By: Beautiful Fool
January 7, 2005
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Er...um...sooooooooorry for the long wait. I really am, but I had such a bad case of writers block. But, alas, here another chapter. I have changed by my pen name and email. ...After reading the last chapter, I decided to replace it with this. It was way to early to have Andrew and Darien talk about it. And, to make those smiles get even bigger...I used spell check! That's right! (I also went ahead, and edited the infamous lunch chapter...errors ala me were all over the place.)
Sooooo....here you go. Now, READ! Read like you've never read before! I dare you!
--------------------And now, the story:
Alright, so that wasn't the lunch that Serena was expecting. Granted, she wasn't expecting too much from Darien, but still, she expected a little something...more.
Tossing a pillow across her bedroom, hitting a glass vase that she had had sitting on her dresser, Serena tossed herself onto her bed. Even when Darien teased her as a kid, she had never been this angry at him before, or anyone for that matter.
Luna, Serena's cat, so named due to her dark fur and Serena's interest in Greek and Roman mythology, hopped onto the bed and decided it was the right place to begin grooming herself. Serena turned her head to look at the cat, who was happily licking her paw and then brushing it over her head, and wished that she could be as carefree as she was. Wake up, eat, groom, sleep, wake up, eat, groom, sleep, that was all there was to it for Luna. At least she didn't have man problems. Her biggest worry was her weekly bath.
Sighing, Serena turned to her side and glanced out the big window that was next to her bed. The city was out there, and in the city, were so many people who had their own problems. But in here, in her bedroom, the only problem in the world was hers. Her mind wandered from thoughts of calling someone. Lita? Andrew? Adam? No, she wanted to be alone. She wanted to be alone with what heartbreaking thoughts she had.
Serena rolled onto her back and tucked both hands behind her head as she looked up at the ceiling. Was this it for her? Nothing but the childish fights between Darien and herself that they had done years before? Was she just supposed to watch the only man she ever loved get married to someone else? No! She would not be there, not even if Miss. 'I can't keep my hands to myself, so I'll just keep them on your boyfriend' Courtney, paid her a million or so dollars to do so. The emotional stakes were just too high. Serena would never put herself in something like that.
Still though, she did have a small glimmer of hope in her heart that something would possibly happen with her and Darien again. Wait, was that a glimmer of hope, or just a silly dream? She was known to daydream, even at her age.
Getting up, Serena headed for her kitchen and grabbed a wine glass from her cupboard. Maybe a nice drink would calm her down, if not, then it was off to the bath with a bunch of scented candles. She poured the wine, then took a sip. She leveled the glass with her eyes and chuckled at the red liquid as she remembered that song about Red Wine. It was an odd song, but it was something she had had stuck in her head often. Who could blame her? It was catchy.
Unfortunately for her, Serena didn't notice time going by until she had drank the entire bottle, then another after that. A few random hiccups, slightly wobbly walking, and the fact she was never one for holding any form of liquor, Serena figured it was time to head for her bed to sleep it off, or dance around singing songs from The Sound of Music. She was really not one to hold her liquor. It astounded her what she did when she was drunk, which is why she didn't do it often.
Serena didn't bother making it to the bedroom, and just collapsed on her couch. It didn't take long for sleep to overtake her body.
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Darien sighed as he made his way into his apartment. He could hear Courtney going on to someone on the telephone about her wedding, and for the first time, he wished he didn't have to look at her. After what happened to him earlier, he wasn't in the mood to deal with her.
After the embarrassing moment at lunch, he decided a walk was a good idea. Darien took his coat off, and hung it on the rack that was next to the door, then set his keys down on the small table that was next to that. He glanced up to see Courtney wave at him as she passed from the bedroom to the kitchen, still on the phone.
"Hi to you too," he said quietly as he removed his shoes then walked inside the living room to fall to couch. He let his head fall back, in which case he closed his eyes. He didn't need this. He really didn't. But then, he was wondering where the thoughts of that were coming from. Within a few minutes, he remembered why.
"Ok, so, what'd she say?" Courtney said, plopping down next to him with a big grin on her face.
Darien opened his eyes, and turned his head to his left to look away from her, "She said no."
Courtney huffed, "What? No? Why? She's a wedding gown designer, it's what she does. Why is she saying no? She does know that my parents will pay a big amount, right?"
Darien jerked his head towards her, "What? No, I didn't tell her. I didn't have the time."
Courtney crossed her arms and turned to face towards the TV, "Why not? You only went to lunch. Or were you too busy trying to get into her pants?"
That did it. Darien jumped up from the couch and towered over her, "NO! I didn't have time, because she yelled and insulted me for even bringing the idea up! That's right! In front of the restaurant. I got scolded like a six year, for you by the way, by someone who is still an important friend to me! You want a dress, go buy one off the damn rack, I don't care!"
Courtney's eyes went wide as Darien walked from the room, into their bedroom, slamming the door behind him. The last thing he wanted right now was to look at her. For all he cared, she could threaten to leave him and storm out. It didn't matter. He was so damned angry.
Angry at Courtney. Angry at the situation. Angry at himself. The last thing he ever wanted to do, was to hurt Serena more than he already had. As he sat on his bed, and held his head in his hands, Darien realized that was a mistake he was constantly making. And he knew that one day, he'd go too far.
--------------------End of Chapter 5