"Hangover?" She asked. Trunks was leaning over his desk in a half fetal, half sprawling position when Pan found him. He didn't even nod and she walked over to his telephone and tucked it under her chin as she pounded a number in.
"…blast those Russians and their vodka…" he mumbled.
"Hi? Tim? I want a Trunks special up here in five minutes." She hung up the phone a little too loudly for Trunks and he groaned. "You know, it's amazing you got into your apartment last night after you dropped me off. Did the driver have to escort you?" She sat down across from his desk.
"You were with me last night?" Had Trunks not had his face plastered against his desk he would have seen the surprise that flashed across her face. She blinked; scrambled to recover from the strange, uncomfortable feeling that was doing dances in her stomach.
"Yeah…""I just never knew they were so soft."
"So Pan's a secret party girl?" There was both sarcasm and pleasant surprise in his voice. "I never even knew—"
"So soft."
"Shut up. I went to go pick your drunken self up because you were so helpless you couldn't tell anyone where you were." He raised his head. She stood. "I'm gonna head out for lunch—your specialty will be here any second." And she left.
When Pan knew it wasn't quite lunchtime she supposed she might as well take an early lunch. But then she discovered it was only ten-thirty and decided a snack break would do just fine, and she made her way to the vending machines.
"That really didn't bother me," she said to herself, "it's just that it surprised me." She put some coins in and starting perusing her selections. "I don't care at all—but why, I mean, how—I didn't expect him to remember it at all. I mean, he was so drunk last night how could he?" She punched the button harshly. "I'm just imagining things. I'm just distracted and making things out of nothing." She retrieved her soda from the machine and snapped it open, then turned to a worker who had just approached. "I'm just making up tremendously out of proportion things out of nothing, right?" She walked out of the room, but the bounce in her step was a tad forced.
A week later Trunks poked his head into Pan's office. "Hey, Pan, could you get a plane ticket set up for me?"
"Where are you going?" She asked, whipping out a pen to jot down the details.
"Nowhere—hey, Cindy, good job on those comprehensive reports—fantastic!" She bit her lip and waited. Cindy turned a corner and slipped out of sight. "What was her report on, again?"
"Our stock options for employees?"
"Oh, yeah—boring. Couldn't get past the first paragraph. Anywho—next Wednesday, morning, first class ticket for one. One way leaving from San Francisco." And he disappeared. That next Wednesday, Pan was greeting a tall girl with butterscotch hair, bell-bottomed jeans, and a small collection of multi-colored jelly bracelets ringing both arms. The cab driver that had brought her was unloading her bags on the front steps of the office building.
"Marron," She presented a hand with chipping purple nail polish on its fingernails, which Pan took.
"Pan—Pan Son."
Marron tilted her head to the side and grinned with a slight, knowing squint. Pan was reminded of every other California girl she had ever met: Hippies, Surfer deadheads, or L.A. snots, the whole lot of them. "You're Trunks' personal secretary, right?"
"Riiight. Yes, that's me." Her eyes darted in search of salvation. She met it when she saw Trunks jogging down the front steps. Trunks and Marron's greeting, however, was a mixture of hug, rabid animal attack, twirls and clinging vines. Pan blinked and gripped her clipboard for protection.
"Marron!" Trunks exclaimed. "Marron, Marron, Mar-ron!" Marron only giggled in reply. Pan suddenly felt awkward and in the way. She bit her lip, thought offhandedly about how she had been doing that a whole lot in the last two weeks, and let her eyes wander everywhere but the scene before her. Finally Trunks decided to set the flower child down and with bright eyes re-introduced Marron and Pan.
"Well, it's great to meet you," Pan said, "but I better get back to some work. Trunks, are you going to the internship meeting?"
"Do I ever go to any meeting?" He responded.
"True. OK, well I'll see you later." She went to the meeting and took notes that, as usual, Trunks would never look at.
Pan punched buttons on her cell phone, checking for new text messages again. She hadn't done more than talk to Trunks briefly for two days now. He had been touring the city with Marron, showing her the sites, and didn't need Pan to hover or help organize his schedule, it seemed. He told her this morning that she didn't need to go into work because he wouldn't be there, and he thought she might as well have a day off. The trouble was she had nothing to do and was bored out of her mind.
"I wonder what Mary's doing," She mused aloud, and decided to give her a call. Forty-five minutes later they were strolling the open markets together.
"So who is this girl?"
"Marron. Apparently she's an old friend? I mean, I've known about her in a general sort of way for a long time now, I've just never met her."
"Mmm."
"What?"
"I don't know. Is there any romantic attachment? Is it a friends thing?"
"I have no idea." Pan's cellphone rang. "Yes?" It was Trunks.
"Pan! Hey! I hate to bother you, I know I let you off today—but I was wondering if you think you can get me two tickets to the Keller Theatre tonight, for the Opera."
"I'll try. Have them keep the tickets at the box? No problem. Sure. Yes. Bye."
"What was that?" Mary leaned over a stack of carrots to check the price on some salad greens.
"Trunks wants tickets to take Marron to the Opera tonight in the Keller Theatre." She started looking in her palm pilot for the number to the theatre.
"Must be nice to just decide to go to the nicest theatre in New York for one of the most sold out shows of the season." Pan only shrugged.
Pan opened up Trunks schedule for the day to get a grip on his agenda. She had made a couple phone calls to get more details on meetings and appointments when Trunks dropped by her office.
"Cancel everything for me today,"
"Going out?" She asked.
"Yes." He said.
"Sightseeing?"
"Yes."
"I see. All right." She immediately picked up the phone.
"Oh, and can you call a taxi to pick up Marron at her hotel?"
"Off again today, honey?" Gohan asked his daughter over the phone. "You sure have been off of work a lot lately."
"Tell me about it. But hey, at least I'm still getting paid the same." She started tearing some lettuce for a dinner salad.
"What's going on with Mr. Briefs?"
"He has a friend in town and he's been showing her around the city." She adjusted the phone, tucking it more securely under her chin as she started slicing some carrots into the bowl of greens.
"Oh? Is this a girlfriend?"
"I cannot disclose this information. I'm not at liberty to discuss it." She joked in an official tone. "He's been gone every day though." She said.
"Does that bother you?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, does it bother you that he's spending all his time with some girl?" She stopped what she was doing.
"What are you talking about?" She said. "You've got to be joking." Her father didn't say anything for a few moments and she chuckled. "Daddy, you've got some strange notions, I tell you."
"You're pretty defensive, Panny."
"I am not!"
"Did you just hear yourself?" She was annoyed at the smile she could just hear through his voice.
"Oh, please, this is pathetic."
"You're the one getting all huffy, I haven't said—"
"Daddy, if you think I'm interested in such a self-conceited, spoiled, rich, egotistical playboy then you don't know me very well." She tossed the stub of the carrot into the trash and started on a second one.
"You know, Pan, you're always saying what's bad about him. It's like you're convincing yourself." She shook her head.
"I've got to eat dinner, Daddy. But thanks for the comments. Love you." And she hung up, then slammed the cordless on the counter, irritated. She looked at the phone and snorted. "Oh, please."
"Mind if I sit here?" Trunks, to Pan's surprise, sat down across from her. He never took coffee in the company café. "I saw you all sitting by your lonesome—I couldn't help but come over and—" She glared at him and he stopped whatever he was about to say.
"Um, how have you been?" She asked at length. He shrugged. "Have you liked touring the city like a tourist?"
"It's been fun. But I'm glad I have a break today. Marron's not feeling the best, so I told her to take it easy. I can't afford for her to not feel good this weekend." Pan bit her lip. She hated acting curious or nosy, but—
"What's going on this weekend?" She asked, and he got a secretive grin.
"Let's just say I've got a surprise in store for her? So Pan, how have you been? I haven't really seen you in a while."
"Well," She twirled her spoon in her coffee. "Not necessarily busy as, uh—"
"You're job is taking care of me and there's no me to take care of?" He sent her a quirky smile that made her stomach flop strangely. But she returned his smile with a shrug. "I hate to divulge secrets," he leaned forward and began to whisper, "but I can promise you that soon, once a certain event has taken place, things will get back to normal, I'm thinking." He gave her a wink and stood. "Uh, well…take care of yourself." He hesitated, then gave her a little slug to the shoulder. "All right?" And he disappeared.