Chapter 2

Ever since the day that Serena had met him, she had done the best she could to forget him without success. That day had been bad already with the failing mark on that test in Miss Haruna's class. It got even worst when in her frustration she stupidly crumpled up her test and carelessly tossed it behind her and hit him on the head. She had felt bad for hitting him at first, guilty about littering and was somewhat struck dumb by his pretty boy looks but all that ended when he had opened his mouth and called her a meatball head. He even had the nerve to look at her test score and tell her to study more, as if it was any of his business.

For years she had bumped into him on and off. Usually when she least expected it, she would bowl into his lean body on the street as pedestrians stopped and stared at the two of them colliding and then bickering. When he had gone off to college, she had run into him less and when she was accepted into college she had stopped seeing him all together. It had been more than six years since she had seen him and this was not how she wanted to have a reunion.

But why was he here now? Why does he have to be here at her most embarrassing moment on the first day of her job? Her apology died on her lips as he angrily asked, "What the hell are you doing here?" A woman and a man quickly helped Darien up and he brushed himself off.

"Well, Meatball head?" he asked again.

"Don't call me that, and I could ask you the same thing," she said falling back into the familiar antagonistic mood she always felt whenever she ran into him, usually literally. So he was Mr. Shields, thought Serena, realizing that she never knew Darien's last name. Mr. Arrogant, pain in the butt, Darien Shields. What was it about Darien that made her feel so inadequate? She had managed to study and even got accepted into college so she wasn't the complete idiot he would like to think she was. She didn't even klutz up as much without him around. Maybe the problem wasn't her, but him; he's the one who has been jinxing her. Her present predicament proved it, she klutzes up majorly because of his bad vibes, she thought to herself and got angrier by the moment. She was finally going to give him a piece of her mind. She scrambled up to her feet, ignoring the hand he offered to her.

"Mr. Shields, are you alright?" asked the woman who was with him.

"What..! Good Lord. What's going on? Mr. Shields?" Mr. Moore had stepped out of the office to see what the commotion was about and was dismayed to find Serena involved in it.

"I'm terribly sorry Mr. Shields. Ms. Taylor is new with us and doesn't know her way around yet," said Mr. Moore trying to excuse Serena. By now it seemed half the office staff was looking curiously at the mess like spectators at an accident. Many were asking Mr. Shields if he was okay and if they could get him anything. Serena even heard someone whisper whether or not Mr. Shields was going to fire her for this.

That comment gave Serena a start and she felt the anger drain out of her. What did they mean would he fire her? Could he? He doesn't have that much power does he?

"Ms. Taylor is one of our new junior communications specialists," said Mr. Moore trying to smooth out the situation. "She will be working under Ms. Anderson's team. Ms. Taylor, let me introduce you the Mr. Shields, the President and CEO of Global Consulting."

He's the CEO? Serena was now really ready to panic. He really could fire her and who knows what else! Shit, how could this happen to her. Knowing Darien he would fire her and he would probably make it publicly embarrassing too.

Without her antagonism fueling her, Serena felt like a deflated balloon. With a small voice, she made an apology to Mr. Shields for running into him. She would be polite for all it was worth now. She waited with slightly hunched shoulders for Darien to callously reject her apology and fire her on the spot.

"There, no harm done right Mr. Shields," intervened Mr. Moore. He picked up Serena's pile of papers giving her some and carrying the rest for her. The other employees began returning back to work now that the excitement was over. Darien was whisked off by a few employees who hoped to use the opportunity to earn some brownie points with him.

Now that the instant dismissal was prevented, Serena felt somewhat relieved. She began to apologize and thank Mr. Moore profusely for helping her out. Mr. Moore told her it was perfectly alright and assured her that it was unnecessary for her to bring him brownies to "make up for it." He helped her stack the pile of work on her desk and returned to his own office, reminding her to take it easy.

Serena heaved a huge sigh. It couldn't get much worst than this, she thought. But she was wrong.

Hearing loud footsteps stomping her way despite the thick carpet of the office, Serena looked up with trepidation. A volatile looking Rei was storming her way. Rei marched right up to Serena and glared down upon the seated girl.

"What did you do to him?" Rei seethed. "I heard all about it from the other people. Look, I know you're new, but let me give you some advice. You don't go around accosting our President okay. He is a very busy man and does not need an incompetent klutz like you hanging around him," each word stinging into the still sensitive Serena.

Rei's expression of anger was truly a sight and could make even the most fearless person tremble. Serena knew that if it was possible, Rei's eyes would have shot fireballs out at her and she would have been burnt to a crisp.

"It was an accident!" yelled Serena shooting out of her seat before remembering to lower her voice. She looked around quickly to see if anyone noticed her shout. She was sorely provoked into defending herself by Rei's tone of voice. "Do you think it was my intention to embarrass myself like that on my first day," said Serena with a controlled voice.

Rei's suspicious eyes stared at Serena for a moment before softening a bit. "Well, who knows? It isn't so impossible. Mr. Shields is a very good looking man and it isn't the first time that a woman has tried to throw herself at him," she said while still eyeing Serena with speculation and doubt.

I'll bet you know from personal experience, thought Serena crossly. "Well I'm not interested okay. I just want to do a good job here. If you'll excuse me, I have a lot of reading to do before our meeting with Amy tomorrow," she said turning back to her desk looking very busy suddenly to get Rei off her back.

The rest of the day went by without any more commotion. Serena managed to get a substantial amount of reading done and only had a bit more to go which she decided to take home to do. She ran into Molly as she was leaving and the two took the subway home together when they found that they were heading the same way.

***

Serena unlocked the door to her apartment with giddy anticipation. She could tell from the heavily smells wafting in the air as soon as she got off the elevator that Lita had been baking all day. Her mouth watered in anticipation for the moment when she could bite into Lita's light, buttery, baked confections that just melted on her tongue.

"I'm home," she yelled, taking off her shoes and throwing down her binder and purse on the floor in her haste to get her hands on Lita's baked treats. Lita poked her head out from the kitchen and gave her a big smile in greeting.

"Hey glad you're back. You're just in time to try out a new recipe I've been experimenting with. Lita came out of the kitchen with a tray of puffed pastries. "I've been trying to create a new éclair. Chocolate's always good but how about almond cream or some fruity flavored éclairs. She put the tray down on the coffee table for Serena to sample.

Needing no further invitation, Serena swooped down on the tray with joy. "Yum, almond cream, and ummph cohee," said Serena between large mouthfuls.

Lita looked at the pile Serena had left on the floor and patiently gathered up the things and put them on the computer table in Serena's room. Serena ate on blissfully, congratulating herself on finding a roommate who could cook like a dream, cleaned after both of them without a complaint and who was so nice about everything. She sometimes felt guilty when Lita also cleaned up her messes, but Lita had assured her that she was fine and didn't mind keeping the apartment clean. Lita also had an incredible green thumb and small potted plants, flowers and even a beautiful orchid decorated the apartment, flourishing under Lita's nurturing care.

"So, which one do you think is best," asked Lita, plopping down on the sofa beside Serena.

"They're all great!" said Serena enthusiastically, having already eaten most of the éclairs. She took a huge gulp of the milk that Lita had brought with the pastries and heaved a huge sigh of satisfaction, a milk mustache decorating her upper lip.

"I'm thinking of adding them to the menu for the bakery," explained Lita, taking one of the few remaining éclairs and popping it into her mouth. Lita was in the process of opening her own bakery and café and it was a job that was taking up much of her time. She was handling almost every aspect of it alone which had her jumping from one thing to another. She was personally planning the menu, baking up new recipes, picking out furniture for the café and going over plans with the interior decorators and directing the crew who was installing the professional kitchen in the bakery. Lita had put her whole life savings into the venture as well as taking out a small business loan from the bank and was determined to make it work.

"You're bakery is going to be amazing Lita, I promise I'll be your best customer," said Serena leaning back on the sofa and propping up her legs on the coffee table.

"Hey you're a friend and so you get freebies. After all, you were great as a guinea pig for my recipes," said Lita leaning back and assuming a similar lazy pose on the sofa, hands propped behind her head.

"I envy you Lita," said Serena wistfully. "You have it so together. You're working towards your dream."

"Hey, so are you. You've found a job. How was your first day anyways?"

"Oh god, don't remind me, it was terrible," groaned Serena taking a cushion and burying her face into it. She told Lita had happened, all about Darien, how he had bullied her in the past, about Rei's attitude and what a fool she had made of herself.

Lita made sympathetic noises. "It's not so bad, seems like your manager and your team leader Amy is pretty nice," said Lita. "And maybe it will go better with Darien too. I mean you haven't seen him for a long time, maybe he's changed," said Lita optimistically.

Serena groaned. "You don't understand Lita, that man has it in for me. He was an arrogant pig and a pain when we were young, you know the type who's gorgeous and knows it and thinks he owns the world. Well, now he's even more gorgeous, is in a position of power and all that probably made him even more conceited," Serena huffed.

"So he's gorgeous eh?" laughed Lita, a speculative gleam in her eye.

"Didn't you hear the other parts Lita?! The conceited and arrogant pig part," said Serena in exasperation.

Lita laughed again. "I think I know what you mean. The type that draws a ton of girls flocking around him. I think there's someone like that at my dojo. Well don't stress it Serena, I'm sure you'll just settle into work and you probably won't see him too much since he's the president and all," said Lita reassuringly, starting to clean up their éclair tray. "Let me fix up a great dinner to take your mind off work, how about a crisp Caesar salad with mushroom and three cheese lasagna?"

The promise of food cheered Serena up immensely, and the negative parts of the day began to fade.

That night as Serena laid in her bed, the events of the day began to replay in her head again. Darien Shields. Unwillingly, Serena began to bring up the image of Darien in her mind. He had looked a bit older, maybe even a big taller but still mostly the same. She went through the subtle changes that had taken place. His hair was neatly combed now instead of looking like he ran his fingers through it too much, unlike when he was younger. He was definitely taller, with broader shoulders that filled out his suit nicely. His facial features were sharper now, the softness of boyhood completely gone. But those smoky midnight blue eyes, they were still the same. The colour and the intensity in them alternately made her mad as hell and at the same time shiver with a feeling she refused to name.

Serena couldn't remember any expression in them other than cocky amusement or annoyance when they were looking at her. She wondered how they would look filled with passion and love. The thought of his eyes filling with such an expression for her made her flush with embarrassment even though she was alone.

She pulled the blankets over her head as if to hide from the thought and sternly told herself to go to sleep. Serena fell asleep, with the image of midnight blue eyes burning in her dreams.