MarshAngel
Lita was bored out of her mind. She had called Nick's place earlier
today but he hadn't been there. She had refused an invitation to hang out
with Alice and Annabel today because she had thought to spend the whole
day talking to Nick on the phone. Now here she was stuck at home alone
on the couch, remote in hand.
After another hour on the couch, she grew frustrated and couldn't sit
much longer by herself and decided to go window-shopping. She liked checking
out furniture stores and household items. She might even buy something
new to wear.
Her decision was made and she changed her clothes. Unable to find her shoes in her closet, she remembered leaving them in the living room. She found one foot in front of the couch and suspected she might have kicked the other beneath the couch. She bent over and reached for it. As she grabbed it and began pulling it on, the doorbell rang.
She hopped across the floor attempting to put her shoe on as she went. She pulled the door open and found herself staring into bright blue eyes. She went still in shock and let the shoe go only to miss her footing, expecting to land balanced on both feet. Instead the imbalance threw her off and she fell forward into Nick's arms.
"I'd hoped for this greeting, but I certainly hadn't expected it. Hello Lita."
Lita flushed a bright red, and managed to extract herself from his arms, as common courtesy demanded, however unwillingly.
"How did you get here? What are you doing here?"
"I'm suddenly feeling not so welcome." He pouted just a little, a facial expression he wasn't even aware he was capable of.
"I'm sorry," se said suddenly feeling rude and guilty for making him feel unwelcome. "Come in," she said directing him inside her apartment, even as she picked up her abandoned shoe.
"To answer you questions," he began, whirling around suddenly so that they were face to face; closer than the chemistry between them would allow them to stay without something between them occurring. "I flew here because I…" He paused for a moment trying to find the right words. He looked into her emerald green eyes and the words his mind had been searching for came out before his brain was aware of them. "I need you. I think, no, I know I'm in love with you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you and I hope I didn't scare you off." He felt like a wimpy teenager he'd never been, asking the most popular girl in school out.
Lita was completely stunned. He had saved her saying the words herself. "I need you too," she replied understanding the question his heart had asked her own. She looked into his eyes and felt the tension and magnetism pulling them together, increasing the heat and passion between them. She pressed her lips to his, in a kiss that seemed too passionate and emotional to be their first.
When they'd finally broken off and gotten their breaths and their wits back, Lita looked him in the eyes and asked the question he would have asked given the opportunity.
"So, when are we getting married."
Nicholas wasn't surprised by the question. In fact he had been quietly pondering the very same notion since before he'd found himself walking down the street to her apartment. On his way there, it had been a matter of whether she'd say yes or no. Now he realized he hadn't even been given the opportunity to ask the question that had been asked and answered in the kiss they'd shared. It was now entirely about finding a good date.
Without delay, Nicholas pulled a small diary from inside his jacket
and started flipping through it. "Let's see…" he began mumbling dates under
his breath.
"Monday?… no that won't work… no I have a meeting and…" Suddenly
he looked up after a minute of flipping through his planner, he snapped
it shut. How about today? He asked suddenly."
"You're kidding, right?"
"No. You're not busy today are you?"
"Well no but…"
"Well…" he said, challenging her to refute his logic.
"Ok. Let's do it!"
"How exactly do we do this?"
"I don't know. But I suspect it involves leaving this apartment."
"Good plan. I'm glad you're my fiancée."
"Thanks, honey. Let's go."
Darien groaned. He was used to shallow sleep, being on call often for
Meditech. His workload was less than that of a regular hospital but there
were still emergencies, with some of his patients now and then that needed
attending to. Being used to interruptions did not however make them less
annoying.
It hadn't been his beeper that had gone off however. It was the bedside
phone. Serena lay beside him, deep in sleep. She slept like a rock. It
would take the bed sheets to burn to wake her up.
He ended the ringing by picking up and muttering a deep husky "hello" into the phone.
"Hello?" "Who is this?" Where is Serena?"
"I'm her fiancée. Who is this?" The voice on the other end of the line grunted in displeasure at Darien's announcement.
"I am her father," the voice said authoritatively.
"Mr. Tsukino!" Darien said suddenly very awake. "I'm sorry sir. I didn't realize it was you."
"Of course not," Mr. Tsukino said sternly. "We've never met."
Darien didn't miss his hint. He was understandably upset that his daughter was marrying a man he had never met. His well practiced, however rusty, protective fatherly instincts had kicked in despite the lack of biological connections. There was also the obvious fact that she had neglected to tell him that she was also living with the man.
"May I speak to my daughter?"
"I'm sorry sir, but she's sleeping. " Before the man could say anything else Darien decided to amend the situation and improve diplomatic relations.
"Mr. Tsukino, I know this doesn't seem to be the best of situations but I just want to reassure you that I love your daughter very much. I hope we haven't offended you too much by not having met with you before coming to this decision. "
Serena had definitely caught herself a charmer, Kenji thought to himself. The man was so damned polite.
"Well then, Darien, is it?"
"Yes sir, Darien Chiba."
"What is it exactly is it that you do for a living?"
"I'm a doctor sir. I work for Meditech, here in San Francisco."
A doctor, not bad. Serena might just be redeeming herself after all.
"And how long have you known my daughter?"
"I've known her since she was fourteen sir? I used to tease her a lot when we lived in Tokyo."
Hmm. Well the relationship wasn't rushed and he was Japanese. Not bad at all. This interrogation could be cut short. He seemed like a normal, successful, young man. Wait a sec fourteen?!
"And what may I ask was the capacity in which you became familiar with my daughter at such a young age?"
Darien almost froze. Serena had never told her parents they were dating, for the short time they had been involved while they were in Tokyo.
"I only knew her casually sir. We had mutual friends" and enemies he added silently. Judging by the silence on the other end, it seemed Mr. Tsukino had accepted the statement for the moment.
"Well then, Mr. Chiba, you seem nice enough but we will meet soon enough."
He hung up the phone leaving Darien to wonder if that was a warning and if he'd passed whatever test Mr. Tsukino had just given him. He was beginning to wonder about why on earth he had thought that Serena had come from a normal family. It was plainly obvious they were definitely not normal. Then again he didn't have one of his own and wasn't really a good judge in such matters.
There he went again putting a depressing spin on his life that was otherwise
almost perfect. Who was he kidding? He had a family. He had Serena, Irene,
and Serena's father, stepmother and baby sister Catherine. They were everything
he used to wish for. Reassured by that thought he pulled in closer to Serena
and went back to sleep with a smile on his face.
e-mail: watsonma@hotmail.com
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