Author's note: Thanks once again fantasyluv, I thought that if I put Helios in the story that it would really make a few people happy! I'd like to apologize for all the errors in chapter seven – it's interesting, since recently I've been writing really early in the morning and I guess that maybe my editing skills aren't as great in the mornings. I don't know if I ever said where this story would take place (smacks forehead)…but it's become more and more apparent to me that I would have probably set it in California – so there you have it, it's in California (and if I've ever said anywhere else before – terribly sorry, I'll have to go and fix it later). For those of you who live in/have been to California, you'll see an obvious (for those of you who have ever gone to a fast food restaurant) California reference sometime soon (maybe not in this chapter). I'm also sorry that it took so long to get this too you guys – I've been busy moving into my apartment (back in CA) and while I was at my parents' house we had tons of storms…so the power was out for about 9 hours…the internet was down for longer. Now classes are starting up again so I figured that I should get this story to you guys! So I've just been busy. Ah in any case I don't own Sailor Moon…more story coming at ya (also another apology this is going to be short – but I've also started on Chapter Nine – I'm like over halfway done with it…it was weird because I got inspired for Chapter Nine before I wrote Chapter Eight and I might have to start writing shorter chapters depending on the workload that I've got…another sorry!).

Chapter Eight: A Plan in Motion

Now that the plan had been set – actions needed to be taken. Before we left the bathroom we all decided on where we should be stationed during "Operation Pink Crush" or OPC. We decided that it would be nice if we had a code name for Lita's plan, that way we could talk to each other in code if necessary. Wow I feel like I'm a secret agent on a mission – this is so cool! We considered the possibility that Rini might stay in the kitchen with Lita up until it was time to open Polaris – so Lita would get me some food, then Yaten and I could go to the bar. It would be too risky for me to go into the kitchen while Rini was still there – besides Yaten was excited to have a few drinks.

"I haven't had a drink in a while, and really a coke and rum would do me just fine right about now." At least that's what he told Lita and I while we were still exchanging ideas in the bathroom. As Yaten and I walked towards the bar area – I was secretly praying that our plan would actually work. I mean come on, who the hell wouldn't want a free three-course dinner prepared by some of the best chefs in the damned world! Rini has to accept Lita's offer. The thought of Rini succumbing to our plan made me even happier – now all I had to do was worry about other people who might be trying to take Darien away from me. I wouldn't say that I'm jealous or anything like that…well…all right maybe a little bit. It's funny really – to think that I'm starting to fall for him…after I really hated his guts the first time that I met him. Darien's just too good to let go. He's like a rare gem that I don't want to give up. There's nothing wrong with that.

"Okay Serena, here's your food." Lita said cheerfully as she came into the bar and gave me a plate of what I'd like to call fast food heaven. A big juicy cheeseburger, fries, and a nice Serena sized coke. I was fully prepared to sit down at my station and eat my food. I swear this is the only place that I can possibly get great burgers…well here and In and Out. "Now I've got to go and find Rini…so I'll let you know what happens when I do."

I was absolutely giddy by this time. This is going to be great!

"Hey Serena, how about that rum and coke if you please?" Yaten asked me as I was about to bite into my burger.

"Sure…food can wait for friends." I said as my stomach growled in protest. Oh come on it'll only take me like 30 seconds.

I made Yaten's drink and we exchanged small talk as we waited for OPC to really get in gear. But the wait…despite the fact that it had only been fifteen minutes since Lita had left…was making me anxious. I desperately wanted to get in there and see what was going on. "Yaten…I wish that we could see what's going on! This is going to take longer than I thought. Hell the club might even be open by the time that Rini picks one."

"You know you're probably right Serena. But the best that we can do is wait, I mean Lita knows what she's doing, and if we show up in there Rini will be suspicious that something is going on."

"Suspicious of what?" Came a voice from behind us.

Shit! This can't possibly be good.

"What the hell are you plotting Serena?" The voice continued, I turned to see Raye's purple eyes staring me down. Already the guilt was starting to creep into my system.

"Oh it's nothing Raye, don't you worry about it."

"Exactly what are you trying to do to my little niece?" She growled from between her teeth.

Oh shit Serena, think fast!

"Well…you know we didn't want to tell you Raye since we thought that it might spoil the surprise because you might tell her…"

"Tell her about what exactly. You know I'm a pretty good secret keeper Serena." Raye said with her arms crossed.

"I guess we'll have to tell her Yaten" I sighed, and subtly gave him a little wink, hoping that he would catch onto my plan.

"You're right." Yaten said, also sighing – he apparently got the message.

"Spit it out already!" Raye said loudly.

"Not so loud…she'll hear you." I told Raye, who immediately blushed and calmed down. "Well you know that Rini's birthday is this weekend right?"

"Yes…"

"Well we were thinking of throwing her a surprise party."

"Really? That's so sweet of you guys – like to make her feel more at home here at Polaris right?" Raye asked – she was simply beaming.

"Of course," Yaten replied with a grin – that was obviously fake but Raye wasn't paying any attention.

"You two are so sweet. So let me guess, she's in the kitchen with Lita because you guys are having her cater the party right?"

"Yes. Right now she's in the kitchen with Lita because we're trying to figure out the foods that she likes."

"Wow, I'm so impressed. Do I get let in on this surprise party then? You know I am her aunt, I'd like to be involved somehow."

"Well…we….ummm…" I started, trying to think of something to say to Raye so she wouldn't figure out that I was lying.

"You could help us to pick out the decorations. We don't really know what Rini likes and dislikes so that would really be useful to us." Yaten said – again with a large fake smile plastered on his face.

"True, all right then. I'll definitely help – so we're having this party here then?"

"Yeah that was the plan…before the club opens up on Saturday."

"Or maybe we could even have Rini night at Polaris that night. Something super cute like that. It would be adorable – we could have pink drinks at the bar, Rini could be spinning the turntables all night, since you know how much she loves it. Absolutely perfect, unless you guys already had that part planned out?"

"No – no, not at all. What you're suggesting sounds excellent" I stated, while I noticed Yaten glaring at me from across the bar.

"This is absolutely brilliant, surprise party wish I had thought of that. So I guess we should all meet up tomorrow and figure out everything that we need for the party, right?"

"Of…course we will, we just need to tell Lita once Rini's out of the kitchen."

"I say that we all meet at our place before work Serena, that way everyone will be informed. Say – why don't you get Darien in on this plan – he seems to just adore Rini."

At that point, Yaten wasn't the only one with a sour mood, jealousy started to rise in my chest, but for now I ignored it – waiting to send Raye off on her way so that Yaten and I could figure out what the hell we were supposed to do now that my little lie had carried us off into planning a party for Rini.

"Umm…I'll see if he's not busy tomorrow…"

"Of course he's not Serena, he can always make some spare time for you! You should know that by now. Anyway, I've got to go and make sure that everything else is in order for Polaris to open. What a wonderful idea though Serena, I'm so proud that you came up with it. Wish that I had thought about it. If I don't see you for the rest of the night Yaten, I'll see you at the house that I share with Serena and my girlfriend tomorrow then."

"I'll be there with bells on." Yaten said, the fake smile growing even wider on his face.

"Excellent. Bye all!"

"Bye Raye."

"Goodbye." Yaten looked so enraged by the time that Raye was gone, I thought that he was going to burst a vein. "Plan a party for that little pink-haired bitch? Have you lost your damned mind! I don't like her…how the fuck am I supposed to be nice to her when she had no respect for people that are older – and of course more good looking – than her! Serena do you not remember that she called me ugly? Ugly – of all the words to describe me…ugly is not one of them!" Yaten hissed.

"Look it's not like I want to plan a party and celebrate her 18th birthday either, I mean come on she is trying to steal Darien away from me after all!"

"Yes I know that but…"

"But, I needed something to save our asses from Raye – if she had found out what we're doing, and why we're doing it, then she would've fired Rini."

"And that fucking little pink-haired pixie would've deserved it too!" Yaten spat.

"Yaten…I don't think that she deserves to be fired for what she's doing…she's just…"

"Lacking manners." Yaten replied, crossing his arms.

"I think that hit the nail right on the head. Anyway what we should do now is plan that party because I would hate to think of what would happen if Raye finds out that there's no party."

"Did I hear someone say something about a party?" Lita asked, entering the room.

Yaten and I instantly perked up. "What's the news?" He asked, practically falling off the edge of his bar seat.

"First of all where is she…we don't want to know that this was all a scam."

"Well actually, she's still in the back talking to Helios." Lita told us with a smile. "She's seemed to really take a liking to him. She met Kakeru, who gave her the first course – but all she did was politely smile at him and say 'thank you' – not even a second glance. Then Peruru came with her second dish and she stared at him for a while, at first I was thinking that she'd go for Peruru, but he's kind of shy so he left – embarrassed by the fact that she was staring at him and smiling. Then Helios came to give her the dessert course, it was almost as if Peruru had left her mind because she was instantly all over Helios – and him being the little flirt that he was, decided to sit down and talk to her. He was pretty happy to find out that she turns 18 on Saturday – I don't think that he'd even take a step near her if it wasn't almost her birthday." Lita said with a giggle.

"This is wonderful, maybe she'll forget about Darien then!" I said happily.

"Well at least I hope that Helios is a nice distraction for her – it'll be even better if they start dating after she turns 18." Lita said with a grin.

"Thank you so much Lita, you're a life saver!" I said hugging her.

Yaten still sat there with his arms crossed, then he muttered, "that still doesn't change the fact that we've got another problem on our hands – and the fact that she called me ugly."

Lita and I unwrapped our arms from around each other, as a solemn look crept over my face. In the excitement of Rini discovering the existence of Helios – I had completely forgotten about the lie that we had told Raye.

"What happened while I was gone?" Lita asked – a bit of suspicion in her voice.

"Well you see…it's like this Lita…" I started.

"She told Raye that were throwing a surprise birthday party for Rini this Saturday and we're having a whole Polaris-themed night dedicated to Rini…all thanks to our favorite blonde." Yaten said, a bit of sarcasm dripping at the end of his sentence.

"Excuse me Yaten – like you came up with something better – we didn't have enough time to come up with anything better…"

"If you had just kept your mouth shut while we were out here then I wouldn't have to be coming to your house tomorrow to help plan a party for someone I can't stand!" Yaten said aggressively as he got up from his chair.

Daggers were shooting out of both of our eyes as Lita split us up, "let's not point fingers here guys. Now we have a new situation to deal with, and we need to come up with another plan and fast. Serena I accredit you for thinking on your feet, and Yaten you were great too in helping Serena carry out this lie in order to help Raye not be suspicious – although you had the opportunity to rat us all out." Yaten and I looked at each other satisfied concerning Lita's analysis. "I say what we do is…we go to your place tomorrow – as Yaten said earlier, we help Raye plan out this party…and we go along with it. I mean it's only one day – how hard could it be?"

"Yeah I also told Raye that you were going to do the catering for Rini by the way."

Lita, "that's perfectly fine Serena. If it must be done, it must be done. So what time should we be over there?"

"My guess is around lunchtime…maybe you could make us some lunch – if it's not too much to ask." I pleaded, begging Lita with my eyes.

"Sure, sounds good to me. What about you Yaten?"

"Like I said before – I'll be there…noon and good food. Sounds better – plus I won't have to deal with the pink-haired one anyway, since she won't be there."

"Very true." I agreed, "and I guess that all that's left to do for today is invite Darien over for lunch as well."

"Wait Darien's going to be involved in this too?" Lita asked curiously.

"Yes. Raye said something earlier about how Darien took a liking to her or something…." I said a bit bitterly.

"Don't worry about that though Serena. Well I've got to start cooking – almost opening time." Lita said, going into the kitchen as Rini stepped out of the kitchen and went straight to the DJ booth.

"I'm going to go and get backstage…almost that time of night." Yaten said, getting up from the barstool.

I stood there, waiting for another night to start and end. The day had already had its fair share of drama – and I wasn't really looking forward to any potential bar fights or anything of the like. Hopefully I'll get to see Amara and Michelle – maybe they'll want to come over tomorrow as well. I think that Raye would like it if everyone seemed to be in on the whole party scheme. Thankfully the night passed pretty quickly with no mishaps or anything and as luck would have it towards the end of the night, Michelle walked up to my station.

"Hey bartender, how about a martini? A classy drink for a class lady." She said with a smile and a wink.

"Michelle, I was just thinking about you earlier."

"You were? Ah…well I'm glad that I'm in someone's thoughts tonight. I was just stopping by to see how everything was going. You know I come here every once in a while – to check on how my favorite people are doing."

"So how are Amara and Darien tonight?"

"I don't know – haven't seen either of them yet…but you know, you're also among the people that I absolutely have to come and see."

"Really?"

"Well of course – you're more than just my brother's girlfriend Serena. You're a great person and I love hanging around you." Michelle said with a smile.

"That's so nice of you to say that…"

"I say it because it's true. So what's been going on lately?"

Since I trust Michelle – I decided that it would be all right to tell her what had happened earlier today, the entire story – from the lie that Rini told Darien to the surprise party that we were throwing for Rini on Saturday.

"Wow Serena – sounds like you already had a busy day."

"Yeah, all in a day's work I guess."

"Still it's terrible what she did to you."

"True, but what the hell am I supposed to do about it?"

"Of course – just go with the plan."

"So…do you want to come over tomorrow and help plan the surprise party?"

"Well…I don't even know her…wouldn't it be a bit awkward."

"She loves Darien, so I'm sure that she would love you as well."

"I'd like to hope that she doesn't love me in the same way as Darien…or else she'd have a very jealous Amara on her hands." We both laughed. "But sure…for you Serena, I'll be there."

With that she finished her martini and left, my guess was to go to the back and see how Darien was doing before his show tonight. After Michelle left I continued to do my job, waiting for the end of the night, where I could go home and relax. Darien took the stage, and I decided to take a fifteen-minute break to watch as my man erotically performed. Darien was wonderful as usual, and I was practically drowning in my own drool while I watched as he started grinding against the floor. A woman who was having a bachelorette party got a lap dance from him, and I could tell that she was enjoying it – a little too much for my liking. After that, he took a bow and left the stage, my guess was that Michelle was probably waiting for him in the office. With the main event of the night over and done with, a lot of people started packing up, getting ready to go home. I cleaned up my station – excited to be done for the day. As I was finishing up, I noticed a woman with long emerald hair walking towards the kitchen, ignoring the 'employees only' sign.

"Umm, excuse me ma'am, you can't go in there."

"Oh, hello Serena – I forgot that you worked here. I'm just going in there to pick up Lita, if that's all right?"

"Well…uh…"

Lita walked out at that moment, already changed and ready to go. "Oh sorry Serena – I already cleared it with Raye – Trista is allowed here anytime she wants."

Raye said that? I guess she's over the fact that Trista used to fuck Mina. Which is of course wonderful news. "Okay – I was just making sure, I'm so sorry Trista."

"No problem Serena, I understand. I'd most likely question why you had let me go into the back if you had – with no questions asked."

"We have to be on our way Serena – apparently Trista's got a little present for me that she says I have to wait home to see…" Lita said, giving me a wink. Trista started blushing a deep red color.

"Don't let me hold you back – go ahead you two, by all means." I said, also a bit embarrassed that Lita would say that in front of me, I practically pushed them out the door. "I'll see you tomorrow at noon Lita – don't forget!"

"I won't, you can bet your ass I won't." Lita said as she walked out the door with Trista.

The bar had become virtually empty, and I was about to leave when I heard a voice say, "going somewhere sexy?"

I turned away from the door, and noticed Darien, leaning against my station, smiling at me. "So Trista's giving Lita a present eh?" He said with a sly smile playing up his face.

I blushed and started to stutter, "uh-well….y-yeah! T-that's right, a p-p-present." Despite the fact that Darien used to be a nerd and was a gentle and sweet man, I wouldn't put it past him to get horny a lot. I mean come on he's a stripper damn it! He might do real estate and own the club, but stripping must do something to him in the crotch region.

"That's very sweet of her." Darien said, coming closer to me and kissing me gently on my lips. "So how about let's say I give you a present as well…."

What the fuck! We haven't even had our second date yet and he's already asking me if I want to bone him! The nerve of some men – why I should tell him what I think of him right now and leave.

"How about we stop somewhere that's open right now and get a midnight snack, on me? There's got to be a 24 hour restaurant around here someplace." He said, his wonderful smile still shinning brightly at me.

Wow – now I'm glad that I didn't say anything; I might've regretted it. "Sure Darien, I would like that – I am kind of hungry…" I said as my stomach growled in agreement.

"Hahaha." He laughed a wonderfully charming laugh, "that's my Serena – my funny bunny. Do you mind if I call you Bunny Serena? I think it suits you…and I'd love to give you a special nickname…" his gentle blue eyes stared into mine.

"I'd like that Darien. Bunny eh? It's a cute nickname." I said with a smile, "but we should hurry up and find a place to eat…my stomach can't wait forever."

"All right – let's drive over there, do you want to leave your car here tonight and I can take you to work tomorrow in my car?"

I thought about it for a second, well there's nothing of value in my car…plus this is a very safe neighborhood, so I don't see why not. "Okay…why not, let's go." I said, as Darien held out his hand, I took it and gave it a little squeeze. Despite the drama it had been a pretty great day…and really it had just begun, since my night with Darien was going to be even better.

Author's end note: Sorry to end on that…but I'm already working on the next chapter…so once again I apologize for getting a chapter out so late. But I promise that the next one will be better, longer, and hopefully I'll get it to you quicker. I've got Labor Day weekend to work on stories, so hopefully I can crank out a few more chapters before my workload increases. Well I tried out for a play last night as well…so I'm going to go and see if I got a part. Until next time…