An Orphan's Life
Disclaimer: Do I really have to type it?… Oh, yeah. Lawsuits. *Clears throat* I DO NOT OWN GUNDAM WING AND ANY OF IT'S CHARACTERS!!! *Ahem* Thank you. -.-;
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Caterina sighed and looked boredly over at Theo. "Is it here yet?"
He shook his head. "How many times do you have to ask?"
"Until they bring us our food." She closed her eyes and tried not to fall asleep.
"Well, maybe if you hadn't scared all the waiters, someone would've brought it by now."
She opened her eyes and glared at Theo. "They had it coming! If they hadn't been so slow-" She cut herself off when she saw Elysia walk in. "Finally! Something arrives!"
Theo followed her gaze and drew in a sharp breath.
He had seen that stupid blue dress when the delivery men from the stores brought it, but he didn't realize just how different it would look if someone wore it.
Especially when it was Elysia.
It was just the right shade of blue that brought her eyes out nicely, and the long slit on the left side showed off her legs that he never quite noticed before until now. It was a good distraction from the low cut front which was drawing the eyes from the other men in the restaurant.
Basically, she was gorgeous and he was mentally slapping himself for being so mean to her.
Caterina knew for a fact that Elysia would look nice in the blue dress, she's a Winner after all, but even she was in shock by Elysia's appearance. Who would've realized that this orphan could catch everybody's attention just by walking in?
Amazing what one simple dress could do.
She smiled a little, glad that she was involved in this transformation. She was starting to like Elysia.
The minute her eyes had landed on the poor girl's clothing, she had realized just how bad Elysia had had it. Caterina never really thought about what it would be like to not have her parents.
Sure, Quatre was always off at business meetings, and Dorothy was always out doing some thing or another, but at least they always came back. A goodnight kiss, someone to say they loved you back, buy you things just because… She never realized just how hard it would be to not have any of that.
She was growing fond of Elysia, kind of like she was a younger sister to her, previously said things erased from her memory.
She wanted to help Elysia feel happy, to get rid of that sadness and longing that was always present in her eyes. It was a bit disturbing to Caterina that someone had never known any kind of true happiness in their entire life. Any happiness for that matter.
Which is why she planned the shopping trip, the dinner, and the potential relationship with Theo.
She knew they liked each other, but their stubbornness was messing things up. She figured if she set up a few things, like the roses that should be arriving soon, then maybe they would stop acting they hated each other and make with the kissing.
If it weren't for the chance meeting with Jennifer Groff and the damn waiters, then her plans would be going a bit better.
It was obvious that Jennifer and Elysia knew each other. She saw it in the way their eyes met and Jennifer's quick exit. But she wondered just how much they knew each other.
She pushed it out of her mind and smiled at Elysia as she walked nervously over to the table. "Elysia, darling, it's so good that you decided to come."
She smiled back weakly and sat down, glancing quickly to the sides. "I hope I'm not too late. Did you guys eat already?"
Theo snorted and rolled his eyes. "Once again, if someone hadn't scared all the wa-"
Caterina covered his mouth and continued smiling at Elysia. "So, Elysia, how was your nap? Any nice dreams?" She winked at her and motioned at Theo with her eyes.
Elysia's eyes widened and she blushed a little. She looked down and folded a napkin from the table over her lap. "No. I.. Um… "She looked up when a waiter walked over.
He smiled at her and handed her a menu. "Hello, my dear. Would you like anything to drink while you decide on your order?"
Elysia looked over to Theo as he began to turn an interesting shade of red and nodded slowly. "Sure… Um…Water sounds fine…. Or something…" She frowned as she realized she was probably making an ass of herself in front of all these cool and rich people in a nice restaurant.
The waiter didn't seem to notice, though, mainly because he was looking down the top of her dress. He smiled some more and nodded as he wrote it down on his notepad. "I'll be back with your water shortly and to take your order."
Caterina perked up at that and said," And our food, ri-"
"Yes, madam. Your… food." The waiter gave her a look and wandered off.
Theo glared at the waiter and looked at Caterina. "That's it. I'm going."
He stood up to leave, but Caterina grabbed his arm and yanked him back in his chair.
"Oh, quit being a baby and stay. You haven't eaten, and I haven't paid yet. Just stay, so that you can see the looks on their faces when I give them their tips." She glared at the passing waiters. "Greedy bastards."
Elysia coughed and looked around, feeling left out.
Caterina glanced at her and smiled some more. "Heh, sorry about that, Elysia. Where were we?"
She opened her mouth, but the waiter returned a bit too quickly, and placed the glass of water on the table. "Here you go, my dear. This water has been taken from a clear spring off a winter mountain in Aspen and filtered here in this very restaurant. I hope it's not too cool for you, eh?"
Elysia nodded slowly, trying to be polite and took a cautious sip of the water. She nodded a bit too exaggeratedly and put the glass down quickly. "Yes, it's, um… fine. Thank you."
The waiter nodded and bowed a little. "Have you decided on what you wanted?"
Elysia frowned and looked at the menu in her hand. "Oh, no. Not yet." She smiled a little at him.
He nodded again. "Okay, well call me when you're ready." He walked away with a hint of a skip in his step.
Elysia looked at Caterina, eyebrows raised. "What the hell was that all about?"
Caterina smiled and leaned on the table. "Don't you see, honey? You're gorgeous and it's driving the men crazy."
Elysia started laughing. "Me? Gorgeous?! " She looked at Theo. "That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard." She stopped laughing when she saw a strange look in his eyes. She looked away quickly and turned her attention to the menu. "So, um… What are you guys having?" She opened the menu and froze when she saw it was all in French."
Caterina shrugged and pointed to Theo. "He's the one who ordered. I don't know French as well as he does."
Elysia tried not to look at Theo and concentrated on reading the menu. "Oh, okay…" She frowned a little. "I guess I can have the… escargot." She put the menu down and smiled at Caterina.
Caterina picked up the menu and handed it back to her. "Try again, sweetie. That's snails."
Elysia's eyes widened. "Snails?"
Caterina nodded.
Theo sighed and went to stand up again. "This is so lame."
Caterina made a face and yanked him back down. "Stay!"
He glared at her. " No, Cat, I have had enough! This whole night has been-"
Caterina covered his mouth and whispered fiercely into his ear," Sit down, shutup, or your relationship with Elysia is screwed!"
He blinked and stared at her in confusion. "Huh?"
Caterina went to talk again, but she remembered Elysia was close enough to hear something. She sighed and looked apologetically at Elysia, saying, "Please excuse us. We'll be right back," as she yanked Theo to his feet and dragged him away to one of the dark corners of the restaurant.
Elysia frowned and played with the napkin, wondering what it was that they were doing. Caterina was being awfully nice to her, and the way she kept looking at Theo was a bit unnerving.
She shrugged this off and went back to deciphering the menu.
In the dark corner, Caterina was whisper yelling at Theo about his lack of manners. "Don't you know how to act around a lady?!"
"Apparently I don't, since-"
She hit him on the forehead. "Let me finish!"
He grabbed at his face, more from shock than in pain, and glared at her. "What the hell has gotten into you?!"
"Hello! I am trying to set something up here, but your dumbass guyness is getting in the way of everything!"
Theo frowned in confusion. "My guyness?"
"Yes! Can't you see I am having a close-knit operation going on here? And you're ruining it!"
Theo blinked and raised his hands up. "I am now officially lost."
Caterina sighed and pointed to Elysia, who was surrounded by some of the waiters. "You see? I am trying to get you guys together! But you keep messing it up!"
Theo narrowed his eyes at the waiters and looked at Caterina. "What do you mean? Why?"
She hit him with every syllable she said. "Because you two were made for each other!"
Theo flinched from the pain and covered his head. "Would you stop doing that?"
"Not until you admit you like her!"
He glared at her and said, "I don't like her."
"Yes, you do!"
"No, I don't." His eyes flashed as he said this.
Caterina paused in her beating and frowned a little. "What do you mean? If you don't like her, then what's with all this weird lovey dovey crap I've been seeing? I know when you like someone as a sister, and that's not what I've been seeing when I look in your eyes. And I know you don't hate her. It's so damn obvious." She brushed a strand of her out of her eyes. "What's going on?"
Theo stared at her blankly for a minute, then looked away. He mumbled something under his breath.
Caterina frowned and moved closer to him. "What? I didn't hear you."
He sighed and mumbled again.
Caterina made a face. "Still can't hear you, Barton."
He looked at her and said a little slowly, "I don't like Elysia, because… Because I love her."
Caterina's eyes widened. "You love her?!" She turned around and started making shock noises. "How can you love her? You've only known her for… a few days!"
"And? There were others I knew for months and I never liked them, let alone loved!"
"Exactly! How can you be in love with someone you've only known for a few days?!" She rubbed her forehead. "Oh, this is really going to mess up my plans. All that money…"
Theo frowned. "What did you have planned?"
Caterina waved her hand. "Champagne, convenient exit for me, moonlit walk… romance…."
She looked up and sighed. "Well, then again, at least I don't have to worry about forcing you two to fall in love, since it, you know, already happened." She smiled at him, hoping to change the subject. "Heh… Um, why don't we go back to the table before the waiters do something to her?"
Theo nodded and took the bait. He walked quickly to the table, rolling up his sleeves. "With pleasure."
Caterina sighed and followed. "He is such a guy."
Elysia looked up at Theo as he came marching over, death in his eyes. The waiters caught this and took off, leaving Elysia to sit in confusion. She smiled a little and looked towards Caterina. "Enjoy your talk?"
Caterina nodded and sat down slowly. "Uh huh. Had a few things to straighten out with ol' green eyes here." She slapped Theo's ass.
Theo's eyes widened. He looked to Caterina, obviously pissed off.
She smiled at him and gave a little wink. "You know I'm teasing. Quit acting like that." She smiled at Elysia. "Now, about this visit to Wufei's place. I was thinking we could go after we eat and … well, you know, talk with him. Have a bit of fun at the Chang house."
Elysia's eyes widened at the mention of Wufei's name. How long ago it seemed that she had come here for one specific reason. She had forgotten all about that. She nodded and glanced over at Theo, who was glaring at everything in sight. "That's a good idea. Then I won't have to worry about getting lost… You do know where he lives, right?"
Caterina sighed and rolled her eyes. "I believed I told you that already." She pulled out a piece of paper and winked again at Theo. "But just in case we should get separated, here's the address. Just go to the hotel and they'll give you a map or something."
Elysia nodded and took the paper from Caterina, trying to bite down a feeling of anxiety. She didn't know why she didn't like the way Caterina kept winking at Theo. It's not like either of them liked each other.
She took a sip of her water and watched as Caterina continued talking, smiling constantly. Theo was obviously trying to hold back how annoyed he was, and was glancing over at Elysia a lot. Elysia didn't seem to think about this much, until she realized that he had a strange look in his eyes.
Not the mean look, the one he had been giving her the whole time they've been together. This look was almost… kind. As if… he was hiding some true emotion…
Her eyes widened when she remembered something.
Back at the circus, when she and Theo had just come out of Catherine's tent and were heading over to get the breakfast that Theo had whined so much for. His little brother, Gabriel, had stated it so simply.
He's only nice to girls he doesn't like.
She gulped down the water some more, as she realized that lately, Theo had been extra nice to her.
Did he get more annoyed with her over these last few days?
Ever since Caterina had shown up…
Elysia glanced over at Caterina, who was talking about killing the slow chef.
Theo was resting his head on one hand and tapping the table with the other. He had a look of sheer boredom and what looked like anger in his eyes, which went in Caterina's direction constantly.
While he was being nice to Elysia, he had been beyond mean to Caterina. They both went out of their way to insult each other and hit one another at any given moment.
And now that Elysia thought about it, Caterina had been somewhat nice to Theo at the restaurant.
And what were they doing in that corner earlier?
Elysia started to choke on her water, as she came to the conclusion that Theo and Caterina must like each other. It was the only logical thing she could think of.
Caterina and Theo looked at her in confusion as she continued to choke.
Caterina leaned forward. "Are you okay?"
Theo stood up slightly. "Hey, what's wrong with you? You look a bit pale."
Elysia waved her hand at them and tried to stop choking. "It's all right… I'm fine." She stood up and put the glass down. "I… I better go. I should leave you two alone." She looked down, trying to remember if she brought anything with her.
Theo made a face and looked at Caterina. *What the hell is she talking about? *
He thought that over and then quickly shook his head. "Why are you in such a hurry to leave?" He looked around at all the people in the restaurant, who were beginning to stare. He frowned and leaned toward Elysia, whispering, "Don't leave me alone with these people!"
Elysia made a face at that. "You have Caterina."
Theo stared at her in confusion. "She's one of them!… Hey, wait. What do you mean by-"
Before he could finish his sentence, a waiter walked over with a bouquet of roses in his arms. "I have a delivery for…"He frowned and tried to read the little card embedded in the roses. "Caterina? … Yes, that's it. From… I can't read this… I think it starts with a … T?"
Caterina made a face. "What?! That's not right!"
Theo stood up quickly and glared at her. "Caterina. If this is some sort of joke-"
Caterina stood up too. " What the hell are you talking about?! Why would I pull something like this?!"
Elysia stood silently in shock, her suspicions coming true before her eyes. She remembered that paper that fell off the dresser in Theo's room.
A flower order.
There was no doubt about it.
Theo liked Caterina and not her.
All this time, she had thought…
And now it was blowing up in her face.
She turned quickly as she felt the tears coming to her eyes.
She had to leave. Now.
She started walking away slowly, going faster with each step, then ended up running.
During the commotion with the waiter and Caterina yelling at him, Theo looked over to where Elysia had been standing. His eyes widened when he noticed she was gone.
"Shit!" He scanned the restaurant for any sign of Elysia and managed to catch a glimpse of her leaving through the front doors.
He looked at Caterina, who was still yelling at the waiter, then ran after Elysia, hoping he could catch her.
Out front, Elysia ran to the limo she came in and knocked on the front window.
The driver lowered it and looked up at her. "Ready to go so soon?"
Elysia shook her head. "I can walk back. You go ahead and leave."
The driver frowned, a little concerned, seeing the tears in her eyes. "Are you sure?"
Elysia nodded. "Yes. Thank you."
The driver looked at her reluctantly, then sighed and raised the window up. He started the car and drove off.
Elysia watched him leave, then turned and walked down the sidewalk. She knew Theo and Caterina would go to the hotel first to look for her.
She figured it'd be better if she wandered around the rest of the night, then return early in the morning, when they'd be asleep. She could go in and out quickly, before they even noticed she'd returned.
It was better this way. They could be alone. Together…
Elysia wiped at her eyes and walked faster, trying to stop crying.
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A/N: And that was the second chapter. You can R&R now or you can R&R later. Or you can go on to the next chapter. --