AN: Well, like I said before, this is my first attempt, so when I looked back over the story and finished this chapter, I noticed that I needed to make some changes… So don't freak out about my rearranging the older chapters! This is a work-in-progress!
Thanks and, as always, remember to review!
"You're going where, now?"
"To London."
"With who?"
Serena glared at the blonde sitting on her bed and pulled her shirt from underneath her. "With whom, Mina. And I thought I explained this all to you on the phone…"
"You also told me not to panic and come over here, but did I listen to that? But, I don't understand… Why so sudden? How long are you gonna be gone?"
Serena sighed and looked down at her half-packed bags, "I really don't know, Mina, but I'm packing for a month…"
"Well, you've always wanted to go to London…" Mina smirked. "I just don't get why he needs you, of all people, to be there…"
"I guess he feels that I know the most about the company, so I would do best keeping track of it for him."
Mina looked down at the pink cardigan Serena was folding and threw it on the ground. "Don't take that."
"Hey! That's cashmere!" Serena quickly fetched the offending sweater and placed it back into her bag, neatly folded.
"Serena, there's a reason you were voted 'Most Likely to be Mistaken for a Forty-year-old' senior year…"
"I took that as a compliment, thank you very much."
Mina simply rolled her eyes and walked up to her open closet. "Cardigans… Blouses… Sweater… Dress pants, suit skirts… They're all very nice, Serena, but where are the jeans? And T-shirts? And mini-skirts, for God's sake!"
She shrugged, "You know I don't liked wearing them… I feel weird… I feel like more of myself in the clothes I wear."
Exasperated, Mina screamed out, "But, you're 24! You're young, you have an amazing body, which isn't fair, by the way, 'cause you eat like a cow…"
"Oh, gee, thanks for the compliment…"
"I'm serious, Serena! Have some fun while you still can! You have your entire life to get where you want to be, but you're going to be 30 soon and you don't even have a serious boyfriend!"
Serena turned, her hands on her hip, "And what in the hell is that supposed to mean?"
Mina sighed and walked over to her dearest friend, "I just mean that… You've always wanted your own family so desperately… You need to decide what's more important to you right now…" She smiled and winked, "Besies, Lord knows how much fun you could have for once in your life!"
"And be like you and Andrew? No thanks. I have more important things to do." She turned back to her packing and Mina growled in frustration.
"That's exactly what I'm talking about! Serena, you're not your mother…"
"How the hell did that get into this?" she screamed, anger obvious in her tense stance, he back still turned.
"I mean… You know where you're going in your life, you've made a name for yourself… It's time to do what you want to do," Mina explained gently. "Don't be so afraid of falling in love…"
"I am not afraid to fall in love! Have you seen the guys our age? They're hopeless! Not a single one of them has direction for their lives!" And she went back to her bags.
"You have plenty of direction to spare…" she added under her breath.
"I heard that."
"Serena, maybe some time out of the ordinary will be good for you. Try and have some fun while you're gone, you might just surprise yourself!"
Serena sighed and added to herself, "I seriously doubt that…"
A bright blue eye cracked open at the sound of incessant knocking and glanced at the neon green lights of the clock, proclaiming that it was a very early 4:30 AM - much, much too early for Mina to be coming around. As the doorbell began to sound, Serena groaned and moved out of her bed to hear a key turning in the lock.
"Now, who in the hell…" She stooed in her foyer and watched curiously as the door opened to reveal - "Darien?"
He smirked as he walked towards her, "So you've finally given up on calling me by my last name, have you?"
"How in the world did you get-"
"I own this building."
She raised an eyebrow and hugged herself to shield from the cold air blowing down on her. "What a surprise. Next question, what are you doing here so early?"
He shrugged as he moved around her to begin taking her bags, "I can't get used to the time change. Besides, our plane leaves in two hours."
She shook her head in confusion, "It's way too early to start confusing me… My plane doesn't leave 'til 8:00."
He raised his own perfectly-sculpted brow as he noticed her state of undress. "Aren't you a tad cold?"
Serena looked down at her boy shorts and tank top, "Well, I can't say I was expecting company. I'll be right back."
Darien peered around her well-decorated flat and watched as she made her way up the stairs and into her glass-encased bedroom. As he noticed her move to take her shirt off, he wondered if she even remembered that she was easily visible to him. He turned for the sake of her own modesty and walked around the living room, noticing soft crème suede seating and cherry wood furnishings, an impressive collection of books and trinkets spread neatly throughout the room, but "Hmm… No photos…"
"What was that?"
He whipped around to find her standing in front of him, dressed, per usually, in a pair of slim-fitting black pants and a blue three-quarter-length sweater, hair pulled back perfectly into place with just a slight touch of eye shadow and mascara. He smiled.
"What did you say?" she repeated, "I'm sorry, I didn't hear you."
"Oh, it was nothing. You have a very nice flat," he remarked, "Exactly as I had imagined it…"
"Oh… Thanks. So, anyway, what are you doing here and why are you still holding my bag?" She pointed at her black leather duffel bag.
"Well, as I said before, our plane is expecting us in…" He quickly checked his watch, "An hour. We should probably get going. By the way, what are you going to do with all of your stuff?"
"Excuse me?"
He smiled and shook his head. "Never mind. It's probably none of my business anyway… Alright, then, are you ready to leave?"
"I told you, my plane isn't leaving 'til 8:00 this morning." She moved to a side table and showed him the ticket.
"Where did you get this?" He questioned.
"Well, you told me to make arrangements. I assumed you meant to book a flight, as well…"
He shook his head. "Oh, no, darling. Don't be ridiculous. We're going on my plane. It will be much more comfortable, I assure you."
"Well, that's all fine and dandy, but what am I going to do about this?" She held up her ticket once again.
"I'll reimburse you. Now, come, we need to hurry," he moved towards the door with more of her bags.
She sighed and caught up with him, taking two of them out of his hands, "I am more than capable of carrying them myself, thanks."
He shrugged and moved on with the other bags. "Of course you are."
As Serena walked toward Darien's plane - no, strike that, jet - she began to feel that familiar sense of dread while she stopped on to the loading dock. She stopped right before moving onto the plane and heard a voice behind her place strong hands on her waist and whisper in her ear, "It's going to be alright. I'm here." And, surprisingly, she listened to it.
As she set down on the very comfortable leather seat, she noted to herself, she felt a temporary sense of comfort before she heard Darien tell they pilot that they were prepared to leave. Darien took a seat directly across from her and smiled down at her, until he saw her face turn ashen.
"Are you going to be OK, Serena?" he asked quickly, kneeling down in front of her and taking her hand.
"I don't know… Don't look at me," she demanded, embarrassed by her lack of self-control.
He laughed, "And why ever not? You look amazing."
"Shut up!" she squeezed her eyes shut tightly as she felt the plane begin to move down the runway.
"Do you want some Dramamine? That stuff works wonders on motion sickness."
"I don't have motion sickness! I just… I hate flying."
"Why? It's the safest way to travel!"
"I don't like the idea of this huge… thing in the air that I can't control…"
Darien smirked and sat back down across from her. "Oh! I see. You're a control freak."
Her eyes shot open, "I am not!"
"Of course not," he smirked at her defiance. "Here. Why don't you go back to sleep. You must be exhausted." He stopped an attendant and asked for a pillow and blanket. "Either that, or I have a bed in the back."
"You can't possibly be serious…"
"Sure I am. This is a big plane and I take a lot of long flights."
"Again, I don't know why I'm surprised. I'll just stay here, though, thanks."
"If you insist…" The attendant returned and he moved to place the pillow softly behind her head and tuck the blanket in around her, his tenderness surprising her. "There you are. You're safe now."
She shocked herself as she felt a yawn. "Thank you."
"You're welcome. Now, go to sleep."
She nodded, and, in spite of herself, felt her eyes close once more.