Five rings

His phone sat silently in the corner of his office.

The sleek screen was a hazy grey, the matte protector without even a single fingerprint blemish. Being an avid technophile, he was at all times armed with the latest model of gadgets, nearly to the point of superfluity. Whatever he did not end up using would be given away during company Christmas raffles.

This phone he was using now was the latest flagship model from the family brand and personalized to fit his needs perfectly. The expensive device was perfectly protected from all directions as it lay snugly in an Otterbox Defender. The case added a slight bulk to its otherwise slim passenger, but it was a much-needed function for when he went climbing.

On most days, his phone provided him with a high-speed link to the rest of his world. Given his line of work, he needed to keep abreast of the news to stay one step ahead of everyone else. On other days, it was his best companion, and they would be as inseparable as him and his white checkered scarf.

That Friday, however, Natsu didn't want to even look at his phone. And so, there it sat, in the corner of his office, its Defender case keeping it in pristine condition even after the pinkette had flung it a few metres away. A tiny white notification light flashed away, taunting him with yet another update.

Godamn it. He was going to throttle his meddling sister. Then, he was going after that inane host.

Since Mira's interview with 'Fashion Daily' aired two nights ago, he had been bombarded with a slew of notifications. Natsu's phone was configured to update him whenever his name was mentioned online. Most of the time, it allowed him to keep track of what other people were saying about him.

But now too many people were talking about him.

He didn't deactivate the function, though that was mainly because he did not know how to. Gray had set it up for him, and Zeref strike him down if Natsu ever bowed his head to ask a favour of that stripper freak.

Thankfully, he wasn't much for social media, so logging out of the platforms had solved half the problem. The other half, he could not do much about. 'Natsu Dragneel' had suddenly become the hottest topic on nearly every dating and gossip website.

Overnight, he had gone from entrepreneurial wunderkind to Rank 1 on the list of 'Men Under 30 I'd like to fu-'

He growled again when the notification light flashed, determined to catch his attention. No doubt another tea-spilling post from someone claiming to be the target of his romantic endeavours. All lies, but like vultures at carrion, people were all eager to get a piece of it. At least his personal number was still untouched. Thank Mavis for the wonders of desktop messaging.

When the pinkette turned to his computer screen, Natsu's jaw fell open. Below his 'Hey' was a single reply, but the five words made his heart skip a beat.

'Hey back. Who is this?'

Was that why she had taken so long to reply? Damn it. Time to make up for the lost time.

'It's the guy whose jacket you ripped off.'

He snickered playfully when he hit 'Send' only to wince a second later. Did that make him look like a pervert? He didn't suppose he had left the best of impressions on her. Mavis forbid he make it worse. But before he could press the 'Delete message' button, Lucy replied,

'You unhooked my bra.'

Natsu choked and spat out a mouthful of coffee.

He forgot that the blonde had yanked his jacket off twice over the course of the night.

The first had been when she wanted to get a better look at his frame for work. The second was just before she had run her fingers all over his chest as she kissed him with a raw passion.

Clearly, they were talking about different things.

"Getting a little hot in here…" he mumbled, tugging at his collar. How on Earthland was he to reply to that message?

'You grabbed my ass' seemed too crude whereas 'you drove me crazy' was a little too direct. Thankfully, his suffering was short-lived, for another text popped up on his screen. Phew! However, his newfound relief was to be short-lived as well.

'I see you've become the most popular bachelor in town.'

Lucy bit her lip when her message delivered. She had not wanted to bring that up. Did it make her come across as jealous? She wasn't. Mavis knew she wasn't, was she…?

Over the past two days, a flurry of articles had popped up on her newsfeed. One after another, people commented how it was remarkable that there was not a single romantic link between the pinkette and anyone to be found. He had been linked to Lisanna Strauss before, as the two were the same age and spent an inordinate amount of time together. However, interest fizzled the very second it was revealed they were foster siblings.

Lucy saw a whole other side to her friend when that news broke years ago. Mirajane had been absolutely livid, her delicate beauty morphing into something downright Satanic as she bit the heads off of some terrified reporters.

With no other talk as to whom the pinkette was seeing, gossip mongers had resorted to building theories around the weakest of claims. It was certainly to their advantage that there was no dearth in the number of women claiming to have been with, or were currently with, the young, and notably wealthy, entrepreneur.

Although Lucy had no claim to the man, the sordid headlines still left a rather unpleasant taste on her tongue. Shaking that ridiculous thought away, she looked down at the phone again. It had been three minutes, but there was no reply.

Ah well… Maybe she had hit a nerve.

She was about to drop the device when a gentle tinkling changed her mind.

'The bullshit rumours will be over quickly… Please don't believe any of it.'

Lucy couldn't help but smile now. She rather liked the sound of that 'please'. Then came the next message.

'Are you busy?'

'No, why?'

"Eep!" Clatter! Lucy gasped, dropping her phone when the sudden vibration began. One would have thought the device had zapped her if they saw her startled eyes.

The buzzing went once, twice…

The third buzz snapped her back to attention.

During the fourth, she lunged forward, her knees hitting her carpeted bedroom floor.

And on the fifth, she pressed 'Answer'.

Those five rings might as well have been an eternity.

During the first two, Natsu had been excited at the prospect of hearing her voice again.

On the third, anxiety had seeped in. Would she answer?

By the fourth, he was ready to hang up.

The fifth ring brought his finger to the 'Cancel call' button.

But before he could press it, the call connected. A shaky breath escaped his lips as he brought the phone to his ears.

"Hello?"

"Hi there."

Time to sign off for the night. Hope everyone enjoyed this :)

Sam.