The Grass is Always Greener...
Part Six
All the usual disclaimers apply.
Relena rolled onto her back, happily snuggling deeper inside her warm comforter. It felt good to be able to sleep late, without the hassles of meetings, phone calls, luncheons and the like. Opening her eyes, she stared at the ceiling. Five days of vacation left. She knew she'd better spend them wisely, because they would be over far too soon. Poor Heero, she mused, having to work on those security systems while the rest of us are off work. Relena smiled to herself as she imagined him sitting at the network of computers in his living room, typing madly while she lounged on the golden sands of a beach somewhere in a warmer climate… But she knew even if he had the chance to take such a break, he would still prefer doing the work instead of relaxing.
Turning her head, she looked up at the clock. It was 9:25. She had promised her secretary that she wouldn't get up until at least ten, but that was one promise she would just have to break. Sighing, she pushed back the comforter and sat up, shivering in the sudden coolness. Smoothing her long hair back, Relena mentally made a list of what she planned to do for the day. She would take a shower, of course, and then breakfast… French toast sounded good. But after that? Hmm… Perhaps she could pay Wufei another visit…
* * *
Wufei sat on the tattered sofa in his living room, doing his best to focus on the book in front of him. Concentrating proved to be very difficult, however, as his gaze kept wandering toward his window. Suddenly realizing he was once again staring off into space, he set the book aside. I need to *do* something, he thought angrily.
Taking a one week vacation had not been his idea--Lady Une had first suggested it, after which Sally had practically twisted his arm to do it. "I think you could use the time off," she had said to him. "It'll give you some time to relax, you know… get rid of some of your stress."
"What stress?" he had demanded.
"The stress that makes those veins pop out on your forehead!"
So that was that. Now here he was, sitting alone in his apartment, going crazy for lack of something to do. This is all that *woman's* fault, he thought bitterly, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees as he thought of possible distractions to occupy his mind.
A moment later, there was a knock at his door. Speak of the devil, he thought, making a face that pronounced his desire to be alone. Perhaps, he considered, becoming Sally's neighbor had not been the best plan of action. Opening the door, he prepared himself to resist Sally's persuasive manner, when he was greeted by an altogether different sight.
Relena's bright smile dimmed slightly at the sight of Wufei's darkened expression, but that didn't stop her from speaking her mind. "Hi, Wufei. I trust you slept well?"
Wufei nodded, his features still wearing a scowl, though not as severe.
Relena's smile faltered at the lack of a warmer greeting, but she wasn't going to give up. She had dealt with such a stubborn nature many times in the past. "Well, I was wondering, if you don't have plans today, would you'd like to go out to a movie with me? We could stop and get some lunch afterward, and--"
"No thanks, Relena. I think I'd like to stay in today."
"Oh." Relena briefly shifted her gaze to the floor, then turned a hopeful smile to the Chinese man. "Would you like some company?"
Wufei shook his head. "No. I'd rather be alone now. Goodbye."
Relena opened her mouth to say something, but Wufei abruptly shut the door on her, effectively ending their conversation. Relena stood alone in the sudden quiet, momentarily too stunned to move. She knew that Wufei was a solitary man, but she had also hoped that after last night, he would consider her as a friend, not a nuisance. She hated to think she'd been wrong.
Turning away from his door, Relena looked down the long hallway for a moment, not yet wanting to head toward the elevator. Instead, she turned toward apartment 815. Raising her hand to knock, she nearly jumped out of her skin when the door flew open before her. On the other side of the portal, Sally seemed equally surprised. "Good morning, Sally," Relena greeted the older woman, holding a hand over her chest to settle her heartbeat. "I was just about to knock on your door."
"So I gathered," Sally said, struggling to get into her jacket as she walked out to the hall.
"Going out?" Relena asked, watching as Sally whipped out her keys to lock her door.
"Yeah, I was just leaving to pick up Heero. He says his motorcycle is finally ready."
"Oh."
"Don't sound so depressed," Sally chided, heading toward the elevator. "If you were looking for a lunch date, I'm sure we can go out together some other time."
"That's alright, Sally," Relena said, forcing herself to smile as she strained to keep up with Sally's brisk pace.
The elevator chimed open as soon as Sally's finger pressed the button, and the two stepped inside. Looking at her watch, Sally shook her head. "Already 11:15. I said I'd be there to pick him up at 11:30."
"I'm sure there's no need to hurry, Sally. Heero's a very patient man."
Sally smiled at her. "Thanks, Relena. Oh, by the way--how did things go with Wufei last night?"
This time, Relena's smile was genuine. "It was great." When the elevator doors again chimed open, Relena followed Sally into the lobby. "Despite all the horror stories you've told me, he really was a perfect gentleman."
Sally laughed as the made their way across the parking lot. "Well, I'm glad you think so, Relena. But I have to warn you, it's only a matter of time before he does something despicable." Reaching her car, Sally fished out her keys and got in. "Then you realize how lucky you are to spend most of your time with Heero!" Shutting the door, Sally started the ignition, waving to Relena as she pulled away.
Relena returned the wave, following the car with her eyes until it was out of sight. "Funny," Relena said, even though Sally was gone. "I was just going to say the same thing about you and Wufei."
* * *
At the repair shop, a smiling mechanic came out of the office to greet Sally and Heero. "Good morning, Mr. Yuy, ma'am. Uh, you're motorcycle is ready, as promised, sir. They're just polishing it up a little for ya." The mechanic turned to look through the wall of windows that separated the waiting area from the garage. Motioning to one of the workers inside, he again turned to Sally and Heero, the wide smile still on his face. "Uh, right this way, sir, uh, ma'am."
The pair followed the eager mechanic outside, where Heero's motorcycle was being wheeled out. Sally's eyes lit up when she saw it--she knew a good bike when she saw one. "Nice bike, Heero. When did you get it?"
"About a year ago. It looked a lot different then. I had to fix it up with some spare parts."
"I'll bet." Sally walked over to the motorcycle, Heero close behind her, as she took in it's brown and mocha paint job, polished chrome tailpipes, and the black leather seat. On the front of the body, painted in minute detail in front of the seat, was a pair of wings. "Interesting artwork," Sally mentioned, giving Heero a sideways glance. "Did you do this yourself?"
Heero nodded. "Some things just stay with you, I guess." Sally smiled as Heero came around to take the handle bars. Pulling a set of keys out of his pocket, he swung his leg over the bike and started the ignition. "Thanks for everything, Sally. I promise I'll make it up to you." Giving her a small smile, Heero revved the engine and rode away.
"My pleasure, Heero," Sally said, shaking her head as she watched him weave through traffic until he was out of sight.
* * *
"C'mon, Relena! You can't be tired yet; we've only been to three shops so far!"
Relena switched the two shopping bags she carried to her other hand as she struggled to keep up with the energetic brunette ahead of her. "I'm coming, Hilde! But I think we should stop to leave our bags in the car."
Hilde made a frustrated sound, seemingly oblivious to the four bags of new purchases she carried. "Let's go to one more store first," she pleaded. "Then we can check out the stores a few blocks over."
"Alright, Hilde," Relena sighed. "Just lead the way and I'll do my best to follow." It was an odd twist of fate that had brought Hilde to Earth for business on today of all days, Relena mused. She didn't know if she was grateful for the distraction or angry that she had been dragged out of her apartment after spending the early afternoon worrying over Wufei's behavior that morning. She had truly thought that he would have come over, or perhaps called to apologize. Or perhaps this was that "something despicable" that Sally had eluded to earlier.
In either case, she supposed it didn't matter much to Hilde; it was rare that the petit woman got the chance to journey to Earth, and she seemed determined to get in as much shopping as possible before her shuttle left that evening for the L2 colony.
Several stores ahead of them, Hilde noticed a large gathering on the sidewalk as bargain hunters swarmed around several racks on display. "Relena, look! A sidewalk sale. Let's check it out!" Relena quickened her pace to follow her friend, who was soon filtering through the racks of clothing. "I wanted to get Duo a new shirt," Hilde said when Relena came to stand behind her.
"But Hilde, you've already bought him four."
"I know," Hilde replied sheepishly, "but I wanted to get him something… different."
"Different?"
Swinging a few more items aside on the rack, Hilde's eyes suddenly lit up. "Ah! How 'bout this?"
Relena looked over the metallic blue shirt Hilde held up with skepticism. "It's a little flashy, don't you think?"
"Exactly! He'll love it." Tilting the shirt this way and that, Hilde admired the way it flashed in the sunlight. "Besides, I think the color will bring out his eyes." Draping the item over her arm, Hilde once again turned to the clothing rack. "Now I just have to find something I can wear to match it."
Relena had to smile. She supposed she would behave the same way, though, if anyone paid half as much attention to her as Duo did to Hilde. Turning to a clothing rack behind her, Relena set her bags down as she began to sift through the various items. A few moments later, she found a long sleeved, black silk shirt. Pulling it out, she realized it was made for a man. Wufei immediately came to mind. This would look perfect on him… she thought to herself. Running her fingers along the smooth fabric, she imagined what the shirt would look like against his tan skin, matching his dark hair and eyes perfectly…
"Looking to get Heero something?" Hilde interjected, destroying her mental image completely.
"Uh, well, I…" Relena sputtered under Hilde's regard, unable to tell her that it wasn't Heero she'd been imagining.
Hilde smiled a knowing smile. "It's alright, you don't have to admit it. But I don't think it's his color. I could help you look, if you'd like."
Relena set the shirt back on the rack. "That's alright, Hilde." Picking up her bags, she regarded the other woman, who had now acquired two more shirts and some slacks. "Ready to go?"
Hilde nodded.
Several minutes later, the two began walking back toward Relena's car. Relena almost wished that her driver had accompanied them on this trip; it would have saved them a lot of walking.
"I'm sorry to drag you all over like this, Relena," Hilde said, interrupting Relena's thoughts. "It's just that after that long business meeting this morning, I had to get out and enjoy myself!"
"Oh, it's fine, Hilde. It's been a long time since I've been able to leave the office and have fun, too."
"Are you sure you're alright? You seem a little… distracted."
"I do?"
Hilde nodded. "Is everything okay, Relena? You didn't have a fight with Heero, did you?"
Why did Hilde insist on mentioning that name so often? "No, nothing like that. I just… I don't know. I guess I'm not the type for long vacations. I can't stop thinking about all the things I'll have to take care of when I get back on Monday."
Hilde smiled. "I understand." Reaching Relena's car, the pair deposited their items in the trunk. Sighing, Hilde lifted her gaze toward the sky. "I still can't believe we got the contract. It's the first time we've ever signed with such a big construction company. We're gonna be busy, though… Oh, by the way--I forgot to tell you that Duo wants to have dinner with you on Saturday."
Relena's eyes widened. "This Saturday?"
"Uh-huh. We're both coming down to finalize the deal. You should bring Heero along too."
Relena blushed slightly. "Alright, I'll do that."
"Great! Now then, I know there's gotta be a designer clothing store somewhere around here, and I want to buy something fancy to celebrate!"