38: Choices
16th April, Monday. Fairy Scale Corp rooftop garden. 11:45am.
Lunch was taken up at the rooftop, surrounded by lush greenery and the zen flow of water as it arced from the small mountain of granite and plaster. Despite the air-conditioning, Lucy could feel the heat of the midday sun warm her skin as it beamed in through the ceiling of glass. She made no move to shift into a spot of shade, despite there being one barely an arm's length away. Rather, she welcomed the heat. It tingled her skin so, making her wish that she had put together a sleeveless ensemble for the day instead.
Leaning to peek over the edge of the wall bordering the area in, she watched rather amusedly, the sight of a small crowd flowing from the building. Juvia's light coloured hair stood at bright contrast to Gray's darker locks, making them an easy pair to pick out. Erza's red strands gleamed in the sunlight and as she spun around to address the female beside her, her voluminous hair whipped up and smacked the brunette right in the face.
Lucy stifled a chuckle as the tiny male immediately swung at his boss. The blonde did not have to be able to see to know that he would now be wearing a belligerent expression to which Erza would be nonchalant.
Sure enough, the spot of red merely floated past the posturing male as Gray was left behind, fuming.
"What's so funny?"
"Nothing."
Lucy smiled as she turned her head upwards to receive a kiss to her cheek.
Natsu was clutching onto his laptop and a bento box of meats. Sliding onto the bench seat opposite her, he snapped open the box lid, his face immediately lighting up as he took in the decadent spread of teriyaki and katsu slices, laid neatly over a bed of steaming rice. The sweet scent of gravy made even the blonde, who was still full from her earlier sandwiches, drool. Leaning towards his side of the table, she breathed in deeply, her lips spreading wide across her face. Good Mavis, but that smelled wonderful.
"Natsu."
"Yeah, babe."
"I wan-"
Her voice dropped mid-word as she watched him pull out a bottle of Tabasco from nowhere and proceed to empty out half its contents over the spread. Crispy brown instantly became viscous, soggy red, and the sweet scent of freshly grilled meat turned acerbic and sour.
"Yeah?"
"Never mind."
It was obvious what she had been about to ask him, but the man was starving today. After skipping out to lunch early, he had managed to procure himself food from one of the more popular kitchens in town. As guilty as Lucy's disappointed expression was making him, he was not going to rel-
Damn it. She was pouting a little now.
Satisfying his stomach or satisfying his Lucy?:
What a dilemma.
Suppressing a groan, he dug out a few slices from the under-layer of meat that had yet to be inundated with sauce.
"Here. That's all you're going to get."
"Yay!"
Damn it, but she was so cute when she smiled like that, her face childishly lighting up like fireworks. Natsu looked forlornly at the no longer complete dish and sighed.
"You still have so much left." Lucy warbled out from between closed lips, chewing, as she smiled a self-satisfied smile.
"It's not the same."
"Glutton."
"Thief."
"Greedy-pig.
"Food snatcher. Scavenger. Vulture. Cunning."
"Good Mavis, you're so childish." Lucy snorted as she lifted her flask to sip from it.
"But you love me anyway."
Lucy turned a faint pink at the sight of his wide, boyish grin. The smile held nothing back and sometimes, it overwhelmed people.
"Shut up." She muttered as she rolled her eyes.
"So cute."
"… hmph."
Natsu chuckled as he turned his attention back to his food. After a while, he looked up again, a pensive expression on his face.
"How…"
"Yes?"
"Yesterday… uh… how… how'd it go?"
"It went fine."
"Really? I mean… after I left… I wanted to stay…"
The corner of Lucy's mouth tilted up. "He didn't try anything funny."
"Really?"
"He's not you." Her grin turned wry.
"What's that mean?" He snorted.
"I recall…" She touched a finger to her chin and glanced skyward. "Many a time when you tried something funny in public even when I told you to stop."
Natsu instantly burst out laughing, spraying bits of rice and half-chewed up meat everywhere. Grimacing, Lucy lifted out her tray to shield herself.
"Oh fuck. Those were some fun times. I never knew someone could turn so red, Luce!"
"Of course I was embarrassed!" She protested. "There was that committee meeting once! Who puts his hand down someone else's-! Someone else's… Oh God…"
Her head dropped into her palms as the memories turned her face hot.
"I didn't know you liked to play dangerous, Luce." He winked, taking joy in her mortification. "That was the most fun meeting I have ever had. Afterwards was very nice too."
A quick series of images flashed through her mind. Intermittent memory slides of harsh panting, messy kisses, ripping of zippers and a rather stunned toilet cleaning lady who had entered the room at the most inopportune moment.
"Wh-whatever."
"Was it not fun for you?"
"I… don't remember."
"Shall I remind you again?" He shifted in his seat as if to get up.
The blush that flooded her cheeks was instant. Lucy's both hands flew up just as she yelled out a loud 'no!"
Natsu feigned a pout. "You don't want me to do naughty things to you?"
Lucy's lips rolled inwards as she looked at him with wide eyes. He was being a bit of a tease today. He seemed to be extra cheeky today for some reason.
"Luce?"
"N-"
"No?"
She glanced away her face furiously red. "Not- not now, stupid."
He chuckled again. "God, you're adorable…"
"Th-thank you. A-a-anyway! He really didn't try anything. We merely walked around the city, had dinner and then I stayed the night in my own apartment… reached Magnolia just after 9."
Natsu looked up, surprised. "Why are you telling me this?"
"Because you asked."
"Did I?"
"Yeah! Before all the… uhm… before we digressed."
"Huh. I forgot." He looked back down at his food. He was of course, feigning ignorance, and Lucy could see the small smile at the corner of his lips as he relished in her assurance.
"Natsu."
"Yea-"
Lucy cut him off when she leaned across the table to place a hard one right over his lips. Natsu was looking up at her with a mix of amusement and bewilderment when she broke contact.
"What was that about? Not that I'm complaining…"
"Just felt like it." She grinned.
"Well, whatever it was, I liked it very much. C'mere…"
Chatter to her left drew her attention to the small group headed their way. Erza was waving while her other hand clutched onto a small cake box.
"Lucy! Didn't know you guys were up here!"
"Ugh. There goes my peace. Flame-brain, you'd better not have your hands anywhere they should not belong."
Lucy sputtered and quickly dropped back onto her seat.
Natsu's skin also turned a pale pink. "What the f are you talking about?!"
"The last time I chanced upon the both of you, she was in a blanket and you were-" Gray shivered in disgust. "With your jerk-off hands…"
"What?!"
"Eew." Juvia managed, as the redhead burned red and stared wide-eyed at the mortified blonde.
Natsu leapt from his seat, sending his (thankfully) empty meal box flipping into the air, as he hurled himself at the brunette.
19th April, Thursday. Esperanza Hotel Grand Ballroom. 2.55p.m.
If the ballroom had taken her breath away before, it was now rendering her speechless.
Lucy had scheduled a meeting at 3.15 with Cobra and she had decided to head there a little early. If anything, being prepared was something she tried her best to accomplish always.
The ballroom was a lavish affair with satin and silk now trailing from the ceiling in alternating waves. The lights were on a slight dim, just as they would be on the day of the event but the material of the cloth drapes was sheer enough to allow the silver to glow from within. The area had been lent an opulent ambience, with a touch of intimacy. Just how she wanted it to be. Grand was one thing, but she needed grand and heartwarming and breathtaking and spectacular and everything in between. Anything less, and she was probably going to receive a very carefully worded email from Kagura.
There were sticker crosses on the carpet in front of the pillars standing along the edges of the walkway. She walked as if joining the dots, making a note on her checklist to double and triple check the bouquet arrangements. The array of blooms she had selected after painstaking elimination were a profusion of white, lemon and other pastel colours that would stand at stark contrast to the rich red of the carpeting. The bouquet stands would be swathed over with the same hues of cloths that hung from the ceiling now.
Everything sounded perfect, and she had exactly 17 days left to make sure that everything turned out the way she visualized it. Not to mention that photos of the event venue and proceedings would be sent back to BlueHeel. She nodded to herself with a determined gleam in her eyes. She did not like to jump the gun but she could just see her face plastered across the front pages of the next biannual company newsletter.
Lucy Heartfilia, pride and joy of Blue-
Her mind screeched to a stop.
Was she planning on continuing in BlueHeel? They had successfully skirted around that particular can of worms hitherto, but with her departure drawing ever closer, perhaps it was time to face the truth.
A one-way journey from Magnolia to Crocus took 4 hours at most, and the time difference was a mere 2.5 hours. A long distance relationship was not completely impossible but it hardly seemed ideal, especially since they had just begun to stitch back the seams.
Of course, she could give up Crocus and return to Magnolia proper, but the life she had there was representative of her tenacity, perseverance and ability to overcome her demons. It was a physical embodiment of her success as an individual who had been dealt a harsh hand and came out kicking.
Giving it all up was equivalent to relinquishing all that she had strove to achieve.
Asking Natsu to abandon the only life he knew seemed equally as impossible. She could not even picture him working a place, surrounded by people who were not Gray, or Gajeel or anyone else.
The story she had been living ever since she had returned seemed to be a one-way street, funneling her back into the arms of the one man she truly loved. While there had been diverging avenues and the darkest alleyways en route, it was clear that her fate had been sealed the moment she had accepted the project.
At this point though, her one-way street had now become a cul-de-sac, with no clear paths to proceed.
And as happy as she was, the depression was catching up with her.
"Lucy. I see you're early."
"Yeah. Fantastic job so far, Cobra. I really loved what you did with the ceiling."
"Wait till you see the balcony."