Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon in any way, shape, or form. The show and the characters are the property of Naoko Takeuchi.
CHAPTER 2
It was Sunday morning. Mina sat up from bed and stretched her long limbs. She yawned and scratched her back. There was no work today.
Last night Jeffrey had called from Washington, ecstatically shouting over the phone, that he had closed the deal. Mina immediately congratulated him, doing her best to hide the disappointment that was bound to cloud her voice.
She opened the door to her balcony and leaned against the rail, as the screeching of birds in a nearby tree greeted her good morning. She had thought about their relationship all night. She knew that by gaining new sponsors for his father's company, he was likely to have his calendar filled with appointments for the next month.
Sighing aloud she turned towards the birds and said, "Oh sure, he usually has a weekend on his calendar with my name on it but all I get is a quick wrestle in the sheets when he's here." She looked below and saw little boys shoving at each other and whacking each other with sticks. As the birds screeched their response she muttered, "Bah! They're born as annoying creeps and stay that way for the rest of their lives. I don't know why I'm even dating one!"
She propped her elbows on the rail and crossed her ankles as she recalled how they met.
At the time, Jeffrey had been nearing the end of his internship at his father's company when Lita's catering service was hired to host a New Year's Eve banquet.
Lita was Mina's best friend. She was that firm force in Mina's life that Mina could always lean on. She was beautiful and tall. Rarely did she display any weaknesses as she towered over her customers and staff. Of course, that was until she and Ken had become serious. Their marriage was perfect. Both understood each other and loved each other. He knew exactly how to deal with her customary bullying.
For Mina, Lita's happiness was both bliss and hell rolled into on. After her marriage to Ken, Lita had come back from their honeymoon intent on finding the perfect man for Mina. Often, she would burst through Mina's apartment door, reach into her overstuffed purse, throw phone numbers at her, and hurriedly rush to her next job. As endearing as Lita was, Mina would merely glance over at the pile of business cards and scraps of phone numbers, and throw them into a shoebox containing the rest of the numbers Lita had given to her. After all, why ruin Lita's dreams?
However, it was at this particular banquet, that Lita ran into Jeffrey. Literally. She had just been scolding one of her staff members for not heating the sausages properly, when she turned and made a dash to grab the other tray. Her body hit Jeffrey hard and she fell to the floor. Jeffrey, immediately jumped to his feet and helped Lita up. He apologized as he jogged with her to the kitchen. Normally, Lita would have brushed him off, but she had taken an instant liking to Jeffrey's charm and quiet humor, and immediately insisted that he meet her 'very single friend, Mina'."
A little over a month later, Mina had been confused when she received his phone call.
"Hello, am I speaking to Mina?" his deep voice asked.
Her day had not gone so well. She had been helping Andrew decorate the diner for Valentine's day. As couples filed in, she couldn't help but wish they would order whatever the hell they wanted and get out. Their looks of adoration squeezed a vein of jealousy inside her. She scribbled their order on her pad, nearly tearing the paper and walked away. Andrew had been innocently whistling a tune, when she entered the kitchen and threw the order at him. He looked up in surprise but all he could see was her retreating back, as she shoved open the kitchen door to help more couples order "Lover's Delight" the special of the day.
As their work day finished, Mina angrily thrust her arms into her jacket, only to have Andrew come up behind her and help her into it. She felt a tear escape at the small attention she craved for.
Andrew widened his eyes in surprise, "Mina, what's wrong?" His thumb brushed away the tear.
She gulped and shook her head.
He looked down wistfully at her, and brushed a kiss at her cheek. "You're not alone," he whispered.
She sighed and quietly walked to her car where she got in and drove home.
She began to calm down as she maneuvered her way through slowly drifting couples jaywalking at each opportunity. She couldn't help but remember her life as a model. Back then, there had never been a moment's loneliness for some male companionship. Every night she would receive an invitation out for dinner or a concert of some sort. It was easy to laugh and joke at everything then. She was adored and she knew it. The funny thing was, it wasn't enough.
She had begun to feel it one night, as her current squeeze, Alex, had been thrusting into her hard. Sure, the sex was great when she found men that could have her lusting for them. But as his hands gripped her breasts and they came together, she didn't feel whole. She needed something else. But she didn't know what. Her hands reached down and stroked his member until he became hard again. She straddled him and he moaned as she moved up and down. He was pretty decent in bed, but as she lay down satiated from the mind-blowing sex, she knew it was time to move on.
Mina couldn't help but feel a twinge of regret for having hastily decided to quit modeling so quickly. When she had arrived back home in search of finding herself again, men continually looked in her direction but never asked her out. They were intimidated by the idea of dating a former model. She was pretty to look at but never to be with.
As Mina, opened the door to her apartment, she heard the phone ringing. She quickly closed the door and dashed over to answer.
As she heard the deep voice asking for her, she frowned. "A telemarketer call at this hour?" she thought to herself. Groaning, she ran her hands through her hair and said, "Look Mister I'm not in the mood to order your crap. Why don't you do yourself a favor and cross my name off your list of customers who want to order truckloads of overpriced junk?"
"No ma'm. I'm sorry, I mean Mina, I don't think you understand." She heard his hesitation through the phone. "My name is Jeffrey. Jeffrey O'Donnell. Your friend Lita suggested I giver you a call—"
Her temper flared, "Oh I see!" she yelled, cutting him off. "I keep telling her to quit sending me pots and pans. I'm not a damn Martha Stewart! But she doesn't listen. Now, she thinks she can force me to cook her damn gourmet foods, by ordering your list of junk. Well no thanks!" she shouted fiercely into the phone.
"Wait! Wait! Don't hang up!" he yelled. She heard a door slam through the phone. "Um Mina could you wait one second please?" Muffling noises. She heard him breathe as he came back. "Sorry, my secretary thought someone had broken in and was trying to kill me. She just came rushing in with a stapler to defend me."
Mina couldn't help but grin. She relaxed as he explained to her his purpose for the late call.
They met at a nearby Italian restaurant. Jeffrey was tall with dark brown hair. He quietly told her jokes of the morning battles he endured as the accountant for his office, had searched in all corners of the rooms, for the thief that made off with his lunch. Accusations had flown, and he was called out only once to prevent any physical harm.
As Mina laughed and laughed until her sides hurt, she couldn't help but feel an instant attraction. He was smart and funny. She liked him and enjoyed his company.
They dated off and on for a month until during a quiet dinner at the Ritz, he reached over and took her hand, and told her he had begun thinking of her seriously. She could still remember the warm excitement that had crept up into her body. That night she invited him into her apartment and he had made love to her. His mouth had been everywhere and her heart felt full. It felt right.
Two months later Jeffrey received a promotion and continually had to travel to negotiate with sponsors for the company. At first it had been hard, but Mina had adjusted to his schedule. Jeffrey would always rush back to her and assure her of his love. Then he would rush back out.
Lately there had hardly been any rushing. As his company flourished, their relationship was crumbling.
She sighed, and went to shower.
Meanwhile at Andrew's place, Andrew was brushing his hair, as a light smiled crept up to his face. He had seen Molly last night and had relieved whatever moment he had endured with Mina, into Molly.
Molly was a close friend. They knew what kind of relationship they wanted with each other. Any strings in their relationship were completely cut, save the one that allowed them to sleep with one another. It was pure lust. Occasionally, he would take her out to a quiet dinner or a movie but they both knew it wasn't necessary. They always ended up where they had wanted to go from the start—her bed.
Yet, as he gripped Molly's hips, and pushed himself into her, he couldn't help but imagine Mina beneath him. Strange? But at the moment, it heightened his desire and drove him insane as he thrusted into her with Mina's image in his mind. Molly had smiled afterwards, and told him he had obviously had that one pent up in him for a while. He laughed and reached for her again.
At Mina's apartment, Mina had just finished breakfast. Lita had called her several days ago, insisting that she go to the beach with their friends that Sunday. Seeing as it was a good way to get her problems with Jeffrey out of her mind, she agreed. The beach wasn't far from her place, so she walked.
She glanced over and passed the little boys still beating each other with sticks.
"Mina!"
She looked across the street. Andrew smiled and waved, then jogged towards her. His athletic and lengthy frame, had a woman old enough to be his grandmother, stop and whistle at him as she passed by. Andrew threw a smile and a wink in her direction.
"My, my I guess no one can get their fill of Andrew!" Mina gushed with exaggeration.
He laughed, "Well, I guess when they get a look at these guns" he said as he flexed his arms, "they can't help but swoon. I know you've been holding back cupcake but don't worry, there's plenty of Andrew for you."
She pretended to gag as they began walking.
"Where are you going" they asked each other at the same time.
"The Beach." they answered together.
They paused for a second and smiled.
"Wow, I knew you liked me, but why didn't you tell me that you wanted to be just like me?" Andrew teased.
"You mean you didn't guess when I started scratching my butt, and checking out every female that walked by?"
They walked together to the sandy beach. It was already warm. The beach crowd was small and volleyball nets were still being set up.
"Mina! Andrew! You're finally here! Did you bring food?" shouted Serena as she waddled in their direction.
Groans were elicited as they made their way to their crowd of friends. Everyone was there except Lita and Ken. The men were laying down with their sunglasses on, as the women applied sun block.
"This is all your fault Darien," stated a smiling Greg.
"Are you kidding me? She was like that before we even met. Andrew only did so well because of this Meatball Head." murmured a sleepy Darien.
"Yeah, but now you've made it worse. She might as well eat for the whole family."
"She already is," groaned Darien. Sighing, he stood up, "Serena! Come on, let's go to the snack bar and get something to eat."
Everyone laughed but noticed that Darien pulled her closer to him as they walked, whispering in her ear while she blushed.
"They're so good together," said Amy. She poked at her fiancé, Greg "Hey, when am I gonna have a bowling ball attached to my body?"
He looked up at her cute and petite frame. "Why don't we start now?" he replied as he grabbed her and yanked her down while planting kisses on her.
She giggled and slapped at him.
"What took you guys so long?" asked Raye, mercilessly slapping sun block on her long-time boyfriend Chad.
"Ow! Raye, I told you I put some on before we left!" shouted Chad in pain.
Grinning mischievously, she tossed her long black hair over her shoulder and said, "I know but something told me you missed a spot."
She moved away as she saw Chad preparing to stand. Sensing what his intentions were, she scrambled away laughing, as Chad chased her down the beach swearing he was going to throw her in the water.
Andrew and Mina looked at one another. This was going to be a fun day.