Chapter 4

Darien pressed the button to lower the windows of his Porsche while driving home through the late evening streets. He drove the familiar route back to his apartment with only the minimal amount of concentration, his mind preoccupied with other thoughts. The cool evening breeze rippled through his hair reminding him of the pleasant sensation of the summer evening. He shifted his tense shoulders and tried to relax, but somehow his nagging thoughts would not leave him in peace.

Those nagging thoughts involved a certain bright eyed, bubbly blond, who had haunted him since his teens. He had teased her mercilessly since he met her on that fateful day, and when he later discovered that he had a school boy crush on the little spitfire he had been painfully embarrassed. It was a mystery how an ambitious, driven, college student like him, could have fallen for an adolescent girl barely in high school. His self discovery had only induced him to tease her even more, as if to somehow repel her away from him. It hadn't worked as the fates had found all kinds of creative ways to make them run into each other.

Then he had transferred to Harvard to finish his degree and he had not seen her since. It had been a feverish few years finishing school, taking over Global Consulting and securing the company financially. Darien knew that luck had played a large role in his success and he was willing to give her credit, but it had also been a lot of damn hard work on his part. Throughout, he had met countless beautiful and intelligent women, women that had blurred his memories of Serena. He had wondered about his Meatball head from time to time, but in a distant way which had reassured him that he had outgrown his irrational, teenage crush. He had even been prepared for the possibility of running into her since his return to Toronto. He had pictured himself politely greeting her like the mature, confident man that he was and then just as politely saying goodbye, banishing her firmly to his past.

As usual with Serena, things just did not go according to plan. When he had least expected, she had bowled into him again causing a minor commotion in his office. His usual business aplomb and professional manners had flown out the window at the sight of his Meatball head sprawled adorably on the floor, her eyes the size of saucers, gaping at him. The familiar feelings of his teenage crush had rushed back at full force and he felt once again that urge to pull her into his arms and kiss those soft lips which at the time was opened in shock. With those tender feelings threatening dangerously to overtake him, he had countered with a contemptuous attitude.

He had really hurt her in the fax room. The sight of her tears had struck him painfully in the chest and he had felt like a despicable bastard. Through all of their past arguments, he had never made her cry. He was appalled at the falling so low.

A familiar blue and yellow neon sign caught his eye. The Crown Arcade. He looked at his watch. Eight-thirty. Andrew should still be there. It had been a while since he dropped in to talk to Andrew. Darien parked in the small lot behind the arcade where Andrew's blue Toyota was also parked.

Walking to the front through the alley, he entered the arcade, welcomed by the familiar whoosh of the automatic doors. Surveying the room, he saw that a few teens were still playing on the arcade machines. A samurai sword game caught his eye and he made a mental note to give it a try sometime.

"Hey Darien, is that you? Long time no see," Andrew's familiar welcoming voice greeted him and he smiled back in response.

He walked over to the counter where Andrew seemed to be doing the totals on the cash machine. "Hey Andrew, it has been a while. I just stopped by to see if you're up to getting a bite to eat."

"Sure, we can head over to the restaurant. I'm finishing up here; just give me another minute to close the cash."

"Take your time. So how's business these days?"

"Can't complain. Each year we loose some customers as students graduate and move on, but we get as much new ones. There. Done. We can head over to my sister's restaurant. Hey you guys," he called out to the small group of teens around a Soul Calibur II game, "I'm closing up. Finish up the game and then let's go." This was met by some groans from the small group.

The game was quickly finished and Andrew closed up the arcade. They walked across the street to the Crown Fruit Parlor. Darien asked about Rita and Andrew told him she just got tenure at the University as the Professor of African Anthropology. They slid into a booth and their orders were quickly taken by a perky waitress.

Darien looked at his friend. Andrew still looked the same, as boyish as ever. He knew that his friend's easygoing nature was something he could always count on. Andrew had finished his medical courses at the University but had never gone on to take the admission test to enter medicine, something that had surprised Darien but which he had never asked about. Feeling curious at the moment, he decided to broach the subject.

"So Andrew, did you think when you were a student that you would still be managing the arcade today?" he asked as the waitress brought their drinks.

Andrew chuckled. "I would have to say no. It was just a job, to help out my old man, but when he died and left it to me, I realized that I really liked being my own boss and working at the arcade. I loved seeing the kids from the local high schools and the die hard game fans that come in. And medicine wasn't really my thing."

"And he left the restaurant to Lizzie?" asked Darien.

"Oh yeah, my little sis knows this place better than anyone and so she runs it better than anyone. She took a few management courses in college and has been in charge of the Crown Fruit Parlor since Dad died. She's probably in the back even now."

"You know how you were talking about high school students, well I recently ran into an old friend of ours, or rather she ran into me," said Darien ruefully, remembering the disastrous reunion that landed him on his butt.

"You don't mean Serena Taylor," asked Andrew incredulously.

"Could there be another girl who runs into me literally?" asked Darien, unable to prevent a grin from escaping. It was funny how he could laugh about it now, since at the time it had annoyed him royally. He recounted his meeting with Serena and how surprised he was to find her working in his company.

Andrew threw back his head and laughed. "My god Darien, you two were always colliding like two giant magnets irresistibly drawn to each other. And it's so fitting that you meet again the way you did." He gave Darien a sly look, something unusual for Andrew. "You know Dare, I've always felt that there was something underneath all that bickering that you two did. Some deeper emotion," said Andrew wiggling his eyebrows at Darien.

Darien fought to keep down his old embarrassment from surfacing. A frown marred his face.

Andrew recognized from Darien's expression that it was time to drop the subject as he was closing up tighter than a clam. But a little devil inside him just couldn't let the subject go. "You can't tell me there was nothing there," he said nonchalantly, stirring his coffee.

Darien ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. So he hadn't been successful in hiding his little crush. "Well, maybe. But Drew she was too young, I couldn't do anything about it. I would have been robbing from the cradle," he said exasperated.

"She was a bit young then just in high school. But plenty of other guys on our campus dated younger girls," said Andrew. "But you know, it's not too late. After all, she's not too young now."

***

Serena nibbled on her croissant and idly flipped through the morning paper. She was awake early this morning, largely due to the invigorating smells of fresh brewed coffee and baking croissants teasing her from her dreams. Lita was up already busily making breakfast and packing up delicious leftovers from their dinner last night for Serena to take to work for lunch. At the moment, her tireless friend was searching for a container to hold the croissants she wanted to take to the work crew hired to help her renovate her café.

Serena barely spared a glance for the front page which described climate change and something about sunspots. She was disassembling the once neatly folded paper, looking for the comics section. The horoscope section caught her attention and she read the prediction for Cancer, just out of curiosity.

'Love and passion is in the horizon. Hard work will pay off if you keep it up. Beware the colour red.' That part about love is typical and the last bit about red is positively bizarre, thought Serena shaking her head in disbelief. Does anyone actually believe this drivel? Even I'm not gullible enough to fall for this stuff, she thought as she continuing her quest for the comics section.

Finally finding the section she wanted, Serena allowed herself to be absorbed into the daily comics. Eyes glued on the coloured pages, she reached for another croissant only to have her hand slapped by Lita. Serena yelped in surprise dropping the paper and looked up at Lita's stern face.

"No more Serena, you've finished off a batch already. The rest are for my work crew," said Lita, firmly closing the container of croissants.

"But Litaaaa," Serena whined pitifully, eyeing the closed container, "I just wanted one more. Your croissants are just so hard to resist," she said reaching for the container.

Lita moved it beyond her range. "Weren't you just complaining last night about needing to loose some weight? I keep telling you that you should come down to my dojo with me and get some training and a good workout."

"Well..."

"And shouldn't you be going to work? It's almost eight-thirty-"

"What!" Lita's words were cut off by Serena's surprised yelp. "She looked at her watch, a present from her dad when she was accepted to college but which had not been much help in getting her to her classes on time. It certainly did not help her much this morning as it was eight- thirty and she was almost certain to be late for work.

"Oh my gosh, how did the time just go by like that. I'm gonna be late. Why didn't you tell me sooner Lita!" said Serena as she scrambled around the apartment gathering her purse, the lunch that Lita held out for her and her tote bag with her work material. Sliding her feet into her dressy sandals, she ran out of the apartment at her usual full speed.

Lita stared after the closed door thoughtfully. Her room mate was certainly energetic. It was nice not having to live alone anymore and have someone who appreciated her cooking. Lita laughed at herself. She needed to a boyfriend; she was beginning to make Serena sound like a husband. Finding a nice guy was on the agenda, but that will have to wait until after the café was finished.

***

The sweltering July heat was unbearable even though it was still early in the morning. Serena had not been prepared for the hazy humidity as her apartment had been well air conditioned. Her blouse stuck to her back uncomfortably and she regretted not checking the weather report to be better prepared for the heat. She stepped into the cool office building with a sigh of relief. Giving the security guard a sunny smile, she stepped into the elevator along with a few other people.

As she got off on her floor, she noticed a buzz of activity as people hurried in and out of the office. Seeing Molly at the reception desk, Serena scuttled over to her friend.

"Hey Molly, what's going on. What's the buzz about?"

"Oh, hey Serena. Everyone is in an uproar cause the VP has come back today. Apparently she's managed to win a huge account for the company and needs a team formed right away to help her with it and people are being pulled from their regular assignments to join her group." Molly looked around before confidentially whispering, "She suppose to be really demanding too so a lot of people are nervous about joining her team."

"Really Moll, what's her name?" asked Serena in a hushed toned.

Before Molly could answer, Amy appeared and seeing Serena, she waved her over.

"Oh, sorry Moll, we'll talk later 'kay," said Serena.

"See ya later Serena."

Amy's calm demeanor seemed to be the only steady presence in the office at the moment. Then again, it was rare to see Amy anything but calm. Serena had learned from working with Amy the past few weeks that she was thorough and efficient but also patient and willing to answer any questions. Serena had been astounded to find out that Amy was the same age as her and had fast tracked through University. She was offered a position in the company even before she graduated because of her perfect grade point average. Serena was somewhat in awe of this young genius and felt extremely lucky to be able to work with her.

"Good morning Serena, as you've probably notice, things are a bit hectic today at the office," said Amy as she walked with Serena towards her office.

"Yeah, I noticed. I heard that the VP just returned," said Serena, as she followed Amy. Serena looked around to see her fellow coworkers busily talking on the phone and hurrying everywhere with papers.

"Yes, Constance Beryl. In fact, that is what I wanted to speak to you about," said Amy opening the door to her office for Serena. Serena walked in and noticed Rei seated in one of the chairs waiting. Rei was wearing a red suit and matching red mini skirt which looked like it was tailor made for her. The Japanese beauty showed off her shapely legs with the skirt and a pair of matching red pumps. Serena felt a twinge of envy at Rei's perfect figure and glossy raven hair. Wait, red? Serena did not have time to continue those thoughts as Amy spoke.

"Oh Rei, I'm glad you got my message," said Amy, sitting behind her desk.

"Yeah, you said you wanted to speak with me," said Rei. Seeing Serena, she gave her a polite, "Good morning."

Serena gave an equal polite reply. Since the fax room incident, Rei had not spoken much to Serena, not that she ever really spoke to Serena at all. When she had spoken to Serena though, she had always been very polite, which Serena was quietly grateful for. She did not want to have anymore confrontations with Rei.

She also didn't want to have any more confrontations with her handsome nemesis either. The encounter in the fax room had left Serena with some mixed emotions regarding this man who knew just how to push her buttons. He had yelled at her at first, and made her feel like the village idiot but then he was suddenly gently wiping away her tears which had given her a funny feeling low in her stomach. In fact she got that same feeling whenever she replayed that scene in her mind, which had been often the past few weeks. They had seen each other a handful of times in the office since then, but like Rei, he had been nothing but polite. Serena had told herself that she was relieved, but somehow a little voice inside her kept insisting that she was disappointed that he didn't speak to her in that soft, warm voice again.

"I wanted to speak to both of you concerning your reassignments." Amy's voice snapped Serena out of her reverie. "I'm sure you've probably heard, Constance Beryl, our Vice President in charge of operations has just come back from our overseas branch and she has managed to win a huge account for Global Consulting. Because of the size of the project and the importance of this client, we've had to assemble a team really quickly for it and both of you have been chosen to join her team. I know that it is sudden and you've put in a lot of work already for the Borgens account but this new client is extremely important so we have to give them our best."

"What about the work we've already done?" asked Rei.

"Don't worry about it, give it to me and I will distribute it to the remaining people on my team. You've both done a great job so far and the Borgens' proposal is almost finished. I want to thank you for your efforts. I'm sure you will be wonderful on Beryl's team," said Amy beaming at Serena and Rei.

"So we're officially under Beryl from now on?" asked Serena.

"Yes, at least for the duration of the project. Oh, you will have a prep meeting with Beryl in the main board room in about half an hour. Any questions you have will be answered then."

After the briefing with Amy, Serena and Rei walked together to their meeting with Beryl. The main board room was fast filling up with other people who had been assigned to Beryl's team and Serena lost no time introducing herself to the other people who had been drafted into this assignment. She was already exchanging email addresses with a small group of new acquaintances when the door opened and a tall red head entered, followed by a good looking blond man. The blond man closed the door signaling that the meeting was about to begin. Conversation around the room died down as the regal red head walked to the front of the room and picked up a remote control. The well dressed blond man was setting up his laptop and connecting it to the projector in the middle of the elegant oak conference table.

The red haired woman pressed a button and a projector screen slid smoothly down behind her. She slowly scanned the room as if to make sure that every eye was on her before she began. Satisfied with the undivided attention she was receiving, she smiled coolly.

"Good morning everyone. I am Constance Beryl, Vice President in charge of operations. This is my assistant Jed Lambert," she said nodding to the blond man who finished setting up the laptop and was standing off to the side in the front of the room. Jed Lambert gave a polite nod.

"I see that there are quite a few new faces in the office. I have been away to England for the past three months in our London office finishing up an account. I am happy to say that I have also been able to draw in a new account for Global Consulting and it is going to be one of our largest clients. That is why you have been assembled on such short notice. I hope that I can rely on each of you to put in your best effort with me on this project. Let me tell you a bit more about our new client," she said clicking the remote which dimmed the lights in the room as well as turned on the projector to display a power point presentation on the projection screen.

Serena was suitably impressed with the VP. She was obviously a woman who was used to being in command. Her dark red hair was styled beautifully and her imposing height made her a striking figure in the room.

A sparkling diamond with the name Diamond Dreams in bold filled the screen. "Our newest client is Diamond Dreams. Many of you probably know that they are currently one of the most successful, new couture houses in Europe. This is an old family business that first started crafting designer jewelry with precious stones, specializing in diamonds. In the last few years, they have moved into the designer fashion scene with great success. They would like us to help them with plans for expanding the business and establishing their name more here and in the U.S."

Serena listened to the rest of the presentation in awe. She couldn't believe her luck in being able to work on such a large project despite being such a junior member of the company. She had heard of Diamond Dreams. They were one of the oldest known jewelry crafters in England. The family in the past had been known to design jewelry for the royal families of Europe. Now, they produced some of the hottest styles in Europe. A few of the dresses projected in Beryl's presentation took Serena's breath away and she was sure that they looked even more beautiful in life.

At the end of the presentation, she was given a package of information to review on her own. Jed handed out the agenda to each of them and also their assignments. Serena saw that she had been assigned to write up initial press releases with Rei to announce the new line of Diamond Dreams dresses which would debut in a special show in New York City.

Although she was not entirely thrilled to be working with Rei, she was still ecstatic about working on such an exciting new project. It sounded so glamorous and Serena secretly pictured herself attending the chic event, wearing one of their exclusive gowns and having her picture snapped by the media. Her little fantasy bubble popped as she heard Beryl speak again.

"Oh yes, there will be a formal party three weeks from now at the Royal Meridien King Edward Hotel to celebrate this new project. The press will be there, and of course everyone here is invited. It will be a chance to get better acquainted with the staff on Diamond's side who you might be working together with. I will let you know more about it soon," said Beryl, collecting her material together.

Jed Lambert turned on the lights in the room and began disconnecting the laptop from the projector. The meeting came to a close as everyone collected their things and murmured amongst themselves. Beryl left with her assistant after telling everyone to contact Jed if they had any questions.

Later that day, Serena sat at her desk, struggling to write a first draft of the press release which was to be submitted soon. She had discussed it with Rei and they had decided to do separate pieces and then compare them later. After skimming through the package on the project, she had been all the more determined to do a good job. However, she was suffering from a minor writer's block at the moment.

She looked at her watch, it was after five already! She had completely lost track of time and she didn't even notice it was time to clock out. This was a first for her. She glanced in Rei's direction and saw that the girl was still typing away steadily at her computer. Serena shrugged to herself. So Rei was working over time again. Nothing new there. She saw that most of the other people had already left and the office was relatively empty.

Serena was just shutting down her computer when she heard strong footsteps heading her way. Looking up, she saw Constance Beryl walking towards her, a cool expression set firmly in her face. Serena felt a chill of foreboding in her limbs.