Chapter 5
It was raining now. Quatre was out getting groceries, but now that the outside market was closing, there was no point in staying. He was on his way home with the usual angelic look on his face. It was a terrible downpour. As he was just turning a corner, along the side of the sidewalk, he heard the echo of running footsteps. His curiosity caught hold of him and he turned his head to see who was in such a hurry. It was a young woman with brown hair and wearing patched jeans and a short brassiere. Her brown hair had come loose from a ponytail that was now history. She seemed to be running from someone. She wasn't looking where she was going and tripped over something in the alley she was running down. Quatre caught her just in time and she looked like she was about ready to faint. Judging by her features, she was very beautiful, but those features were flushed. She had a fever. A loud crashing sound down the alley caught his attention and he said a raving drunk tripping his way towards them. Quatre glanced around and saw his car that was parked further down the street. He picked up the young woman, even though she protested some, but was too tired and sick to do any real damage. He managed to get to his car, put the young woman inside and get into his other side. The drunk looked around after he had managed to come out of the alley way and saw the car with two people in it. Quatre tried to start the car desperately, but it sputtered several times. The drunk was closer now. Quatre swore, which was a rare occasion. Finally, the engine roared into life and he was down the street with the mad drunk shaking his fist after the car. After getting further away, Quatre glanced over at the young woman.
"May I ask where you live so I can drop you off with someone who can take care of you?" The young woman was leaning on her hand, as if she had a headache.
"Just drop me off at the slums. I work there. Where I live, you won't want to go." Quatre knew where she was living and frankly, he didn't really care at this point.
"Where do you live?" he said firmly. The young woman looked slightly surprised and blurted out the address. Quatre changed directions and headed out for the slums.
"By the way, my name is Quatre."
"Cathy… Cathy Bloom, but friends just call me Sweets."
"So how did you get hooked up with a guy like that?" She didn't seem to want to tell him.
"Well, he must have recognized me and decided he would walk me home." Quatre heard the irony of it.
"We were on the way down to the slums when I found out he was a lot drunker than he looked. I took off and he started after me. Candy had taken me to a bar to meet some friends she had just met and I was already running a fever at the time. I didn't realize it until right when I was about to leave." Quatre nodded in understanding and the ride to the slums was silent. Finally, they reached the doors, which Cathy indicated. Quatre helped Cathy out of the car and that was when about four or five prostitutes ran out from the building. Several ran straight for Cathy and began to take her inside. From above, several others were looking down on him with interest. He chose to ignore them and concentrate on the young woman standing in front of him at that moment.
"I was wondering if you could tell me what happened to my friend." Her gaze was apprehensive and Quatre knew she was only defending her friend, but who was defending her? She had bruises up and down her arms and even a blue mark on her delicate cheekbone.
"She did not feel inclined in taking a man home with her. He was drunk and I took it upon myself to bring her home. As far as I know, that drunk could be downtown raving away at a lamppost right now." The young woman smiled.
"Thank you for doing that. All of them hate it when drunks come around." Quatre rethought what she had said and found that there was something strange in the way she said it.
"Don't you hate it as well?" She gave him an amused look.
"Not me. My part of this business is a lot better. The more drunks, the more customers. It's known throughout the business that I'm the one to come to if you're drunk or a little bit irritated. I sooth it right out of you." Quatre gave her an incredulous look. Dorothy saw it and put her hands on her hips with agitation.
"What? It's not like I'm being murdered. Besides, it's normal for a person to get a little bruised up." Quatre's look didn't change.
"It's… not normal. People don't beat the other while they… make love." Quatre blushed a deep red at his statement and turned his head towards the building. He saw that several young women in the building were staring at him and he blushed again, turning his head down towards the road.
"You've never been in this part of town. Have you?" He shook his head. Dorothy took pity on him and placed a small hand on his shoulder. For such a strong man, he was almost boyish, in a bashful kind of way. His blue eyes slowly came up and he looked at her understanding gaze. She smiled amusedly and turned away.
"Come on. I'm going to change my clothes now. We can have a cup of coffee and talk for a while until Cathy is taken care of." At Quatre's hesitation, she smiled a little and soothed his uncomfortable feelings. "Don't worry, I won't jump you." She led the way into the building and seeing that he didn't have much other of a choice, Quatre followed.
"Mr. Chang, a young woman is here for the interview for the job." Wufei didn't even look up at the voice coming from the door. He just grumbled that the young woman be brought in to his office. He was concentrating on the accounts that sat in front of him. Someone sat down in front of him, waiting patiently. He made no move to acknowledge her. She wiggled in her chair, to get comfortable. After several long minutes, she spoke up.
"Excuse me, Mr. Chang…"
"Yes, yes you're here for the job."
"Yes, and…"
"Listen, I have no time to be interviewing a woman," he said the last with disgust and disdain. The young woman was of course offended, but she held her tongue.
"I was thinking that…"
"Well, do the world a favor and don't think. It's bad enough that women think that they can take over all the jobs men should hold." She held her tongue a little longer.
"Mr. Chang…"
"Are you planning on just sitting there? It's clear that I do not wish to give the job to you."
"Mr. Chang, I was hoping that you would be willing to at least look at my criteria and recommendations."
"Leave them on my desk and leave then." Wufei did not once look up from his paperwork. The young woman's patience was growing thin at this point.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Chang, but I find that your attitude is rather revolting." That caught his attention and his eyes shot up to stare into an amber pair of eyes. She was a beautiful young woman with dark hair. She wore a business suit. A navy blue skirt, a blouse and jacket with navy high heels. Wufei's eyes narrowed at the challenge that she held in her eyes.
"Would you mind repeating yourself, Miss…" he glanced at her files. "De Lowen." Her eyes narrowed as well.
"I think you heard me correctly. Your rudeness I find absolutely vulgar and I would prefer to take my recommendations somewhere else." She snatched up her files. "I think that if you are ever to be able to hire anyone, you should change your attitude."
"Excuse me!" cried Wufei outraged. "Who are you to say such blasphemy?" She cynically smirked over at him.
"I have met many people before and few have I ever met that treated me as such or anyone as a matter of fact."
"You are speaking loosely."
"As were you a few moments ago. Really, a grown man should know better. Didn't your mother ever teach you to be nicer?" she said with annoyance. Wufei glared.
"My mother died when I was 14 years of age," he said angrily. Any hope of sympathy was lost on her.
"All the worse for you!" she said slamming her files back down on top of the desk. She met his eyes straight on. "I was pretty sure that anyone would have common sense of being polite to their possible employees or at least to strangers, BMr. Chang/B.
"You are a weak woman, why would I ever hire someone like you."
"You don't know if I'm really weak. You wouldn't know unless you actually made the effort to look. You'll see how 'weak' I am." Another cynical glare was sent directly at Wufei. He glared back and suddenly Miss de Lowen was stalking out the door.
Three days had passed by quickly. As it turned out, Dorothy and Quatre kept in touch, Wufei had ended up hiring Natria de Lowen, but found that he was constantly fighting with her, and Relena and Heero remained to lounge in their nights… and sometimes even days of love.
Relena smiled as the sun streamed into the room, which she shared with Heero. She turned and found that he was not there. She sighed and traced her fingers over the pillow, indented by Heero's head and his sleepless night with her. Smiling at the wonderful night, she got up and threw on a huge t-shirt and made her way down the hall. As she went downstairs, she found that she smelled coffee, eggs, and bacon. Food! She was starving. As she walked into the kitchen she found Heero already sitting at the table, sipping at his coffee and once again working on his accounts. She walked over and poured herself a cup of coffee and then filled up a plate of the prepared food. When she sat down, she put her feet up on a nearby chair and sipped from the hot mug. Her eyes remained on Heero. He felt her eyes on him and looked up and glanced at her every once in a while. Finally, he put down the pen he was writing with and looked at her square in the face.
"Yes?" he asked with his usual monotone voice, but he held a twinkle in his eyes. Relena grinned over her eggs, which she had not yet touched.
"Nothing, I just like looking at you. Has anyone ever told you how handsome you are in the morning?" she asked casually. Heero's eyebrows went up.
"No, I'm not told too often." Relena smiled.
"You're handsome in the morning." Relena turned to her eggs and bacon, which seemed to become very interesting. She could feel Heero's eyes wandering over her features and she smiled a little. Then he was getting up and lifting her into his arms.
"Am I really that handsome?" he asked with a smile. It took her breath away. She only nodded. Then suddenly, she sobered and she raised a hand to his cheek to caress it.
"God, I'll miss you so much when I have to leave," she said sadly. Heero automatically tensed and his grip on her tightened possessively.
"Then don't." Relena laughed cynically.
"It's not that easy. I can't stay here."
"Tell me why not? Give me one reason why you can't stay here." Relena felt panic well up in her. Oh god, she had done it. God no….
"It would never work out, first of all. I live in the states and I can't quit my job like that."
"You can transfer here." She was in love!
"I can't do that! Besides… you're still technically with my cousin."
"You think that after all this, I'm going to stay with her?"
"I didn't think so, no, but… you're talking about actually having a breal/b relationship and… and…" Relena stared up into his big Prussian eyes and she nearly melted. She didn't want to leave him. It would be so easy to stay here and just get lost in life for the rest of her days. Stop it! Don't even start to think down that road. You have before and you decided, Relena.
"And… there's just no way it would work." Heero was still holding her up and she was beginning to feel uncomfortable looking up at him from there, so she did the cowardly thing to do. She buried her face in his shoulder and refused to meet his eyes.
"I'm sorry. I can't."
"Is there anything I can do? I'll transfer to the states and…" Relena's eyes widened.
"You would do that for me?"
"Yes." No one seemed to show so much care for her in all her life and it pained her even more to have to tell him the hardest part.
"No."
"What?"
"No, you can't transfer to the states. Your life is here as well as your job and mine is on another continent. Our lives are completely different from each others and eventually we'd grow to grudge one another. So, Heero, I think this will end if not now then by tomorrow when my cousin returns." It nearly broke her heart when Heero's eyes saddened, but she felt shattered when he set her down gently and turned to the door of the kitchen. He turned his head slightly to speak.
"Then I guess this is the end of it." Relena stood silently, trying to will Heero back, but instead, she heard the car engine start and she was left alone in the house. Falling to her knees, she cried for the loss of her first and last love.
It was raining now. Quatre was out getting groceries, but now that the outside market was closing, there was no point in staying. He was on his way home with the usual angelic look on his face. It was a terrible downpour. As he was just turning a corner, along the side of the sidewalk, he heard the echo of running footsteps. His curiosity caught hold of him and he turned his head to see who was in such a hurry. It was a young woman with brown hair and wearing patched jeans and a short brassiere. Her brown hair had come loose from a ponytail that was now history. She seemed to be running from someone. She wasn't looking where she was going and tripped over something in the alley she was running down. Quatre caught her just in time and she looked like she was about ready to faint. Judging by her features, she was very beautiful, but those features were flushed. She had a fever. A loud crashing sound down the alley caught his attention and he said a raving drunk tripping his way towards them. Quatre glanced around and saw his car that was parked further down the street. He picked up the young woman, even though she protested some, but was too tired and sick to do any real damage. He managed to get to his car, put the young woman inside and get into his other side. The drunk looked around after he had managed to come out of the alley way and saw the car with two people in it. Quatre tried to start the car desperately, but it sputtered several times. The drunk was closer now. Quatre swore, which was a rare occasion. Finally, the engine roared into life and he was down the street with the mad drunk shaking his fist after the car. After getting further away, Quatre glanced over at the young woman.
"May I ask where you live so I can drop you off with someone who can take care of you?" The young woman was leaning on her hand, as if she had a headache.
"Just drop me off at the slums. I work there. Where I live, you won't want to go." Quatre knew where she was living and frankly, he didn't really care at this point.
"Where do you live?" he said firmly. The young woman looked slightly surprised and blurted out the address. Quatre changed directions and headed out for the slums.
"By the way, my name is Quatre."
"Cathy… Cathy Bloom, but friends just call me Sweets."
"So how did you get hooked up with a guy like that?" She didn't seem to want to tell him.
"Well, he must have recognized me and decided he would walk me home." Quatre heard the irony of it.
"We were on the way down to the slums when I found out he was a lot drunker than he looked. I took off and he started after me. Candy had taken me to a bar to meet some friends she had just met and I was already running a fever at the time. I didn't realize it until right when I was about to leave." Quatre nodded in understanding and the ride to the slums was silent. Finally, they reached the doors, which Cathy indicated. Quatre helped Cathy out of the car and that was when about four or five prostitutes ran out from the building. Several ran straight for Cathy and began to take her inside. From above, several others were looking down on him with interest. He chose to ignore them and concentrate on the young woman standing in front of him at that moment.
"I was wondering if you could tell me what happened to my friend." Her gaze was apprehensive and Quatre knew she was only defending her friend, but who was defending her? She had bruises up and down her arms and even a blue mark on her delicate cheekbone.
"She did not feel inclined in taking a man home with her. He was drunk and I took it upon myself to bring her home. As far as I know, that drunk could be downtown raving away at a lamppost right now." The young woman smiled.
"Thank you for doing that. All of them hate it when drunks come around." Quatre rethought what she had said and found that there was something strange in the way she said it.
"Don't you hate it as well?" She gave him an amused look.
"Not me. My part of this business is a lot better. The more drunks, the more customers. It's known throughout the business that I'm the one to come to if you're drunk or a little bit irritated. I sooth it right out of you." Quatre gave her an incredulous look. Dorothy saw it and put her hands on her hips with agitation.
"What? It's not like I'm being murdered. Besides, it's normal for a person to get a little bruised up." Quatre's look didn't change.
"It's… not normal. People don't beat the other while they… make love." Quatre blushed a deep red at his statement and turned his head towards the building. He saw that several young women in the building were staring at him and he blushed again, turning his head down towards the road.
"You've never been in this part of town. Have you?" He shook his head. Dorothy took pity on him and placed a small hand on his shoulder. For such a strong man, he was almost boyish, in a bashful kind of way. His blue eyes slowly came up and he looked at her understanding gaze. She smiled amusedly and turned away.
"Come on. I'm going to change my clothes now. We can have a cup of coffee and talk for a while until Cathy is taken care of." At Quatre's hesitation, she smiled a little and soothed his uncomfortable feelings. "Don't worry, I won't jump you." She led the way into the building and seeing that he didn't have much other of a choice, Quatre followed.
"Mr. Chang, a young woman is here for the interview for the job." Wufei didn't even look up at the voice coming from the door. He just grumbled that the young woman be brought in to his office. He was concentrating on the accounts that sat in front of him. Someone sat down in front of him, waiting patiently. He made no move to acknowledge her. She wiggled in her chair, to get comfortable. After several long minutes, she spoke up.
"Excuse me, Mr. Chang…"
"Yes, yes you're here for the job."
"Yes, and…"
"Listen, I have no time to be interviewing a woman," he said the last with disgust and disdain. The young woman was of course offended, but she held her tongue.
"I was thinking that…"
"Well, do the world a favor and don't think. It's bad enough that women think that they can take over all the jobs men should hold." She held her tongue a little longer.
"Mr. Chang…"
"Are you planning on just sitting there? It's clear that I do not wish to give the job to you."
"Mr. Chang, I was hoping that you would be willing to at least look at my criteria and recommendations."
"Leave them on my desk and leave then." Wufei did not once look up from his paperwork. The young woman's patience was growing thin at this point.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Chang, but I find that your attitude is rather revolting." That caught his attention and his eyes shot up to stare into an amber pair of eyes. She was a beautiful young woman with dark hair. She wore a business suit. A navy blue skirt, a blouse and jacket with navy high heels. Wufei's eyes narrowed at the challenge that she held in her eyes.
"Would you mind repeating yourself, Miss…" he glanced at her files. "De Lowen." Her eyes narrowed as well.
"I think you heard me correctly. Your rudeness I find absolutely vulgar and I would prefer to take my recommendations somewhere else." She snatched up her files. "I think that if you are ever to be able to hire anyone, you should change your attitude."
"Excuse me!" cried Wufei outraged. "Who are you to say such blasphemy?" She cynically smirked over at him.
"I have met many people before and few have I ever met that treated me as such or anyone as a matter of fact."
"You are speaking loosely."
"As were you a few moments ago. Really, a grown man should know better. Didn't your mother ever teach you to be nicer?" she said with annoyance. Wufei glared.
"My mother died when I was 14 years of age," he said angrily. Any hope of sympathy was lost on her.
"All the worse for you!" she said slamming her files back down on top of the desk. She met his eyes straight on. "I was pretty sure that anyone would have common sense of being polite to their possible employees or at least to strangers, BMr. Chang/B.
"You are a weak woman, why would I ever hire someone like you."
"You don't know if I'm really weak. You wouldn't know unless you actually made the effort to look. You'll see how 'weak' I am." Another cynical glare was sent directly at Wufei. He glared back and suddenly Miss de Lowen was stalking out the door.
Three days had passed by quickly. As it turned out, Dorothy and Quatre kept in touch, Wufei had ended up hiring Natria de Lowen, but found that he was constantly fighting with her, and Relena and Heero remained to lounge in their nights… and sometimes even days of love.
Relena smiled as the sun streamed into the room, which she shared with Heero. She turned and found that he was not there. She sighed and traced her fingers over the pillow, indented by Heero's head and his sleepless night with her. Smiling at the wonderful night, she got up and threw on a huge t-shirt and made her way down the hall. As she went downstairs, she found that she smelled coffee, eggs, and bacon. Food! She was starving. As she walked into the kitchen she found Heero already sitting at the table, sipping at his coffee and once again working on his accounts. She walked over and poured herself a cup of coffee and then filled up a plate of the prepared food. When she sat down, she put her feet up on a nearby chair and sipped from the hot mug. Her eyes remained on Heero. He felt her eyes on him and looked up and glanced at her every once in a while. Finally, he put down the pen he was writing with and looked at her square in the face.
"Yes?" he asked with his usual monotone voice, but he held a twinkle in his eyes. Relena grinned over her eggs, which she had not yet touched.
"Nothing, I just like looking at you. Has anyone ever told you how handsome you are in the morning?" she asked casually. Heero's eyebrows went up.
"No, I'm not told too often." Relena smiled.
"You're handsome in the morning." Relena turned to her eggs and bacon, which seemed to become very interesting. She could feel Heero's eyes wandering over her features and she smiled a little. Then he was getting up and lifting her into his arms.
"Am I really that handsome?" he asked with a smile. It took her breath away. She only nodded. Then suddenly, she sobered and she raised a hand to his cheek to caress it.
"God, I'll miss you so much when I have to leave," she said sadly. Heero automatically tensed and his grip on her tightened possessively.
"Then don't." Relena laughed cynically.
"It's not that easy. I can't stay here."
"Tell me why not? Give me one reason why you can't stay here." Relena felt panic well up in her. Oh god, she had done it. God no….
"It would never work out, first of all. I live in the states and I can't quit my job like that."
"You can transfer here." She was in love!
"I can't do that! Besides… you're still technically with my cousin."
"You think that after all this, I'm going to stay with her?"
"I didn't think so, no, but… you're talking about actually having a breal/b relationship and… and…" Relena stared up into his big Prussian eyes and she nearly melted. She didn't want to leave him. It would be so easy to stay here and just get lost in life for the rest of her days. Stop it! Don't even start to think down that road. You have before and you decided, Relena.
"And… there's just no way it would work." Heero was still holding her up and she was beginning to feel uncomfortable looking up at him from there, so she did the cowardly thing to do. She buried her face in his shoulder and refused to meet his eyes.
"I'm sorry. I can't."
"Is there anything I can do? I'll transfer to the states and…" Relena's eyes widened.
"You would do that for me?"
"Yes." No one seemed to show so much care for her in all her life and it pained her even more to have to tell him the hardest part.
"No."
"What?"
"No, you can't transfer to the states. Your life is here as well as your job and mine is on another continent. Our lives are completely different from each others and eventually we'd grow to grudge one another. So, Heero, I think this will end if not now then by tomorrow when my cousin returns." It nearly broke her heart when Heero's eyes saddened, but she felt shattered when he set her down gently and turned to the door of the kitchen. He turned his head slightly to speak.
"Then I guess this is the end of it." Relena stood silently, trying to will Heero back, but instead, she heard the car engine start and she was left alone in the house. Falling to her knees, she cried for the loss of her first and last love.