"Barriers Built To Be Broken"
By Lady Crescent Moon and Renee Shields
Standard disclaimer applies.
*Authors' Notes*: Hope you all enjoy it! As always, reviews are gold. So if you like it, please let us know!
Darien woke up to the harsh shrill of an alarm clock, telling him it was 7 am. 'Damnit,' he said under his breath, as he scratched his head and pushed back his tussled hair. He slipped off the covers and arose from his bed. Walking towards the shower, he yawned and stretched, flexing the well- toned muscles of his naked body. Darien turned on the water, blasting up the hot water knob and waited for it to get to his ideal temperature. He immediately put his head under the shower, letting out a deep sigh as he felt the tense muscles relax.
Serena had no trouble waking up these days because she could hardly catch a wink with her new boarder. It wasn't that he caused a lot of disturbances; he wasn't even at the house during the day. But her preoccupation with him kept her from doing any kind of work at home. The two were not in each other's presence much, only when need arose. Their meeting occurred a day after he arrived and his barging in. They were now officially landlord and tenant. When she told him about the rent fee, he had simply nodded and drawled, "Oh, is that all? I would have thought it to be much more." His reaction did not surprise her. After all, he made quite a name for himself in the corporate business world. He was known for his smooth communiqué style, landing any kind of production deal in any part of the world. Even America's main competitors succumbed to him, agreeing to overly priced contracts because of his strong business savvy at Corporate Communications International.
She walked toward the bathroom, hoping that a hot shower would help calm her nerves. And why was it her nerves needed calming, she asked herself. It wasn't because of work. In fact, it was all going great. Being the first woman to head up a corporation worth now over $500 million was an amazing accomplishment in itself. Spectrum Real Estate Incorporated was fortunate to have her—she was the epitome of determination, landing any transaction no matter what. Buy low, sell high; she had learned so much in a little amount of time, being forced to take over the corporation after the untimely death of her fiancé, Andrew Harrison. So what exactly was it that frazzled her? Perhaps it was a particular someone with black hair, clear cerulean eyes tinted with amusement and a faint touch of mockery, and a defined, muscular body. He had almost demanded her to let him stay, barged into her household as if it were his, and taken over her servants. From the moment he met each of them during the brief tour of his wing and the people who worked for her, he had charmed them all the way to their toes. All it had taken was a smile and they had become putty in his hands. Even Amy, who had never once showed interest in a man in all the time Serena knew her, proved she was susceptible as well. Believing herself to be resistant to his charisma, Serena scoffed at their weakness and lack of self-control.
Learning early on that a female president in charge of her own corporate business was not always well accepted, Serena strove for a level of excellence. Pressure was a good thing, but most of it was self-induced, not wanting to live in Andrew's shadow forever. Some said it was a normal part of the healing process, others said it was an obsessive hunger for power and pride. But to Serena Richardson, it was just a job that was routine on a normal workday.
Serena did not know what it was about him that made her so close to losing her self-control. Whenever she was around him, she was extremely close to snapping, losing the aloof and calm exterior she worked so hard to achieve. She hated his mocking grins and his confident saunter as if the world was his to rule. She shook her head, hoping to dislodge the thoughts that she had about Mr. Shields that early in the morning.
She stepped into the stall and turned the hot water handle, expecting the rush to be nice and warm. Instead, a stream of freezing water blasted from above, causing her to scream shrilly at the top of her lungs.
A faint cry reached his ears and he froze for a second, wondering what the heck could have made that sound. Shrugging, he decided to ignore it when he believed that it would not in any way, shape or form affect him. Darien opened the shower curtain just enough so that he could reach his white towel to dry himself off. He emerged from the stall with the towel wrapped around his waist, letting out a puff of steam that was welling inside. After a quick shave and a splash of aftershave and cologne, he walked toward his walk-in closet, picking a cobalt Polo shirt and a black Armani ensemble. He took a quick glance at the morning news while packing his laptop and cell phone in his briefcase and he was headed toward the kitchen at 7:26.
Wrapped in a fluffy light pink towel and her long wet dirty blonde hair plastered on her back, she glanced at the digital clock on her bed stand. The glowing green numbers glared back at her as it reminded her ominously that she was late.
"Shit! It's 7:30! I'm going to be late for the meeting!" Serena cursed, nagging at herself to hurry up. At this moment, she was dangerously close to reverting back to the old Serena persona, one that she had firmly tucked away when everything had gone wrong not long ago. She forced herself to forget it all and focus at the important business meeting that would start off her day.
She brushed her bothersome hair back, wishing for a brief second that she would just cut it all off. A sudden flashback of her lying in bed, wrapped in the arms of a man left her reeling. He was running his hands through her hair, reveling in the silky touch of it. He had always loved her hair, adamantly refusing to let her cut it whenever she whined about it. Not that she would have done it anyway; she had wanted her hair long like that ever since she was a little girl. It reminded her of the Rapunzel fairy tale and the happily ever after story, guaranteed at the end.
"No…" she muttered to herself angrily when she felt the tears threatening to drop. "Not now." She effectively shoved all of this to the dark recess of her mind. "Okay…I'm going to do this. No more of this crap. It's all in the past and I'm not going to let it get to me."
With a shuddering sigh, Serena got up from the seat in front of her vanity mirror. Dressed in her slightly revealing silk robe, she tossed back her hair and strode across the room towards the door, hoping to get to the kitchen for the much-needed cup of coffee without a relapse. After that cup, her world would be righted, back to a typical morning and no longer precariously askew. It had to be.
By Lady Crescent Moon and Renee Shields
Standard disclaimer applies.
*Authors' Notes*: Hope you all enjoy it! As always, reviews are gold. So if you like it, please let us know!
Darien woke up to the harsh shrill of an alarm clock, telling him it was 7 am. 'Damnit,' he said under his breath, as he scratched his head and pushed back his tussled hair. He slipped off the covers and arose from his bed. Walking towards the shower, he yawned and stretched, flexing the well- toned muscles of his naked body. Darien turned on the water, blasting up the hot water knob and waited for it to get to his ideal temperature. He immediately put his head under the shower, letting out a deep sigh as he felt the tense muscles relax.
Serena had no trouble waking up these days because she could hardly catch a wink with her new boarder. It wasn't that he caused a lot of disturbances; he wasn't even at the house during the day. But her preoccupation with him kept her from doing any kind of work at home. The two were not in each other's presence much, only when need arose. Their meeting occurred a day after he arrived and his barging in. They were now officially landlord and tenant. When she told him about the rent fee, he had simply nodded and drawled, "Oh, is that all? I would have thought it to be much more." His reaction did not surprise her. After all, he made quite a name for himself in the corporate business world. He was known for his smooth communiqué style, landing any kind of production deal in any part of the world. Even America's main competitors succumbed to him, agreeing to overly priced contracts because of his strong business savvy at Corporate Communications International.
She walked toward the bathroom, hoping that a hot shower would help calm her nerves. And why was it her nerves needed calming, she asked herself. It wasn't because of work. In fact, it was all going great. Being the first woman to head up a corporation worth now over $500 million was an amazing accomplishment in itself. Spectrum Real Estate Incorporated was fortunate to have her—she was the epitome of determination, landing any transaction no matter what. Buy low, sell high; she had learned so much in a little amount of time, being forced to take over the corporation after the untimely death of her fiancé, Andrew Harrison. So what exactly was it that frazzled her? Perhaps it was a particular someone with black hair, clear cerulean eyes tinted with amusement and a faint touch of mockery, and a defined, muscular body. He had almost demanded her to let him stay, barged into her household as if it were his, and taken over her servants. From the moment he met each of them during the brief tour of his wing and the people who worked for her, he had charmed them all the way to their toes. All it had taken was a smile and they had become putty in his hands. Even Amy, who had never once showed interest in a man in all the time Serena knew her, proved she was susceptible as well. Believing herself to be resistant to his charisma, Serena scoffed at their weakness and lack of self-control.
Learning early on that a female president in charge of her own corporate business was not always well accepted, Serena strove for a level of excellence. Pressure was a good thing, but most of it was self-induced, not wanting to live in Andrew's shadow forever. Some said it was a normal part of the healing process, others said it was an obsessive hunger for power and pride. But to Serena Richardson, it was just a job that was routine on a normal workday.
Serena did not know what it was about him that made her so close to losing her self-control. Whenever she was around him, she was extremely close to snapping, losing the aloof and calm exterior she worked so hard to achieve. She hated his mocking grins and his confident saunter as if the world was his to rule. She shook her head, hoping to dislodge the thoughts that she had about Mr. Shields that early in the morning.
She stepped into the stall and turned the hot water handle, expecting the rush to be nice and warm. Instead, a stream of freezing water blasted from above, causing her to scream shrilly at the top of her lungs.
A faint cry reached his ears and he froze for a second, wondering what the heck could have made that sound. Shrugging, he decided to ignore it when he believed that it would not in any way, shape or form affect him. Darien opened the shower curtain just enough so that he could reach his white towel to dry himself off. He emerged from the stall with the towel wrapped around his waist, letting out a puff of steam that was welling inside. After a quick shave and a splash of aftershave and cologne, he walked toward his walk-in closet, picking a cobalt Polo shirt and a black Armani ensemble. He took a quick glance at the morning news while packing his laptop and cell phone in his briefcase and he was headed toward the kitchen at 7:26.
Wrapped in a fluffy light pink towel and her long wet dirty blonde hair plastered on her back, she glanced at the digital clock on her bed stand. The glowing green numbers glared back at her as it reminded her ominously that she was late.
"Shit! It's 7:30! I'm going to be late for the meeting!" Serena cursed, nagging at herself to hurry up. At this moment, she was dangerously close to reverting back to the old Serena persona, one that she had firmly tucked away when everything had gone wrong not long ago. She forced herself to forget it all and focus at the important business meeting that would start off her day.
She brushed her bothersome hair back, wishing for a brief second that she would just cut it all off. A sudden flashback of her lying in bed, wrapped in the arms of a man left her reeling. He was running his hands through her hair, reveling in the silky touch of it. He had always loved her hair, adamantly refusing to let her cut it whenever she whined about it. Not that she would have done it anyway; she had wanted her hair long like that ever since she was a little girl. It reminded her of the Rapunzel fairy tale and the happily ever after story, guaranteed at the end.
"No…" she muttered to herself angrily when she felt the tears threatening to drop. "Not now." She effectively shoved all of this to the dark recess of her mind. "Okay…I'm going to do this. No more of this crap. It's all in the past and I'm not going to let it get to me."
With a shuddering sigh, Serena got up from the seat in front of her vanity mirror. Dressed in her slightly revealing silk robe, she tossed back her hair and strode across the room towards the door, hoping to get to the kitchen for the much-needed cup of coffee without a relapse. After that cup, her world would be righted, back to a typical morning and no longer precariously askew. It had to be.