chapterEIGHT
Chiharu regarded him coolly. "I don't think this can work anymore," she said, her words soft but collected.
Eriol barely looked up. "What can't work?"
She sighed. 'Even like this, I can't have his full attention.' "This. Me. You. Together."
His head jerked up, entirely focused on her. "Wh-what do you mean?"
She looked at his confused expression and sighed once again. "You know what I mean," she said, slipping the ring off her finger. She almost forgot how her finger looked without it. "Look, we both know we don't love each other. Like, yes. Infatuate, maybe at the beginning. But love, never happened, never will."
He sat there in stunned silence.
"Oh, don't look at me like that. You know it's true. I know it's true. So what's the matter?"
"What's the matter? We've been engaged for a year, and all of the sudden, out of the blue, you tell me you want to break it off, and you ask me what the matter is!"
He received a smile from her. "Eriol, can you truthfully tell me this isn't what you want? Would you be happy spending the rest of your life with me, without regrets? And would it be fair to me?"
"I love you," he said softly, avoiding her questions.
"I know that. But I also know it's platonic love."
He looked away. "I'm sorry…"
"It's okay. I realized there's just something missing, you know? And I can't possibly stand by and let you lose the one you really love."
"The one I truly love?"
She laughed. "Don't try and lie. I know you better than you think. Does a certain Tomoyo Daidouji ring a bell?"
He gasped. "How did you know?"
"It's obvious," she said, rolling her eyes.
"So, no hard feelings?" he asked hopefully, staring at the ring she had taken off.
"No hard feelings," she said, pulling him into a hug.
Syaoran closed the door and flung his keys onto the coffee table. With a sigh, he collapsed onto the soft sofa.
It had been a week. And yet, he was still expecting her to waltz in through the door and bug him. This was what he wanted…yet he never felt so out of place. He had crossed the line. He hadn't meant to…or maybe he had. All his teasing, his hurtful remarks, some part of him thought it would shield himself away from her.
Had it worked? No. But it did drive her away from him.
And he found himself regretting it.
More than once, he caught himself walking to the phone, picking it up, and realizing he didn't have her number. What would he say anyway? He'd probably turn into one of those fools who hung up as soon as they heard someone's voice.
Then, he'd think about Tomoyo and feel guilty. Sure, they didn't love each other. But she was loyal, and here he was, thinking about her best friend. Her best friend he was supposedly couldn't stand.
He once again found himself staring at the phone. She wouldn't call…
Ring.
His imagination?
Ring.
He gently lifted the phone off its cradle. "Hello?" he choked hoarsely.
"Syaoran? You sound weird, is everything okay?"
The little hope he had came crashing down. He was supposed to be happy hearing from her though…
"Fine. Everything's fine," he lied.
"Okay," Tomoyo said, not sounding convinced. "I just wanted to tell you, I decided to come home early. Do you think you could pick me up? My flight arrives at eight in two days."
"That's fine. See you then." He hung up.
This wasn't right. That wasn't the conversation he wanted to have with his future wife. No "I love you," and with empty pleasantries. And then he realized what he wanted, what he needed. Someone who could argue with him, entertain him, make him laugh even when he was gritting his teeth in annoyance.
Someone like Sakura.
Tomoyo listened to the dial tone absentmindedly. Something was wrong with Syaoran, but she didn't know what it was. He sounded tormented, or caught between something, rare coming from him.
And although she wanted to help him, she couldn't. As selfish as it sounded, she had other things on her mind. Besides, she would see Syaoran in two days. She even forgot to ask about Sakura.
She would leave soon…and she might never see Eriol again. She didn't know what was worse, knowing that she wouldn't see him and that their last conversion wasn't something she'd want to remember, or seeing him and knowing she had screwed it all up.
She couldn't wait two days. She had to leave now.
Sakura glared angrily at the mirror. She was pissed off. At who or what, she didn't really know, and she didn't care to find out.
Syaoran was such an...asshole.
The wedding was in a few months. She could not go. But Tomoyo was her best friend. And she wanted to see Syaoran again. She wanted to look him in the eye and make him see all the hatred there and she wanted him to feel regretful and like the ass he was, though she strongly doubted he could feel, much less care.
She grinned. Why wait until the wedding? She could do it now. Her mind made up, she lifted her unpacked bags and strolled out the door.
Eriol stood in front of the reception desk. The receptionist recognized him and smiled, but her smile quickly turned to confusion.
"I'm looking for Tomoyo Daidouji."
"I'm sorry sir, but she checked out an hour ago."
"Do you know where she went?"
"I'm sorry, I'm not allowed to disclose that information."
He smiled tightly. "Thank you anyways."
Outside, he felt like pounding something. His one chance to make it right, and it was gone.
'I give up. Maybe it's time I stop ignoring all the signs that we're not meant to be.'
Ding dong.
Syaoran sighed. The doorbell and telephone ringing were really annoying him.
He threw open the door. "WHAT?"
He stopped short seeing the person in front of it. "Sakura…" And she looked livid.
"Oh, I'm sorry, am I interrupting you?" she asked snidely.
"No. Of course not. Come in."
She looked taken aback, but she made no move to step in. "I just wanted to tell you, I think you're a bastard."
Now it was his turn to be surprised, but she was right, he was one.
"You've a huge jerk and you've been nothing but rude. I hate you so much I just wanna punch your guts out."
He said nothing, letting her say whatever she needed to say. He could tell she had been keeping these words inside her for a long time.
She took a breath. "I don't know what your problem is, and I don't really care anymore. Because you know what? I don't care about you anymore."
He still didn't say anything. When she realized he never would, she turned away and began to walk towards the elevator.
"Wait."
She didn't. She pressed the down button, but the elevator wouldn't come fast enough. By now, he had reached her.
"I'm sorry."
She scoffed. "I'm sure you are. It doesn't matter though."
"It matters to me."
"It shouldn't."
"Sakura, I'm sorry. You're right. I am a jerk. Everything you said about me was true. And I regret it. Just give me another chance."
"Another chance for what? Syaoran, we never had anything that required a chance. We never had anything at all."
"That's not true," he whispered. "We had something. Whatever you want to call it, I don't know, but there was something."
She looked at him like he was crazy. "I don't know what you're talking about."
He grabbed her hand and pulled her close before she could object. "We had this." He swooped down to capture her lips in a soft kiss. She didn't, couldn't resist. And within seconds, her arms were wrapped around his neck pulling him closer…
They were so lost within themselves they didn't hear the elevator chiming, signaling its arrival.
However, they did hear the luggage drop and a woman's gasp. Reluctantly, they broke apart and turned to the intruder.
"Tomoyo…"
"What the hell is going on here?"