AN: And the award goes to Padfoot Starfyre for being the first to comment on the use of movie titles for chapter titles! Here's your virtual golden statuette, take a bow!
The setting and last scene of this chapter were inspired by a favorite movie of mine: The Thomas Crown Affair (the remake, not the original). Love Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo! Too easy to see Takumi and Misaki in their roles. Hmmmm, another story idea?
Over 100 views again last week! Thank you all again for the reviews, follows, and favorites!
Note that italics are used as emphasis and flashbacks.
Disclaimer: I do not own KWMS. All honor and glory to Hiro Fujiwara-san! Nor do I own any other fairy tales or stories.
Chapter 11 – The Thomas Crown Affair, John McTiernan, 1999.
Misaki stood there frozen, staring up the stairs, not comprehending their sudden emptiness. Her brain whirled in confusion, thoughts swirling chaotically. What just happened? She took a walk in the dark alone with a strange man?! He held her in his arms?! They almost kissed?! What hell was wrong with her?! She wasn't drunk. She hadn't even had anything to drink at the banquet. She never let anyone get that close to her, and yet, there was something familiar about him. Something soothing, making her feel safe and secure, like a favorite blanket.
An image of a red stapler swam to the forefront of her mind. Fond memories poured in of her long-lost friend. Always by her side, helping with student council paperwork, leaving silly buttons and pins for her at her job, saving her at the sports festival, teasing her relentlessly. Her face darkened at that last one. But it just couldn't have been him tonight. There was no way. Usui Takumi was too awkward and gangly with dorky glasses and crazy hair.
Her mysterious stranger, wait when did he become hers? This stranger was the opposite. Quite debonair, handsome, very muscular with sleek hair and gorgeous emerald eyes! She smacked her face. What was she thinking again? Misaki Ayuzawa did NOT drool over guys. She pushed those ideas out of her head and determinedly climbed the stairs. She glanced at her watch. It was after midnight! She would go straight to bed and get a good night's sleep!
Misaki blearily rubbed her eyes. It was too early. Actually it wasn't. It was later than she typically would wake up, having hit the snooze button so many times she lost count. Stumbling to the bathroom, she splashed water on her face, then peered at her reflection in the mirror. Aoi was going to kill her. The bags under her eyes were big enough to be used for a month long trip overseas.
Curiosity had gotten the better of her once she returned to her room last night and she stayed up pouring over the conference attendee list, looking for her, no, that mysterious stranger. It proved a fruitless endeavor. There were no Usui's, Takumi or otherwise, in attendance. She did find a handful of Sebastians, however none of them panned out once she had stalked them online. At 4am, she finally threw in the towel, disgusted with herself for wasting so much time and energy on the mystery man.
She shook her head to rid it of those thoughts and headed for a quick shower. Room service arrived with a pot of coffee and some croissants just as she finished dressing. Checking her schedule, which was thankfully light for the day, she decided to enjoy her breakfast on the balcony, not thinking about him, before heading out to meet up with her team.
This evening's event was a silent auction featuring art works by aspiring artists from around the world as well as having a significant portion of the exhibit dedicated to local artisans. The collection was arranged throughout several smaller meeting halls, so that it gave the feeling of an art gallery. The conference attendees were free to wander about, drinks in hand, leaving their bids on any piece that struck their fancy. Each area had a mini-buffet station featuring cuisine unique to a particular country. It was quite the elegant affair.
The AWA Consulting Group arrived in high spirits. Misaki had tasked everyone to find and bid on an art piece for the office and it had turned into a friendly competition for bragging rights for the most unique finds. They all dispersed rather quickly, agreeing to meet back up in a few hours to show off their, hopefully, successful bids.
Misaki wandered around by herself, trying to focus on the art pieces and not scan the crowd for a certain someone. She was exhausted from trying to continually concentrate and re-direct her thoughts throughout the various sessions and earlier meetings, and could not remember ever being so distracted during a day. It seemed every few minutes, on their own accord, her eyes would sweep the room for sleek blond hair or green eyes. Thankfully, no one seemed to notice her lack of attention, although Aoi appeared a bit suspicious.
During their evening style session, he kept looking at her and grinning with a mischievous and knowing smirk. He even went so far as to ask her how the rest of her evening went last night after the banquet finished and if she had enjoyed the fresh air. She replied evasively and expected a bit of teasing or mild insults in return, but he merely flashed that smirk again and lightly chuckled as if there was an inside joke.
Once again, Aoi had nailed the outfit. Tonight Misaki was modeling a short, red, avant-garde dress. With its asymmetrical hemline and off the shoulder sleeves with unique cutouts, the dress was as artistic as any of the gallery pieces. That being said, while she could appreciate its beauty, she was a bit uncomfortable with the length and amount of skin being shown. At least the shoes were comfortable, despite their, in her opinion, ridiculous height.
Walker Enterprises arrived fashionably late. Well they would have been on time, except that Gerard and Igarashi got in a tiff over whose tie clip looked more sophisticated. It only ended when Usui arrived and was immediately pounced upon by the both of them.
As usual, he trailed a few paces behind, lost in his thoughts. He had been so busy with business meetings today he had not had a chance to look around for her. With any luck, she would be attending the silent auction tonight. However, it would be tricky since he was with his group and undoubtedly, she would be with hers. At the very least, he could sneak a glimpse or two.
It was disappointing but unsurprising that she did not recognize him last night. After he transferred schools, he had naively thought he would still be able to meet up with her from time to time and keep in touch, but the required social climbing and family business initiation kept him so busy that before he knew it he had graduated and left to study abroad. Well he would just have to make her remember him.
Vague thoughts crossed his mind as to why he had not introduced himself straight away, instead choosing to use an alias, and even going so far as planning to use another one tonight, should they meet again. He desperately wanted to believe it was just to have some fun with her and keep himself out of trouble with his family and not to protect himself from the possibility of getting hurt if she rejected the real him. At any rate, by the end of the week things would be back to normal. His life would go back to the same monotonous grind; his only respite would be to make a few fond memories during these evenings.
In anticipation of his little game of hide and seek, being the alien that he was, he had made a pair of fake glasses by removing the lenses from an old pair of frames and had practiced styling his hair so that he could go from geek to chic in a matter of seconds. Now it was just a question of figuring out a clever excuse or two to slip away from time to time.
Lady luck was with Usui tonight and smiled her good fortune down on him. He was abruptly pulled from his thoughts when someone roughly grabbed his shoulder and shook him.
"Pay attention boy when your superiors are talking to you!" His grandfather harshly reprimanded him. Gerard and Igarashi snickered behind his back.
"As we were saying, Bob, go and get us some drinks."
Usui glanced around the gallery and realized with a jolt why Gerard and Igarashi had been so insistent for him to wear a white suit jacket tonight. All of the wait-staff were sporting a similar uniform. He supposed they expected him to suffer some kind of humiliation but on the contrary, this played perfectly into his plans. Much to their displeasure, Usui simply bowed with a slight smile and strolled off.
Finding the bar, he casually picked up a tray loaded with drinks. The bartender, busy crafting cocktails, did not even give him a glance. He ambled through the light crowd, occasionally handing out a libation, in no rush to return. As he entered a small sculpture garden, a flash of raven hair caught his eye. There she was! The vision of her in that red dress and those black heels stopped him in his tracks. She was striking even though she kept fidgeting with her dress, trying to pull the bottom down and the top up. He pocketed his "glasses", smoothed back his hair, and sidled up to her.
"Champagne for the lady?"
"No thank you, I don't drink," politely refusing the offer, she turned and finally saw him. A look of recognition appeared on her face instantly followed by confusion.
"Sebastian?"
"I'm sorry, miss, you're mistaken. It's Thomas." With a wink, he flashed his million-dollar smile, gave a short bow, and quickly walked off.
Perplexed, she gaped at his back as he turned the corner. He was a member of the staff and not a conference attendee? He was so knowledgeable last night that it seemed unlikely he was not connected in some way with the business world. And there was no way she misheard him as he departed last night. Sebastian sounds nothing like Thomas.
Usui made his way back to his group with the requested drinks. He paused, still out of sight, to reset his appearance. What he overheard surprised him. His grandfather was admonishing Gerard and Igarashi!
"I'm disappointed in you two, especially you, Gerard. You both were unable to speak with her after the banquet. Well, tonight is another chance. I expect more effort. I do not need to remind you of the importance. We need a strategic alliance with them and it would be best to make it a permanent partnership."
"It's not our fault she disappeared. We were just about to make our move when she ran out the door. Her vice president said she just stepped out to visit the washroom or something so we waited around for another hour but she never came back," Gerard whined.
With a shock, Usui realized they were referring to Misaki. He felt disgusted that they would consider using her to advance their agendas. There was no way he would allow them anywhere near her. He was relieved, and a bit proud, that he had inadvertently monopolized her last night. And tonight would be no different. He stepped out from his hiding place.
"Took you long enough."
Usui shrugged, "There was a line."
"Now go get us some food. I'm in the mood for some Beef Wellington."
"And I want Samosas."
With a quick bow, he was off again, turning before they could see his grin. It was working too well.
This time he found her next to the abstract art, however she was not alone. A roguish looking fellow with spiky blond hair was leaning in, much too close for the dictates of etiquette, while his dark haired, bespectacled friend was looking bored. The green-eyed alien felt a green-eyed monster awaken in his chest. He hastened to her side to save her from being further accosted.
Gently, yet firmly, gripping her elbow, he interrupted.
"Madame, your party is awaiting you. If you would be so kind, I shall guide you to them."
And with that he whisked her away from the offending band of scoundrels and off to another room.
She had been startled at first at the suddenness of their departure, but had instantly recognized his voice and a lingering whiff of his cologne. She was grateful for his intervention and did not resist. He led her to the portrait gallery but did not release her arm. She faced him and once again, uttered a sincere thank you with her disarming smile.
"I've been trying to come up with a good excuse to get away from those guys for almost twenty minutes. Thank you!"
Still holding her arm, his other hand began to lightly stroke her skin through the sleeve cutouts on her other arm.
"Guys like that make me so irritated." His tone was dark, and with her smile now faltering, she noticed his eyes had turned a deep forest green.
The soothingly seductive sensations on her arm finally registered in her brain. She reddened and stepped back, trying to break out of his grip.
"Why should you be irritated?"
He came closer and fingered a loose strand of her hair, "Why you ask?" Staring with a burning intensity into her wide amber eyes, he let it slide through his grasp, "I'm very possessive."
She turned her head away; cheeks flushed crimson, "It's not your concern."
With a smirk and a half chuckle, he patted her head, then turned and left. She remained motionless, skin still tingling from his touch, confused thoughts swirling again. Why did he have this effect on her?
The evening passed rather quickly with Usui running interference for Misaki while catering to the increasingly outrageous requests of Gerard and Igarashi. He knew they were testing him, seeing how much he could take. However, he was playing his own game, successfully managing to herd them away from her without them becoming aware. Walkers were master manipulators, even illegitimate ones. It seemed to run in their blood.
During one of his errands, he happened by Aoi. The two exchanged meaningful nods. Aoi was quick to surmise the situation and smirked to himself. The wheels were in motion and if everything continued, he had one last trick up his sleeve to play.
The crowd had thinned considerably and it was nearing the time for the AWA Consulting Group to gather and share their finds. Misaki stood alone in the photography collection, once again lost in her thoughts. After the incident with the overly aggressive would-be paramours, it did not go unnoticed by her that individuals of the masculine nature were not bothering her during her wanderings through the galleries. It was not a mere coincidence. He definitely had something to do with it. It was irksome. She was a grown woman and didn't need a chaperone. Nevertheless, it did make the evening much more relaxing not having to be constantly vigilant.
This time as she stood musing, she sensed his approach. His alluring scent gave him away. Before she could turn to acknowledge his presence however, a low voice murmured in her ear, the soft breath making her shiver. He was close, too close, but she felt paralyzed, unable to move away.
"Beautiful, aren't they?" he asked following her gaze towards the landscapes.
"They are breathtaking."
"Not as breathtaking as you."
She stiffened, her face matching her dress.
Anticipating her pending protestations, he swiftly continued.
"Which one is your favorite?"
"Oh, I've already bid on a nice painting for the office."
"But which one would you pick, just for yourself?"
She started spluttering something about art and luxury and expenses. He patiently waited for her to finish her diatribe.
Seeing that he would not be deterred, she slowly moved to stand in front of a smaller picture. It was a phenomenal shot of the ocean at twilight. The sun had set, but the horizon was still streaked with blues and purples, fading into velvety blackness. Twinkling stars were scattered across the sky. All of this reflected on gentle waves, creating sparkles of light and color. Staring at it made one feel as if they were actually on the beach admiring the view.
Sighing in defeat, she pointed to it, and then dropped her hand. It accidentally brushed his sleeve on the way down causing goosebumps to run up her arm. They stood shoulder to shoulder, fabric touching fabric, in silence, admiring the photograph. The similarity to the previous evening's scene not lost on either of them. Hearts were racing. Breaths were synchronizing. A delicious tension was building. Their fingers were millimeters apart, near enough to feel the warmth of his and the coolness of hers. Electric sparks seemed to crackle in the tiny distance between them. Her hand yearned to be held in his strong yet tender grip. His long fingers twitched, ready to intertwine with her slender ones. He moved to take her hand and pull her into a tight embrace to finish what they started last night.
DING!
This time her phone interrupted the moment. A quick glance reminded her that her team was waiting. She bade him goodnight and rapidly departed to join them. He remained, studying the picture a while longer before scribbling something on a piece of paper, then left to rejoin his group.