Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Card Captor Sakura, neither have any stakes in the teams and soccer leagues mentioned in the story. I sadly just own the plot. Names and places may exist but nothing in the story is veridic. The whole plot is just a concept/product of my imagination.
Chapter 3
The First Cut is the Deepest
Sakura reached to the side of the bed only to find it empty. Groaning, she decided to reach the other side of the bed to drowsily reach for her cell phone on her night table. Hitting the small button to turn on, the numbers ten thirty greeted her as she ended up sitting in bed quickly. 'How in the world did I overslept this much…?' she thought as she ran her hands through her face trying to get some of the morning haze out of her eyes. No doubt Syaoran was at practice at this time of the morning.
She quickly got out of bed while searching her phone for any emails from her job. As she scanned through, she deleted the ones she knew weren't important as it was her routine, then after washing her face and teeth, started opening the ones that were important on her way to the kitchen and reading them. She poured herself a cup of coffee before starting to answer the first one.
"First aerials of the land as of today… send. Need proof of investing funds… send. Need construction bids sent to my email… send." One by one she read the important emails and answered them accordingly like she was used to back in her office. Since Syaoran wasn't here, there was no point in getting behind at work. As she looked outside the window she took a deep breath and relaxed taking another sip of her coffee. The view definitely had its toll on her. She couldn't help thinking that working from here had its perks even if it was so far from her office and she didn't have her assistant to take notes on her to do list items. Her phone rang as she had that thought and her assistant came up on the caller ID.
"Good morning Michi" she answered in a better mood than she usually was. No need to wonder why. Her mood was usually better whenever she had her boyfriend around though she would never admit that to his face. As much as she loved him she was certain he didn't need one more thing to brag about in the future.
"Morning Sakura. I just received your emails and will be sending you these right away as soon as I start getting them. Do you want me to hold on the construction bids until I have all of them together? Jun sent proof of investing funds and the entity that will be the owner of the project. It looks to be a solid investment all fully funded as of today. Also, the aerials are not ready yet but I checked with the company that produces them and they will be in by this afternoon."
One good thing about Michi, just like Suri had mentioned her to be, she was quick and trainable which put Sakura's doubts finally at ease after finding a suitable assistant. She had confirmed her project to be Jun's after having talked to Syaoran about it and Michi was already on top of finding everything for Sakura on the project. Suri had been right about this one. Since Sakura had to let go of Suri a couple of months ago because she promoted her, she was afraid she wouldn't be able to find someone similar but so far she had been a perfect fit. In a matter of weeks, and with the help of Suri, Michi was already beginning to learn Sakura's timing. She was starting to anticipate Sakura's working needs as the days went by and although this was her first time attending to Sakura's instructions while she was out of the office, she wasn't doing it bad at all. But what she truly liked about Michi was her interest in learning more about the business. She wasn't just aiming at being an assistant, she wanted to learn more about the developing world which boasted her interest in helping Sakura with what she needed. "No, just start sending them over as you get them. I have very little time to read and stay on top of everything."
"Will do."
"Okay. Thanks Michi." She said before hanging up. A couple of seconds after, she received an email from her assistant with the first two contract bids on the project. As she was about to open the first attachment, she heard the doorbell ring and walked over to their front door. Looking at the camera beside the door, she smiled and opened the door. "Tomoyo!" she said before greeting her friend with a hug. "I didn't know you were coming by."
Tomoyo smiled and returned the hug with one hand as she was carrying a bag on her other. "Eriol told me you would be coming by this week. I just landed a couple of hours ago from Japan. It was brutal. This is the second trip I had to do over there and the hours are killing me already." She walked inside the house with Sakura closing the door after. "First I went over and took care of business. I had to choose more fabric for my new winter collection line that's supposed to be hitting the stores by October."
"Oh, so early then?" Sakura said smiling.
Tomoyo smirked. "Well, for my friends, the line will be ready by September so all of you can start wearing it before it hits the stands."
"Oh, better yet." Sakura excitedly said. Out of all Tomoyo's collections the one she liked better was winter. "I can't wait to try this new fabric then."
"Oh, you'll love it. It feels so light but at the same time it keeps you so warm inside. I was actually impressed when I touched the samples last week." Tomoyo said.
"Do you want anything to drink or eat?" Sakura politely asked.
"Just juice will be fine. Since I went to Japan, I brought yours and Meiling's bridesmaid dresses for you to try for the last time." Tomoyo saw as her friend walked over the other side of the kitchen and started serving two glasses of orange juice. She placed her bag along with the dress bag on one of the bar stools of the island and looked around. "You look right at home." Her friend mentioned before looking around. "This is a very nice place you two have chosen."
Sakura smiled at her while giving her the glass. "Thanks." She walked to the living room while Tomoyo followed her and sat down on the couch. "Syaoran wants to make some changes to it but for now it works."
"You know, for a moment there I thought you weren't going to accept buying the house with him." She comfortable said.
Sakura chuckled. "For a moment there, I thought the same thing too."
"I mean, don't get me wrong. I actually like it more than the others he has… especially the decoration." Tomoyo chuckled before taking a sip from her juice. "It feels a lot more welcoming than the others. I believe some call it the girlfriend's touch…?"
Sakura chuckled but didn't miss her mention of him having other houses. She guessed with him being an athlete he probably had his own portfolio of investments, but it had never crossed her mind someone like Syaoran would actually like to create a real estate portfolio, especially considering he had been trying to avoid his father's company since he landed in Japan at the age of sixteen.
"What made you change your mind?" Tomoyo asked.
"Well, I guess I thought about it better, you know. I mean, maybe if it wasn't brought up the way it did on our trip to Spain I would've never thought too much about it but I guess we were both seeing it in a different way. So Syaoran kept insisting that it wasn't a bad idea. He told me he only saw this as a place of staying instead of a hotel whenever I came for visiting. And I mean, I have to admit, I hate the whole process of booking hotels, so he had a point there. So, you know, he convinced me when he told me staying a week together whenever I come to visit isn't the same as moving in together like I was seeing it. And so we ended up buying this house." Sakura explained.
"It's a good choice." Tomoyo nodded.
"Well, he ended up buying it. I only gave my input on choosing it. Plus, I love the view." Sakura chuckled.
Tomoyo looked past Sakura and understood what she was saying. It was a very nice thing to have them all living close to each other. For a moment there, it felt like high school but with a different air around them. They had all grown up in different ways and yet they were able to keep their friendship even after hardships. "Would it be bad if he asked to you live with him?"
Sakura stared at Tomoyo. "I don't think we're ready for something like that yet."
Tomoyo nodded. "He truly loves you, you know…"
Sakura smiled while taking a sip of her juice. "Sometimes is not just about love and, if it is then, love is also patient. So, he'll have to wait for that one."
Tomoyo chuckled. "You're absolutely right. Speaking of love, I met with the wedding coordinator and looks like everything is set for a Winter wedding. The indoor gardens are available for December so, as soon as you try your dress, you need to let me know in case we need to do any adjustments before the wedding. I'm so excited!"
Sakura smiled. "I'm so happy for you. After so many years you'll be the first of us to marry."
Tomoyo excitedly smiled.
Sakura heard the door to the front door open and smiled. Placing her glass on the coffee table, she stood up and walked around the sofa. Setting her phone down in the kitchen island, she walked towards the door to see Syaoran putting his bag down along with his sunglasses on the receiver and his keys. She walked towards him and hugged his waist. "Done with practice?"
He smiled and kissed her. "Yes. Are you just waking up?"
"Almost. I was doing some work till Tomoyo came."
"I was wondering about that car in front." He caressed her face. "So I checked the weather and it's actually going to be nice today. Do you want to go hiking?"
She frowned. Smiling to hide her surprise she asked "hiking?"
He nodded. "According to the weather it's not supposed to rain today."
She narrowed her eyes and asked "shouldn't you be resting? Aren't you in pre-season?"
"Yes… so?" he casually asked.
"So… you only had one practice today because, since it's pre-season your coach wants to make sure you and your teammates don't over work your body while working to have you guys fit to start playing your regular season soon, and you want to go hiking?" she sarcastically asked.
He hugged her waist and smiled while trying to work his charm on her. "I think we both know how fit I already am."
She chuckled and rolling her eyes shook her head. With a warning voice she was about to disagree with him as she started saying "Syaoran…"
"I don't want to waste time while you're here. Today is your last day before you have to head back. I don't want to stay home." He rolled his eyes and added, "resting… as you call it."
She stared at his eyes and could understand his point. Then again she knew Syaoran couldn't stand still for the life of him. Resting had never been his forte. Whenever he had free time he would always find places to see, things to do only to overcome the boredom of staying inside his house according to him. She heard her phone beep and raised her hand, "Hold that thought…" she said to Syaoran as she checked her phone for a text message. She answered quickly before looking back at him. "Fine. I'll get dressed so we can leave but no hiking a tall mountain Syaoran. As fit as you are baby… I still agree with your coach."
He smiled and nodded. "Any mountain you want as long as we're out of here."
She chuckled untangling herself from his arms. "And it will have to wait until I finish my juice and Tomoyo leaves. She came over to say hi."
He chuckled and smirked. "I'm sure she'll leave as soon as she sees me. No doubt counting the miles or minutes it will take to reach her house since we're out of practice early and Eriol should be getting to their house soon if he's not there already."
Sakura chuckled and shook her head knowing he didn't mean it in a bad way. In Syaoran's opinion, Tomoyo had always been too attached to his cousin. Throughout their entire relationship she had always been like that. Wherever he moved, she would move too. It was kind of like a synchronized dance between them. Even though she was used to traveling because of work she would always find a way of traveling when he was very busy never leaving him alone if she could avoid it.
Syaoran softly kissed her again before saying "I might even spoil the surprise since coach released us early today from practice."
Sakura chuckled and jokingly hit his shoulder. "Behave or else she'll be able to hear you."
He chuckled. "I'll prepare the bags."
~ o ~
Like Syaoran had mentioned to her, Tomoyo left a little after seing Syaoran enter the living room. It didn't take her long to figure out an excuse to leave. Apparently, Syaoran wasn't that off in his prediction. He had enough experience after knowing her for so many years. After hiking for two hours uphill they finally found a spot they both liked to rest in. Sakura had packed a pair of sandwiches just in case Syaoran got hungry on the way since he hadn't wasted much time after getting into the house to get the stuff ready to go. He forgot to eat with the excitement of going hiking in the afternoon. Luckily for them, the weather as Syaoran had stated was perfect. Not too hot and not too cold either. The yellow colored leaves indicated it was almost time for autumn yet summer wasn't ready to say goodbye yet. They had decided to sit down in a nice place with enough view of the little town below but at the same time not the highest spot of the mountain. She reclined her head on his shoulder and took the sunset view. It was beautiful. The fact that she was enjoying it with her boyfriend was just perfect. She saw as he took his phone out and put it in front of them. "You're taking a picture?" she asked.
"Yes. I want a picture of this moment for when you're not here."
She smiled and gave him a quick kiss. "You're so sweet sometimes."
"Sometimes?" he playfully asked as he faked a wound to his heart.
She chuckled and looked at the camera as he kissed her cheek and took the picture. "You need to send it to me."
He looked at the picture afterwards and showed it to her. "Look at that… perfection babe."
She turned her face towards him and smiled. Giving him a quick kiss on the lips she reclined her head on his shoulder close to his neck and softly said "I love you."
"I sure hope you're not adding sometimes to the end of that phrase as well." He softly said in her ear.
She chuckled and snuggled closer to him breathing in the fresh breeze and enjoying the breathtaking sight next to him.
"So, our coach gave us the holiday schedule already. Christmas break is short. Only two weeks and we have to be back here right after New Year."
She nodded in acknowledgement to confirm she was indeed listening to him.
"Do you want to do something those days or do you want to spend it back home? I was planning on getting a ticket to Japan first for Eriol's wedding, then another to go home if we're not doing anything." He said.
"I usually spend it with father in Japan. We usually do internal tourism during those short days since he's so fond of history."
Father… the word alone brought back memories for him. He had never been able to get along with her father Fujitaka. Even though Sakura had tried to ease the tension between him and her father a couple of months ago, he still hadn't tried that so called "change" she achieved for them. "So, you want to stay in Japan then?"
"Would you be willing to stay with me?" she asked.
"I only have two weeks off, love. If you want to stay in Japan after the wedding, it's fine by me." He simply said.
"Your mother will kill me if she finds out you're spending Christmas in Japan instead of China this year." She said in a jokingly way.
"My mother will have to understand." He tightened his hands around her taking in the breeze as well. "I barely have enough time with you every month. I'm not giving up spending the holidays with you just because she wants me to go home."
She could understand his point but at the same time she knew even as she had tried to joke about it Yelan would truly never be satisfied with knowing her son would not go this year to visit her on his holiday break. After finally having him visiting during the World Cup she was certain Yelan expected to see her son this year in her house. Every year she would go all out preparing a Christmas party whether it was in her house or in their cabin and Syaoran had missed all of them since he had gone to Japan.
But this year it was different. Sakura was almost certain this year, since he was dating her, Yelan was probably already planning a way to have her stay in China. Or more than likely, planning for a way of assuring her son would come home for Christmas which in the end it probably involved her. "I can always try to get father to visit China instead. It's a place full of history as well and that way you can also visit your parents."
"I haven't visited my parents before. What's so different now?" he asked.
She sighed. "Your mother would probably love it if you would attend one of her parties even if you didn't before."
He rolled his eyes before scoffing. "No… my mother would love to parade me around every business partner that's going to attend that party just so that they can win favoritism with my father."
She chuckled and rolled her eyes. "Your parents are not so bad Syaoran."
He kissed her shoulder and smiled. "Whatever you want to do. If you want to spend a lovely time in Japan visiting your father and doing internal tourism which, just for the record, I find more interesting than attending Christmas parties… I have no objections whatsoever. I'll make the arrangements to land over there and stay in Tomoeda. If you wish to see me embarrassed, probably wearing one of those hideous Christmas sweaters my mother loves to get all her children, while I model for my father's business partners, bored to death with many 'my goodness you've grown' from the old ladies attending those parties and the 'what a fine young man you have Xian' from the old guys, looking eagerly at my watch to calculate the perfect time of escape, I will not object either. As long as you're with me through that torture I will go to China this year."
She laughed at his exaggerative way of describing Christmas with his family. "Boy you truly had it bad when you were young… but I have it under good account the parties have actually gotten better."
"My older sister's opinion doesn't count Sakura. She works with them." he said.
She laughed again. "I'm sure is not as bad as you make it sound."
"Suit yourself… like I said, it's your choice. Whatever you want to do as long as you endure that torture with me."
~ o ~
After spending their time together all the way through the afternoon, they reached his house only to see a car parked right in front of his driveway. Sakura stopped writing on the phone when she looked up and saw the car. She looked at Syaoran from her side and asked, "are you expecting someone?" as the gate towards his house started to open for them.
"That's Kyu's car." He tentatively said. Worry started creeping to his face as he watched his friend getting out of the car. It wasn't everyday he received a visit from his friend and much less unannounced. He started to suspect something was off when suddenly from the passenger's side Meiling came out.
Syaoran finished parking his car on his driveway and smirked before coming out of his car as well followed by Sakura.
"Look who decided to surprise me?" Kyu proudly said loud enough for Syaoran and Sakura to hear.
Sakura could hear the excitement on his voice from far away. She smiled and chuckled as Meiling came flying towards Syaoran's hands and gave him a hug before turning towards Sakura and greeting her all the same.
Syaoran chuckled. "I thought you were staying in Milan for another week."
Meiling smirked. "I missed you guys too much. Besides, I heard Sakura was here too. Seems like I was the only one missing out and I can't let you have all the fun without me. That would be unacceptable on my end." She dramatically answered as she winked at them.
Sakura chuckled. "Well, since we are all here why don't we all go out together?" She looked at Syaoran and waited for his answer.
"That's not a bad idea. Have you guys eaten?" he asked Kyu.
Kyu shook his head.
"We can go to dinner together and then for a stroll. I'll call Eriol to let him know. There's still places we haven't seen and Sakura's here for a couple more hours." He said pulling his phone out.
"That's a great idea." Meiling excitedly said.
"In the mean time we can wait for Eriol and Tomoyo to arrive inside." Sakura suggested already writing Syaoran's security code in the security lock pad on the side of the front door. The lock beeped and unlocked the door for them. She opened the door and let them in while waiting on Syaoran who was talking on his phone outside.
He hung up and smiled at her while walking inside. "They're on their way."
She nodded and walked inside as well.
"Wow, this is so different than the way you had it back in Japan." Meiling noticed. She looked at Syaoran and smirked. "It truly shows you have a girlfriend now, thank goodness."
Sakura chuckled and smirked before curiously asking "how bad was it when you were in Japan? This is not the first time I hear this."
Syaoran narrowed his eyes at his cousin. "Not bad at all. She's exaggerating as usual."
Meiling smirking looked at Sakura and sarcastically answered "off course I am… His houses in Japan all look like museums. You know, they look good, but you could hardly touch anything. And all colorless…" She kept looking around after teasing her cousin for some time and frowned. "I thought you'd get a bigger house Syaoran. Did auntie see this place before you bought it?"
Sakura laughed at Meiling's answer.
"She hasn't, but this is the place Sakura and I liked so this is the one I bought." Syaoran said in a tone that expressed this was the end of this conversation. After going through so much work convincing Sakura to decide on a house, he was certain he didn't want to go through that pain again. It truly made him wonder if going to the mall was still the number one least favorite thing to do with his girlfriend or choosing a house had suddenly this year taken that number one slot. If not, it was definitely a worthy runner up…
Meiling stared at him but didn't say anything else.
Sakura frowned at Meiling's question and made a note-to-self on asking her later what that was all about if Syaoran didn't say anything about it. After listening to Meiling, she was certain there was something Syaoran hadn't told her about the whole house hunting deal. Earlier in the week they had chose this house and right now, after seeing her boyfriend cut off his cousin the way he did, seemed to her that there was something about the subject that perhaps he had 'conveniently' missed in mentioning.
"The view during the day is amazing. That's what we liked about it." Sakura added to clear the air a little. "It's not so big but it's also not too small either. It has seven rooms which for us I think it's enough. I don't think we need more than that, unless you need more than that." She looked at Syaoran waiting for his answer.
"It's plenty, babe." He said while passing by her and walking towards the bar. "Do you guys want anything to drink while we wait for Eriol and Tomoyo?"
Kyu nodded to his offer while looking around. "You guys did good. I like the place."
"Let me help you with the drinks." Meiling quickly said following towards the bar.
Sakura followed Meiling with her eyes before smiling at Kyu. "I'm glad you like the place. Syaoran did mention you guys lived closed by?"
He nodded. "In the other street, though we don't have the view entirely to this side. Our view takes part of this one but only half. The other half goes towards the small town below. Meiling wanted a bigger house so when Choi put this one as an alternative we didn't even take a look at it."
"Ah, it still must be a nice beautiful view." She said even though her mind was somewhere else right now.
"It is." He nodded.
~ o ~
Syaoran walked around the bar and put four wine glasses on top of the wooden countertop. He turned to look for a good red wine bottle since he knew Sakura loved those. Choosing a Spanish wine, he turned around and opened the bottle. Looking up, he saw Meiling approaching but didn't stop from pouring each glass with the wine.
"Really Syaoran, only seven rooms?" she asked in a low voice so that only he could hear as she waited on Syaoran to fill in the last two glasses of wine.
"Drop it Meiling. She liked this one and I did too. End of story." He simply said. In his mind there was no reason as to why he had to explain anything to her.
As in the past, he had always been private when it came to his relationship with Sakura and getting this house was something he wanted to do with her. For him, it brought a sense of comfort… a feeling of acceptance. After countless nights arguing this issue even over the phone she had finally accepted the fact that as a man he liked to take care of her this way and this was not something he was going to share with his cousin or with anyone. The rest of the world didn't need to know about whatever they decided or did inside their relationship. These things belonged to them.
"It is not. You know if auntie doesn't like it when she comes visit you they can pull you in any time they want. Living according to their standards has always been part of your agreement." Meiling said in the same low tone of voice she had used before.
"Seven rooms are enough for them to stay here. Don't worry about it. Besides, the house looks quite elegant. Mother knows better." He said.
Meiling shook her head and sighed. "You better be right. Have you told her already?"
Syaoran sternly looked at Meiling. "I have not and you will not mention this again. When I'm ready to tell her, I will."
Meiling looked at him and shook her head not agreeing to any of this but at the same time not crossing him with his decision. This truly had been the end of discussion. She knew not to keep up any of this conversation after receiving that look from him. She suddenly switched her face and smiled as she carried two glasses on her hand and gave one to her fiancé. She waited for Syaoran to give the other glass to Sakura before raising her glass. "To friends never parting again."
They all raised their glasses before drinking from them.
~ o ~
After Eriol and Tomoyo arrived they left to find a nice place to eat dinner in town. The streets were full of people walking around casually from side to side. 'It's a nice change of scenery' Sakura thought while comparing the streets of China where a lot of cars transited the streets along with the people. In here, as she looked around she found many expensive cars parked on sidewalks. Many women were wearing very nice dresses instead of casual clothing which made her wonder if her casual white dress was fit to attend any of these restaurants at all.
Syaoran, who in contrast to her never cared much for these things, found a parking spot near some restaurant. He got out of his car and opened the door for Sakura to walk out. They waited for his friends as they parked neared him as well. He intertwined his fingers with hers and led her to the sidewalk.
"Where do you want to eat?" Kyu asked.
"Let's just walk around and see what we decide." He answered.
They waited for Eriol and Tomoyo to join them and then started walking through the streets. As usual, Meiling and Kyu led the way since she had always been curious as to everything that surrounded her. She stopped at almost every little restaurant to read the menu posted in the windows of the restaurants.
Sakura started to go a little slower to enjoy the different aspects of the town and to get a better chance at talking to Syaoran on her own while following her friends as well. Although she enjoyed going out all as friends, she wanted to talk to Syaoran before letting this go. "Are you going to tell me about your secret stare between your cousin and you earlier in the house?" she asked in a low tone so that only he would hear. It wasn't hard as the rest of their friends were submerged in finding the right place to eat.
He chuckled. "You noticed? What do you want to know?"
She kept swinging their intertwined hands before sweetly answering. "How about why she looked so nervous when she found out the house only had seven rooms?"
He turned his face to look at her trying to memorize each and every second he was living with her. He didn't want her to go back but he couldn't say that too her. Walking through the streets with her only confirmed to him that he wasn't ready to let her go back and yet there was nothing he could do about it. "My mother stays over when she comes visit me to watch the games. She has always love big houses as you know full well after visiting them countless of times in China."
She stared at him. "Is that all there is to it?"
He smiled at her before pulling her closer. "Meiling is just worried as always but there's nothing to worry about. She'll love the house when she sees it. I'm sure of it." He kissed her temple as they kept walking behind the rest of their friends.
"You know what I was thinking?" she asked.
He smiled at her. "I'm listening."
"Maybe when I come back we can do a house warming party. You know… just a couple of friends. Nothing too big, no reporters, just a nice house-warming party between friends."
"That's not a bad idea. I can at last introduce you as my official girlfriend."
She frowned. "Were you not introducing me as that already?"
He smirked. "Last time I believe you introduced yourself to… one of my teammates, was it?"
She chuckled and pushed him away. "I was defending your place in my life so that doesn't count!"
He laughed.
"What's going on back there?" Kyu asked from up front.
"My official girlfriend has the idea of doing a house warming party when she comes back next time." Syaoran said still smiling.
"Oh, I love parties! I'm all up for it." Meiling quickly said.
"Will you be here?" Eriol asked.
Meiling did as if she was thinking about it and said "I believe so. I don't have anything so far but will ask just in case. I'll tell Carli to leave the date open." She winked at him.
"Well, if everybody's here then I guess we can do one." Syaoran said.
"Ah…" Eriol sarcastically sighed. "The joyfulness of having you back with a girlfriend."
"Shut it, Eriol" Syaoran quickly said.
"Thank you for bringing him back to normal human standards." Eriol joked out loud enough for all of them to hear as the rest of them laughed about it.
~ o ~
They had finally found an Italian place in one of the streets which they decided to try and resulted in being one of the best pasta restaurants they had ever tried only beaten by the real pasta restaurants in Italy. The consistency of the food and the flavor of the sauces were a perfect combination for this evening topped only by their famous Italian sorbet ice creams which gave them that final fulfillment to this improvised night out with friends. After having fun for the night and saying goodbye to their friends, they went back home a little more tired than they had expected but content to be able to spend their time with their friends. It was a rare occasion when the six of them could be together in one place because of everyone's schedule therefore they needed to take advantage of the time it happened in a heartbeat.
"Normal human standards… I'll never forget that." She chuckled from her side of bed. They had stayed talking for almost two hours now after coming back from their little street walking. Today had been a wonderful day only opaque by her having to leave early in the morning but she didn't want to think about that yet. She wanted to treasure each and every minute she had next to him.
He rolled his eyes. "You can ignore my cousin. He's usually wrong when it comes to these things."
She smirked. "Really…? I seriously doubt that. Eriol has always been the honest sincere type."
He scoffed feigning innocence. "What does that makes me then?"
She laughed. "The hot sexy one with no consideration for women's hearts whatsoever."
He chuckled. "Mind you, I care for yours."
She raised her brow at him. "I'm your 'official' girlfriend. You better care for mine."
He chuckled and caressed her face. "I don't want to go to sleep."
She smiled. "You have practice tomorrow early in the morning and in the afternoon. You're back to full day pre-season training baby."
He smirked. "I'm a standard normal human being now according to my cousin. I have every right of not desiring to go to sleep tonight."
She rolled her eyes. Leave it to him to twist her words conveniently to fit his needs. "I'm curious, what exactly did you do before that you were not considered normal?"
He opened his eyes sarcastically and nodded. "That's exactly my point!"
She nudged him on his shoulder and laughed. "You do know. Are you so embarrassed of the way you were that you don't want me to find out?"
"I'm not embarrassed of anything. I just don't see anything wrong with how I was. You know… or still am. I don't consider myself a changed man just because I have a girlfriend now."
She sarcastically smiled from one end of her lips and frowned. "Really?"
"Really" he confidently confirmed.
She continued with her sarcastic tone already knowing what to aim for. "So… this whole cabin idea weekend before the World Cup that your friends were so dreadfully careful on how to ask you for it, you would've actually asked your mother for it even if I hadn't shown up in your life?" she smirked as she asked.
He coyly smiled but didn't say anything.
Boasting in on her victory she playfully said "Mmm… I do believe baby this is part of what your friends were talking about. You know… girlfriend version vs no girlfriend version of you."
He chuckled. "Can I ask you something?"
"Didn't you just do?" she quickly asked.
"Smartass" he chuckled as she cuddled closer to him. He put his arm around her holding her as he felt her hand around his waist. "When did you stop loving Jun?"
She looked up to stare at him. It was an odd question coming from him. "Are you curious of an exact time or is there anything in specific you want to find out?"
"Both."
She hesitated a little before saying "I don't know when exactly… or where… or if I ever did love him to begin with… It's a total different feeling."
"I would've kissed you that night at the pool if it wasn't for Eriol."
She softly smiled at his small confession. "You would've kissed me at the bonfire as well if I hadn't walked away."
He smiled and kissed her temple. "True, I would have."
She closed her eyes and smiled enjoying the smell of his skin. She would definitely miss this when going back to China tomorrow.
~ o ~
The next morning he had taken Sakura to the airport for the first flight available before heading to practice. He had spent the night thinking how this moment would go since he was so adamant in letting her go. After spending hours trying to prepare himself mentally to say goodbye to her, he had done everything he had imagined in his mind he would do. He kissed her, he hugged her, then watched her disappear after going through the security check. Then he walked back towards his car and sat on the driver's seat with the feeling of uncertainty once more. He felt as if a part of him was leaving though he had to remember it would only be for three more weeks. The saying 'first cut is the deepest' came to his mind as he started his car and drove towards the stadium. Hopefully this whole saying goodbye to her for three weeks would get better with time.
The day had gone by in a torturous way. After his second practice was done he went home to a cold house already missing the enthusiasm of his girlfriend greeting him when he walked through the door. He looked up to the ceiling and took a deep breath. He needed to conquer this. Suddenly his phone rang and although he knew it was not possible that it was her, the ring startled him. He looked at the caller ID and saw the name of Eriol on the screen.
"Hey!" he answered.
"What are you up to?"
"I just got home."
"Come over! We're having some drinks and enjoying the pool."
Perfect timing! He needed to get out as soon as possible from his house. "Let me grab my stuff and go."
"Okay! See you here!"
~ o ~
Eriol hung up the phone and looked at his fiancé's hopeful face.
"Well? Is he coming?" she asked.
He nodded. "Thank you for this." He said as he hugged her.
She smiled. "I can only imagine how hard it must be for him. I still remember how hard it was for us and you're not as impatient or anxious as he is."
Eriol smirked. "He sounds as if he was actually glad that I called."
She chuckled putting her hands around his waist. "Ah… Syaoran with girlfriend."
"Do you think I should do bbq as well?" he asked.
Tomoyo looked at her watch which read noon. "Might as well. Soon it will be dinner and Sakura won't be arriving in China till probably after six. Which means, knowing your cousin, he will probably be anxious for the rest of the day until he knows she arrived safely."
Eriol chuckled. "I'll get the grill ready."
"Before that, I left you the seating chart for the wedding reception ready. Take a look at it and let me know if it's okay with you. The wedding coordinator asked me to confirm the list by next month so we can do any changes we want until then." Tomoyo said.
Eriol nodded. "Okay."
~ o ~
First trip out of many was finally over. She had to admit taking the flight back had been harder than she thought but she resisted the urge of thinking too much of it. This was something they both had talked about and to be perfectly honest she needed it as well. Being too attached to Syaoran in the past had cost her dearly something she was hopefully expecting to be different this time. Eleven and a half hours on the air had been enough for her to catch up on most of her work or at least the ones which were to be discussed later today with the president.
As soon as her plane arrived she took a cab home. Tired wouldn't even begin to describe the way she felt after being so long in the air. It was a little over midnight in Hong Kong when she heard her phone ringing. With a smile on her face, she picked up.
"Hey babe! You arrived in China well?"
"I'm here. You caught me on my way to my house. Are you getting out of practice?" she asked.
"No, I'm at Eriol's house. He did some bbq and we started to watch a game afterwards. I thought you would call me once you got in." he said from his end. "I miss you."
She smiled and chuckled. "Well you didn't give me much of a chance to call you. I still haven't arrived home."
"How was your flight?"
"Tiring, I'm totally exhausted and I have a meeting tomorrow morning. I will probably have bags under my eyes. It's almost one over here."
He chuckled. "Were you at least able to prepare for tomorrow's meeting?"
"I was. At least that's a comfort. Right now all I want to do is get home, shower and go to bed. I'm beat."
"I hope you scheduled thinking of me as well. You have no idea how much I'm missing you already."
She smiled softly biting her lip in silence for a minute and gratefully sighed when she saw her house from a distance. There were so many things she wanted to reply to him right now but she knew it wasn't the right place to do so. "I just got home. Give me a minute until I get inside and I will call you back."
"Okay." He said.
"Just a minute." She repeated to be certain he wouldn't take it the wrong way. She loved talking to him but she was a strong believer of knowing there were things that were meant only for his ears to hear. There were many things that perhaps they didn't agree on but this was the one thing that they did do agree on every time no matter how much time they had spent in the past away from each other.
~ o ~
The next morning everything went back to the usual. She woke up, run a little in the morning to lose her muscles, stopped to get some coffee at Koi's Café on her way to the office and once in she walked straight to the conference room. Her assistant was already waiting for her with an empty seat right besides her. She smiled at her and handed her one of the coffees she had bought at the coffee shop around the corner. It was always her custom to make her assistants feel comfortable with her and she found this was a good way to start. Her assistant thanked her and she nodded before taking her iPad out for the meeting.
"Good Morning everyone." Xian said as he entered the conference room and his secretary closed the door after he walked in. "Sakura, I see you're back from your trip. Welcome back." He reached his seat at the end of the large rectangular table and sat down comfortable before turning his smiling face to the rest of the property managers on the room. "Well, let's start hearing the new advances by project number. Lea, how's your restaurant coming up?"
As Sakura watched the way her boss started all of his meetings she took the chance of looking around the room. The news of her dating Syaoran hadn't gone well with a lot of property managers and developers in the company especially the women. Rumors started arising after the tournament ended and by now, with Syaoran's constant star status and non ending publicity from many media sources, it had been impossible to contain the news. Everybody in the company knew she was dating the president's son who also happened to be the hottest athlete in China.
After everyone gave their updates on their projects the meeting ended and each of the property managers including Sakura dispersed to their corresponding offices. Yelan followed her husband to his office before closing the door after getting in. "I don't like the change in chemistry we're having in the company since she started dating our son."
Xian scoffed and sat down before looking at his conniving wife with a smile on his face. "That's not something we can decide for him Yelan."
She stared at him not finding any joy in having this conversation. "You once asked me if I thought Xiefa was ready to run this office without Sakura. My answer is no and I don't think she'll ever be. You trained Sakura like you should've trained your own daughter. The looks on that meeting confirmed something I started dreading since that night you asked me. Sakura has too much influence over this company Xian and you took care of that."
Xian's smile started to fade. "You're being serious about this?"
"You think I'm joking?" she simply asked.
He paused to think. Having Yelan against this meant trouble. His wife was not known for quietly staying still when she didn't like something. "I thought you were happy with this Yelan. I finally got my son coming back home from time to time. I'm definitely not opposing this."
Yelan stared at her husband. "Then you decide to doom this company after so much life and time invested on it?"
"I don't see where this company could be doomed just because our son decided he wants to date Sakura once more." He said with the same seriousness he used when doing business with anyone.
"Then you're a fool if you can't see it Xian. That girl has our son wrapped up on her fingers. Your dream of keeping this company in your bloodline will end with just the name being the only thing that stays. And that's even if the company it's still standing by then. The way I see it now, her relationship with our son is hurting her reputation inside the company as well. Instead of the management and development company we so hard tried to build, I'm afraid it will end up being a soap opera of YOUR assistant dating our son." She accentuated the word 'your' so he understood well what she was getting at.
Xian narrowed his eyes after listening to his wife's words. He stood up from his desk and slowly walked to her. "Doing something against her Yelan will put our son against us." He warningly said.
Yelan didn't back down from her husband's stare. "I'm still opposing this for the sake of our company and our son. If she hurts him, she will find out who I truly am."
He watched as his wife turned around and left his office before sighing. It was no close secret that her favorite child had always been Syaoran. She loved all her kids the same but when it came to Syaoran she would always bend more than with the rest. Yet this time he feared his wife's wrath was totally misplaced. The way he had seen his son with Sakura, touching her would be a big mistake and for some reason he knew eventually he would have to take care of it if his wife didn't back down from this.
His office intercom sounded with the voice of his secretary taking him out of his train of thoughts, "Mr. Li, your son is on line one."
He smiled. "Pass him through." He said as he walked back to his desk. He would figure out a way of dealing with his wife later.
~ o ~
Sakura walked towards her office with her things in hand and noticed she had a visitor waiting outside talking animatedly with one of the secretaries in the office. Unlike her boyfriend when he came into the office to meet his father, Jun was wearing a silver tie which perfectly matched his navy blue business suit. She noticed his pants weren't as wide as they had been before. Had he lost some weight in a couple of weeks? They're last meeting had been a quick one. Since it had been in his apartment she hadn't wanted to dwell more than she did just in case she had been followed by any noisy reporter. Nowadays she had to be careful of every little movement she made considering her situation had changed drastically after the Cup.
"Jun, you're here already?" she looked at her assistant before turning her gaze to Senator's Eli's son. "I thought our appointment was in thirty minutes."
He took notice of her and smiled. "It is. I wanted to be early for this appointment."
"Mmm." She turned her gaze from him towards her assistant. She had wanted to have a little bit of time to talk to Syaoran once she was out of the meeting but apparently that wasn't going to happen. "Do you have the engineering plans on hand?"
Michi nodded. "They are waiting on your desk."
Sakura nodded. She turned towards Jun before saying "please come in. I wanted to talk to you about some things regarding your project."
Jun followed her and allowed her assistant to close the door after getting inside. He watched as she took an envelope from her desk and opening it took out its content. She walked towards her couch and sat there while setting the papers one by one into the small table in front of her. "Is it safe to assume that you've picked our project to develop it?"
She stared at him. "It's safe to assume your project has an advantage over the rest of the proposals I've received yet there's nothing certain about it yet. I need to know how much free reign you're allowing or giving me to make decisions based on what comes along the way."
He nodded. He walked towards her and sat down in the couch in front of her. "We want you to take care of everything from the development all the way to introducing it into the market."
"I have no problems with that. What I do have a problem right now is the way your architectural plans have this parking lot situated. When people go to a luxurious apartment they want to feel as if they are walking into a total different place than what they usually find everywhere else. Your complex must have that catching glamour glance from the moment your future residents enter into the parking lot through the moment they decide to leave every morning. Which means it is not practical to have this parking lot where it is situated right now. We need a more open space that will allow your residents to have and easy in and out way to and from the complex."
"So you want us to buy another acre just for space?"
"No. Everything is on the way it is drawn. If you look at these engineering pictures there is enough space in this area to have the parking lot you need."
"That's where we thought we would be putting the pool." Jun said.
Sakura shook her head. "The pool in this area is too exposed to the outside every day traffic. Either the pool goes inside the complex or another way of doing it is on the roof which is where I think it would be best considering the area around looks very nice at night. A night bar could easily set the mood for a nice relaxing day and night at the pool."
Jun swallowed. "I would have to take the changes back to the partners and see what they think before confirming anything but… don't you think you're changing the entire concept?"
Sakura looked at him. "This is why I said nothing is for certain yet. I need to know how much free reign you and your partners are letting me have to make these sort of decisions or changes. I don't mind you discussing it with your other partners, this is your project after all, but I do need to know how much they are willing to change it if I make a suggestion based on my experience."
"We don't want to change our entire concept Sakura. I mean, I'm pretty sure they won't mind a thing or two if it needs to be done but we all like our concept. It is the reason we all agreed to open a partnership and invest in it." He carefully said completely aware that having Sakura already choosing their project was a big accomplishment in itself.
"And I totally agree with you. I don't wish to change the entire concept of it. The concept will stay the same as I do like the whole project as a whole. I like what I read about the fresh concept you want to create but this is something I feel like you can't give up in order to have that concept you want. When you want to create a luxurious apartment complex is similar to developing a luxurious hotel for me. You have to always keep in mind the kind of guests you will be receiving in it, otherwise you would be creating your hotel for ghost guests because no one will pay enough money to be in a hotel they don't consider fulfill their needs or wants. The same concept applies to your luxurious apartment complex. You need to be mindful of the type of residents you want living in it. Your complex needs to be up to their standards in order to work." She sighed and stood up. "So, if you want, take my changes back to your partners and ask them if they are okay with it along with my concerns of not changing the architectural plans for this and let me know what they're decision is but I will say this to you Jun, if they don't wish to change the pool and the parking lot my other option would be to pass your project along to another of our property developers inside the company who would help you with your project just as it is."
"Don't you think you're being a little unfair if we don't want to change one thing?" Jun asked.
Sakura calmly shook her head. "I am giving you a heads up based on our past relationship Jun. If you talk to anyone I have developed projects for, they will all say the same thing. I've had their approval for free reign when developing and none of them have lived to regret their decision. In fact, I keep getting too many requests to develop and manage projects. Some of them even include that as part of their proposal to make them seem more appealing to me. Now, I'm telling you I like the fresh concept you describe in your proposal but the way I see this is you have the concept and the idea but as a property developer my instinct draws from that to create and help my client achieve what they want the correct way."
A soft smile started to appear on his face. "I've never heard you this passionate about something before. I mean, I always knew you were passionate about your work I just never heard you talking about it like this."
A tremor ran through her. That little voice on the back of her head that had tried to warn her 'this was a mistake' suddenly sounded louder than before for some reason. I mean, there shouldn't be anything wrong with accepting this deal, right? She had talked to Syaoran about it and they were good. He had told her to do this project. Even though they argued about it he had accepted it in the end. "This is strictly business Jun."
"I know." he cleared his throat before adding, "don't get me wrong. I know it is just business. I just… this is a side of you I had heard from others but never took care of finding out when I had the chance. But don't mind me I know it is strictly business between us right now."
She stared at him long enough before noticing her phone lighted up with an incoming call. It was her boyfriend. She stared at the phone long enough to watch the light fade once the call went to voicemail before she looked at Jun once again. "That been said, let Michi know of your decision. She'll make sure to give it to me."
He nodded. "Thank you. I will have a meeting with the rest of my partners and will get back to you."
She nodded and walked him towards the door. Opening it, she let him out before turning towards her assistant. "When's my next appointment?"
"In about an hour." Michi replied.
She waited for Jun to be out of hearing range before saying, "Please forward the client list to my office once more."
Michi looked at her. "I thought you had decided."
"Have it sent to my personal email as well and no interruptions until my next appointment." With that being said, Sakura closed the door and walked back towards her desk. She immediately took her phone out and dialed his number.
"Hey love!" she smiled as she greeted.
"Did the meeting with my father lasted this long? I can always talk to him to ease his talking time." He asked her already knowing the answer. He had just finished talking with his father a couple of minutes ago before he called her.
She chuckled. "No. I walked out of your father's meeting and had a client already waiting."
A client… This long distance relationship was going to be harder than he thought. "How was the meeting? Were you able to sleep last night? You shouldn't be working if you're tired."
She smiled. "Let's see… the meeting was long but productive. I was able to sleep last night a little before opening my iPad and start working again because I was still behind on some of my work." She hesitated before adding "and work helps to keep me from thinking about other things." The truth of the matter was that after getting home she hadn't been able to sleep at all. She talked to Syaoran on the phone for about half an hour before taking a bath and trying to sleep but sleep never found her. As tired as she was, she kept turning over and over until she gave up and started working once more.
He stayed silent in his end after hearing her words. He knew it wouldn't be easy from what he was told by his friends but living it was another entire different feeling. Going through it was totally different than hearing about it and as much hardship as he was having with it he had forgotten to account for her feelings. Sakura had always been good at hiding her feelings whenever she didn't wanted to confront them. He closed his eyes and softly said, "I can always quit and go home."
She chuckled. "That's not an option. Are you getting ready for practice?"
And that was all he was getting from her on her feelings accepting the long distance relationship with him. He knew asking her over the phone was pointless. The only way he could get something like this out of her was talking to her face to face. "Yeah. You know yesterday it felt different. I think we're finally getting to a comfortable way of playing with each other which is good. Are you coming to our first game in two weeks?"
"I don't think so. I just came back from England and your first game is away. Plus I have to take care of the competition development."
He wanted her there but he understood she had her life. It was the first thing she had told him when they decided to get back together. She wanted to keep having her life whether she was with him or not. He could only support her even though he truly did want her there that first game. "It's okay. I just didn't know if you were coming or not."
She heard a little disappointment on his voice and quickly added "but I'll be there for the week after for your first home game just like we planned."
They kept talking on the phone as usual though she got the feeling he was holding back on his real thoughts about her not being able to attend his first season game. Before, he would voice his disappointment and they would end up fighting about it. Now, she wasn't sure if she preferred the way he used to voice his thoughts before or him trying to hold them back just like he had just done over the phone. She knew he was trying really hard to accept this part of her but at the same time it made her feel a little guilty. She wanted to have her things, she wanted to be independent, she wanted to keep working the way she was doing it right now but at the same time she wanted him in her life and that implied taking care of his needs as well. She started realizing that trying to balance her life with his was becoming a little difficult and they were just starting this long-distance relationship.
Author's note: So, chapter 3 is done! Yeiiii : ) I wanted to upload this sooner, but wasn't able to. I was out of the country for two weeks and just came back. World Cup is just around the corner now. I'm curious, who are you rooting for this year?