A/N: Hello everyone. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. I haven't really set a goal of when I want to upload chapters. But I'm glad you all still manage to come back around to read the updates.


Chapter 4

Of all people. She thought. You gotta be kidding me.

"Are you stalking me?" He had asked.

Really? The first thing you say is that. She thought in her mind.

"Really? No, 'hi, hello, how are you?" She said out loud, "you're actually in my territory. So…. contractually, you're in my space." Sakura didn't have time for his sass.

"No, because I actually don't care how you're doing. It's in the contract. Also, I didn't know you owned this land, Kinomoto." He finally faced her.

If she could lunge at him and toss him off the bridge she would in a heartbeat. Calm down, Sakura, let's not choose violence.

"Sigh, that's not what I meant. What are you doing here?" she asked. She was genuinely curious. He didn't seem like the type to be spending time alone by a river ledge.

"I can't be here?" He asked back.

"I…I..ugh." she was so annoyed, so much for caring, "what if I said no, that you can't?" She didn't mean to pout but he sure was aggravating.

"It's a public place, Kinomoto." He didn't want to deal with this either.

"Ahg…whatever. Are you ok? Were you planning to jump? Because I can help you." She said pointing over the ledge.

That comment took him off guard. He laughed, what is up with this woman? Sakurastared at the crinkle around his eyes as he laughed.

"What kind of comment is that, Kinomoto? Help me? Are you asking for a death wish?"

"No," she responded, "But it looks like you were. It's super late at night and you're standing by a ledge. Anyone would have thought you were going to jump."

"But you just asked if I needed help being pushed over."

"Yeah, so do you?" She said with a straight face. He laughed some more.

"Wow," he said, "no, I don't need help. But thank you for the offer? How nice of you?"

"Well, it was reverse psychology. I guess it worked. Anyways, I should go, I'll send you the bill for helping you out. Promise I won't tell your lawyer friend you almost jumped over," she said, with a sly smile on her face.

"Oh god. I wasn't going to jump.. Can't I just have a moment to myself?" he asked.

"Well, in the middle of the night. I don't know, Li, it's a little suspicious."

"I was just in my own world that's all," he said truthfully.

"Well, I'm sorry if I bothered you. You can continue to do whatever you were doing. I'll keep my promise and won't tell a soul. But don't jump please." She teased some more, not wanting to give him a proper goodnight, she turned around and headed back to her house.

Syaoran watched her walk away, what just happened there, he asked himself. He let a huge sigh off his chest and chuckled under his breath. What the hell.

- Sakura Residence -

As Sakura got back into the house, she didn't notice how late it was. Running into Li out of all people at this hour, in her own neighborhood was not what she was expecting, ever. She wondered how many times she had passed by him and never noticed him there.

What a weird interaction, she thought as she got into her room to get her towel for a shower. I hope he's ok though.

Ah, why do I care? They aren't on talking terms and it was just coincidental that she had met him tonight of all nights. It was a little early to be running into him in public areas though. This better not be a thing, running into each other.

Sakura popped into the shower, hoping the thoughts would subside.

- The Next Day -

Merry Go Round of Life - Joe Hasaishi plays in the background as Sakura's phone rings.

It was 817AM when Sakura looked at her phone. She groaned; she was hoping to sleep in a little more on her day off. She stared at her screen some more and saw the ID say "Tomoyo."

Oh right, she thought, the dress.

"Good morning, Sakura." she heard Tomoyo say over the phone. Sakura cleared her throat.

"Good morning," Sakura responded, her voice betraying her, she definitely sounded like she just woke up.

"Ah, I'm so sorry if I woke you up."

"It's ok, I should be awake anyways," no I wasn't.

"Oh ok, I just wanted to call about your dress fitting. I don't have time today but is it ok for Monday? I have a dress in mind, I just needed measurements."

"Yeah, Li told me about it. I can be free Monday. You could just send me the place and time, and I'll be there."

"Wonderful! Do you have any plans today?" Tomoyo had asked.

"No, not really," Sakura thought. It was a weekend, the only thing on her mind was sleep.

"Would you like to join us for brunch at 10am at Maisy's?" Tomoyo had asked. She was really hoping Sakura would say yes.

"Sure, I don't have anything planned, should I dress a certain way?"

"No, just brunch attire." Tomoyo replied. Sakura responded with an ok, they said their goodbyes and hung up the phone. Once the other end died, Sakura turned her face into her pillow. So much for sleep. She kicked around in bed some more, why couldn't I just say no?

She got up to go wash up and get ready. Brunch attire, she said. What the hell is that? Avoiding the topic of clothes, she decided to curl her hair the same way she did for the gala and put on some light makeup. At least then she would look presentable and not tired. Once it was time to change, she asked again, brunch attire? She flipped through her closet and slipped on some straight jeans with a white button up. Put on her white sneakers and headed out the door.

- Maisy's Brunch Place -

Okay, wow, what even is this place? As Sakura walked in, the place had multiple chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. It was like she was transported to a church in Italy with a modern twist. This exist in Tokyo? As she looked around, the host caught her attention. Without Sakura even saying a thing, the blond-haired girl responded that the wait would be 3 hours for the next table.

"Oh, no. I'm here with a group of ladies," Sakura said.

"I'm so sorry," the host said, embarrassed over her assumption as she looked at Sakura up and down with the attire she wore, "do you know the party's name? I will walk you back there."

"Daidoji, I believe?" She questioned. The host looked at Sakura with a confused face and then at her books and nodded.

"Right this way, follow me." As the host walked Sakura over to her party, she started to feel yet again, underdressed.

What is up with these people? Everyone wore lovely outfits, as if they just walked out of a magazine. She stuck out like a sore thumb. Sakura had never felt more insecure about the way she dressed.

As she reached the table, she saw Tomoyo, Chiharu, and Meilin.

"Sakura! Hi!" Chiharu said as she saw Sakura approached. Sakura took the empty seat next to Meilin.

"I'm sorry, I feel so underdressed," Sakura said, looking at the ladies also wore really pretty dresses to brunch.

"Oh, don't apologize. We have images to uphold, so we sorta have to put up with societal norms." Meilin said, eyeing her outfit. Sakura just looked at her, a little shocked at how straightforward it was but appreciated it none-the-less.

"We aren't saying that you don't have an image to uphold," Chiharu chidded, trying to air out the conversation.

"I mean, since she's dating Li, she kinda has to," Meilin said to Chiharu. For some reason, Meilin felt ice cold even at a distance.

"Ladies, ladies, it's ok. I invited Sakura, and I told her to wear whatever. Meilin, how about a mimosa?" Tomoyo said, interrupting the sour mood.

Sakura felt like she shouldn't have come after all, but Meilin wasn't wrong. She never had to take consideration of his image outside of their meetings. She took a mental note to message him later about this.

"It's ok Tomoyo, Li-Ryosuke is right. I guess I didn't notice now how much I will also be in the limelight. I am pretty new to this since we made it official."

"It's ok, Sakura," Chiharu said, still trying to smooth the wrinkles that have already been made during the conversation, "I think that if Li likes you this way, I don't see why you should change for the image."

Sakura appreciated her efforts but all she could think about was not fucking up. Meilin had faced Sakura at this point.

"Look, I think you're a really nice girl. I'm just really taken aback that my cousin suddenly brought you out of the blue to a very important event, and he's never introduced you to us. You call him by his first name, when no one ever had the opportunity to do so. Now you're joining us, and you don't have the decency to dress nicely. My cousin holds a big role, and if it's ruined by you, it'll be a shame."

Yikes, even hearing this Sakura felt a little hurt. While none of what they were doing was real, it affected the people that were around them. It was for business but it's also a huge lie.

"I'm sorry, I…" Sakura started, not entirely sure where she was going to say. Perhaps leaving was the best choice since she wasn't welcomed here.

"Meilin, stop. I invited her and if Li likes her, why don't we just try to get along?" Tomoyo said sternly. Chiharu had a concerned look on her face.

"It's not easy being in this position," Tomoyo continued, "It takes time." Like the mother of the group, even though the wrinkles weren't gone, at least it was gently patted down.

Meilin sighed, "I'm sorry, Kinomoto. I just…" The waiter arrived, asking for orders. Mimosas all around for now, was what Tomoyo ordered. Sakura really would have loved a coffee or maybe just the champagne, no orange juice.

Meilin started again, "This was just a big shock for a lot of us. Considering we don't know you very well. There was no announcement, you just showed up."

Sakura stared at the ruby eyed lady next to her, "It's ok. It was a big step for us too. We knew that people wouldn't take it well and we didn't know how else to introduce ourselves, there was really no "good" time to do it. It just happened all so fast with me attending the gala. I'll have a conversation with L—Syaoran."

Sakura technically wasn't lying. It did happen all so fast.

"We would love to get to know you more," Chiharu said, putting her hand over Sakura. Sakura smiled.

"Of course, I would love to stay around for a long time, so I would also love to get to know you ladies," Sakura said, not entirely sure what she meant by that. A long time, huh.

Meilin smiled a little. She was apprehensive, this was a huge step for her cousin but also for the business. It could potentially ruin everything.

"So, how's the charity ball planning going?" Sakura asked Chiharu.

"Oh, it's going wonderful. We just have final details, but it has come a long way. The one thing I am waiting for are the display cases for the jewelry. Granted it will be modeled by some of the women at the ball, many people will be able to see them on display first."

The waiter had returned with their mimosas and asked if they were ready to order. The woman hadn't even had the time to look at the menu, so he decided that he would come back. Sakura peeked at the menu and her heart nearly exploded. A salad…for $59, you gotta be kidding me. Salmon and lox with caviar for $66. Egg benedict for $64. What is this?

"Sakura, did you know you'd be wearing one of the pieces?" Chiharu told her.

Sakura put the menu down quickly and scanned the looks on the women's faces. "Excuse me?" she said.

"Li had wanted you to wear one of the pieces," Tomoyo said, "he didn't tell you?"

"No….he did not." That was a huge detail he had left out.

"Oh no," Chiharu said, "He may have wanted to surprise you."

Oh yeah, she was REALLY surprised. Sakura drank her mimosa. I'm really going to kill him. He needs to work on his communication.

"Li normally doesn't miss out on these details. For a couple, you two sure don't communicate." Meilin said.

"Speaking of dress fitting, everyone is able to make it on Monday, right?" Tomoyo asked, changing the topic. All the ladies nodded. As the waiter circled back to grab everyone's orders, Sakura decided to just pick whatever on the menu. All the ladies had grabbed a salad.

As they waited for their food, Tomoyo went into detail about her new dress designs for her upcoming summer collection. She also brought up that she had specific dresses chosen for the charity ball but wanted to wait to try out to see if the rest of the ladies would like it.

The morning went on with discussion over the charity ball and things on their agenda while Sakura just listened.

- After Brunch -

All the ladies waved goodbye as they got into their limo. Sakura on the other hand had to walk to her car that was parked in the structure. As she was walking, she decided to text Li.

Don't you think it was a little - actually, a lot important for you to tell me that I would be wearing one of the charity jewelry this upcoming weekend?

Not knowing if she was going to get a reply, she decided she'd just drive back home. Nakao was going to spend the weekend with Terada at his family's cabin for the weekend, so she was just going to go back and clean up.

Cleaning would help clear her mind.

- at Syaoran's flat -

*ping*

Syaoran was lying on his couch on a Sunday afternoon scrolling through his phone reading the news. Last night didn't go as planned. First, he punched one of his ex-friends and second, he woke up with a hangover. As his phone pinged and vibrated again, it nearly dropped on his face. Syaoran thought it was Eriol again until he looked at the number.

"What the-" he saw that it was from Sakura, "what does she want."

Don't you think it was a little - actually, a lot important for you to tell me that I would be wearing one of the charity jewelry this upcoming weekend?

His response: you found out so why does it matter.

Wait, who told you.

The little bubble said read at 13:37

Then the pop-up bubble showed up that she was typing.

*ping* *ping*

Sakura: you want this to work, you need to tell me.

And why does it matter who told me, the fact is that I didn't find out from you.

Syaoran rolled his eyes.

Him: it's not that big of a deal. I was going to tell you the day of, so chill.

You're literally just going to wear some jewelry.

*ping* *ping*

Her: fwd: you want this to work, you need to tell me.

Read that again until you get it.

Him: you found out, so why does it matter?

*ping* *ping* *ping* *ping* *ping* *ping* *ping* *ping*

Her: You. Want. this. To. Work. Out. you need to tell me. How do you expect to not be found out? Are you asking to be caught? I found out from Chiharu, Tomoyo, and Meilin. Also P.S. Meilin is already suspicious.

Him: Ok ok, I read it the first time you sent it. I will tell you next time. And you met them? What did she say?

*ping*

Her: why do you even care?

Him: I don't.

The little bubble said his text was read at 13:52. She didn't respond after that. What did Meilin say? Syaoran thought. Not wanting to be bothered, he got off his couch to grab a glass of water. It was too soon to be caught now.

- Sakura -

"This man is so irritating; how did he manage to keep his multi-billion company afloat with his poor communication skills?!" Sakura said out loud. She wanted to strangle the guy.

Without responding, she threw her phone on her bed and started to clean.

"The nerve of that man."


A/N: Leave it to Meilin to be the first to be a little "sus." Hope you are all enjoying this so far. Next chapter will be the charity ball!