracted himself from the mongrel and stood brushing off his pants.
"Why do you…"
I allowed my fury to crowd my visage. "Your wallet. Now." My outstretched hand gestured for him to comply quickly.
He dug it out of his back pocket while the others watched uneasily. I gave Tamaki another quelling look before plucking the wallet from his hand. As I searched its contents, I mentally calculated the amount Haruhi had spent on my meal and the other purchases. Doubling that, I pulled out some bills and handed them to her. "This should cover your expenses today."
She looked uneasy but took it anyway. "Do you want my receipts now?"
"That won't be necessary."
"Whatcha got there, Haruhi?" Honey asked, peeking into her shopping bag.
She began to pull out the items one by one, delighting the club members with our selections. I handed the wallet to Tamaki, who only answered with a resentful look. I addressed the nearest of the twins. "Cell phone," I demanded. He complied without a word, for once. I took a moment to find what I wanted, then punched in the number for my driver. "How soon can you be at the BonMal shopping center?...Fine. We'll be at the south entrance." Snapping it shut, I returned it.
Haruhi was wrapping up her show and tell. "Now if you don't mind, I'm going to go home now." She turned back to the escalators, Honey's "Bye-bye, Haru-chan!" seeing her out.
I snatched the melon corn snacks from Tamaki's hand and followed her. At the first floor landing, I caught her easily with my long stride. "I'll give you a ride."
"No, that's okay. It's only five blocks."
"You're not tired?" Her steps were visibly dragging.
"Well…" I knew she was weighing the merits of a ride against the joys of my continued company.
"Good then." The nearest exit was just past a stand featuring various fish, shellfish and delicacies from the sea displayed over crushed ice. I wrinkled my nose at the smell.
I opened the heavy glass door for Haruhi, and we stepped out into the golden sunshine of late afternoon. The smell of seafood was replaced with exhaust fumes. The sidewalk was still busy with shoppers and commuters wrapping up for the day.
"Where's your car?" Haruhi asked, scanning the metered parking nearby.
"On its way." I slipped my hands in my pockets to wait.
"Huh?"
A sleek black Jaguar pulled up to the curb in front of us. My driver stepped out and swiftly opened the back door for us. Haruhi blushed. "Good grief," she mumbled under her breath.
I gave the driver her address and slid in next to her, purposely pressing close. It didn't seem to bother her as she slumped heavily into the seat with a tired sigh.
The car pulled away and I was conscious that our time together was short. I turned my head to say what was needed and saw her eyes were closed, her head tilted back. For a moment I allowed my eyes to caress her dainty features.
"Haruhi," I began softly. Her eyes fluttered open and she wearily met my gaze. "I'm… sorry I was so rude today." Her eyebrows lifted warily.
"It's true I didn't get much sleep last night, but that's no excuse for the way I behaved." Now she looked puzzled. "What?" I asked.
"Nothing. I'm just having trouble keeping up with your mood swings lately." Well, I deserved that.
"I will endeavor to do better," I said with exaggerated gallantry. "I'd hate to tarnish my image as a 'nice guy,'" I teased.
"If you really want to convince me, you should cut down the number of host requests I still have to get."
"Unscrupulous," I reminded her, wagging my finger in front of her face. I finished by playfully tapping the tip of her nose. She blinked.
"So what do we have left?' I asked, picking up the shopping bag at her feet to divert attention from my unusual behavior. "Let's see…smoked salami flavored potato chips. Ranka-sama will want to try that. Strawberry chocolate cheetos. You can have those, I…"
"…don't really care for sweets." She finished with me. Our eyes held, and she offered me a forgiving smile.
"That server was being rude to you," I informed her.
"She had something better to look at. I can't really blame her," Haruhi said. My eyebrows shot up in surprise and she gasped at her unwitting admission. Quickly she backpedaled. "Uh, um, I mean, all you host club guys are used to making women, you know…" She shifted uncomfortably.
"Hmmm." So maybe she is attracted to me. A warm flush swept through my body and ended by spinning dizzily around my head. With a last appraising look at her face, I turned my attention back to the shopping bag only to feel the car easing to a halt. "I guess I'll just hang on to these," I said, waving the box of melon flavored corn snacks.
"Okay," she agreed readily. Re-stashing her items she added, "You'll have to let me know what you think of them." My driver was at her door.
"Good evening, Haruhi."
"Thanks for the ride." I watched her climb the outdoor staircase, her loose jumper splashing about her capris. And I saw the speculative expression she wore when she looked back at me.