Author's Notes: Another chapter?
Disclaimer: Gundam Wing is not mine. If it were, there would have been more 4D interaction, 3C wouldn't have been siblings, 5M would have remained I mean, why kill Meiran? and just more love going around in general.
Four Weddings And A DivorceChapter 6:
"Good morning." Dorothy breezed through the doors of the conference room for Winner Corporation's Board of Directors, followed by Lila, her secretary and personal assistant.Quatre was at the head of the long table, typing on his handheld computer. "Good morning my love." His countenance visibly lit up at her presence but Dorothy chose to ignore that and his greeting—which everyone in the room undoubtedly heard—cursing the blush that crept up her fair skin because of it. She simply settled herself comfortably on the seat to his right.
Lila sat behind her, on the chairs that lined the sides of the room, disappearing into the background. She was very adept at that, keeping out of her employer's way, making herself conspicuous only when Dorothy needed her. Dorothy liked that and the quiet little brunette enjoyed exorbitant annual raises.
"Good morning, Mrs. Winner!" The polar opposite of Lila, the too-cheerful secretary of Quatre exclaimed loudly, looking up from her frantic rearranging of the files for today's meeting.
Dorothy shot Melissa a smile of such uncharacteristic saccharine sweetness that it would have sent anyone who knew better running for the opposite direction. Not Melissa of course, she merely smiled hugely in return.
The other people in the room gave Dorothy similar greetings. Fighting the urge to sigh at the way they addressed her, Dorothy responded politely. She was after all, in Quatre's turf, and to these people, she will always be his wife—his first wife.
She wouldn't have even appeared if she could help it. A pity her sons weren't old enough yet to take their rightful places in the board. Then she wouldn't have to attend in their stead.
"Good morning Mr. Winner, Ms. Catalonia." Chang Fei-Long greeted them as he went to his seat. Dorothy gave the firstborn Chang a dazzling smile. At eighteen, he was the youngest member of the board but he had learned quickly how to please the princess. Meiran trained him well.
Quatre folded his computer shut with a small click. He nudged his chair nearer to Dorothy's and leaned towards her. "Good morning my love," he breathed against her ear.
Dorothy had taken to tinkering with her own handheld, sending Rashid a shopping list for the maids and various other little instructions, more to keep herself busy than out of any real need to do so. She felt rather than heard Quatre and her pulse instantly quickened. She toyed with the idea of ignoring him until he gave up, but she knew Quatre and knew he wouldn't give up.
"Good morning Quatre," Dorothy replied without even looking at him.
This hardly satisfied Quatre and he decided to push her a little further. He blew at her neck, at the spot just below her ear, and at the same time his hand dropped under the table, unto her knee.
Dorothy nearly squealed, and she turned to glare furiously at him. His face was mere centimeters from her own and his green eyes were dark with emotion. Her blue eyes dilated instinctively and for a moment, all logical thought left her brain. He took the opportunity to trail his hand higher up her leg. Her next coherent thought was how Quatre seemed to resemble a predatory animal. Escape.
Her slight reactions were not lost on Quatre and he anticipated her next move. As she bolted off her seat, he slid his hand down her leg in a deliberate motion. Flustered, she flounced away, heading for the bar on the far side of the room.
"Ma'am, let me do that for you," Lila materialized from the background and followed her to the bar.
"No need Lila," Dorothy said. She made herself coffee, quite a feat considering her hands were trembling.
"Shouldn't you be laying off on the caffeine, Catalonia? You're shaking enough as it is."
Dorothy turned to the owner of the voice, a sharp retort ready. The scowl melted off her face though and was replaced by a genuine smile. "Heero Yuy!"
"Yes indeed, did Einstein have to tell you that?" The former Gundam pilot smirked.
"Three complete sentences in the last fifteen seconds. You sound almost civilized." Dorothy said in a mock impressed tone.
Heero ignored the remark. "And that is your what, sixteenth cup?"
Just to spite, Dorothy grabbed a bottle of rum from the shelf and poured a generous amount into her cup.
"And alcohol too. Tsk, tsk."
Dorothy took a sip of her spiked coffee. "Don't worry about me, I have three chauffeurs. I don't drive."
"Of course not, princess, we wouldn't want you to sprain your delicate fingers with all that steering, now would we?"
"You'll always be an extraordinary jackass, Yuy."
"And you'll always be a royal bitch, Catalonia."
"It's good to see you."
"Likewise."
"So, what are you doing here?" Dorothy asked, pouring him some rum.
"D'Arcy has taken a leave." Heero referred to his and Relena's lawyer, Shinichi D'Arcy, who also represented them in the Board of Directors. "He says he's sick." Heero sounded almost disgusted at the thought of anyone taking a sick leave.
"Sucks to be you." Dorothy knew Heero hated these meetings. She handed him the rum, which he drank as if it were water.
"And you? I heard you've missed the meetings since… with Quatre… the—"
Dorothy rolled her eyes. "You mean since I filed for divorcing Quatre."
"Yeah, that." Heero poured himself another glass of rum and drank again. If he was going through with the damned meeting, he was going through it with a slight buzz, to hell with those stuffy corporates.
"Well, I couldn't very well just keep on neglecting my responsibilities. Twenty percent of Winner Corporation does belong to my children."
"You mean to you."
"No, my children. I already transferred everything I own in the Winner Corporation to them, I'll only handle it until they turn eighteen." Dorothy smiled. "One of them will own Winner Corporation one day—Yossef most likely—it is their right and I intend to make sure that happens." Her eyes cast about the room.
Heero followed Dorothy's gaze—it fell upon Quatre, or more accurately, the three other wives that are now present and surrounded Quatre. It is no secret that Dorothy didn't trust any of them; they would seize what they can of Winner Corporation if they could. They hardly owned anything in Winner Corporation and are only part of the Board out of formality.
"It's not the money though…" Heero murmured.
"Yes, it's definitely not about the money…" Dorothy sighed. "My children are the heirs to the Romefeller fortune after all. But I'll be damned if those hussies take one cent of my children's rightful property. They already stole Quatre from me, they will not steal anything else."
Heero looked at his once enemy and now lifetime friend. He considered telling her that she's the only one Quatre loved but she's heard it all before, and does it really help telling a wife she's her husband's only love when she's only one of his several wives? No, Heero decided, if that were the case then Dorothy wouldn't be divorcing Quatre. Personally, he found the thought of taking more than one wife abominable. He loved only Relena and she will be his one and only wife. Why then did Quatre do what he did? This was the guy who would have died by Dorothy's hands with a smile on his face if it meant easing her pain. But he can't even commit.
This world was crazy.
"Catalonia, if somebody told me back when we were fifteen that one day, you would be hopelessly in love with Winner I would have shot them for insanity of the highest degree." Heero filled a third glass of rum.
"Uh-huh."
"Here's to the kid named Cupid."
Dorothy clinked her cup of coffee with Heero's glass, hurriedly gulped down the rest of her coffee and ran the back of her hand over her mouth, wiping at non-existent coffee smears. Only a certified princess could gulp with such finesse. She stalked towards her seat, Heero close at her heels.
"I suppose the meeting should begin now, seeing as we are all present." Dorothy's clear aristocratic voice carried clearly through the room. "If everybody would take their proper seats." She looked pointedly at Elirea, Quatre's second wife, who had the nerve sit on her chair.
Elirea tried to give her a polite smile—it looked more like a grimace. Ill-disguised contempt reflected in her every move, she vacated Dorothy's seat and went to her own. Each of the three other wives knew better than to challenge Dorothy, being that she was Quatre's first wife and that she was one of the reigning queens of high society.
"Hello Dorothy," Kiki, the third wife smiled at her. Dorothy smiled back with seeming sincerity. Kiki was outwardly friendly and completely underhanded—capable of embracing one as a friend and then stab their back. Not that Kiki would ever win against Dorothy—the Romefeller princess had been born and bred in a world filled with such people after all.
"Good morning D-Dorothy…" Sera stammered. Dorothy nodded almost dismissively at the fourth wife. It didn't seem possible, but Sera's weakness infuriated her more than Elirea's contempt and Kiki's underhandedness—combined.
The lesser wives took their respective seats at the far end of the table. At Quatre's right sat Dorothy, Chang Fei-Long and Heero Yuy. At Quatre's other side sat Triton Bloom, Catherine's brother and representing Trowa and Catherine Barton, and Spencer Davidson who represented several L2 stockholders, including Duo Maxwell and Hilde Schbeiker. The other people in the room also took their respective seats.
And thus the meeting was put into order, for everyone in the Winner Corporation knows—when Quatre Winner talks, everyone listens, but when Dorothy Catalonia-Winner talks, you have to act.
As the Executive Secretary, Triton Bloom stood up and began the meeting. It went quite smoothly, Triton did most of the presentation, with Melissa helping him. Quatre would interrupt with a few relevant notes every now and then, while Dorothy would clarify any points that would possibly come across as unclear to the other members of the board. It was hard to tell how much the others understood, only Fei-Long and Kiki contributed to the discussion for the most part.
"We need a more efficient means of handling the Shibuye account," Triton said. "The team is falling behind on schedule."
"It's a small-scale managerial problem," Kiki scoffed. "Why is this being presented to the Board?"
Before Triton could speak, Dorothy addressed Kiki. "The Shibuye is one of our biggest clients," she said in deliberate tones, disguising her smirk with a little smile. "They contribute an average of 9.93 to our annual profits. Please refer to your folder."
There was a loud rustling as everyone who has yet to open their copy of the records did so—and that would mean nearly every person in the room. Kiki threw Dorothy a fake smile and opened her folder. Dorothy fought the urge to throw her hands up in exasperation. Triton did not compile the figures just so they could sit idly on the table—or be used as a placemat. Dorothy glared at Heero, who pointedly ignored her as he gulped his rum and set down the glass on his folder, which already had several moist circles on it.
"Well said…" Quatre whispered to Dorothy, as he discreetly ran his fingers down the silken sheet of hair that fell past her shoulders.
Dorothy flipped her hair back and raised an eyebrow at him. "Don't patronize me." She kicked his shin when he nudged her ankle with his foot.
"As Mrs. Winner said, the Shibuye account is one of our biggest," Triton said. "That's why the team leader brought the problem to the board's attention. He asked for more people to do the job."
Heero shook his head. "It's his job to find a more efficient means of operation." Under his breath he added, "Lazy git."
"What if he simply needed more people?" Elirea rolled her eyes. "It's not like we can't afford it."
Dorothy swore under her breath for two reasons, Elirea's material girl logic being the first. And the second was because Quatre had managed to scoot closer to her and was now running one hand lazily up and down her leg. When she squirmed, he held her firmly with his hand. It was amazing how he could manage to do such things in the middle of a very important business meeting without being noticed. Or maybe everyone had just gotten used to them in their fourteen years of marriage. She snatched her purse off the table and plopped it on her lap to prevent his hand from traveling to indecent heights.
"We don't need to expand our human resources," Fei-Long declared.
Sera had been staring blankly at whoever was talking, looking even more idiotic than usual. When she opened her mouth to speak, she caused nearly everyone to gape. "Human resources? What do you mean by that?"
Dorothy cringed and Quatre actually stopped his caresses—out of the corner of her eye, Dorothy could see that he was cringing as well.
Fei-Long looked ready to wail about the injustice of stupid people being put in major corporate boards. Heero filled his glass nearly to the brim and drank it all in one gulp. Spencer was obviously fighting a smirk. Everyone else had expressions ranging from shock to disgust to amusement.
Triton cleared his throat and tried to find a way to make the situation less embarrassing for the fourth wife, but Elirea beat him to the punch. "It means employees, the people who do the work." She had the decency to lower her voice for her next words. "Do you even understand the discussion?"
"Sorry," Sera murmured meekly, her pale face turning red and blotchy. Several of the men around the table—the dirty old geezers—smiled fondly at her. Dorothy rolled her eyes. The pallid ignoramus held a weird appeal for old men who had lusted all their life for weak-willed women who can only say 'yes'.
"Okay…" Triton steered the discussion on-topic. "As you were saying Mr. Chang?"
"As I said, there is no need to hire more people," Fei-Long continued. "I once had the opportunity to observe their activity and I sketched a more economical plan of action."
Quatre was interested. "Will you show it to us?"
"Of course Sir." Fei-Long retrieved a disc from his briefcase and handed it to Melissa, who displayed the contents through the projector.
Many of the people in the board did not understand the details of the operation, but Quatre made Fei-Long explain it anyway. He believed that keeping matters as transparent as possible is the best way to gain and keep his colleagues trust.
"It is excellent," Triton remarked when Fei-Long finished.
"And you did all of this in your spare time?" Quatre asked.
"It was my project for the university, Sir. I asked for your permission to study the operations within the corporation for my research." Fei-Long replied.
"We will use it if you will give your consent," Quatre told him. "Know of course that you will be rewarded for your work."
"Use it as you please," Fei-Long said.
"We will discuss the details later, come to my office after your classes."
"Yes Sir."
"And talk to me about a job when you get out of the university."
"I will think about it," the teen had an amused sparkle in his eyes.
With that the topic was closed and Triton brought up other topics that needed to be given the board's attention. Quatre once again resumed his efforts to get much too close to Dorothy, who countered all his subtle advances. All of it was happening under the table and out of public view. Luckily, Dorothy's slight squirming did not escape the notice of one Heero Yuy who felt sorry for her. He scooted his chair and pulled at a surprised Fei-Long's chair as well to give Dorothy enough room to move her chair a few precious inches away from Quatre.
Close that gap Quatre, and I will have to surrender. Dorothy smiled a private smile. Thank you Yuy!
The rest of the meeting flew by distraction-free and soon the members of the board were pushing their chairs away from the table and saying their I'll-be-on-my-ways and see-you-soons. Dorothy was just telling a slightly embarrassed Fei-Long how brilliant he was before she made to leave when Quatre came up behind her, one hand enclosing her wrist and the other resting on the small of her back.
"We have to talk," Quatre said softly.
Dorothy couldn't very well run away from him screaming, seeing as how there were other people around. So she forced her face to remain carefully neutral and said, "I need to be on my way, Quatre. Perhaps some other time. Lila!"
"Yes, Ms. Catalonia?" Lila was by Dorothy's side in an instant.
"Please call Walter and tell him to meet us at the main entrance."
"Yes Ma'am," Lila whipped out her cellphone. Quatre clutched the said phone in a restraining fashion.
"Lila, tell Walter to come by for Dorothy in two hours."
"But Sir—"
"Lila, tell Walter to come now." Dorothy said impatiently.
"She will be ready in two hours," Quatre slipped an arm around Dorothy's waist. "My wife and I will talk in private."
Lila bit her lip. She really didn't want to be stuck in the middle of their fight.
Dorothy tugged at the arm around her waist. "Quatre you cannot force me to come with you. I am leaving."
"Dorothy—"
"Quatre—"
"Is something the matter?"
Lila squeaked when the most notorious of former Gundam pilots appeared beside her. Heero Yuy stood in an intimidating manner.
Dorothy looked from Heero, to Quatre and back to Heero. Quatre had taken to glaring at his long-time friend and Heero retaliated with a killer look of his own.
"If you don't mind Yuy, I am speaking to my wife in private." Quatre pulled Dorothy towards himself possessively.
"Not if she doesn't want to, Winner."
"Mind your own business Yuy."
"It's my business if someone is harassing my friend."
This is ridiculous. Dorothy pushed away Quatre, who made a sound of protest. A look of utter exasperation quieted him. Then Dorothy turned to Heero. "It's okay Heero. I'll talk to him."
Heero looked doubtful. "Well if you're sure—"
"You heard her."
Heero threw Quatre a dirty look before stalking off. Quatre turned to Lila. "Now why don't you join Melissa for a chat while Dorothy and I talk?"
Lila looked at Dorothy for permission, and when her employer nodded, Lila walked towards the other secretary. They were friends despite having such different personalities.
"Where to?" Dorothy asked, then immediately regretted. No, not his office!
Quatre cradled one of her hands with his own and entwined his fingers with hers. "Anywhere, darling. Your pick." Quatre brought her hand, palm up, to his lips and kissed it.
"Alright then. Let's go to the third floor café." Dorothy strode out of the conference room purposefully. Quatre easily kept up with his longer strides, still holding her hand.
Author's Notes again : Me on a roll!! XD