Heero-Ella

Chapter 2- Heero POV

"Thank you for shopping at Wing Zero, please come again." I gave the giggling girls their purchase and a little smile that happened to cause them to burst into another fit of giggles. Is it just me, or do these girls just come in here to harass me? Given the fact that this store is mostly geared toward male merchandise, I have reason to believe so.

My name is Heero and I've been working in this store for a long time. I've been working pretty much since my father died and left me in the care of my stepmother and her two daughters. I was only nine years old when I started working, and even though there are child labor laws in place to keep kids from working from such an early age, Count Zechs Merquise gave me a job despite my youth. At first I was always working in the back, keeping stock organized and playing gopher for the employees. Now, I'm one of (if not THE) best employee Count Merquise has.

I guess I should explain my home life and why I felt the need to work at such an early age. When I was little, my parents died and my father's brother, Odin Lowe, took me in. Things were great until he got married a few years later to Lady Une. She wasn't so bad to begin with but her daughters, Relena and Hilde, were (and still are) the most obnoxious people on the face of the planet. I really can't stand to be around either of my "sisters."

After Odin died, everything went to Une and she, needless to say, put her two daughters above me. She hasn't kicked me out, but I know she's just waiting for me to move out. So, this is where I am now. I'm working most of the time that I'm not in school and I'm asleep anytime I'm not doing either. I don't mind though, as long as I'm away from the twin terrors, the princess of pink and the brain-dead baka, I'm happy.

Well, speak of the devil... here come my two most favorite people now.

"Heeeeeeeero!" the Pink Menace calls out, making me cringe.

I put on a tolerant face, this is after all, where I work and I don't want the other customers to think I'm a rude employee. That would be bad for business. "Hello, ladies. May I help you with something today?"

Relena beams and Hilde looks unimpressed.

"Actually, Heero... I was hoping you'd come to the prince's ball with me," Relena says, blushing slightly.

Ewww, gross. She's supposed to be my sister and she's asking me out? To top it off, she's asking while I'm at work? How twisted can the girl be? "I don't know, Relena. I might have to work that day." So sue me. I can't be malicious unless I have a good reason, and I don't consider her pestering me a good reason... at least not yet.

Hilde rolled her eyes and scoffed, "Yeah, well... I told you, Relena. Besides, why would you want some scruffy old mall worker when you could have the prince?" She giggled then added, "Oh that's right... because you can't have the prince. His highness is going to fall madly in love with me when he sees me and we'll be together forever." She stares dreamily into space giving a lovesick sigh.

Women.

I choose to ignore her and then look toward Relena, "Is there anything you were looking to buy? I'm still on the job and I can't be socializing. It's against the rules."

"Come on, Heero... we just want to keep you company."

I sigh and walk back to the area behind the cash register to tidy up the hangers, leaving Relena and Hilde where they were. I had hoped they'd take the hint, but no such luck. Her Pinkness followed me. I was about to tell her to go away but she crouched right next to me where I was picking up hangers and put her hand on my thigh.

"This is very kinky of you, Heero... I never would have thought you'd be so daring." What in the hell was she talking about?

I grabbed her wrist and pushed her away, "Don't touch me."

She looked like she was about to protest when I noticed a shadow fall over us and her eyes dart behind me. I looked up and I think my heart stopped for a second. It was my boss, Count Merquise, and he was leaning against the register looking at us coldly.

"I don't believe you're an employee, miss, and I don't know about other stores, but in this one, only employees are allowed behind the counter."

She got up and stepped out from behind the register, leaving me on the same side as my boss, looking embarrassed. I hung up the hangers in my hand on the little metal rack under the counter and stood up to face her too.

"Now," Count Merquise continued, "If you have no other business in my establishment, I'd appreciate you not returning to harass my employees."

Relena had the decency to blush and mumble an apology before dragging Hilde out of there as she made her hasty escape.

"I'm sorry, Sir. I did not intend for her to follow me there. I know the rules about proper conduct in the work place and I-" I was cut off by a rich chuckle and a hand waving at me.

"Don't worry about it Heero. I know she's your twisted stepsister and I know you're my best employee. You wouldn't jeopardize your job for some girl. Actually, I was just going to tell you that I'm on my way out right now. I'm leaving through the back so that that girl doesn't see that you're being left unsupervised. I'll be back in about an hour and then you can take off. You've been working so much lately, you need to take some time off."

I smile a little at his concern. "Don't worry, if I need the time, I'll ask. How's that?"

He just nodded and left through the employee exit at the back of the store. "See you in a bit, Heero."

That was fine with me. I started rearranging a display that had gotten disheveled by some over-eager shoppers looking for their size to keep myself busy. It was almost time for me to clock out and I had made plans with my best friend, Trowa, for lunch. Granted, it was a very late lunch (3:00) but it was a weekend so it didn't really matter what time I ate.

I finished straightening out the shelf display and looked around the store to see if there were any customers that needed help. It was a slow day, so there wasn't anyone here at the moment. I looked up as I heard a little chime, indicating someone had walked into the store. The first thing I saw was Trowa, I looked at my plain black wristwatch and noted he was about forty-five minutes early. I looked up at him again and noticed he wasn't alone.

I made my way over to him and returned the nod he gave me. "Heero, this is my friend Quatre and his friends, Wufei and Duo. I invited them to join us, if that's okay."

I turned to look at his friends; I had already seen Quatre a couple of times. He was supposedly the Prince's best friend and advisor. I'd never met the other two though. The one introduced as Wufei had a stern air about him. He didn't look comfortable in big crowds and it was obvious to me that he had been forced here against his will. The other one though, Duo, had caught my eye. He had black pants and a plain black turtleneck as well as a plain baseball cap and sunglasses. Personally, I didn't think it was bright enough in here to be wearing the glasses, but I didn't comment on it. His smile was what caught me... he had this carefree smile that just made my stomach flip-flop. Pull yourself together Yuy! I scolded.

"I don't mind them coming along." I reached out and shook each of their hands introducing myself. "I won't be out until at least another forty minutes," I said, "but you can look around if you want in the meantime."

Duo looked around, grinning like a kid let loose in a candy store, "Hey... that's a nice jacket..." He took a few steps and grabbed it from the hanger and tried it on, modeling it for us, "What do you think?"

I smiled a little, automatically going into my sales mode since I was technically still working, and answered with the truth. "It looks great on you." I wanted to say more, but it wouldn't have been appropriate.

He grinned at me and asked, "How much?"

"Nine hundred dollars." I know how much that jacket cost by heart. A lot of people had asked about it, even I wanted it, but I could never afford the thing. It was a finely made brown leather jacket with a very flattering cut that would cause the wearer to attract a good deal of attention.

He looked at his reflection in a nearby mirror that had been mounted on the wall and modeled for himself a bit. "I'll take it."

I couldn't believe he'd said that. He was just going to buy it like that? He didn't even hesitate!

Almost an hour later found me ringing up all of Duo's purchases. He had gotten himself a very nice pair of boots, the jacket, some belts, a few shirts and pants, as well as various other fashion accessories, to name a few items. I finished ringing up the cost and accepted payment by way of credit card. He had spent over two thousand dollars in just under an hour! Who was this guy?

Just then, I heard Count Merquise come in through the back and finished putting Duo's purchases in bags for him to carry out. "Heero, I'm back," he said, coming in to the main store. I looked over at the guys and heard Quatre call out to me that they'd meet Trowa and me at the food court after they put Duo's things in the car.

I nodded at them and turned back to where Zechs was standing, "Is it okay if I clock out now?"

He smiled at me and nodded; "Go ahead, I'll take care of things while Jeffery comes in. He called earlier saying he'd be late. Go on, have fun, and don't let me catch you trying to come to work until at LEAST Monday!"

I smirked at him a little and clocked out. Trowa and I walked to the food court and split up. I found and secured a table while he stood in line to "The Mongolian Grill" to make sure we wouldn't have to wait so long to get our food.

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"How in the world were you able to splurge like that?" I couldn't hold my curiosity any longer now that we had gotten our food and had started chattering about nothing in particular.

Duo blushed a little and waved it off, "Birthday money and stuff I have stored... so how long have you been working at the store?"

"Since I was nine."

"Heero is the hardest working person under 30 I've ever met," Trowa cut in. I really didn't need that being shared.

"Really?" Wufei sounded interested. "It's good to know not everyone our age is a lazy oaf," he said looking at Duo.

"Hey!" Duo pouted. He looked cute, even if I couldn't really see his eyes. "Did you hear him, Quat? Did you hear what he called me?"

Quatre giggled a little, and I noticed the appreciative look Trowa was giving him. Duo then poked Wufei's side (obviously a weak spot) because he jumped, accidentally knocking over his drink onto Duo's lap. What happened after went by really quickly, giving me very little time to actually process the events. Duo jumped up quickly to avoid getting wet, and accidentally knocked his cap and glasses off his head as the chair gave a loud screech. Wufei went as white as a sheet and kneeled in the middle of the food court saying, "Forgive me, Highness!"

All of a sudden, I hear this very loud, very familiar screeching voice scream, "It's Prince Duo!!" Then all hell broke loose. Duo turned to find every female and even some males looking at him with a predatory gleam, leaving him to look like the deer caught in the proverbial headlights.

Before he took off running he growled a dark, "You'll pay for this one, Wuffles." Wufei snapped out of his fear and took off after Duo, right on his heels. The stampede that ensued was lead by none other than my stepsister, Hilde, who was proposing marriage to the longhaired boy that ran for his life.

"Prince?" I was shocked beyond words and could barely process what had happened when Trowa spoke up.

"Quatre, why didn't you tell us he was the prince?"

Quatre looked a bit like a cornered animal just then and laughed nervously, "Prince? Really? I never would have known...." Trowa gave him a steady look and he caved, "Okay, I'm sorry I didn't tell you, Trowa, but he didn't want anyone to know. He wants to get out and have some fun too every once in a while and he can't do that if he's recognized."

Trowa nodded a little, accepting the explanation.

Quatre got up and started cleaning up before he started to leave. After taking a few steps, he looked back at us and raised his eyebrow, "Aren't you coming? Duo would never have wanted our lunch to be interrupted like that and I'm sure he feels really bad for ruining the great time we were having. In fact, he's probably waiting for us at home already."

"Home?" I couldn't help asking.

"Yeah, at the palace."

(Relena POV)

That wretched Hilde left me here with all her shopping as she went chasing after that stupid prince of hers. I can't believe she'd do that to me!

I sigh and pick up her bags when I hear my Heero's voice asking about the Prince. I peek through the ornamental plants they keep at the food court and see my Heero with his stupid friend, Trowa and a little blonde. I watch as the little blonde extends Heero an invitation to the palace and gasp when Heero accepts. How could he!?! Mother won't be happy about this. Heero isn't allowed to go to the palace without me! How dare he try to have fun when he has things to do at home? How dare he spend time with other people when he doesn't even spend time with me?

He'll be sorry he ignored me. Mother will make sure of that.