Disclaimer: Not mine.

Helpless 17

Surprise breakfast

Trunks waited until the car was out of sight before closing the door with a heavy thud. He opened a cupboard and took down the bottle of brandy he hadn't touched since the first day Marron had come to work for him.

Taking it with him, he made his way back to the couch and sank down on it. He uncorked the brandy and took a long swig from the bottle, screwing up his face when the fiery liquid hit his throat.

He sat for along time, trying not to think about anything except the rain pounding on the window and the wind whistling through the cracks in the roof.

Finally he set the bottle down and gazed moodily at the blank TV screen. He had to do something. He couldn't allow himself to lose control like that again. He had to put a stop to this right now, before Marron got the wrong idea.

If he could have foreseen this happening, he would have taken serious steps to prevent it right from the start. But how could he have possibly known that someone like Marron would take his world and turn it completely upside down?

Trunks groaned, and leaned his head in his hands. He had no choice. He had to stop it before it went any further. But how the hell was he going to do it?

He could simply let her go. Tell her he no longer had any use for her services. After all, it wouldn't be the first time he'd dealt with the problem that way.

Except that he didn't want to fire Marron. She hadn't done anything to deserve being fired. Unlike the others, she wasn't manipulative. Neither was she an opportunist, using underhanded methods to trap him like some of them did.

Marron was just Marron, and he couldn't fire he for being herself. Besides, it wouldn't look good on her record, and could affect her prospects for a better job. He couldn't let anything happen that would stand in the way of her dream.

He reached for the bottle again, and took another mouthful.

It had been simple enough with the others. She didn't have any experience. Her reaction to his kiss tonight had been genuine, heartfelt and totally unexpected. He hadn't realized, until that moment, that she was the least bit interested in him. Judging by the way she'd kissed him back tonight, he'd been way off on that score.

Knowing her as he did, she wouldn't just brush this whole thing off as a casual incident. She'd be horribly embarrassed for misreading his intentions.

She'd feel betrayed, humiliated and ashamed. He couldn't do that to Marron. He had to find a way to let her down gently. Or even better, he could give her a reason to dump him. That way she'd never have to know that he was aware of how she felt about him.

He frowned, trying to think what he could do that would make her want to leave. He could pile on so much work, drive her so hard she'd be exhausted by the end of the day and glad to get out of there.

No, that wouldn't work. She'd just try that much harder to keep up. It had to be something drastic. He's have to disillusion her somehow, enough for her to walk away and never look back.

Slowly he put the bottle down on the floor. He knew just how to go about it. It was the only way. She might not stay until the end of her contract, but at least it would be her decision, and if he had to manage without her for the last few days, well, it was no more than he deserved.

Feeling wearier than he ever remembered, Trunks got up from the couch and hobbled over to where his briefcase rested against the wall. He opened it and hunted until he found what he wanted.

Carrying the little black book with him, he went back to the couch, sat down and reached for the phone. He had a few calls to make, and he figured it would take him all evening. He flipped the book open on the first page, and jabbed out the number with his thumb.

Marron woke up with a start, wondering why her body seemed to be tingling with excitement. Then she remembered. Trunks had kissed her. It had been the most wonderful, beautiful, incredible thing that had ever happened to her.

What would her sisters say to her now? She thought, hugging herself with delight. Trunks Briefs- popular, handsome, rich Trunks Briefs - had actually kissed plain, dumpy little Marron Chestnut.

She lay still, thrilling again at the memory of his strong features, softened by a warm smile, as he brushed her cheek with his fingers. She'd misjudged him all this time, she thought, remembering how sweet and considerate he could be. He wasn't the kind of man who would use women and casually throw them away, as she'd believed.

He didn't even seem to miss his busy social life anymore, or his numerous women friends. Trunks Briefs was settling down, and for the first time, Marron could allow herself a glimmer of hope. Maybe, just maybe, he'd realist he could be content to settle for someone who could love him for a lifetime.

Excitement robbed her of her appetite, and she grabbed an apple on her way out the to the car. She was going to surprise Trunks, she decided. She'd cook him a great breakfast, then she'd take him out for a ride, maybe even to Gemini.

She hadn't told him she would be going over there today, so she hoped he hadn't already eaten breakfast. If he had it was probably nothing better than burned toast.

Smiling at the anticipation of the look on his face when he saw her, she drove to the grocery store and bought what she needed.

It seemed to be raining harder than ever when she pulled up at the mooring a little later. She could see the water was higher; it was almost up to the bottom of the ramp. The houseboat seemed to be sitting higher too.

Holding the two sacks of groceries, Marron made her way up to the door. The River Rat groaned and creaked, sounding even more agonizing than it had since the first day she'd seen it.

Marron thumped at the door twice with her knee, noticing as she did so that a length of the veranda had broken away and dangling in the water.

The door opened and Trunks looked at her, his hair mussed. His eyes widened when he saw her. "Marron! This is a nice surprise. What brings you out here today?"

"Don't you just love surprises?" She grinned at him and walked past him into the kitchen, where she dumped the sacks on the kitchen counter. "I hope you haven't eaten any breakfast yet."

He shook his head. "As a matter of fact, I just got out of bed.

She looked at him; concerned by the way he didn't seem to be able to meet her eyes. "Are you okay?"

"Just tired, I guess."

"You didn't sleep well again?"

"Off and on. I haven't had my bath yet."

"Well, you go ahead and take your bath while I'm cooking breakfast. We're having eggs Benedict today."

"Wow!"

He looked impressed and she smiled happily at him. She wanted so much to go up to him and put her arms around his neck. He'd imagined doing just that all the way over in the car, but now that she was actually standing in front of him, she felt shy and unsure of herself again.

Maybe it would be better to let him make the first move, she decided. She just hoped it wouldn't take him too long.

She was disappointed when he left the kitchen without even attempting to touch her. He'd just gotten up, she told herself. He'd be fine once he'd bathed and had something to eat. She knew from experience that Trunks was never at his best first thing in the morning.

She separated the egg yolks for the sauce and squeezed the lemon, then set the bowl aside while she cooked the bacon. After putting the bacon in the oven to keep warm, she stuck the English muffin halves in the toaster. All she had to do now was make the coffee, then, once Trunks came back from his bath, she could cook the sauce while the eggs were poaching.

Water splashed noisily into the coffeepot as she filled it, and she didn't hear the footsteps on the ramp. When a sharp rap sounded on the door she jumped so violently the water splashed out over her hand. Frowning, she stood the pot on the counter and went to open the door.

An elegant-looking woman stood there gazing at her with an astonished expression on her carefully made-up face. "Who are you?" She demanded, rather rudely, Marron thought.

"My name is Marron Chestnut," she said, her glance taking in the expensive red hairdo and the diamonds flashing in the woman's ears. He newcomer looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn't think where she'd seen her. She surely would have remembered meeting someone like this. The woman looked as is she belonged in a department store window.

Remembering her manners, Marron added politely, "Can I help you?"

Before the visitor could answer, Trunks spoke from behind Marron. "Ranko! It's so good to see you."

Ranko gave Marron a seething look, tossed her head and swept past her in a cloud of expensive perfume as if Marron were an annoying weed in her path.

Now Marron recognized her, and her heart sunk. It was the woman pictured in the newspaper article with Trunks.

"Trunks!" Ranko cried, giving him a hug. "How are you, you poor darling? No wonder no one has seen you about lately. Why didn't you tell me you were injured?" She looked down at his foot and uttered a little insincere gasp of horror. "Your poor foot, sweetie! It must be so painful. Never mind, darling, Ranko has come to take care of you, and the first thing we must do is to get you out of this dreadful hovel."

Marron looked at Trunks, hoping against hope that he would set this awful woman straight. Instead, to her intense dismay, he gave Marron a shrug of resignation, then kissed Ranko squarely and far too tenderly on her painted lips.

Steeped in misery, Marron watched the glamorous woman throw arms around Trunks' neck. She murmured something in his ear, then laughed - a sound that seemed to cut Marron right in two.

She turned, and made a big production of preparing the coffee. Trunks, she noticed, was wearing the new slacks and polo shirt he'd bought in Taurus. She felt a sharp pang of nostalgia at the memory.

Now that Marron thought about it, he hadn't seemed particularly pleased to see her when she'd arrived. He'd made it pretty clear he hadn't expected her. More than likely he was worried she'd interfere with his plans to entertain Ranko.

"This is Marron," Trunks said, sounding a little strained. "She's my temp. She's helping out until I can get back to work in the office."

He didn't have to sound as if he were apologizing for her being here, Marron thought, her resentment rising. She managed somehow to give Ranko a faint smile. "Nice to meet you," she lied.

Ranko gave her a look that could have frozen the entire river. "How terribly inconvenient for you, darling. Though I wasn't aware that temps worked on a Sunday."

Trunks cleared his throat, obviously uncomfortable. "Er. Marron was nice enough to offer to come over and cook me some breakfast. I'm not too proficient when it comes to dealing with a frying pan."

Ranko uttered her affected laugh. "Darling, what man is? But you should have asked me. I'd be happy to bring you something to eat. Or better still, I'll take you out to breakfast."

She gave a disparaging look around the inadequate kitchen. "Much better still," she murmured, her disgusted glance flicking over Marron as if she were personally responsible for the dilapidated state of the houseboat. "I can't imagine why you're hiding yourself away in such appalling conditions, darling. This place can't possibly be healthy for you."

Marron gritted her teeth. She'd thought much the same thing when she'd first seen the River Rat, but now the place had become endearingly familiar to her, and she felt compelled to defend her territory. "It's not as bad as it looks," she said, giving Trunks an accusing glare. "It's quite comfortable for one person actually."

"Really." Ranko looked at her as if she had committed a crime by speaking. She spun around to face Trunks and put her hands possessively on his chest. "Darling, do let's get out of here. Let me drive you out to The Shire, and we can have breakfast and champagne in one of those cozy little nooks overlooking the river. I really can't breathe in all this filth."

Marron resented that. She really resented that. She'd gone through the entire house and there wasn't one corner that hadn't been thoroughly cleansed.

Trunks must have noticed her mutinous scowl. He gave her a helpless, apologetic look that made her want to hit him. "Well, I don't really like to waste food-"

"It won't be wasted," Marron said, her voice as brittle as the eggshells lying in the sink. "I'll take care of it. You go ahead. I'll just clear up here before I leave."

"Okay, if you're sure?"

"I'm sure."

She barely looked up as Trunks said goodbye to her. Ranko was already out the door, one hand hovering to assist him as he swung outside on his crutch.

Manners dictated that Marron tell Ranko she was pleased to have met her. Luckily, Ranko didn't wait around for the pleasantry, saving Marron the lie.

She deliberately kept her head down as the sound of the car engine disturbed the quiet peace of the river. Instead, she concentrated on dumping the egg yolks down the sink.

She packaged up the muffins and the bacon, and put them in the fridge, then poured herself a cup of coffee and took it into the living room.

Standing at the window, she watched a broken tree limb float down the river, and struggled to put everything back into perspective. It wasn't as if she'd had a date with Trunks or anything. She hadn't even told him she was coming over that morning.

In any case, it wasn't his fault if the woman turned up out of the blue. It would have been inconsiderate of him to refuse her invitation after she'd come out to see him.

Of course, it was also inconsiderate of Ranko to expect him to drop everything for her. Then again, Ranko had more likely heard that Trunks was alone on the boat and in need of some consoling.

Marron frowned, wrapping her hands around the coffee mug to warm them. She wondered just how Ranko found out where Trunks was staying. He'd told no one, or so he'd said.

A seagull swooped over the water, then wheeled away to disappear into the mist. Marron watched it go, feeling more depressed than ever.

More than likely, she thought, the woman had been hunting for him for a couple of weeks. It wouldn't be that difficult to track him down. Now that Marron really thought about it, she was surprised more of Trunks' friends hadn't been out to visit him on the River Rat.

After all, his secretary knew where he was, as well as other people in the office. It was only a matter of time before word got out.

Marron swallowed the last of the coffee and took the mug back to the kitchen. It took her a few minutes to tidy up, then she put on her jacket and opened the door.

She heard the car door slam as she stepped outside. An attractive woman carrying a large umbrella stepped gingerly onto the ramp, then paused when she saw Marron standing at the top of it.

"Oh, sorry," she called out as Marron stepped down the ramp toward her. "I must be in the wrong place. I was looking for Trunks Briefs. I don't suppose you know where I can find him?"

Why did everyone assume that she couldn't possibly have anything to do with Trunks Briefs? Marron wondered unhappily. Was it really that obvious? "He's gone to breakfast with Ranko," she said shortly, not even bothering to cover for him. Let his women fight over him if that's what they wanted. It was none of her business.

"Oh, really?" The woman who looked like a clone of Ranko, studied her with mild disapproval. "And who are you? His housekeeper?"

"Something like that." Marron brushed past the woman and headed for her car.

"This can't be the houseboat?"

The woman sounded as if she wouldn't be caught dead in it. Which suited Marron just fine. "I'm sure he'll be back by this evening," she called over her shoulder. "Try back then."

The woman said something else, which Marron didn't catch. All she wanted now was to get out of there and go home, where she didn't have to deal with Trunks Briefs and his harem.

I just noticed that your reviews have passed the 100 mark. Oh my, I didn't expect that this would get this much reviews from you.

Doumo arigatou gozaimasu!

So, since I'm happy today, I'll post this chapter up.

To Kazeko: Don't give up your hopes on writing. It's taken me a really long time to get to this. I've been writing fanfiction (long before I learned that there was such a thing as fanfiction) since I was 12. And, I'm not 12 anymore.

Next Saturday is going to be my birthday. Yay me! But. BUT. Of all the darned things that have to happen. I have to work! Yes, work! I don't get paid for it. It's for the good of the org. Darn it all. The things I do for the org. Sounds like "the things we do for love." I loooove that line from Lanfir Leah's Silver Terror. Now that, was, is a masterpiece.

My goddess, Kinomi, also had her birthday last 10 Sept. Now, let us all thank Dende and pray that she lives to write. More!