Chapter 17: Christmas Plans

2 weeks later…

I left a few minutes earlier than usual from work today because Timmy and Tecna claimed that they would handle everything for the rest of the day. I don't tend to believe in love at first sight but the way those two looked at each other made you want to think twice about it.

When I arrived at Alfea Corp., there was a boatload of people moving around everywhere. A lot more than the usual amount of business participants. I even had to wait in line for almost ten minutes before I was next to speaking with the secretary.

"Hey, Flora!" I excitedly say. I hadn't seen nor spoken to her in days. That's why I'm really happy to catch up over lunch today.

Flora smiled. "Hey. Just give me a few more minutes to finish up a little bit of stuff here. These investor people have been in and out of here like flies all day. It's pretty hectic right now." I crinkle my eyes in confusion. She catches my look and explains, "It's an Investor Convention tour this week. People from all around are going to be in and out of here. All. Week." She didn't sound at all excited about that.

"There doing this this close to Christmas?" I ask.

She nods. "It's the busiest time of year for us. People are trying to get a piece of the company before the year closes up. Don't ask me why."

"Hmm, well it has to be good business for you, right?"

She rolls her eyes as the telephone rang. "Gosh, you sound too much like Brandon. If you want to go see him real fast feel free to do so. It'll only be a little while before my replacement takes over for the day."

I nod and she smiles before reaching over to pick up the phone. I couldn't help but noticing that her ring finger was still empty.

I guess the decision has been made, I thought to myself as I made my way to the elevator. The ride up to Brandon's office was crowded. I had to squeeze myself in the elevator just to ride on it. I blew out a breath of relief once I was let out on Brandon's floor. Just in time too, because the elevator was starting to smell like someone forgot to apply their deodorant.

The door office door was slightly ajar before I pushed it open completely. Brandon is sitting hunched over his desk with his hands fisted in his hair, looking incredibly stressed out.

"Headache?" I question as I walk in and shut the door firmly behind me. His head shoots up when he hears my voice and he gives me a crooked smile.

"Come here," he says tiredly and opens up his arms. I grin and walk over to sit in his lap. He immediately wraps me up in his arms and buries his head in my neck.

"Aw, are they working my Snookums too hard again?" I feel him smile against my neck.

"I just needed a little breather from all these meetings," he said against my neck, his breath tickling my skin.

"Oh, well I'm sorry to disturb you."

"No." He tightened his arms around me. "You just made it a lot more bearable."

Leaning over to put my cheek on his head, I said, "Glad to help. Have you even had lunch yet? You can go with Flora and me to eat if you really need to get away for a little while."

He shook his head and lifted it from my neck to look at me. "I'll be fine. Flora is in some deep need of girl time anyway and trust me; I don't want to be there for that."

I want to question him more on what she wants to talk about but I'll find that out soon enough. I study Brandon's face a little more to see more than just tiredness in his eyes.

"Is something else wrong?" I question.

"I… I don't really know. I mean, it could be a good thing but…"

"Well, what is it?"

Brandon scratched his chin. "Baltor," he says, naming his greatest competition in the business world.

"What trouble is he causing now?"

"That's the problem. Lately, he's been pretty quiet; too quiet. It's like he's flown off the radar. He's not even here for the Investors Convention like every year."

My eyebrows drew together. "Why would he be here for this if he knows there's no way you would let him invest in your company?"

"I can't really control who invests in my company," Brandon explains. "Baltor could easily get a small piece of Alfea if he wanted to but he doesn't want a small piece. He wants at least half."

"And that's never going to happen, right?"

"Not while I'm still alive. But it still worries me that I haven't been getting his regular threats of taking over my company. I think he's planning something."

"I wouldn't be so worried about it."

"No, you don't know him, Gorgeous. Something's up." He gets lost in his thoughts for a moment before I reel him back in with a kiss to his cheek.

"Whatever it is, you've got too much on your plate to stress about that right now."

He lifted this head up to mine. "Hmmm…I think I know what will help relieve some of that stress."

"What did you have in mind?" I reply breathlessly. He leans in closer and kisses the corner of my lips. My hands tighten on his collar as he whispers, "You."

Okay, I couldn't take any more of that. My self-control is terrible compared to a normal person's when it comes to Brandon. I crushed my lips to his, lighting every nerve in my body on fire. His and were gentle as they held me closer but his lips were a whole different story.

A loud beep interrupts us, followed by a voice saying, "Brandon, can you let Stella know I'm done? She can come back down now."

I groan. Perfect timing Flora. Brandon pulls away and presses a button on his work phone. "She's on her way down."

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us?" I ask as he faces me again.

"Too much work to take care of. I really need to get back to the meeting room before people start looking for me."

I reluctantly stand up, him following suit, and hug him tightly. "I'll see you later then." I love you is what I really want to say; so much that the words almost tumble out of my mouth. I stop them at the last minute.

He brushes his lips across my temple. "See you later, Gorgeous."

"Okay, so what are you wearing to the Christmas party?" Flora asked as we sat down in the small but cozy coffee shop around the corner from Alfea Corporations.

"Uh, there's going to be a Christmas party?" I'm always the last to know everything.

"Brandon didn't tell you?" When I shook my head she rolled her eyes in annoyance. "That man is so infuriating! I can't blame him completely though; all this business coming in may have caused him to forget. Anyways, every year I throw a Christmas party for Alfea Corporations. Last year we used my house so this year we're using Brandon's house."

Brandon's house? "Okay, I'm there," I say immediately. I haven't seen Brandon's house before and I'm not letting anything deter me from seeing it now.

Flora laughed. "Of course you are but that doesn't answer my question. What are you wearing?"

I shrugged. "I'm sure Bloom is going to drag me to shopping for it anyway. Wait, Bloom's invited, right?"

"Definitely. Sky wouldn't let me live if I forgot to put her on the guest list. I'm sure you would have been upset as well," she smiles crookedly at me and I'm stricken at how much the smile resembles her brother's.

"Maybe…" I trail off and we both laugh. "Is everyone at the company invited?"

She takes a sip of her latté. "Yeah. It's really supposed to be just a company party but everyone is allowed to bring a plus one. The Investor Convention is this week, though, so it seems like the party is going to be more packed than usual."

"What about Mitzi?"

Flora almost spits out her drink. "Mitzi? Why are you asking about her?"

"I don't know. I was just wondering if she was going." It was partly true. I've been thinking of ways to resolve this issue between Brandon and Mitzi for a while. I know he says he wants nothing to do with her, but I think that if he lets go of all his anger towards her, he will feel a lot better.

"Well… um… I don't think Brandon would like that very much. Especially since it's at his house."

"She's still his sister, though."

"True, but… Mitzi and Brandon have a… complicated past. It's really not my place to tell you about it."

"Brandon already has."

Her eyebrows shot up at this. "Really?"

"Yeah. He told me about the drugs, the drug dealers, the gun, and his shoulder wound. Well, in more detail."

She still looked stunned. "Whoa. My brother must really love you. He never talks about that."

I blush at her comment. Brandon in love with me? I can only dream.

"Since you know about it then you should understand the bad blood between them. He wouldn't forgive me if I put her on the invite list."

"Maybe it will be a chance for them to mend the old wounds. I mean, how did you forgive her? You guys sat and talked it out didn't you?" I questioned, already feeling I was right.

She slightly shrugged one shoulder. "I was mad at her for a while too but when I saw that my parents could forgive her… I just decided that it wasn't worth it to hate her forever. She really was sorry even if she never shows it. She cleaned herself up and since Brandon turned her down when she applied at Alfea, she got a job at that clothing store Liberty City."

"See? You felt better having that hate off of your chest, didn't you? That's all I want for Brandon. He shouldn't carry around this burden forever and he isn't going to be willing to solve this problem by himself."

Flora hesitated, contemplating my idea, before ultimately shaking her head. "I'm sorry, Stella, but I don't want to start anything. Let's just leave it alone."

I nod but in my mind I know I'm nowhere near to leaving this alone. She may know Brandon well but I know him too. He may be mad for what I plan on doing later but he'll thank me. Eventually. Who knows, maybe he'll be thanking me immediately.

We're quiet for a few moments before she breaks the silence. "Helia asked me to be his date to the Christmas party."

My eyes widened. "And… what did you say?"

"I told him I'd have to think about it."

"Well…do you want to go with him?" She pauses and then nods but says nothing more.

"Okay…" I say. "I'm guessing the reason for the delay is because of Riven, isn't it?"

She blew out huge breath, puffing out her cheeks. "If I go to that party with Helia it would be like I'm rubbing him in Riven's face. And I don't want to hurt Riven any more than I already have."

I decide to change the subject before things got too heavy.

"So… Musa didn't seem too happy with you when we left," I observe. Musa was the replacement that was filling in for Flora right now. When I came back downstairs, Flora was giving what seemed like some final directions to Musa. Musa finally snapped, "I think I understood it the third time you told me." Flora took a deep breath and didn't reply to Musa's outburst. I even caught Musa glaring at Flora's back as we walked away.

Flora sighs. "I think she has a thing for Riven. Ever since he and I… broke up, she's been giving me the cold shoulder."

"I would think that if she liked him then she would actually be glad that you and Riven… broke up." It didn't make much sense for her to dislike Flora even more.

"That's what I thought, but… I kind of understand it. Riven hasn't been himself at all. He's moodier and more distant than before, apparently. I don't see him anymore, though. He's been completely avoiding me. I understand that too," she says softly.

Well, it looks like I'm doing a terrible job and staying away from heavy subjects. "Hey, tell me more about the party. How are you thinking of setting up?"

She brightened at this and dove into an explanation about her complex design layout.

Later that night, I lie on my couch alone. Bloom is out somewhere with Sky and I'm pretty sure she isn't coming back home tonight. I think about my lunch with Flora. More specifically the part about Mitzi. An idea pops in my head.

I run into the kitchen and try to find a phone book. Then I think this is the 21st century. Ditching my search, I pulled out my phone and googled the number for the store I wanted. Once I found it I immediately dialed the number. It was only 7:30 so they couldn't be closed this early, right?

"Hello, thank you for calling Liberty City. I'm Samantha. How can I help you?"

I cleared my throat. "Um, yes. Can I speak with Mitzi Woods?"

A/N: Thanks soooooooooooooooooooooo much for reading and reviewing! This was more of a filler to set up some things that will happen in the next chapter.

So, what do you think Baltor is up to, if he's up to anything? Will Flora go to the party with Helia? Is this plan that Stella is beginning going to blow up in her face?

Here's a very serious question though: Do you guys prefer Flora with Helia or Riven because believe it or not I can still steer it both ways. Just a question. If I don't get many responses then I'll just put it the way I planned.

Let me know if you enjoyed this chapter or thought it was the worst ever. (I hope it wasn't too bad lol)

So… Review!

P.S. I think it's about time you guys met Steven, don't you? ;-)