Pan walked inside the small café, and shortly after, Trunks had joined her. "This way," he reasoned as he walked towards a table at the window side. "I like to see outside," he reasoned and she nodded as she set her pack of folders upon the table while he stood to go to the counter. "What would you like to drink?"
He saw her head rise and look at him blankly and finally he saw what his mother saw. Pan looked exhausted, tired, and watery-eyed. She seemed distant and thoughtfully she answered, "A hot tea? With honey please?" Her words changed her, almost as if the thought of the warm hot liquid would fix everything for her and he nodded. "Okay…"
He ordered their drinks, and lowered himself into the seat across from her, setting her drink in front of her and before she could take it his hand touched hers. Her eyes widened at the feeling of his large warm hand covering her petite one, and then she watched as he looked around for a moment before he pulsed energy into her hand and she felt a warmness spread from her hand and then her down mood and low energy lifted. She looked at him and he smiled for her as he slipped his hand away.
"Better?" He noted the color had come back to her cheeks and she looked less tired and she slowly nodded. "Yes," she murmured. He smiled, "Good. Well, let's do this." Pan nodded and pulled out the evaluation packets and handed one to him. "They're only a few pages, it shouldn't take us too long," she said and he nodded as she passed him a pencil and they began filling out the charts, the questionnaires and the written evaluation. As she had said, it didn't take long, and once finished he passed his materials to her and she tucked them away into the packet and she did the same with her own.
She looked out the window, sipping at her tea and Trunks said, "I'm sorry you didn't sleep well." She turned her head to his and she shook it. "It isn't your fault, I thought, well," she paused and set her tea down. "I didn't realize how important you are, how long I've known you, I thought that nothing would come of this...whatever it is." She inwardly laughed and his head titled in such a way it knocked his hair into his face. She reached over and swiped his hair out of his eyes and smiled for him, as she slowly moved her hand away and said, "I'm sorry for what I said." He stiffened for a moment and then laughed inwardly. "I am too, I crossed a line."
She rest her hand upon the tabletop and his hand covered hers, once more. "What did he do to you that made you this way?" he asked gently. Her eyes widened and she knew who he spoke of, her ex-husband. She smiled warmly for him, curling her hand up to clasp her fingers around his. She looked at their hands and explained, "He left me because I couldn't get pregnant, but also because I cheated." Trunks' eyes went wide. Her eyes slipped up to look at him and she said, "We were still legally married, but separated, and instead of trying to work on the love I thought I had for him I chose lust. I traded in any love I had and chose lust." She said it so simply and then murmured with a blush, "But I felt such guilt, such pain for a long time. I blamed myself for my failed marriage, and I decided I would not love again and became an independent woman who could handle anything." She looked at him and he peered at her with such sad eyes, such longing and she said, "Don't feel bad for me."
"I don't feel bad or sad for you, I can feel your loneliness," he said, and added, "I've felt it every time we've been together. You always turn away and you walk away from me." Her head bowed and she nodded in agreement. He caught her chin and forced her to look up at him. She saw him take in a deep breath and he finally said, "You do know I love you." Her eyes went wide and she gulped, he pulled her hand to his lips and kissed the inset of her wrist, his eyes never leaving hers.
Her eyes suddenly burnt with tears and she slipped her hand away from him. "That's not fair," she whispered softly. His head tilted and she sighed. "You know I love you too," she reasoned. "You have been one of my closest friends for so long that I don't know when I first loved you," she confessed. He again laughed and said, "I don't think we should be doing what we're doing." She nodded in agreement. She did not want to have her heart broken again, and she loved him so much more that she didn't want to lose him over sex, but she knew she would never find another man who would be her equal. But being with him was not something she knew was possible, right? She watched him drink the last bit of his coffee and he said, "I have to get back to work."
She smiled for him. "I'm going to stay here for a bit longer," she reasoned, "and finish my tea." And she watched him smile for her, but he caught her off guard as his hand cupped the nape of her neck and squeezed before he left. She watched him go and sighed heavily as he finally left and she bowed her head, holding it in her hands.
What was she going to do? Her heart began to pound as she relayed the information that had just been expressed. They had just confessed they loved one another…or more so, reminded one another how much they were important to each other. And had just then agreed, inadvertently, to call off the physical attraction they felt.
She sat up and leaned back in her chair and let herself fall into thought. She nodded to herself, sipping at her tea. Yes, she had always loved him, ever since they had gone searching for the black star dragon balls. And she knew he loved her, he really didn't have to say it, but it felt good that he had been the first to remind her, "You do know I love you…"
Yes. She knew. She believed she had always known. She cursed herself. She didn't want to love him as much as she did. She rose from her seat and walked out to the parking lot, and pressed a small button at her car, popping it into its capsule. She was only a few blocks from work and a short walk gave her more time to think.
She fell into a walk, not too brisk, and not somber, just a meander. She sighed and remembered him running energy into her hand. She looked at her hand and thought about how large, how warm, and inviting his hand had felt before he moved his touch away.
One block down, two to go.
She crossed the street and arched a brow at her hand, frowning. Why was she getting all deep and emotional now? She had always been so good at separating herself from sex and love, but unfortunately Trunks had both of those. She didn't know what check box to mentally check when it boiled down to what she wanted more. Did she want to fight for her wonderful sex life with him? Or try and become one of his ladies that fell head over heels for him? Or was there an option, somehow to have both? She shook her head.
Second block down, one more to go.
She crossed another street, seeing Capsule Corp come into view. It was a large building, and seemed even larger now, as she finished the last block and eased into the parking lot. At the top of the building was Trunks, the CEO of the company. And at the bottom, she may have had a title, she was really just his mother's lab assistant. And she enjoyed her work. But to climb those stairs to be his equal seemed so far away. She walked into the building, through the lobby, the ladies at the desk greeted her and she merely nodded at them as she walked down to the lab, slipped her lab coat on, and rolled her shoulders before she shook her arms and her hands.
She relaxed and in her briefcase, where she had tucked away the evaluations she pulled them out and stepped into Bulma's office. "Bulma?" Her head rose and she smiled for Pan. "Finished?" Pan nodded. "And I think I'm going to call it an early day, I haven't been feeling too well." Bulma rose from her seat and she set the packet aside, looking over Pan worriedly. She touched a hand to her forehead and offered up a small solution. "I can run a physical at home," she offered. Pan's eyes brightened, "Really?" Bulma nodded, "Of course, and well, I could run it here, but there's more privacy at home. Come on, I'll take you home today, you really don't look well." Pan nodded and followed Bulma out of the lab and into the lobby.
A young man came running up to her and said, "Ms. Briefs, I have been looking for you. Mr. Briefs said he wants to have a meeting with you about the new branch that will be opened. He said-" Bulma raised a hand, silencing him. "I am leaving for the day. I will speak with Mr. Briefs tomorrow morning," she said firmly and the man gulped. "But, Ms. Briefs, he said-" Her eyes narrowed and he took a small step away from her and Pan. Pan's hand touched Bulma's shoulder and she said, "Bulma, you don't have to-"
"No. I will speak to him tomorrow, enough. Let's go," she ordered and she caught Pan's hand and dragged her along. Pan looked at the young man with worry and allowed Bulma to cart her out of the building and into her car that the valet pulled around.
Bulma sank into the driver's seat while the valet helped Pan into the low riding car and they sped off. Bulma ran a hand through her hair with a sigh. "Dear," she griped, "it's been a while since I've taken a half day." She was speeding in and out of traffic and Pan gulped, she had forgotten how crazy of a driver Bulma was and within moments they were sitting in front of her house and Pan felt her hair was frazzled. She eased out of the car and felt her stomach turn, and she just barely got into the house, and into a bathroom before the contents of her stomach heaved into the oval bowl. She rested her head against the seat and felt tremors shake her.
A light knock came to the door and she groaned out, "I'll be out in a second." But the door opened, revealing Vegeta and his scowl. She frowned at him and rose with shaking legs to the sink where she rinsed her mouth out. "What?" she asked. "Are you still seeing him?" She shook her head. He nodded, but said, "You still smell like him." Her eyes widened.
"Why were you sick?" Another groan. "Your wife's driving," she groused. Vegeta felt a smile curl his lips. "Yes, she isn't the best driver." Pan wiped her face just as Bulma called, "I'll be in the lab when you're ready Pan!" She eased past Vegeta and his hand touched her arm. She looked at him and for the first time she saw his expression soften and he murmured, "He didn't hurt you did he?" She smiled for him, touched his hand, and reasoned, "Of course not. He knows me too well." He watched her go and could tell there was something different about her, but he didn't quite comprehend what it was.
She moved away from him then and walked down to Bulma's private lab and Bulma was standing over a piece of equipment that Pan hadn't seen before. Pan eyed her, unsure, and then Bulma explained. "This is the new Malady Resonance Imaging and Diagnoses machine. All it does is scan you and well," she paused, "it's pretty new, so it will take about a day for it to scan and evaluate everything." Pan pointed at herself. "And I'm your Guinea pig?" Bulma shook her head, "Of course not, I've already had Bura, Goten, and Vegeta do it. And all went well." Pan felt relief wash over her and Bulma patted the table, that was laying between a large cylindrical circle that Pan could see was on a track. She carefully laid up onto the table and Bulma said, "You can keep your clothes on, and it is completely non-invasive!" Pan nodded, "Seems nice."
"It is," Bulma reasoned and she turned away, "Try to stay still," she said as she took a seat into her rolling chair and rolled over to the display computer that was connected to the machine. She calibrated it to Pan's weight and size and then pressed a finger and Pan watched as the large circle began rolling down the length of her body. And within moments, it trailed once, and twice, up and down and then it was done. It beeped and Bulma said, "Okay, that's it. All done. It'll let me know the results tomorrow. Will you plan to come tomorrow morning?"
Pan sat up and nodded and Bulma smiled, and changed the subject. "You know it's Friday, and I know you want to go home…."
"But…?"
"There's a company gala tonight, and you could bring your new man? And introduce him?" Bulma asked. "Everyone is so curious as to who he is!" Pan blushed madly and shook her head. "Actually we're on the rocks, but I could take a nap, get some sleep and still go?" Bulma pouted. "Really? Bura said you've been so cheerful lately, and then you've been so tired and mopey at work. I thought something may have happened with you and him." Pan smiled for her. "If you could give me a vitamin B shot I would definitely be good to go for tonight. I would even let you pick out my dress because I'm sure Bura's busy." Pan watched Bulma's eyes sparkle as she shot out of her chair and went to get the shot ready. And Pan felt the urge to text Trunks…why hadn't he invited her to the gala? Her head bowed, maybe that was why he wanted to call things off? She shook her head. She needed to stay away from him and stop letting her thoughts be driven wild by him.