Chapter 9

The Dragneel Manor was nearly similar to the estate land that the young Heartfilia heiress once lived in. Being accustomed to such a home, she started wondering if they had some east wing where all their family history was archived. Hearing this from Lucy made Natsu laugh, completely amused that Lucy was like comparing his family to the royal family of Fiore.

"Why would we keep a wing just for family history, Luce?" Natsu boisterously said in between his laughter

"I don't know," Lucy laughed along with the pinkette as they continued to walk around the empty halls, "Your place is nearly the same as one of the Queen's manor castles in Crocus,"

"What? No, it does not," Natsu brushes it off with a hand before fascinatedly looking at the actress, "Although, I think this manor was somehow inspired by the castle's structure."

"See," Lucy smugly said as if she won a debate, "Either way, it's still like a castle,"

Natsu and Lucy continued to laugh softly as they proceeded to walk around the different halls they encounter. Soon enough, Natsu pulled Lucy into another hall and then stopped at a white double door.

"We may not have a wing for family history, but we do have a large library hall," Natsu sniggers before he slowly turns the knob and opened it for the blonde. The two then walked in and Lucy immediately was in awe.

She roamed around the place and gawked at the nearly endless shelves of books. The library hall even had a second floor, with a short moveable ladder to help a person get a book at a higher place.

"You like books?" Natsu comments as he gleefully watched the blonde beam into happiness about the room.

"I love them," Lucy said with endearment in her voice as she corrected him with a content smile, "When I was a kid, at our home, our library was my play area. I barely go outside and would spend most of my day in the library, reading all kinds of stuff," Lucy smiles at her childhood memory as she then recalls her mother, "My mom would plead to me to step out of the library and have a change of scenery,"

Lucy then snickers to herself, which made Natsu smile hearing her soft chuckles, "I bet you didn't yield," he said and Lucy chuckles more as she nodded her head.

"She had to bribe me, so I'd agree," Lucy then shrugs her shoulder as Natsu laughed.

"She bribed you with food or something?"

"Books, of course," Lucy assuredly clarifies before she started chuckling with Natsu who was doubling over in amusement.

"Right, of course! Then it leads you to stay in the library all over again because you had new books!"

"Exactly!"

The two continued to cackle for a few minutes before they decided to step out and start roaming around again. When Natsu found their hallway with family portraits, Natsu took it upon himself to introduce the Dragneel Clan.

Lucy and Natsu were well engrossed in the pictures that they didn't hear anybody approach them. The man stood a few meters away before clearing his throat. Natsu and Lucy suddenly animatedly jumped and turned to look at the source, completely spooked out by the sudden sound.

"Daichi!" Natsu quickly scolds as he saw his secretary bow his head in apology, "Why do you always do that?!"

"Apologies, sir," Daichi then stood up straight and looked at the president and his guest, "The chairman and the lady of the manor are looking for you and Ms. Heartfilia,"

"Why are they looking for us again?" Natsu questioned, pissed off, as he turns away from his secretary and glared at the painting in front of him instead, "The event is almost over, what does mom need from us?"

"Natsu," Lucy cooed softly, but the pinkette was far too annoyed to entertain his mother's nuances.

"Mrs. Dragneel mentioned that you had a job to send off guests and that she'd be glad to accompany Ms. Heartfilia for the time being," Daichi then swallows hard as he hears his boss growl in annoyance.

"Did you get a hold of Gajeel?" Natsu whips looking at the brown-haired man, taken aback by the shift of topic.

"No, sir," Daichi bows his head in apology, "Unfortunately, his line cannot be reached, and his assistant cannot get a hold of him as well,"

"Alright, then it's settled," Natsu then grabbed Lucy's hand, cutting off her surprise as they start walking past his assistant, "Tell my mother that you didn't find me and that I called you saying that I left with Lucy to bring her home,"

"But sir-!"

"Boyfriend duties!" Natsu shouts before he starts pulling Lucy into a sprint.

Walking down the garage, Natsu carried Lucy on his back and the woman secured her position by wrapping her arms around Natsu's neck. The pinkette couldn't help trying to stifle his laughter as they headed closer to his personal car.

Lucy swats Natsu's chest again as she grumbles at him, "You know this is your fault,"

"I said I'm sorry already," Natsu says as he tries to contain his laughter, "But seriously, your tumble-"

"Your fault!" Lucy cuts off as she smacks his shoulder this time. When Natsu slowly puts Lucy down and made sure that she didn't tumble, Natsu sniggeringly apologized for the nth time.

"I'm sorry," Natsu said, "I completely forgot you were wearing heels and I made you run in them, causing you to trip and then limp, and then trip again, then…" Natsu finally smirked as Lucy just rolled her eyes.

"Well, you're a complete idiot for making me run in 4 inches heels," Lucy then limped away and headed to the red car, "Can we actually go home now?"

"Yes, mademoiselle," Natsu cheekily replies before he runs up to her side and opened the door for her.

Soon enough, the two were driving back to the city proper of Magnolia with a comfortable silence between them. Natsu was glad enough that they didn't feel like they needed to talk, but he thought that he wouldn't mind hearing Lucy's voice. Just to give a little more relaxing aura, Natsu turned on the radio and it started playing some soft music to keep them entertained. During that nearly an hour-long drive, he was content to hear Lucy's humming.

Past midnight, Natsu and Lucy finally reached the actress' condo building. He was just about to drop off the blonde at the front lobby when he noticed that Lucy actually fell asleep. He looked around the driveway first and when it seemed deserted, he took his time to wake up the blonde.

After a few nudges, Lucy finally stirred and woke up. She was quite baffled that she was seeing the familiar lobby of her condo building but confused to be sitting in a car. She then looked at Natsu, who was patiently waiting for her to react. Not long enough, Lucy quickly recalls the concluded event she went to with the pinkette.

"Oh, gosh, sorry," Lucy rubbed her eyes awake as she sits up straight, "I didn't realize I fell asleep,"

"It's fine," Natsu smiled, "How's your foot?"

Lucy stared at the pinkette for a moment to think about his question before remembering her sprained ankle. She then looked at her right foot and began flexing it in a circular motion.

"I think it's good. I don't feel pain anymore," Lucy then looked back at the man and smiled, "I think I can walk,"

"Are you sure? I can carry you inside," Natsu offered, making the blonde a little flushed.

"What?! No," Lucy shook her head and then repeated, "No need," she then turns to open the door and quickly stepped out. But the moment she stood up and put pressure on her right foot, her knees buckled. In instinct, Lucy held to the door as she yelped in surprise and pain.

"Luce! Are you alright?!" Natsu exclaimed in shock before he abruptly opened his door and sprinted to her side. Natsu took Lucy's free hand and held her by the waist while she tried to steady herself, "I told you I can carry you inside,"

"Don't be ridiculous Natsu, that's not necessary," Lucy refuses as she tries to glare at the man but isn't genuine, "I can…" She then tries to stomp her foot to get used to the pressure, but the pain shoots up her leg making her moan in pain.

"Alright, that's it, I'll carry you-"

"Wait, what?! No!" Lucy bellowed when Natsu stooped down and placed his arms under her legs and quickly swoop her up. Reflexively, Lucy wrapped her arms around Natsu's neck and stared at the pinkette. Natsu looked back at her as if waiting for permission to walk.

"This is really not necessary," Lucy said and Natsu just chuckles a little at her protest.

"Yeah, sure," Natsu replies rolling his eyes at the blonde before smiling back at her.

Soon enough, Natsu headed inside the building, leaving instructions to the front desk to look for a valet to park his car under Lucy's unit. The two then reached the elevator and waited for the doors to open. As soon as it did, Nikko, the elevator operator, who was yawning suddenly was shaken awake when he saw the couple before him. Recognizing the operator, Lucy couldn't help but give a sheepish smile at the man.

"15th floor, ma'am, sir?" Nikko asked politely, trying to contain his grin.

"Yes, please," Lucy softly mumbles before ducking her head in embarrassment.

When they reached her floor, Natsu easily maneuvered around and found Lucy's place based on memory. As he stood before her door, Natsu looked down at the silent blonde, "Code?"

"You know you can put me down now," Lucy countered.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," Lucy replies before she tries to wrangle out of his arms. Natsu then puts Lucy's legs down and assisted her until she could stand safely on her own. When Natsu took a step back, Lucy swiftly turns to the man and hesitated for a moment.

Seeing the actress quite confused on what to do, Natsu thought he'd initiate the parting, "So, I guess-"

"Would you like to have some coffee?" Lucy finally blurts out, barely hearing what Natsu was saying. But when she realized that Natsu said something, she shook her head and asked, "I'm sorry, what were you saying?"

Natsu was stunned for a moment with the offer of Lucy. Her offer entailed spending more time and, in all honesty, he feels like spending more time with her. He was really enjoying her company. For the past years, attending the charity ball was not always something he looked forward to as he usually gets bored. But somehow, being with Lucy tonight made him enjoy the evening. As he looks at the blonde, somehow, he wants to say yes. But when he checked his watch briefly, it was past 1 AM already. This reminded him of his reality. He didn't really have time for things like this. He immediately told himself that he still had work tomorrow and probably she did too.

"Maybe some other time," Natsu softly replies before looking down at his shoes.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Natsu looked up as he got confused with the blonde when he suddenly realized that he didn't actually answer Lucy's questions. He was so hung up with the idea that Lucy offered him coffee. With that, he slightly blushed as he stammered, "I-I mean, the um…coffee?"

"Oh," Lucy paused before she nods her head slowly like she was quite disappointed but almost expected the refusal. She then ducks her head before smiling back at him, "That's alright,"

Natsu just looked at Lucy and they both stayed silent, waiting for someone to add on, "okay," Natsu nods his head then continues, "…I guess, I should get going," Natsu then offered his hand as Lucy stepped up like she was going to embrace him. But when she noticed he was offering a handshake, Lucy stumbled a bit to pull back and shake his hand instead. Although, Natsu also noticed her gesture and drew back his hand to open his arms.

As the two, back and forth, tried to figure out if they were going to shake hands or embrace, Lucy heaved before she insisted to embrace the man. But it ended up with her standing a foot away while awkwardly wrapping her arms around the pinkette's shoulder. Having no idea how to end it, she just taps his shoulders before pulling back.

"Well," Lucy sheepishly laughs then smiled tightly as Natsu stepped back as well, "Good night—or goodbye, mister… Dragneel," Lucy then turns around and inputs her passcode before opening her door.

When the door opened and Lucy apprehensively stepped in, Lucy made a half turn to wave at Natsu. The president waved back before the door finally closes.

As Lucy enters her unit, she couldn't help but let out a heavy sigh as she looks around her place. The living room was still quite packed given that a few clothing racks were still around then a singular row of shoes was on display for her to choose from. Akiyo's team was going to pick up all of the items by morning with Lucy's insistence that no one waits up for her to help her get out of the gown.

Sighing to herself again, Lucy decided to take a seat first before start heading to bed. She dropped down on the couch and breathes in relief before she places her shoes next to the coffee table. When she was able to lean back on the couch, her doorbell suddenly rang. This somehow makes Lucy perk up as she glanced at her door. Without realizing it, Lucy stood up with a smile on her face, thinking that Natsu may have turned back and wished to take up on her offer for coffee.

Lucy then opens her door and greets, "I knew it-" she then pauses as she sees her personal assistant instead. The purple-haired assistant stood before her with a cup of coffee in hand and a small smile on her face, "Good morning, Lucy-sama. We're set to leave,"

"Laki?" Lucy steps back as she opens her door wider, letting her assistant inside. When Laki entered, she immediately noticed the mess around Lucy's living room and curiously looked at her boss.

"Lucy-sama, what happened here?" Laki then finally notices the gown Lucy was wearing, "Why are you in a gown?"

"Oh," Lucy looked down at her attire as she fathoms that she did not mention anything to her staff about where and what she has been up to, "Um…I went to a party?"

"A party? And we didn't prep you up?" Laki confusingly asked, "How did that happen?"

"Um…" Lucy hesitated whether to explain or not to her assistant. But she didn't have the energy to do it at the moment. So she shook her head and said, "I'll explain some other time. What are you doing here at," Lucy looked up at her wall clock, "1:30 in the morning?"

"Uh, you have a call time at Hargeon at 3 AM. Remember?" Laki sheepishly smiled when she recognizes that her boss had forgotten her schedule.

"Oh, shit," Lucy exasperatedly whispered as she pinches the bridge of her nose, "I haven't had any sleep yet,"

"Oh…well, you can take a nap on the road," Laki suggests.

"I haven't studied my script either," Lucy then sighs for the nth time before turning away from her assistant and heading to her bedroom. As she was striding towards her room, she tells her assistant, "I'll just shower then we'll head out. I'll need your help to get me out of this gown," Lucy then disappears inside her room.

Dragon Empire Group Building

Monday morning quickly started for Natsu as he walked the floor to his office at 8:00 AM. Daichi, his assistant, had always expected him to arrive early regardless of the event that had transpired previously. Natsu was becoming known as a leader who had a lot of energy to spend. And somehow, other administrators hated that side of him.

"Good morning, Mr. Dragneel," Daichi greeted as he stood from his station and bowed his head. When Natsu regarded him with a nod, Daichi immediately stepped out of his place and grabbed his essentials before he followed the pinkette into his office.

"Daichi, what's my schedule today?" Natsu asked as he strode towards his table and dropped his tan leather briefcase on the couch adjacent to his desk. He then began to unbutton his coat and remove it as he watched his assistant scan his tablet.

"Um, apparently, sir, your mornings are free until 10 AM, then by 10:30 AM you will be having a meeting with Mr. Atlas' team regarding the approved projects and budget-"

"His team?" Natsu cuts off, making Daichi nervous a little that early morning.

"Um, yes, sir," Daichi tried to keep a calm face as the pinkette raised a brow at him, "The secretary of Mr. Atlas has informed that he will not be able to come to work today,"

"Because?" Natsu challenged, which was starting to annoy him as he was having an idea why the older man was not coming to work.

"Um, his secretary wasn't being specific, but I'm guessing it was due to last night's event," Daichi pursed his lips as the pinkette chuckled in annoyance and turns his back on him. Daichi had to breathe out to calm his nerves because at that moment, he knew, Monday was going to be hell.

"And here I am, pushing my ass off early this morning because they have the guts to question my work ethic," Natsu then turns to look back at his assistant, "Isn't it great, Daichi, to work with hypocrites."

Daichi pursed his lips even further, refusing to add more fire to the anger of the pink-haired president. He chooses to be quiet about it despite agreeing. Making the pinkette madder about the situation, that early morning was not going to help anyone in his department. After all, Natsu has quite the temper that nobody wanted to deal with.

Natsu sighs as he drops his head. At that rate, he was feeling exhausted already given that he barely had any sleep. He was tired, sleepy, and hungry. Dealing with obnoxious businessmen was his least favorite thing to do at work. The fact that he has to do that every day was a pain in his ass. But handling these old men's attitudes and then having the nerve to comment back at him for being too inexperienced and hyper, was just horrendous.

"What else is on my schedule?" Natsu exasperatedly asked as he pulled his chair to sit.

"By 12 noon, you have a lunch meeting with the management committee regarding the housing project that DEG is sponsoring. Then by 3:00 PM, you are invited to attend the orientation for the interns from various universities. At 4 PM, Mr. Eucliffe is hoping to have a brief meeting regarding a proposal. Hopefully, by 5:30 PM your schedule is free again," Daichi then turns off the tablet as he stood up straight in attention.

"By 5:30?" Natsu heaves, "Alright…But, Can I sleep at least?"

"Sir?" Daichi bafflingly asked as he tilts his head in confusion.

"You said my morning is pretty much clear until 10 AM," Natsu then leans and crosses his arms over his table, "Can I sleep?"

"Um…are you asking for my suggestion, sir?" Daichi shook his head, trying to wrap his mind if his boss was asking his permission or not, "I mean, you're the boss…so, probably, yes?"

Natsu then grinned, "Great! I have you on my side," he then stood up and quickly dropped on the couch, resting his legs over it, "Wake me up at least 15 minutes before 10,"

Daichi then chuckles a bit as he sees the easy-going boss he usually knows, "Yes, sir. Would you like some coffee prepared by then?"

"Oh yes, please," Natsu then grins before he rests his head on the edge of the couch and covers his eyes with his forearm, "Don't let anyone in,"

"Got that sir," Daichi then bows his head before he leaves the office.

The moment Daichi steps out of the office and closed the door behind him, Daichi felt relieved somehow. He then thought that maybe Monday isn't such a hell day. Until when he turned to his desk and saw a few employees lurking at his workstation.

"What are you guys doing here?" Daichi asked as he slowly stood up straight and repositioned his eyeglasses, "Mr. Dragneel is quite busy at the moment and can't be disturbed,"

"Nah! It's okay," Macao Conbolt quickly waves as he stands up straight as well, "We're actually here for you,"

"Me?" Daichi points to himself as he walks closer to the group, "What do you need from me?"

"It's not exactly that," Bisca Connell rebuffed as she answers instead. She then smiled at the younger man, "It's just that we heard something,"

Daichi immediately raised a brow at the green-haired woman, who was smiling knowingly at him, "It's too early to talk about rumors,"

"Oh, we heard it wasn't some rumor," Wakaba Mine answers with a wink at the young man.

Daichi's face grew suspicious as he eyed the trio, who seemed to expect him to deny or confirm the man's words. At that moment, he felt like giving in to the sweet temptation to talk about the rumor running around the party last night. But knowing that his boss would most likely hate that people are talking behind him, Daichi bites his tongue and shakes his head.

"Nope, I'm not going to deny or confirm anything," Daichi then steps away from the trio, making Macao, Wakaba, and Bisca a little frantic that the secretary knew something.

"Wait, wait, you've got to tell us something," Bisca pleads as she follows the brown-haired man, "Is it true that-"

"Bisca," Daichi widens his eyes at the green-haired marketing staff, "No, I'm not going to say anything about last night,"

"Oh, come on," Wakaba groans, "We just heard that Lucy Ashley was invited,"

Daichi then paused as if waiting for him to add to that. But the older man just stared back at him, "Yeah, so?"

"Oh my god!" Bisca then claps her hands in excitement, "Really?! Was she pretty like on the tv?"

"Um…" Daichi then tilts his head in confusion, "Is that the rumor?"

"Yeah," Macao nods his head, baffled at the confusion that Daichi had on his face, "Are there any other rumors?"

Bisca then gasps, "Wait, is there? I mean, I heard Lucy Ashley came to the charity event quite almost late and everybody was dazzled by her. No one expected her to be there,"

"Huh," Daichi then sighs and his shoulder drops in relaxation, "Well, okay, fine. I'll confirm." Daichi then looked at the curious trio, "Lucy Ashley came to the event as a…special guest for one of the VIPs,"

"Oh my! Who?" Bisca enthusiastically asked, making her and the other two lean closer to the brown-haired assistant.

Daichi quickly leans away from them, gulping in nervousness, "That…is confidential,"

"What?!" Wakaba suddenly bellows as he stood up straight, "Come on! You could at least give a hint,"

"A small hint," Macao pleads with his hands, gesturing a small amount.

"Your wife was there, Macao. Why don't you ask her?" Daichi irately asked before he rolls his eyes at the trio and settles back in his chair, "You could have been there,"

"Well, Romeo came with his mother. I had to sit this one out," Macao shrugs his shoulders, "And I did ask her…But she doesn't know,"

"Really? You believe her?" Daichi raised a brow at the dark purple-haired man, "Enno's the editor-in-chief of Fiore Fashion. I doubt that she doesn't know anything,"

"Macao," Bisca chided as she stood up straight and crossed her arms over her chest, "Enno probably noticed Lucy Ashley there. She would most likely know who she was with,"

Macao then sighs as his shoulders sag in defeat, "Alright…I'll ask her again," he then turns away from Daichi with his head low.

Bisca and Wakaba just stared at the retreating man before glancing at the secretary, "Well, maybe he tried and failed last night," Daichi comments, feeling a little bad for the man.

"And will fail tonight," Wakaba adds. He later taps the counter of the secretary and nods his head towards Daichi, "Anyways, I guess enough with the gossip and start working,"

"You really should have thought of work first before gossip, Wakaba," Daichi counters back with a teasing smile on his face. He then waves goodbye to the two as they left his station.

When they were about to enter the elevator, Bisca shouted that he should join them for lunch to share more gossip. Daichi just laughs off as he watches his colleagues disappear behind the mental contraption.

Daichi then sighs to himself as he brought out his work tablet and starts looking into Natsu's schedule. When everything was set, he immediately opens his work email and was suddenly left speechless.

"Really? This early? 98 emails?" Daichi whines to himself before clicking one of the emails, "Oh shit…media,"

Somewhere in Hargeon City

By 10:25 AM, Lucy was finally able to return back to her trailer to rest for a few hours before she goes back to the set for her next scenes. She immediately lay on her couch and brought her legs up.

"Lucy-san, do you want some food? The catering can serve lunch already," Laki asked as she closes the trailer door and quickly picked up a few things to hand over to the actress.

"Hmm…maybe later. Still too tired to sit up," Lucy replies as she looks at her assistant who was fixing some things on her make-up table, "I should probably take a nap while I can,"

"Yeah, you should," Laki then looked at the blonde, "You barely had any sleep when we got here. After your shoot this morning, you only had an hour to rest then you went back to set. Now, you've got," Laki then looked at her wristwatch, "more or less three hours,"

Lucy then groans, "three hours? That includes lunch?"

"Yep," Laki shrugs her shoulders dejectedly before she walked up to her boss and handed her fluffy rob and change of clothes, "Why don't you change into this first then I'll get you lunch then you can fully rest up,"

"Alright," Lucy sighs as she sits up and takes the clothes from Laki's hand.

When her assistant left, Lucy immediately changes into her more comfortable clothes and wrapped herself in her bathrobe. Sighing in contentment, Lucy let herself slump back to the couch and lift her legs up over her small coffee table.

Lucy had her phone in hand and immediately let herself be indulged in social media. Scrolling over photos in one of her social network service accounts, she quickly notices a familiar face and event. She suddenly sat up straight and studied the photo.

It was a photo of Minerva Orland, an actress-model and daughter of Jiemma Orland, who owned the Sabertooth Artist Agency. Being there was not a surprise given that the artist agency is one of the leading entertainment agencies in Fiore. But Lucy couldn't help but feel a little surprised that she was not confronted by Minerva. After all, they were acquaintances through her manager.

"It's either she didn't see me, or she chose not to notice…" Lucy mumbles to herself as she slowly leans back on the couch. She then read the hashtags that the actress used and clicked on a possible common tag for the event. She was then redirected to a set of photos for the charity ball and Lucy quickly scanned the images.

Most of the photos were of people she didn't know personally but was familiar with given that they were influential people in Magnolia and Fiore. But what surprised her most were the familiar faces she knew in the entertainment industry. There were numerous photos of Sting Eucliffe and Rogue Cheney individually and with their somewhat parents, as Lucy would assume. There were photos of Sting as well with Yukino Agria, which Lucy find surprising. Yukino is her junior in their agency, and their manager hasn't mentioned anything that Yukino knew Sting. The two seemed to be dating by how Sting held onto Yukino by her hips.

"Hmm, Yukino seems to be keeping this a secret," Lucy mutters to herself as she smiles happily at her colleague.

The trailer's door then opens and Laki quickly steps inside before closing it, "I got your lunch! Hungry?"

"Yep," Lucy beamed as she reaches out to the takeout box. She immediately opened it and happily smelled the delicious beef stew, garlic-cheese bread, and pesto pasta.

"Have you eaten yet?" Lucy inquired to her assistant as she helped herself to a bite. Laki immediately nodded as she settles in front of her boss while holding Lucy's personal bag. She then digs inside when she felt the bag vibrating.

"Lucy-sama, your phone is ringing," Laki utters as she tries to locate the vibrating phone inside the bag.

"My phone?" Lucy then looked at the phone next to her and then realized that this was not her personal phone and more of a work phone. Her eyes then grew wide when she suddenly remembered a pink-haired man. "Who's calling?! Is it Mr. Pinkette?"

Laki suddenly looks up and tilts her head in confusion, "Mister what? Pinkette?"

"Uh," Lucy then leaned forward to look at her bag and then noticed that her assistant was holding her phone already. She quickly grabbed it and checked the caller id. But to her dismay, it was someone else.

Obviously observed to be saddened that it was not the person she was hoping for, Lucy slumps back to the couch as she answers the call.

"Hey, Mira," Lucy greets with a less enthusiastic voice.

"Hello! How's my favorite actress?" Mira gleefully replies.

"I'm good…" Lucy couldn't help herself but sigh softly, "And you?"

"I'm definitely fine…But you don't seem to be happy to hear me," Mira teased gently, knowing her friend well, "Were you expecting someone else?"

Lucy's eyes suddenly widen in surprise at her manager's assumption and quickly denied, "What? No! I-I was just-"

"You did sound dejected," Mira continues to tease, "You usually greet me with a high note in your voice,"

"I'm-" Lucy stops midsentence and tries to calm herself as she exhales deeply, "I'm just tired. I wasn't able to have a good sleep and my schedule today is just full-packed."

"Well, why didn't you have a good sleep? I'm pretty sure you had your weekend clear for any engagements," Mira inquired, making Lucy bite her lower lip as she was reminded again that no one knew about her personal venture of going to the DEG charity ball.

"Um, yeah…I had my weekend clear," Lucy then looks up at her assistant who had her expression in full doubt, given that she had seen her place was full of evening gowns and shoes. But Lucy just shook her head and tries to make some alibies, "It's just that…I did a lot of cleaning, exercise, and…cooking." Laki just scoffed at each excuse, making Lucy widen her eyes at the purple-haired assistant, "I just…overdid things yesterday and I'm just physically tired,"

"You could have called some service to clean your place, Lucy" Mira countered as she found Lucy's reasoning quite odd, "Why did you even do that in the first place? You usually do general cleanup when you're stressed. Are you stressed?"

"What? No, I'm perfectly fine," Lucy shrugs her shoulders, trying to sound nonchalant but with her assistant quite mocking her with her expressions, Lucy couldn't help but feel nervous. "I just felt like doing some…major clean up,"

"Hmm, I doubt that." Mira replies, completely unconvinced, "You pretty much sounded disappointed, like you were hoping that someone would call you. Were you expecting someone to call you since yesterday?"

Lucy sarcastically scoffed, trying to sound convincing, "I am not expecting anyone to call me—I don't even care if he hasn't texted or checked up on me since yesterday,"

The line was then silent, which made Lucy stop for a moment and think about her words. When it hit her, her eyes grew wide and even amplified when Laki looked at her with pure surprise and intrigue on her face.

"I mean…" Lucy then trails off, unsure how to cover her tracks.

"Who's he?" Mira teased, causing the blonde to blush. This made Laki even more curious as she leans close to her boss and mumbled, who?

"Um, I-I don't know…" Lucy denies it and pretends with a shrug of her shoulders, but Laki widens her eyes more as if she was trying to squeeze her boss to spill the beans, "I don't know what you're talking about,"

"Lucy Ashley, you just said that you didn't care if he hasn't texted or checked up on you. Now, who's he?" Mira insists with a glint in her voice, making Lucy gulp nervously as she didn't know how she was going to make this look like it wasn't a big deal.

"It's just a slip of the tongue…You know, I just—I got used to having someone, checking up on me," Lucy almost cringes at the name they might immediately think of, but it seemed to work as it causes Laki and Mira to groan.

"Please Lucy, do not hope for Loke to call you," Mira replies irritated, "If you ever allow him into your life again, I am going to take away your phones and push you to do numerous projects to the point of having no social life,"

Lucy rolls her eyes, "I'm not letting Loke back into my life, I promise."

Mira then sighs in relief as she hums in contentment. "Alright then, I believe you it's a slip of the tongue. But I'll call Laki and ask her to watch over you and make sure that you and Loke do not interact in any way again,"

Lucy suddenly chuckles, "You're talking like Loke isn't your talent,"

"Well, he is but I'm making sure that he doesn't run into you again and cause more issues. That impetuous man has been causing you tabloid issues and it's annoying," Mira then sighs before she squeaks in realization, "Although, I've recently read that you were caught with some other guy,"

Lucy's eyes then turned wide again as it hits Mira, making her gasp for the second time, "Oh my! Was he the one you were waiting to call or text?!"

Lucy was silent for a moment, confused about whether to drop the fake news or not. But then she realized that this was the best opportunity for her to convince her manager that she was seeing someone else. If she wanted to make sure that her pretentious relationship with Natsu would work with his family, she had to build some foundation by convincing the people around her that she was indeed in a relationship with Natsu. "Um…fine, I'll tell you…yes, yes—I have been going out with this guy a few times,"

"Huh?" Mira was then silent as she was baffled by the news, "What? Since when?"

"Umm…" Lucy then tries to recall the backstory she told during the party, "A month ago, I met this guy through Lisanna, and then…after a few weeks, we are…dating,"

"Dating?!" Mira and Laki bellowed at the same time, making Lucy flinch in surprise.

"Uh…yes," Lucy shakes her head in panic as Laki stood up almost like she was going to bombard her with a lot of questions and she couldn't do it right at that instant with her manager on the phone, "Mira, I would love to explain this, but I'd prefer we do it face to face. Not through phone,"

"We definitely do need to talk about this!" Mira said stunned as her voice changes an octave higher, "The management is having a meet-up in the coming days and I will be there. We have to talk," Mira ended with a stern voice and Lucy shut her eyes as she felt the weight of the conversation she has to make with her manager.

"Yes, I know, and we will, I promise," Lucy then sighs in defeat, "Okay, so, see you soon?"

Mira groans as she had no other choice but to agree, "Fine, see you soon,"

And with that, Lucy pulls her phone away and quickly shuts it off. She then looked at her assistant, who had her arms crossed over her chest with an expression like she was waiting for her to explain. Lucy just sheepishly smiled at her and say, "Sit, I'll explain,"

As Lucy continues to eat her lunch, she tried her best to explain the situation to Laki without spilling the truth about the contract that she made with Natsu. Laki wasn't exactly an accomplice, but she knew more than Mira knows. And so, Lucy had to clarify some details to fill in the gaps of how she knew Natsu for a month and started dating for two weeks after getting to know each other intently through texting and calls.

"So, basically, when you went to Fairy Tail last Friday, that was your second meet-up in person?" Laki questioned, trying to fit the puzzles in her head.

"Yes, and I know I was hesitant to go there but not because it was a first-time meet-up. It was more like a date between two people who started dating after texting for nearly a month."

"You said it wasn't a date," Laki counters as she tries to recall that day, "It was-"

"I lied," Lucy cuts off, knowing that there are some inconsistencies in her story, "Um, I was convincing myself that it wasn't a date. I felt like, I wasn't ready to do dating and I wanted to clarify it to him…" Lucy then trails off, watching her assistant if she was believing it and it appears to do so. Lucy then added, "But my feelings for this guy is just—"Lucy whooshed her hand up like it was some rocket shooting up the sky, "fell hard for him,"

Laki then raised a brow in doubt, "You cried for Loke last two weeks ago,"

"Hmm?" Lucy pretended to be oblivious but with Laki's expression, she had to convince her more, "Oh, about that…Yes, I did cry over Loke…but not because I was missing him but because…" Lucy then trails off as she remembers how she had laughed with Natsu, how she had felt safe around Natsu's hold, and how she had felt happy just being herself, "I missed out on being happy by being with the wrong guy,"

Laki's shoulder then relaxes as she notices the soft demeanor of the blonde. Lucy had a gentle smile on her lips as she stared away, recalling a memory that Laki doesn't know about. But Laki knows for sure that the actress was recalling a fond memory with the new guy.

"I'm happy for you, Lucy-san. I haven't seen you smile like that since you broke up with Loke," Laki genuinely smiled at the actress, who was quite stunned by her statement, "I may not know who you are dating, but I think, he's making you happy more than you've ever been with Loke. And that's good,"

Lucy blushed at her assistant's words, completely taken aback by her interpretation. Lucy immediately shakes her head, trying to brush off the idea of how Natsu is probably a better boyfriend than Loke.

"Thank you," Lucy puts on a smile as she adds, "You'll probably meet him one day,"

"Cross fingers!" Laki teased before she and Lucy laughed.

Without knowing, the day has already ended and so did the taping for Lucy. The director called it a day for some of the actors and gave instructions to them about their schedule for the next day. Lucy had her usual call time again at 8 AM at set along with the other actors that she will be having some scenes with. Soon enough, they disperse back to their trailers and began to start packing up to get home.

When Lucy arrives at her trailer, Laki was running around the place to prepare Lucy's change of clothes and fixed a few things. While doing so, Lucy settles herself on the couch first to rest for a few minutes before she started taking a shower.

Pulling her personal phone, Lucy stared blankly at it as if waiting for it to react. Despite being busy throughout the day, she couldn't help herself but be conscious of the fact that she hasn't received any call or text from a certain pink-haired man.

Lucy finds it a little ridiculous that she was hoping that Natsu would at least reach out to her. She knew, for sure, that they had bonded, and that they have some kind of friendship already. Lucy knows that they had started their connection through a contract. But that shouldn't stop them from at least trying to be friends.

"Is it so hard to at least say 'hi, how are you?'" Lucy grumbles as she throws her phone on the other side of the couch then crosses her arms over her chest.

"Are you mad that your boyfriend isn't texting you?" Laki shouted over the other side of the trailer, and Lucy just groans in annoyance.

"Natsu's not my boyfriend!" Lucy bellows back without thinking.

Laki just then laughs, "Finally, we have a name. So, you're dumping Natsu immediately just because he didn't text you?"

Lucy turned to her assistant swiftly, who was peeking through a door. The purple-haired assistant just chuckles at the astonished look of the actress, "If you really miss him, you know it won't hurt you if you just call him instead,"

"Wha-what?" Lucy bafflingly states as her cheeks redden, "No, I'm not missing him,"

Laki just laughs at the denial, "Sure, that explains why you're grumbling and staring daggers at your phone when you've got the chance to. I mean, Lucy-san, you almost brought your phone into the set a while ago because you wouldn't let go of your phone just to anticipate a message,"

Lucy stared sternly at her assistant as if internally straggling her for being too observant for the day.

"As I said, Laki, I'm not missing him. So, I don't have to text him or call him because it's not important. I mean, if I don't cross his mind, then fine. Why would I give a damn time to him?" Lucy then stood up and swooped her towel and change of clothes before entering her small bathroom.

As Lucy closes the door, Laki just chortles to herself before she shakes her head in amusement.

Within an hour, Lucy had finished taking a shower and had changed her clothes. Laki had prepared all of Lucy's things that were ready to be brought back to her van and were set to leave the place within half an hour.

As Max was settling things inside the van, Laki stayed behind the trailer to wait for the actress. While doing so, she indulged in social media to search for a person named Natsu. To her surprise, numerous articles and photos came up, showing images of the pink-haired president in the Charity Ball event that happened last night.

Laki immediately connected the dots, that the event Lucy went to last night was most likely the event that this Natsu guy attended too. He was tan, lean, and handsome, which was a good contrast to Loke. Laki couldn't help herself but squeal in excitement at the idea that Lucy was dating a hot businessman.

When Lucy stepped out of her room, Laki immediately shoved her phone to the actress and said, "Is this him?!"

Lucy leaned back a little to glance at the phone. She then raised a brow at her assistant, "Uh, yeah. Why?"

"Oh, my goodness, Lucy-san!" Laki then squirmed in excitement, "How the hell did you find him?! He's so hot…"

Lucy rolls her eyes as she walks past her assistant, "So what if he's hot? He doesn't know how to text or call or-" Lucy then stops as she notices the amused eyes of her assistant, "I'm not ranting,"

Laki then giggles at her boss before she composes herself, "Okay, yes. You're right, he should be the one calling you and not the other way around," Lucy then nods her head in agreement before she takes a seat on the couch again.

As Laki takes a sit next to her, the assistant suddenly showed her phone again and said, "Look at this, Press People Column made an article about him and mentioned having a date during the charity ball. I'm assuming, that's what you attended last night?"

Lucy nods her head as she takes the phone and began reading the article. Laki then further explains, "It looks like the PR team of DEG didn't disclose who was Natsu's date. So, basically, no one knows yet that you and he are dating,"

"But the press has caught on to this?" Lucy then looked at her assistant, who then nods her head, before grabbing her phone back. Laki then opened another internet article and showed it to Lucy.

"Daily Magnolia released an online article about the event and gave a run-down of guests invited. Many of them were from the corporate world but also there were some celebrities. Specifically, those were noted as the date of these businessmen,"

"Did you catch my name?" Lucy inquired, getting a little nervous that her real name will be mentioned.

"Lucy Ashley? No, I didn't,"

"No-no, just the name…Lucy. Did you read anything?" Lucy then bites her lips in anticipation, but her assistant shook her head.

"Nope. Just Minerva, Sting, Rogue, the Agria sisters, and other celebrities. DEG didn't drop your name next to Mr. Dragneel,"

Lucy then sighs in relief as she drops her back on the couch. The last thing that she wants is to have her real identity disclosed in public. Lucy had a resolute last night that if she would be doing this contract, she had to protect her real identity to avoid notifying and being under the radar of her father. But having this fake relationship with Natsu was going to be a pain in the ass as his family is just well-known in the public. If she is to protect her identity, she has to take control.

Lucy then sits up and looks at her assistant, "Where's my personal phone?"

"Um, in your bag," Laki stands up and quickly retrieves it, and grabs the phone inside. When she handed the mobile to Lucy, the actress swiftly stood up and began scrolling for a contact number and placed her phone by her ear.

Dragon Empire Group Building

KRING! KRING! KRING!

Natsu busily continues to read documents that he had received from Weisslogia Eucliffe after being given a personal pitch for a proposed project. It was an interesting project for DEG and Light Engineering Corp., but as his father had taught him, he should be wise in signing off documents.

KRING! KRING! KRING!

Despite the resounding tone of his phone, Natsu chooses to ignore it as it was his personal phone ringing. At the moment, he didn't feel like talking to his relatives. The last thing he wants is for his relatives to think that he's a pushover and that he can be easily given some ideas that he'll immediately agree to. If he was stern to his associates, so is he to his relatives. Like his grandfather said once, business is business.

KRING! KRING! KRING!

"Goodness!" Natsu suddenly slams down the paper he's holding and hastily grabs his phone. Without looking at the caller id, he annoyingly answers, "What?!"

Natsu then met silence, making him pull the phone away to look at the caller id instead. Seeing the caller id, Ms. Actress, Natsu couldn't help but groan jadedly. He then places the phone back to his ear and redos the greeting.

"Hello," Natsu says with a calm voice but with a tinge of boredom.

"Better, but not the best," Lucy replies with a hiss in her voice, making Natsu grunt as he anticipates a rebuttal with the blonde, "Hi my love,"

Natsu suddenly raises a brow at the endearment, "Why are you calling me 'my love'?"

"Because I missed you," Lucy replied with a sweet voice, which was a shift from her previous tone.

"What? What are you talking about?" Natsu baffling shook his head.

"Are you saying you missed me? Aww, you could have called and told me that you missed me," Lucy rustled with annoyance in her tone, which Natsu quickly grasps. It was now obvious to him that Lucy wasn't really talking to him, and that the actress was probably just doing some cover-up story.

"I was busy. Didn't think to check my phone," Natsu then closes his eyes as he exhales, "Why'd you even call?"

"You saw the articles?" Lucy then paused for a moment but not long enough for Natsu to reply, "Oh, I know. It's fine, we can talk,"

"Huh? Talk? What are we going to talk about?" Natsu was then confused with the way the dialogue was going, "Lucy?"

"What? You'll pick me up?" Lucy suddenly instilled, having no care about Natsu's confusion, making the pinkette even more agitated, "But I'm in Hargeon, can you make it?"

"Hargeon?! Wait—that's a long hour drive, Lucy—"

"That's so sweet of you, my love. I can wait here with Laki until you arrive," Lucy emphasizes a name that Natsu doesn't know but quickly notices that she was in front of someone else. Natsu then whines internally as his fist curls up.

"Why are you even doing this in front of somebody else?" Natsu says, trying to stop himself from bursting out in annoyance.

"Sure, we'll talk over dinner and discuss things," Lucy simply replies in a calm voice in contrast to Natsu's mood, "So, I'll see you in an hour?"

"Wait—"

"Okay, I'll send you the exact location! Bye! Love ya!" Lucy then ends the call and Natsu was left stunned.

Pulling his phone away, and gripping it tightly, Natsu couldn't help but grumble in his seat. Soon, his phone rang again as messages came in.

6:43 PM

Ms. Actress: Don't bother to ignore me. Unfortunately, I have some witnesses here who are somewhat expecting your arrival.

Ms. Actress: Just click the link for my exact location.

Ms. Actress: /fioremaps/Mf1a6Y9zUuSuXSS7B

Natsu then groans as he collapses on his swivel chair and slowly turns to look out over the darkening skyline of Magnolia.

"Sneaky, little woman," Natsu mutters before he pushes himself off his chair and began to gather all his things and shove them inside his briefcase.

Within a few minutes, the young president was off on the road heading toward Hargeon.

To be continued…