Author's Note: Chapter 4 here. Sorry for the long delay…my computer crashed.
Disclaimers Applied!!!
Thanks for the reviews:
Cherryblossom Gurl13, Hanamaru285, v son sayian, Pan-Son-Forever, amy, BishounenzAngel, princess_pan, Akira, Girl Pan, starwatcher, chibi playing with fire, nobody lalala, The Girl Who Cried Oro, Chibipearball, Stunner #1, Tsa^^, july girl
Deceive Me NotChapter 4: AND SO IT BEGAN
"I sure am!" Pan said cheerfully. She didn't know she could rattle the man with that sentence. If she had, she would have told him about that when they first met. Then, she would have saved herself a lot of trouble.
"You're kidding," Trunks said, as he reached for a napkin across the table. He had a burger's dressing on his shirt, and now, droplets of coffee. I looked like a clumsy dolt, he thought as he tried to wipe the coffee from his shirt before it dried on his white shirt.
"I'm not!" Pan said, exasperated. Who did this man think he is, anyway? Is she not worthy to be called Mr. TV Briefs fiancée? She'll be damned.
"You're serious?" he asked, incredulous. Oh my, he expected a big headache anytime soon. What kind of mess has his father gotten him into this time?
"As serious as I can be," Pan said indignantly as she took a spoonful of the soup in front of her. Delicious, she thought. At least, Trunks had a good taste in food. "Why won't you believe me?"
Aside from the fact that I never met you before to be my fiancée? He wanted to ask but kept his mouth shut. He wanted to get to the bottom of this. "Um, because I think I just saw Mr. Briefs with a blonde woman awhile ago?" he said carefully, remembering Judith from that morning. Or was it Julie?
"Oh." Pan said and shrugged nonchalantly, then continued eating.
"If you're really his fiancée, why aren't you jealous?" Trunks asked, confused. He's starting to believe that Goten was right. And he's starting to doubt the woman's sanity.
But Pan only smiled brightly at him. "Of course, I'm not jealous."
"But –"
"Hey, wanna know another secret?" she interrupted him and this time, she waited for him to answer.
"Are you going to tell me that you're just pulling my leg?" he asked, trying to humor her, then smiled at her.
"Of course not!" she said and playfully swatted his arm. She's starting to like the guy, too bad she's about to get married. "I haven't met the man."
"Figures," Trunks said and sighed, then as if remembering he was hungry, he began eating the food in front of him – with good manners – Pan quickly noticed.
"How about you?" Pan asked as she quickly took a sip on her juice.
"What about me?" Trunks said, raising an eyebrow at her.
"What are you doing in CC?"
Trunks thought about it. He could do the same thing to her, blurt out that he is TV Briefs, but that would ruin the fun. He wanted to find out the real Pan Son and if she is capable of loving him – or even liking him – for who he really is.
"Oh, you know, just an ordinary employee of the company," he said nonchalantly as he continued eating. "Eat your lunch."
Pan nodded at him. "Then what are you doing here? It's past your lunch hour," Pan asked, then, "you're not wearing the uniform either."
"Oh, you know, I just –" Trunks began then at a loss of what to say, "you're right. I'm not an ordinary employee of the company."
"I knew it," Pan said and beamed at him. "Are you manager of some company?"
"You could say that," he said and cleared his throat to lessen his nervousness. Of course, he wanted Pan to like him for who he is, but lying is not included in it.
Nope. Lying is definitely not included in it.
"Why are you being so secretive?" Pan asked as she narrowed her eyes at him. "Are you hiding something from me?"
"Of course I'm not hiding something from you," Trunks said hotly, then immediately calmed down. "I'm just not comfortable talking about my job, you know. Not that I'm not proud of it, I just don't want to boast to the whole world what I've achieved."
At least, it was somewhat the truth. He never really liked to boast that, hey, you know what? I own Capsule Corporation. Nope. Absolutely not.
And the girl across him appeared to be thinking before a smile escaped her lips. Damn! She may not be the prettiest girl he'd ever met, but when she smiles, it was genuine and not the same as the smiles given to him by the women who wanted to seduce him.
"You're weird," Pan said and shook her head as she began eating her lunch, a small smile on her lips again.
"I'm what?" Trunks asked and pretended to get hurt, that Pan had to let out a chuckle.
"And what about you?" Trunks asked, turning serious eyes on her.
"What about me?" Pan repeated, trying to pretend she didn't understand the question, a manner she had acquired and managed to master when she was in college whenever someone would ask her a question she didn't want to answer. Instead, she ate her lunch.
"You're engaged yet you didn't know the man," Trunks said as objective as he can. He didn't want Pan to notice that this Trunks is too interested in her engagement with Mr. TV Briefs.
"Oh that," she said then shrugged, "It's quite simple, really."
"I see," Trunks said, his expression brightening. "Did he buy you or something like that?" he asked though he knew it wasn't true.
Hell, he wouldn't buy a wife even if his life depended on it and he knew she isn't the type of girl. It's just that, this Pan Son is being too secretive for his own good – and what better way for her to tell the truth than to gaud her temper.
Her eyes narrowed at him dangerously. "Mr. Trunks –" she started lecturing then, to her horror, realized that she didn't know his last name. Nevertheless, it didn't stop her from lecturing the primitive man. "Er, whatever your family name is, do I look like a girl who would accept being bought by my husband?"
"No."
"Well, I'm not – no? Then why even suggest such an absurd idea?" Pan asked, incredulous. This man, oddly enough, is the most exasperating man she'd ever met. And that's saying something since she met a lot of people already.
"Because you won't tell the truth," he said simply and grinned at her like the cat who ate the canary.
"Truth about what?"
"Oh, cut the crap, Pan Son," he said knowingly. "You know, the truth about how did you end up engaged to m-er, him," he said, thankful that he prevented himself from that slipup. " I knew for a fact that Mr. TV Briefs is not the marrying type."
"Well, neither am I!" she countered hotly.
But Trunks only looked at her, promising himself that he would not say a word to her until he found out how he got engaged to this woman without even meeting her. That is, if she really is telling the truth – and if she is sane enough to realize the boundary of reality and dreams.
"Oh, for God's sake!" Pan said, irritated at him. She didn't even find out a significant fact about him and now he had the decency to ask such personal questions.
What did he care about my engagement, anyway?
She glared at him. And when it was apparent to Trunks that the woman won't spill the much-needed information, he cleared his throat and blinked. "Are you done yet? If you have nothing else to say, I'll go ahead," he said as he reached for his wallet and pulled out some bills.
Pan looked around before leaning towards him and whispered, "You're an insufferable bastard, do you know that?" she asked, eyes narrowed at him. She could not believe the guy would just leave like this because she wouldn't talk.
"I'd like to think I am," Trunks said grimly as he put down the bills on the table and stood up. "Aren't you leaving yet or are you staying behind?"
Pan glared at him one last time. "Alright, I'll tell you. It's what you really wanted to know, right?" she said. After all, after this lunch, she has nothing to do but lock herself in her hotel room. So why not spend the afternoon with the man as long as she can?
"Sure," Trunks said rather cheerfully and waited for what she's about to say.
"Well, you can at least sit down. I don't want to strain my neck looking up at you," she snapped and Trunks immediately obeyed.
"Promise me you won't laugh," she said and frowned that Trunks decided to humor her again.
"As long as you're not going to tell me you've got some mental defect and that you fancy being engaged to the owner of the CC."
She glared at him in return. Really, the woman had no sense of humor whenever she's concerned, he thought. "Alright. I won't," he said then sighed.
"It's an arranged marriage," she mumbled, not loud enough for Trunks to hear.
"A what? Speak louder, sweetheart," Trunks said softly, unconsciously calling her 'sweetheart'. Could anyone blame him for being such a natural charmer?
"An arranged marriage. AR-RANGED MAR-RIAGE! My goodness, are you deaf?" Pan said, irritated. She was not in the good mood to start with, so it really is no surprise that she'll explode anytime.
"Well, I'm so sorry!" Trunks countered hotly, not really used to being shouted and insulted at the same time. Who is she calling deaf?
If the place were hopping, many people would have looked at the strange couple already. But since it was really a classy and expensive restaurant, not to mention the fact that it's already past lunch hour, so only a few people were left and was conveniently too far away from them to hear what the two was bickering about.
"Wait a minute – an arranged marriage?" Trunks asked, incredulous. Who in his right mind would agree to an arranged – hey, it was him who was arranged to her!
Pan's face fell. "Go on. You can laugh now," she said softly while looking defiant at him that told him that it would be his end if he did so much as smile.
But that isn't really a problem because he didn't really have an intention to laugh. "Why do you think I would laugh?" he asked softly, matching her voice.
"Because in this very modern age, someone would still let her life be decided by a damn arrangement," she said indignantly.
"Well," Trunks said and at a loss of what to say, ended up clearing his throat. "Who arranged it?"
"Our damned parents," Pan said, fuming once again, then in a gritted voice that made Trunks think she was controlling her anger, she continued, "it seems like my dad and Vegeta went a long way back."
Trunks mouth dropped open. Throughout the whole time that he had been talking to her, he had conveniently forgotten that aside from her future and curiosity, his future is at stake, too.
What would he do when he suddenly found himself married to her? Not that he would mind too much because he rather likes Pan already.
No, not the I-like-to-have-sex-with-you kind of thing; but more of like the I-would-like-to-spend-a-few-more-minutes-with-you-talking.
"Well, I gathered as much that you don't like this arrangement at all?" Trunks asked carefully. He didn't need to be snapped again by the woman.
He was wrong – or let's say, a little dense for her liking.
"What do you expect? I haven't met the man," she snapped at him, with matching glare. Men!
"He's the owner of Capsule Corporation."
Pan only rolled her eyes, making Trunks smile. "Like I care about the damned company."
"Many do."
"The problem is, I'm not one of them. And I'm the one engaged to the stupid man!"
Hey! Trunks wanted to protest. He knows he is nowhere near stupid. Far from it, actually. But he couldn't complain, so he just nodded, slightly fuming.
He counted to ten and when he was calm once again, he asked, "So, why'd you accepted the engagement? You yourself admitted this is the modern time."
"My daddy would kill me if I refused. Apparently, my dad owed Vegeta what he, I mean, what my family has now and so when Vegeta asked my father for my hand, well, BAM! I'm suddenly engaged to a stranger," she said as she clenched her fist.
No offense, she loved her daddy with all her heart, but sometimes, he's just too much. Imagine, engaging your only daughter and child in marriage to a man he barely knew.
He's a womanizer, for god's sake!
What if, aside from that, he's a drunk? Or with vices? Worse, sadist? Ugh! What had she gotten herself into?
It wasn't only Pan who was occupied with her thoughts.
However, if Pan loves her daddy too much to curse him, Trunks didn't, and he did it colorfully, too. How dare his father tried to mess up his life? Engaging him with a woman he hadn't met before. And since he already ruined his life by doing just that, he should at least have some decency to inform him that, 'hey, son. I ruined your life. I just want you to know.'
"What has gotten into you?" Pan asked when a scowl appeared on Trunk's handsome feature.
"Nothing."
"Oh, come on. Blurt it out. You can't lie to me," Pan said and narrowed her eyes at him.
Trunks cleared his throat and looked away. He tried to think of a reason because he thought that if he didn't give her a good reason, she would not relent until eventually he blurted out the truth.
And I don't think telling her the truth that I am Mr. TV Briefs would be a good idea now that I knew Pan was mad at him – err, me.
"No, it's just that, Mr. Vegeta should have informed his son about it, don't you think?"
It seemed that Trunks had said the right words because Pan stopped looking suspiciously at him and smiled.
"That's what I'm here for!" she said happily, but her eyes showed malice in it, Trunks suddenly feared her.
"Well, how would you do it? You can't just barge inside his office and say, hey, I'm your fiancée. I don't think that would go really well," Trunks said and slowly shook his head while smiling at her.
"Don't be stupid. Of course, I'm not going to do that," Pan said and smiled at him, too.
"Good." Trunks said then turned to the waiter who refilled his cup of coffee, "Thank you."
He took a sip and when he noticed that Pan was looking at him expectantly, he asked, "What was I saying?"
"Good." Pan repeated and grinned mockingly at him.
"Huh?" Trunks said and appeared to think very hard while he sip his coffee. Truth be told, he could never last a day without coffee. He drink coffee during breakfast, lunch, and even dinner. He loves coffee. Then, he remembered.
"Oh yeah. Good, because I don't think he's the kind of guy who would let you drag him to the altar," he said.
Pan opened her mouth to speak, but Trunks beat her into it. "Would you like something to eat again? Or coffee?"
"Yeah, sure," she said and just realized that they'd spend about two hours together. She didn't think she would enjoy talking to him.
"Okay. You were about to say something?"
"Oh, yeah. That's why I'm here. I'm going to meet Mr. TV Briefs," she said then motioned for the waiter, "Can I order some cake?" she asked Trunks and when he nodded, she turned to the waiter and ordered some ice cream cake.
When the waiter left, Trunks grinned at her naughtily, "Not counting calories, huh?"
Pan only rolled her eyes as the waiter served the cake. "Never really bothered," she said as she took a spoonful after offering some to him.
He declined. He never really liked sweets. "So, how did you plan your meeting? I think no matter how subtle you break the news to him, he still wouldn't appreciate it."
Instead of frowning like Trunks had expected her to do because of the flaw of her plan, Pan only smiled wider, "That's why I won't tell him about it."
Trunks looked at her, incredulous. "You won't?"
"I won't."
"How do you plan to get married to him if you won't tell him about it?" Trunks asked, confused. Well, he thought, there's no point for Pan to keep it since I already knew about it. He was surprised to find out that he was taking this engagement rather well, too.
"Well, I will try not to make it look like an arranged marriage. I would befriend the man, get him to fall in love with me and eventually make him propose to me. Of course, if I found out that I don't really like the man, then I won't exert much effort so that he won't fall in love with me. Then, I wouldn't have to marry him and my father would not blame me. He would think I did my best, but the man is just too blind to see my charms. It's brilliant, huh?"
Trunks jaw dropped. If he had a doubt before, now he was absolutely sure. The woman is crazy!
"So, what you're trying to say is…you'll seduce m-err, him?" he asked incredulously.
Pan blushed then looked at her cake. "Well, I wouldn't really call it that. But in a way, it's almost like that."
"So, you're going to seduce him?" he repeated his question as though she didn't say a thing. "Are you sure you can do that?"
"What's wrong with it? Don't you think I can do it?" Pan asked and frowned.
"Not really. He's the greatest womanizer in Japan!" Trunks exclaimed, trying not to flinch when he insulted himself.
Pan appeared to be thinking about it when Trunks suddenly formed a plan. "Besides, Mr. TV Briefs just went to America for a business dealing."
"When will he be back?"
"In two months or so," Trunks said and shrugged nonchalantly.
"Two months!" she wailed. "What am I gonna do for two months?"
"Look for a job," Trunks said cheerfully and then, "hey, tell you what, let me make a deal with you."
"About what?"
"Well, I know exactly that you cannot just seduce Mr. Briefs. So, before going after him, why don't you practice your art with me?"
"Practice with you?" then, "How will it help me?" Pan asked, utterly confused.
"Well, if you want to seduce Mr. Briefs, the great womanizer, you have to make sure you can even seduce a simple man just like me," Trunks said, his eyes filled with excitement because of his plan.
"You want me to seduce you?" Pan asked, incredulous.
"Exactly!"
Author's Note: Alright, it has now began…the game of seduction…lol…it will be quite funny for the two of them, don't you think?
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