CHAPTER 4: DAZE
I woke up the next morning and quickly went downstairs from my room but almost fell maybe I went to quickly down the stairs... but that's just a thought. Natsu saw and looked a little bit frightened like he was just about to witness me breaking my neck or something. He nervously laughed and brushed it off like nothing happened, "Morning, sleepyhead! I'm just on my way out the door but there's fresh coffee brewing in the pot. How did you sleep anyway?" I sighed, I honestly don't know. "Honestly? Well... not so well. But I think I just had too much on my mind - the bed was really comfy!" I said, trying to brighten the mood.
"Oh good. Well if there's anything I can do..." He looked off to the side. "No, really, it's fine - I'm fine." I sighed. "I was wondering, though... how are you going to break the story? About us... you know, being married and all." He cracked his knuckles. "My best friend, Levy, just got fired so I'm just going to let her break the story to Mr. Dreyar. Hopefully if she comes to him with that kind of story she might get her job back." I wasn't 100% sure. What if I just got fired, this was a big risk.
"That's really nice of you but... are you sure you can trust her with something this big?" He asked. I squinted at him evilly, "Of course I can trust her, she's my best friend!" "Alright, alright, don't bite my head off! I was just asking." He implied. "But that sounds like a good solution all round. Other than... well the risk of you losing your job." I shrugged at that remark. "Well, I better get going." He said. "Where are you going?" I asked. Probably with that Wendy girl. "Just the gym. It's not my favorite thing in the world but Zeref would kill me if I stopped going. Gotta keep the fans happy!" He winked and pointed at me. I laughed at that, I was not only his wife, but his fan too! "See you later, wifey." He smirked about to hug me but stopped, then turned around and walked off.
"I guess so... husband." I shrugged. He wasn't really my husband anyway, it was fake, really fake. But I guess it's time to set up a chat with Levy. I took out my phone and checked out all of my notifications, nothing was happening with Sabertails just a sale update for their magazine. I then opened my contacts and searched for Levy. I called her, and waited for an answer.
About 20 seconds of waiting and, "Hi Lucy. What's up?" She said. "Well, don't freak out, okay?" I closed my eyes tightly and waited, she didn't respond so that was cue to go on, I think at least. "I accidentally married Natsu Dragneel the other night when we went out." She gasped, "You did.. you did what!?" "I know, I know. I drank just a bit too much, everything's a bit blurry, but it definitely happened, I can assure you that." I said. "Oh. My. God!" She screeched. "Look, Lev, long story short, Natsu and I have talked about it and we're going to stay married."
"What? Lucy, you don't even know the guy!" She said sounding defending. "I know, Levy, believe me. Anyway, the reason I called is because I want you to be the one to give the story to Mr. Dreyar." I said. "But Lucy that's the biggest story Sabertails has had in years! If you take it to Dreyar yourself you'll secure your job and maybe even get a promotion!" She sounded confused on why I wasn't taking the story myself.
"I know. That's why I want you to do it. Maybe he'll give you your job back. Listen, I'm running late to meet Michelle but-" She cut me off, "Right, the bridesmaids dresses." I nodded but I realized we we're not talking in person. "Yeah. But once I'm done with Levy we can talk about this later. Can I meet you at your house this afternoon?" I asked. "Sure. How's three o' clock?" Her voice trailed off. "Uhhm.. that sounds great. See you, later, Levy." I clicked end call and shoved my phone back in my pocket.
Great, now I know how I'm going to share the story and I have enough time to help Michelle... who I'm supposed to be meeting in ten minutes I better go! I rushed to the bathroom and quickly changed into a flouncy very short off-white dress, with a graceful black cardigan with daisies, heart sunglasses, and some sassy flip flops. I rushed to my car and I had to be there in 7 minutes. I am very proud for how fast it took me to get changed. I started up my car and put a half up bun for my hair, like all the recent celebs have been doing it like Mirajane Strauss. The drive would take about 7 minutes and to actually get in the mall to where Michelle was would be about 2 minutes.
Finally I pulled up to a driveway and I received a phone call, from an unknown number. Me being curious picked it up, "Hello?" I asked. "Aye, Lucy?" Someone asked. "Um yes, who's this?" I cringed. "It's that dude from the coffee shop, my name is Sting by the way." Oh him, I really didn't expect for him to call me. "Oh, hey! How are you?" I asked. "I'm doing well, but I wanted to ask you a question." He said. "Did you want to go out?" I stopped where I was walking that very moment. I didn't know how to reply to that, I really didn't.
"O-o-oh! Well... u-um.." I stuttered nervously. "Hey, it's okay if you're busy. I understand!" He said sounding as calm as ever. "Just, um. I'll call you back okay? I'm kind of bus-" "Yeah I understand, just call me later, okay, and save my number!" I really want to trust him, but Natsu doesn't like him so I don't know what to do... I just want to tell him that I am kind of married to Natsu, I think that-that Sting guy is interested in me. I sighed, I was already closer to Michelle now that-that phone call is over with. I saw her standing outside of the shop on the phone. "Michelle I'm sor-" I started to say. "Shhh!" Wow she did not just do that. But I guess if it's important. I nodded and acted like I was not effected by that at all.
"Yes... Mmm hmm... no, no, no, they have to be roses. Not white peonies!... Well make it happen, that's why I'm paying you!" She hung up the phone and sighed. "This is a nightmare! You so got it right getting hitched in Vegas!" "Hi, Michelle, nice to see you too." I sarcastically said. "Sorry, Lucy, I'm just a bit stressed. Speaking of, we better get going. Our appointment at the dress shop was five minutes ago.
Michelle was wearing a black and white form fitting long sleeve, with an opened army vest, black skater skirt, black thigh high socks, and black flatform ankle boots. I liked her outfit, I would wear it if it was in my reach. We continued walking and we finally got there. "Hi, Miss Lobster, how lovely to see you again!" A lady greeted us. I was still kind of shocked about the Sting phone call. I really wish I never married Natsu. "Oh, please Kinana, it's just Michelle. This is my sister and maid of honor, Lucy." Michelle smiled. "Hi, nice to meet you!" I said gleefully.
"So you guys are presumably here to try on the dresses you picked out, Gabby?" She asked totally not answering me acting as if I wasn't even an existing creature. She looked right through me, she hated me or something. "Yeah, I'd like Lucy to try them on and pick one." Michelle noticed the bit of rudeness from Kinana or what should I call her, Miss Mugshot. "That sounds great! Just this way!" She said to me and Michelle. Or just Michelle, or just me, I couldn't tell. I looked at Michelle and she nodded, meaning that I should be the one going. "You already picked some dresses out?" I asked. "Yeah, I whittled it down to a few but if you see something else you can try it on." She waited a moment and then pointed at Kinana. "Just make sure it's pink or purple; you know my color scheme is pink, purple, and white. "This is so exciting!" I said walking towards Kinana.
"The dresses that Michelle chose are in the dressing room three." She said. "You are going to just love them!" Michelle said. I nodded and went into the room. There was a classic and understated one, modern and sexy one, glamorous and sophisticated one, and some blue dress that was really ugly. I first tried the classic and understated one. It was a short pink cut out dress with a pink flower bracelet. I don't know why my sister wants her wedding to be pink and purple themed and not just black and white. I walked out of the dressing room, "Ohmigosh! Lucy, it's beautiful! So elegant." She said. It really wasn't elegant. It was short and barely reached my knees. But I guess that's okay since I am one of the bridesmaids.
"I just hope you don't upstage the bride!" She said. "Oh, Michelle, no one will ever upstage you; I've seen your beautiful dress! Why don't you go try on another one, Lucy?" Kinana said. I nodded and headed back the room. I tried the the modern and sexy one next, it was even shorter than the other dress. It had a sparkly top and then a pink skirt. I really hate these dresses. I sighed and walked out again. "I'm not sure if the sparkles are appropriate for the wedding!" Michelle said. "Well you picked it out." I replied. "I picked it out because it's awesome!" I laughed at that comment and went back inside. I took off the dress and put on the glamorous and sophisticated one next, it wasn't my cup of tea neither. It was a dark sparkly glittery sequin purple with a giant bow strapped not on the waist line but under it. I walked out again, I suppose whatever makes my sister happy.
"I love it! Purple is so your color! But I'm not sure whether to go with purple as the bridesmaids dress color. So is this the one anyway?" She asked. I shook my head, I guess I'll try on the blue one. I changed my mind when I looked at it again, it was way more sparkly and had this translucent strapping around it with a blue headband bow. I guess I'll go with the classy one. It was the most proper and appropriate. I was going to be standing next to Natsu, anyway so I have to look pretty good. I heard them talking about dresses for her wedding, really on topic. "So how many dresses will you need?" Kinana asked. "Three; one for Lucy, one for my best friend, and one for my fiance's sister." Michelle said. "Okay, I'll go and put that through the till." Kinana said walking away. I changed back into my clothes while they were talking and hung up the dress nicely on a hook. "I'm so excited for your wedding, it's going to be great. I said.
"I'm just so glad you didn't pick the blue one!" Michelle said sighing of relief. "That would have messed up my whole color scheme!" She continued. We both laughed and then she stopped abruptly. "Well, what about Natsu? Is he going to be okay coming to the wedding?" She asked. "Don't worry, he won't cause any trouble. He'll be well-trained by then!" We both laughed again. "I better get going. Sorry to leave you so soon but I've got to go to a meeting." I said. "That's fine, I was just going to go do some grocery shopping anyway." I nodded and gave her a hug, "See you later, Chel." "Yeah. And thanks for helping me pick the dresses. I think you made the right choice." She said. "What can I say? I'm a natural at these things! Well bye, I'll see you soon or talk to you, either way works!" She waved and I exited the shop.
Time to go to Levy's place. There was a lot of shops in this mall, like a lot. I think I should go to the mall soon, if my stay at Natsu's place is going to be permanent I'm going to run out of clothes, unless I go back to my place, of course. I reached the exit of the building but I still was thinking about that phone call. Maybe I better just leave it alone.
I finally reached Levy's house. I knocked on her complex side-by-side and she opened the door. "So what can I do for you, my apparently newlywed friend?" She deadpanned. "Well, you know all about this mess I'm in..." I started, but she interrupted. "Oh you mean marrying a super-hot celeb with loads of money? Yeah, some mess!" She said. "Come on Levy, it IS a mess! I'm a journalist and he's a celebrity its like if... if... well if a cat married a dog!" I crossed my arms. She wasn't getting that I didn't want to be with Natsu.
"Yeah, or like Romeo and Juliet! And that's the most romantic story of all-time!" She yelped. "Er, yeah, except they both died." I shrugged. "Oh, Lucy, you get way too hung up on the small details." She said smiling. So a death isn't a big detail? I sighed. "Although talking details... I want some!" She said quickly before conversation got awkward. "I'll fill you i on the very few details I have later. Right now, I'm here because I want to talk to you about breaking the story." I said. "I can't believe you want me to do it!" Levy was shocked about this still. "Are you sure you don't want to tell La- Mr. Dreyar yourself?" She asked.
"Well," I started, "I did consider talking to him myself but I thought you needed this more than I do, and you do need it more than I do." "It's okay if you do want to tell him, you know. Your job's at risk as well, I understand that better than anyone." She shrugged. I know that she wanted to tell him I could just tell it in her body language and tone of how she was talking. "I know. But it's okay, Levy. Company policy says I can't report on stories I am personally involved in. So I really couldn't do much about it anyway." Saved by the policies! "Okay, I'll do it. Then hopefully Mr. Dreyar will let me write it up for you!" She smiled. She really had her hopes up, hopefully she won't be let down. "Yeah, hopefully." I said. "I'll go and talk to him now! Thanks Lucy, this is so great!" She had a big smile on her face, and she looked so hype.
"You're welcome. Do you mind if I come with you? I'll wait outside, I'm just keen to know how it goes." I requested. "Of course I don't mind! Come on, let's go get my job back! Oh, and report your marriage..." She chuckled. She ran to her fridge and grabbed a water bottle. I nodded at her and we exited her house. We took my car, since it was already ready to go, and I wasn't planning on getting a ticket anytime soon.
When we arrived at the office, it was already night time. I was a bit tired from the long drive but I guess I'll get through it. We walked up to the elevator with anxiety. I knew that she had so much hope but I didn't want her to be disappointed if she didn't get her job back. "Hey, Levy... um, don't get your hopes to high in the sky." I said as she pressed the button to go up. "Why are you so worried, Mr. Dreyar will definitely let me get my job back for this!" She assured me. "I suppose, just, try not to be to disappointed if plans backfire." I said nervously. She nodded, "Good luck to me?" "Yeah.. um.. good luck, Levy." She left the elevator and went into Mr. Dreyar's office. Would it be so bad to eavesdrop on their conversation?
I got a little closer. No harm in having a little listen... just for a second. It is MY marriage they're talking about after all! I got closer and I could hear Mr. Dreyar, he was talking very firmly. Uh-oh Levy might be in trouble. "...Levy, I just told you; I can't rehire you because of the policy!" He said. "But the policy's stupid, Laxus! Besides, you're really going to want this story! It's an exclusive and no other magazine has picked it up yet!" I could hear her shrug. "Trust me, this story would get the business, Sabertails, out of trouble AND you that promotion you want. And if you got that promotion... well, the policy wouldn't matter anymore, would it?" She asked. Which or what policy are they talking about? I can't think of one that would stop him from rehiring Levy.
"Well, what's the story? Tell me and I'll think about it." He said. "It's about Natsu Dragneel." She blurted out. "What about him?" "He got married again. In Vegas. I brought a copy of the marriage certificate." She said, I could hear the paper being handed to him. Oh boy, he was reading it. "Lucy Heartfilia? He married Lucy? Our Lucy?" He was in shock. "Yeah, that's how I got the story. She can't report on it as she's personally involved so... well, here I am." She said.
"How long have you known she was engaged?" He asked. Why would he ask that? Out of all things, that? I don't understand... "Oh, not long at all..." Levy said nonchalantly. "This is not a laughing matter, Levy! Lucy's a-a-a showbiz journalist, if she was engaged to a celebrity she should have told me!" He said. Oh no, maybe I made the wrong choice sending Levy in my place. "And, to be frank, I'm disappointed she isn't bring this to me herself. Look Levy, I've told you why I can't rehire you, but I appreciate you coming. Really, thanks for the story. Tell Lucy she should expect a call from me. And I'm sorry, Levy. I'm sorry I couldn't help you out more but you know my hands are tied."
"It's okay. I understand..." Levy said quietly. "Thanks again, Laxus. For everything." I better move away from the door, it wouldn't be a nice sight for Levy and Mr. Dreyar to see me like this. I jogged towards my last spot and pulled out my phone and acted as if I was texting someone. Not long before that, Levy walked up to me with a sluggish attitude. "I'm so sorry, Lucy, I tried my best but it didn't go to plan..." She said. I'm not a really good actor, I really want to be honest with her, like I did with Natsu, being honest with him at the bar really helped me. If I didn't then well... I'd be in quite the pickle.
"I know; I was listening in." I said. She gasped, "You were? What did you hear?" "Uh... just that Dreyar won't give you your job back and wanted me to take the story to him." I said, I did hear about the little shin-dig policy thing but I don't think it's nothing to worry about. "That's it? Nothing else?" She urgently asked. "Er, that's it. Why? Was there something else?" I questioned. "No! No... that was it." She responded. "Oh, but he did want me to tell you to-" I cut her off, "Expect a phone call, I know." "Okay." She replied.
"Maybe we should get out of here before Mr. Dreyar sees me and fires me on the spot." I shrugged implying a good idea. "Yeah, lets go." She agreed. I turned around and headed towards the elevator leaving the blue carpet passageway to over twenty offices. We went down the elevator and she asked if we could hang out soon again. Where it's not work related. I said sure. The rest of the way to her house was quiet, we had the radio on quiet.
When I reached her house the rest of the way home - to Natsu's house was not long. And when I arrived, "Hey, I thought I heard the door go." I nodded. "How was your day?" He added. "It was okay. I think." I said. "Did you break the story?" Asked Natsu. "Sort of... It'll be out tomorrow." I shrugged. "Great! Was trusting your friend with it the right call?" He asked. I wanted to be really honest with everyone. It went okay with Levy, and the journalist thing. "I'm really not so sure if it was.. my boss is upset that I didn't take the story to him personally.. and Levy didn't get her job back so it was a bit of a big waste of time, really. Apparently I should be expecting a call from him... whatever that means." I sighed.
"You were just trying to do the right thing!" He sided with me smiling. "I'm sure it will all turn out okay. I trust you." He added. "Thanks. Well I better get off to bed. It's been a long day and I'm expecting a phone call in the morning." I replied. He nodded, "Good luck with that." "Thanks. See you in the morning." "Sleep well." I brushed passed him and went up the untouched stairway. What a day.
Ring ring ring... I picked up my phone, oh no... it's Mr. Dreyar. Why did he call me now? I thought - ugh well it doesn't really matter now. "Hello?" I answered. "Lucy, it's Mr. Dreyar." He said. "Hi. Listen about today..." I started. "I didn't call to talk about today, Lucy. I want to know when you can come into work tomorrow?" He firmly stated and asked. "I've got a small group of freelance journalists and I want one of them to cover your story on behalf. I thought you might like to give your opinion on which one should get the job... since you'll be working closely with them." He added.
"Of course! I'd love to help you choose." I said. "I said I want your opinion, not your choice. Let me be clear on this: I'm giving you a voice since you'll have to see them a lot. But you are not choosing. I am the boss, I am choosing." He said. "Sure..." I sassily said. He was really getting on my nerves. I just want to punch him in the face. "Thank you." He said. "And Lucy?" He asked. I grunted. "I'm not sure how much you've spoken with Levy about this but I want you to hear it from me." He waited a moment.
"What?" Do you want oh my god, you are so annoying. "That I am not very happy with you right now. I'm disappointed you didn't come forward with this much earlier. It would have made good business sense to do an engagement shoot, cover your wedding, and..." Oh my god, shut up. "With respect, Mr. Dreyar, this is my personal life, not something for you to cash in on. And I also don't know how much you've spoken with Levy about this but I want you to hear it from me, I only married him two days ago." I snickered.
"I wasn't finished." He said. Well clearly you we're not finished. You we're being irritating and I had to make you stop talking. "I'm also disappointed on a personal level that you didn't feel you could trust me with such big news." He said. Oh my god, stop, right now. He's making me cringe so badly right now.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Dreyar, but you have to be careful with these things." I said. "Clearly." He rudely remarked. "I'll see you in the morning, first thing. And don't be late." "Of course Mr-" I gasped. He hung up on me, how disrespectful. This does not sound good. I hope he at least chooses someone I like. I suppose only time will tell.