Chapter 5

KRING! KRING! KRING!
"Uh! Shut up!" Lucy shouted as she scrambles in the bed trying to untangle herself in her duvet until she was able to free herself from the comforter and slams the alarm clock off. As she did, she quickly sits up in the bed, she squinted her eyes as she tried to adjust her vision while she skimming the room. At first, she was having a hard time to recognize the room, until she saw her pink makeup table against the white bedroom.
"How did I get here?" Lucy said to herself before she looked down to her bed to see her surroundings more. But what she didn't expect is to see herself in the state she was in, "AHHHHHHHH!" Lucy shouted as she began to pull up the comforter to her chest closer as to cover every flesh that was exposing to anyone eyes. Quickly panicking, she scanned her bed and checked if there was any guy she was with, "How the hell did I end up just wearing my bra?!" Suddenly recalling the night before, her eyes grew wide as she recalled the pink-haired man, "Oh my god! Natsu?!"
As she anticipated for a reply, she bit her lip in fear to hear a man's voice. But as a minute ticks by, no voice came and just sounds of her room echoed in her ear. And with that, Lucy slowly lowers down her legs and as she stands, she was taken aback to see herself only wearing her bra and panties, which made Lucy blush furiously as she quickly runs to her closet and took her bedroom robe.

When the bedroom robe was secured to her body, she skimmed her room last time when suddenly she notices a yellow sticky note stuck in her lamp. Slowly walking towards the lamp, she couldn't help but be curious why on earth she would see a strange note sticking to her lamp. When she was within reach to the paper, she quickly snatches the paper and read the short note.

It was nice meeting you
Lucy.
See you soon.
-ND

Chuckling at the note, Lucy couldn't help but smile as she imagined the man saying the words to her in person. As she found herself staring at the sticky note after memorizing it word for word, she swiftly draws the drawer in her nightstand and drops the note. For the nth time, she gave a last look to the note before she mumbles to herself, "As if we'll meet again" then Lucy closes the drawer before stepping out of her room. As soon as she closes the door to her bedroom and scanned her living room, she immediately spots her clothes that night, wherein her skirt and blouse was laying on top of her couch. Lazily walking towards her discarded clothes, she quickly notices another note sticking by a cup placed on her coffee table.

Dropping herself to the couch, she hesitantly looked at the note first before deciding to take the note and read it aloud:

"I finished the remaining coffee in the cup.
Thanks
-ND"

"Coffee?" She repeated curiously as she tried to recall any instance she drank coffee with the man but as soon as she tried to recall, she suddenly remembers what happened last night. She recalled how she tripped to the carpet and spill half of the hot coffee to the man's white shirt, "Oh my god! The shirt!" Lucy then hurriedly stands from the couch and rushes to her laundry area, only to find another note by the washing machine. Snatching the note for the third time, she reads aloud again.

"Thanks for washing my shirt.
You spared me laundry.
-ND"

"So, technically he left after his shirt was done?" Lucy asked to no one in particular as she raised her brow in wonder. When she was convinced that the man just left after his shirt was clean, Lucy just shrugs off her shoulder as she walks out of the laundry and headed back to her room to keep the notes. And just like the first note, she drops the note in her drawer before swiftly closing it.

After the oddness of her morning, Lucy recalled that it was a Saturday. And Saturday mornings for her starts with a jog. So as soon as possible, she went straight to her bathroom and readied herself for a morning jogging. Soon enough the blonde actress left her condo and started her morning exercise. She ran with her hot pink sports bra, black running shorts and pink and black Nike free run. As she took her usual running route, she had her IPod strapped to her right upper arm as her favorite playlist was on.

Jogging has become part of her morning routine every weekend because that is the only time Lucy gets feel like she could breathe again like no one is watching her and expects her to be the actress everybody wants her to be. Lucy's morning exercise every weekend is the only escapade she could do before she starts hiding in her home until weekdays come again.

As Lucy jog towards the nearest park to her condo building, her mobile phone suddenly rings within her secret pocket to her shorts. With her wireless earphone, Lucy accepts the call and hears a sweet voice, "Hey Lucy!"
"Hey, who's this?" Lucy raggedly asks as she kept her pace
"Me, Lissana," the person said back
"Oh, hey Lis! What's up?" Lucy immediately smiled after knowing it was her silver-haired friend who called her
"Good! How about you?" Lissana's voice resembled the voice of a little girl who's trying hard to stifle her excitement
"Um, yeah, good I guess" Lucy shrugged as she recalled her exact morning once she woke up
"You guess? I heard you had a lot of fun last night" Lissana teased making Lucy raise a brow
"And who said so?" Lucy sarcastically sounded as she asked back the woman
"Natsu" Lissana nonchalantly replies back to the blonde who suddenly stumbles in her run after hearing the name of the man she spent the night with, just drinking, though. Good thing, Lucy was just in the phone and Lissana couldn't see her at all. And she was, even more, thankful that she is not seen by her friend because her face suddenly gained a blush.
Halting for a minute in her jog, Lucy tried to compose herself first after realizing that few strangers saw her tumble. As she tried to catch her breath, she places her hands to her hips while looking around the people who stared back at her.
Lucy swallowed first then took a deep exhale before she started asking again, "Natsu?"
"Yeah"
"What . . . did he say?" Lucy paused in between her sentence as she continuously catches her breath
"Oh, nothing much besides that you both had a good laugh in Fairy Tail, you both almost kiss-"
"What?! Kissed?! We didn't kiss!" Lucy shouted back as she had her eyes wide open, making the people around her look at her nervously. Noticing the look of the people around her, Lucy quickly changes her expression and began to whisper, "Lis, he's lying"
"Oh who cares. And besides, he said, almost kissed…" Lissana defended making Lucy roll her eyes despite being unseen by her friend
"Still, we didn't kiss. And besides, he doesn't need to tell you does kind of stuff" Lucy replies back as she began to walk again still going to the nearest park
"I forced him"
"You're mean"
"Well, I know you won't spill the bean if I asked you…" Lissana teased back making her laugh along with the blonde
"Of course"
"Exactly" Lucy and Lissana both smiled which the two knew they were doing the same thing, "But hey, have you seen your latest rumor?"
"Well, if it's me about stalking Loke last night again, which is not true, then I'm not interested," Lucy said as she kept her slow pace finally reaching the park. After reaching her end point in the park, Lucy quickly turns and heads back to where she came from
"Well, it's about you and Loke," Lissana then smiled mischievously even if Lucy couldn't see the devilish smile, "But this time, with Natsu"
"What?" Lucy suddenly stops from walking as she was taken aback from what she heard. But after some time, she began to walk again, "What did it say about us three"
"I think it's better if you check it yourself"
"Alright, then I'll call you later, I'll just finish my jogging before I return back to my place"
"Okay! Bye!" Lissana bids goodbye to Lucy who ends the call and quickly jogs again.

After a good hour of jogging, Lucy was back at her condo, breathlessly and sweaty. Once she enters her home, she quickly enters her bathroom and began to shower. With her brisk shower, Lucy came out of her bathroom wearing her most comfortable clothes. Soon enough, she grabbed her laptop and phone and started to head towards the kitchen. As she opens her computer, she began to play her playlist again and started her cooking.

After preparing her meal, Lucy quickly attended to her laptop and began to search news about her. And with just one click, a new article about her appeared. Clicking a link, Lucy bit her tuna sandwich as waited for the page to fully load. When the page finished loading, Lucy looked close to the picture that was attached in the web page. The photo was her and Natsu laughing in the parking lot, as they headed towards somewhere, which she assumed was to Natsu's parked bike. "My god, I didn't notice paparazzi last night"
Looking further to the article, Lucy scrolled down the page and began to read the article. Everything that was written there was just mere speculations about her moving on. The author of the article said that Lucy was finally moving on after being spotted with a tall pink-haired man. The man was still unidentified but it seems like Lucy has finally moved on from the Leo actor. The article even mentioned that Loke was spotted in the same place as Lucy, leaving with a scowling face, believing that the actor found the blonde actress with a date. With the frowning face, the author believes that the actor was disappointed that Lucy was finally moving on while him, he was beginning to be the stalker.
"Ha! Serves you right!" Lucy exclaimed as she reread the part where the author assumes Loke to be the real stalker. As Lucy continued to read the article, she was taken aback by the end of the short article, "Seeing the series princess [Lucy] happy once again, it is no doubt that the actress is dating the man she is with, in the infamous bar. The actress hasn't smiled like that ever since the break out of her split up with Loke De Leon. Whoever this man is, is sure have captured the beautiful actress' heart. Can't wait to find out who he is"
Lucy suddenly bites her lower lip as she stares at a photo next to the last paragraph of the article. The stolen shot was her and Natsu, where her arms were wrapped around Natsu's neck while the guy held her by her waist.
"After all, Natsu is my diversion…I'm no longer the obsessed stalker ex-girlfriend" Lucy beamed suddenly looking up and imagined herself being free from all the rumor. And with that, Lucy began to jump in her place and excitedly chanted about her being free from bad rumors. But as soon as she felt excited, she quickly realizes too that it wouldn't happen without Natsu's help.
"I got to call Natsu…I have to thank him for helping me out." Lucy then ran to her couch as she tried to find her phone only to find it in her short's back pocket. Quickly pressing the call button, Lucy suddenly realize, she wasn't able to get Natsu's number.
"How did I forget to get Natsu's number?!" Lucy then bites inner lip as she began to think what way she could get Natsu's number. When suddenly she recalled her silver-haired friend and with that she quickly calls her friend, "Hey Lis!" Lucy greeted once the call was accepted
"Hey, Lucy! Have you seen it yet?"
"I did! And oh my god, I am no longer the obsessed stalker!"
"I know! Congratulations! I told you, putting you back in the dating game would help you get rid of that stupid rumor" Lissana proudly reminded making Lucy smile genuinely as she recalled the time Lissana tried to convince her to meet Natsu
"Okay, I get. You win"
"Haha, I know!"
"Oh hey, I um…"
"Yes?"
"Can I get Natsu's number? I just want to thank him"
"Alright, I won't ask why I'll just give it to ya" And with that Lissana ends the call. When the call ended, Lucy looked down at her phone, and soon a message came from Lissana. And there in the message, a number was posted followed by a short message by the silver-haired woman, Go call him and have a date!
Laughing at Lissana's text, Lucy just shook her head in disbelief, "Lissana is really weird"

Soon enough, when Lucy was able to save the number in her contacts, Lucy began to pace as she puts the phone to her ear and waited for the call to be answered by the pink-haired man that she hang out with last night.


"Mr. Dragneel, this is the revised marketing plan for the upcoming project next week of the Dragon Empire group" An aged man then handed a folder to Natsu who was reading a file in hand. As Natsu takes the papers, he glanced at the charts and descriptions to study well the matter.

"Mr. Atlas, what is the result last time-" KRING! KRING! KRING!

Natsu was suddenly cut off in his sentence when his phone suddenly rang. It was a surprise to everybody in his office to see Natsu's phone ring in the middle of their meet. Slowly taking his phone out, a glanced at the screen only to see an unknown number. Thinking that it was a business call, Natsu answers the call and presses the speaker on.
"Hello? Who's this?" Natsu asked seriously as he continued to scan the file in his hand while everybody return back to their task. The executives pretended that they weren't listening as they waited for the CEO to end the call.
"Um, it's Lucy," everyone then looked up and stared at the surprised man, "…about last night" And with that Natsu quickly stands from his chair making the papers in his hand tumble out of his grasp as he tries to turn off the speaker. When he was able to do so, he gawking looked at the executives who were all raising a brow at him as if they couldn't believe that Natsu was out with a woman who was now calling him in the middle of their meeting.
"Um, excuse, I'll just…" Natsu trails off as he just walks away from executives due to embarrassment

When Natsu was no longer earshot by the executives, Natsu quickly puts the phone close to his ear, "Hello?"
"And I just wanted to-" Lucy continuously spoke at the other end of the call making Natsu guilty because he was not able to pause the blonde earlier, so he quickly interrupts the woman
"Wait…um, can you start over again?" Natsu asked timidly as he scratches his head in defeat
"You weren't listening?" Lucy replies annoyed
"Well, I have a reason" Natsu began to stand tall as he prepared himself to defend himself
"What's your excuse Dragneel?" Lucy counters back irritated
"Okay, when I answered your call, I thought you were someone related to business…" Natsu then audibly swallows before he continues, "so, I turned on the speaker and my co-meeting members heard you say about last night and I just started panicking-"
"You what?! You let the call on speaker?!" Lucy bellowed as she blushed, which was, of course, unseen by the man she was talking to
"Yes" Natsu replies sternly
"Oh my god! I must have sounded like a booty call!" Natsu began to panic as he hears Lucy's heavy stepping at the other end of the call
"No-no-no! I uh…quickly excused myself" Natsu sheepishly smiled as he hears Lucy's puffs disbelievingly
"Still!" Lucy screamed at the other end of the call making Natsu cringe in pain
"I apologize," Natsu said back as he bows his head, but he instantly hears a soft chuckle from the woman
"You sound weird…" Lucy suddenly commented as she tries to stifle her giggles, making the man chuckle instead which also made Lucy follow next
"Alright, Luce, what made you call me?" Natsu asks as he walks towards a wall and began to lean down as he happily listened to the woman's voice
"Just like what I said a while ago, our diversion worked and I wanted to thank you for your help." Lucy chirps back as she answers
"Diversion? What do you mean?" Natsu asked back as he suddenly felt curious
"Check the internet about me, I have a new rumor. I'm not the obsessed ex-girlfriend anymore but rather a woman moving on with a guy, which is you"
"Me?" feeling the real curiosity, Natsu couldn't help but grin as he felt amused
"Yep…"
"Oh-kay…then good for you" Natsu and Lucy suddenly fell silent, waiting for each other to continue the conversation, "So… I was thinking… since you helped me, I'll be willing to be your diversion" Lucy confidently answers back as she smirked victoriously, which Natsu could notice in her voice. But this only made Natsu raise a brow in interest, "No thanks"
"No, I insist…" Lucy giddily stops the man, "so, uh…can we meet up? In Blue Pegasus café?" Lucy asked warily
"I still doubt that, but okay. See you there in 2 hours"
"Got that! See you later! Bye!" and with that, Lucy ends the call

Looking down at his phone, Natsu couldn't help but shake his head in disbelief as he mumbles to himself, "She is really weird" and with that Natsu walks away and heads back to his office to continue their meeting.

To be continued…