Author's note: sorry about the wait (busier around here than I originally though)…as usual I don't own Sailor Moon; Serena's thoughts are in italics. Also you know the drill – read and review please! Thanks to my latest reviewers – raye85, Mamoru's Playmate, fantasyluv, and MoonWriter1! I'm sorry that I've been bad with the thank yous lately (and I really appreciate you fantasyluv – you seem to be a huge fan of this story, and have been sticking with me since day one! Makes me so happy you have no idea.). Anyway, this chapter will introduce two people from the Sailor Moon movies (read to find out, I hope that you won't be disappointed) as well as someone from a certain series of Sailor Moon (I won't tell you which one) that may be familiar. I hope that you like the way that they're portrayed – it's a bit different from the manga/anime. Onto the story…
Chapter Seven: Lita's Excellent Plan
Rini entered the room in a confident and casual manner, her eyes avoiding me. I was so nervous that I nearly shit myself. The issue that was bothering me all day today was finally here – confrontation was in the air, and I didn't like it one bit. "Hello Serena." Rini said to me in a cheerful tone as she put her stuff down and proceeded to sit in a chair a couple of feet away from me. "So how are you since we talked last night?" She asked me as she looked into the mirror, then grabbed a few things out of her bag.
"Me?" I asked with a slight panic in my voice. "I'm perfectly fine. Couldn't be better – why do you ask?"
"Just curious." Rini said – still avoiding me with her eyes, pulling out her DJ uniform as well as a small makeup kit.
"Oh – I see. Well I've got to get going Rini…help with setup and all."
"I know Serena. See you later." Rini said, I turned around because I couldn't even look at her anymore. I walked out of there as quickly as I could – lost in my own thoughts.
Why in the hell do you feel so guilty about kissing Darien? Just because a seventeen-year-old has a crush on him? Darien's twenty-eight years old, he's not even interested in her – and if he was it would be a crime in this state! So don't worry about it… then bang, I bumped right into someone very hard. "Ouch!" I yelled out, rubbing the top of my head which had collided with a very hard chest – that of none other than Darien's.
"Serena, I'm sorry about all of that." Darien said, "I wasn't really looking where I was going."
"Neither was I." I laughed nervously.
"I'm glad that I ran into you – despite the fact that I didn't exactly want it to be like this. Can I talk to you for a second?" Darien asked me with a concerned smile on his face.
"Yeah…sure." I told him, curious to know what exactly he wanted to talk to me about. He took my arm and led me to a place that I had never been – the boss' office. He's not going to fire me is he? Tell me that he never wants to see me again? What does he want to tell me…ooh I'm so nervous! We walked into the room and then Darien closed the door behind us. He pulled out a chair for me, then pulled the chair out from around his desk. Darien had positioned the two chairs so that they were facing each other. The boss' office was shared by Raye, Taiki, and him, so there weren't that many personal items in the room at all. The only thing that made the office stand out was the nice laptop that Darien had on his marble desk (latest version of a Sony desktop, which was custom made might I add), the word 'Polaris' written largely in white across the walls – which had the same colors as the club. Papers were neatly stacked on the desk, and I also noticed a collection of books behind the desk as I still stood up nervously as Darien took his seat.
"Have a seat Serena, don't be so nervous. So…" Darien started out hesitantly. "Something came up earlier today that I wanted to talk to you about."
"Okay." I replied, still nervous as hell as I sat down in the chair.
"Rini came into my office earlier…."
What the fuck? He dragged me in here to talk about Rini?
"And she told me some interesting things about you Serena. She said that you two had gotten awfully close – and yesterday you had a personal talk."
I was shocked. What the hell is going on? Maybe she told Darien that she likes him and he's telling me that our date on Sunday is cancelled because he's fallen in love with her? Damn those younger girls…I didn't think that it would be happening this early to me…I mean I'm only twenty-four but here it is already. "Yes we did Darien…" I replied, biting my tongue.
"She told me that you revealed a lot of things about yourself. Like how you are dating two guys and you can't decide on who is right for you, so you've decided to date them both and see which one works out the best."
That fucking little lying bitch! I'll kill her, I will! Forget feeling sorry for her, I'm going to get that little cotton candy haired whore. Who the fuck does she think that she is? I helped her get this fucking job. That's when the sudden realization hit me as well, that's why she couldn't look me in the eye earlier. "Listen Darien." I said a bit more angrily than I intended to, "I'm not dating anyone else but you! For your information I was really looking forward to Sunday's date, but if you want to cancel it because you believe in some horribly false concocted story that a jealous girl made up – then fine by me. I didn't think that you were that kind of person." I said, getting up angrily and ready to storm through the door, when Darien quickly got up from his chair and blocked it before I could get to the doorknob. I looked up into those wonderful blue eyes of his and dared him to continue to stop me as I tried desperately to make passes at the door – each of them unsuccessful.
"Calm down Serena! I didn't mean to get you mad or anything, I just wanted to hear your version of the story. Really I did, that's why I called you in here."
"Yeah…well I don't really believe it. You're more interested in that pink-haired not even legal yet small wonder of a DJ than me." I said, again looking up into his beautiful blue eyes angrily…the longer I stared into those eyes though the less angry I got, and the more I wanted to burst out in tears. Now it was just a matter of getting out of the room so I could go to my car and have a good angry cry, which I hadn't had since the day that Seiya and I broke up.
"That's not true Serena. I just wanted to know because…well…if you must know the truth…" Darien said, blushing a bit. He's very adorable when he blushes…how can I stay mad at a face like that? "I've really been falling hard for you, and it would break my heart if you were interested in someone else other than me. I wouldn't be able to handle it; I barely even know you and yet you seem to be my dream girl. That's why I had to know the truth." He said, smiling down at me. I just melted inside. He's so sweet and caring…I smiled back at him happily, the angry tears that had been forming in my eyes started to turn to tears of joy. Before I knew it, I was crying into Darien's nice business suit that he would probably end up stripping off today.
"I'm….I'm….sorry…." I wailed, and he was at first a bit surprised, but he wrapped his arms around me in a gentle embrace, and gave me a little kiss on my forehead. He waited for me to calm down, and I did somewhat quickly. "If you must know the truth…" I started with a sniffle, "Rini and I did have a talk last night Darien. But it wasn't about me at all."
"Oh?" He said a bit surprised, gazing down at me gently with those blue eyes.
"It was about her…well…I promised not to tell but, now that I found out that she lied what choice do I have?" I said to him, and he continued to gaze down at me smiling.
"You don't have to tell me Serena, let Rini keep her secret. If she ever wants to tell me, then I'll be all ears." He said to me softly, I nodded.
"Okay…" I said, staring at his soft lips, then back at his blue eyes, then at his soft lips again.
"So…am I still guaranteed a date this Sunday with the most beautiful woman that I know?" He asked with a smile, holding me closer to him.
"Yes you…" I started, as he started moving down towards my lips, and before I knew it the magical sensations from the previous night were back. My heart started beating faster as his lips melded with mine, his arms around my waist gently holding me against him. I became so lost in the kiss that I barely even realized that someone was opening the door until it was too late. Darien fell forward, pushing me down with him onto the ground – luckily we were far enough away from the desk where neither of us got injured. But we looked to be in a pretty compromising position by the time that the person entered the room.
There was a small yelp of "oh sorry!" As Taiki had entered – then quickly left the room.
"Guess it's hard to get a moment of privacy in the office." Darien joked, as he got off of me and stood up, then helped me up. "Sorry about that Serena. Didn't mean to land on you like that."
"Don't worry about it Darien. I'm fine." I said with a smile. "Well I think that that's probably a sign that I should go and get to work…I guess that I'll see you around, won't I?" I said to him with a smile as I went for the door.
"Goodbye lovely one." Darien said, also going for the door, and giving me another gentle kiss on the forehead as he opened it for me.
I left the office feeling a million times better than when I entered it. But there was still the manner of Rini, just because I made up with Darien didn't mean that I was going to let her get away with this. No way in hell is she going to get away with what she did. Screwing up my relationship just because she wants Darien. I decided that I couldn't act on this alone, and that I really needed a plan – even a partner in crime to help me out. But who could I trust? Telling Raye about all of this would be a fate worse than death for Rini, and although I might enjoy the first two minutes of it – I decided that it was in my better judgement not to consult Raye on this one. She might think of me as an accomplice for keeping the secret, and then skin me alive! I started walking towards the dressing room, peaked in, and there to my delight were Lita and Yaten. Just the two people whom I really wanted to see…I ran into the dressing room to talk to my two closest work friends.
"Hey Serena! What's up?" Lita asked me cheerfully, a bright smile on her face.
Yaten was getting ready as usual, and waved his spare hand in a hello gesture as he applied his mascara with the other hand.
Before I even opened my mouth to say hello, I checked the bathroom and underneath the makeup stations to see if my pink-haired nemesis was hiding there. Then I went to the dressing room door and closed it then locked it. No one would be coming for about another half an hour, so I figured that it would be okay for now.
"Wow Serena…geez, umm, are you okay?" Lita asked, as I pulled up a chair next to her as she opened her makeup bag to retouch some of her makeup.
"Guys I have a problem. A large – pink-haired problem."
"Ooh. Do tell, I'm listening." Yaten said, a horrible frown creeping onto his face. "She is pretty annoying…that voice of hers alone drives me up a wall." He said, "don't know how Raye puts up with such a niece." He continued angrily.
"Why what did she do to you?" I asked
Yaten sighed heavily, "well I saw her a few minutes ago when she left – before Lita got here. She told me that she hopes 'that all of the makeup will help to mask my ugly personality, either that or cover up the fact that you have a penis.' She also told me that I make a disgusting woman but at least I look better all dolled up in woman's attire than I do as a man, then she kicked me in the nuts for good measure. What the hell is wrong with her? I didn't do a damned thing to her and yet she's attacking me!" Yaten said, angrily pounding the makeup station with his fist.
"I think that she just has a personal vendetta against all men and she's taking it out on you Yaten. Nothing personal. But yeah umm, are you going to tell someone about her kicking you in the jewels?"
"Nah. The little bitch will get what's coming to her – oh she will, just a matter of time." Yaten said nastily as he grabbed a container of lipstick in rage.
"Oh-kay." Lita said a bit hesitantly, "ummm – take it easy there buddy!" She proceeded to pat and rub his back a little.
"I'm fine!" Yaten replied through gritted teeth.
"Well – I guess that we could hear your side of the story then too Serena." Lita said with a small smile, trying to hide her nervousness about Yaten's temper. I too was nervous – because I had never seen Yaten like this, and frankly I never wanted to see him act this way ever again. "If that's all right with you Yaten…"
"What did she do to you Serena?" Yaten asked tensely as he turned around to face me, teeth bared and all. I gulped aloud, sweating bullets then I told them about what Rini did to me and asked for advice on how the problem should be dealt with.
"That's terrible that she would try to mess up your relationship with Darien!" Yaten practically screamed, then I quickly shushed him. "What the fuck is wrong with saying that? You two are in a relationship aren't you?"
"Well…I guess…technically – we're starting to come together as a couple." I replied hesitantly. "But I wouldn't say that we're full-blown boyfriend and girlfriend yet. I've only gone out on one date with him you know."
"Yeah and received two kisses from him." Lita added, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.
Maybe I should've left that part out. "Well whatever Darien and I are classified as – we're both attracted to each other." To think that a while ago I would've never even accepted the idea of liking Darien as a friend – much less a boyfriend.
"I say let that little…" Yaten started – but stopped after a disapproving glare from Lita.
"Serena I don't think that you should do anything about it – if you do something like tell Raye you might be stooping to her level. I say that what we need to do is try to get her interested in someone else, or just plain old convince her that Darien isn't worth her time."
"Nice idea Lita – but wouldn't it be good if Darien was included in this plan?"
"If the time comes for him to be included then he will join the ranks. If this fails though – Raye might have to be told that her little niece has a huge thing for Darien."
"Well – despite the fact that I was really angry at her earlier, I don't want her to get fired! She does love doing the DJ job after all." I told them, I can't believe that I'm defending the pink-haired brat.
"I guess you're right about that Serena." Lita added, but like I said before – there is a chance that we can get her to divert her attention away from Darien."
"Really? How's that?" I asked, this was going to be good – no better than good! I'm sure that Lita's come up with a wonderful plan.
"First of all – Yaten are you in on this?" Lita asked, and Yaten nodded – still angry but refusing to speak at this point. "All right then. Well as you know there are plenty of people that hang out at Polaris – but we don't want Rini going with just any person. Also I don't think that it would be a good idea for her to go out with one of the strippers – no offense Yaten."
"None taken – I don't think that any of my brethren would want to go out with the likes of her!" He spat, if I hadn't known that Yaten's pride had been hurt before, I would know now.
"So, for a new love interest I say that we pick someone who's handsome like Darien, nice body, intelligent – almost everything that you said Rini adores about Darien. I've picked three perfect candidates here at Polaris that I guarantee you that Rini hasn't met yet. But judging by the way that they usually act, I think that they might be interested in Rini."
"Well spit it out already Lita – you're leaving me here on the edge of my seat!" I said, literally almost falling out of my seat at Lita's clever idea.
"Sorry about that Serena. So the three people that I have in mind work are part of the kitchen staff. I'm sure that Rini won't mind a guy who can cook as well as a handsome face right?"
"If Rini loves food as much as I do – I think that she'll be happy, besides Darien can cook too – well he told me that anyway; let's hope that he told Rini as well." I giggled, this was too good.
"As for who they are, if you want since we're all done getting ready..." Lita said looking from herself to Yaten – who now looked completely like a woman (and of course a very beautiful woman at that) and was ready to go. "I can take you to meet them right now."
"Awesome, let's go! I can't wait to get to know these guys, and get my revenge on that horrible fluff haired monster." Yaten added rubbing his hands together maliciously.
"You and me both buster." I said to him, "although I wouldn't really call it revenge…but all right, whatever you want to believe Yaten." The man has gone crazy – I'll have to constantly remind myself to never ever call him ugly even on one of his off days. We walked towards the door and I unlocked it, checked to see that no one was around – thankfully no one was, and then Lita, Yaten, and I headed to the kitchen to meet the potential daters.
Lita led us into the kitchen and walked towards the right side of the kitchen, where a handsome blonde man with brown eyes stood there, fixing a rack of lamb. "Hello there Kakeru. How are you today?" He said flashing a dazzling white smile – he had perfect teeth! Wow – I guess the strippers aren't the only beautiful people around here.
"Oh hello head chef. I'm doing great, just working on this lamb for tonight's VIP guests – they're arriving early – about a half an hour earlier than when the club usually opens up. I guess Amara has her hands full."
Lita chuckled. "Most likely she does. This is Serena." She said introducing me.
"How do you do?" I asked him smiling and extending my hand for a handshake.
"Uh – nice to meet you too. I would shake your hand but…" he said pointing to the lamb.
"Right, excuse me – sorry about that!" I said as everyone laughed.
"And here we have Yaten, but I'm sure that the two of you have met already." Lita continued, as Yaten nodded his head in recognition, Kakeru nodded his head back. "Anyway, great work then – I was just checking in on you – but I know that you can handle this easily, carry on and don't mind us."
"Right, back to work; nice to meet you Serena. Good seeing you again Yaten." He said as he diligently went back to his work.
I was about to open my mouth and say something as we moved away from Kakeru and onto the other side of the kitchen, when Lita stopped me. "Don't say a thing yet Serena." She whispered to Yaten and me, "the kitchen has ears all over the place…where you'd least expect it." Then she continued walking as if she hadn't said anything at all to the other side of the room where a young guy with wavy white hair that had a couple of purple streaks in it was working. Well there's something that they have in common already – that hair! But he looks about Rini's age, probably a bit older, this is great – Lita is a genius!
"Hello there Peruru." Lita said as she approached the wavy white haired man with the two purple streaks.
"Miss Lita, why hello." He said a bit shyly. "I see that you've brought some friends."
"Yeah, you know the drill – and stop calling me Miss Lita – you make me feel old Peruru - you're a nineteen year old man for pete sakes, and barely younger than me."
"Sorry – Miss Lita, but you know I was raised in the south, and it wouldn't be proper of me to not address you in some formality."
"I know Peruru." Lita said giggling, "and might I add you are quite the gentleman." Peruru blushed a bit, his gray eyes brightened a bit. He's from the south? I couldn't even tell – no accent or anything like that – but he sure seems nice. I said staring at him; he was handsome as well, although not my type – way too young for me. "I brought some friends here that also work at Polaris. Since you're new here and all I thought that maybe you'd like to meet a few of your fellow employees."
"Hi!" I said to him and waved.
He smiled back at me and bowed. "Hello there ma'am, it's nice to meet you." Then he looked at Yaten and did the same thing, which was when Lita whispered something in his ear. "Oh, I'm sorry sir, I didn't mean to…"
"Quite all right." Yaten cooed, I could tell that he was starting to get into a better mood now, " I often get mistaken for a woman – even when I'm out of this costume. It's not a problem, although it's hard to find a girlfriend when I'm dressed this way everyday."
"Well it's nice meeting you two – but if you'll excuse me I have to get back to work. This appetizer isn't going to make itself." He said with a smile.
"Right, bye now – I'll come and check in on you later." Lita told him as we rounded the kitchen again and once again walked towards the back of the kitchen – closer to the entrance to the employee's changing room as well as the back exit.
"One more…" she whispered to us casually as we reached the destination. Once again we were taken to a man with wavy white hair, only a lot less wavy than Peruru's. I noticed immediately that he had the most beautiful golden hazel eyes that I had ever seen. When I was still single (even though I guess I'm not officially off the market yet) – if I had paid attention more when I was in the kitchens I would've realized that it was a man goldmine! "Helios my good friend, how are things?" Lita asked as she gave him a small hug as he temporarily stopped chopping vegetables for what looked like it would eventually become a soup.
"Hi Lita! Great to see you – I'm so glad that vacation's over." He chuckled, "I go on vacation for a bit over a week, and by the first day I'm already missing the place – as well as your charming self."
"I swear sometimes if I didn't know any better – I would swear that you're hitting on me Helios."
"Oh grow up Lita." He joked again, "we all know that you like women, and I also like women – plus you're like a sister to me, and hitting on my sister would be absolutely revolting." Helios said, sticking his tongue out a bit at Lita. "Ah who do we have here? I see Yaten there – but I don't recognize the pretty woman standing next to him."
"Don't waste your time Helios – she's spoken for and her name is Serena." Lita said, Helios looked at her curiously, "not by me though – she likes men." Lita said waving her arms nervously.
"Ah, well it's a pleasure to meet you Serena. Any good friend of Lita's is a friend of mine." He said with a smile.
"Nice to meet you too."
"Well we should get going…" Yaten remarked in a low voice.
"You're right Yaten, we have to get to our posts soon – and I need to retouch my makeup a bit. Goodbye Helios – once again lovely to meet you." I told him with a genuine smile.
"I've got to finish getting ready as well…" Lita lied, catching onto Yaten's hint that we should get to a place where we could discuss who would be best for Rini. "Catch ya later bro."
"See ya sis." Helios remarked with a grin. Despite the fact that he's not actually Lita's brother, he acts like he is – how adorable.
We quickly left the kitchen and then went back to the dressing room – we had ten minutes before everyone else got to Polaris to get ready for work. That's where we'd pick who was right for Rini. The three of us rushed to the dressing room, but unfortunately someone was already there, so we went to the bathroom. I checked all the stalls and made sure that no one was in there. Then I headed back to the lounge area of the bathroom – being careful not to sit down anywhere. Michelle and Amara were about to fuck in here after all. "The coast is clear." I said, "I feel like we're doing some kind of spy work – this is so cool!" I squealed happily as I was shushed by both Yaten and Lita. "Sorry – inner child thing and all you know?" I squeaked.
"Now – which one should we push Rini at?" Lita demanded. Yaten and I looked at each other.
"Well to be honest Lita – you know the three of them better than we do. Honestly they're you're kitchen staff."
"I know that – but we're not going to introduce Rini to one of them based on my working relationship with these guys! We need a gameplan." Lita said still contemplating which one we should choose.
"Why exactly again do we have to choose one of them?" I asked, an idea was starting to form in my head.
"Come again?" Yaten asked – still a bit lost in his thoughts.
"I think that we should just introduce her to all three of them, and see which one she likes the best. Only I shouldn't be the one to do it – based on what happened last night with Darien."
"Sounds like a great idea to me, Yaten?" Lita asked looking at him.
"Excellent – brilliant Serena. As for the introductions though – Lita's obviously the best candidate."
"Yep – has to be you Lita. Rini hates Yaten, and by now obviously doesn't trust me – you're our only hope. You've got to figure out a way to introduce her to all of these guys without seeming too obvious or anything."
"Ah – well, I think that I've got another plan that can help me to introduce Rini to all of these guys."
"Do tell – and make it quick, seems like more people are starting to come in…" I said a bit nervously as a sound of another bag being dropped on the floor, and new footsteps echoed into the bathroom from outside.
"I'll offer her a free three-course meal today, made by our three different handsome chefs. Who knows – maybe she'll trust me enough to spill the beans on if she thinks that any of them are cute. Or I could always drop hints, maybe say that I think one of them is cute and see how she responds."
"As long as Trista doesn't hear you saying that…"I remarked.
"Trista knows that I only like women – we had a discussion about that the other day." Lita replied a bit testily.
"Fine by me. All right then, so operation get Rini a new man is in full-effect now right?" I said as Yaten and Lita nodded in response.
"Cool. This is going to be great, can't wait to hear all the details Lita." I was so excited that I barely knew what to do with myself. The rest of the night was going to be absolutely amazing, and I couldn't wait to hear the news from Lita.
Author's endnote: Sorry for another short chapter…but I'm so tired, can't write anymore (I've been up late/all morning even sometimes running errands and doing other things…can't wait to get back to California). I hope that I can give you the next chapter soon…but I'll have to see what's going on – so far my schedule doesn't look too promising. However, before the end of August I'll definitely give you another chapter or two.
