"...and that's it for tonight! Thank you all for coming and have a pleasant evening!"
On stage, Lacus Clyne gave a brief bow. A large crowd of screaming I-love-Lacus fans applauded and hooted, rocking the arena with their deafening clamor. She smiled widely, one last time, before she turned and walked into the backstage.
She sighed deeply as she entered her drawing room. She loved singing. But it could get pretty strenuous on one's nerves at times...
Just as she sat on her vanity, someone knocked on her door.
"Huh? Who could that be?" she wondered as she opened her door.
"Ah, Miss Lacus, I am your No. 1 fan! Please sign my autograph!" A grey-haired girl begged as she handed a ball-point pen and the autograph book to her idol.
Lacus smiled and nodded. "Of course I'd love to." But as she picked up the pen, smoke gas suddenly sprayed into her unsuspecting face. Her blue eyes rounded in surprise before she fell into a dead faint.
The fan girl smirked. "Phase one is complete. Now for Phase Two..."
As she dragged the limp body of the pink songstress out, the cell phone on Lacus's vanity table rang.
------------------------------------
Wanted: Maid for Hire: EPISODE TWO
------------------------------------
Athrun Zala closed the sedan door with a loud 'slam'. His chauffeur looked into the rearview mirror and had to resist the overwhelming urge to laugh long and loud. He'd seen the whole sparring match and, for the first time in his life, the driver had actually seen someone defeating his master in a verbal joust. And, of course, she was also the first to have the guts on giving the Ice Prince a good, hard punch and leaving him standing there gaping with the grace and poise of an indignant princess.
Unfortunately, his control slipped and a soft snicker escaped.
"Are you laughing?" asked the prince in a deadly tone as he nursed his black eye.
"N-No, sir! Not at all!" His driver quickly denied.
"Then drive. Now."
The chauffeur revved up the engine.
"Umm...Master Athrun, would you like me to get some ice for your black e–"
Evil glare.
"I mean 'unilateral blackened peripheral vision'?"
Athrun gritted his teeth. "No, I can take it."
"Very well, sir."
As soon as his chauffeur turned his head, Athrun visibly winced.
Pride simply dictated that Athrun pretend it didn't hurt. He couldn't believe that he, one of ZAFT's most prized ex-combaters and No. 1 rookie of the armed forces, would get injured by the hands of a girl without so much as an effort!
And he told himself that he didn't care if he ever set eyes on that little hell-cat ever again.
Because, damn it, she punched like a professional world-champion boxer!
XXX
"Well, this is the place."
Cagalli's head rose from the flyer in her hand as she stopped in front of a huge mansion. Wow. Whoever owned this place has got to be filthy rich! It wasn't that she wasn't used to wealth...but it was larger than her own manor!
Thinking of her home caused a pang in her chest. But she quickly brushed it off. It was neither the time nor the place to get nostalgic.
Clutching her bag a bit nervously, she approached the guards posted out front.
"Excuse me, but can you open the gate please? I'm applying for the new maid job," Cagalli said politely.
The guards looked at each other in amazement.
"Err...sure. Just hold on a second."
XXX
Cagalli knocked on the front door.
Silence.
"Hello, anybody home?" she called out and knocked again.
The door swung open and two people stood in front of her. One had silver-grey hair and a grumpy look, while the other had blond-defying-gravity hair and smirked.
"Who are you, miss?" the blond asked.
"If you're selling anything, I don't want it," snapped the silver-haired one.
Her temper raised a notch but she quickly calmed herself. It wouldn't do to go gung-ho when she needed this job badly.
"My name is Cagalli Yula. And I am here for the maid application."
They gawked.
"Wow. I thought no one would want to take on this job after the last 26th maid's sad history," said the blond with big eyes.
The silver-haired guy shrugged. "Well, it's her funeral. Well, Yula, my name is Yzak Joule and the gaping guy beside me is Dearka Elthman. Come in before I exhaust my leg muscles standing here."
As Cagalli entered, she felt her back freezing. She wasn't so impressed with the mansion, after all. It was too big and too cold with halls where shadows of suppressed emotions were cast aside and every nook and cranny of the house was haunted by the ghost of the past left forever unsaid.
It gave her the creeps.
"So where are the other maids?" asked Cagalli.
Dearka blinked. "What other maids?"
"You know, I can't be the only one," she said wryly.
Yzak snorted. "Gee, since there are only three people standing in this room, then maybe we can safely deduce that, yes, you are the only one. Lucky you!"
She blinked innocently. "Why is that?"
"You don't know why?" Dearka looked like she'd just said she didn't know one plus one equaled two. "That's not logical. All of PLANT knows of the Ice Prince's notorious reputation as a cold-hearted and aloof man...and the fact that his family shreds maids like a paper machine."
Cagalli's amber eyes widened. "H-How does he 'shred' them?"
Dearka smirked. "You'll find out soon enough. But for the time being, you'd better make yourself at home while His Royal Disdain hasn't graced us with his presence yet."
"Oh, who are you?" The housekeeper asked as she walked out of the next room with a mop in hand. She was a middle-aged, plump woman with a kindly face and black hair streaked with grey.
"She's the new maid," Dearka supplied.
The housekeeper shot him a look of irritation. "Did I ask you the question, miss?"
He smiled sheepishly.
"Oh, I'm Cagalli Yula. I'm applying for the maid post."
She clucked her tongue. "Poor thing...you're so young...Oh, well. Come with me. I will feed you before you face our master."
Cagalli followed her, silently wondering if this 'master' was as bad as they made him out to be.
XXX
20-year-old Kira Yamato was walking down the lane from the café he had just left when he heard a soft moan. It was barely audible if not for his super-intensified Coordinator hearing. He frowned and took a turn into a deserted dead-end. His lavender eyes widened in surprise when they settled on a young girl with long, flowing pink hair lying like a discarded rag doll on the dirty ground.
He quickly ran over and kneeled down. "Miss, are you alright?"
She only moaned in reply. He touched his forehead and frowned. She was burning up.
He couldn't find it in his heart to leave a girl, stranger or not, sick and alone. So without hesitation, he hauled her into his arms and carried her home.
XXX
Kira lived by himself in the suburbs of PLANT. Since he was twelve, he had to fend for himself and earn a living by painting artwork. He had no parents, no loved ones and very few he could truly call friends, for the suburbs was not a very friendly neighborhood and no one trusted anybody.
The Coordinator had plenty of reasons to begrudge his fate. But he'd learned to survive over the years. Besides, in his opinion he was better off than most people and he was grateful with what he had.
He carried the shaking girl in his arms over to his sofa and gently lowered her down. Then he looked for a soaked towel and started wiping the girl's burning face.
"Miss, can you hear me?" Kira asked worriedly.
At first he was relieved when her eyelids opened, and then he was immediately entranced by pools of the most beautiful eyes he'd ever seen.
Sapphire eyes the color of the infinite skies...
She moaned again.
"F-Father..."
He snapped out of his trance and gently slapped her cheek. "Miss...Miss, are you okay? What is your name?"
A tear streaked down her cheek. "I-I...Please, no!"
She gave a loud sob as more tears fell. Kira impulsively pulled her into his arms and comforted her. She must have experienced something terribly traumatic to cry like this. His heart lurched at how small and fragile she looked. How could someone so sweet-looking suffer any pain?
"Please tell me your name," he appealed as he smoothed down her bright cherry locks.
She didn't reply.
"Miss...Your name?" he asked again.
Silence.
Then she lifted her tearstained face and whispered:
"I...don't...know..."
XXX
"Are you hungry?"
"I'm practically starving!"
The housekeeper, or known as Minerva, made some spaghetti for her. Cagalli accepted the bowl of spaghetti and ate like a hungry bear.
"So, umm, tell me about this 'master' of yours. Is he as bad as you say he is?" Cagalli asked.
"Well, I don't like to gossip. All I can say is you must base your opinion on the inside, not the outside. He also has a daughter...but no wife."
"But what's his name and –"
Ding-dong.
It was the front door.
"Go ahead and greet our visitor."
Cagalli looked up in surprise at Minerva.
"Take it as a test of civility," said the housekeeper with a smile.
Cagalli hurried over to the door, taking the bowl of spaghettis with her as she slurped on. "Cagalli, don't!" Minerva hissed as she pointed to the spaghettis and shook her head. Cagalli took the hint. Hiding the bowl behind her, she swung open the door and smiled widely. "Hello and welcome to –"
Her big smile turned upside-down as she saw who it was.
Emerald green eyes...inky black hair...
...dark scowl...
"YOU!"
XXX
Kira handed the pink-haired woman a cup of green tea and sat down beside her on the sofa. "Feeling better?" he asked kindly.
She delicately sipped the tea and smiled timidly. She nodded her head.
"Ah, good...By the way, I thought you might want to take a look at this. I found it next to you." Kira showed her a round, bright pink object.
"Haro...Haro..." The pink and round mechanical ball managed to cry before it went dead.
Her blue eyes widened as something triggered in her memory. A green-eyed, dark-haired boy handing her Mr. Pink...
"Ah, he's mine." The girl smiled and hugged the mechanical orb to her chest. "It's Mr. Pink!"
Kira smiled. "Well, he seems to have been thrown aside into something...most probably a wall and conked out. Would you like me to fix it for you?"
She nodded trustingly and placed her precious Mr. Pink in his hands. Kira put the pink robotic ball into a cupboard, mentally noting to repair it later on.
"Since you'll be living with me for a spell while you regain your memories, I guess we should give you a name." Kira tapped his chin thoughtfully as he studied the girl. Her cerulean eyes, framed by her long cherry tresses, looked up at him innocently. She had a sweet, almost angelic beauty about her...A flash of inspiration struck him. "Alright then, I will call you...Angelique."
"Angelique?"
He nodded. "Angelique Yamato. Think of me as...a friend, or your older brother. I've always wanted a sister. Would you like that, Angie?"
She smiled shyly. "Okay...big brother."
XXX
Cagalli's face darkened. It was him. That emerald-eyed guy who had insulted her this afternoon!
What in blazes was HE doing here!
"YOU again," Athrun hissed after the surprise wore off. "What are YOU doing here? Are you stalking me or something?"
Cagalli gritted her teeth. "Don't think that you're such a fine specimen of the opposite sex that I'd waste my time to stalk you. I know of a laboratory frog that looks just like you, if not better."
His eye twitched. "I always knew an amphibian could actually walk on two feet, grow hair and have nice conversations with humans like I can."
She smiled innocently. "You just found out? I'm speechless. Look in the mirror and you'll see living proof of its existence."
If looks could kill, Cagalli would have been frothing in the mouth already.
But they can't, so Cagalli smirked back.
Athrun raised an elegant eyebrow. "What are you smiling for? Do you know that only mentally disturbed people would smile for absolutely no reason?"
"Ah, and did you know you wear a big scowl every time I meet you? It practically screams: STAY AWAY, BIG JERK ALERT!"
"How quaint...then that smile on your face must scream: STAY AWAY, SMALL BOXER WITH A BIG TEMPER ALERT!"
She clenched her hand into a fist. "Small? I am NOT small! And I do NOT have a temper!"
He smirked. "Your bark is worse than your bite, midget."
HOW DARE HE! Cagalli's temple pulsed. She took a deep breath and met his eyes. "Okay then. I'll show you," she said calmly.
Then she dumped the spaghetti bowl over his head and slammed the door in his face. Hard.
"There! That takes care of that trash!" Cagalli dusted her hands in satisfaction as she turned around to face her three companions.
To her utter shock, Dearka doubled up with laughter! Even Yzak was laughing his head off! Minerva coughed but her lips twitched.
"Hey, what's so funny?" she asked, blinking.
"Y-You..." Dearka wiped a tear from his mirthful eye as he pointed to the doorway. "I don't BELIEVE it! Ha-ha-ha!"
Yzak was practically choking for air as he said, "Oh God, I never thought I'd actually live to see the day the Ice Prince would get dissed...by a female no less!"
"Would you guys refrain from laughing like crazy hyenas and tell me what the HELL is going on?" Cagalli demanded, beginning to lose her patience.
Yzak smirked. "That man you just insulted and humiliated...do you have any ideawho he is?"
Cagalli snorted. "Yeah, he's the nutty psycho who escaped from the mental ward and tried to run me over!"
"Well, he's not just any 'psycho'. You have just met your boss and the Prince of ZAFT himself...Athrun Zala."
Cagalli's jaw dropped. "WWWWHHAAATT?"
As he spoke, the door slowly opened to reveal a grim-faced Athrun, his burning eyes promising doom and retribution as half-eaten spaghettis and meatloaf fell from his head.
Then came Cagalli's second bombshell.
"DADDY!"
A cute little girl, perhaps only six, descended from out of nowhere and threw herself at Athrun. She had bright green eyes and long black hair tied into two ponytails.
Instantly, the dark look disappeared from Athrun's face and a smile graced his lips. "Anna sweetie, how are you?"
She smiled brightly. "I got an 'A+' for my pop quiz!"
"Good girl."
"Why do you have spaghetti on your hair?" Anna asked innocently.
"Ah...this was caused by an annoying pest. I'll get rid of 'it' later," Athrun said silkily.
Then, the little girl raised questioning eyes to Cagalli.
"Who are you?" the lass asked the newcomer with wide eyes.
Cagalli smiled. "I'm going to be your new maid."
The little girl scowled. "Oh, so you're one of them."
...One of 'them'?
"Anna, why don't you go on upstairs while Daddy takes care of some...business?" Athrun said as he ruffled his daughter's head fondly.
"Oh, okay." Anna smiled at Athrun, then gave Cagalli a six-year-old version of a lethal look and stuck out her tongue. Then she hurried on upstairs to her room.
Cagalli twitched. So...not only is 'Master Athrun' a horrible, sanctimonious misogynist, but he was also living with a daughter unmarried! She could already see a beautiful relationship between them forming...
As soon as the little girl left the room, the temperature lowered to sub-zero degrees as Athrun slowly turned to face a wide-eyed Cagalli.
"Now," he intoned with slowly narrowing eyes, "where were we?"
Cagalli gulped.
Uh-oh...
XXX
TBC
XXX