Arise on the Occasion

Chapter VII

SIN Productions

Her cell rang in her purse right in the middle of lunch. "Go figure." She smiled at Sage politely, "It never fails you get interrupted mid-chew." She hastily snatched the device from her purse and abruptly answered it. "Hello?"

Sage watched her curiously as her eyes widened when the conversation continued. He slowly spooned his soup into his mouth and bent his head back to get a better look at her.

"Um oh hi! No you didn't catch me at a bad time." she tried desperately to act somewhat normal in front of her best friend. "I didn't think you would actually call me." She admitted, "So did you think about my proposition?"

She looked up at Sage and caught his eye. She swallowed hard.

"Great!" she choked back, "Sure, sounds good. I'll see you at 6." And with that slammed the phone closed.

As if on cue, Sage asked, "Who was that?"

She plastered a smile on her face and slowly brought a spoonful of chowder to her lips. "Oh just someone returning my phone call for an interview. It looks like I'm going to be working late tonight."

Sage dismissed the weird behavior and thankfully changed the topic.

--

It was highly unlikely that Vigil radiated nervousness, usually nothing phased the American woman. Speaking in front of large gatherings? Not a problem. Meeting a boyfriend's parents? With ease. Having a drink with Sage's ex-best friend? She was about to have a nervous breakdown.

And Rowen Hashiba had yet to arrive.

It had been nearly five hours ago when she had picked up her cell phone at lunch with Sage. Yesterday the idea of getting Sage and Rowen to be friends again seemed simple enough. But today, well today was a different story. She was having second thoughts, wondering rationally if she was even capable of getting past both of their thick skulls and getting them just to forget and forgive.

Pushing doubt to the back of her throat, she was very surprised Rowen hadn't lost her number and had called her. Lucky her, Rowen accepted the drink invitation, probably having nothing better planned on his schedule. He aversely suggested the bar in the hotel and she had hastily accepted, eager to get off the phone with him.

And here she was at the so-called Jive Bar.

--

Every day seemed like a monotonous routine that he performed now almost puppet-like. Though he had bravely picked up the shards of his life that he so carelessly shattered and had tried wearisomely to piece them back together.

Yet there was no glue and tape to fix what he had destroyed.

There was no person or thing to take his place.

Five minutes, that was all it had taken. Five minutes for Rowen's life to crumble right before his eyes, five minutes to lose everything he had ever held dear.

He walked dazed down the hotel hall and into the elevator, slowly going through the motions of life. He was surprised, no shocked that Vigil, Sage's own fiancée had invited him for a drink. It seemed almost surreal, like he was living some kind of awkward dream and just floated through to see how the outcome would be.

With a ding the elevator doors opened up to the lobby and the hustle and bustle of the main floor seemed to swallow Rowen up. He gingerly made his way through the crowd and spotted the bar he had visited the night before.

He had been nervous and stressed to the point of breakdown after leaving Cye's house. Thankfully Rowen had his own hotel room and no one noticed when he slipped out a little after midnight and caught up on a couple of shots at the Black Horse Pub.

Pausing outside the bar he wondered why in the world Vigil even wanted to have a drink with him. She was gorgeous, and well, taken. And it wasn't usually custom for near-married women to be having drinks with somebody other then their betrothed. Then for a second Rowen panicked.

What if Vigil knew? What if she actually knew what happened on that one fateful day when he flipped out and basically ran Sage out of Japan? What if she wanted to scold him, or remind him that he wouldn't even be invited to the wedding?

Rowen's outward features sagged at the thought. Perhaps her cheery attitude last night had been a façade and she just wanted somewhere private to lay it on him thick and clear- that he was unwanted here in London and that Sage never wanted to see him again.

People passed Rowen by without a thought while the 28-year-old mentally kicked himself again and again for his past behavior towards Sage. Sage had been the best friend he had ever had. Sage had always been there for him, no matter what. And it was Rowen's own stupidity that drove him away.

Almost teary eyed he focused on not breaking down. Instead he mustered up what courage he had and walked through the entrance to the Black Horse Pub. If Vigil wanted to scream and yell at him for what an idiot he had been, then so be it. It was the least he could do for Sage.

--

"He left ten minutes ago?" Cye's astound voice echoed in the hotel room. "Where in the world was he going? He doesn't know anybody in London."

"Said he was going to grab a drink." Mia informed him, looking a little worried, and a little annoyed. "That's all he does anymore! Drink drink drink!"

"Well..." Cye started but was cut off by Ryo.

"I don't think this visit to England is doing him any good."

Cye ignored the statement, very aware why Rowen was having trouble enjoying his vacation time. "Perhaps I should go look for him." He offered.

"Nah." Ryo stated, "He's better off just being left alone when he's in one of his moods. You'd have to drag him back here kicking and screaming and then he'd just run off again to a different tavern."

Cye didn't say anything, just took in the news of the once cheerful blue haired archer with a frown.

"It was good to see Sage." Mia changed the subject, focusing on the good. "He looks like he's happy here in London, and he's changed a great deal."

Ryo nodded, agreeing with his wife. "It's almost as if he barely remembered who we are! He didn't speak two sentences to us without acting like he was being badgered!"

Cye didn't have an answer to that. "I guess he has changed." And left it at that. "I'm going to go find Rowen." He decided, "I thought it would be nice if the lot of us went and had some chow."

--

The room was smoky, almost to the point where it was becoming a pain to keep looking across the room to see if he had finally arrived. But at the present moment, he hadn't.

So she kept at her margarita, nervously stirring the colorful straw around in the fruity concoction until it was slushy and melted. Running a hand through her hair she felt eyes burning into her and she glanced to her left to see an overweight English man staring, or drooling, at her.

She ignored him and ordered another drink.

Vigil began to lightly tap her long fingernails on the bar counter, sighing to herself and wondering why she was still here waiting for somebody she didn't even know.

It had long since turned boring, being alone in a bar isn't exactly what she would put on her fun list. Yawning and trying to stay attentive, she ordered another round.

She swiveled in her barstool and changed her perspective. She tried to get engrossed in what was playing on the tellie, but she was getting more and more annoyed with the startling realization that she had been stood up. She grabbed her margarita off the counter and mentally began calling Rowen different names; sure as shit Sage was right about the bastard. He really was an ass!

Vigil called for her tab and paid the bartender with a grudge. She grabbed her coat and sulked out of the cocktail lounge in an unladylike way. How dare that overindulged, stuck up fucker-

Vigil blinked.

Somehow in the corner of her eye she had spotted a familiar face looking through the open door of the bar. Turning fully around, she took a second look to make sure her eyes weren't deceiving her.

As he continued to search the sea of people, Vigil wondered who he was looking for. Walking back towards the bar, she called out, "Cye!"

Immediately Cye turned around, bumping his head into the door in the process. Rubbing the back of his skull he smiled warmly as Vigil neared. "Vigil what are you doing here?" he seemed confused.

That's when she realized she blew her cover. "I was uh, just um..." and he gave her a look that told her he wouldn't believe a word she said. She tried any ways. "Stopping for a drink on the way home?"

"Yeah and I'm the Queen of England." He returned flatly.

"Okay well I did stop for a drink." She reassured him.

"The whole truth my dear." Cye demanded.

"Look Cye," Vigil didn't really want to explain herself, but it looked as though she'd have to. "I'm not happy with Sage's brash decision to make me his make-believe wife either. So I bumped into Rowen last night and I gave him my number and asked him to go with me for a drink and then he called me earlier and I had this brilliant plan to get him and Sage talking and then the bastard never showed up and..." She seemed to talk a mile a minute.

"You gave Rowen your phone number?" the surprises kept coming for Cye.

"Yes." Vigil repeated miserably, "I gave Rowen my phone number."

"And he actually called you?"

"Yes! He actually called me!"

For a minute the two were silent. Cye being speechless and Vigil being irked she had to repeat herself to get Cye to believe her.

Shaking off her agitation, Vigil broke the silence. "Well enough about why I'm here, why are you here?"

"I was looking for Rowen myself, actually." Cye began, "But if I remember correctly this hotel has two lounges. The Jive and the Black Horse Pub, which is on the other side."

"Two bars?" she exasperated.

"Yes two. In fact Mia told me Rowen left his hotel room about," he checked his watch, "A half hour ago."

"Oh. So he did go to meet me." She had a mirthless tone.

Cye nodded, "Let's go find him."

As Cye began to walk, Vigil grabbed his arm and pulled him back. "Wait a second. We can't just both go waltzing in there. He'll think it's a setup." She thought out loud, "And I really don't want to waste this trip Rowen has made. You know coming all the way out from Japan. Why I bet we couldn't arrange another chance meeting with Sage Date and Rowen Hashiba even if we tried to!"

"What are you saying?" Cye obviously picked up on the impishness in her voice.

"You know Rowen really did come all this way..." she smiled to herself and fished for her cell phone in her purse. "Better make it worth while."

--

Vigil had been acting strange ever since yesterday. Usually it took three to four times for her alarm clock to go off before she would beat it to oblivion and get up in the morning. Sage was surprised to find her up before even him. When he had gone downstairs he found her at the nook sipping a cup of coffee and offering one to him. Usually it was the other way around.

Then there had been the odd phone call when they had met up for lunch at Cafe Tera Cotta. It wasn't rare for her to receive calls during lunch but when she did she would go off in a ten-minute explanation about her clients and upcoming interviews. She barely said a word and even cut lunch short exiting in a fuss.

Sage couldn't blame her. He probably would be acting the same, if not worse, if Vigil had decided to try and execute a huge fib to her friends by saying Sage and her were getting married.

It came as a relief when Vigil called him right after he was getting off work and asked him if he would like to join her for a drink at a bar.

"My client never showed." She had elucidated, "So I kind of kept ordering drinks thinking it would pass the time by and now I'm a little sloshed. There are creepy old lechers about undressing me with their eyes and its starting to freak me out but I can't drive. I need a drinking companion..."

"Or a designated driver." Sage had chuckled and promised to be there in ten minutes.

The Black Horse Pub was located inside a hotel and Sage found it easy. He wandered through the hotel weaving easily in and out of the crowd flow. He strode with his hands in the pockets of his slacks, whistling the last song he heard in his car.

He was thankful he had survived last night. He knew he wouldn't see his old comrades for the rest of their visit and it eased his mind. Sure they thought he was marrying Vigil, but he already had a plan. All he to do was convince Cye to pass word in a couple of months that they mutually called off the wedding.

From now on Sage would make a point to avoid all functions that included Ryo, Kento, and Rowen. Granted he missed them terribly, it was just better if he avoided them completely. Sure they had good times in the past, but they were different people- too different to ever rekindle that old friendship they once had.

The blonde curiously entered the pub and made his way to the end of the bar where Vigil had instructed she would be sitting. She had something about a blinking Amstel sign right above her.

Sage stopped dead in his tracks and froze.

Before he could even comprehend what kind of situation he had just walked into, or even contemplate different ways to murder Vigil, the words were out of his mouth. "Fuck."

He couldn't just up and run out of the bar now. He had already spotted him and was just staring at him as if Sage had the plague.

Out of all the people to run into he had to run into Rowen fucking Hashiba.

He was sure Vigil was to blame and Sage closed his eyes in an effort to remain calm and not utter a string of curses that would've impressed even the Warlords.

There was nothing Sage could do about it, he would just have to suck it up and at least say hello. And then as soon as opportunity would allow, get the hell out of there.

--

Rowen was drunk. It had only taken 7 consecutive shots of tequila. He had lost track of time and was positive that Miss Vigil had been a no-show. At least his night wasn't completely wasted and he had a perfectly good opportunity to get tipsy.

The bar was beginning to get crowded but he didn't mind the extra company. It wasn't like anybody tried to strike a conversation with him, they left him to himself.

He could care less and ordered another round.

Turning around he brought the shot to his lips and gulped it down, taking it like a pro. As his stomach began to digest the drink, he turned around and was about to order another when...

His azure eyes widened in literal shock. His mouth immediately dropped open and he blinked a couple of times to make sure it wasn't an illusion and this wasn't turning into a nightmare.

There no more than five feet from Rowen was a business-casual Sage Date staring back.

--

"So what do you think?" Vigil's stake out spot by the bathroom was the perfect view of Rowen and Sage's unsuspecting reunion. "Good or bad?"

"So far I'm not sure." Cye was right behind her.

"Well its up to them now. We've done all we could." There was sadness in her voice that Cye picked up on and glanced over at the young woman.

"You don't think they'll make up?" he asked.

"Oh! No, its not that." She chided, "I'm sure they will." She reassured.

For a second Cye studied her as she watched her best friend and his crush start to talk.

Softly, and gently Cye coaxed, "You love him don't you?"

It didn't faze Vigil when he asked such an intruding question. Her gaze never shifted and in the quietest voice Cye ever heard her use she sheepishly said, "He's my best friend, of course I love him."

"No use bullshitting with me dear." He smiled and felt her pain, "I have the talent to see through all bullshit. Lucky Sage here didn't try to trick me with his whole marriage."

Vigil sighed but didn't say anything.

"I understand." Cye finalized.

"I wish Rowen could see what a wonderful and extraordinary person Sage is. He's so lucky he has Sage's undivided love and yet he just threw it away like it was nothing all those years ago."

"I think Rowen understands now. It just took time." And feeling a bit brave with her back turned to him, he added, "You know you're pretty wonderful yourself Vigil."

She looked back a startled expression on her face, but she smiled gratefully. "Thank you Cye. Thank you."

to be continued...