Five: Roses, Chocolate, and Paparazzi
Have you ever seen those magazines that told about some actress with some actor, and they think they might be having an affair, but they have no proof? Paparazzi doesn't know the truth so they will sell whatever they can to have ratings. Why can't they mind their business? Because that's not what their paid for. They stretch the truth so people will pick it up and read it.
It's not easy being famous. Everyone butts into your life, and they want to get into all of your business. Fans say they know you best, but they only know what they see. Then you have rivals because you're seen with someone's favorite. Your life isn't simple and it has to be on hold. If something embarrasses you and it happens on television, prepare to see it three times a day, everyday in the newspaper, and weekly in the magazines.
Good thing this doesn't happen to me.
-Trunks Briefs
Pan yawned widely. It had been three days and she still didn't have a job, but today was the day she would though. Bra had agreed to take her places of any choice, and that's where they were now. It was already three, and they had no choices left. They had used up all their choices in the help wanted ads.
Bra sighed loudly. "If you weren't so damn picky we could've already got you a job," she said as she pulled into the main road.
"I know, but I want my job to be something I like." Pan leaned against the window. She watched the scenery fly by.
"Well, if you want to have a place of your own, then you need a job." Then Bra smiled widely and gasped. "You can stay with me! But you have to pay at least a quarter of the rent, so you need a job."
"Bra, I don't like to live with friends,and don't want to impose on you."
"Nonsense! I won't hear of it. Besides, it'll be like a giant sleepover all the time!" She clapped her hands for a second before returning them to the steering.
Pan shrugged. "Alright, I guess it's okay." She changed the radio station to avoid one of the songs she wasn't very fond of.
"You can help me with stocks and inventory," Bra suggested.
Pan shook her head. "No, I don't want to have to be around underwear all the time. Besides, seeing those women all pretty gets me so jealous!" Pan pretended to pout.
"Aw, c'mon Pan. You're great with files and you know the filing system and you're really good with an office." Then Bra twitched her lip. "Hey, has Trunks got his own secretary yet?"
Pan shrugged. "No, I don't think- hey wait! You don't want me to be Trunks' secretary, do you?" She widened her eyes at her.
"It's your last chance Pan-chan. It's that or nothing." She did an illegal U-turn and drove down to CC.
Clarrissa pulled out of the studio parking lot and drove down the street until she got to traffic. It wasn't bad, just slow. She took the time to pop in her favorite CD and tapped her fingers on the steering wheel.
A news stand was beside her, hosted by a blind man; just when you thought you saw it all. Clarrissa laughed, but decided to pull up. She parked her car beside it and climbed out. He was blind, so he wouldn't notice her taking one of the magazines. She walked up to the stand slowly and silently, glad that traffic was particularly loud. She picked up the Tokyo Journal and stuffed it under her arm.
"You gonna pay for those, ain't ya?" The blind man asked. Clarrissa turned around.
"Why yes I was. I was just getting the money for them." She opened her purse up.
"Sure ya were." She narrowed her eyes at him and pulled out seventy-five cents and handed it to him.
"Thank you." She walked away and cursed under her breath.
"I heard that." He called after her. Clarrissa ignored him and got into her car and pulled out of the way.
She decided to take the long way home so she turned her car around and went in the other direction. At a red light, she picked up the magazine to see what was the top stories. She almost choked on what she saw. She slammed on the gas and drove towards Capsule Corporations.
She pulled into the parking lot so furiously angry that she didn't even bother to park it correctly and she pulled in halfway on the sidewalk. She charged right into the building without greeting the head desk and straight for the elevator and stabbed Trunks' floor's button and waited for the elevator to lift her up. She tapped her foot furiously and skimmed over what the magazine article read, going over it and getting madder.
Finally she got where she needed to go and busted through Trunks' office door. He just hung up the phone and looked up at her.
"Is something wrong?"
She slammed the magazine on his desk. "This! Look at this! Have you seen this!" She jabbed her manicured finger at the cover and then opened it up and read out loud. "The new start of a new relationship? Or is Trunks Briefs, president of Capsule Corporations, having an affair? Our beloved ,rich man was seen in the park three days ago on July sixteenth, carrying a dazzling woman on his back." She glared at him and he ran his fingers through his hair and leaned back. He knew exactly what she was talking about.
"This woman is claimed to be Pan Son, granddaughter of the great and former Hercule. The two were spotted having a simple jog in the park, but Pan Son seemed to be distracted with the handsome man, because she was seen tripping and stumbling all over herself, then hurt her ankle when Trunks Briefs romantically carried her to his car and then drove off." Trunks was almost laughing, but bit his lip shut as he saw Clarrissa's glare. She continued to read it.
"We have found that Trunks Briefs is currently dating super model, Clarrissa Taonji. It has not yet been determined if the two have cut it off, or if Trunks is secretly having an affair behind her back. Our sources have told us that Trunks Briefs and Pan Son have been friends since child hood and knew each other since they were in diapers." She was breathing hard and every word she said was a hiss. "Watch out Clarrissa, it seems that you're man might have his eye on another hot babe. " She slammed the magazine down and slammed her hand over it.
"This is absurd!" She yelled. "What the hell were you doing in the park with her! Carrying her!"
"Like what the magazine said, I was jogging in the park and Pan was there," he said calmly, "Also, she twisted her ankle and I carried her. You don't actually believe that do you?" His eyes were laughing at her.
She huffed. "Everyone's going to think that we're breaking up or something."
Trunks shrugged. "So let them." She stared at him like she was slapped. "Who cares what they write. What's the worse that could happen?"
She pressed both her hands on the desk and leaned forward. "Trunks, this can ruin our reputation."
He laughed. "So what? I'm still going to be president and you're still going to be a model. What part of our reputation can they ruin?"
She just gaped at him like he was stupid. "Our relationship! They'll start writing about if we're gonna cut it off or how badly it's going."
"Who cares?" Trunks leaned back and brushed his hair out of his eyes. "Our relationship is none of their business. It's no one's business, but ours. Do what I do and ignore the press."
She bit her lip and stood up. "Trunks, I want you to stop seeing Pan."
Trunks sat up, "What? No. She's my friend."
Clarrissa was fuming. "No! Why don't you care what they write!"
Trunks stood up. "Why do you care! I'm not going to stop seeing Pan!"
"So you do love her!"
"No I don't! Can't a guy just have a friend without him dating her!"
"Why is she so more important than me!"
"She's not more important than you!"
"You sure do act like she is!"
"You're my girlfriend, she's my friend who happens to be a girl! Sorry she wasn't born with a penis 'cause that seems like it would really help!"
"I can't believe you're fighting me over this!"
"You started it!" Trunks took a breath and swallowed some saliva. "You really think that I'm having an affair with Pan, don't you?"
Clarrissa was red in the face and breathing hard. "What am I suppose to believe, Trunks?"
"You're supposed to believe me!" He angrily punched the desk and it snapped in half and papers flew everywhere. "Great, I'll get Pan to file those." He bent down and picked them back up.
"What! Pan comes over here!" She yelled at the top of her lungs.
Trunks grit his teeth and stood up and slammed the papers on the broken desk. "That's right! She does! And starting Wednesday, she's my new secretary!"
Clarrissa screamed. "You bastard! You are seeing her! I will not tolerate this in our relationship! I will not have you with Pan!"
"Then get out!" He roared. The pictures on the desk fell off the wall and the frame shattered. Clarrissa had her mouth open and Trunks caught himself. "Just get out of my office." He said calmly as he sat down in his chair. "We'll talk about this at home"
Clarrissa had tears running down her face and she gathered her purse off the floor. "Trunks, I just want you to know that I love you very much, but it's your decision that can keep our relationship strong." She held her head high as she walked out of the room. Trunks held his face in his hands.
Pan was floating on Trunks' back office balcony, tears streaming down her face. She hugged herself and flew off. It would be her fault if Clarrissa and Trunks broke up. They had that fight because of her. Pan couldn't live with the guilt. So she knew what to do. She would have to stop seeing Trunks. She cried harder. Her heart was completely broken.
She flew off and back into her bedroom. Luckily her parents were gone.
I'm sorry Trunks. I'm sorry I caused all of this.
Trunks placed his hand over his heart. So much sadness. He wanted to cry, but these weren't his feelings. They didn't seem like his feelings. Then he jumped up when he heard her.
"Pan?" He looked around, but didn't see her; he searched for her ki, but couldn't find it. He sighed and sat back down. Maybe he was hearing things. Maybe he was going crazy.
Bra covered her mouth with her hand. In her hands was the penthouse magazine that Marron had showed her. "Dende, she never told me about this." Bra said in aghast. "It's not even on her papers."
She handed it back to Marron. "It seems that not even the paparazzi knows about this. Have you seen today's edition of Tokyo Journal?" She picked it up from the coffee table and handed it to Bra. "I get a package of them at the restaurant weekly for selling."
Bra opened the page of the Trunks and Pan article and read over it. She started laughing. "Kami! What did Trunks say?"
Marron shrugged. "Trunks doesn't read things like that, 'cause he's mostly in them talking about stupid shit. But I did see Clarrissa buy one."
Bra gasped. "Really?"
Marron nodded. "Yeah, my restaurant's right next to the news stand owned by Johnny the blind man. I was taking out the trash when I saw her."
"Damn, she must be pissed." Bra smiled though. "Serves her right though. Karma, what goes around comes around, and she got hit with it." She set the magazine on the table. "I wonder if Trunks knows about her modeling for hentai."
"No, you know how protective he is, especially if it's his girlfriend." Marron sat down and crossed her arms. "And that's a recent issue too, she's been doing it for quite awhile. Good thing Trunks doesn't have a subscription. Wish I could say the same for Goten." Marron rolled her brilliant blue eyes.
Bra shrugged. "Hey, guys are guys, we can't do anything about it. Besides, Trunks only likes Maxim like Uub; it has women too."
"Yeah, but they're clothed. You know I actually do enjoy their jokes though." Marron laughed. "Goten also has some. I'm married to the biggest pervert of all time." They both laughed.
"You know, I wonder if Pan saw this." She pointed to the Tokyo Journal.
Marron shrugged. "We'll ask her later. Right now, it's time for some margaritas!" She got up and cha cha'd to the kitchen.
Trunks knocked on Pan's window and it made her jump. She had read the letter that was sent to her a few days ago and her eyes were puffy and red. She couldn't avoid him because he knew she was there, and she couldn't lock the window, because he was watching her. She got up, rubbed her eyes, and opened the window. Trunks stepped inside.
"You okay Panny?" He asked as he touched her shoulder.
She sniffed and wiped her eyes. "Yeah, it's just allergies," she lied. She gave a hollow laugh. "You seem upset, what's wrong?"
"Me and Clarrissa-"
"Clarrissa and I." She corrected out of habit.
"-had a fight today. Because of the Tokyo Journal. I don't know if you read it or not ,but-"
"It had an article about you and I. I know, I usually don't read those things, but I saw our picture on the cover." She walked over to the bed and motioned for him to sit down.
"Oh," he sat down next to her. "I see. Well, Clarrissa isn't too happy."
Pan turned her head and frowned. "Yeah, I know," she muttered.
Trunks blinked, "What?"
"I said I would think so. I would be mad too, I guess." She couldn't look at him, but instead stare at the wall. He noted this and looked down at the letter and picked it up. "It's from my boyfriend. He'll be here in two weeks to see me. He's staying at a hotel."
Trunks looked up from the letter to her. "Is this why you're upset?"
"No, it's not that."
"So you've finally admitted being upset." Pan blushed and felt Trunks put another hand on her shoulder. "You want to talk about it?"
She turned around to see him and got lost in his sapphire orbs. In the dim light of her room, they still sparked and shone like they had their own sun. She was hooked on them and couldn't turn away.
"Are you mad at me?" he asked.
Pan shook her head. "No, I'm not mad at you. But I do have something to tell you." She moved her legs so she would fully see him. "Today, I went back to your office; I flew actually." she looked down, like she was disgracing herself and she felt like she was. "But I eavesdropped on you and Claire. I didn't mean too, but I heard my name, and," Pan felt the tears and she tried to hide them. If she brushed them away, he would know she was crying. So she bent her head down lower to avoid meeting his gaze. "I tried to leave, but I couldn't. I'm sorry. I heard what she said and, Trunks, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I should've left." She shook her head and gave a false smile. "You shouldn't even stick up for a girl like me."
Trunks lifted her head by using his thumb and index finger to lift her chin. His sapphire eyes locked with her raven ones. "A girl like you is my friend. Besides, I told her I wasn't going to stop seeing you. And if she doesn't like my friends, then she doesn't like me."
The tears started to fall and Pan's heart leapt into her chest. She definitely felt herself blush as he wiped her tears from her eyes' rims.
Her throat was dry and she definitely felt clammy. She swallowed hard to void these symptoms and finally choked up some words that she formed to say, "But I don't want you guys to break up because of me."
Trunks smiled. "You're sweet Pan, but I don't think Clarrissa and me have broken up, and if we do, it's okay." He saw her frown. She looked so cute, but he wanted to see her smile; she was even cuter when she did. "I will always have you to be there for me. At least you know me well enough to not believe what those bastards wrote."
Pan bit her lip. "I just don't want anyone to be mad at me." Was it just her, or was the gap between them getting smaller?
Trunks couldn't look away from her eyes. They were shiny of the tears; tears she had cried because she didn't want him to be upset. These tears were for him and he knew, definitely, that Pan would never be seen crying, especially for any man, but she was crying for him. Sure, she fought them, but they still appeared.
For some reason he wanted to taste them.
He bent his head down and to her cheek that one runaway tear and slid down. He ran his tongue up her cheek to catch the escapee. The salt slid into his taste buds and his feelings went whacko. Her skin tasted so sweet, like a taste he remembered long ago or one that was entirely new to him, he couldn't tell. But he needed more, and he didn't fight them, but he couldn't scare her; he had to go little.
Maybe the spot by her nose. He dipped his head down tracing her cheek with his lips. His desires did not change, but instead grew stronger. Maybe the area beside her lips would be enough for him.
Pan couldn't take it. The way his tongue traced over her face and now moving down to her lips. She just couldn't take it. She lifted her face higher and locked lips with him. Both sets of lips massaged each other and Trunks slipped his tongue through and into her mouth. Now he knew that his senses were swarming and he felt heat rise in his chest and spread out. His heart raced against hers as she melted against his chest.
There was nothing in the world. Nothing, but them. No Clarrissa, no problems, no reporters. Just them.
Trunks pulled away from her lips and kissed down her chin and down her neck. She shivered as he gently pushed her down on the bed. His kisses were so blazing. Like everywhere his lips touched on her skin was a small fire, that gave sensual warm heat to her. She was powerless over him, he had her. He needed more of her taste, but the shirt was in the way.
Without even thinking he lifted it up and licked the area above her bra. He moved his head up slowly back up to her neck. She was panting hard and he could feel the hardness in his pants as he felt her chest rise and fall under him. He moved his hair out of the way as he grazed her neck again, this time with more sucking.
Then he saw her scar.
He lifted his head a just a little to look at it. Teeth marks. Saiyan teeth marks. He had done that. This was bad.
Finally his senses came back to him. He sat up and looked at Pan, her shirt open and panting. How could he do this to her? Had he really sunk so low? Pan bit her lip and pulled her shirt down and sat up.
"I'm sorry Trunks."
Trunks blinked at her. "For what?"
She looked on the bed. "For that. Leading you on like that, when you have a girlfriend."
Trunks couldn't believe her. She was taking the blame after what he did. And guiltily, he wanted to do it again, but he couldn't do that. "Where did you get that mark on your neck?"
Pan lifted her hand to cover it. "You saw it, huh? It doesn't matter, I got it when I was little." She told him the same story she told everyone else.
"You got that from me. I remember, except I thought it wouldn't leave a mark."
They were silent for a little while. No movement.
Pan shifted her feet as she stood up. "You will still be my friend, right? And I still have a job to look forward to?" She looked at him wearily.
Trunks smiled and nodded. "But, let's not speak of this. My girlfriend thinks I'm cheating, and after that she's partially right."
Pan gave a hallow laugh followed by awkward silence. She bit her lip, unsure what she should do now. Half of her wanted to get away from Trunks, but another half wanted to stay and talk to him.
Trunks picked up the letter. "So, why are you upset that he's coming?"
Pan shrugged, glad for the new subject. "I don't know if I am upset or not. I miss him, but then I don't." She looked up at him. "I know, it's stupid."
"Well if you don't want to see him, then tell him not to come." Trunks said simply. For some reason, he found this guy to be a threat.
Pan rubbed her knuckles. "Well, it isn't that simple, 'cause I do want to see him. Just, I don't know if I will want to be with him. I can't tell if he's Mr. Right or Right Now, but I don't want to be alone."
Trunks smiled and moved over to the window. "You won't be alone, Pan. You got someone out there. Maybe right under your nose." He gave another smile and opened the glass. "Take care Pan. "
She smiled. "You too. See you at work Wednesday."
Trunks climbed out and floated in mid-air. "Hey, I have a condo out at the beach. Maybe tomorrow we, as in all of us, can take a week's vacation there." Trunks suggested. "You know, before we have budget cuts."
Pan laughed and smiled. "Sounds good Trunks. Have you told the others?"
Trunks shook his head. "Not yet. Clarrissa doesn't even know yet, but she would like the beach, I think,and I'll just tell her it's for business."
Pan laughed. "Trunks, you dog." He simply shrugged and Pan waved good bye to him.
She slipped back into her room. Strangely, she wasn't upset anymore. Not even after the party his tongue had on her skin. It was like it was just a friendship thing; like he had been dared to do it, again. Pan felt a smile creep up. But it still felt nice. But Pan couldn't think of that when her boyfriend was coming soon.
But when Trunks found his mark, she didn't know what he felt about it. It seemed like he was sad that he did it and also glad he did. She didn't even know if she wanted him to be sorry or thankful about his mark. When had she thought of it as "his mark"? Just because he did it, doesn't mean it's his.
"Pan, we're home!" Called Gohan. Pan ran downstairs to greet her parents.