Chapter 3b- Reunion

Freelance Reporter

By: C. Dreamer

Rating: G

Disclaimer: Not mine. Nuff said

E-mail: Cdream_109@hotmail.com

Chapter 3b- Reunion

"And on the news tonight, Governor Mitchell has mysteriously disappeared. Rumors have it that the last sighting was from Diamond Inc. Investigators make no comment at this time. More on that story tonight."

A quiet sigh came from the tall brunette watching the television.

"What's wrong?" the man beside her asked.

She smiled looking next to her. "Oh, nothing. I'm just getting worked up over nothing. Nothing at all." she replied pushing her thoughts to the back of her mind.

"So I've heard," he said with a slight smile.

"So, when are your friends coming?" she asked turning off the TV.

"I'm not quite sure," he replied getting off the couch. "We should really get to opening our place."

She glanced at her watch, "We should. It's past opening time."

'------------------------------'

"Mina! Aren't you ready yet?" Raye called out from the door.

"Just a minute!" Came the reply from her bedroom.

Raye waited impatiently as Mina trudged out carrying three overloaded bags. "Wait! I only have a couple more." she mumbled out from under.

Raye groaned, "Mina! We have only about 25 minutes until our flight leaves. Just so you know, I think there might be a luggage limit."

"Right. Okay, I'll settle for these five only." she mumbled.

"Only five. Come on, we have to get this stuff loaded into the car."

Raye said grabbing a bag or two as she rushed out the door.

Mina grabbed the remaining ones as she locked the door giving her apartment a last glance before she left.

'------------------------------'

Serena got herself comfortable seated in her cushioned seat as she buckled herself in. I hope that this isn't a long ride. she thought silently as she remembered why she hated planes, and glad that Darien had volunteered to take the window seat.

Darien frowned as he tried to figure out the connections. The plane being as rough as it is wasn't helping matters any. He remained silent, trying hard to concentrate and also trying hard to ignore the scruffy looking girl behind him who was smacking her gum loudly and blowing bubbles in his ear. Serena, however, remained dormant. Finding this a bit odd, he turned his head to find her serenely asleep.

I guess I should probably rest too, despite that extremely bothersome girl behind me. Tomorrow will be a hard day He thought to himself as sleep claimed him.

'------------------------------'

Diamond smiled, in spite the fact that the media was rushing over with cameras, reporters, anchors, whichever the case may be. The so-called disappearance of Governor Mitchell had the state in an uproar. Nothing like chaos to bring in good business Just then Emerald walked in. "Mr. Diamond, Rubeus for you on line 3." He nodded and waved her off.

"What it is." he muttered, uninterested.

"Oh, I see." he managed a smile, "Set up an appointment. Let fate deal its cards and let me play them."

'------------------------------'

Serena awoke abruptly, as she heard a loud smack behind her ear. Darien was awake beside her, involved in a book. She felt awful; the seats were uncomfortable, the noise was deafening, not to mention that horrid girl behind them.

She didn't hear the voice over the intercom announce their impending arrival and landing procedures, but Darien obviously had. Within moments she felt the sudden lurch of the plane touching down, snapping her out of her thoughts as the dulled roar of the engines filtered through the cabin walls. Then a pleasant voice whom she guessed was the flight attendant announced over the intercom,

"Ladies and gentlemen, the captain and crew wish to welcome you to California International Airport. The current time is three 'o five PM. Current temperature is presently a mild thirty-six degrees Celsius. We hope you have enjoyed your flight. Thank you for flying CA Airlines and have a nice day." a gentle voice intoned through the intercom.

As the passengers began to disentangle themselves from blankets and seatbelts, a stewardess made her way through the rows checking to make sure that everyone was having no troubles.

Darien finally put down the book, and seemingly waited for her. Serena realized he had been simply waiting for her to get out of the aisle. Feeling a bit foolish, she walked out quickly.

Serena grabbed her luggage from the rack ignoring the people around her walking busily. "So, where to, Captain?" she asked Darien.

Ignoring the sarcasm, he replied, "According to this, we're suppose to stay at LiNe's Place."

"Line's Place? What kind-of a place is that?" she asked curiously.

He shrugged, "Let's just grab a cab, and find out. It's supposedly a rather well known place."

Serena frowned as she stepped into the cab, What kind of place would Amy send us on a story like this?

'------------------------------'

Darien walked around observing the grounds. This place looks vaguely familiar. Just then a tall brunette walked out.

"Lita!!" he heard Serena scream as she opened her arms wide.

A huge grin spread across Lita's face as she threw her arms around Serena and hugged her back. "Oh my god, I cannot believe you are actually here! I thought I would never see you again!"

Darien watched from a distance feeling a bit out of place. He walked around the inn to a cafe. LiNe's Cafe, hmm...how convenient

Then feeling another presence, he turned around to find...

"Neph?"

Neph smiled, "Hey, Caldwell. What are you doing in a smallville like this? I thought you liked the big apple."

"I thought you knew that I was a reporter." he replied with a cocky smile.

"So, you're here for the land deal, too. Here come on in. I'll find you a nice cramped, small room." he offered with a light smile.

"Thank you for your generosity." he accepted.

'------------------------------'

Serena walked in Lita's place and dropped her luggage against the curtained wall. She glanced around and smiled at her. "Wow…it's nice," she muttered, at loss for words. "Spacious, too."

She silently glanced around the room, feeling that she was missing something big, something right in her face. And suddenly she realized something. "Pictures? Wedding Pictures of you and...Neph!!"

Lita stayed silent, and watched Serena as she walked around.

"You got married!?" she stared at Lita, who welcomed the idea with a bright smile.

"Yeah. We got married a while back. I wanted you to come, but by then, we had lost connections and I had no way of reaching you." she replied slightly embarrassed.

"Don't you DARE regret it! I wouldn't have missed this for the WORLD, had I known. I'm sure it was a magnificent wedding. And 'I' might regret not being able to come, but you should NOT regret your wedding day." she said with a smile. She walked over to the couch in the middle of the room and sat down.

Serena came to sit next to Lita. "Wow! I mean, wow. I guess a lot can happen in two years. All right, you have to tell me everything now. Right from how you met to, how you got together, to how you ended up together." she said with a wink.

'------------------------------'

"Mina! Do you even know where Serena is staying?" Raye yelled.

"I asked Amy, and she said Serena and Darien were staying at LiNe's

Place. It's supposedly a nice cozy bed & breakfast except they serve rest of the meals too. Let's find a taxi and ask them to take us to our hotel first. Then after we settled in a bit, we could go visit them."

"Okay." Raye muttered grudgingly. "TAXI!!" she screamed.

'------------------------------'

Darien looked around, "Nice place," he admitted.

"Yeah, well...it does it's job."

Lita walked in quietly and immediately cheered, "Hi Darien!"

"Hey. I didn't know you and Neph finally got married."

"Well we did. So now you know." She said teasingly. "This place is swamped right now. The inn is full of...reporters, for the press conference Mr. Diamond's holding in a couple of days."

Listening to her tone of voice he sighed. "Let me guess. No room for the two of us?"

Neph cut in, "We could always make room, but..."

"...There's a catch." Darien finished for him. "What is it?

More pay, smaller room, and sleep on a couch?"

Lita replied quietly, "Well there's only one room left, and it's a rather...large room, with two beds, two closets, two sinks, and everything, you get the idea."

"In other words, I get a roommate."

"EXACTLY, but...no one is willing to share with someone they don't know so," she paused, not knowing how to say it.

"In other words, it's a co-ed rooming, with Serena." Neph cut in again.

Darien turned around, his expression hadn't faltered. "Fine." Came the only remark.

"Really? 'Fine's all you have to say? No other objections, or sarcastic remarks?"

"No." he simply remarked.

Lita let out a huge sigh of relief. "Now to break the news to Serena." Lita said as she walked out the room. Neph offered an encouraging smile to his wife.

'------------------------------'

Raye stood in awe for the hotel that Mina's grandparent's had booked for them. The outside of the building was huge! It had to be at least 100 feet tall! Once Raye had seen the inside, she was awestruck, to put it lightly.

The lobby itself was enormous. It was like a normal hotel as in it had the couches for people to sit in. It had the usual coffee tables in front of the couch. There was the paying counter, lined up on both sides of the wall. It was like stepping into a museum. There were all sorts of artworks, paintings, and artifacts for decor. The back wall however, led to two different chambers. There was a quaint little cafe placed in the center of the back wall, on the right was a hallway ending up in a larger chamber streaming with light.

The ceiling was in a dome shape, perhaps the size of or even larger than the capital. There were plenty of walkways and stairs, each almost seeming to lie on top of each other. There were flowers, glinting fountains, an artificial waterfall, and every kind of ornamentation Raye could think of. Raye decided to explore the hotel later, after they had settled into the room.

On the other sides were the rooms. "Mina, what room number are we?" Mina looked at the key, "#568. 5th floor, #568."

"Okay, where's the elevator?" she asked curiously.

'------------------------------'

"So...Serena?" Lita asked cautiously. "Are you okay with this? The arrangement?"

Serena looked at her and smiled, "Hey, it's not a big deal. I mean I work with the man. Or...I'm suppose to be at least. Maybe we could...I don't know, we could get to know each other or probably, just never talk to each other." she shrugged. "Don't worry about it. I'm perfectly happy with whatever place you can supply."

Lita looked at her dubiously, "OKAY! What happened to the Serena I knew? Who are you? What are you doing here? And what the heck did you do to Serena Carlyle!"

Serena laughed, "I'm going to get you for that," she replied, grabbing a cushion and throwing it at Lita.

'------------------------------'

Diamond walked into the office quietly and asked, "So, has the dynamite been delivered?"

Emerald nodded in affirmation, "All 60 tons."

He smiled coyly, "The citizens have evacuated, I presume."

"Yes. The whole area is pretty much bare of all life."

"When will Operation D be ready to begin." he asked.

Emerald checked the calendar near the desk, "Tomorrow afternoon preferably, after the press conference."

"Fine. After the press conference is fine."

'------------------------------'

Serena glanced around. The room was almost as half as large as her whole apartment! The room itself was as if it had been divided in half by some invisible line! "It mirrors itself."

One bed with a dark green patterned set was in the left corner of the room. On the right corner of the room was a bed exactly like it with covers and sheets and everything. Streams of light fell between the lime green curtains decorating the window, which headed the beds. Serena groaned, "Great, just what I need! Sunlight streaming through the windows into my eyes to start my day."

Lita giggled, "Lazy Serena, you'll never change." Serena smiled, and kept looking around.

There were two desks each across from each of the beds, a forest-green lamp on both of them and two chairs beneath them. The last side of the walls was the closet…and the sliding doors were big mirrors. The whole room smelled of fresh spring. She turned to Lita, and gave her a big grin. "I love it! Lots of green, though."

"I had to spice it up with a little bit of my personality."

Serena snickered, "Also to expand your ego?"

"Funny."

"Thank you." she grinned. "If you'll excuse me. I think I'll be getting ready for dinner."

"By the way, the restroom's right in here," she added, pointing as the door beside the mirrored closet doors as she exited the room.

'------------------------------'

Serena flipped open the green comforter and sheets, and crawled into bed, stretching in her pajamas--a tank top and baggy cotton pants.

Strange that Darien hasn't come back yet. She thought, staringat his luggage near his bed.

Suddenly, the door flung open.

Spoke too soon Serena thought. "So where have you been?"

"Talking." He replied drinking a cup of coffee.

"Oh," She muttered, unsure of what else to say.

"Well, g'night." she said, flipping off the light switch.

"Yeah. Good night." he said, heading toward the restroom.

'------------------------------'

Serena shook off the slight pressure in her arms and slept on.

"Hey!" she heard a deep male voice say.

Male voice? She suddenly shot up in her bed to come face-to-face with gorgeous blue eyes whom belonged to, "Darien?" She shook her head.

"Nice of you to join the living world today. Hope you know, breakfast is in a few hours." he commented, drying his wet dark hair.

"You do know that no sane living being on this earth gets up at this hour." She groaned, glancing at her alarm clock that currently flashed 4AM. She then flipped back her comforters and sheets dozing off slightly.

He glanced at her and gave her a rare smile.

She is just too cute when she gets up in the morning he thought and then shook the strange feeling off.

"The press conference is in a couple of hours," he taunted.

Serena, once again shot up out of bed and jumped on the floor before realizing that the press conference started at eleven. She grabbed her pillow and on the way to the restroom thrust it into his face.

Mental note, never EVER room with a morning person

'------------------------------'

Lita greeted Serena with a smile, "Up so early?"

"Shut up." she groggily replied.

"Somebody's still crabby this morning." Lita smirked as she poured Darien his coffee.

"Someone didn't pour in my coffee this morning." She commented.

"That someone didn't ask." Neph barged in with another pot of coffee in his hand. "Refills, anyone?"

"So when's the big press conference?" Neph asked.

"Eleven." Darien remarked.

"There goes that busy lunch hour,"

Serena finished her coffee and got up, "I just remembered... something, I had to do."

"I'll come with you," Darien offered.

"I'll be fine. Just a little errand I need to run. I'll be back before eleven. If not, just leave without me." Serena said, grabbing her purse and taking off.

"More coffee, anyone?"

Darien pursed his lips in thought, "Hm...I also remembered something I forgot to do. I'll be right back," he muttered taking off in the direction Serena had headed.

Neph sat down, "How much you want to bet that he's going to spy on her?"

Lita smacked him, "That's not nice, Neph. Plus, Serena told me she managed to get an extremely important interview."

"Hey," he objected, "I'm not causing this. If they're going to learn how to be partners, they're going to have to learn to trust and to not keep secrets, and they're going to learn how to compromise."

==================

Hey minna! This is going to be your last chapter in a long while. It's kind of short, but that's why I gave you both Chapters 3a & 3b! I'm going on a summer trip so it might take a while for me to respond to any/all e-mails, but I LUV (*hint*hint) e-mail, feedback, etc! So please tell me what ya think. Anyhow, ja ne! ~C. Dreamer