Next Door

Chapter 3: Lunch Date Secrets

Waking up the next morning, Risa rolled over and off her mattress waking her up instantly upon hitting the ground. Thankfully the whole bed wasn't put together yet or she would have had a serious headache to deal with. She looked at her cell phone to check the time. The bright light of the screen hit her eyes causing her to yelp in a slight bit of pain, but thankfully it was only for a moment. The time now was 7:10 and thank goodness it was a weekend day. Sunday to be specific, but that also meant spending the whole day helping her parents move the furniture in the house.

As Risa moved to her box to grab a brush for her hair, she noticed the unfolded piece of paper from the night before with Sesshoumaru's number written on it. That's right, she never did call him like he asked, but dammit why would he even want her to? She suddenly felt a little bad for leaving the man hanging like that so she decided to pick up the phone and make the call anyways.

…

Sesshoumaru lied on his bed staring at the ceiling. It was the first thing he saw when opened his eyes, though deep down he wanted the face of a satisfied Risa to be the first and last thing he saw after waking up and before sleeping. A small smirk grew across his face; her parents seemed to be the type of people that were oblivious to most things in this devious world. Of course the demon didn't mind; it just meant that this process would be a whole lot easier to get through.

During his musings, his cell phone rang and he reached over to pick it up. Without checking the caller I.D., Sesshoumaru only banked on the call being somewhat important to him. Until…

"H-Hello? Sesshoumaru?"

That voice. He recognized that lovely mousey tone and his smirk turned into grin.

"Hello Ms. Kuro…" He replied smoothly. "If I recall someone never got in touch with me last night…"

On the other side, Risa laughed nervously and pushed her glasses against her face before continuing.

"Yeah… I'm sorry about that. It's just that, I was very tired by the end of dinner and I literally passed out on my mattress when we came home." She lied.

"Hm… That's quite the case of drowsiness. Well you do know that a certain someone needs to make it to me right?"

"M-make it up to you?" Risa questioned. Her eyes darted around her room wondering what exactly he had in mind.

"My dear Risa," He whispered into the phone, "Meet me for lunch please…"

She was unable to hide the blatant sigh that escaped her, earning a low chuckle from the man on the other line. Risa gasped and covered her mouth, unsure if she was to apologize or let it go. Sesshoumaru finished off the conversation by giving the light-brown haired girl the name of the restaurant and what time he was to expect her, then hung up without so much as a 'goodbye'.

"Hmph! He may be gorgeous, but manners must not have been a priority…" She told herself quietly.

Spying from behind the door frame, the ever rambunctious Miki jumped through the door surprising the already frazzled older sister. Risa turned around quickly and glared hard at her younger sibling.

"What the heck Miki! Ever heard of knocking?"

Miki sassily shoved her fists against her hips, raising one eyebrow in a questioning manner, "You've known me since my birth, when have I ever learned to knock before entering?"

With a frustrated grumble, Risa chose to ignore a petty argument about the importance of manners and good etiquette with Miki. Instead, the brunette began to look through box after box for an appropriate outfit to wear to her…

"Is it a date?" Miki cooed from behind Risa.

A thin brow twitched in irritation; Risa was becoming quite annoyed with her beloved sister, and was almost tempted to kick her out of the room.

"Y-Yes…" Risa replied.

"Oh… where's he taking you?"

"Just out for a simple lunch. It's his idea of me making it up to him."

Miki scrunched her face in confusion as she scratched the top of her head, "Making it up to him? For what?"

"Because I never called last night…"

The younger sister laughed uproariously before taking a seat next to Risa. She playfully bumped her shoulder against the older girl before pointing to a necklace laced with purple gems. Risa picked up the object and glance over to Miki, who was furiously nodding her head in the affirmative.

"Yes wear that one! I gave that to you for your birthday, remember! I saved so much money for that and you haven't worn it once!" Miki cried.

"I didn't have any clothes to match this at the time. But… now I do, so quit your whining ok?"

Miki made a small face before smiling to Risa and standing to her feet. As she made her way toward the door, Miki looked back at her sister one last time, sighing with content. She was truly happy for her and wished Risa all the best.

…

Pulling into the parking lot of the restaurant, Risa found a place to leave her car and then got out to meet up with Sesshoumaru, who happened to be sitting at an outside table by the building's window. At first, she stayed motionless by her car, her shy nature getting the best of her. With a deep sigh, she worked up enough nerve to begin making her way over to him, her steps in normal time but feeling as if she was walking in slow motion. Her knuckles were a ghostly white as her hand gripped harder and harder on the strap of her purse.

'Why am I so nervous? It's just my first… date…'

As she tried to calm herself mentally, Risa hadn't noticed that Sesshoumaru was suddenly standing before her and she accidentally bumped into the broadness of his chest. She jerked her head upward to apologize but was cut off by a wave of his hand. A bright pink blush crept across her cheeks as she met his gaze; there was just something about this man that screamed dominance, discipline, strength. Most men in town didn't possess such qualities; they just thought they did.

He helped Risa to her chair before settling in his own and mentally smirked as he watched the girl nervously fiddle with her menu; just like she did at dinner last night. Sesshoumaru saw that Risa was slowly raising her menu up to block herself from his view and he simply reached over to push on the top of the laminated piece of paper, titling it away from her shocked face.

"I won't bite you…" He told her simply.

Risa held onto her menu a little tighter before finally conceding to his implied wish to relax and look him in the face. Spotting his slight grin, she figured he approved of her attempt to warm up to him and she smiled back, though it was only for a second.

Sesshoumaru sat back in his chair and sipped from his water that the waitress had brought to him before deciding to place his hand on Risa's stray left hand that was sitting on the tabletop. Her green eyes snapped up to meet his amber irises and he himself froze in position. Those innocent, bright eyes; they called to him, as if asking to be shown a world filled with excitement; danger even. A red color tinting her cheeks made him lick his lips subconsciously. It seems he's made the right decision. Moving to look under the table, his phone with a message reading, 'Come get us in an hour.' Sat ready on the screen. Sesshoumaru's thumb pressed on the 'send' button, and he couldn't help but slightly grin.

This woman would be in for a big surprise.

Thanks for reading guys! Sorry I've been MIA, but I was just brainstorming some plot ideas for this story. I hope you all liked it and keep on the lookout for my next installment!