Notes: I'm just one of those horrible procrastinating writers, so I joined a group called Operation: Procrastination Prevention. ::Boy, I really wish there was such a support group...:: Editing stinks, but I hope it's tolerable. And I hate raw HTML w/ a passion... ::steams::
Disclaimer: Just for entertainment! Don't sue this minor. It's a waste of time, effort, and much needed cash.
Going out to: everyone who's still reading this. The reviews are extremely encouraging, and you guys are the best! I'm running out of ways to say and express my gratitude... Thank you.

5:06 pm

The first two things I noticed when I came back were Heero was back early, and Lucia looked anxious. "Did I miss something?" I asked, pointedly ignoring Heero's slitted eyes.
"Where were you?"
I was taken aback by the tone of his voice. It didn't help that the shape of his face gave the remark a sharper edge. "I was at Uncle J's. If I stayed here, I would be unproductive. So I went to his office and helped file folders."
"Weren't you concerned about the people here?" he asked, angry. Oh, I could hear the anger... "I called to check and Lucia told me she didn't know where you've gone!"
I dismissed his statement with the flick of my wrist. "Lighten up, Yuy. I'm twenty-six. I can take care of myself." I resumed walking towards the stairs when he stepped in front of me. Standing with him with very little distance made me feel really small... and gave my imagination wide open spaces to fill in. I cringed at such thoughts I was having, turning my head to the side. "Let me pass, Yuy."
"Just in case you didn't notice," Heero said in a voice so low, I struggled to hear him, "you're not exactly at liberty to do everything you want to do now. You have obligations to keep. That ring on your finger has a purpose: to remind you that you are now--"
"Married, married, I know," I interrupted. "I don't intend on cheating on you. Not now, not ever. I have more self-respect than that. And second of all," I side-stepped him, deliberately bumping my shoulder against his, "stop acting like a dad. You're so conservative."
Lucia would later tell me that Heero stood there, his shock evident. His mouth didn't drop or anything, but his rigid stance and balled fists showed it. "He met his match," she told me gleefully. "He is so used to all girls following what he say, but not you! What a wonderful world." I prided myself for not giving so easily into his "charm" when her dreamy sigh and statement all but killed it for me.
"You and señorito are perfect couple!"
I made a face and she roared with laughter. "Por favor, Lucia! Please! We're not a perfect couple, and besides," I smiled an angelic smile, "Heero seems to prefer brunettes blessed with long legs. And I'm a blonde with the height of 5'3". People make jokes about my kind all of the time."
"Novelty has no dark hair," she said, her nose wrinkling. "She dye it. She know señorito like dark hair so she dye it." She started giggling again when she saw my face. "What I like to know, señorita, is the joke."
I racked my brain for a joke, and I remembered numerous ones shared with me by customers from my old job. But I decided against telling her, in the end, emphasizing my decision with a shake of my head. "Eh, nevermind. I think both of us have had it with media stereotypes." I guess the shaking motion shook my brain, which was a good thing because I needed to ask her about that thing uncle mentioned. "Hey, Lucia? Is there an upcoming... say... party that Heero always attends?"
"Ah, let me think," she said. She sat on the bed, looking so adorable with her face scrunched up in concentration.
A few minutes passed by and Lucia was still in the same position. I tapped her on the shoulder. "It's okay, Lucia. My life doesn't depend on this, you know. I just wanted to see if you knew about it."
"I do," she said. "It's weird I don't have it in my head right now... Wait!" She snapped her fingers. "I know it! It's a funk... funki... fun... That word, yes?"
"Function?"
"Si!" she exclaimed. "Gracias. It's for his rich friend, Quatre Winner."
I stood there, stunned. Why, I've been having the most serious crush on that bachelor for like, forever! "Winner? As in, Quatre 'The Oil Father' Winner?"
"Yes! Birthday. But I hear that he say it's a more important birthday," Lucia gossiped mysteriously. "Very important, yes. Señorito say to me nothing else, though." She sighed. "He says it's good for Quatre, so I'm glad. Really nice guy, yes; muy guapo."
Really handsome? Boy, do I know that. Maybe hanging out with Heero won't be so bad... Then he can do introductions and I can get to shake Quatre's hand and...
Damn it. I forgot I was married. I can't get my freak on, whether I had one or not.
My uncured-as-of-the-moment lust for the oil mogul was pushed way back in my head as another one surfaced. I cast a sideways glance at the closet door and cautiously turned my head towards it. "...You, my dear, are beyond help. I didn't even see a dress!" Uncle J's remark echoed around my head eerily. If I can only kick his prosthetic leg again for sounding so creepy...
"Lucia?" I asked, dragging out the words from my mouth. "I need a dress. Can you help--"
One minute, I was standing in the room with a peaceful atmosphere. The next minute, I was standing in front of a full-length mirror with a short lady that brimmed with energy. She squealed, she exclaimed, gasped, and praised. "No problem! No problem! I make dress! I can make one! Pretty, lovely dress for you!" When she finally stopped flurrying around, Lucia just stood there. She reached up and brushed my hair wistfully. "I make you beautiful, like I did my nene. And when you put make up on..."
I raised my eyebrow. "I don't do make-up."
Her eyes widened and her head lowered. "Ay yay yay. You need a lot of work." After a silent moment, she raised her head again. "No problem again. We just set time with Hilde for you. Mañana."
"Tomorrow?" I repeated. "Isn't it too early? It's not going to take place until a couple of weeks."
"Two weeks," Lucia corrected. "But that's short time. No waste! We work fast! And I say earlier," she shook her head and made the same "tsk tsk" sound Uncle J makes, "you need a lot of work."


Sunday March 15, 3:27 pm

If I thought getting a makeover was interesting, meeting Hilde their stylist was obviously not anticipated. I tilted my head sideways to get a good look at one of her piercings. Granted, it's been around; but I didn't think I'd meet anyone with such an interesting piece of jewelry... "Is that magnetically enhanced to go against the stronger force of gravity?"
She looked at me queerly before understanding my question. "Oh. This?" Her hand reached up and yanked the nose ring as if it was nothing. Nothing! Well, I guess it was nothing because... "It's just a clip on." Hilde walked over to the trash bin and threw the accessory carelessly. "It's not "enhanced" in any way, but I thought it would "enhance" the look of my outfit."
Speaking of her outfit, the nose ring was an incomparable addition to it. It was useless, actually. Her blue-tinted hair (it was natural, as I'd later find out) was tipped with bright pink. Along with fishnet stockings and low-cut high-heeled boots, she wore a knee-length black skirt with tattered ruffles for added texture. The only "normal", per say, in her outfit was her plain white shirt.
Hm. Interesting. And she thought her nose ring was needed to "enhance" her outfit? I wouldn't normally pay such close attention when it comes to what people wear, but Hilde's clothes just *demanded* close attention. I was almost speechless.
Take note I said almost. "Do you dress like that all the time?"
Oh my... did I ask that outloud? Hilde and Lucia, who stood leaning against the counter, looked at me. Ack! I did! I stumbled on my words as I tried to come up with something to say. "I mean, what I meant was... I don't want you to think..."
Underneath her gothic appearance, I wouldn't have known that Hilde had a sweet laugh. She shook her head while taking out some things from her purse. "No, I don't. Dressing up like this helps inspiration come to me. I'm what you'd call an eccentric person. No shame in that." She pulled up a huge plastic compartment box on the surface with a slight grunt. "Putting make-up on people is not *just* putting on make-up. It's an art. Everyone underestimates the effort that has to go into making someone look beautiful."
I nodded, unsure of what else to do or say. Was that supposed to be poetic? Touching? And was Lucia wiping a tear from her eye?
"Well, then," I said, clapping my hands together. "What's that?" I looked at the huge box she was tinkering with.
Hilde took out a jangle of keys and opened her box. "This, Mrs. Yuy--"
"Relena or Miss Peacecraft. Never Mrs. Yuy."
"Relena," she repeated after a moment of silence, "is the make-up box."
I did not have the faintest idea that they come in such a large size. Why, it's even bigger than my smallest piece of luggage! "That's a lotta make-up," I murmured, astounded. "How come you need so much? Do you run out easily?"
She looked at me incredulously before turning to Lucia, who shrugged. "I tell you. She doesn't do make-up."
"In that case, think of it this way: I am the painter, this is my huge color palette. I want to make my painting, which is you, to look as lovely as possible. And from the looks of it," Hilde walked over to me and gently turned my head from side to side, "it won't be so hard. Beautiful skin, nose bridge looks good... your facial features look very aristocratic." She smiled. "I just want to bring it out more. Accentuate your natural beauty."
Just watching Hilde reach for what I assumed was foundation prompted my stomachs to do somersaults. I squirmed in my seat as the triangular sponge descended on my face slowly. She smoothed the cool liquid on my cheek and only then did I allow myself to relax. When she was done covering my face, Hilde looked at me and grinned. "How was it, Relena?"
I reached up and touched my cheek. "I feel like I have paste on my face," I muttered.
She laughed and turned to Lucia. "Come here for a second, please? I want your opinion on how I should apply the shadow on her eyes..."
Their conversation trailed off after that. I mean, even if I wanted to, I wouldn't have been able to keep up with them. There were just too much intersparsed cosmetic words when they talked! In the meantime, I enjoyed the several looks that Hilde gave my face. Name it and I've looked it: Cinderella, valley girl, farmer girl, Madonna, tribe princess from somewhere in Nigeria... It was amazing. My face paid a huge price, though. I moved my jaw around and my skin felt stiff, caked with too much make-up.
After a few hours experimenting, Hilde stood back and observed me silently. "Well, those are what I envisioned for you. I don't exactly have a motif to follow, so I just went wacky." She grinned. "Any idea what you want now?"
I forced my arm to raise the mirror to my face again, even though my arm felt sore from holding it up. How curious... Now I look like a geisha. "Certainly not this one," I told her. "Yuy might feel a bit reminiscent since it has the whole Japanese feel thing to it, but I don't feel right. I noticed you did seem to focus on my eye area no matter what style it was, and it looks great."
"I was hoping you'd notice that," she told me truthfully. "Your eye color is very unique; blue and green mixed together. It reminds me of the sea." Hilde scratched her head and looked at Lucia. "Judge? What's your verdict?"
She nodded. "I like. But you can put blush and lip color, yes? Her skin nice, but she's pale. Need to put glow so señorito notice her and say 'Wow. Sexy.' "
My mouth dropped and Hilde laughed out loud. "Lucia! That's the last thing I'd want Yuy to say to me."
"Wouldn't you like your husband to check you out, Relena?" Hilde asked while she wiped the make-up with one of those make-up cloths. "I mean, I know I'm prying and I apologize. But I can't seem to shake off this feeling that there's a distance between you guys. Is there?"
"More like international distance," I replied. "We were forced together. Let's leave it at that."
"Forced together? Oh, I know what you mean." She placed a sympathetic hand on my shoulder. "Kind of like my husband and I," her hand made a squeezing motion and when she pulled it away, I looked at her aghast. She's married?! Damn it, how many more surprises are there?!
"How so?"
Hilde smiled. "One drunken night in Las Vegas. When I woke up, I was lying beside Duo and he was holding a marriage license. It's pretty scary, actually, to get married to someone who you've only known for two days."
Tell me about it. Mine was less than an hour.
"And you were drunk! If that's not being irresponsible..." She shook her head. "I'm just glad it was Duo. Even so, 'difficult' is not enough to describe how the relationship was."
"Then why did you stay with him?"
"Family. Pressure. Moral ethics. We share the belief that if you get married, that's it for you. You don't need to go around and collect divorce papers. Besides," Hilde shrugged helplessly, "it made it more interesting, I'd say. Duo's very handsome, but seeing his other sides made him more attractive. This 'fast' relationship is better than any of the long-term and serious relationships I've ever had."
I smiled sadly. "I can't say the same. Yuy is the only man I've had a "serious" relationship with." Note the quotes around serious...
Before Hilde could say anything, we heard a dreamy sigh. Lucia had her hands clasped in front of her. "What romance. Reminds me of time when I was young... And Heriberto, my husband, would always make me smile like this. He was only friend back then, but ay caramba! My heart say he was not." She looked at us, smiling wistfully. "He's gone. About seven years now, but my love is the same. He will always be mi amor."
My love. That's what Lucia calls her husband. Looking at Hilde, I realized she loved Duo too, even though their relationship started on the fast lane. I felt guilty, almost. Seeing their faces like that made me wonder if I'll be able to start something akin to that with Heero...
I found myself thinking about the time when I was eleven years old. I was an avid reader of teeny bopper magazines back in those days, and nothing else has made me laugh so hard! But, I digress; maybe I've underestimated the credibility of those things. One in particular had a column called "You Know You're In Love When...", and readers were the contributors. I remembered one simple enough for me to recall no matter how far in the future I was. According to the writer, she knows she's in love when: her fingers get a tingly feeling, fireworks explode in her mind, and she hears music.
Bah, whatever. If you ask me, the "fingers" part must be that she's losing feeling in her hands. That, in my opinion, does not sound very healthy. As for the "fireworks" and "music", well... that's just plain mental! Normal people don't hear just see and hear things that other people can't.
Speaking of that lady, I wonder how she's doing. She's probably living in some place like Happy House: Home for the Psychiatrically Insane. What a crazy, crazy idea.


8:32 pm

"Just remember to use this eye refiner daily, a week before our appointment," Hilde instructed. "It will condition the skin around your eyes for the glob of make-up it will have to endure."
"Do I need to?" I knew I sounded like a baby, but getting pampered like this makes me feel so... vain.
"Yes, you do," she replied firmly. She handed me another package. "And this is what you're probably looking forward to. The cleansing wipes. Just go to the ladies' room and wipe the color away when you're done playing the lady in "Wonderful Tonight".
"Wait! Hilde!" Lucia ran towards us and handed her two objects wrapped in aluminum foil. "Relleno," she said, smiling. "Meat rolls. Duo want some the last time I saw him. But hurry home! He'll be home soon, yes? It's past seven."
I took a nap right after cleaning up with Lucia. While I thought I would never meet a nary more interesting person than the beloved housekeeper, Hilde proved it otherwise. She gave the saying "Don't judge a book by its cover," a whole new meaning for me. Come to think of it, I'm actually looking forward to our next appointment because she promised she'd bring Duo with her.
I was roused from my nap in the family room when I heard the gates opening. When I looked at the nearby clock, 12:38 AM was emblazoned across its screen. Oh my, it was late...
What the hell?! 12:38?! I over-napped! Worse yet, some lunatic opened the gates and was entering the grounds this very minute! I did wonder for a moment why the crazy person would let the whole mansion know that he was going to rob this place, but nevermind that! In fact, I wasn't reasoning very clearly. I took a vase and carried it with me to the most probable place the intruder was going to enter: the front door. To be on the safe side, I turned the lights off.
So I stood there, looking probably really ridiculous with mussed hair and wrinkled attire. I pressed my ear against the door, straining to hear any footsteps ascending the marble staircase. Ah, he's good... I can't hear a thing.
*ting ting*
"...!!!" Don't scream Relena, don't scream! I bit my tongue until it bled. I gripped the vase tighter and raised it over my head when the door opened. "You messed with the wrong mansion, bastard!" I cried out and hit his head hard.
Cheap vase. It was plastic! And it looked so real, too.
Damn, it feels good to be a hero. No wonder people can make so much money off of being one! I threw my weapon behind me and rolled my captive over.
Oh shit. Maybe it was a good thing the vase was plastic... I dropped to my knees slowly, looking at Heero's face. I poked him at his shoulder and at his stomach to see if he would move.
He didn't.
Oh god, oh god, oh god! Did I kill him? I'm only 26, I'm too young to be a widow! Breathe, Relena, breathe! "Don't be dead, Heero, don't be dead," I whispered and frantically pressed my ear to his chest. Well, at least his heart's beating, right? But I want him to open his eyes...
I stood up, planning to pull him towards the family room and maybe, just maybe, lift him onto a couch. I curled my hands under Heero's armpits and pulled with all my might. Bare skin made contact with bare skin. "Yeek!" Whimpering, I wiped my fingers on my shirt. What on earth was that man thinking?! Couldn't he wear a nice, normal shirt?
Come to think of it, was he even wearing anything? Oh, I didn't want to think about that.
And just like our first argument, my efforts were fruitless. He didn't even budge after I pulled and strained for what felt like forever. "Damn it, Heero!" I hissed. "How is it that you're so heavy when you look so damn skinny?!"
After a few more minutes, I just plain gave up. By that time, the clock read 12:54 AM. I looked at Heero's sprawled figure helplessly. "Of all the times to be paranoid," I asked myself, "why today?!" I decided to sit there and wait until he woke up.
It was 12:58 when I heard a faint "Ungh..." I've never been gladder to see someone sitting up and moving. Heero tilted his head from side to side and reached up to massage his neck. "Ah, fuck."
"How do you feel?" I asked, feeling two inches tall. He turned to look at me and I wish he hadn't. I rubbed my throat. "Umm... Would you be able to see from that distance how many fingers I'm holding up?" Come on, boy, say something! Don't just give me that look... "You're not going to sue me for spousal abuse, are you?"
"Ouch, no, and no." I could tell in his voice that he was frowning. "What are you doing up this late?"
"I took a nap," I replied. "I thought you were an intruder, so I... well, go figure."
He chuckled. Sexily. His chuckle makes me think of things that would force nuns to drag me to a nearby church and force me to do confession. "I have to hand it to you, you can hit hard."
"Yeah, and you're stupid," I said humorlessly. "You come home this late?! Can you blame me for acting on my instincts?! Where were you anyway?"
"Meeting. And I accept your apology, Relena." I heard him walk over to the nearest switch and flicked it on. "I didn't think it would take this long."
Is a tank top one of the standard attires for meetings? How about pajama bottoms? I gave him a once over before returning to look at his face. "It's rude to stare at people, you know," Heero chastised me softly. I sat there, paralyzed, as he made his way towards me.
What on earth was he doing? And there's this smell I didn't notice before... It was light and faint but very distinct.
When realization dawned on me, I huffed. Was he seducing me?! ME of all people! How dare he! "What do you mean apology? I did not give you any form of apology," I told him. I turned around to hide my face. "You know what? I think you deserved that! Next time, if you're going to be home late, call!" I yelled before going up the stairs.
And then I figured out what the smell was. Women's perfume.


*******************
::tsk tsk:: Bad, bad Heero...