"There comes a point in your life when you realize who matters, who never did, who won't anymore, and who always will. And in the end you learn who is fake, who is true and who would risk it all for you." - Brigitte
Chapter 11
"Challenging the Player"
Morning came like a blink of an eye. Rays of sun invaded her face early in the morning as she turned towards the other side to keep them from bothering her. As she tried to fight her sleep she noticed something was off. Actually… several things were off. The first one, no alarm was pestering her indicating that she had to wake up to go to work. The second thing she realized was that her room was on the other side of the house. Sun rays never woke her up in the mornings. They hadn't done so before for seven years and she was certain today couldn't be the first day they would, which took her to carefully and slowly open her eyes. The sight of brown hair confirmed her third assumption… she had fallen asleep in Syaoran's room last night.
Her heartbeat rise as she stared at his calm face. He was silently sleeping right next to her. She noticed his skin had darkened within the years. No doubt playing soccer outside had something to do with that. A sudden urge to trace her fingers through his lips came to her but she dismissed the thought as soon as it came to her head.
"You know, I wouldn't mind if you want to cuddle."
His words, she truly wanted to believe he had changed. Not like he wasn't caring when they were together, but his number one passion had always been soccer. In the past, she had accepted been second place in his life, but she knew she couldn't do that anymore. Someone had already shown her the meaning of being first in someone else's life. And even if she did feel like cuddling last night, she knew it wasn't right for so many reasons.
At least she was glad that her plan had worked last night. Well… at least for the first thirty minutes of the movie it did. After that, she noticed he wasn't even paying attention to it. His mind was someplace else, no doubt thinking about the tournament again. She had said a comment about the movie which made him comeback to watch it, but she knew better.
She sighed while slowly getting up without making too much noise and walking out of his room. Even though she was following Xian's orders, work awaited her in her office as usual and more so now that Suri was leaving early in the morning for Japan.
~ o ~
The sun illuminated Li Enterprises hallways early morning. She walked quickly through the hallways looking for her specific target. Seeing his dark brown doors at the end of the corridor made her increased her determined steps. She walked inside his office and closed the doors after getting in.
"Is it true?" she demanded.
Xian calmly turned his sight from the window to see his beautiful but furious wife staring at him. "Is what true?"
She stared at him back searching his eyes. Many people could never read him but the same couldn't be said about her. "Are you funding his project to stay here?"
He sighed. "Ah! That!" Although she was his wife, she could be a little intimidating when she felt betrayed by someone. "He already signed his professional contract. Why would he stay?"
"Xian!" she took a deep breath before continuing. "Do you really think this contract is enough to hold him back? I understand that you want Sakura to take over his recuperation. I can even go along with that. But agreeing on funding his project gives him a choice for staying. We both know that's not what he truly wants."
He took a deep breath before going over to his bar and serving himself a cup of coffee. Dealing with his wife so early in the morning without having coffee was a definite NO, especially if she was in one of her famous moods. "Love, he won't stay."
"He won't stay because the door is still close but if you open it for him I'm sure he won't hesitate in going through it. You promised me! You promised me that if I found you someone worthy of his place in the company you would leave him be."
He took a sip from his coffee before turning towards her again. "He's not the only one with decisions to make in this case."
She questioned his words with a curious look that made her ask him, "So you're putting your trust in Sakura?"
"You are my right hand love, but she is my left one. Even you know that."
"Then, you're prepared to let her go?" she asked.
He smiled before taking another sip of his coffee. "I'm prepared to see her handling the situation."
She sighed and shook her head. "Sometimes not even I get you."
He chuckled. "That's okay. I get you enough to know that's good enough for the both of us."
She narrowed her eyes at him. "Don't mock me Xian."
"I wouldn't dare love."
His calm response to this whole situation unnerved her. She knew her husband loved playing mind games but this was far off of what she had been expecting. "Will you fund his entire project?"
He sighed. "I won't be able to fund even a penny of his project. Knowing our son, he won't allow that to happen."
She curiously looked at him again. "So what are you planning on doing?"
"Feimei has someone in mind willing to work with us on that."
She nodded. "Someone reliable?"
"I also trust my daughter Yelan, even if she's still working with someone else."
Yelan sighed. "She took all these bad habits from her brother, you know. Where did we go wrong with these two?"
He chuckled as he put his cup down and walked over to her. He sweetly embraced her in a hug before whispering in her ear, "I'm really happy to see my son coming back to China again. For years I've been waiting for him to finally comeback home Yelan."
She smiled in his embrace. "I know, but he still can't stay."
Xian smiled still hugging his feisty wife. He knew she had always been determined to having their son playing and, even though he didn't agree with her on this, he would still let her do whatever she wanted.
~ o ~
She was watching the TV as the news reporter talked about how Jun could be just as good as his father as a senator. He would be following his steps in a couple of months as he had decided to do so not too long ago. The same recap from the news the day before was playing in front of her. She watched as they presented once again clips from the charity event of the week. At his side, one of his supposed colleagues was clapping when he was mentioned by the ceremony anchorman. A woman in her mid twenties laughed after he whispered something in her ear while clapping as well. Sakura knew very well who she was.
Xiefa entered her office without knocking. "Oh, good! You're watching this. Do you need to know who the woman is?"
"I'm surprised at your question." Sakura calmly said without taking her eyes off the TV.
Xiefa raised a brow and asked, "Since when do you know?"
"That's not important." Sakura stood from her chair and went to the corner to pick up some papers she would be taking home.
Her friend watched her as she calmly prepared to go home. "Not important? And you stayed with him?"
Sakura simply nodded. She found the file she was looking for in her corner table and looked at Xiefa. "I'm going to lunch with Jun. After that, I'm going by your house to check on your brother and then coming back here."
Xiefa frowned. "You're going to lunch with Jun? Why?"
Sakura sighed, "Not that it is any of your business but technically he's still my boyfriend."
Xiefa shook her head. "Sometimes I don't understand you. How can you let a man walk all over you like that?"
Sakura stopped putting everything together and narrowed her eyes at Xiefa. "Careful Xiefa. Don't insult me."
Throwing her hands in the air Xiefa tried to get a little bit more out of her friend. "Well, I'm sorry but you've known he's been cheating on you. How can I not think that?"
Sakura ignored her as she walked back to her desk and disconnected her phone from the battery cable. "Also, your father approved of giving Suri her first project."
"And this?" Xiefa asked at the sudden change in conversation.
"I think she's ready to take her own project already."
Xiefa scoffed. Not only was she in shock but the calmness in which Sakura was handling everything made her worry. "Are you back with my brother?"
This time it was Sakura who scoffed and shook her head not believing how Xiefa could mix Suri getting her own project with her relationship with Syaoran. "How do you link these?" Sakura sighed, "I have taught her everything she needs to know when it comes to developing events and I truly believe that she's ready to handle her own project."
Xiefa raised a brow and crossed her hands on her chest. "Will you be supervising her from the office?"
"Yes! I'm just stepping back and letting her make the decisions." Sakura replied as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.
Xiefa wasn't entirely satisfied with her answer but nodded. "Are you taking in a new intern then?"
Sakura stopped what she was doing and stared at her. Since when had Xiefa cared so much about her decisions? Usually anything related to Suri in the company had never been something that concerned her. From the very beginning, her decisions were her decisions unless Xian had anything to say about it. Then, why was Xiefa asking so many questions?
And then suddenly it clicked. Xiefa was afraid Sakura would leave the company. For some reason, Xiefa had always believed that Sakura would eventually end up getting back together with Syaoran and leaving had always been an option in her head knowing that her brother had always wanted to play professionally abroad. "Xiefa, whether I get back with your brother or not I'm not leaving the company. That's something Syaoran and I would definitely have to talk about if we ever get back together but leaving is not one of my options."
Xiefa nodded but was still not satisfied. Her brother was a Li after all. And worse, one that had inherited his mother's convincing trait. She knew the moment that decision needed to be taken, her brother always had the advantage. Even if Sakura was certain now and couldn't see it, she always had a soft spot when it came to his feelings.
"Now, I need to leave. I'm late already for lunch. Call me if anything happens." Sakura took her purse and walked out of her office.
Jun had called her this morning saying he was back in China and wanted to see her. Having no objections, she simply agreed to meeting for lunch on a restaurant of his choosing. After everything that had happened between them there were things still left unsaid... Unspoken words that needed to be finally out in the open.
What she had said to Xiefa was right. She had known about the other woman for quite some time now. When she finally saw her the other day on TV right next to him, she was finally able to get assurance on her suspicion. She reached the restaurant and found him there already sitting down in a table for two waiting for her. She took her sunglasses off, walked towards him, and sat in the seat in front of him.
He smiled, "you're finally here."
"I am." Was all she said. There was no smile, no sarcasm, not even a casual hello. She took the menu that was placed in front of her and noticed a small black box under it. She calmly looked back at him ignoring the small box and asked, "A ring?"
He smiled, "When I went to Japan, I stopped by your house and met your father. He sends his greetings along with his blessings. Open it!"
She blinked and stared down at the small black box again. Taking a deep breath, she looked back up at him. Anyone who truly knew her would have already run from the place by now, but no. He was in front of her smiling as if nothing had happened in the past couple of days. Luck saved him as the server arrived to take their orders.
"Can I offer you something to drink?"
Jun smiled and politely said, "I'll have a coke."
The server wrote down his order and then turned towards Sakura. "Alright! And for you miss?"
She took another deep breath and staring at Jun she answered, "I'll have a cup of your best red wine… I am toasting today." She confidently smiled at him.
"Oh! In that case would you want Champagne better?"
"No, wine will do." She said not getting her eyes off Jun. When the server retired she continued her conversation, "Do you know why I think a man gives a woman a ring, Jun? It's because he loves her like no other woman in this world and he is certain that she loves him back the same way. Yet here you are giving me a ring because you are not certain of how I feel about you."
He nervously smiled at her, "That's not true love. We spoke of how we wanted to start a family and everything. Marrying is just a step before we do and I think it's about time we took that step. We spoke about it a couple of weekends back, remember?"
She took the menu and started to see through the choices for lunch, "I heard the polls aren't going so well for you…" she stopped watching the menu and looked up at him. "Or do you want to start with your model friend?"
Sakura could sense the nervousness irradiating from him. She watched as he quickly looked down to look at the menu and tried to avoid her eyes. 'Jackpot!'
"She's just a friend Sakura."
She confidently smiled. "Off course, that is what I meant."
He quickly put the menu down and sighed. "Look, I forgive you. I know you really like helping others and everything-"
She raised an eyebrow and chuckled interrupting him from finishing his sentence, "Jun… If you even think of me this stupid you shouldn't even be running as a political figure."
The server came over to their table and served them their drinks. "Are you ready to order?"
"I'm sure he'll need more time." She nicely answered the server.
"Very well, I'll give you a few more minutes." He said before leaving them alone again.
"Sakura, love, this isn't what you think." He calmly said.
She smirked, "No Jun, darling… this is exactly what I think it is." She looked outside the restaurant through the crystal windows and saw exactly what she had been expecting all along. Reporters! She drank from her cup of wine before starting. "The polls aren't doing well for you even after receiving your father's backup. Your father must be furious at you for not knowing how to handle the situation. After all, going in public with another woman in your arms, who is not the woman you've been dating for two years, was a stupid idea. Makes you look unstable for the public, doesn't it? Perhaps the people could get the idea that you don't really know what you want or worse… they can't identify themselves with the image you're portraying of yourself."
He stared at her. "You know I love you Sakura. None of those things are the reason why I'm officially proposing to you today."
She softly smiled. It wasn't a sweet smile… it was more of a knowing smile. Unlike him, she was always sure of her decisions. "Love…?" she took another sip of her wine. "Love doesn't require for you to contract a spy to follow me around while you're not at my side."
He stared at her and gulped slowly.
She could see the nervousness in his eyes once again but she needed to do this. It hurt her because he had been someone who had been there for her when she had needed him the most, but he had changed. Ever since Syaoran appeared he had felt threatened and that made him change.
"Since when have you know?" he asked.
"I guess you could say coming a day earlier does have its disadvantages when you're dating someone like me. Or you thought I would never find out?"
"I can explain." He quickly said.
She shook her head. "There's no need." She took another deep breath and took her wine glass up. "So, I guess I'll be toasting to this… To you and the end of this relationship. We had some good moments together, but I don't think this is working anymore for either of us." She drank the rest of her wine. She softly put the glass down on the table and got up.
"Will you be going back to him… someone that sees you as a thing? I don't think that's a wise decision either don't you think..."
She looked down at him, "Whatever I do, is my business now." She looked up and walked confidently towards the door. Each step she took made her feel lighter.
~ o ~
"Aw come on coach. I think we should all see him as a team. Wouldn't this make us bond better?"
"Hirragizawa stop your insistence. I already said no and that's my final answer."
"But, we all want to go. He is our teammate and he needs us right now."
His coach shook his head and sighed. "I said no. We need to concentrate on the tournament ahead. Just because Li got injured doesn't mean we can stop working towards it."
"Who is saying anything about stopping our training for the tournament? We just want to see him as a team. We've tried calling him but he's not answering his phone. Obviously, he needs us. Are you telling us to let him down?"
His coach stopped walking towards his room and looked back at Eriol. "I'm not saying to let him down. I'm saying we need to concentrate. The moment he is ready to see us then I'm sure we'll hear from him."
Eriol curiously looked at him, "You mean to tell me he's not answering your calls either?"
"Hirragizawa, drop this. You, as one of the older players in this team need to help the rest of your teammates feel comfortable without Li on the field. It is not certain when he will be back but he being out doesn't mean we have lost this Cup. For now, you are the co-captain. Do your job. When Li wants to be seen, I will let the team know."
With that said, he watched his coach leave towards his room. He turned around and started walking towards his room displeased with his coach decision. Not to receive news about his cousin's recuperation was eating him alive. It was definitely having a toll on the team as well. They had all been worried about the situation.
He opened the door to his room and shut it behind. His phone started ringing. Thinking it could be his cousin he quickly got it out of his pocket and looked at the ID Caller.
"Hey love!" The lovely voice of his fiancé sounded on the phone.
"Hi babe!" he answered a little frustrated after the talk with his coach.
"How are you feeling?"
He sighed. "I don't know. I'm sort of angry and pissed off today. Practice feels all off. The guys are not even motivated to keep working as hard as before. It's as if this whole situation has taken their minds off the field completely. We try to make passes between each other and some of them are not even reaching the target. It's a mess babe. It's like they're… we're all lost. We can't seem to find each other on the field. Mark is trying hard but it just feels all wrong. And to make it worst, I just spoke to coach like you suggested but he doesn't want us to get out of the hotel. I've tried calling Xiefa and she's not answering. I'm tired of leaving messages to Sakura in her office. No one wants to give us information about Syaoran and is driving me mad. I mean, what's the whole deal?"
"That good, huh…" she chuckled.
"I'm sorry babe. I know I'm venting. How was your fashion show?" He ran his hands through his head as he tried to calm down.
"Well, it was good which brings me to the better news. I talked to Gustave, the French fashion designer that wants me to take part of his show, and he is changing his fashion show to November, which means I am boarding a plane probably tomorrow to Hong Kong."
Immediately his day brightened, "Really? That's great babe! That's the best news I've received today."
She chuckled.
"Do you want me to talk to Xiefa so that she can get you a room in our hotel?"
"There's no need. The way you were speaking of her earlier makes me think I am better off calling myself. I'm sure Sakura will not ignore my call."
"Oh how I love you! Let me know how he's doing please."
She chuckled on the other side. "I'll call you back in a couple of minutes."
~ o ~
He had been cheating on her. Part of her wanted to make him feel guilty about that, the other part of her knew this had always been her fault. He had tried to say she was only a friend, but she knew better. His trips had suddenly become more frequent. His attitude towards her started changing to the point where he tried to be more controlling of her life. They had started fighting most of the time about the same thing… Syaoran. And, to her defense, she had truly believed that she could be friends with Syaoran at the beginning, only to have that thought shattered after that weekend spent in the cabin.
But what really hit her as she drove towards Li's house was that she thought this breakup would actually make her feel sad and it didn't. Jun and her had some pretty good moments throughout those two years they'd been together. They had even talked about marriage and yet… this breakup had been entirely different from the one she had with Syaoran. Instead of sadness, she felt guilt. He had been right all along for not trusting her and at the same time she had pushed him to find comfort in the hands of another.
And now, she had finally broken up with him. Everyone around her had been right as she had tried to fight the inevitable. And for what? An uncertain future?
As she reached the house, she parked her car and walked towards the house. As usual, Wei opened the door for her and she walked inside.
"I heard you got engaged. Your picture was all over the news."
She stopped after hearing those words and looked to her left where the voice had welcomed her with a sour greeting. She found the same mysterious brown eyes he portrayed whenever he was doing business with someone staring at her. "Did your son see it too?"
Xian nodded. "I never knew it was that serious."
"You've never once asked me anything about my personal life. Why would you start now?"
His face started to show the beginnings of a knowing smile as he took a sip of his whiskey. Sakura had been the only employee he allowed to speak to him with such braveness. Her bluntness was one of her greatest attributes when dealing with business deals and the reason he accepted her at his side. A thoughtful face adorned his face as he smiled. "I remember when I asked Yelan to marry me. Her eyes shined like I'd never seen them before. I can still look at her eyes and remember her excitement that day as she said yes to my proposal. A lot different from your eyes right now, I can assure you that much."
She sighed and walked past him towards his office. It was one of the things Yelan agreed with him when building their house, for him to have a small office in it so he could also spend time in the house with his son and daughters. Although, if you asked Sakura, she was pretty sure it was for Yelan to have her way whenever she wanted to have a family dinner or activity in the house. She reached the other side of the room where he kept his whiskey, took a cup, and poured herself some of it as she looked outside his window thoughtfully. "Your son can't give me what I want Xian."
"You'd be amazed at how many things I have done for Yelan and would probably still do for her."
She chuckled and drank her cup. She felt the liquid warm up her throat before replying, "Your son loves the field just like he should love a woman."
He chuckled, "If you ask me... I think he's beginning to realize something he hadn't before. He has changed since he landed. No need to wonder why. Give him a little more time and you'll see for yourself."
She turned around. "I'm going to see how he's doing today."
He knowingly smiled at her, "Go ahead."
She passed by him and turned around the corner. It didn't take long to reach his room yet she waited outside to organize her thoughts before letting herself in. She looked at him and found him wide awake and staring at her. She could see he was trying to hold something to himself, no doubt the news of her engagement, but he stayed silently watching her instead.
She smiled at him, "How are you feeling?"
"Worst." He lowly said.
She walked towards his bathroom and picked the lotion again. "The doctor said the first couple of days were going to be the worst." She sat right next to his ankle. After opening the bottle of lotion, she poured a small amount on her hand and applied it to his ankle. She started massaging his ankle especially the part that was most swollen up like she had done the day before.
Unable to hold on for much longer he finally asked, "What do you see in that jerk?" She push a little deeper on her massage which caused him to flinch. "Aaah!"
"Did that hurt?" She sweetly asked him.
"Yes!" Hi voice indicating this was the most obvious answer.
"Good!" She started massaging his ankle normal again before saying, "Stop worrying about my personal life and worry more for your rehab."
"I can't help it! No, no, no!" He quickly took his leg out of her reach and looked at her. "It really hurts Sakura!"
She looked at him. "Then focus on your rehab. If you can't help it, as you say, then I will leave."
His strong gaze surprised her but she kept her stance. He put his ankle back to her legs so that she could keep doing the massage.
"I thought he was in Japan..." he said as an afterthought.
"He was. Now, he came back."
"My hero..." She heard him say sarcastically.
She smiled but didn't say anything more on the subject. She was happy about her decision but it wasn't time to let him know about it yet. "Your doctor said this would help."
"You should leave him."
"Drop it." She warned him.
"You may like to fool yourself with that excuse Sakura, but you can't fool me. You don't love him. That's reason enough to break up with him."
She looked at him and raised her brow, "And what? Be with you again?"
"At least you wouldn't be lying to yourself or to him."
She massaged his ankle a little harder once again dipping her fingers deeper on one of his most sensitive spots, "aaahh!"
She sweetly smiled at him, "There, done! You need to put your leg up and 20 minutes with the ice pack. You know the routine. Choi will be coming by tomorrow morning with your trainer. He wants you to start doing some training in the pool."
He sighed frustrated at how she was taking things. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."
She went to his bathroom and grabbed a small towel to clean her hands from the lotion. She looked at him and responded with, "I know." She debated within herself whether she should tell him or not. It wasn't that she didn't want him to know on the contrary she was dying to tell him. But in the end she knew it wasn't time yet. "You need to concentrate in your rehab Xiaolang. Stop thinking about me and Jun and just focus on your rehab."
He closed his eyes. "It's not like I can do much about it right now."
To see him this way hurt her, but she had to be strong. For him, she had to be. "I'll tell Wei to bring you the ice pack." She was about to walk out when she heard his question.
"Are we watching the second Bourne movie tonight?"
She stopped and looked back at him, "Do you want to? I think you should rest and be ready to start your training tomorrow morning."
He kept looking at her. "I don't mind watching the movie. I can even fall asleep as I watch it."
She chuckled and sarcastically responded to his comment, "Well that's something. Thanks for letting me know. That wasn't the idea I had in mind when I thought of bringing you a movie to watch."
He chuckled. "That's not what I meant."
She chuckled and shook her head. "Right… I'll rent the second one and we can watch it on one condition."
He curiously looked at her as he waited for her to finish that sentence.
"No thinking about soccer."
He stared at her and smiled as he nodded his answer. "Fine."
He watched as she stepped out of his room and sighed. Nobody knew him better than her. Even after seven years he could still say that statement still remained true. She had stayed last night with him. He was well aware of it. It had felt as if she was slowly falling right back into his arms and yet this afternoon threw last night straight to the trash can.
He remembered after eating lunch with his parents, he had heard on the news about her so awaited engagement to Senator Eli's son. He retired from the living room as soon as he heard of it and went straight to his room where he thought of the news incessantly. It just didn't make sense at all. He couldn't understand why she would stay with that idiot.
~ o ~
She was organizing her clothes on her bag. As soon as Gustave had officially called back his fashion show she had started making the arrangements to go back to China. She was excited after thinking of seeing her fiancé a lot earlier than expected. She had told Meiling about it a couple of minutes ago but her friend had not had the same luck. So far Meiling would still be reaching China the same day they guys had their FIFA opening ceremony.
Packing up her clothes she noticed she truly needed to do some cleaning when it came to her clothes. Two of her bags were already full and the third one was on its way of competing with the others on which one was the heaviest. She went back to her drawer, picked up a stack of clothing, and put it on her bag. Tiredly, she sighed and sat herself on the hotel bed taking a quick rest from packing.
She took her phone out and dialed Sakura's phone number.
"Hello"
"Hey, Sakura! How are you?"
"Hey, I'm good. Here picking up some movies. How about you?"
Tomoyo smiled. "I'm actually very excited. I'll be heading home earlier than expected. Earlier, as in tomorrow in the afternoon."
"Really? How come?"
"Gustave, the French designer I had to work for in two weeks, moved his walk thru so I'll be arriving earlier."
"That's nice."
"I wanted to see if you could help me with the changes in the hotel. I'm not sure if they have enough open rooms right now."
"Sure. No problem. I'll call the hotel and check. If not, then there are other hotels close to that one."
"Well, I haven't called any of them yet so I'm not even sure if one of them will have an open room."
"If not, you know you can always stay at the Li's."
Tomoyo smirked. "Talking about the Li's, I heard of Syaoran's injury. How is he doing?"
"He's hanging in there. A little emotional with everything that's been going on but he starts training in the pool tomorrow. So, hopefully he'll be able to take it. We're all kind of hoping his ankle will react in a good way once he starts stepping in the floor again."
"I see. Are you in contact with his manager?"
"Yeah. I mean, Xian wants me to keep him updated with the details on how Syaoran's doing."
"Good. Well hopefully he'll start running in no time."
"Yeah. Oh, Tomoyo I got to go. His manager is calling me. I'll talk to you soon with the hotel details. Okay?"
"Sure. Thanks Sakura."
"No problem. Ja ne!"
She looked at her phone and sighed. Hopefully Sakura would be able to get her a room on Eriol's hotel. She hoped that the hotel had at least an empty room she could occupy to at least see her fiancé every day. She smiled and thinking of him she dialed once again his number to update him on his cousin's current situation like she had told him she would.
~ o ~
"Charles, I'm telling you he's fine. We're been very careful with him. I'm confident that his rehab will get him back up in no time."
"Choi, this is business. As a manager you should know what a big investment he is to us. I'll feel a lot better if one of our doctors check him as well."
"I understand you worrying over this but I can assure you there's no need. We're taking care of everything the right way. Li's personal doctor came to see him and his executive assistant is taking care of his schedules and nutrition. He'll be back up in no time. Trust me."
"Executive assistant? You mean to tell me you're not even involved in this?"
"I am his manager Charles. Off course I'm involved in this. But since his father also wants to stay on top of things his assistant is also helping in Syaoran's recuperation."
"Who is this executive assistant you speak of? Is it Kinomoto?"
"Yes. Kinomoto Sakura. I'm actually quite impressed, she's surprisingly very good at this."
He heard Manchester's owner on the other side of the phone chuckled. "You're right then. I won't worry anymore about this. You should be the one that worries on her not taking your place."
Choi laughed a little before noticing he was actually not making a joke at the moment. "You don't have to worry about that either."
"Good. Let me know when he starts walking and keep me updated on his recovery."
"Will do sir." He hung up the phone and looked at it. Dealing with team owners was the worst. They always wanted things to be done their way.
Choi rubbed his eyes and sighed. He only hoped Syaoran would at least be ready for tomorrow's training session. He had already talked with Kinomoto to let her know the details of their working schedule. They would start the day very early in the morning and do a three session per day rehab workout.
~ o ~
Suri walked through the streets of Japan enjoying each and every aspect of it. She had never been to Tomoeda before. As far as her memory would take her, she had only seen a few glimpses of it from a TV special programming on whole Japan as a tourism destination but the clips didn't do it justice. The place was far more beautiful when calmly walking through the streets of it. Which made her wonder why would her boss leave a place like this to live in busy China?
She looked at her destination in front of her and walked across the street to enter the place that carried her whole purpose for this trip. A lot of pictures from different people and groups adorned the wooden lodge walls. She kept looking at them until she found one that caught up her interest.
"Now please remember Sue, make sure to check the oven every night. Kitchen cleaned at all times. And make sure the doors are locked after closing each day. I will only be out for a month and a half but will call you every day to see how everything's going. If you have any problems with any of the chef's working, let me know right away so I can quickly take care of the situation."
Suri looked at her side. A black haired man with glasses was talking to a lady. After listening to him, she assumed that must have been Yuki. The girl nodded and left. He turned towards her and smiled. "May I help you?"
Suri smiled back, "Actually, I was thinking I would be helping you."
He curiously looked at her as she extended her hand at him.
"I'm Suri, Ms. Kinomoto's assistant."
He nodded his acknowledgement before smiling and shaking her hand. "Off course you are. I'm Yuki, very nice to meet you. I was expecting Ms. Kinomoto to come herself."
Suri nodded. "Well, she was but she got held up at the last minute. An emergency presented itself and she had to take care of it herself. I can assure you I will do my best so you feel as if she were the one helping you."
He nodded and smiled. "I see. Well, I have no doubt about that. I'm pretty sure been her assistant is not an easy job to do."
"You sound as if you personally know her."
He smiled. "Oh, I do. Since that girl was a little kid she has always been very demanding."
Suri chuckled. "Is that so? You've known her since she was little?"
Yuki nodded. "Her father used to travel a lot. Most of the time, she would come here to eat and have fun with her friends before going home. Ah… those were the good days."
Have fun? She couldn't imagine her boss having that much fun. All she knew of her boss was that she had never been a conformist. On the contrary, she was so perfectionist that most of her time was spent working in her office.
"Was that around the same time this picture was taken?" she signaled the picture were Yuki was smiling at the camera joined by four soccer players on his side.
Yuki looked at the picture and carefully looked back at her. "Are you sure you're her assistant and not a reporter?"
Suri chuckled and shook her head. "Don't worry. I won't say anything. I just found out a couple of days ago myself so I don't blame you for being worried. I have to say, he does look very different in this picture."
"He was happy back then." Yuki sighed as he contemplated the picture. "I remember they would come in after every game when they were in high school. He hated losing more than any other kid I have ever met. And yet she was the only one that could beat him in a game they would play in here and he would still leave with a smile on his face."
Suri scoffed. "Are you sure we're talking about the same guy? Word on the street is that he's a womanizer."
"Not the guy with this smile on his face." He sighed again and decided to change the subject. "Now, I have several pieces of equipment that I need to take with me. Also, I wanted to take some ingredients as well."
Suri nodded. "That's what I'm here for. I need to see the size of the equipment that you will be taking so I can coordinate with the moving company exactly what we need."
Yuki nodded. "Please follow me so I can show you."
Suri watched as Yuki turned to his side and followed him through the restaurant's kitchen doors.
~ o ~
Contrary to the other night, this time she was able to finish the second movie and go back to her room to sleep. By the time she woke up in the morning it was nine already and she was late for getting into the office. Since Suri was in Japan, she had set herself a goal of reaching the office early enough to cover for her absence. Yet, she hadn't been able to fulfill that goal since Suri left.
She calmly prepared herself in the mirror before hearing her door open.
"I'm glad you're awake."
Sakura kept finishing her makeup as Xiefa entered her room.
"Father wants us to have a late breakfast with a new client. It is possible that this person ends up investing in one of father's project and also he separated one of the VIP rooms on the stadium. So obviously this guy is very important for father."
'So much for reaching the office in the morning.' Sakura thought as she finished with the lip balm and turned around. "Okay. Where are we going?"
"Asashi's."
Sakura remembered the name. It was the restaurant she met her friends while having brunch the day they saw each other again. She nodded and picked up her purse. "Anything else I need to know on this client?"
"Well not much. Father just said to treat him well."
She nodded. They both walked down the stairs where they met a surprising sight. Syaoran was coming towards them along with his new trainer and Choi. He had just gotten out from his first pool training since the injury. Choi had wanted him to start the rehab training early in the morning so he could keep his daily routine just like his team scheduled practice. But what truly surprised them was the he was actually limping slowly without his crutches. His trainer was at his side holding them for him as he limped his way towards them.
"Slowly Syaoran. Don't over do it." Choi warningly said.
Suddenly Sakura froze. Although it was a surprise to see him limping towards them, it wasn't as much of a shock as seeing him half naked with only his towel around his waist. What a sight! His muscles were a lot more defined now than when she had left him seven years ago. She knew his body would change, I mean… who doesn't? It's just that she didn't know it would be to this extent. It took her quite a lot to stay composed at the sight in front of her as she felt herself getting red with each passing second.
He smirked. "See something you like?"
Calming herself, and trying to hide the effect looking at him this way again was doing to her, she replied, "I see you're walking. You're right… That is something I like."
"Are you sure that's all?" he teasingly asked.
She stared at him but didn't say anything. Luckily for her Xiefa decided to interrupt the conversation.
"Sakura, the client?"
"Right. Let's go." She smiled at them and excused herself before getting out the door.
Syaoran stared at the closed door and narrowed his eyes. Since the day he met Sakura years ago she had always been very careful and conscious of her movements. And yet, her stare was not the same as days ago. She was usually composed and confident of herself but just a couple of minutes ago he noticed her eyes were different as if she was hiding something from him.
"Something wrong?" Choi asked.
He simply shook his head. "Can you please ask Wei to bring my ice pack?"
Choi nodded and left to find Wei.
~ o ~
This whole brunch thing had been boring to say the least when it came to this new client. His project was not something that appealed to her in any way. The first couple of minutes after meeting him had been somewhat interesting then the conversation took a different turn making it easier for her to distract her mind with more occupying matters.
She had been able to keep her focus for the first fifteen minutes of the conversation then her mind went straight to lala land. Images of Syaoran walking through the hallway shirtless kept invading her mind. What she would give to run her fingers through his skin once again. But it wasn't just his body. The way his closeness made her feel was just unavoidable. She was certain that it was something she couldn't ignore anymore.
"Sakura?"
She quickly looked at Xiefa after hearing her name.
Xiefa raised her brow at her and asked, "What do you think?"
She noticed they were all waiting for her answer as she sighed and replied, "Well we'll have to run it by Mr. Li first and then we'll be able to decide."
Xiefa stared at her and shook her head a little not to draw too much attention before politely turning her head towards the client and smile. "It does sound appealing. I'm sure after we speak with my father we'll be able to have a final decision. Now about the convention center you want to use, does it have to be that specific one or could we perhaps throw in some options?"
Sakura listened to Xiefa and took the chance to excuse herself. "I'm sorry. I'll be right back. I need to use the restroom."
Mr. Hito nodded.
Sakura quickly stood up from the table and walked towards the restroom. She was sure she needed a break from everything she was supposed to hear. Apparently the guy wanted to do some kind of auction activity in one of China's convention centers. She wasn't entirely sure why Xian would be interested in doing an event like this.
She took a deep breath and looked at herself in the mirror before taking a deep breath. 'We can do this. Just focus and finish hearing this guy out so that we can go back to our office.' She opened the sink and washed her hands before taking a napkin to dry them with. Suddenly, the door opened and through the mirror reflection she saw someone who she wasn't expecting to see at all. 'Great! Just when I thought things couldn't get worst.'
"You must feel like the luckiest girl alive being Li's assistant. Tell me, do you get to be at his son's side every day now? Kind of like déjà vu isn't?"
Sakura took a deep breath and tiredly rolled her eyes before turning towards her. "I've heard you've been calling nonstop to the office. But stalking? Isn't that a little too much for you even if you're a reporter Katherine?"
Katherine smiled. "It's good to know you've been getting my messages."
"Oh trust me, I've been getting your messages but perhaps you haven't been getting mine."
Katherine smirked. "I want to be part of the reporters for the Cup. I heard you're in charge of the list."
"You're well informed. Unfortunately for you, the reporters allowed in the Cup are already chosen."
Katherine sweetly smiled at her. "Then let me make this easy on you, I know you dated Li in the past and I will divulge the information to different networks if you don't get me inside that list."
Sakura chuckled. "Do you have any idea who you're dealing with? I will not get you on that list. And for future occurrences, I don't get intimidated by blackmail either. So I suggest you go back to your house and accept the fact that if you want to sleep with Li again you'll have to find another way."
Katherine chuckled. "Is that why I'm not on the list? Because you're jealous?"
"Jealous?" Sakura chuckled again before staring straight at her. "You're not on the list because you're not good enough to be in it. Accept that fact, move on, and don't try to find me again for this." Sakura finished drying her hands, threw the napkin to the trash can, and confidently walked out of the bathroom leaving a very pissed off Katherine in it.
~ o ~
Tomoyo's flight arrived in China right on time. Luckily enough for her, the flight had been as smooth as any passenger would dream of having. Being in the fashion world required her to fly all over the world whenever big opportunities would present themselves. And, while many would think of this as a benefit, for her it wasn't the same. As a frequent flyer, that meant that her chances of having a bad experience when it came to flying only increased but this one had actually been quite different today. She was surprised she hadn't found any problems at all today.
She followed the crowd of people who had just arrived with her on the international flight towards the usual China Customs area. As she walked she grabbed her cell phone from her purse and dialed her lovable fiancé's phone number.
"Hey babe! Did you just arrive?"
"Yeah. I'm going through customs right now. Sakura was able to get me a room so I'll be in the hotel in about an hour or so."
"That's great! Then I'll wait for you. Coach is finally letting us see Syaoran at auntie's house."
"Oh really? That's great baby. How is he doing?"
"Well, I guess he's getting better. Coach was the one that talked to him."
"I bet he is all better now." She sarcastically said.
"Why is that?"
"You haven't heard?"she asked him.
"Heard what?" he asked.
She hesitated before answering him. "Well, nothing is confirmed yet because I haven't talked about this with Sakura but I heard from a very good friend of mine that Sakura broke up with Jun."
"What?" he asked not believing the news.
"Like I said, I need to confirm baby but one of the girls was talking about it. Something about him having problems with her about some other guy. Can you imagine who could that be? It doesn't sound like anyone we know, right?" she sarcastically asked smiling sweetly at herself.
"I'm not sure that's true love. A couple of days ago the news said they got engaged."
"Well, we'll see. I'm surprised Kyu hasn't said anything. Meiling must have heard by now."
He sighed before carefully answering, "Yeah… about that, we'll have to talk when you get here."
"Oh oh… that doesn't sound too good."
He chuckled. "We'll talk when you get here."
"Oh, babe I have to go. I'm next."
"Okay. Love you! See you here!"
"Love you too. Ja ne!" she said before hanging up the phone. She put the phone away as she heard the man calling her next. Approaching to the cubicle, she handed over her passport and calmly waited for the man to finish with the inspection.
"Had a good trip?" he asked.
"I'm better now that I have arrived." She honestly answered.
She kept looking at the guy who nodded at her answer. His eyes scanned her passport cautiously as his face remained a little too serious for her taste. She guessed to be placed in this sort of job one of the requirements must've been to act all serious. His lack of smile bothered her a little but she decided only to answer what he asked so that she could be on her way as soon as possible.
"Do you live here?" he asked still looking down at her passport.
"Japan. My fiancé is playing here next month."
The guy nodded again.
"Soccer player is he?" he asked.
'What's with all the questions?' she thought before answering him, "Yes."
"What's in the bag?"
"Just my personal womanly daily things." She answered already a little anxious at him holding her up. She was eager to get away so that she could reach the hotel already.
He nodded. "Please step out this way. One of my partners will have to check the bag before we can release you."
She sighed and nodded knowing any show of neglecting his order would only worsen the situation. 'But off course something needed to happen at the airport. No flight is this good without having some sort of problem in the way.' She stepped aside and waited for his partner to arrive.
~ o ~
She had finally left her office and arrived at the Li's house in time for dinner. As she passed the gates, she noticed more cars than usual parked in front of the house. Most of them were expensive cars, which made her wonder if Xian had a meeting at his house instead of the office. But then, as she kept scanning through the group of cars she noticed Eriol's and Kyu's in one of the corners. She parked hers right next to them and went straight into the house.
She walked into the house after a hard day at work. Although she was leaving most of the rest of the tournament's planning to Suri, like Xian had suggested, her desk had piles of paper waiting for her to take care of them. More so now that Suri would be out one more day. This whole take-care-of-Syaoran was having a toll on her as she knew she would have to work extra hours to at least stay updated on her work as well.
Feimei was the first person she found after Wei led her inside. "Who else is here? Why are there a bunch of cars outside?" she asked her.
"China's coach allowed the team to visit Syaoran today." Feimei calmly explained.
"Visiting? Didn't we agree that he wouldn't receive visits until he was better?" Sakura asked her.
"It's his coach. You might want to talk to him about this if it bothers you."
Sakura sighed. It wasn't her intention to act all pissed off but she was tired. "Do you have his chart?"
"The trainer has it on the pool."
Sakura nodded while walking at Feimei's side. They walked towards the pool where she knew she would find him. The sound of laughter from the other guys could be heard from the hallway. With each step she took the voices would grow louder. As she walked inside the pool area, she noticed some of the guys sitting down with their legs inside the pool. Syaoran was completely inside of it in the middle of the group talking and laughing as well.
She kept looking around. When she finally found the trainer standing in one of the corners, she walked towards him. "Can I see his progress chart for today?"
"Miss Kinomoto! I didn't know you were coming today." He fidgeted with some papers before handing her a clipboard.
Sakura scanned the progress report exercise by exercise. "Why is he still on turbulence level two? Didn't you have him scheduled for finishing with three tonight?" She asked while looking at him.
"Well, I know the training calendar says he would be done with level three tonight, but every schedule depends on how the patient feels. If it hurts too much then we shouldn't push for something his ankle is still not ready for. Besides, he was able to reach level two. It took him a little while probably because this morning was his first pool training but it was good enough."
Sakura stared at him. If looks could kill his trainer would be dead by now. "Excuse me?" she asked him.
The trainer suddenly felt a little nervous but slowly repeated, "I insist Miss Kinomoto. If his ankle is not ready to work on level three whirlpool training then we shouldn't push it."
Sakura stared at the trainer before taking a deep breath. Sometimes if you wanted things done the right way you had to do them yourself. Being a faithful believer of this she started to take her jacket off.
"Sakura, what are you doing?" Feimei asked.
Sakura took off her shoes and started to unbutton her red blouse. "I'm going to prove he is indeed ready to finish a level three whirlpool training."
"Sakura!" Kyu said from the other side of the pool surprised to see her here.
Syaoran turned around to watch Sakura taking off her shirt and stand in her red bra near the pool.
"Dam..!" One of his teammates loudly started to say before Eriol quickly put his hand in his mouth to shut him up.
"What the heck are you doing?" Syaoran loudly asked.
"I heard you were having some trouble finishing your pool training today…" she said loud enough so that he could hear her answer.
"If you came to gloat or make fun of me, you can leave the same way you came in." Syaoran was pissed. What the heck was she doing taking her clothes off in front of all these men? Was she crazy?
She kept taking her clothes off ignoring his warning. "So I decided to make a deal with you."
"You can make a deal with your clothes on." He loudly said to her from the other side of the pool as well.
She smirked, knowing perfectly well the effect she was having on him already. She slowly and provocatively unzipped her skirt as well and let it fall into the ground to reveal her matching red bikini panties. With the same patience and never leaving his eyes, she walked to the pool and slowly slid herself inside the water across from him.
"Deal? What are you talking about?" Eriol asked but immediately shut himself off after seeing the warning in her eyes.
She looked at Syaoran, "I'll make a deal with you, you walk all the way to me with the whirlpool on level three and I'll let you have a wish."
"What?" Kyu was the first to react.
Syaoran kept looking at her. In all the time he had known her, Sakura never gave anything without receiving something in return. Which brought him to his answer, "Name your terms. You would never give something like that without expecting something in return. Unless the wish is what you're expecting in return…" he arrogantly said.
She smirked after hearing his answer while some of his friends laugh at his side. 'He hasn't changed one bit', which only worked on her favor. His eyes never left hers and she knew this too well. The water reached just under her breast line. "Terms: First, whirlpool will be in level three. You must walk all the way to this side of the pool to get your prize. Second, you only get to fall down three times. After the third, you'll miss me. Third, if you do get your prize, you can't go back to training any lower than this."
"Three times…? That's impossible Sakura!" Kyu said.
"Trainer, is that possible?" Choi asked.
"It's a little risky. I already told her if he ends up over doing it then he could get worst instead of getting better."
"Ms. Kinomoto…" Choi called her.
"Do you accept?" Sakura ignored Choi. She didn't care much for the trainer's answer. She was sure Syaoran could be walking and running in no time if it wasn't for the trainer's weak methods.
"Can it be any wish? Whatever I want?" he tried to take advantage of her offer after seeing her get in.
"You're even considering this Syaoran? Didn't you just hear the trainer?" Eriol asked.
She hesitated before answering. It wasn't that she didn't know what she was doing… it was that she understood the meaning behind his question.
"Syaoran, you heard the trainer. You can't push yourself too hard or you may get worst." Choi said.
"Trainer," Sakura said "How fast can someone with his type of injury reach a person on my side of the pool from his side of the pool with the whirlpool on level three?"
"I'd say about five minutes with the way his ankle is right now."
She nodded and stated, "Term number four: you reach in three minutes or less, you get to choose your wish."
"The trainer said five." He said to her.
She kept looking at him and smirked "If you want, I can get out and let him take my place."
He scoffed but smirked. "Three it is."
"This is crazy! You're both mad." The trainer said from the side.
Feimei, who had been watching the entire scene from the side, chuckled. Suddenly coming home after work instead of going to her apartment didn't seem that boring after all. "Trainer, can you set the time? This has gotten interesting."
The trainer shook his head but nonetheless looked for his chronometer to take the timing.
"Syaoran, do you know what you're doing?" Kyu asked him in a low voice so that only he would hear him.
"Shut up Kyu. I'm doing this." He said while still looking at Sakura. There was no way he would miss this chance.
Feimei turned the whirlpool on from the side. The force of the current made Syaoran grimace as he felt a little pain on his ankle but he kept his stance.
"Start!"
As soon as he heard the words coming out of his trainer's mouth, he started to walk towards her. His teammates cheered for him at the side but all he could see was her eyes. She was looking intently at him, almost smiling. He was pissed. He kept walking step by step.
"One minute!" the trainer shouted.
He kept walking. He was almost half way through. In the middle of the pool, the force of the currents increased which made it harder on him to walk but he still forced himself to do it. He took his next step and slipped for the first time since he started. The pain was unbearable to take at this point but he calmed himself and took the step with his right leg even if it hurt.
"Last minute!" the trainer shouted.
He could hear his teammates on the back still cheering for him. As he tried to take his next step, he stopped. He tried to put his right foot again on the pool floor but it hurt him. He closed his eyes and tried to focus again.
Sakura watched him stop. He was almost at the other side by now. "You have less than a minute left Syaoran! Are you stopping now? I assure you this offer will not come again."
He stared at her as he grimaced with his next step. He was almost at the finish line by now. Just a couple of steps would do. He was breathing hard as he took his next steps carefully. One slip could easily take his prize away. He took a couple of steps more till he finally reached her and encased her with his arms. He placed his hands on the pool border at each side of hers before looking directly at her eyes and saying, "I will make you pay for this one Sakura. Mark my words."
She smirked at him, "You just did what your trainer didn't think you could do tonight. If you ask me, it was well worth it."
He stared at her as he tried to catch his breath. Right now, he didn't know if he truly wanted to kiss her or strangulate her. His ankle hurt really badly right now.
"So, what's it going to be?" she asked.
"I will save it for later." He said narrowing his eyes at her. "Now… can you please put your clothes back on?"
She chuckled but nodded. She was about to get out of the pool but he stopped her. "Feimei! Throw me my shirt please."
Feimei chuckled from the side knowing her dear brother was probably trying to hold his anger within himself. He had never been a patient man but more than that he had always been very protective when it came to Sakura. Feimei picked up his shirt and threw it to him.
"Woa! You still had fifteen seconds to go. Nice job Syaoran." The trainer said from the side.
Syaoran grabbed his shirt and gave it to her. "Here, put this on before getting out."
"I guess you're not the only one that can go around the house half naked." She jokingly said.
He narrowed his eyes at her. "Don't provoke me Sakura."
She smirked and chuckled before nodding. She put his shirt on before getting out of the pool. Feimei brought her a towel which she gladly took before looking at his trainer again. "You better not let him train any less than that from now on."
The trainer gulped after hearing her words and nodded. He truly wasn't sure who was worst to deal with. Syaoran or her?
Author's note: Thank you very much to all of you who reviewed my last chapter. Sigh! Well, finally Sakura broke up with Jun. I know a lot of you were waiting on that one. : ) I truly hope you guys enjoyed this one as well and let me know what you think about this one.