I'm so sorry this is late! I know, it's been nearly a month and I'm such a bitch! Please don't hate me!
Good news though! I saved money on my auto insurance by switching to Gieco XD LOL, naw, just joking.
Schools out! Means there's gonna be more! w00t!
Five Days Before Wedding Date: Panic Zone
Hinata clenched and unclenched her fists in her black leather-gloved hands, glaring at the bright blue sky. It was fifteen degrees outside; she was still cold in her black corduroy trench coat with a fur-lining (an H Designs) and the fact that the coldest person in the world (i.e. her father) was coming to the resort for a meeting was not helping her mood. Right now, she was in need of hot sex, hot chocolate and a good romance novel. Crossing her arms, she placed up an emotionless mask, mimicking Sasuke who currently stood beside her half-asleep, and mentally prepared herself for her father's onslaught as she, Sasuke and Neji watched the private jet land.
The amazing thing was that her father actually agreed to fly to the resort so they could have the press conference there. Not only did it save her time (if she flew back, she'd have to get six hours sleep because of the jetlag, another two hours for to prepare notes and another hour to memorize her speech. Basically she needed a whole day) but they also were able to stay for the wedding and get to see some sights.
She reached up and ran a gloved hand through her indigo hair, the big waves Hanabi had decided on rippling around her the shoulders of her long trench coat. No amount of faux fur or silk lining stuffed to the brim with down-feathers was going to keep her warm. Somehow, the bitter air always managed to find a way into her coat, making her shiver constantly.
As the plane touched down, she began her assent towards what she was sure to be hell. Focusing on her the sound of her short boots clicking across the pavement, she ignored the man telling her to step back and stood at the base of the stairs attaching themselves to the plane. She wanted an explanation from her father and what happened right after; because she was sure she would have to hire another personal assistant . . . again.
The first person to step out of the plane was . . . definitely not her father or Fuguka. In fact, it was a woman, dressed in a navy toggle button coat and black polished straight jeans, a pair of brown Uggs stopping just below her knees. Hinata's mask fell as she stared at the woman. And suddenly, she was smiling, rushing up the stairs two at a time. This woman looked exactly (well not exactly) like Sasuke, save for the years of wrinkles. But she was in short supply of those. Ah, cosmetics. God bless them.
"You must be Mikoto-san!" Hinata smiled brightly, paying no mind to the cold air as she huffed.
"You must be Hinata-chan," Mikoto smiled back, her black eyes sparkling like the gemstones they represented. "It's an honor to finally meet the woman who's wooed my Sa-chan."
Hinata giggled as they hugged, ignorant to the glare directed at her. "Sa-chan hmm?" She glanced over her shoulder at Sasuke. "I like it."
"No you don't," he growled, glaring at her as he marched up the stairs.
Mikoto patted his shoulder, smiling warmly. "Oh, hush up you. It's been so long since I've seen you. Give your mama a hug."
Hinata smiled brightly as Sasuke sighed, holding out his arms for Mikoto. He was like a big soft toy when Mikoto was around, a soft (really soft, so soft you could barely see it) smile gracing his face. It was probably the only time Hinata would see that smile when Mikoto was around. Her own smile faltered on her face as she thought about it. Would she ever be able to make him smile like his mother was able to?
"Hinata." She blinked, turning to face her father. He looked utterly warm in a dark brown corduroy trench-coat, his long hair tied back from his stern face. She forced all emotion from her face and nodded at him. Any and all love was perpetually gone from this relationship. In the back of her mind, she wondered if there was any love to begin with.
She nodded to Fuguka and then Itachi before turning around and heading down the stairs. "Come. We have lots to discuss and possibly not enough time to discuss them. Tomorrow is the press conference and if we can't get anything done today, we are basically fucked."
She ignored their surprised faces (all except Sasuke, who was smirking proudly) as she turned away from them. "We need to keep things simple, as I see it. They're going to want to pry and pry deep, dig out any kind of dirt to make us seem like the bad guy. We need to keep things quick and fast. Be in, be quick, and be out in a simple matter of minutes. Nothing too descriptive, but nothing too primitive." She yanked open the Ford Flex's door, looking over her shoulder at them. "Any questions, comments or complaints?"
"Where will we be staying?" Hiashi slid into the seat across from her, as the inside was designed like a limo.
She held up four key cards. "That's alreayd covered. Mikoto and Fuguka will be in the Navy Suite, father in the Red Suite, and Itachi in the Green Suite."
Itachi cocked an eyebrow at his card. "The Green . . . Suite."
"Ignore the names," Neji sighed. "I got the Pink suite and it is anything but pink."
While Itachi chuckled, Hinata pulled a laptop from under her seat, getting right down to business. "Now, I've already started on notes, but I'm afraid they're not going to be enough." She looked to Hiashi. "I presume you have some as well?"
"Of course," he answered, steepling his fingers. "But we can go over those later."
"Over breakfast," she said, pulling off her gloves in the toasty atmosphere of the car to check her Gucci wrist watch. "You'll have enough time unpack, get settled, sleep and then come down for breakfast."
"My, my," Mikoto smiled and Hinata let her mask slip for just a second. "You're so professional." She smiled at Sasuke. "You said she was a complete airhead. I thought your priorities had changed."
Hinata pressed her lips together as she gathered energy to shoot Sasuke a glare, who stared emotionless at his mother. "I said she had her moments. Not that she was a complete airhead."
"And since when did you find time to talk?" Fuguka narrowed his eyes accusingly at his son. "I should have known you would leave Hinata to arrange everything."
"Fuguka," Hinata said, giving him a hard look. "This is not the time for criticism. We are on the verge of being successful and you stopping our train to scold Sasuke helps us none. He will learn in time. So please, take your attention of the problems and focus of the solution."
"You should feel ashamed," Itachi chuckled as Mikoto frowned.
"You should feel ashamed as well, Itachi-san," Hinata snapped, causing the whole car to look at her. "Did you do anything I asked you do while I was away? I'm sure the whole company is wondering why the whole top floor of the building is MIA right now because of the memo you forgot to send." She cracked her knuckles, the anger building in her system as she glared around the car. "Honestly, I pray for you. There is not one person in this car that can do anything right."
Sasuke rolled his neck, crossing his arms nonchalently. "What's got you so pissy?"
"I'm not pissy," she huffed, steam practically rolling out of her ears. "I am just stressed, tired and hungry. I do not have the energy for this melodrama and criticism unless it is going to better our chances of having something go right for once."
He looked her right in the eye, taking her face in his hands, the whole car watching them. "You need to lie down and go to sleep."
She sighed and did as she was told.
-
Four Days Before Wedding Date: Panic Zone
Hinata glared at her laptop, a pair of black wire-rimmed glasses perched on her dainty nose. In the golden glow of the lamp, she sat in a chair at the breakfast table, trying to come up with a good enough answer sheet for the press conference. She was lucky the people had agreed to this location, probably because there was sure to be a lot of tension in the air what with the wedding. Of course they would gobble that up.
She sighed, stretching out her bare legs under the round table. Sasuke hadn't wasted time when they got back to the hotel room, making sure she didn't do a thing until it was nearly three in the morning. In just a five-sizes-too-big stripped sweater and her underwear, she was left alone to work on things. Unfortunately, her mind took this time to wander down the events of the day.
Hiashi had landed around nine that night and was just a floor above her, one room over. Barely any of her friends knew why they had arrived early, except Shikamaru and Temari. She hadn't had a thing to eat, because of Sasuke. And now she mind was wandering.
With a sigh, she closed the top of laptop. Things just weren't going as she hoped. The wedding was, technically, in four days. People would be arriving tomorrow and possibly even today. She had press conference in six hours and she wasn't even prepared for it.
My life sucks, she thought, turning off the lamp and crawling into bed next to Sasuke. When am I ever going to get a chance to relax?
-
Hinata woke to the sound of running water. She closed her eyes again with a frustrated sigh, her face slamming back into her down-filled pillow. She felt like she had been knocked out with a burlap sack of bricks and left to lie on the ground. Her mind was foggy with incoherent thoughts and it felt as if any sleep she had gotten had suddenly been drained out of her with a silly straw in a random color such as hot pink.
"Turn it off," she groaned loudly, her voice muffled by her pillow as she pulled the covers over her head. She let out a grateful sigh as the shower cut off. But the will to sleep soon evaded her and she growled (Sasuke was rubbing off on her) sitting up. Sasuke stood over her, dressed in a pair of unbuttoned dark rinse jeans with a towel draped over his dripping head. He raised an eyebrow at her messy hair and the sweater lying on the ground beside the bed.
"You should get ready," he turned around, towel drying his hair. "You've got possibly thirty minutes before we have to go."
"What?!" Hinata rushed out of the bed, slipping out of her underwear and into the bathroom. "Why didn't you wake me up earlier?" She rushed out of the bathroom naked, going through drawers as she waited for the water to heat up for her shower.
He smirked at her as she rushed back into the bathroom, pulling on a white button-down shirt. "Because you looked sooo peaceful."
She poked her head out, the panic evident in her wide lilac eyes. "That's not funny, Sasuke! I could be totally prepared and could have even spared a minute if you had woken me up!"
"Don't worry about it," Sasuke picked up a manila folder off the breakfast table. "We're covered."
"How so?" She eyed the folder, still naked in the bathroom's doorway.
He raised an eyebrow. "What? Do you not trust me?"
She turned around swiftly, slamming the door behind her. He chuckled to himself, dropping the folder back on the table. "Of course you do."
-
Hinata blinked as Mikoto stood before her. They almost looked the same, dressed in black Armani suits. Except, Mikoto's was a skirt suit and she had on ivory stockings with a pair of black suede pointed-toe pumps. Hinata wore a belted pants suit, the slacks trimmed by Hanabi so that her black satin Jimmy Choo slides would show nicely. Mikoto's hair was in a tight chignon and Hinata's was in a tight French braid, but the effect was the same; power.
"Oh, Mikoto," Hinata smiled, both bowing at the same time. "I didn't know you were going to sit in with us."
"Hai," Mikoto smiled and both headed towards the double walnut doors of the conference room. "Fuguka thought it would be appropriate for the first lady to be here as well."
"The first lady?" Hinata asked questioningly, looking to Mikoto.
"That's what he calls me," Mikoto smiled back warmly. "When he first started the Uchiha franchise, I was right beside him in all the meetings, then I got pregnant with Sasuke and I decided to stay home with the boys."
She took Hinata's hands in hers. "It's so nice to have another girl around."
"Hai," Hinata nodded. "I'll have to introduce you to the others. They would love nothing more than to hear about Sasuke's childhood."
Quickly, they dropped their hands as the men appeared. Hinata steeled herself, fixing her already straight posture and pasting a small smile on her red lips. If this were reality TV, her life would have been a smash hit.
So did you enjoy that? I hope you did! I know, you still hate me . I made you wait.
Deal wit it XD
I'm outtie ~ CocoaAngel95 :]