A/N: I have returned! Major kudos to KKJeane for your input of the Meus instead of Mea in the title. Granted, you gave that suggestion about how long ago now? Oh welch. In any case, thanks for the correction. Eek! Sorry to my dedicated fans but I lost my muse a while ago and I was just not in the mood to write anything. However, rejoice my dear readers! I have found my muse once more and he has been most helpful in distracting me from my daily troubles and redirecting me back to my writing.
Meus Amor et Mea Culpa: My Love and My Mistake
Unexpected
"So what's this I hear about you and some guy you met at a bar?"
The man heard no human reply to his question, only the rhythmic pattern of clanging pots and something boiling over a fire. His face turned into one of annoyance.
"Hey!" He slammed his hand down on the counter, trying to get the young girl's attention. "Are you listening to me?"
Once more, no one called back and the sounds of activity continued without interruption. He growled, rolling his eyes.
"Yo, Lita!" He almost shouted. There was a shift in the kitchen and soon a head poked out of the door. She had stains of flour on her cheeks, holding a ladle in one hand and a dreamy look on her face.
"Hmm?" She muttered distractedly. "Did you say something, Kenny?"
"Oh, nothing." He said sarcastically. "Absolutely nothing."
Lita raised an eyebrow. "Someone's feeling cranky today."
"Not so much cranky as annoyed right now." Ken Maxwell shot back. Lita pursed her lips in an effort to look thoughtful.
"Girl troubles again, buddy?" She teased.
Ken snorted. "What girl?"
Lita looked mildly surprised. "What about Lizzie? I thought you two were still going out."
Ken waved his hand in the air. "Out, in, on, off. I can't really tell with that girl."
Lita smirked. "What else is new? C'mon in."
She motioned for him to follow her into the kitchen. It was empty right now. Mr. Kino (Senior) was out on some business negotiations that day so the restaurant was closed, leaving Lita free reign over the domain.
"So what's up?" Lita asked, inspecting the soup in one of her pots on the stove. "You seem upset."
"Now whatever could have given you that idea?" Lita glared at the sarcasm, pointing her ladle at him threateningly.
"Watch it, Kenny." She growled. "This," She motioned to the stove. "Is your lunch so at least try to be nice, okay?"
Ken walked over behind her and caught the strong, delicious whiff of her cooking. The smell was absolutely addictive. The thin, spiced scent of the soup overwhelmed his nostrils and the slowly-baking pie in the oven was more than enough to drive him wild. Lita smirked superiorly at the dreamy, drooling expression on his face, tilting her head high, proud. "There is more to fact that I'm his granddaughter that Grandfather made me his apprentice."
"I'll say," Ken muttered, still intoxicated by the scents.
"Now," Lita let the top of the pot clatter loudly, turning to face Ken. "What were you ranting at me about?"
"Huh?" Lita held back the giggle and settled for a smirk as Ken donned a dumb expression, obviously still entranced by the smells of the kitchen. Sensing her silent teasing, he snapped back to reality with a sharp shake of his head. "Oh yeah." He leaned over the counter separating them as Lita chopped up more vegetables inquiringly. "You know, me and Grams have been talking a lot lately."
Lita paused, her knife in mid-chop, to look up at Ken's tone. It was a slithery one that she didn't trust, even if their ties were stronger than just first cousins. Her brows furrowed.
"Just what are you getting at, Kenny-boy?" She demanded.
To her surprise, Ken held up one hand, four fingers spanning out. "Four things, baby cousin.
You. Club. Last weekend. Bartender." He pronounced, clenching in one finger with every sentence. He leaned back on the stool he sat on. "Care to explain?" He questioned cockily. "Grams refused to let on anything."
"What ever happened to Grandmother-Granddaughter confidentiality?" Lita muttered darkly, slamming her knife down harshly in a murderous manner that would've frightened anyone else other than Ken.
"Went down the drain right along with courtesy at weddings of annoying relatives." Ken chirped, carefully watching his cousin.
"And I still don't know why you dragged me to that thing." Lita grumbled, unhappily recalling the things she had to endure at one of Ken's cousins on his father's side of the family's wedding. All the make-up, those ridiculous heels and OH! Don't even get her started on the dress.
"You know what I wanna know, Lita?"
"Why you can't get a steady girl?" Lita teased. Ken glared at her before bestowing himself an arrogant look.
"Oh that's easy." He gave a dramatic sigh. "There are just too many clamoring for my debonair affection that I can't bear to break all their hearts."
There was an eerie silence in the kitchen before it was broken by the bouts of laughter coming from the hysterical Lita.
"Kenny..." She managed to say in between laughs. "You're a riot."
"Yeah yeah yeah." Ken muttered, watching Lita wipe a tear away from her eyes. "So, are you actually going to tell me what happened?"
Lita paused for a moment, her laughter dying down as she saw how serious Ken was. At his expression she faked a smile and picked up her knife, chopping. "Nothing."
Ken arched an eyebrow. "Nothing?"
"What? Do you need a hearing aid or something?" Lita snapped. "I said nothing happened."
"Uh-huh." Ken said, obviously unconvinced. There was a long pause of silence. "So...you gonna tell me what happened or what?"
The laughter ceased and Ken caught the look of pain that rarely reached his cousin's face. Ten minutes later found them in nearly the same positions in the kitchen. Except now, Lita was raving about, pacing back and forth, waving her hands expressively while Ken sat, listening.
"And I don't even know why I'm getting so upset!" Ken said nothing but watched Lita, throwing her apron down on the table and dropping to the stool in defeat. "It's so ridiculous that I'm even thinking about him now, Kenny! Ridiculous!
I spent less than two hours with the man and here I am, sulking about his engagement and ugh!" Lita slammed down on the counter in front of her, letting out a strangled scream, muffled when she covered her head with her forearms. Ken still said nothing but reached out a hand on lay on her arm in comfort.
"Kenny, what the hell is wrong with me?" Lita raised her head up slightly on the counter, revealing her somber green eyes. "What the hell coerces me to choose the most ineligible guys on the planet?"
"Are we referring to this new guy or Freddy?" The minute the name left his mouth, Lita's head shot up in attention and Ken found himself subject to the dangerous glare.
"Don't ever mention that man's name in my presence." The words were said slowly and deliberately. Venom was laced along her voice, a tone that she had never used with Ken. A sympathetic expression crossed his features and he got off his stool, coming over to her, giving Lita a hug from behind.
"Lita, you know I love you." Ken said as she relaxed into his hug. Ken always had a way of calming down Lita whenever she was going through a rough time. Like whenever her parents left after their month-long visits to their only daughter. Not to mention that incident with Freddy...but that was a different manner. "Freddy was a complete idiot and I just don't want you ending up in the same situation as last time. You do remember don't you?"
There was a slight pause on Lita's part before she said, just about a whisper. "How could I forget?" She heaved a sigh at the memory of the red-haired man that she had trusted so much. A sudden smile touched her face and she turned around in Ken's arms. "Thanks, cuz." She said gratefully. "I'm glad I have you."
"Happy to be here." Ken replied chirpily. "After all, what would you be without-"
"Hellloooo??" The two turned to the door separating the kitchen from the rest of the restaurant, surprised at the calling. Lita turned to Ken harshly.
"Did you lock the front door?" The guilty expression on Ken's face answered and exasperated her. However, she had no time to rant when the door to the kitchen swung open. "Anybody here? Oh!"
Lita's eyes widened as she saw the woman step into the kitchen. 'Oh God, why me?'
"Hey, it's you!" Bethany cried with oblivious glee before turning around to talk to someone behind her. "Nicky, guess who's here?"
~*~*~*~*~
Nicholas Anza was not having a good day. He had to forcefully shove a drunkard out of the club the other night and for a guy that had drowned one too many drinks, the jerk could throw one hell of a punch. Throughout his class, he had to endure a couple of curious stares at the black eye that was now calming down slightly on his face. However, when Bethany practically tackled him after his classes and insisted they meet up with a caterer, Nicholas had insisted that they would have time later on. And, yet again, he found himself in her car as she violated about three traffic laws in less than five minutes.
"Beth," He tried to appeal to her. "Are you sure this couldn't wait? I have a lot of things I need to take care of."
"Oh, but Nicky." She sighed melodramatically. "I really want us to do this together. It's our wedding remember?"
Like he could forget. It was at her far too spontaneous episodes that Nick found himself searching his memory of all the reasons he had proposed to her last month. They were currently speeding towards a restaurant Bethany had described as perfect for catering the event. As his fiancé rambled about the success of the restaurant, he managed to smile politely but his mind was wandering off to other places. Like, for example, last weekend at the club.
It was really ridiculous when you really came down to it. For the love of God, he was a grown man with a beautiful fiancé and a life ahead of him and here he was besotted by a teenage girl he had spent only maybe two hours with. And yet...
In the short time that he met the young woman, he had become enamored by her and felt the sensations he was sure would've only came over schoolboys. Lita was beautiful girl, though he would have a while before he'd admit it to himself let alone anyone else. It was a silly notion. It wasn't like he was ever going to-
"Oof!" They screeched to a stop and Nick was suddenly very grateful for seat belts. As he was shocked back to his chair, he looked up at the building. Kino's Kitchen. He turned back to Bethany.
"This is the place?" She nodded and he looked back the place skeptically. "Darling, I think it's closed. There's no one in there."
"Well, that's not right." Bethany murmured, getting out of the car and walking around to the front doors. "How about that? There's no one inside."
Nick gave a sigh. He could've been taking care of some of his term papers. "C'mon, Beth. Let's head back. We'll just try again late- Bethany!"
"What?" Bethany looked at him, slightly annoyed at his outburst.
"Bethany, what the hell do you think you're doing?" She realized what he was referring to and shrugged.
"Hey, it's unlocked." She reasoned flippantly. "Maybe someone's inside." Nick groaned, rubbing his face.
"Beth, do you realize that you're breaking and entering?" Beth shook her head.
"Not really. It's just entering. There was no need to break anything because the door was already open." Before he could say anything else, she was inside the restaurant.
"Beth!"
"Hellloooo??" Nick groaned. Leave it to Beth to stay quiet. "Anybody here? Oh!"
He stared up at her exclamation and saw that she had opened the door leading to the back of the building, probably the kitchen.
"Hey, it's you!" Bethany cried, drawing in Nick's curiosity. She suddenly turned around, a huge grin on her face, gesturing for him to come closer. "Nicky, guess who's here?"
He gave in and followed his fiancé to the back. The delicious smells of the kitchen had no effect on him as his senses were narrowed to the familiar brunette looking like she suddenly realized the world was coming to an end...in the arms of another guy.
Nick checked his inexplicably flaring temper. He was definitely not having a good day.
~*~*~*~*~
Lita concluded that she must've committed some very harsh deeds in her past life in order to be punished in this one.
"-And my mother insisted that we look up Koji Kino first and foremost before we look at any caterers, after seeing all the success this place had but I must admit, I'm very surprised to see you here." Bethany finished her story, eyeing Lita, who managed to keep her forced grin in place like she had been doing for the past ten minutes. Ken was at first confused with the situation but, after learning the newcomers' names, he completely understood the situation...and was very amused.
"My grandfather is Koji Kino and I'm his apprentice." Lita explained to the woman, carefully averting her eyes from Nicholas, who was standing less than a foot behind his fiancé, a hand loosely wrapped around Bethany. The guy hadn't said anything since he had walked into the kitchen and glimpsed Ken with his arms around Lita. Ken was no fool.
"Oh! What a coincidence!" Bethany exclaimed. "You're so young, too." She then glanced around, searching for someone. "So...where is he?"
"Grandfather is currently out of town on business." Lita explained.
"Oh darn!" When Lita raised an eyebrow at Bethany's disappointed expression, Bethany said, "Well, I'm sure you remember that Nicky and I are engaged? You were at the club last weekend right?"
A flash of darkness passed Lita's features and she (unconsciously) gripped Ken's hand on her waist for support. "Yes." She said finally. "I was there."
"Well, we were hoping that he would cater our wedding." Bethany said with a sigh then, looking at Lita, she asked, "Do you know when he'll be back?"
"Not until the end of the weekend." Ken interjected for Lita's behalf. At his statement, he found himself the subject of a very curious look from the other man in the room.
"I'm sorry you came here for nothing." Lita managed to say aloud, but Ken managed to catch the subtle relief in her statement. It was understandable. It would appear that his darling cousin was more than infatuated with this Nicholas character and if their Grandfather was involved in the wedding, it would have very disastrous results on Lita's behalf.
Thank goodness he choose that weekend to roam outside of the city...
"Lita? Why on earth is the front door open?" The eerily familiar booming voice had Lita turning paler than death itself. The two newcomers turned to the door, where the source of the voice was approaching quickly. "Haven't I told you a million times before to make sure it's locked when I'm not in town? For heaven's sake, you would think after all these years..."
The grumbling trailed off as the door swung open and a tall man stood in the doorway, surveying the occupants of the room. He was of tall build, a trait he passed off to his son who, in turn, passed it off to Lita. His hair that had once been a jet black shade had futilely tried to stand against the tide of time though the white mass on his head contained scarce black strands.
"Grandfather!" Lita exclaimed, her eyes widening in something resembling horror and surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, I own the place don't I?" Koji Kino demanded indignantly.
"Well, yes." Lita replied quickly. "I meant, why aren't you at the business meeting?"
Her grandfather shook his head disdainfully, tugging at the tie around his neck. "Waste of my time, quite frankly. Boys over there just wanted to talk about me selling the restaurant- Which I assured them I would never do." He added quickly once he saw the look on his granddaughter's face. "Quickest meeting I've had in a long time." He gave a slight groan, rubbing a sore spot behind his neck. Old age was catching up to him and those airplane chairs did not help whatsoever. When he looked up, his granddaughter was watching him apprehensively. What was wrong with the girl. She looked like she had just seen a ghost. Before he could make a statement, however, he inhaled a familiar scent, one that had the tendency to invade his own house every so often when his wife was in a good mood. "Lita, you might want to check on that pie of yours." He gave a small smile as his granddaughter practically raced to the oven. In her absence, he got a full look at the man standing behind him. "And what the hell do you think you're doing here?"
Ken gave a smirk. "Just hanging around."
"Don't you have to be at school or something?" Mr. Kino demanded. He outwardly thought as much of Ken as he did for Ken's father, which wasn't really much to begin with. But the mere fact that he was family was enough for Old Man Kino to overlook that Ken was not a Kino himself, but nonetheless his grandson.
"It's called a weekend." Ken shot back lazily.
"Hard to tell." The older man shot back. "You're over here practically everyday, distracting my student from her work."
"Awe, c'mon." Ken said lightly, smiling as always. "It's not like she minds the company."
"You call it company, I call it annoying." Mr. Kino gave a weary growl and then turned, finally seeing the couple that he had somehow overlooked at his entrance. "And who are you?"
The woman in the front stepped up with a happy-go-lucky expression on her face.
"Hello Mr. Kino." She said, holding out a hand in greeting. "My name is Bethany Rogers and I am so glad that you're here."
In all honesty, Mr. Kino was too absorbed as to what was this girl's true hair color, black or blue, to really hear her greeting. Then again, Lita's friend, what was it? Ami(?) had blue hair the last time he checked. What was it with teens today?
"A pleasure." He said aloud, taking her hand. She turned around to reach out to a man behind her. This one had hair longer than his granddaughter's, tied up at the nape of his neck and one ear pierced. What an odd couple.
"And this is Nick, my fiancé." They're engaged. Well, that makes sense. Mr. Kino thought with an outward smile as Bethany paused, watching them shake hands before continuing. "You probably don't remember but this business catered my mother's wedding and she insisted that I come here first and foremost to see if you were available for the job..."
Mr. Kino nodded, taking in the information before asking the couple to step into his office. Lita did not turn around from her position at the stove, almost afraid to turn around and face the man that she was sure was looking at her at the moment (which he was, though Ken was the only one to observe it). Only when the door leading to her grandfather's office shut did she breathe a sigh of relief.
"Damn, baby cuz." Ken whistled. "You really know how to pick 'em."
He was answered by a harsh slap on his arm. "Don't even start, Kenny." Lita muttered angrily, distractedly running her fingers through her hair. "This is really not good."
"Oh, c'mon." Ken said, trying his best to reassure her. "Don't sweat it. You don't even know if Gramps will accept the invitation."
"Oh, heaven forbid." Lita groaned at the thought. "Ken, do you have any idea what I'll have to deal with if Grandfather accepts?
"You'll be stuck dealing and catering the wedding of a man whom you've become infatuated with practically overnight?" Ken's dry humor was rewarded with another punch. "Ow! Geez. You asked, I answered."
"I didn't want you to be so damn truthful." Lita seethed.
"The truth will set you free." Ken declared dramatically. "Either that or it'll screw you over till next week."
Lita groaned again, rubbing her temples. Ken recognized the signs that his cousin was losing it like she had some times ago and did what he always did: gave her another hug. It was always like that with Lita and Ken. Ken's mother and Lita's father were incredibly close in their youth and it would only be expected that Lita and Ken follow the tradition. Ken had through a childhood with very few happy memories of his father and Lita had the same amount of memories with both of her parents, who were always globetrotting. They were probably the only stable things in each other's lives, aside from their loving grandparents.
"Ease up, kid." He said comfortingly. "You'll be fine." There was a sound in the direction of their Grandfather's office and Ken glanced at his watch. "Hey, I've got to run. See you at home?"
"Ahem." The two turned, seeing that their grandfather and their guests had returned. Bethany's elated smile told Lita of events to come though the glare in Nick's eyes was only caught by Ken, who smirked in reply.
"Lita, meet our newest clients."
As Lita's mind went down in a spiral, she was only consoled by the thought that once you hit rock bottom, the only way to go was up. It would not be long until she would see just how wrong she was.
~*~*~*~*~
"Thank you for choosing our airline, sir." Darla said sweetly, flashing the dashingly handsome man her best flight attendant smile.
"Believe when I say it's been a pleasure." The man replied smoothly, leaning closer. His cologne was invigorating and Darla lost herself in those gorgeous baby blue eyes half-hidden by dirty blonde hair. Oh! Damn he is fine!
"-And we're so glad we're finally here." And taken. Darla thought sadly as a hand snaked around the man's arm. The red-haired woman gave the two of them an annoyed look before muttering her adieus and snatching the man away. "We are never riding there again."
"Oh, c'mon baby." The man laughed, bringing his arms around the woman affectionately, dousing her sulky disposition. "She didn't hold a candle to you."
The woman smirked. "Damn straight."
They continued laughing as they came outside the airport. The California sun silenced them and there was nostalgic pause over the couple.
"Do you think we're doing the right thing?" The woman whispered, almost afraid to say it aloud. She turned to her male companion inquiringly.
He sighed, messing up his hair. She would just have to fix it later. "I hope so baby." They heard their names and turned to see their fellow flight companions nearby, loading bags into two taxis. "I really hope so."
"She has a lot to answer for." The woman said softly, her hazel eyes wandering off in the distance. Such a big city. It was hard to find this place. It will be harder to track her down.
~*chickay*~
Thank you all soo much for everyone that has reviewed. You have really kept me going and I apologize if this wasn't the best chapter but I assure you your patience will not be wasted. Stay tuned for more drama and revelations.