Chapter 6

Sakura marched into the office as though lifeless. Her face was sullen, her eyes blank. No words came out of her mouth, when usually she was the first to greet every co-worker she passed on the way to her cubicle. Syaoran, who had been watching this rare entrance, continued watching even as she dropped on her seat and sulked in front of her computer.

Casually he walked over and kicked the bottom of her chair to get her attention. "You look like a beaten-up dog left on the curb, waiting for someone to beat it up again."

No response.

Syaoran inched closer to get a better look of her face, but she pushed herself further into the cubicle and hid her face behind her hair. Curiosity poking at him, he decided to go another direction. "So I actually got some tickets to Hawaii..."

Still no response. He frowned. Refusing to believe that it was more than concern that he felt, he grabbed her shoulder. She shoved his hand away before he could even blink. Syaoran moved back in disbelief when he caught the traces of tears in her eyes.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What happened?" He'd never ever seen her cry before. And he hated tears more than anything. The first thing that came into his mind was someone had gotten hurt. "Is your family all right? Tomoyo?"

At that, Sakura's bottom lip began to tremble. Why would that be the first thing he asked? Wasn't it obvious from her face? When she stared at herself in the mirror, all she saw was heartbreak written all over it. "You're so weird!" She cried, covering her face with her hands. "Why would you ask that first?"

Syaoran shoved his hands in his pockets, suddenly realizing his mistake. It had to be something related to Soshi. Of course. How stupid could he be to miss that completely? It was just that the last time he'd seen someone look that devastated was when Yuki had died. He shut his eyes momentarily, pushing the thought away, then looked back at Sakura. "What did Boss do now?"

Sakura grabbed the handkerchief he pushed against her hand and violently wiped away her tears. She would stop crying over him. She had to. There was just no point in it. As she sniffled, she admitted to herself that it really wasn't Soshi she was crying about anymore. Over the last two days, she felt all her self-worth vanish. There was a dreadful sense of hopelessness hovering inside her and it fuelled the tears.

When she dried her eyes and finally looked up, her eyes met his. Her heart jerked in response, and afraid of what that was, she looked away and fisted the handkerchief in her hand.

"He really took me for granted. And I was really stupid to believe in…" She couldn't even finish the thought. "I just…I might end up drowning in my sorrows again before this day is over. Can you keep my mind off it somehow?"

Immediately he thought of a way. "If I catch you bawling your eyes out or even let one teardrop fall, you have to sing a song. A really, really embarrassing song right there." He pointed to the middle area of their floor, where many people often crossed paths. "And you have to sing it loudly, with passion. I get to pick the song."

Losing track of her pessimistic thoughts, Sakura blew her nose, then said, "No."

"What do you mean 'no'? You just asked me to get your mind off it. Let's make it a deal. If you go all day, that's eight hours, without crying, I'll owe you."

She paused for a moment and mulled it over. "You were joking about those tickets to Hawaii, right?"

Syaoran blinked at the sudden question and then began to laugh. "Sadly, yes. Look, I'll buy you whatever you want. How's that?"

For some reason, she felt her spirits brighten up a little. It made her realize just how badly she needed someone to understand and take care of her right at that moment. Why Syaoran ended up being the one to do so, she couldn't comprehend and frankly had no energy to try. "Okay." With hesitation, she then continued by murmuring, "Thanks, Syaoran."

Still unnerved by the way she looked right now, he turned away and went back to his desk without saying another word.

...

The day ended and Sakura was glad to say that she shed no single tear since that morning outburst. Oh she might've felt rotten emotions tumbling to the surface when Soshi would walk past her. But like Syaoran said, she kept the deal in mind, and the last thing she needed was self-inflicted humiliation.

It was just sad how different Soshi was. She had seen a side of him no one in the office knew about. As much as it hurt, she was glad for it; she would no longer be duped by that perfect image he liked showing to everyone. Of course, she understood the need to maintain some kind of persona in front of others. She had her own pride too. But there was such a thing as taking it too far to the point of projecting someone completely separate from your own true identity, and he certainly had done it in front of her.

Sakura stood and stretched her back. Reminded of Syaoran, she glanced over and noted that his chair was empty despite the disorganized pile of papers and folders on his desk. She then scanned the office and saw him hanging out at the kitchen.

After packing up all her things, she walked to the kitchen with her purse in tow. Syaoran was looking out the window while drinking a bottle of cold water. Watching him now, she felt that uncomfortable tug in her heart. The look in his eyes seemed to reflect sadness, for some odd reason.

"I didn't cry."

At that, he turned. It was funny how fast his facial expression could change so quickly. Syaoran grinned. "I guess I owe you then."

Sakura automatically held the handkerchief in her pocket and held onto it tightly. "I really needed that today." She sat down on one of the bar stools at the counter. From the kitchen window, she could see that the sun was still shining even though it was already evening. "I asked myself over and over again, why don't some relationships work? I thought…if you wanted something badly enough, it would come to you."

It was a rare moment, the two of them sharing a thoughtful conversation.

"Sometimes it's out of your control." He turned back to the window again. Yuki had been a special woman in his life and no matter how much he loved her, she didn't return the feelings. He couldn't do anything about that, could he?

"I don't know why I'm telling you this. I'm probably just really depressed right now," she began with a sad smile. "I've never fallen in love. I thought I was, with Soshi. Then he turned out to be someone completely different. A lot of it is my fault. I really made him out to be some kind of fairy-tale prince in my head."

Syaoran didn't have to look at her to discern how she was feeling.

Feeling an urge to comfort her, he offered some kind words. "You'll meet somebody again, as loud as you are. I mean, I guess you have some other qualities to offset that mouth." He said with a smile. "But here's an advice. Lower your expectations. Otherwise, you really won't find anybody out there. There's no prince charming in this world, I can tell you that."

Why did Syaoran keep surprising her like this? The last person she had expected to give her the comfort she needed was him, and yet here he was, returning the hope that she felt like she'd lost. Syaoran had a caring side that she was fortunate enough to see. All this time, she must have been taking his jokes too seriously after all.

"Have you fallen in love?"

At the question, Syaoran met her gaze. Then he slowly nodded.

An odd feeling passed through her. "You broke up?"

"No, we never ended up together. It was one-sided."

For some reason, she imagined he would've fought for a girl he really loved. She then stood up and buried his handkerchief back into her pocket. She didn't want to give it back; not yet. She felt like she saw that other side of him again; not the Syaoran who taunted and teased incessantly, but rather, the one who'd taken care of her blisters and cheered her up when she was down. He'd comforted her more than he knew, and it wasn't just from the encouraging words or the available ear.

Baffled by the sudden pounding in her chest, Sakura stood. "I'm going home."

"See you tomorrow."

She smiled briefly before walking out of the kitchen. When he was left alone, Syaoran took another gulp of his cold water. He refused to accept the fact that this woman was starting to stir something in him he'd been fighting like hell to protect.

But as he watched her walk to the elevator, he was worried something had changed in their relationship that day.

::::::::

Exhausted, Syaoran sat on an empty bench by the park. It was yet another sunny morning and he had decided to take advantage and run three miles before going to work. Summer was probably his favourite season, so it was a little disappointing to see time go by fast. It was already mid-July.

As he watched people and dogs pass him by, he began to wonder what Sakura was doing right now. Probably sleeping, he mused. She'd had an awful week, he knew. From the lack of communication between her and Soshi and the hard projects that suddenly just started piling up on her desk, he figured there was a sense of bitterness between them and probably the need for revenge, for Soshi at least.

Syaoran caught himself. Why was he even thinking about that? It wasn't his problem. She wasn't his problem. He'd never thought of her outside of work before. He wasn't interested in Sakura that way. Yeah, it was just natural concern over how depressed she'd looked the past week. That's all. Suddenly annoyed, he got up and began to run.

Maybe it was time to start dating again. He'd taken a six-month-long hiatus from the dating scene, so he was just missing a warm woman's company. That was all it was, he repeated to himself. Just because Sakura seemed to be on his mind more often than before didn't mean anything at all. It was perfectly normal if you thought about it, considering how he worked and interacted with her every damn day.

Give me a break. She's not my type anyway.

:::::::::

Friday mornings were a pain. It was the end of the week and people still had to wake up early and work like a slave for 8 hours. It wasn't a surprise that on the last day of the week, every worker was more agitated and less able to focus on what needed to be done. Sakura was no exception. In fact, she was quite the example of what a lacklustre worker would be on a Friday. After two weeks of hell, she just wanted two days to clear her mind and start afresh.

When she got into the office building, Sakura mentally counted the number of deadlines she had to meet by the day's end. Even before stepping foot into her floor, she could feel her stress level rise. While in the midst of deciding what project to tackle first, something caught her eye. Syaoran was laughing with a female co-worker Sakura recognized to be Julia Yamamoto. She was one of the newer employees working a floor above theirs.

She didn't know why it irked her, watching Julia lean nonchalantly against the divider between her and Syaoran's desk. Sakura pursed her lips and decided to act civil, even though the sight of the two of them flirting so transparently in public brought a slight feeling of antipathy in her heart.

"Good morning."

Syaoran and Julia turned. "Good morning, Sakura! Oh, is this your desk? Sorry," Julia laughed in apology as she grabbed the coffee cup she'd placed on Sakura's desk.

After a pause, Sakura looked up and sent her a small, vague smile. "That's fine."

Syaoran watched her carefully. She was lying and she was annoyed. He'd been her seatmate for far too long not to be aware of that. Wondering what it was bothering her this time, he asked out of concern, "How are you feeling?"

"Like a million bucks." The reply was short. Sakura felt like hitting her head against the wall. Why was she so bad at faking her emotions? Even with Soshi, she couldn't even keep up that feminine, innocent image for one day. Her attempt at civility was failing right now and she knew that Syaoran knew it.

Syaoran studied her expressionless face for another moment, then turned to face Julia. "So I'll pick you up at 8 then."

Unaware of the underlying tension between Syaoran and Sakura, Julia beamed, all too excited for the date. "Yes, definitely! See you later, Sakura."

"Woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?" He said just as Julia disappeared from their sight. His thumbs hooked in his pockets, Syaoran leaned against her cubicle wall.

She spared him a glance while turning on her computer. "It's Friday and Soshi gave me, oh just about more than I can handle for today." She bent down and grabbed a highlighter and paperclips from the bottom drawer of her desk. As she remained quiet, Syaoran stayed in his spot. Still annoyed, the words came out of her before she could filter them. "Since when did you start liking Julia anyway?"

A brow rose. "That's not really any of your business, is it?"

"I know that. But it's so unfair! You're just throwing it in my face, aren't you? You just want to prove that you are better at relationships than I am."

He stared to the point of almost glaring. "Since when did I need to prove anything to you?" What crawled up her ass? For her to accuse him of doing something so spiteful was insulting. He actually tried to be a friend this whole time.

She caught his narrowed gaze, expectantly waiting for an explanation, and felt the guilt slap her in the face. Why was she in such a bad mood? Sakura cowered from his gaze, gave off a small sigh, then hung her head. "Sorry. I…I'm just stressed and...okay…I guess I just…got jealous."

The look Syaoran sent her made Sakura jump up in defense. "Not jealous of her; of you," she clarified quickly, shaking her hands in front of her. No, she refused to believe that she was jealous of Julia. "The whole thing with Soshi really made me feel so hopeless, you know? Like I'll never find anyone out there again! And today, I see the two of you starting up something and I can't help but…" She pouted, depressed again.

At the sight of that child-like expression, Syaoran grew amused. "It's just a date, you know." He said as the corners of his mouth tilted up. "Not a marriage."

Sakura scowled. "Don't mock me."

"Hey, you're the one making this out to be some kind of epic love story." When she wasn't looking any better, he added, "I was just looking for some company tonight. Figured Julia would be up for it, since she's been obvious and clingy."

Sakura felt worse. Despite those mean words she'd said to him, Syaoran always seemed to wave them off and forgive her. "Sorry Syaoran." She repeated once more, offering an apologetic smile. "That was really low of me to say. You've been nothing but a friend."

Syaoran stared at her face blankly then looked away. He'd seen all kinds of smiles from her, but recently, they were affecting him differently. Stop it, his mind interjected. This is exactly why he needed to go on a date with another woman. Thinking of Sakura in that way, in the way that a man thought of a woman, was just wrong.

"Have fun tonight," she offered as he walked back to his desk.

He nodded absently. "Go out with Tomoyo tonight or something."

"I don't know. I actually like staying at home on Friday nights," She admitted with a quick laugh. It sounded so pathetic, but it really was the truth. But funny how, despite how often Syaoran made fun of her, she didn't think he would ridicule her for being that way.

And just as she thought, he said nothing and merely watched her, smiling ever so slightly.

…

At the end of the day, Sakura got out of her chair, stretched her back and arms for a moment, then hung her bag over her shoulder. Just as she turned to head to the restroom, her glance dropped to Syaoran's desk, which was shockingly clean. Usually papers and binders were piled up and scattered all over it. Syaoran was turning off his computer just as her jaw slightly dropped.

"What are you doing?"

Absently he looked up. "Huh?"

"You…you don't normally go home at this time. Did you actually finish all your work on time for a change?" She sent a sarcastic smile.

He stood up, sent her a dry look. "Well I owe you don't I? You're ready to go?"

Confused, she could only nod at the last question. With uncertainty, she replied, "I worked…all eight hours already…so yes, I'm ready to go home." When he remained expressionless, she scowled. "Wait, what are you talking about?"

He then broke into a careless grin. "You forgot? Never mind then." He laughed as he walked away towards the elevators.

Flustered, she hurried to catch up. "Wait, wait. Owe as in from before, when I didn't cry all day?" When he didn't reply, she ran and stopped in front of him, waving her hands. "I remember, I remember!" She insisted.

Thoroughly amused, he continued to smile. "Let's go then."

"You're trying to act mysterious right now, but it's only coming off as annoying. Where are we going?"

"The mall. There must be something you want from there." They entered the elevator. "Besides, I wanted to get Julia some flowers. I might as well stick to my word and get you something. You won it fairly after all."

Oh, why did Syaoran have to tell her that? It was a statement she could do well without; going off to buy a woman flowers. As romantic as it had been when Soshi sent her flowers, remembering all the sweet things he'd done for now left nothing but a bitter taste in her mouth. He hadn't been sincere about any of it, and flowers meant nothing if the man gave them without sincerity.

As soon as they reached the lobby, Sakura crossed her arms while walking, uncomfortable. "I need to pee."

Syaoran stared blandly, wondering why the hell he needed to know that. "And what does that have to do with me?"

"You're practically kidnapping me right now and I didn't get to go to the restroom like I originally meant to," she retorted, frowning as they walked in the parking lot outside the building.

He walked towards his car sitting at the very end of the parking lot. "It's not kidnap if you willingly come," he countered. "Besides, it's your fault. You should've told me you needed to go. How would I have known that?"

Sakura let out a groan, wondering where his car was.

…

At the mall, Sakura breathed in the familiar scent of the shopping scene and enjoyed the cool breeze of the air conditioning. She loved shopping as much as a person with ten credit cards did, but finding enough strength after punching in forty-hours a week to go to the mall was becoming more difficult to do. Nevertheless, it still felt refreshing to come here after work, especially after sitting for almost eight hours straight in a small-spaced office.

Syaoran nudged her from behind. "Stop gawking. People will figure out you're a lunatic."

"I wasn't gawking. And I'm not a lunatic!" She muttered, following him as he turned to his left. "Where's the washroom? I really need to go, Syaoran."

"Complaining is actually your favourite thing to do, right? You're so good at it." When she continued glaring, he shrugged. "I'm only telling the truth. Washroom's right there. I'll be at the flower shop, over there." He pointed the locations so quickly that she could only hope to have caught the directions.

When Sakura stared at her reflection in the mirror, she couldn't help the way her mind drifted back again. What was it about her that just seemed to repel men? Was Syaoran right? That she really was just loud and whiny. Feeling her mood dampen, she patted her cheeks. Get yourself together, Sakura, she reminded herself. She had spent a good two weeks drowning in her unhappiness and that was enough.

Syaoran was standing at the front of the flower shop, holding a spray of yellow daisies. They were so pretty, she thought, feeling her heart strings tug at the sight of him. She probably would have melted if he was a stranger. He just looked like a man who knew a thing or two about romance.

As she neared, he glowered. "You took so long. You must've been doing number 2 in there, weren't you?" Subtly he looked her over. No matter how much he denied it, he had to face the fact that he found her pretty as hell.

"I did not! I went to pee, like I told you. There was just a lot of women." Her gaze landed again on the daisies. She couldn't help it. Her romantic heart was fluttering at the prospect.

He saw the longing gaze then pulled away the flowers as far as he could. "These aren't for you."

"Of course I know that!" She snapped. "But why daisies? For me, they kind of give off the vibe, like…friendly and happy? Not so much romance."

"Yeah, that's what I'm going for." He glanced down at them and shrugged. "Women fall all over this kind of thing. You do, that's for sure. Julia will like them, hopefully."

"She will," Sakura assured. "But just so you know, if you wanted to go for romance…" She trailed off, imagining her favourite flowers. "I love pink and white lilies. Those would be perfect for me," she sighed dreamily as they stepped onto an escalator.

"Anyway," Syaoran interrupted loudly, pulling her out of her daydream. "What do you want? I'm willing to buy anything, so long as it's reasonably priced." He sent her a direct look. "I mean it."

She nodded absently, waving him off. She already had some idea of what to ask for, but it wasn't exactly for her. Sakura scanned the mall, her eyes darting from store to store, occasionally to separate boutiques at the center of the hallways.

"Since this is the very first item you'll be buying me," she began, beaming at Syaoran.

"First and last," he corrected. "So, decide yet?"

"I want something from there." She pointed to a jewellery store a few metres away from them.

Submitting to her demand, Syaoran followed and studied the wide collection of watches, rings, and bracelets they had on display. The prices looked pretty hefty, he thought with a grimace. Sakura really did know how to rub it in. Jewellery wasn't exactly what he'd had in mind, having expected her to go for a bag or a pair of shoes or something trivial. But if she wanted jewellery, he mused, he'd give them to her anyway. One thing Syaoran stood by the most was protecting and fulfilling his promises. This was a big reason why he hardly ever gave out promises to anyone.

With her peripheral vision, Sakura followed Syaoran's movement around the store. He glimpsed at each collection of jewellery very briefly. She bit back a wince as he finished touring the rather large store in a matter of seconds. So he wasn't materialistic. But the part of Sakura that was an avid shopper hurt a little at the fact that he didn't even acknowledge the beauty of each product or the effort put into making it.

Realizing she was probably not going to get anything out of him, Sakura decided to take matters into her hands. "Hey, what kind of watch do you like?" She asked suddenly, standing so close to him their bodies touched.

Jolted, he glanced over at her, then looked down at the current set of watches he was looking at. "You're in my personal space."

"Answer the question," she insisted, moving just a fraction away.

Sakura was extremely stubborn and he knew that well. Giving up, he pointed to a silver and black watch inside the glass case. It was simple, but classy. "That's kind of my style," he said inattentively. "So you find something?"

"Mm…" She looked up to signal the salesclerk. "Can I see that watch?"

Syaoran turned at that, stared in surprise. "What are you doing?"

Ignoring him, she clasped her hands together and watched as the salesclerk took the watch from the inside of the panel. Finally, when the watch was set in front of them, Sakura met his confused gaze.

"Wear it," she instructed, taking the watch from the woman.

"What?" Syaoran stepped back. "Why?"

"Just because." Sakura grabbed his arm forcefully and placed the watch on his wrist. She moved his arm around in different angles. "It looks good on you," she commented. And the next thing he knew, she was holding out the watch to the salesclerk. "I'll get this."

"Okay, what? Wait a second." He forcefully pulled her hands away from the clerk. "What the hell are you doing? Oh don't tell me, is this for some guy? Shit. Are you getting this for Soshi?" No way would he spend his money on that bastard.

Sakura merely sighed, as though dealing with a child. "That money you're going to spend for me is basically mine, right?" Syaoran continued to stare at her evenly. "Well, I want this. Don't question it. Just buy it. I promise, it's not for Soshi," she assured, passing the watch to the salesperson. "Buy it." She repeated to Syaoran.

He didn't know what was going through her head. Usually he could figure it out, but this time around, he had no clue what she exactly planned to do with a man's watch. Staring at her as if she was crazy, he said, "Fine, but if for some reason you realize that this is not a woman's watch, especially because it fits me, that's not my fault." He paused, then reiterated carefully, "This is what you want me to buy for you."

"I'm not an idiot, Syaoran. Yes, that is what I want you to buy for me." She repeated his words, putting as much emphasis on each word as possible.

He gave up and grabbed his wallet. "If you say so."

...

When they walked back to the car, Sakura held the small bag in her hand. It was entertaining to see Syaoran so confused. Usually he projected this confident and unbeatable persona that she always wanted to break down. She mentally did a victory dance at the thought that she'd cracked at it a little bit today. After sitting down on the passenger seat, she took the box out of the bag and opened it. She studied the watch again, finding it very suitable for him.

"You know, I'm not even going to bother," he said when he glanced over at it. "I thought you'd go for shoes or a bag or something, but…you're weirder than even I thought you'd be and that's saying something."

"Normally I would have, but…"

There was something about spending someone else's money that didn't sit well with her, especially for the fact that she didn't feel as though Syaoran owed her at all. If anything, she was grateful for everything he'd done for her up to that point, for being there when she really needed him and offering her friendship while doing it.

"It's not for me," she piped up when he began the car. "Wait, don't drive yet."

Raising a brow, he left the gear in park and rested against his seat, looking over at her. "What?"

"It's yours." She said, shoving the watch at him. When he didn't take it, she pushed it forward again. "Take it. You bought it."

"What do you mean it's mine?"

When he faced her challenging stare with his own, she gave an exasperated sound and forcefully grabbed his arm. After locking the watch, she sat back and admired it. "There you go."

"What are you talking about?" He glanced at the watch now sitting on his wrist, then looked back up at her. "Why'd you make me buy a watch?"

"You said that money was basically mine," she interrupted. "I just thought…" Hesitant to say it out loud, she mulled it over for a moment, then spoke with her eyes facing the front window shield. "Look, what you did for me this week meant a lot. I don't have a lot of people around me who I can lean on, and you were there for me when you didn't even have to be. So…it's not right to say that you owe me. You really don't. That deal we made really helped me, if you only knew," she admitted, feeling her face start to heat up in discomfort. It was hard to bare her heart out like that, but she needed to thank him properly. "So if anything, I owe you. And…well, I thought you needed something for yourself, since you don't seem to buy yourself very many things."

After a moment of silence, her eyes shifted and met his.

Not knowing what to say, he looked away. Though it had been his own money, she thought so hard over it. He…didn't know anything after all. This woman continued to stir him up in an unnerving and frightening way. As he gripped onto the steering wheel and put the gear on drive, he mulled over everything she said one more time. You were there for me even when you didn't have to be…

"You're weird," he muttered as he reversed out of the parking lot.

Thoughtfully she angled her head. "Mm…is that bad?"

"Yes it is." She couldn't see it, but on his face was a hint of a smile.