Lucy POV
After arriving on the correct floor, we headed in a hurry to the entrance of the building, all the while avoiding busy employees and businessmen in the large, spacious lobby. Our heels clicking against the floor as plastic shoe met marble tile.
When we arrived outside, we were in front of the grand Heartfilia Konzern skyscraper, that rose high into the sky above us, with rows and columns of glass windows lining the structure. I turned back around and was greeted with the tall, concrete and asphalt city I grew to love. Although Magnolia was a huge metropolis, the setting wasn't that of an extremely crowded city, with the stench of car exhaust and pollution, as a foreigner would expect.
Magnolia was a grand city, that lived up to its name. For such a large city, you would be surprised at how many small, flourishing shops lined the city streets. Aromic smelling bakeries and cafes and sweet little flower shops were common, hence the name Magnolia.
We made our way through the crowd in a rush, wanting to later avoid Erza's tirade on being on time and our tardiness.
Unfortunately though, as if fate itself was against us, we encountered several men who were interested in an autograph, or wanted to escort me to dinner at a fancy restaurant, or just wanted to get in my pants, or should I say skirt. Therefore, we were delayed, as time was ticking away, and we were losing our precious seconds.
Though with another poisonous glare from my sweet and considerate blue-haired best friend, most backed off, while some reluctantly left in disappointment. I smiled at her in gratitude once more, to which she responded with a quick smile.
As we hurried along the busy streets, we had more irritating encounters, but none held us back that much.
Despite all the noise around us, we never engaged in a conversation. But I guess that was because of the fear of losing our heads to the almighty Erza. Her strict authority still reigned over us surprsingly to this day.
Though pretty soon, the familiar Magnolia Cafe was within our sights and we hurried even faster. I checked the watch on my wrist, 1 more minute left.
Levy rushed ahead of me towards the cafe. Afterall, she had the advantage; I haven't had to hurry like this in a long time. She must have walked around the city more than I have ever since I accepted my position. But still...
Traitor. What happened to don't leave friends behind?
I growled in frustration of my slowness and Levy's hurtful betrayal, and in an attempt to arrive faster I broke into an all-out sprint, apologizing to those I bumped into.
But then again, it was as if time slowed down around me. I felt a slight pressure on my foot, then realizing that my heel got caught on a crack in the concrete. Everything around me slowed down, and I prepared myself for the impact against the hard, concrete ground.
I squeezed my eyes shut and waited for the pain, when none came.
Instead, a warm embrace was in pain's place.
I opened my eyes and saw the hottest man I have ever set eyes on, catch me mid-fall.
What was worst was he had the most attractive smirk on his lips, and I had to divert my eyes from his face to prevent the growing blush on my cheek. Though what caught my attention was his interesting choice of hair color, which was almost like a bubble-gum pink. Though I looked away, not wanting to be caught staring rudely.
And beside him was a pretty green-haired girl who was glaring straight at me, with a pretty unattractive scowl upon her face.
I cringed at the sight of it and looked away. This girl must have been his girlfriend then.
And I guess I was interupting their date.
The man who caught me got up, brushing invisible dust off his pants. All signs of the previous smirk were still there in the slightest amounts.
"Oh, u-um, s-sorry, for, uh, falling, and, uh, um, thanksforcatchingmesoIwouldn'thurtmyself!" I spat out in a rush, as the stranger helped me up.
Curse my stuttering.
"No problem. There was no way I could let a pretty little lady like yourself injure herself, now could I?" He replied with another smirk.
My face immediately grew 50 shades of red, and my eyes suddenly found the ground very captivating. Was this guy flirting with me?
A million thoughts ran through my head at his calm reply. This was the first time I've ever actually blushed when someone flirted with me.
Since I have never experienced this kind of event before, I just stayed there looking like a stuttering red-faced idiot.
You know, today I really felt betrayed by a lot of things. Levy, for one, who is probably safe from Erza's wrath. And two, my stuttering in front of this guy. And three, my face, that has probably overheated from extreme blood flow today so far.
Reality then came back to slap me in the face when I realized I would be late with the lunch meetup with Erza and the others. I quickly crouched down, retrieving my fallen purse and cardigan, with amazing and incredible speed and gracefulness. Not.
But anyway, I hurried at the thought of being caught late. "Okaywellgottago, and, uh, thanksagainforyourhelp!" I hollered as I hurried away in a blur, cursing myself for loss of time.
I burst through the front doors of the cafe, huffing and puffing from my recent workout. The light jingle of the bells above the door alerted the employees of an arrving customer. Which was me.
"Lu-chan!"
My attention was then directed towards the source of the voice.
Levy, the Traitor, was sitting by herself at a bench seat adjacent to the cream colored wall beside her. Her hand was raised, signaling her location, as she waved at me.
I was immediately engulfed in anger, and I made my way towards the table in a heap of fury, my feet pounding with every step.
"Levy Carmen Louise McGarden!"
I stated as I stood directly in front of her table, with my hands on my hips.
She flinched, and cringed when I used her full name. (A/N: Which I made up by the way. ;))
"I-I'm sorry, Lucy, but I didn't want Erza to kill us, and I kind of,
maybe,
sort of,
accidently,
forgot,
about,
you?"
She squeaked, and cowered under my fierce glare.
My expression took a sudden turn when I let out a loud sigh and took a seat next to her on the cushoiny bench.
"Okay, okay, I forgive you, but next time, you're dead to me. Understood?" I stressed.
"Yes ma'am!" she saluted.
I sighed and started up a conversation to pass the time.
"So, where's Erza? I thought she would be the first one here." I asked with interest. It surprised me a bit when I noticed that the red head wasn't here. Usually, she would always be the first one to arrive at any occasion. The fact that the tempermental woman wasn't here now, shocked me.
"Oh, Erza? She was already here when I arrived, she just went to the bathroom." Levy replied.
"By the way, you now owe her exactly 36 strawberry short cakes. One for every second you were late. You're lucky I managed to convince her, otherwise, you would've been dead meat." She replied while chuckling with dry humor.
I sweat-dropped at this. Erza's obsession with decadent desserts hasn't changed at all. Especially ones including strawberries. She always did have a major sweet tooth. Though I'm glad Levy managed to convince her, otherwise, I would have been in a lot more trouble.
Though my thoughts wandered back to the previous incident with the pink-haired fellow, and my face immemiately burst into a bright shade of red.
Levy, who was still talking to me noticed this, and a sly smirk began to grow on her face, adorning her lips. Oh no, no no no no, no.
I then began to panic internally. When Levy was in this secret-prying mode, there was no getting out of it. Her smirk eventually grew wider and wider, and she was now so giddy her smile began to resemble that of a Chesire cat's.
"So, who's the guy?"
And I slammed my face onto the table in embarrassment.
And that's it for today! Chapter 3 is up! Yay! I've been planning on doing it for a while, but just didn't get to it. Again, I apologize for the extremely late update. I'm the type that updates 'whenever I feel like it'. So it will be pretty irregular, and I blame my extreme case of laziness. But anyways, please leave a lovely review below. And until next time! Ciao!