Disclaimer: There are two things about me that I want you to know. First, I own Gundam Wing and second, I'm a big fat liar.
And the Mix 'N Matching begins. For comments, suggestions, flames or reviews, you can email me at raizenheero@aol.com
L1 colony 12 noon
Dorothy emerged from the shuttle and looked around the spaceport's receiving area. She would have asked her company driver to come and pick her up but Relena insisted that since she would be staying with them, they should be the ones to pick her up. But instead of Heero and Relena, she saw a guy with familiar brown hair and green eyes headed towards her.
"Hi, Trowa. Where are Heero and Relena?"
"At home. Relena's not feeling well so Heero asked me to get you," Trowa answered, taking her bags.
"Thanks."
"Hn," he replied. The two then headed to the parking lot. They reached Heero's MB convertible and after depositing her bags inside, Trowa climbed in and started the engine.
They drove in silence. Finally, Dorothy said, "Umm, Trowa, I heard about your break-up with Quatre. I'm really sorry." Then something hit her. Quatre just confirmed that they broke up this morning! She couldn't possibly have known about it if she wasn't with Catherine when Quatre and Trowa called. Covering up her blunder, she added, "I mean, I talked to Catherine before I left and she told me about it."
Yeah, you heard it alright, Trowa thought, amused. "I am sorry too."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
Trowa glanced at her momentarily before replying, "Your meeting starts at 2 right?"
"Uh-huh. Why?"
"I'm just making sure that we have enough time to eat lunch and talk before heading to Heero and Relena's place."
So Cathy was right. Trowa would talk about it with me. "What about Heero and Relena? They might be expecting us to go straight home from the spaceport," she inquired.
"I'll just call them from the restaurant. They won't mind."
"If they won't mind then it's fine with me. To tell you the truth, I'm famished. I haven't eaten a single thing from the shuttle. I don't like shuttle food, they taste like blob."
"I know what you mean," Trowa told her, pulling over at an Italian restaurant. Trowa handed the keys to the valet and the two of them headed inside.
Once inside, a waiter led them to their table. After a quick scan of the menu, Trowa gave his order immediately. While Dorothy was still deciding on her order, Trowa excused himself to use the restaurant's phone and call Relena. When he came back, he saw that their wines were served.
Dorothy watched him take his seat, gauging how she should start their 'talk'. She waited until he had a sip of his wine before asking, "Trowa, what happened to you and Quatre?"
"We had a fight yesterday."
"What was the fight all about?"
Trowa caught her eye. "Quatre accused me of flirting with one of the female agents."
Dorothy almost choked on her drink. Trowa flirting? And with a girl? It was like being transported into a scary parallel dimension. "What did you tell him?" she managed to ask.
"That he was doing the same with Carly, his secretary."
Dorothy really choked on her drink this time. She even snorted the wine out of her nose. Trowa patted her back and while she was busy pulling herself together, she didn't notice both the odd glances being thrown at them by the people in the surrounding tables and the amused expression in Trowa's eyes.
"I'm ok now, Trowa. Thanks," she told him as she regained composure.
Trowa nodded, his face neutral. He then continued with his story. "I knew that he wanted to deny it but he couldn't. It was the truth. Instead, he asked me if I'm attracted to girls. I said yes. He told me that it was the same with him. So he suggested that maybe we should explore that possibility. I agreed with him then went out of the house."
Dorothy's head was spinning. "You mean… Are you really considering…"
"Maybe. I don't know."
Before Dorothy could respond, their waiter arrived and served their lunch.
L4 Colony 3:30 pm
Catherine narrowed her eyes in concentration. After a few seconds, she threw 4 knives, 2 from each hand, at the rotating wheel where a clown was strapped in, his arms and legs spread apart. One of the knives struck the space a few centimeters away from the clown's right cheek, the other near his left cheek. The two other knives embedded themselves near his right and left armpits.
"Remind me never to give you knives when you're pissed-off," a voice said. Catherine turned her head and saw Quatre a few feet away, standing by the tent's door, smiling at her. She smiled back.
"How long have you been there?" she asked as she walked towards the target to help her colleague out of the straps and also to retrieve her knives.
"Maybe 2-3 minutes. I know that you have to rest first then set things up and practice so I didn't come right away. Are you still busy?"
Putting her knives away, she answered, "Nope. I'm done practicing and I already placed everything in order so I'm free to play hooky with you."
"Great! We could get your things to the mansion first then try out that new carriage ride they were offering in Tristone Park. After that, we could have an early dinner before your show."
"Sounds good to me. But I have to tell the manager about our plans first before we go." She glanced at Quatre's neat and well-groomed appearance then looked at herself. "And I think I also need a quick shower."
Quatre chuckled. "You can take a shower at the mansion after unpacking your things. Come on, let's go find the Manager."
The two went out of the tent and found the Manager by the animal cages.
"Quatre! It's nice of you to drop by. Where's Trowa?" the Manager asked when he saw them.
Quatre smiled uneasily. It was hard enough to lie to Catherine, he couldn't possibly lie to the Manager as well. Sensing Quatre's discomfort, Catherine answered, "Trowa's in L1 for an assignment. While he's away, I'll keep Quatre company for the duration of my stay here."
Quatre smiled at her gratefully. Turning his head to the Manager, he said, "It's good to see you too, Manager. Can I borrow Catherine for a while? I won't keep her out long." Quatre then realized that it sounded like he was asking permission from Cathy's dad to date her. When this is over, we sure are going to have a good laugh about this, he said to himself.
The Manager smiled. If not for Quatre being involved with Trowa, he would have wanted Quatre and Catherine to get together. They would make a wonderful couple. "Sure. Just be here at 5:30 ok? The show will start at 6:30 sharp."
"We will. Bye," Catherine called out. Quatre waved his thanks then followed Catherine to her trailer to get her stuff.
Quatre helped Catherine into the carriage. "Wow. This is amazing," she said when the two of them were seated.
"I know. Trowa and I have been planning to try this since we heard of Tristone Park's plans to offer carriage rides. We might try it when he comes back…" Quatre trailed off. He mentally kicked himself for making a big slip-up. He and Trowa were supposed to have broken up! He just hoped that Catherine would think that he said it out of habit. Well, he should thank his lucky stars. Catherine thought of just that.
"Quatre, do you want to tell me what happened?"
Quatre nodded. He took a deep breath then said, "It all started when I caught Trowa flirting with a female agent." Catherine's eyes bulged out of their sockets. She knew that her brother was hot and girls had flocked him before but this was the first time she heard that Trowa was the one doing the flirting. "So the moment we were alone, I immediately confronted him about it."
"What did he say?"
"That I shouldn't feel bad coz I was flirting with my secretary too." Hearing his answer, Catherine fell from her seat. "Cathy, are you ok?" he asked, helping her up.
"Yeah, I'm fine," she answered, rubbing a sore spot on her bottom. "That bump caught me by surprise, that's all." She wasn't exactly lying when she said those words. Their ride got kinda bumpy when they were talking. But Quatre flirting with his secretary? It was just something one could really fall for.
Quatre nodded at her, though he knew she was lying. Well, if he were in Cathy's place, he would definitely fall from his seat too.
"Is it true? I mean, did you really flirt with Carly?" she asked, increduously.
Quatre looked away, knowing that he couldn't pull this off if he stared into her eyes. He would laugh so hard he would never be able to stop. "Maybe. A little. I don't know," he answered, as sad and confused as he could. "It was like a natural thing to do, an impulse, an instinct. I'm not sure of anything anymore. That's why I suggested that maybe we could explore this possibility, so we could figure things out. Do you think I made the right thing in suggesting that?"
Catherine thought about it for a while. "Was Trowa feeling the same? Did he say that he flirted with that girl not just because he wanted to get back at you but because he was attracted to her?"
"Yes. He felt the same way, that's why he agreed."
"So you made the right suggestion, Quatre. It was the only logical thing to do. You couldn't smother love. If you really love someone, you have to let go. If your love was meant to be, you'll find your way back to each other. And if you ask me, I'm pretty sure that you and Trowa are meant to be together. Just you wait and see."
Quatre turned his head and smiled at her, a genuine, grateful smile. "Thanks, Cathy. You don't know how good that made me feel."
Suddenly, they felt the carriage stop moving. That only meant one thing --- their carriage ride was over. Quatre took her hand and the two stepped out of their carriage.
Catherine's trailer 6 pm
Catherine just finished putting on her make-up when her vidphone ring. She smiled when she saw Dorothy's image on the screen.
"Good, you're there," Dorothy said as a form of a greeting, smiling at her. "I made sure that I'll call before your show so you're there in your trailer and not with Quatre."
"Is it safe to talk? Where are Heero, Relena and Trowa?" Catherine asked.
"At the patio. Talking. I excused myself and told them I have some business to take of," Dorothy answered, grinning sheepishly.
"Oh, so that's why you keep glancing behind you to look at the door."
"Yup. I just want to tell you that you were right. Trowa talked to me during lunch. Isn't it great? Now I know why they broke up."
"I talked to Quatre too. What do we do now? How can we make them get back together?"
Dorothy glanced over her shoulder first before answering, "I have a plan. They think that they're attracted to girls right? And that's the cause of their break-up. If, shall we say, two girls come on to them, they might realize that they were wrong about liking girls and that they still love each other."
"And by those two girls you mean, you and me?"
"Right." She saw Catherine frowning. "We're not actually going to sleep with them. We'll just play with them a little. They're pretty sensible guys so I'm sure that they'll come to their senses soon."
Catherine thought of the plan. "Hmm, it might actually work. A little flirting could do no harm, right? Besides, if this is the only way we could help them get back together then I guess it is worth a try."
Dorothy smiled. "We have more than 2 weeks to make this work. We must get them back together by the time we go to the Christmas Party. Then we'll tell everyone about us." She turned to look at the door again.
"Do you think the others already knew about the break-up?"
"Hilde called earlier. I think Relena told her about it since it was Trowa who answered the call. So I guess Hilde had told everyone about it by now." The two women chuckled. They very well knew that Duo and Hilde were the undisputed walking grapevine of the group.
Suddenly, they heard someone banging the door of Catherine's trailer. "Catherine, the Manager wants to see you at the tent now," someone yelled from outside.
"I'll be out in a minute," Catherine called out. She looked back at the screen. "I have to go. I'll try to call you soon. Bye, Dorothy."
"I'll call again if I get the chance. Bye."
Dorothy just terminated the call when she heard a female voice asked, "Who were you talking to, Dorothy?"
Dorothy whirled around and saw Relena, Heero and Trowa standing by the door of the study. Relena was leaning against Heero, his arm wrapped around her shoulders for support, her right hand resting on her protruding belly. "A business associate," she coolly replied.
"We were talking about this new Japanese restaurant downtown. I thought we should try it out," Heero told her.
"I like that," Dorothy answered. She then glanced at herself. She was still wearing her business suit. "I think I should change to something more comfortable first."
"Me too," Relena amended. Like Dorothy, she was still in her 'formal' clothes. Even if 6 months pregnant, Relena continued her work as the Vice Foreign Minister though Heero insisted that she shouldn't travel much and just let those old buffoons come to her for consultations, not her going to them. And being her husband and bodyguard, as well as one of the top Preventer officials, nobody dared contradict his decision. He was officially listed as one of the Preventer agents in the L1 base after transferring there from L4 but his main mission was to protect Relena so he wasn't given any other missions or assignments and the head of the Preventer base there didn't have power over him. Lady Une, the Preventers' Chief of Staff, was the only authority he recognized, directly receiving orders from her and reporting only to her.
Heero and Trowa looked at each other. There was no need for them to change, they were comfortable enough in their clothes. "I'll go tell Pagan to ready the limo. I'll wait for you outside," Trowa told them. Heero held Relena's arm as the three of them went upstairs.
12 days later…
Dorothy rubbed her throbbing temple as she reviewed the papers on her desk. It was taking her a long time to close this deal, those stuffy businessmen wouldn't seem to cooperate. But that wasn't her only problem. She unconsciously shook her head. It wasn't really a problem --- just some situation she unwittingly got herself into. Believe it or not, she now had a boyfriend. "Lucky me," she muttered dryly. How? Well, instead of running away from her 'advances', Trowa actually fell for them, even making his own moves on her as well. They went out several times without Heero and Relena, he took her to places when she wasn't busy at work, he even drove her to and from her office everyday. At first, she didn't give any meaning to his actions, dismissing them as just friendly gestures. Trowa might be stoic and silent but he cared for his friends. And these little gestures were his way of showing he cared. Besides, she didn't want to make the same mistake of thinking he had feelings for her like what she did when they were 17. But if what happened yesterday still didn't make her believe that he definitely had feelings for her, nothing else would. He asked her to go steady with him! She could clearly remember hearing the theme song from this very old TV show (dating far back to the old calendar) "The Twilight Zone" playing at the background when he popped the question. She fought her sudden urge to drag him to the spaceport and take him to Earth so Sally could check if he was suffering from a severe brain damage, if he was a clone or an alien replacement. Of all the things he could possibly do, she wasn't expecting that! But she couldn't possibly say no since she spent the past week or so sending signals to him, with the sole intention of making him so repulsed by it he would immediately go running back to Quatre. Unfortunately, the opposite happened, and with no other options left, she said yes.
Even with this minor setback, she was resolute on continuing with the plan. This was her idea in the first place and she wouldn't let anything deter her from accomplishing what she set her mind to. Even if it meant agreeing to have her girlfriend's brother whom she had a thing for 3 years ago to be her boyfriend. Fake boyfriend, she corrected herself. But she had to call Catherine first to let her know of the current situation. So the minute she got the chance to be alone, she went to the study and called Catherine in her trailer.
The funny thing was, when she contacted Catherine she discovered that the exact same thing happened to her. Quatre also asked her to go steady with him. Still, both of them agreed to push through with the plan. They had to hurry though --- the Christmas Party was just 3 days away. So until they got things all settled out, she was stuck in having Trowa as her boyfriend.
Dorothy stood up and went to her office window, peering down at the cars and people 10 floors below. To be honest, the situation wasn't that bad. Some hidden part of her actually liked it, and having this liking made her feel guilty. "You're doing this for them --- for Quatre and Trowa, so they could get back together. Not for you to forever make them apart by snagging Trowa for yourself. You already have Cathy," she reminded herself. She then closed her eyes. I'm not falling for Trowa. I'm not falling in love with him. Not again. Not again, she chanted to herself. Her eyelids suddenly fluttered open when she heard her intercom buzzed. She went back to her desk.
"Yes, Sonya?" she said to the intercom.
"Miss Catalonia, a Mrs. Hilde Maxwell is on line one for you," the secretary told her.
"Thanks." After pushing a button on her vidphone, Hilde's cheerful face appeared on the screen.
"Hi, Dorothy. Am I disturbing you?" Hilde asked.
Dorothy smiled at her friend. "No, not at all. I'm just taking a breather."
"So how are you? From what I'd heard, you should be glowing with joy," Hilde said knowingly.
Dorothy raised an eyebrow. "And what is that you heard about me, hmm?"
"You don't have to be secretive about it. I called Relena in her office earlier and she told me the good news. Trowa himself told her and Heero about the two of you," Hilde half-lied. "I'm really happy for you and Trowa."
"Thanks," Dorothy replied brightly, knowing the fact that she should appear like she was 'glowing with joy' in front of Hilde since she was supposed to be happy with her newfound love. But deep down, she couldn't help thinking that her 'joy' wasn't all an act. "Catherine and Quatre just became a couple too, you know."
"Really?" Hilde said, feigning surprise. "Wow. Who would have thought that we'll all end up as couples?" she commented.
The way Hilde said those words made Dorothy frown. There was something weird about this whole scenario. Like in Trowa's case, it wasn't really in his nature to ask a girl to go steady. And when he asked her, it seemed like he wasn't expecting her to say yes, but she was sure that he was expecting her to say something else. Then there was Hilde's reaction. It sounded like she wasn't surprised at all. Were they on to us? Did they already know about me and Cathy and that this is all a set-up to make us tell the truth?" she asked herself. Nah. That couldn't be it.
"So you two will be going as a couple to the Christmas Party then?" Hilde inquired.
I hope not. "I guess so."
"And what a surprise it would be to everyone. Well, to the other invited guests, I mean. Just five months ago, Trowa and Quatre confessed their relationship and now they have girlfriends. Those ESUN bigshots will surely be shocked." Hilde then saw Dorothy's unease at the mention of the Christmas party. Flashing her a big smile, she said, "I can't wait to party on Christmas Eve then have a relaxing week with you guys in the Peacecraft Palace then party again on New Year's Eve. It'll be a blast."
Dorothy managed to brush all her worries away. She and Catherine just had to make sure to finish their mission before the party. "You said it, Hilde. I can't wait to leave all of this work behind either."
"Well, I have to go. Duo would be coming home from the church soon and I still have to prepare dinner. See you at the party, Dorothy."
"See you there too. Bye, Hilde."
"Bye," Hilde replied once last time before disconnecting the call.
Dorothy sighed. She then glanced at her watch. Office hours were nearly over so she started cleaning up her desk. Trowa would be there any minute. And the thought that he was coming for her made her smile.
Preventer Base, L1 Colony
Trowa finished the last of the paperwork he needed to do for this day. He was virtually running the L4 base from the L1 base. He didn't really file for an indefinite leave. They just made it up so Dorothy and Catherine wouldn't suspect a thing. Besides, Lady Une wouldn't permit a Preventer Head to go on an indefinite leave without any valid reason, even if things were peaceful in both the Earth and the Colonies. She knew about their plan to make Cathy and Dorothy confess their relationship, just like she knew about the whole mismatching deal with Heero and Relena. She was cool about everything and as long as he and the others didn't neglect their duties, she wouldn't interfere with whatever 'hobby' they do in their spare time. Especially if they were doing something for the cause of true love. Trowa gave a small sigh. That 'cause' had caused him to have a girlfriend. That wasn't part of the plan. The plan was to pretend that he had some romantic intentions on Dorothy, which they thought would force her to admit her relationship with Catherine. That simple. What he didn't expect was that she would fall for his supposed interest, even managing to trade some 'moves' with him. Dorothy spent the last week hitting on him, subtly of course. But even the subtlest of subtle could never escape his well-trained, observant eyes. At first, he thought that she was just being friendly and accommodating. She always had been friendly and accommodating to him. He could remember doing all these stuff with her when they were 17 --- eating out, going to places. And if it hadn't been for Quatre, he would have fallen in love with her. He somehow knew that Dorothy also had feelings for him back then, but that was all in the past. That was why he went through with the plan of asking her to go steady --- it never occurred to him that she would say yes. But she did. This is the last time I'll listen to Duo and his plans, he promised himself.
When he was sure that Dorothy was sleeping, he sneaked into Heero and Relena's room to call Quatre and tell him of this unexpected turn of events. He should have expected that the same thing happened to Quatre, with the luck that they were having. Then they made a conference call to Duo and the rest so they could think of an appropriate plan of action. They all decided that since Trowa and Quatre couldn't possibly back out now, they should just continue with the pretense until they make the two women confess. But they got to act quickly --- they only had a few more days left before the Christmas Party where everything was supposed to go back to normal. Well, if they couldn't meet the first deadline, they still had the entire week before the New Year's Eve party to straighten things out. Trowa couldn't wait for all this playacting to end. Especially now that he was having these weird and unexplainable feelings towards Dorothy.
He couldn't describe the exact feeling but being with Dorothy felt so natural. Well, he knew that it was only natural for a guy to feel that way with a girl, but still. It felt… nice, for the lack of a better word. Aside from that, he couldn't deny that he liked the idea of her being his girlfriend. Trowa shook his head. "This isn't right. You got yourself into this mess in the first place to help them come clean so they could get on with their lives. Not for you to destroy their relationship by going after Dorothy," he reprimanded himself. This is just playacting. You're not really falling for her. You just got caught up with the moment, that's all. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine Quatre's blonde hair and blue eyes. But each time he could picture him in his mind, the image was always being replaced with a platinum blonde haired woman with ash-blue eyes. Realizing the futility of it, he opened his eyes and started inserting the files on top of his desk to his bag. He had to go to the Council Building across the street where Relena's office was so she and Heero could take his bag home. Dorothy didn't know that he was working. She thought that he was a bum, just staying at home or sometimes helping Heero as Relena's bodyguard and that he only went out of the house to drive her to and from work. Heero was generous enough to lend him his car for the duration of his stay there.
He was on his way out of his office when he heard the vidphone rang. He went back to his desk to answer the call.
"Hello, buddy. How are ya?" Duo greeted.
"Fine. You're still in church, I presume."
"Yup. I just finished my last counseling session. So how's your 1st day-sarry huh?" Duo asked, grinning.
Trowa's face was neutral when he answered, "You know that this wasn't supposed to happen. Your plan has loopholes in it."
"I know, I know. But maybe this is for the best. This way, you'll have more chances of repulsing Dorothy." He saw Trowa cocked an eyebrow. "What I mean is, as her boyfriend, you're now entitled to go lovey-dovey on her, right? So she might easily confess their relationship just to stop you from getting cozy with her." Duo then frowned. "What I don't understand is why Dorothy and Catherine agreed to go steady with you and Quatre. I'm pretty sure that they really do have a relationship, I'm not just being delusional or anything. And it'll be easier for the four of you if they just told you the truth instead of saying yes to your proposal."
Trowa was wondering about the same thing too. Dorothy hitting on him, agreeing to go steady with him, Quatre and Catherine undergoing the same thing --- it didn't make any sense. Unless… "Maybe Dorothy and Catherine were planning something --- like get me and Quatre back together. And having girlfriends might make the two of us realize that we don't like being with anyone but with each other."
"Nah. That's impossible. Those two wouldn't come up with that kind of plan," Duo replied. Then his violet eyes twinkled. "Or maybe they somehow sensed that we're trying to make them confess so they decided to just ride along."
"If that's the case, we'll be having more problems. This charade will continue forever if none of us would crack."
"Don't worry. They'll crack soon enough. Just continue showing 'affection' to Dorothy and I assure you once she saw your lips only a breath away, she'll immediately confess that she already has a girlfriend," Duo said mischievously. He then looked at his watch. "Well, gotta go. I'm starving. See ya at the party, Trowa. And goodluck with your girlfriend."
"Hn," Trowa responded. Duo's image then disappeared from the screen.
Trowa picked up his bag and headed out of the office. Though things were kinda messy, he believed that everything would eventually turn out fine. As of this moment, the only thing in his mind was that he couldn't wait to see Dorothy again.
Winner Resource Satellite 7pm
"Master Quatre, you should take a break," Rashid said as he entered the control room.
Quatre looked up from his terminal and saw his bodyguard and long time friend carrying a tray of coffee and sandwiches. "Thanks, Rashid. I don't know what I'll do without you," Quatre said with affection.
Rashid smiled as he placed the tray on the nearby table. "So much for your vacaton. You're still stuck at work in the middle of the night."
Quatre left his terminal and went to the table. "Well, family business emergencies don't recognize vacations," he replied candidly after taking a seat. "I'm just glad that things are pretty lax in the Council so I could spend time with Catherine while she's staying with us."
Rashid bit back the remark that was about to come out of his lips when he heard Catherine's name and settled on grinning slyly instead. He knew about the whole scam and he laughed so hard when Quatre told him about Catherine's 'answer' to his proposal. The plan was starting to back fire. And from what he'd observed about Quatre and Catherine for the past week, the plan would backfire even some more. Soon.
"I'll go check if Abdul and the others are finished with the repairs in the South Wing. Enjoy your dinner, Master Quatre," With that, Rashid left the room.
Quatre leaned back on his chair as he took a sip of his coffee. He knew what Rashid was thinking when he mentioned Catherine. He couldn't blame him though. It was really funny, the way things turned out to be --- if you weren't the one caught in the middle that is. If he wasn't the one who pretended to court a girl for the past week, if he wasn't the one who asked a girl to go steady with him, and if he wasn't the one who was stuck in having a girlfriend by accident, he would have laughed his head off too. But he was all of that.
"How did I get myself into this mess?" he wondered out loud. He then grimaced. "It was just like Duo to concoct a half-baked plan." In his opinion, nothing about the plan went as expected. Catherine was supposed to be appalled by his advances, not be enamored by them and also flirt with him! She was also supposed to turn down his proposal and confess her relationship with Dorothy, not say yes! Did I upset some cosmic balance or did I incurred the wrath of Allah in anyway that caused me to be in this situation?
But he had to admit that it wasn't actually as bad as it sounded. That was the problem. Having Catherine as his girlfriend, even in pretense, wasn't as bad as he wanted it to be. And it scared him to think what this might mean. I'm not actually falling in love with Cathy, am I? he wondered. He shook his head. Maybe this is just the result of being together for 13 days, living in the same house, doing everything together. That's probably it. It's only natural for me to get attracted to her since she's beautiful --- both inside and out, he reasoned. Well, he'd been attracted to her before, when they were 17. And if not for Trowa, he might have pursued his attraction to her.
His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a beep of an incoming transmission. He stood up and went to the terminal. "Hello, Noin," Quatre greeted with surprise. "How did you know I'm here?"
"I've been calling the mansion the entire day, both you and Catherine were always out. Then the last time I called, your butler told me that you left to deal with this emergency in the W-018 Resource Satellite so I decided to call you there. Cathy still wasn't in the mansion," Noin told him.
"Cathy's show ends at 8 then they still have to clean up and do some other stuff first so she won't be able to get home 'til 8:30 or 9."
"What about you? What time will you be home?"
"I might be home by ten, the earliest," Quatre answered.
"So how are you holding up?"
"If you disregard the fact that things didn't go as planned and that my boyfriend's sister is now my girlfriend, I'm just fine," Quatre replied with little humor.
"Don't worry. It will be over soon," Noin said with sympathy. "Just remember that you're doing this for Catherine and Dorothy."
"Who are you talking to, hon?" they heard Zechs asked from the background.
"Quatre. I finally able to reach him," Noin told her husband.
Zechs then appeared beside Noin. "Hi, Quatre. How does it feel to have a girlfriend?" Zechs inquired with a slight grin.
Quatre sighed. "It's not really different from just having a friend who's a girl to hang out with. But it's kinda awkward to make 'contact', you know."
"That's understandable. She's Trowa's sister afterall. And you're just playacting. It's really hard to make contact with someone you're not in love with," Noin said.
Quatre inwardly cringed. He couldn't shrug off the feeling that sometimes, he wasn't playacting.
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot. We made some changes regarding the Christmas Party. Noin and I thought that it would be for the best if it'll only be us --- like a private gathering of close friends. If you and Catherine, Trowa and Dorothy come to the party as couples, the news that you and Trowa broke out will spread like wildfire since all the ESUN bigshots are invited. We want to keep everything among 'family' and not involve the whole ESUN. That's why we told everyone to come to the New Year's Eve Ball instead," Zechs told him. "That gives us another week to settle things if by Christmas Eve, things aren't what they're supposed to be."
Quatre smiled with gratitude at the couple. He was worrying about the same thing. "Thanks guys. That's one problem off our chests."
"No need to thanks us. It's the only thing we could do to help. Hopefully by New Year's Eve, everything is back to normal," Noin replied. "We'll leave you to work so you can go home early. Bye, Quatre."
"Bye, Noin. Bye, Zechs."
"Bye," Zechs said. The call was then terminated.
Quatre went to the table to grab a sandwich before returning to his terminal. He ate with the other hand while the other worked on the control panel. The thought of seeing Catherine, of going home where she might be waiting for him, made him want to finish his work faster.
L4 Colony 8pm
"Nice show, Miss Catherine," Auda told her when she went out of the circus tent.
"Thanks," Catherine answered, smiling. Then, she thought of something. "Auda, why are you here? I thought you went with Quatre, Rashid and Abdul to the resource satellite."
"Master Quatre asked me to stay so I could take you home after the show. And also to keep you company while he's away."
Catherine couldn't help smiling. If Quatre was anything, he was thoughtful. He always had been. "I have to warn you though that were not leaving just yet. I still have to help with the clean-up."
"You don't have to worry about me. Go change to something comfortable, Miss Catherine. I'm going to help the clowns inside," Auda told her before going inside the tent.
Catherine headed towards her trailer and went in. She plopped down on her bed then sighed. Her life couldn't get more complicated than this. After spending the last 12 days with Quatre, doing everything and going everywhere together, also seducing each other, they were now a couple. Imagine --- her brother's ex-boyfriend, whom she had the hots for 3 years ago, was now her boyfriend (fake boyfriend but still her boyfriend) while her brother was now the boyfriend of her current girlfriend. It was like an elaborate soap opera. She wasn't expecting any of this when she agreed to Dorothy's plan. And she didn't know how Quatre would fall for her lame attempts in flirting (for she didn't know the first thing about seducing men) nor she couldn't comprehend why Quatre would flirt with her too and actually ask her to go steady with him. Quatre wasn't the type of guy who flirts or who asks a girl to go steady. Come to think of it, no guy in their group was that cheesy.
"Why do I always find myself in this kind of situations?" she wondered outloud. It was just like 5 months ago when she and Dorothy had to pretend to be Heero's and Trowa's girlfriends. But they got a better deal then --- the 4 of them knew that they weren't really couples. In this case, only she and Dorothy knew that they were pretending since the two of them were already involved and that they only planned to hit on Quatre and Trowa so those two guys could get back together.
"Why do I always get paired up with someone for the good of humanity?" she asked again. "First with Heero, now with Quatre. At least Dorothy got paired only with Trowa --- then and now. Why does this always happen to me?" Actually, she already knew the answer to that. It was because she was single, or they thought she was single. "Maybe I should get myself a boyfriend so I wouldn't be paired up with anybody anymore."
Realizing what she just said, she sat up and clamped her mouth with her right hand. Did I really mean that? she asked herself. She lowered her hand. That was absurd. I'm already involved with someone --- Dorothy. I don't need a boyfriend. She suddenly grinned. Technically speaking, I also have a boyfriend. Then something hit her. She enjoyed pretending to be Quatre's girlfriend! She enjoyed being with him, she even was pining for him since he left at 4 that afternoon. This was the first time he missed a show. They spent the entire day together, true, but he had to leave suddenly because of some emergency in one of the Winner resource satellites. But he promised to be back at 10. What's happening to me? Is it possible that I'm falling in love with him? Again? she silently asked. She shook her head. I might just got used to him being around. It was a natural side-effect of living in the same house, she reasoned. Besides, it's ludicrous for me to fall in love with him. I agreed to this plan in the first place so I could get him and Trowa back together, not get Quatre for myself, thereby forever separating them. I couldn't do that. I wouldn't that. But somehow, she still felt guilty.
She stood up and grabbed the pair of jeans and t-shirt on top of her dresser that she wore before the show started. She just finished changing when her vidphone rang.
"Hi, Sally," Catherine greeted.
"Hello, Cathy. How was the show?" Sally asked.
"Fine. I did a new routine tonight. You should see it."
"I definitely will. You know that I'm a devout fan of yours. Just tell me when you're going to perform here on the Sanc Kingdom," Sally said. "By the way, I heard about you and Quatre. Congratulations."
If only they knew that we're just pretending. "Thanks," she answered brightly. And the strange thing was, she didn't force herself to answer brightly. The thought of her and Quatre being a couple made her naturally 'bright'.
"Onna, it's already late. Who are you talking to?" Wufei asked from somewhere in their house.
Sally rolled her eyes. "I'm talking to Cathy, Wu. And it's not yet late."
Wufei suddenly materialized behind Sally. He nodded at the redhead. "Catherine."
Catherine smiled at him. As anal as ever, she thought with affection. "Hi, Wufei."
"Did my onna tell you about the changes Zechs and Noin made for the Christmas Party?" he inquired.
Catherine's brow furrowed. "Changes?"
Wufei turned to his wife. "I knew that you'll forget."
"I didn't forget. I was about to tell her when you interrupted us by showing up," Sally retorted. She then addressed Catherine. "Instead of having a grand celebration on Christmas Eve, we'll be having a private gathering --- just us. The grand celebration will be held on New Year's Eve."
"So, they switched the plans for the Christmas and New Year's Eve parties, huh," Catherine commented. Mentioning the Christmas Party made her uneasy though. They had to get Quatre and Trowa together before then so she and Dorothy could confess their relationship. If they failed, then they had to postpone their confession. They couldn't just tell everyone that she and Dorothy were involved if they had boyfriends. Besides, Quatre and Trowa might get hurt. "But why did they change the plans?"
Wufei and Sally looked at each other. "We don't know. Maybe they thought that a cozy Christmas party is better," Wufei half-lied. "I like this plan better though."
"Me too. And I think it's more appropriate to celebrate Christmas with close friends then celebrate the coming of the New Year with many people. Not vice versa," Catherine replied.
"I agree. Oh my, sorry if we kept you. I know you're tired. We'll go now so you can rest. Bye, Cathy. See you at the party," Sally told her.
"Bye, Sally. Bye, Wufei."
"Bye," Wufei said. Afterwhich, he terminated the call.
Catherine combed her hair then went out of her trailer. While helping the Manager put away stuff, she hummed to herself. She couldn't wait for Quatre to come back. To her.
Next on Mix 'N Match... The unspeakable happened! [wink, wink] How will this affect the lives of everyone involved? Lemon.