Uncertainty II
by Phantasy Star
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Part Three: Winter


CHAPTER TWELVE

"I'm sorry, Ann, I- This is weird."

She looked at me with a puzzled look, as she pulled away from me quickly.

"It's wrong," I said.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Darien!" Ann exclaimed, "I wasn't... you know..."

"No, of course not!" I assured her that I knew what she meant, "Just that...
It's better if we don't... because..."

"Because what?" Ann suddenly asked.

"Because I already have a --"

I stopped myself.

What?

Because I already have a...?

I didn't know how to finish that sentence myself.

"Girlfriend?" Ann suggested.

"No..." I said, frowning, "That's not it..."

What was I going to say?

"Anyway," Ann said, "I'm sorry about that... I didn't think of it that way.
It was just a... a moment thing."

"No, yeah, I mean, of course."

"I'll see you around then, okay?"

I nodded dumbfoundedly.

Then I poured myself some coffee and sat down at my desk, staring at the cup.

What was going on?



CHAPTER THIRTEEN

"So... you finally decided to crawl to old Andrew for help."

I groaned.

I knew he would do this.

"When I asked you about it before, it was always 'No, Andrew', or 'Leave me
alone, Andrew', or 'Quit bugging me'. Now, it's Andrew to the rescue, huh?"

I stared at him.

"You're weird," I said.

"Anyway, so you need help with my little sister?"

I sighed, "Something like that."

"You have no idea how many people have come to me for that. She's a popular
one. I remember when I had a crush on her myself."

"What?"

"Yep..." he said, "Years ago..."

I was shocked.

No, horrified.

"Dude, you are sick."

"Why?"

"She's your sister!"

"Well, not my blood-related sister, so it's okay. Besides, that was before
I adopted her as my little sister."

"You're not related!?"

"You never knew that?"

"No!"

"Oh."

We sat in silence for a minute.

"You're kidding, right?" I asked.

"Darien... What's Serena's last name?"

"Tsukino."

"What's _my_ last name?"

"Oh. Why do you guys call each other that anyway? It's confusing, especially
with your similar looks."

"Well, Mina's not really your sister either."

"Hmm, she was as close as it got back in the orphanage..."

"Anyway. With Serena... There's only one thing I can tell you. You have to talk
to her. Otherwise, you'll never know what she wants. Maybe she wants the same
thing you do..."



CHAPTER FOURTEEN

I gulped nervously as I walked up the seven flights of stairs.

For some reason, I didn't feel like taking the elevator. Maybe I needed the time
to think of what I would say.

I finally reached the white door with the number Andrew had written down, Serena's
hotel room number.

I hesitated. Knock or doorbell?

The doorbell is more traditional. And the hotel probably wanted me to use that.
That's why it's there in the first place.

But a knock is more friendly. Less uptight.

Screw it, this is Serena!

I pulled myself together and pounded the door with my fist. Confident.

I waited.

Maybe she wasn't home.

I was about to turn around and leave when the door opened and I found myself facing
a man with brown hair, about two inches shorter than I was. Fairly attractive, I
guess.

"May I help you?" he asked coldly.

"Is this Serena's room?"

"Yeah. What do you want?"

I froze.

This was... Serena's boyfriend.

I stared hard at him, returning the gaze.

"Darien Shields. I'm Serena's friend."

"I see. I'm Alan, her boyfriend."

I winced as he emphasized the final word. There was no way I could talk to
her now.

"Darien?"

I looked past Alan, the big tree, to see Serena, a box of cookies in one hand,
remote control in the other.

"Hey Serena," I said with a weak smile.

Seeing them together made everything so much more clear for me.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, standing beside Alan.

There was something different about her, different that the last time I had
seen her. She seemed uncomfortable. Was it because of Alan?

Something told me that that wasn't it though. Had something else happened?

"I, uh..." I stammered, "I came to give you this."

I put my hands in my pocket in desperate search of anything that I could be
returning.

"This... this, er, gum."

Alan stared at it.

Serena stared at it.

I stared at it.

"That's mine?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"Thanks..." she said slowly.

"That's it?" Alan asked.

"Yeah, that's it..."

The next thing I knew, the door was slammed in my face and I was staring at it again.

I couldn't move. What was I doing here in the first place?

I shook my head and turned away.

Whispering a couple of words I knew I shouldn't say under my breath, I shoved my hands
into my pockets and walked off.

I hated this feeling that washed over me.



CHAPTER FIFTEEN

"Hey, Amy."

She looked up from whatever she was writing and looked at me.

"Yes, Mr. Shields?"

"Do you... do you ever see Serena nowadays?"

She gave me a quizzical look, "Sometimes. Why?"

"Nothing..." I said, looking down.

"Mr. Shields, may I ask you a question?"

"Go ahead."

She took a deep breath, "Do you like Serena?"

I forced a smile, "It really doesn't matter, does it?"

"You mean the fact that she has a boyfriend?"

I nodded.

"Mr. Shields... May I give you some advice?"

"Of course," I said.

"What if Serena is the person you were meant to be with, and you gave her up
because she just happened to meet Alan first? I don't think you should let
him stand in the way."

I looked at Amy thoughtfully, "That's... that's interesting."

"Mr. Shields, I'll be having lunch with Serena today, at the restaurant around
the corner. I would love for you to join us. Please think about it."

I thought about it.



CHAPTER SIXTEEN

I sat at my desk, staring at my coffee cup.

To go or not to go.

What if Serena was happy?

I rested my head on my desk.

But Amy was right. What if this would be my only chance at happiness?

No... this is wrong.

"Argggh," I groaned at myself, frustrated, "Damn you, Shields. Why can't you be
a little selfish this time and go for it? There's no advantage to playing the
nice guy in this situation..."

I ran my hand through my hair, not caring that it would look messy and crumpled.

No... I didn't want it this way.

I went to the cupboard to get myself a muffin.

* * *

"Mr. Shields?"

"Come in, Amy."

"I have good news."

"Did we finally get that stockholder to buy a larger share?"

"Um, no..." she said, "It's about Serena."

I leaned forward on my desk, "What is it?"

"Well... she and her boyfriend are no longer a couple."

What?

"Are you sure?" I asked, practically getting up from my chair.

"Yes," she said, "She told me."

I leaned back in my seat, letting out a triumphant chuckle.

This was it.

Yes, there was nothing standing in my way now.

Aside from Serena not returning my feelings, but I'll worry about that later.

"Thank you, Amy. Expect a big raise this Christmas."

"Er, thank you, Mr. Shields," she said, then gave me a confident smile,
"Good luck."



CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

I knocked on the door again impatiently.

Where was she?

I looked down at the bouquet of flowers I had Amy order for me.

I let out a frustrated sigh. Where would she go this time of the night?

Deciding that I needed some fresh air, I stepped out into the open roof of the
hotel.

My eyes widened in surprise when I recognized the figure standing at the ledge,
practically crossing over the small fence.

"Alan?"

He turned around.

And I saw the empty liquor bottle in his hand.

"Damn you..." he breathed.

"Alan, what the heck are you doing?" I demanded.

"Serena left me... because of you..." he said, his voice raspy.

"Get down from there!" I said as calmly as I could.

"No..." he shook his head, "I... I can't take this... Serena was the only good
thing in my life. Now there's nothing. I'm going to... I'm going to..."

He shook his head again and again.

Would he do it?

I shivered under the cold night air, "This is crazy!"

"No, I'll tell you what's crazy, Shields. The fact that I worked so hard to make
Serena my girlfriend. The fact that I suggested coming to Tokyo. The fact that
she can totally forget about me when she's around you. That's what's crazy."

I stepped closer, little by little.

"Get away from me!" he roared.

I froze in my tracks.

"Fine, jump!" I shouted, "But let me tell you this!"

He looked at my curiously.

"If you kill yourself, Serena's mine."

He stared at me.

I nodded, "That's right. Serena hasn't made her decision yet. But if you jump,
she's coming to me for sure."

"I..." he stuttered, "I still have a chance...?"

"But go. I don't want you getting in the way of our relationship."

He lunged off the ledge and crashed against me.

At least he didn't jump the other way.

He took a swing at me. I dodged it easily and put my weight on him so that he
was pinned to the ground.

Then I took out my cell phone to call Andrew and Ann.

I thought I would need help getting this crazy guy back to his room.



CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

"Darien Shields."

"Hey. It's... It's Serena."

I held the phone closer to my ear, "Hey, how's it going?"

"Darien, I need to talk to you."

Her voice was urgent, almost anxious.

Thousands of thoughts went through my mind at the moment. I had forgotten about
this.

This was my chance with Serena.

She wanted this too, right?

But what about Alan...?

"What's... what's up?" I asked.

"Can you come out and see me?"

Part of me wanted to jump for joy, but the other reminded me of Alan, the way he
glared at me with pure hatred the other day, all the pain and anger he showed.

No, to take this opportunity would be wrong.

"I..." I said hesitantly, "I don't think that's a good idea."

She sounded surprise, "What's wrong?"

"I've been having a lot of work to do lately."

There was a pause, then, "Oh, I see..."

I noted the shift in her voice. Was it pain?

"I'll see you around, okay?"

"..."

"'Bye," I said.

And I hung up.

I sighed. It was the right thing to do.

I'd wait a while before doing anything. At least until Alan's gotten over things.

It'll all work out at the end.

* * *

"Hey, look, Darien," Ann said, "It's starting to snow!"

I glanced outside the window, "Uh-huh..."

"White Christmas," Ann sighed.

I didn't answer.

"Darien, are you okay?"

I closed my eyes, "I don't know..."

Ann looked at me, worried, "You want to talk about it?"

I shook my head, "No, it's okay..."

Just then, Amy walked into the room.

"Mr. Shields, there's a phone call for you."

I looked up quickly, "Thanks."

Serena? Maybe I made a bad decision the other day.

I practically ran to my office.

"Darien Shields."

"Darien?"

Andrew.

"That's what I said."

He didn't react to my joke, "What happened with Serena?"

"What do you mean?"

"What did you say to Serena?"

"Did she say something to you?" I asked.

"No, but she's leaving for America tomorrow."

"What!? Why!?"

"I don't know. I thought you guys were about to, you know..."

I didn't answer, horrified.

No, what have I done?

Damn it, I can't blow it again this time.

Serena, wait for me. Please.

I grabbed my jacket and headed out the door.