Note: Okay, if you haven't heard yet, I'm leaving for Manila on July 14th, so this will put my fics on a delay (you know with all the unpacking and all the other junk you have to do before settling down). And remember, if I haven't updated in months or something, it's the move and not the fact that I had given up on writing out fics (which will only happen in like 5 or 100 years!).
The Mall
Third Person's POV
"So Mar, where are you and Ray going today?" Hilary asked as she down on the couch next to a casual dressed Mariah.
"The mall. At first Ray wouldn't comply, so I had to practically beg him. And I had to beg him a lot. But eventually, he came around." The pink haired girl shared a chuckled with her friend as she double checked her outfit. "You don't think this outfit is too casual is it Hil?"
The brunette shook her head and answered "No, it looks fine. I particularly like that scarf." She smirked.
The other girl rolled her eyes "You should, seeing as it's yours in the first place."
Mariah was wearing blue denim jeans, white shirt with sleeves that reached her elbows, a pink scarf wrapped around her neck, and her pink hair tied up in a ponytail.
"Trust me; you look fine for an outing at the mall. Now, you better hurry. You were supposed meet Ray like 5 minutes ago!" Hilary glanced at the clock and eyed her friend with a 'hurry!' look.
"Huh? Oh no, see ya later Hil! I promise you give you all the details later!" Mariah stood up from the couch, ran to the door, opened it and disappeared behind it.
Hilary rolled her eyes, checked her watch, and stood up as well.
"Well work isn't for a couple more hours. I suppose I could finish up cleaning the room." Hilary seemed to be in hard thinking for a couple of minutes, before saying "Nah. I'll let Mariah do that when she comes back later."
So she pushed the remote button on and watched TV.
Mariah's POV
"You have to be kidding me. This is not exactly what I had in mind for the mall." Ray said, as she dragged him into a shop.
Mariah only chuckled and answered "It's not that bad Ray. Think of it this way, at least I didn't drag you to see me try on girly clothes or anything."
The black haired man sighed and said "I guess so. But still, hunting kitchen ornaments are just so…….boring."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just deal okay." She rolled her eyes and they stopped in front of a plate display.
"Okay, so do you like the one with the tree pattern or the one with the flower pattern?" She pointed to each of the plates and waited for Ray's opinion.
"Does it matter? You're gonna make me end up paying for it either way." Ray faltered a bit under Mariah's glare "Hey, don't look at me like that, I wasn't the one who was 10 minutes late!" He defensively responded.
Mariah shrugged and said "Hey, I told you that I was talking to Hil. And besides, paying for the stuff would be very gentlemanly of you of course." She batted her eyelashes and then laughed at his expression.
"I'm just kidding Ray; you don't really need to pay for it. All I'm asking for is a nice friendly shopping date. I take you to the stores, you give me the opinions, and I might actually let you have lunch with me." She winked and they both laughed.
"Well, it's a deal then." Ray hooked his arm in hers and he smiled at her.
Mariah's breath suddenly seemed to stop as she looked into his eyes.
'Though his smile is nice, they're really nothing compared to his eyes.' Mariah thought as she looked at his golden orbs, Ray blinked and she slightly jerked.
Mariah mentally shook her head and smiled at him "Well come on, I sense a fine and high quality plate with my name somewhere."
Ray chuckled and they walked to another part of the store "And we can't keep it waiting."
Mariah nodded, though her thoughts were elsewhere.
Hilary's POV
"Now was it decaf or regular?"
Hilary tried to remember what Mr. Jax had ordered. He had originally planned to ask Ms. Doss, but she was taking the day off since she had a wedding rehearsal to attend (her own). Hilary chose that moment to walk into the office to give the pictures (since Tyson was also at the rehearsal she had to bring them personally) when Mr. Jax requested a coffee, and after all, she couldn't exactly refuse.
So here she was, in front of a big coffee machine thingy trying to remember the long and stupid order Mr. Jax had asked.
"Okay let's see." The brunette repeated the order to herself "He asked for a no fat, no foam, half a teaspoon of orange syrup, half a cup of milk, some chocolate sprinkles, and I still can't remember if it's a decaf or regular!" She ended shrilly as she banged her hand against the cool metal.
She heard an amused female voice behind her say "It was a regular. Mr. Jax only takes decaf when he feels down or something."
Hilary whipped her head around and faced a smiling Maggie. The brunette smiled back and said "Thanks Mag. You're a pal. I just don't see why Mr. Jax has to make such long and impossible orders." She pressed the buttons on the machine and waited while talking to Maggie.
"So Hil, how are you fitting in at work?" Maggie asked.
Hilary shrugged and answered "Fine. Everyone's real easy to work with, they listen to your suggestions and stuff, plus the beybladers gave me great photos." She grinned.
Maggie chuckled and shook her head "Glad you like it. And besides, I enjoy working with you as well. I mean, the old photographer was way, way older than me and didn't really have time to do anything else than do his job. Kinda like Mr. Jax." She smiled.
Hilary raised an eyebrow.
'Is it just me, or does her smile look a bit sad and wistful?' The brunette thought as she quickly examined her friend's smile.
"So Maggie?" Hilary asked with forced casualty, trying not to sound curious "What do you think of Mr. Jax?"
Maggie blinked and asked puzzled "Why are you asking me?"
Hilary shrugged and answered "Oh no special reason, just wanna know out of curiosity. I mean, I've only worked here for like a couple of days, but you've worked here for like 2 years. I'd just like to know what you think of him." She finished with an innocent look.
Maggie sighed and replied "Well, there's really nothing much to say about him. Mr. Jax is a very nice man. A bit uptight and strict and driven crazy with work and stuff, but other than that, there's nothing much to say about him." The blonde shrugged nonchalantly.
Hilary opened her mouth and was about to say something, but got cut off by Maggie.
"But there are more special qualities about him and such, I mean have I ever told you that Mr. Jax can be-" Maggie chattered on and on about the azure eyed man.
Inwardly, Hilary groaned.
'This could take a while.' She concluded as the blonde went on and on.
The brunette just wished the coffee wouldn't get cold.
Mariah's POV
"So Ray, just what did you think of the mall so far? Good or good?!"
She and Ray were walking around the huge fountain in the center of the mall. Couples were sitting on the edge of the fountain, some on the steps, and some were just sitting on the floor, talking.
Ray shrugged "Well unless you count the time when we had to stay for an entire hour in the jewelry store just because you couldn't decide what you wanted, the time you almost had us kicked out the Japanese restaurant because you spilled water over the waitress, and the time you accidentally broke a fragile vase and made me pay for it, He took a deep breath after saying all this and continued "I had a great time at the mall Mariah." He smiled at her.
The pink haired girl soon found herself smiling back "Well, I'm glad you had a good time Ray. I haven't had this good a time at the mall since Hil and I went to buy Christmas presents."
Ray frowned in confusion and asked "Who's Hil?"
"You know, my friend. The brunette you met at lunch." Mariah informed him.
Ray blinked for a sec, then exclaimed "Oh yeah, Hilary Tatibana! You guys seemed like pretty close friends."
The girl answered "Yeah well, we are pretty tight. I mean, we were college roommates and we were pretty much best friends. We've been living as roommates in the same apartment now." She grinned at him.
"Well that sounds nice. You should invite me sometime to your apartment. I'd like to see just how many vases and pots you broke." Ray snickered as Mariah rolled her eyes and punched him lightly in the shoulder.
"Hey for your FYI, I'll have you know I didn't break a single piece of pottery." She added in a quieter voice "Just a lot of pots."
"What was that?"
"Nothing."
Mariah was grinning and feeling happy, until she glanced at the diamond ring on Ray's finger. For some very odd reason, her spirits seemed to deflate when she saw the curved silver metal on his finger.
"So Ray." She asked, trying to ignore the slight feel of discomfort she was feeling. "How are you and Salima doing? I mean with the wedding and all, you guys must be pretty stressed and stuff." She sat down on the steps and listened to Ray talk (who was also sitting).
Ray sighed and scratched his head "Yeah I guess you could say that. I mean, making a lot of decisions about the wedding can be pretty hard. Though we're actually doing okay with it all. We've already gotten the decorations, the food, the….oh yeah, I so forgot!" He dug through his pockets and eventually produced a slightly bent envelope.
"Here." Ray handed the envelope to her. "This is the wedding invitation. Sorry, I meant to give it to you earlier but I guess I forgot. Anyways, it's a bit bent since it was in my pocket and I've been sitting and stuff. It had the address, the time, the date, and all the other info. You can also bring a friend."
Mariah stared for a few seconds. She brushed a finger over the seal and gave a forced smiled to the black haired man "Thanks Ray. I'll be sure to make it."
Ray smiled back and checked his watch. "Oh ho, I'm late! I was supposed to be at my friend's wedding rehearsal an hour ago. Thanks for letting me hang out with you! Bye!" He ran off in the other direction leaving the pink haired woman to at his disappearing back.
'What's happening to me? I mean, first I note ridiculous things about Ray's smile, then I feel…odd when we talk about his and Salima's wedding, and then I force a smile when I say I'll be there at the wedding!' Mariah thought for a moment, before shaking her head to a level at which her hair was coming out of its ponytail. 'Oh well, it's probably just nothing to think about. Maybe it's just some weird cold I'm getting. I should have a checkup with the doctor later.'
She sighed, stood up, and walked with arms full of shopping bags.
Hilary's POV
She resisted the urge to check her watch.
Hilary was leaning against the coffee machine and only half listening to Maggie blabber on and on about Mr. Jax.
"-and then there's this really cute freckle on his arm. Did I ever tell you about that? Well anyways, you can't really see it under that long sleeved jacket of his, but if you catch him on a sunny day and he'll-"
The rest of her attention was devoted to forcing back yawns and watching with impatient eyes at the coffee machine when she was sure that the blond wasn't looking.
'Come on you stupid coffee machine hurry up!' Hilary as she glanced at the stupid piece of metal for what seemed the millionth time 'If you don't then not only will I have to listen to this girl all day, Mr. Jax is going to come in here any minute and ask-
"Ms. Tatibana where's my coffee?!"
The brunette winced under the mad glare of her boss.
'Well what do you know? That's exactly what I thought he would say!' She thought dryly as she put a nervous half smile.
"Sorry Mr. Jax, I guess I lost track of time. You know, since I was giving Maggie my full attention." Hilary made hand gestures towards the blonde girl behind him.
Mr. Jax frowned in puzzlement before turning to the blonde girl and looking as uncomfortable as her (Maggie).
He coughed once or twice before saying "Ah well, Ms. Hamden. It was um-nice to see you, and especially on such a fine weather day. How are you doing?"
Maggie's face turned slightly red before she replied "Oh fine. I mean after all, this is a great….."
Hilary rolled her eyes as she watched the two people in front of her talking and ignoring the world around them.
'Well then, they seem to be holding up the conversation pretty well.' She thought as she reached for the finished coffee pot, poured some into a cup, placed it gently on the counter, and walked away from the so obvious chemistry that came from the two adults.
'He'll drink his coffee when he decides to finally break off the conversation.' Hilary though smugly not watching where she was going, though it was too late as she walked smack into a body, then collapsing onto the floor.
Which should have been covered with a carpet for Pete's sake!
Third Person's POV
"Look doc it's like this. Today I was spending time at the mall with my friend today. We were walking around the fountain and-"
"You mean that big huge fountain in the center of the mall?"
"Yeah, how'd you know that?"
"Sometimes me and my wife would go sit by the fountain and have deep and meaningful talks. It gets boring after a while though. Continue please."
"Okay….anyways, so were walking around the fountain, talking and having a great time, when I suddenly glance at his engagement ring-"
"Your friend's engaged?"
"Yes."
"Tell him I said congratulations."
"Sure will. Now, as I glanced at his engagement ring, I suddenly had this weird feeling in my gut."
"Care to elaborate?"
"Okay. The feeling was very oh what's the word? Uh….odd. It was like something was gnawing at my stomach, though it didn't hurt physically. It just made me feel all awkward, and my happy feeling just seemed to vanish out of thin air!"
"…..you know there are people who can help you with this sort of problem."
"I thought you were a doctor, don't doctors do this sort of stuff?"
"You need a different type of doctor for a problem like this kiddo."
"What kind of doctor?"
"A psychiatrist."
"…..okay….."
"You still have to pay me though."
Hilary's POV
"Hilary? Can you hear me? Hellooooo?"
The brunette didn't move a muscle for a second, not even when she heard a voice from faraway. It seemed as if all was dark, when slowly, the darkness was disappearing and the first thing she saw was a face of a certain bluenette which was etched with concern.
She shook her head a bit and sat up. "What happened?" Hilary asked as she glanced at her surroundings. The brunette was sitting on a leather couch in a room with a fish tank, a desk, and a few chairs as well. "And where am I?"
"You're in my office. I carried you here when you walked right into me and collapsed onto the floor. You feeling okay?" Tyson sat next to her and fixed her with a concerned face.
Hilary nodded; flashbacks of what happened were coming back to her. "Oh yeah, I guess I was too busy thinking about Mr. Jax and Maggie that I wasn't looking where I was going." She smiled sheepishly.
Tyson frowned in confusion. "Why were you thinking about Mr. Jax and Maggie Hamden?"
The brunette shrugged nonchalantly "They just seem to be in love that's all."
The bluenette snorted "Puh-lease. As if Mr. Jax could ever fall in love. And with Maggie of all people!"
"Hey!" Hilary punched him lightly on the shoulder "Oh come on, they are in love! You should've seen them; they were talking to each other as if their lives depended on it!"
"Sorry Hil (her heart just stopped for that second) but I don't really think that's gonna happen. Mag and Jax are just….well they just don't seem like …love material." Tyson sank deeper into the couch and started laughing.
Hilary rolled her eyes "Yeah well, laugh all you want because one day you might just be surprised." She faced him with a slightly smug look.
"Yeah right. And what would you know about love?" He returned her slightly smug look with one of his own.
She rolled her eyes and replied "More than you do." Hilary stood up, her eyes never leaving his, like she couldn't tear them away.
"Oh yeah? I bet you've never even had a date since the day you were born." Tyson also stood up so their eyes were level once again.
"Hey I'll have you know that I've gone on plenty of dates!" Hilary retorted defensively. She opened her mouth to say more but caught a glimpse of the clock on the wall.
"Oh no! I was supposed be at the apartment 5 minutes ago! Excuse me, but I'm late and my friend's gonna have a cow!" Hilary brushed past him, ignored the tingle in her shoulder and ran out the room.
Third Person's POV
"Where were you?"
Hilary gulped. As soon as she had opened the door, Mariah pulled her in, locked the wooden object, and gave her a piercing stare.
"Sorry Mar. I was walking and I accidentally walked right into Tyson and collapsed. Then I and Tyson had a conversation when I woke up and I lost track of time." Hilary shrugged. "I promise to make it up to you though. I'll make dinner and we don't have to order take out." She smiled nervously; an angry Mariah equaled a dangerous Mariah.
Mariah frowned, looking as if she was thinking very deeply. At last she answered "Okay. Just make sure you cook only my favorite foods."
"Deal." Hilary grinned and walked to the kitchen. She searched through the fridge while Mariah sat on the counter and waited.
"So Mar how was your outing at the mall today?" Hilary asked as she produced a bag of vegetables in her hand. She dumped them all out and started chopping.
Mariah replied "Pretty nice actually. Ray invited me to his wedding. He gave me the invitation, with the date and everything." She searched through her pockets and handed the slightly bent opened envelope to her friend. "Wanna come with me?"
Hilary glanced at her friend and was surprised to see that Mariah's smile seemed forced. Being best friends for a long time certainly gave her the gift to pick up these things. The brunette pushed the whole thing back into her mind and smiled back at her friend.
"I'd be delighted to."
Chapter Five Ends……….To Be Continued
Note: Sorry for the lack of TyHil stuff, at least I put some sort of conversation between them. And I made sure to put in plenty of RayMar stuff, though I feel like I just rushed it a bit too soon. Oh well, it's still okay.
What To Expect In The Sixth Chapter:
1. Stuff in Ray's POV
2. Stuff in Tyson's POV
3. Plot Development
4. More of why Hilary hasn't been in contact
I AM SO SORRY I COULD NOT UPLOAD THIS STUPID THING EARLIER! I was just dealing with a couple of friend pproblems I was having, but now I'm trying tp get back in gear, so please try and forgive me!