The Popstar

Chapter 11

A few hours after Lapis had left, Bulma began going through her mail he had brought up. Most of it had been junk. Last of all, she opened up a plain, brown envelope she'd had half a mind to discard. Curiosity won out over laziness; what was one more piece of junk mail?

She pulled out several, high quality, black and white photos from the previous evening.

Two were of her on stage, two others were of her and Lapis dancing and looking as though they needed to get a room. She frowned somewhat as she looked at them and mused to herself that it was a small wonder the tabloids always thought they were an item. It was a shame she hadn't opened the envelope up while he had been there. They both would have had a good laugh over it.

Then there were three photos of her and Vegeta that must have been taken just moments before the shooting had occurred. They appeared to be in deep conversation; their faces close and her arms around his neck in one photo. In another, his hands were on her hips and it looked very intimate, as she was leaning right into him, but despite being somewhat intoxicated, she distinctly remembered him gently pushing her away. The third was the same, only he appeared to be smiling at her and she vaguely remembered him laughing at a lame pickup line she'd said.

She smiled to herself as she examined them closely. They looked good together. What a shame it was just an illusion, she mused to herself.

Bulma turned them around to see who had taken them, but there was no water mark on them either on the photo or on the back of them. She looked in the envelope again, looking for a business card and again, there was nothing. Shrugging, she put them back into the envelope and stashed it away in her bedroom. Vegeta would likely not find them nearly as amusing as she did.

A week later at a two day shoot for an energy drink commercial featuring Bulma, Yamcha threw down a tabloid magazine onto her lap where she was sitting with a coffee while getting her hair and makeup done.

"Seriously?" he said, clearly not amused.

Bulma waited until the make-up artist was done drawing on eye liner before looking down and nearly snorted out her coffee through her nose. On the cover was a photo of Bulma, Vegeta and Lapis with the headline: Torn Between Two Men! Secret meetings, Steamy texts, Lies and Heartbreak!

"Turn to Page 5," he said.

She did and proceeded to read the article out loud.

"Lust, desire and jealousy are no strangers to Bulma Briefs, 28, as she cannot seem to make up her mind over who and what she wants. As exclusively first reported by Tattle, things began to heat up between the popstar and her live-in bodyguard a few months ago following her dramatic abduction. Her bodyguard still remains a mystery, as his name and age are still unknown; reps for Briefs have not returned phone calls. However it appears that her ex flame, former back up dancer Lapis Gero, 28, has been reportedly trying to getting cozy with his ex in hopes of rekindling their failed romance.

The dancer was simply beside himself when steamy photos of the singer moving on with the hunky bodyguard surfaced of them skydiving and enjoying sexy wine nights together in her outdoor penthouse hot tub. "Lapis dropped everything to rush over to West City last week in a desperate attempt to profess his true feelings for her," a source close to the talented dancer told Tattle reporters. "He quit as one of her main dancers, hoping that she would put her career on hold and follow him to New York so that they could finally settle down and start a family together like they had always talked about. It might have even worked after her abduction, until her new body guard moved in with her and swept her off her feet. Lapis was devastated."

The vivacious popstar was recently performing at the upscale night club, Kai, in honor of a video release party with label collaborator, Emperor Pilaf. "Lapis thought it would be the perfect opportunity to surprise her and it was. The two of them simply could not keep their hands off of one another on the dancefloor. The chemistry was definitely there," but that's when the passionate reconciliation came to an abrupt end.

"Her new man is very controlling and doesn't like any other men anywhere near her," the source confirms. "A fight would have happened in the club that night if Bulma hadn't come to Lapis' defence and insisted that they are just good friends and not getting back together. I think she's just confused about what she wants right now."

Jilted and rejected, Lapis came back to New York City the next evening, alone and heartbroken. "He's deeply hurt, but willing to wait for her to realize her mistake," the source optimistically tells Tattle. "They're soulmates and you never give up on that once you've found it." Let's just hope she does not make that realization too late.

Photos taken at the club that night show that the 28 year old star is definitely walking on thin ice where the two men are concerned. "She's addicted to the attention!" Says one source close to the singer. "Since her abduction, she's shown nothing but reckless abandonment in everything she does. No one denies what happened to her must have been terrifying, but jumping blindly into a fling with your bodyguard is about as audacious as it gets." Those closest to her are very concerned with the self-destructive path she seems so adamant to walk down in recent months. "It's all another episode in the tumultuous life of Bulma Briefs, I just hope she knows what she's doing."

Bulma Briefs and Lapis Gero have been on again, off again for several years. She was previously engaged to her high school sweetheart and current manager, Yamcha. They split amidst rumors of infidelity on both sides; Briefs was linked to the back-up dancer at that time."

The next page and a half showed a timeline of paparazzi photos of Bulma and Lapis over the years. She had a good chuckle to herself, as most of them were from shows and other planned public appearances. Next, were pictures of her and Vegeta from the one evening they had drinks in her hot tub, to the day they had gone skydiving and one time they had gone on a short hike with Justice on one of her rare days off. The photos Bulma had let the photographers take of her and Vegeta arriving at the club were included as well as photos of Bulma drunkenly leaning into Vegeta and suggestive photos of her and Lapis dancing provocatively. Clear as day, you could see Vegeta scowling with his arms crossed, looking on; while that was just how he looked, normally, in the context of this story, it looked as though he was not pleased.

She frowned somewhat as she studied them, the pictures of them inside the Kai night club looked to be the same photos that had been sent to her the next day. She shrugged it off, however. At least the photographer had had the curtesy to share the good shots with her before selling them.

The captions beneath the club photos quoted a supposed body language expert, noted that Vegeta's stance was closed off, confrontational and standoffish, yet Bulma's body language around him indicated that she was more into him than he was into her; supposedly indicating red flags and predicting heartbreak for her. Whereas the body language between her and Lapis apparently screamed mutual interest.

Bulma rolled her eyes at the stupidity of it. "Same old assumptions and bullshit, I see."

"Bulma, this doesn't look good," Yamcha said.

"Who cares? It's all lies, as usual. They didn't even mention the shooting! Most of these were taken literally seconds before it happened! It's all false. And even if it wasn't false, it's no body's business."

"It's not that," Yamcha shook his head. "It says you're being reckless and they're still publishing the photos of you skydiving and making it seem like it's something you do all the time. The record label doesn't need to think you're an insurance liability. Things are already dicey insurance wise because of all the extra precautions we need to take since your abduction. Just lay low for a while, maybe."

"Give me some time off so I can 'lay low for a while, maybe'." She replied snidely.

"Look, I know it's been hectic, but that's just how it needs to be for a little while longer," Yamcha said in his usual mock apologetic spiel.

"Whatever," she sighed. She didn't have the energy to argue with him.

Her hair and makeup was done about a half hour later. She'd had a splitting headache for the last two days and was cranky. Normally, a headline and story like that in a tabloid magazine would have given her a good laugh; today, all it did was make her crankier and more irritable than she already was. All she wanted was for this commercial shoot to be finished so she could go home and go to bed because she had to be up early for an eleven and a half hour flight to London for a tv interview the next day, just to turn around to come back here and begin rehearsing for the charity concert, which was four days away. It was an eight hour time difference as well and just the thought already of the jet lag she would be facing was enough to make her feel nauseous.

She left the makeup room and headed towards the screens and cameras.

"Want some reading material?" she asked Vegeta as she walked passed him and handed him the scandal rag.

Vegeta frowned as he looked at the magazine cover. Torn Between Two Men?! Part of him didn't even want to know, but curiosity and boredom got the better of him. He flipped through the magazine to the cover story and briefly skimmed through the drivel and wondered who was stupid enough to believe any of it? It seemed as though it had been written by the wistful musings of an immature high school student.

He didn't bother reading any of the captions that went with the photos of Bulma and himself, but looked at the pictures of them from the club that evening. He remembered her asking him to dance, and him declining. That was all that had occurred, though looking at the pictures, it did appear as though they were having an intimate conversation about something and were very close. Hell in one of them it even looked as though he was enjoying himself and not working. In another, his hands were on her hips; it had been an attempt at pushing her away, but in the photo, it appeared that he was holding her close. Her arms were around his neck and his head was bent down to listen to whatever it had been that she was saying. It all painted a completely different picture than what had actually occurred.

Vegeta rolled the magazine up and dismissed it; it was not the first article that had published photos of them along with some ridiculous false article and he was sure it would not be the last. Unfortunately though, now Lapis was included and it looked as though the three of them were involved in some kind of dramatic love triangle. If Vegeta had not met him and known of the platonic nature of Bulma and Lapis' relationship, he might have believed some of the drivel that had been printed.

He went back to watching the filming of the commercial. Bulma had been in a bad mood the last few days. He assumed it was mostly due to her hectic work schedule; it was absolutely insane and he had no idea how she kept it up. He could tell already that she was not happy about being there.

Even yesterday's shoot had taken her longer than normal and he hoped today would be a better day for her. She wasn't functioning at her best. She'd done a good job hiding it, but she had been frustrated with herself and everyone around her. She'd barely spoken a word to him on the ride home and had turned in almost immediately once they had made it back to her home. He knew she was dreading having to hop on a plane early the next day, not that he blamed her; he himself was not particularly looking forward to it either.

The day was long, grueling and seemed to last forever. Bulma managed to pull through, but it was apparent to everyone around her that she was not her typical, good natured self. Vegeta ignored accusations like "High Maintenance" and "Diva" that were quietly flying around on the sidelines.

Finally, mid-afternoon, the whole thing wrapped. Bulma stormed off of the set, wanting to leave as quickly as possible. Yamcha was hot on her heels, probably reminding her of what time she needed to be at the airport and where she needed to be once they'd landed; she shut the door of her dressing room in his face while he'd been in mid-sentence, rattling off an email on his phone to her. Vegeta had to supress a good chuckle at that one. Clearly she was not a child, she knew where she needed to be tomorrow. Why was he pestering her?

Changed, but makeup and hair still done, Bulma emerged out of the makeup room with her purse and looked at Vegeta pleadingly. He nodded and walked straight to her and they left, not giving Yamcha or anyone else a chance to start asking her questions or get on her case over something else. Vegeta knew that she had come to appreciate the fact that when it was time to leave, he made sure they left. He would escort her back to her vehicle promptly, not stopping for anything or anyone unless she spoke up. She could leave and not feel guilty over not stopping constantly. Vegeta did not care if people thought it was rude or that he was rushing her. She'd thanked him on several occasions by this point and the only time he stopped was if she wanted to stop and entertain someone and that was okay with him. However if he did not make a beeline for the vehicle and usher her swiftly, she felt obligated to stop and speak with every single person they encountered, even if all she wanted was to get the hell out.

"Make sure for tomorrow-" Yamcha started.

"I fucking know!" Bulma snapped at him as she darted into her car.

"Sorry, B, just making sure-"

"I don't need any more reminders. Send me a fifth or sixth reminder email on it all if you need to." She said and Vegeta followed her inside the vehicle and closed the door, leaving Yamcha standing on the sidewalk, looking offended by her outburst.

"Fuck, I just need to get home," she whispered, leaning forward and placing her head in her lap, taking deep breaths.

After a few minutes, she was still sitting like that as they sat in the back seat of the limo, on their way back to her home. "Are you alright?" Vegeta asked in concern. He was not sure if she had fallen asleep or not.

"No," she answered, turning her head so she was facing him, though her head was still in her knees. "I have such a bad headache I feel like my teeth are going to fall out, my entire face hurts and I feel like I'm going to throw up if I sit up."

"We are almost home," he said. "I will let you know. Just relax."

She grunted in thanks.

"Did you drink any water today?" he asked.

"No," she answered. "Just coffee and an energy drink."

"Did you eat anything?"

"No,"

He sighed and shook his head to himself. "That may be why you are feeling ill,"

"I forgot," she said. "I just wanted to get out of there and go home,"

"Fair enough," he nodded in understanding. "However you need to not forget these things."

She did not reply and they were silent for a while. "I am taking a sleeping pill when I get home. Take the rest of the evening off and just make sure I am up at three am."

Vegeta nodded. He likely would be going to bed early as well, though he appreciated that she made a point of telling him to take the remainder of the day. It was not dinner time yet and if it weren't for having to be on a plane in the early morning hours, he would have taken the rest of the afternoon and evening for an extended workout and a long walk with Justice. "Is that what Yamcha was on about?"

"Yea," she grumbled. "And the extended edition of my last album is being released tomorrow in the UK, so I need to promote it or the label will be mad."

Within another twenty minutes, they were back at Bulma's home.

"Drink this before you go to bed," Vegeta said to her, handing her a bottle of water from the fridge.

She took it. "I'm taking a pill, a shower and going to bed," she said. "You can do whatever, go wherever, I don't care, enjoy the rest of the evening. Just get me up at three."

"Thank you," he said. "You do not want to eat anything?"

"No. I'll be sick if I do," she shook her head, drinking some water and scrunching her face. "Ya, just water isn't good for me right now either," she said, putting the bottle back on the countertop.

"Your lack of hydration is what is making you feel ill," he said, handing her back the water bottle. "You should try and finish this before you go to bed, but at least consume half,"

"Ugh," she rolled her eyes, taking it back. "I'll try,"

"You will not try, you will," he insisted. "Do I have to protect you from yourself as well?"

Bulma snorted somewhat. "Why? Do you charge extra for that?"

"I may have to start," he answered.

She walked up to him and hugged him. "Thank you," she said. "I'm sorry I'm crabby and uncooperative. Shoot me an invoice, I'll make sure you're compensated. Good night."

He frowned as she let him go and turned to go to her side of the suite. He had been joking, not actually attempting to negotiate a higher salary. "Good night," he said and went to change before deciding about his evening plans.

-0-0-0-

They were both up early and made it to the airport on time, Justice included. As soon as they departed, Bulma took another sleeping pill. It was an eleven and a half hour flight to London and they would be leaving again as soon as the interview was over, but to fly another eleven and a half hours back home. It was ludicrous.

Bulma awoke about an hour before it was time for the plane to land despite the bumpy flight due to bad weather. She felt like she could have slept another ten hours, easily, but decided to stay awake. She ate a sandwich Vegeta had given her; apparently he had made meals for them both during his down time the previous evening. Perks to having your own jet was you could bring whatever you wanted on board.

Vegeta knew there was likely snacks on the plane, but decided to bring something better. He'd made several sandwiches for them both along with fruit, cut up vegetables, water and some kind of trail mix that he'd found. He was thankful he had brought his own, as it was breakfast time when they arrived at the studio and all there was for nourishment was a spread of donuts, muffins, some fruit, juice and coffee.

Bulma's hair and makeup was done and she was then welcomed on stage late morning. She seemed alright for the most part, but it was not difficult to see that she was tired. Of course, the personality interviewing her thought it was amusing to make light of her tiredness.

"Well, I just finished a two day commercial shoot, had to be up and three am, my time, to make it here. I'm scheduled to be on another flight back home by three this afternoon when we're done here. I'll be back at two in the morning, your time, but it will be ten am my time and I have a rehearsal to be at for the live charity show in three days."

"Wow," he exclaimed. "Busy girl,"

"Just a little," she nodded.

"Well, that's the price of fame, though. Right?"

Bulma held back a frustrated sigh and nodded in agreement. "I wouldn't change a thing."

The rest of the interview went on smoothly without incident, she spoke about the charity concert in a few days to come and of her album release and was not asked any personal questions pertaining to Vegeta or her abduction. They finished on time. Bulma and Vegeta rushed out of the studio, grabbed a limo to the airport only to find that their flight was delayed for an undetermined amount of time due to bad weather; extreme rain.

Bulma excused herself a moment to find a washroom, leaving Vegeta to figure out what the next best thing to do was. She burst into the nearest washroom and chose the last stall along the row of bathroom cubicles, sat down on the toilet and cried.

Vegeta made an executive decision and cancelled her flight altogether until the next morning, weather pending. It was the middle of the afternoon; that would give Bulma the rest of the day and evening to relax. If the weather was better, they would take an early morning flight at six; they would be returning at five in the afternoon, however that would make it midnight back home. He shrugged as he finalized the hotel booking. It would be giving her less time to rehearse, but a small amount of downtime that she was in desperate need of. He'd also brought Justice with them, so other than rehearsals, it wasn't like there was anything pressing to return for.

He looked around the waiting area and could not see her sitting anywhere. Immediately, his stomach dropped and panic began to take hold of him that something may have happened to her. Had her abductor known they would be here and had taken an opportunity to take her with him while he had been distracted? Was there some other insane person who might take the opportunity to prey on her?

The gate area they were at was busy, most of the seats in the waiting area were full from other commercial flights that had been grounded as well because of the rain. He scanned the area for blue hair, but saw none and immediately all of the worst case scenarios began to run through his mind.

He abandoned their bags at the desk as he began walking up and down the aisles, frantically hoping to spot her. Had she fainted somewhere out of exhaustion? It dawned on him that maybe she was in the restroom, so he looked for the ladies room and quickly headed in that direction.

"Hey, I know you!" A teenage girl said to him cheerfully, holding up a tabloid with his and Bulma's faces on the cover. "You're Bulma Briefs' bodyguard slash boyfriend!"

He refrained from making the comment that just because she'd seen him in a stupid magazine, did not mean she knew him. Instead, he just grunted.

"She's crying in the bathroom," she said. "Did you guys have a fight?"

"What! No," he snarled.

Why was she in the bathroom crying, he wondered? His first inclination was to go in there and make sure she was alright, but he didn't dare barge into a public woman's washroom in the middle of an airport! He thought for a moment. "Can you go in there and see if she is alright?" he grudgingly asked the smiling teen in front of him.

"I'll do it for an autograph and if you tell me your actual name!" She said, holding up the magazine.

Vegeta looked at her in shock, mouth agape.

"Please?" she asked again, rifling through her bag to find a pen.

"Tch," he snorted, snatching the magazine and taking the pen, he quickly scribbled on the cover and gave it back to her. "Now will you go and ask if she is alright?"

The girl frowned and looked at the magazine. "I can't even tell what your name is. It's just a scribbled mess. You're also supposed to ask my name and address it to me."

"My name is none of your business," he growled, pulling out his phone to call Bulma, something he had no idea why it hadn't occurred to him to do the second he realized he did not know where she was. It rang three times before going to voicemail and his stomach dropped again.

"You're mean," the girl said with a frown. "No matter Bulma's in the washroom crying!"

He was about to make a retort, but he received a text from Bulma. She was in the washroom.

He responded, I had to cancel the flight. I booked us a hotel.

K. She replied. There's like 10 people in here swarming my stall.

"For fucks sake," he sighed under his breath. Ignoring the teenager who was taking pictures of him with her phone now while speaking rudely to him, he knocked loudly on the door to the women's rest room and opened it slightly. "You all need to leave, so Bulma can come out."

A few women came out and for the first time, he noticed the crowd that was starting to gather around him. He needed to get her out of there before it became a frenzy of adoring fans fighting to catch a glimpse of her.

As he was still deliberating about what he should do, Bulma came out. "Sorry," she whispered. She had been indeed crying. "Let's just get out of here."

"Can I have your autograph?" the teen who had spoken to Vegeta asked her, shoving the magazine at her. "He signed it, but it doesn't look like anything."

Bulma looked at it. She'd never seen Vegeta's hand writing or signature, though she agreed with the fan, it just looked like random scribble. In Vegeta's defense, it did look like a V with several scribbles on top. "No, that looks about right," she lied, taking the pen. "What's your name?"

"Mackenzie Elise," she answered, glancing at Vegeta, raising an eyebrow at him as though feeling vindicated.

Bulma wrote a quick note and signed the magazine before handing it back to her. As soon as she did, several other people began asking for autographs. Vegeta was about to intervene and usher her out, but she spoke up. "I can't stay long, I'm not feeling well today, but I will sign a few."

Surprisingly, most people were fairly polite and respectful rather than pushy. She allowed a few selfies with several fans, despite not looking her best. After about twenty minutes, she thanked them for coming by and excused herself. "Watch the concert in three days!" she said. "Go to my Twitter and vote which songs you guys want me to do! It's up to you!"

She followed Vegeta and they went back to where he had left their bags. By this time, paparazzi had been tipped off that she was at the airport, interacting with fans and it was then that things exploded into pure chaos. Bulma slipped her hand into his and let him guide her through the sea of reporters and cameras. It was so crowded, it was hard to make their way through everyone. They managed to actually exit the airport, only to be bombarded with more cameras and media despite the heavy rain fall.

"We have to go to the hotel across the street," Vegeta said to her. It was raining so heavy, they could barely make out the hotel from the other side of the street. "Ready?"

Bulma nodded. "Let's go!"

Vegeta pushed their way through several people and by sheer luck, the road was clear and there was no traffic. They bolted across the street and into the hotel where security was standing and not allowing the press inside.

"Whew," Bulma sighed, relieved to be free from the throng of reporters and out of the rain; they were both soaked.

They made their way to the front desk, where they already had her reservation and mentioned that they had sent extra security to come to the front as soon as they had known she was coming. They quickly checked in and made their way to the adjoining rooms Vegeta had booked.

"Stay with me," she said. "You didn't have to book a separate room."

Vegeta shrugged.

"We already live together," she pointed out. "Please, I'm tired and just want to relax and I'd feel better if you stayed."

"Alright," he nodded. Truthfully, he really did not feel like spending the evening on his own either. "Let me shower first and I will join you,"

"I'll do the same," she agreed. "I'll order some food too and keep the joining door unlocked, just come in whenever."

Vegeta and Justice quickly inspected the room before going their separate ways; Vegeta left Justice with Bulma, who immediately went to the washroom and turned the shower on. As she was waiting for the water to warm up, she sent Yamcha a quick message, letting him know that they had been unable to leave, but hopefully would return tomorrow.

About a half hour later, Vegeta knocked on the adjoining room door and came in to find Bulma in bed already with Justice with the tv on. She was wearing her yoga pants and tank top she'd worn on the plane earlier. Unfortunately, the only extra clothing Vegeta had thought to bring had been a spare t-shirt.

"I ordered a bunch of stuff for us and a steak for him," she said, scratching Justice's head. "I hope that's okay,"

"It is fine," he nodded, taking a seat in a chair in the bedroom. "You are alright?"

"I'm fine. Just felt really overwhelmed earlier is all," she said. "I don't know if I'm coming or going and I just wanted to get on the plane, go to sleep and get home. The thought of sitting at the airport for hours waiting for the weather to clear up was just too much. Thank you for making other arrangements. Yamcha is pissed, but he'll get over it."

"And what was his solution?" Vegeta asked sourly.

"Other than sitting at the airport for hours and taking a commercial flight, nothing," she rolled her eyes. "I'd rather try to get some sleep here than stay at the airport."

Vegeta nodded. That had been his thought process as well.

The food arrived and Vegeta placed a plate of steak, mashed potatoes, broccoli and bread on the floor for Justice. Bulma had ordered a steak for Vegeta as well and some stew and a variety of small English hors d'oeuvres for herself.

"No steak?" he asked, frowning.

"I can't eat all that," she shook her head. "I'll be sick."

"Better to eat half than that deep fried shit you got," he pointed out.

"Probably," she shrugged. She knew he was right, but she wasn't hungry; she had a headache and was nauseous on and off again. "At least the stew is probably somewhat healthy. Look, there's meat and vegetables in it."

"Fair enough," hr relented, digging into his meal.

"Sorry I'm not up for going out to a pub or someplace nice," she said. "I'm just too tired. Don't be surprised if I fall asleep right after eating."

"The point of booking the hotel was for you to get some rest," he said.

"I know, but I love London. Have you been?"

"No," he shook his head.

"Well, I'll make sure we come back sometime and we'll go pub hopping and have some fun," she said. "Other than the middle East, where have you been?"

"All over," he shrugged. "The US, Germany, France. My father would get stationed all over and so I've been most places, even if briefly. Never England though, for whatever reason. With all of this blasted rain, I do not feel I have missed out on anything."

The conversation went silent as they finished eating and as Bulma predicted, she was ready to fall asleep after eating only about half of her stew and the bun that had come with it. She got up and put her plates on a counter in the living room area and tossed him the tv remote and settled back in bed. "Here, you find something to watch since I'm probably going to fall asleep."

He put his plate away and picked up the plate that he'd given Justice, not at all surprised the dog had eaten everything, vegetables included.

She patted the other side of the bed and he gave her a look. "Relax, I'm too tired for flirting or sex, so I'll behave; I promise. I asked you to stay and I'm not going to make you sleep in that chair, so get comfortable."

Vegeta nodded but was relieved and said nothing. He was not sure how much longer he could keep pretending like she did not affect him. He was with her every day, all day and all night. How could he not feel for her? She was so much more than a job by this point. He liked her; alright, he more than just liked her and he knew that she felt the same way. It would never work though, he told himself bitterly as he sat down next to her in bed. Not while he was still working for her and there was someone out to get her.

He dismissed the bitter thoughts in his mind and began channel surfing and finally settled on a channel with a marathon of some kind of old British sit com about two wheeler dealer brothers who would try to rip their customers off, but always somehow ended up being the ones getting the bad end of a deal. It was light, funny and easy to follow.

Bulma took the opportunity to huddle in closer to Vegeta, resting her head against his arm and he did not object. It felt good having her close. While he definitely wanted more, he was not going to pass this up. Whenever she was near and they were in a relaxed setting, he felt like he could drop his guard a little. Unfortunately, he knew he'd crossed the line of professionalism a while ago, but he still insisted on not letting himself give into anything more where she was concerned; at least not while he was still working for her.

As she dozed off, he thought about it. He would likely have to quit the military permanently; it was not conducive to having a serious commitment. He knew people who were successfully married or in long term relationships and they somehow made it work, but it was hard on both parties. Infidelity and substance abuse was usually a main factor in the breakdown of even the strongest relationships. He'd never had an actual relationship with anyone other than casual. They never broke up; one of them would get reassigned elsewhere and that was the end of it. How could he possibly succeed in keeping his job and making Bulma happy for any amount of time; especially if he was deployed? Was he ready to permanently leave all of that behind? He was not sure. That was all he knew. What would he do as a career if he left it all? He had no idea. He knew he could not enter into a romantic relationship with Bulma and remain as her bodyguard. That would not work. He would lose his objective edge further than he already possibly had.

He smirked to himself as she began to snore lightly beside him. Instead of shaking her to get her to stop, he let her be, glad she was actually getting some much needed sleep. He dozed off here and there himself, sleeping for short periods of time. The only time he had left her had been to take Justice out for a bathroom break. It was late evening and the rain had still not let up. It was cold and windy and he was thankful they had not gone for a night out on the town in this mess.

Vegeta set his alarm for five in the morning; that would give them an hour to get up, get to the airport and find out if they could leave and possibly grab some breakfast. He left the tv on; a habit he'd developed since coming to stay with Bulma. He still did not sleep much, but it seemed to help.