Hidan sniggered, and pulled the chair next to hers.
He slid into the seat like a slithering snake, casually slinging his arm around her shoulder, his hand dangling in front of her chest.
Temari clutched his wrist and threw it off her shoulder; she stood up and signaled Kin for the bill with a wave of her hand.
"Aww, you are leaving so soon?" Hidan grinned at her. "Don't you miss me?"
She said nothing as Kin approached her with the bill. As she fished around her handbag for her purse, Shikamaru stood up and placed a firm hand on her shoulder.
He took out a credit card and handed it to the waitress, he smiled at the blonde woman, her cheeks slightly puffed.
"Ohh so this is you new boy toy eh? Not much of a looker I reckon." Hidan snapped, he also stood up – he was slightly taller than Shikamaru; he approached him, leaning over and stared into his dark brown eyes.
"What a drag," Shikamaru muttered, as he got the credit card back from Kin, shoving the plastic card into his pocket.
"Aww baby," Hidan cooed over Temari, slinging his arm across her shoulder, another hand lifting her chin.
Temari smiled and elbowed him hard in the ribs, stepping back and stood next to Shikamaru, facing the silver haired man. "Get the fuck away from me."
Hidan's eyebrows twitched; he gritted his teeth and reached out. "Don't you dare walk away from me, bitch."
His hand almost reached Temari's shoulder, when suddenly another hand blocked and pushed it away.
"Didn't you heard the lady?" Shikamaru sucked his teeth and stared at him, bored but irritated. "Get away from her."
"You don't want this problem, pal." Hidan gritted his teeth and glared at him.
Shikamaru sneered. "No, you don't want this problem."
Temari thought for a second that Shikamaru grew taller and bigger at that instant, she found herself behind his back – a weirdly comfortable place to be.
"Listen up, you dweeb," Hidan hollered agitatedly, raising his arm in the air.
"No, you listen up." Shikamaru took another step, completely shielding Temari from the taller man. "I usually run away from trouble, but no man would stand to see a dickhead bully a woman." In a swift push he shoved the taller man away, who stumbled but regained his balance quickly.
"You –"
"Hidan! Cut the crap," another voice, deeper, calmer rang from the car outside.
"Shut up Kakuzu!" He jerked his head towards the dark limousine.
"We have an appointment, now move." Kakuzu's voice emerged from the opened door. "If you are late, we loss profit."
"Tch," Hidan sucked his teeth. "You better watch it dweeb." He shot Shikamaru another glare.
"And you, Temari, I will be seeing you around." He threw a sinister grin before spinning on his heel and walking out of the bar.
They remained standing, until the car left with a cloud of dark exhaust fume drifting in the air.
"Let's go." Shikamaru shrugged, returning to his normal self.
Temari nodded and followed him out of the restaurant obediently.
Somehow, she followed him home.
He said nothing when she entered the door, sat down on the sofa and hugged her knees in front of her chest.
The moment she buried her head into her knees, he said nothing.
She did not utter a sound as he laid down a cup of hot tea on the coffee table in front of her.
Her face emerged, emotionless, slowly as he took a seat next to her, a few inches away.
She stared blankly into the television screen in front of her, zoning out at the grey surface, her reflection barely visible.
He said nothing and began flipping through a newspaper.
From the sound, he knew she leaned forward, taking the cup in her hand and sipped.
From the sound, she knew he was not reading properly.
"Do you want to talk about it?" He said, his voice in the same bored monotone.
"You will feel better, just like you said."
"Hmph." She replied. There was no tears, no angry outburst.
"He broke your heart didn't he?"
"…Yes, mind and soul." She muttered softly, just loud enough for him to hear.
"What did he-"
"He made me feel worthless." She snapped, staring at the ceiling as she spoke. "He treated me like a jewel at first, tossing aside once I am in his grasp; when I thought I would leave, he would beg me to stay – it just goes on and on."
Shikamaru said nothing, hoping that the silence was comforting enough for her to continue.
"Well… then the one time I finally made up my mind to leave him, he made sure he scarred me well enough." She sneered coldly.
Shikamaru said nothing.
"He said I am…" She took a deep breath. "He said he likes me, but he loves my money."
The silence continued as her voice subsided.
"I was so stupid…" Temari began running her hand through her hair, tugging away the hair ties at the same time – her blonde sandy hair ran down the side of her face like a golden waterfall. "So fucking stupid…"
She turned around and stared at the dark brown eyes staring at her.
Something deep down told her that she was staring at something like a mirror.
But something else told her they are different.
She blinked once.
The next second, she found herself in his warm embrace.
She wrapped her arms around him as she felt a warm moist on her shoulder, on which he buried his face.
"And I thought I was going to cry…" She smiled. "Stupid crybaby."
He said nothing, his arms tightened around her waist.
No one said anything for the next few minutes.
"Men are strange," she muttered, as he exited the lift behind her.
"Women are troublesome." He replied, lazily.
He stared at her shoulders, less slump than what he saw in the afternoon.
He knew that she had not tell him everything, just like how he did not tell her.
But who is he? Just a random guy who just so happened to sit opposite her at work, had sex with her once and popping up around her.
What gives him the right to know all the dark secrets she held?
He stood there, deep in his thoughts as the woman approached her door and unlocked it with ease.
"Well." Temari stood there at the entrance of her apartment. "I guess I will see you tomorrow."
"Yea." He replied with a tiny, faint smile on his face.
"You know," she said, biting her tongue a little. "Thanks for today."
"No big deal." He shrugged and waved his hand.
The evening sun peered from the back, her sandy blonde hair was dyed in a hue of orange, basking in the sunlight.
He felt an irresistible urge to step forward, one step, two step.
She stood there, as one of his hand reached forward and cupped her face.
She blinked, looking at him in a puzzled gaze.
It was at that moment, his phone decided to ring, screaming into his ears.
He quickly retracted his hand from her face. "Shit, sorry." He said hastily as he scrambled for his phone in his pocket. She stared down at her feet, her hands nervously fidgeting the strayed strands of her hair, an embarrassedly expression lingered on her face, accompanied by a hue of pink.
He was not sure if it was the pinkish glow of the sun or is it the colour of her cheek.
"Hello." He turned around and walked away, not forgetting to wave his hand up.
Temari stared as he took step after step away from her door, something told her to run outside, catch up to him and pull him into her embrace.
But she closed the door.
He blinked twice as he heard the quiet thump of the door closing.
"Yes, mom." He continued, sighing quietly. "Yes I am coming back. Yea. Bye."
He hated it but he had to hurry back to his parent's apartment.
They are having a guest over for dinner.
Author's Note:
Hi all! Another chapter!
This one is a little short, I did it on purpose because it would be strang to continue the story and not stopping at this point (somehow - I hope this makes sense)
Anyway, enjoy! Do review!
V.S.V xoxo
