Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Card Captor Sakura, neither have any stakes in the teams and soccer leagues mentioned in the story. I also don't own anything about the song written in here and give mention and kudos to Ed Sheeran for such an amazing song though nothing of it belongs to me. I sadly just own the plot to this story. Names and places may exist but nothing in the story is veridic. The whole plot is just a concept/product of my imagination.
Chapter 9
Burning For You
He was missing her. He was missing her like crazy. Being borderline of not knowing whether he'd lose her or not had brought out a new sense of anxiety for him. She had assured him they would work through it, just like any other problem they've faced so far, and yet he felt this incident with the pregnant girl had changed somewhat things between them. Even though the matter had been resolved, his mind kept going round and round thinking of how close he had been of losing her because of his past decisions. It had been one more sleepless night he had spent without her at his side, and he was determined to change that as soon as this game was over. With that thought in mind, he tied his cleats to walk into the field and play his game tonight.
~ o ~
Her surprise didn't work. She had to ultimately tell him what she did with his China jerseys since he had called the police when he found out both shirts were missing. How did he find out? It was as much of a guess to her. The whole scene, as it was explained to her by none other than Eriol, had been hilarious to say the least. As if dealing with that woman who tried to accuse him of being the father of her unborn child wasn't enough, she had to call him and apologize for taking his jerseys without letting him know. He had called everything off immediately letting the police know it had been a false alarm, the jerseys had been found. Then, Eriol took it upon himself to let her know how overly dramatic her boyfriend had been when he thought his jerseys were stolen. Sometimes being a person attentive to detail had its downfalls apparently and, after talking with his cousin, she was sure he would make sure Syaoran would never forget this occasion ever in his life.
Sakura had decided to stay at Feimei's tonight since Syaoran was playing on a weekday. Usually, if the game wasn't very important, she would just record it and watch it the next day. There was a seven-hour difference between China and Manchester, which made it difficult for her to watch all his games live, but today was one of those games that had a different vibe to it. They were playing Manchester United which always turned out to be a very aggressive competitive match. Watching it live was the only way of keeping the excitement of not knowing what would happen, she would be feeling the adrenaline with the players as she watched. Therefore, since the only way she could watch it live was pulling an all-nighter, she decided to stay with her friend since her place was closer to her office. With Syaoran playing in the Premier League, the time lapse was never on their side. Luckily for them, this game was in the afternoon in the UK which meant she could watch the game at her friend's and go tomorrow to the office without any issues. Feimei was always her accomplice when it came to these games. Whether to watch soccer or hanging out at night, Feimei had always been her to-go person since the moment she had arrived in China.
She heard the beep of the microwave and opened the door to pull an inflated bag out of it. Reaching for a big bowl, she opened the bag and poured its entire content of buttery popcorn on the bowl before throwing the bag away. Quickly after, she turned from the kitchen on the way to the living room. "Scoot!" she playfully said to Feimei who was also very excited to be watching this game.
"You know, Xiun has to work early tomorrow so we're going to have to be very quiet tonight." Feimei said while changing into a seating position on the couch so that Sakura could seat right next to her.
Sakura smirked as she sat down and offered some popcorn to her friend. "Is that even possible watching this game? I'm surprised he's not here with us."
Feimei chuckled and shrugged. "Don't know, but we better try. He's going to kill me if we wake him up."
"How is he doing at his job?" she asked.
Feimei sighed. "So, so… I think he misses playing though."
Sakura ate some popcorn as she watched the teams warming up on the field. "I thought you said he had quit because he wasn't certain of wanting to keep playing."
Feimei looked at her and ate some popcorn as well. "I know" she said in between bites. "But I think he's missing it. Sometimes, when we're watching my brother's games, even though he stays silent and doesn't say what he feels about it, I can see it in his eyes. It's as if he holds back because I'm there."
"Have you asked him?" Sakura asked looking at the TV as the person behind the camera did a closeup on Syaoran. She truly loved to see him in that uniform. Even though they were living far from each other, she couldn't see him not playing wherever he wanted. She was proud of him signing with his childhood dream team when he had the chance to do so.
"I haven't. I have to admit I love the way we are right now even if it sounds selfish." Feimei just said grabbing another handful of popcorns in her hand.
"Even so Feimei, wouldn't you want him to be happy?" Sakura asked.
"I'm sure he's happy, but I think he misses playing, I'm not like you Sakura. I would definitely leave everything for him." Feimei said. She sighed at her friend's frowning face and rolled her eyes chuckling. "I'd be happy to do so as well. Don't get me wrong, it has nothing to do with co-depending on him, I just like sharing everything with him. Plus, I don't need the money. Even if he ends up signing in a pro team, I wouldn't need his money to live on. Him, on the contrary, wouldn't want me to do that. He's totally against it."
Yeah… of that she was certain. Still to this day, she couldn't quite grasp to what extent the Li's fortune reached. "I share most of my stuff with your brother. That doesn't mean I would leave everything for him though." Sakura simply said.
"No, but he would." Feimei said while smirking in a knowingly way towards Sakura's direction. "And, for the record, I do want him to be happy. This was his choice though. Now, on a slight quick change in subject, have you noticed anything different in Xiefa?"
"Something different?" Sakura asked not turning her sight from the TV. "Like what?"
"Oh, nothing. She seems a little distant lately, even weirdly cheery sometimes which it's totally strange for her. That's all."
"Distant?" she asked.
Feimei rolled her eyes. "If you haven't noticed then I guess it's just me. Nevermind."
Sakura frowned at her friend for a couple of seconds until the song announcing the game was about to begin started playing on the TV. She just shook her head as she grabbed more popcorn from the bowl. "Oh! Finally! It's about to start!" she excitedly said.
~ o ~
The classic Manchester game didn't defraud expectations. The game ended in a 3-2 with a last-minute goal from Syaoran at the 87th minute in a totally full stadium with fans from everywhere attending this game. It had been a very physical game for all of them going back and forth inside the field as they beat their opponents in their house. Their teamwork was finally starting to get better after having played a couple of games already in the league. The Champions League tournament, who many were eagerly waiting for, was about to start in a couple of days and finally their gameplay was feeling good as a whole.
"Yeah! We beat the shit out of those guys!" Ricardo said.
Kyu laughed putting an arm around his teammate. "Next is the league!"
Mark came walking into the locker room as well and said, "we can't let confidence cloud our judgement. We need to keep improving as a team."
Kyu rolled his eyes at Mark and casually said, "yeah, yeah, that's what I meant."
"Yeah, Yeah, Yeah bitcheeesss!" Jaxon entered the locker room loudly celebrating. "We beat the crap out of those guys! In their house, in their face!"
Eriol laughed shaking his head as he entered right behind him. Things were starting to look good for them. Tonight, had been a step forward in Eriol's eyes. He could finally see some teamwork in tonight's game.
"We need to go celebrate!" Kyu added.
"Party at my house baby!" Jaxon loudly announced.
Syaoran entered the room and heard the celebration from his teammates but, instead of getting into a celebratory mode, he walked towards his locker and opened his bag.
"What do you say? You want to go to his house and celebrate?" Eriol asked him.
Syaoran just shook his head. "I'm leaving after coach talks to us in a couple of minutes."
Eriol frowned. Something was off with Syaoran. Normally after winning a game this big, he would be the one to encourage going out to celebrate. He was about so say something but didn't have time to say much as he looked towards the entrance door. Their coach, right on cue, entered the locker room to have his normal analysis after the game talk with them. He explained the good things about the game they just had and little things they still needed to work on as a team before leaving them for the rest of the night.
"Are you going to your house then?" Eriol asked. "This isn't like you. You're usually the one who hates doing nothing in your house. We just won!"
Syaoran shook his head. "I'm not going to my house. I'm going home." That being said, he walked towards the showers leaving a dumbfounded Eriol right next to his locker. After taking a quick shower, he went back to get ready when he saw Eriol was still in his locker no doubt waiting for him. "What mother?" he annoyingly asked.
"We only have a day off. You're truly flying to China?" Eriol simply asked.
Syaoran just looked at him. "I'm out of here Eriol. I'll be back before practice."
Eriol smirked before chuckling and shaking his head. "Alright then."
Syaoran prepared the last things on his bag before hearing his phone. Looking at the caller ID, Choi was calling him at his cellphone, and he quickly answered. "Did you buy the ticket?"
Choi nodded. "Your flight leaves in an hour. You have about half an hour to get to the airport."
"That's enough. Thanks!" Syaoran said.
"Let me know if you need anything else while you're there. And make sure not to miss your flight back Syaoran! Not even as a joke!" Choi said.
Syaoran grabbed his bag while keeping his phone in place on his ear with his shoulder. "I won't!"
"I've emailed you the info. Put it in your phone's wallet so you have it immediately when you get into the airport. You'll be running very tight even if you make it in thirty minutes. I've already taken care of your security as well. They'll be waiting for you at the airport to guide you to your plane. Stop where you see them. One of them will drive your car back to my place and I'll pick you up the day after tomorrow."
"Thanks! I'm out!" he said before hanging up and quickly getting towards his car. If he truly wanted to make this work, he needed to hurry carefully to make it on time to the airport.
~ o ~
Her day had started just like it needed to today… nice, sunny, and lightened by her daily run in the morning before heading to work. Her assistant had brought her a very well-prepared black coffee with just the right amount of sugar, made especially for someone who had a very busy day scheduled in her agenda for today like she had when she arrived at the office. So, she could say everything was going perfectly well so far. Jun had come into the office to discuss decorations for the buildings since she wanted to start ordering the materials ahead of time to make sure their orders would have no problem coming in. She had already set up a storage unit in which to store all the materials received before they could set them up in the building so that she could avoid any last-minute changes with this project.
Sakura set a tile sample and a paint patch paper into her office table and started describing her idea. "So, I think this neutral tile would go very well as the clubhouse floor and then we can match it up with this very light gray color for the walls. I want an accent wall, a very shocking color accent wall, right behind the front desk. It will give it that luxurious look we are looking for and it will give that very welcoming feeling to potential residents from the moment they walk into the complex."
Jun crossed his arms in front of him in a thoughtful way and nodded. "I like how this looks but, do you think we could add a little more color? Perhaps a black so that it wouldn't look too bland? I mean, I think the color black has been historically linked to the word luxury in many things. Like, for instance, cars."
"You're not building a car here Jun." She casually said before walking over to her desk once more. "I think that black is not as welcoming as a neutral color, but I did bring other options for you to see and let me know. Black sounds more like an office to me instead of a welcoming apartment complex." She went back to her desk and pulled out another neutral sort of beachy colored tile with a sample of a white painting paper from sample bag. "Also, I think we could add some other things to the office as well to complete the look we need instead of going for a drastic change as a black wall. We could add some natural accessories for example, to finish off the look and they would perfectly match what we're both looking for when it comes to the clubhouse." For some reason, the noise outside of her office was getting a little louder but not minding much she grabbed the materials she needed and turned to present them to Jun. She stopped mid-way and stared at the figure approaching from the elevator. She froze. Her heartbeat started to suddenly rise uncertain if it was from nervousness of knowing she was precisely in her office discussing parts of her project with Jun, or out of excitement as she stared at her boyfriend walking towards her office with a cocky smirk on his face. She tried to compose herself as she watched him greet her assistant with a smile on his face before reclining himself on her door.
As he approached the room, he looked around and took in the reason for her sudden lack of emotion towards seeing him here. To his right, was none other than her ex-boyfriend Jun. Making sure to mask his real feeling towards this encounter, he entered her office and greeted him first stretching his hand towards him. "Jun, I apologize for the interruption. It's been a while. How have you been?"
Jun stared at him for a couple of seconds, not believing he was there, as if second guessing whether he should shake his hand or not but, being a politician's son, he smiled and shook it. "I've been good. Trying my hand at other things besides politics as you can see."
Syaoran smiled. "Well, you simply pick the best to do so, though I always thought you have a knack for following your father's footsteps into politics." He said never taking his eyes away from him making sure to let him know with only one look that all he would be able to do with Sakura would be business related. After staring at Jun for a couple of seconds, he turned towards Sakura and reaching her he gave her a hug.
"What are you doing here?" she simply said still trying to get over the shock of seeing him here.
He smirked. "The game yesterday ended early, and we had a day off. So, I decided to come visit." He watched her look around in a nervous way and smiled before adding, "I'll be in father's office. Just come get me when you finish."
She nodded absentmindedly and was grateful that he hadn't formed some sort of argument after finding Jun in her office. Syaoran had always been a little protective when it came to her especially when there were other guys around though she had to admit his demeanor had totally surprised her. She had been a little afraid of what could have happened and yet he handled the whole thing as if it was an everyday situation. Watching him walk out and retreating to his father's office, she mentally reset her mind to go back to what she was doing before he appeared. She smiled a little before going back to finish what she was doing. "So, going back to where we were, this is another option I thought for the clubhouse."
Walking towards the table, she set the products neatly on it and presented the items and the concept before her mind went back to a couple of minutes ago. Her boyfriend was here. She tried to stay as professionally composed as possible as she tried to listen to Jun's input on the option, but not even that could avoid the small smile she was trying to hide thinking that he had traveled hours and thousands of miles just to surprise her because he had been given a day off.
"So, I think we will go with option two but let me take a picture of both of them to present them to the partners. I'm almost certain this will be the pick though." Jun said as he took pictures in different angles of the options set in the table with his phone.
She nodded and quickly said, "once you have your pick, please let Michi know so she can start ordering the items. They will probably take around a month or two to get here, if they are not in backorder, but is not something that should concerns us. It's the main reason why I want to choose this now so that we can take into consideration any delays the delivery of the materials may have. We are still on schedule with everything else."
He nodded and smiled. "Will do then."
Immediately after, she saw Jun to the door and waited for him to get into the elevator before turning towards her assistant. "Michi-"
"I already moved your appointments for Thursday except for our regular visit to the site today." Michi said smirking already anticipating what her boss was going to ask her. "See you there."
Sakura smiled. "Perfect! Thanks! I probably won't be back after checking the site's update." She quickly excused herself and walked towards the elevator. He was in his father's office. For some reason she found the elevators were taking longer than usual. She couldn't understand why when she needed the elevator to open its doors quickly it felt like forever before one of them finally signaled that lovely soft ding announcing its arrival to take her up.
~ o ~
Syaoran had come to his father's office like he had told her. He wasn't very pleased with knowing she was with Jun in her office, but he kept repeating in his mind everything was because of her business with him. She was working towards her personal goal… a goal that had to do with the framed piece of paper with golden letters he was just staring at on his father's office wall with his hands in his pockets. He couldn't come between that. He wouldn't come between that. She had every right of working towards it and he felt a certain pride in knowing she was following her dreams just like he had followed his. He felt the need to support it as if it was his own.
"I heard rumors they had seen you walking around the building. 'Someone causing a commotion', called by some."
He turned towards the voice of his father coming from the door and smiled without moving from the place he was. "I'm only staying today though. Tomorrow night, I must fly back. Coach only gave us a day to rest after the game."
His father smirked. "And you considered taking a ten hour flight coming in and ten hours going back was the greatest way of resting?"
He returned the smirk as he looked back at the certificate. "How old where you when you won this award?"
Xian walked towards his son and proudly looked at the picture on the wall as well. "Around a year older than Sakura is right now."
"I heard from mother years ago that you chose to develop a very difficult project for you." Syaoran said.
His father smiled knowingly. "The only way of winning this award is by challenging everything you know in this business. You can't leave anything out. She has a really good chance of winning it as long as you don't become a sort of rock in the middle for her."
He took a deep breath after hearing his father's word before saying, "I won't."
"If I'm not mistaken, she had a meeting scheduled today with the senator's son. Knowing her, she probably is still in it." Xian casually said.
Syaoran sighed a bit annoyed at the small detail before looking at his father. "Are you done?"
Xian smirked. "I know I haven't been the perfect father figure you've always wanted next to you in a while but allow me to give you a sort of better late than never piece of advice. Do not let your feelings cloud your judgment son. The moment they do, you will lose her again." He watched as Syaoran simply stared at him before he added, "other than that, welcome home." He hugged his son and patted him in the back. "I'm sure you made time in your last-minute surprise visit of a couple of hours in China to visit your mother and, if you haven't, I will make sure you do now."
Syaoran rolled his eyes acknowledging the warning behind his father's words before replying, "I'll be in for breakfast tomorrow." There was no way he could ever come to China and not visit his mother. She would have a fit and make sure the entire family knew why. His father clearly reminded him that he wouldn't allow that to ever happen and, knowing how good he was at doing business deals, he could quite imagine to what lengths he would go to have Syaoran visit the family whenever he was in China. So, instead of trying to fight an already lost battle, he knew always to include some time to visit his family whenever he was home even if he had planned on only surprising Sakura.
"Good! Good!" Xian said smiling.
Syaoran was about to add something else but his face started changing at the sight of his girlfriend at the door.
Xian turned and smiled at her. "Meeting went well, I presume?"
Sakura looked at Xian and nodded. "Décor for the clubhouse is almost set and we are on schedule. So, nothing to worry about." She reported as she walked towards Syaoran with a smile on her face. She gave him a hug but didn't dare to do anything else considering his father/her boss was even in the room.
"Good." Xian said.
She smiled and turned happily towards Xian one more time. "I'm done for the day today after inspecting the new materials that just came in and I'll be taking tomorrow off." She was still trying to hide her excitement but this time it was just simply harder to do. She wasn't dreaming, he truly was here.
"I figured as much. Now off both of you. I still have several hours to work here before Yelan drags me back to the house."
Syaoran chuckled and took Sakura's hand in his to walk out of his father's office.
"Breakfast is at eight Syaoran."
His nod and wave of his free hand was the only indication that he had heard his father as he kept walking with Sakura on hand to get out of the building. They got into the elevator and Syaoran pressed the lobby button for the elevator to take them to the main floor. "Are you sure you can take tomorrow off? I don't want you to get behind on your project."
She smiled at him. "Were you not listening when I told your father I was taking tomorrow off?" She waited until the elevator doors close to snake her arms around his neck and softly kiss him. "I can't believe you're here."
He chuckled as he hugged her waist. "I could only think about you when coach told us we had tomorrow off. Are you hungry?"
"Ravenous." She answered.
He smirked. "Sushi?"
She nodded. "Perfect." She let go before the elevator reached the first floor and allowed him to take her hand to intertwine their fingers so he could lead her out of the building. "How did you get here?"
"I grabbed a taxi since I wanted it to be a surprise." He smirked.
She nodded. "Then let's just take my car. You don't mind driving something that's not a stick?" she playfully asked.
He scoffed and sarcastically replied "I'm insulted, babe."
She laughed as they approached her car. Off course he would act wounded after her question knowing how much Syaoran loved cars. He opened the passenger's door for her to get in before going towards the driver's side of the car and getting in himself. After they were both ready, he drove them away.
"So, how long are you staying for?" she asked him.
He looked at her and kissed her hand. "Just tonight. I must leave tomorrow night to make it to practice on time."
She smiled and nodded. "Then we can go back to the house instead of the apartment since it's more private. I'm surprised you're not wearing your red cap…" she said smirking at the thought.
He laughed. "It was so sudden I left it in the house. I'm sure everyone will know me now."
She shook her head. "Maybe they'll recognize you less now than before because of you not wearing it."
"Don't be a hater… I'll let you know that cap has saved me multiple times already." He said as he drove them away towards the restaurant.
She raised her eyebrow in a questioning way and said, "I'd be surprised. In fact, I believe the opposite is quite more believable than that! How was your flight?"
"Boring!" he looked at her and smirked before saying, "I'm even sorry for making you do this every month just to see me."
She shrugged. "I don't mind as long as I'm with you. Plus, different to you, I do have tons of things to do while flying on the plane. I can work those hours of flight without a problem, so it works for me perfectly." She took out her phone and put it on silent before looking back at him.
"Who was the girl at the corner of your floor? I don't believe I saw her the last time I was here." He casually asked.
"Oh! That must be Lya. She's the only new face around. I believe your mother introduced her as the daughter of one of your father's closest friends." She chuckled at the memory before narrowing her eyes and adding, "why? Do I need to prepare for something with this one?"
He laughed. "You don't have to worry about a thing, babe." He said while kissing her hand. No wonder the girl looked familiar to him.
"Do you mind if we go to the site first? I need to check on one of the orders that arrived and after that we can do whatever we want." She said.
He shook his head. "Not at all. You're my copilot. Let me know where we're going."
She chuckled but nonetheless smiled and nodded. Copilot sounded kind of funny considering this was his hometown. "We're about to see her again. She should be at the site with Michi by now."
He nodded making sure not to add anything more to it. Knowing Sakura's meticulous mind, she was probably trying to put the pieces together on this girl to see if there was anything she needed to worry about.
"Random question but, why do you have another phone in the room?" she asked.
He frowned and looked at her quickly before returning his sight towards the road. "Very random question, babe!"
She chuckled but nodded. "I forgot to ask you before, but I've been wondering since Eriol and Tomoyo had their first argument." She looked at him once more and said, "I bought a basket to place our phones and, if memory serves me well and I'm sure it does, your phone was downstairs that night."
He chuckled and shook his head. "There's nothing that goes unnoticed by you, is there baby?"
She smirked. "You got to do better than that if you were trying to hide it."
He chuckled once more before answering, "I'm not trying to hide anything, much less from you. That phone is only for emergencies and only my family has the phone number."
She frowned. "I don't have the number."
He looked at her and smiled before looking at the road once more. "I'll add it to your phone once we get to your site. I honestly had even forgot about it until that phone call from Tomoyo that night. It's not a phone I carry with me all the time and don't use it unless someone calls me on it."
She agreed on leaving her phone with him whenever they got to the site so he could add the phone number to her list of contacts but kept her thoughts to herself on this. It wasn't that she didn't believe him, but she found it weird he had never mentioned something about it. Also, he had his normal phone which didn't make sense at all to have a second phone in the house. Nonetheless, for now, she would accept his answer and not dwell too much on it.
~ o ~
They arrived at the terrain and got out of the car. Putting his hands in his pockets and reclining himself on the car, he could see the site had changed much since she had showed him the first pictures of just the land. The outside part of the first building was pretty much almost done. Just a couple of floors on the top were missing but the construction site had done a pretty good job in getting this up quickly. He knew Sakura had always expressed to him how time was a big factor in this project because of the competition deadline. Michi was already waiting for them outside along with Lya.
"Did all the materials arrived?" Sakura asked as she approached her assistant.
Michi nodded. "The only problem I found was what I texted you about. The color sort of looks off when we opened the some of the boxes, but I wanted to make sure with you before signing off the return document." She said while starting to walk back to the office.
"Ok, show me." Sakura said.
He stayed by her car watching as his girlfriend followed her assistant into the storage room. Keeping his father's words in mind, he watched as his girlfriend took care of whatever the situation was regarding her project.
"It's finally nice to see you again, Syaoran after depriving us of your presence for seven years." Lya said.
He smiled a little. Sakura had already told him who this girl was and, although he didn't recognize her when he first saw her, he remembered perfectly well who she was after Sakura mentioned her name. "How have you been Lya?" he politely asked.
"I've been good. Remembering the good old days of the past. We used to be very close friends when we were kids. Don't you remember?" she asked.
He looked at her and, not minding her words much, he said "time flies."
She chuckled. "I guess it does. As you can see now, I'm learning the business. Father thought it a good idea for me to know the in-and-outs of it. I find it very interesting."
He nodded. "Do you like developing projects?"
She shrugged casually and said, "it's not bad. Your mother told father that Sakura is actually one of the best developers in the office, so naturally father wants me to learn from her."
"How is that working for you?" he simply asked. "If what you're saying is true, your mentor is resolving an issue elsewhere while you're still here. Is this not taking away from your nourishment as an aspiring developer?"
Not minding his harsh words for a second, she simply smiled and said, "I'm sure she won't mind. Sakura hates when people stand in her way."
He scoffed. "She also likes teaching people who truly are interested in learning. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, her first assistant got promoted to developer earlier this year. Heard she's one of the best rookies in the company right now. Michi is her second assistant that I know of and, from what I hear, she's doing very well too."
"So, you do keep up with the company after all?" She asked as if she was relieved to find this out.
He looked at her and said, "that is not for you to ask. If you want to learn the business, then learn the business. You will find nothing about me in here."
His words made her angry, but she had to remember her place in all of this. She couldn't risk getting fired over this or her father would make her pay for it, but at the same time she didn't know when, if ever, she would get this chance of speaking with him again. "We hoped of you coming back to us sooner. In seven years, you didn't even though of letting us at least catch a glimpse of you here in China. So, forgive me if I feel like staying here with you right now feels better than me walking into the storage room with Sakura to count materials again."
"I don't owe my life to any of you, and I will keep doing what I want regardless of whatever any of you think." He simply said as he watched his girlfriend coming back out with Michi behind her.
Lya scoffed a little hurt by his words and softly said, "you haven't changed a bit."
Sakura walked towards them but looked at Lya when she arrived. "Lya, count the tiles one by one to make sure we send back the correct boxes with different numeration."
Lya frowned. "Michi and I already counted them twice."
Sakura narrowed her eyes. "Then you will count them a third time to make sure all of them are accounted for, since apparently you have enough time to talk instead of work."
Lya stared at her and narrowed her eyes a little bit but didn't say anything.
"Michi?" Sakura asked.
"Yes!" she answered.
"Put the order to return the last thirty boxes and tell them we need them to be from the same numeration as the rest. If they don't have them all, then please tell them to take back all the boxes and ask them to send everything again with the same numeration so they all follow the same pattern."
Michi nodded. "Will do."
Last, but not least, she smiled to Syaoran and said, "I'm done here. We can go eat now."
He smiled and nodded.
Lya and Michi watched them get into her car and drive away before Michi turned towards Lya with a smirk on her face. "Piece of advice Lya, I heard the last woman who tried to get in between her relationship with Syaoran didn't end well. You might want to be careful the next time you decide to stay back and talk to him. You know… keep your fan side away from work." That been said, she walked back to her car and drove back to the office leaving Lya on site so she could run her tedious errand of counting tiles once again.
~ o ~
He arrived at the restaurant and drove her car through the valet parking before taking Sakura's hand and walk inside. The waiter came over to greet them with a big smile on his face.
"Welcome Mr. Li!" he politely said.
Sakura frowned and looked at Syaoran before looking back at the waiter. She found it a bit odd the familiar way in which the waiter greeted them but set her inkling aside in the back of her mind. As far as she knew, he hadn't been to China in a long time. The last time had been for the Cup and back then he didn't have enough time to go around China and exploring the different places it offered. Then again, her boyfriend did participate with the soccer team who gave China its first World Cup trophy so maybe she was just overthinking the whole thing.
Syaoran chuckled. "Table for two, please?"
The guy nodded and extended his hand in an inviting way towards the inside of the restaurant. "Right this way, please." He picked up two menus and started walking in front of them.
"In a secluded area would be preferable." Syaoran added while still following the waiter.
After everything that they had been through, especially with his fan, Sakura could understand perfectly well why Syaoran was being a little careful about this. A couple of seconds later, the waiter took them upstairs towards the second floor and showed them a table right in the corner. Syaoran slide her chair out for her to seat before getting in his in front of her and thanking the waiter for their menus. She waited some seconds while the waiter retired from their table before looking at him with a smile on her face. "So, am I going to hear the real reason why you're here?"
He looked up to her before immersing himself to study the menu. "You don't think I'm being honest in my desire to see you?"
She chuckled and smirked. "Oh, I have no issues accepting your desire to see me, except you saw me just a week ago." She looked at her menu as well and started reading the different sushi options this place offered. "Your desire baby, though as honest as it comes, usually works as a cover for you in situations like these. Am I not right?" she asked and looked at him with the same knowingly smile on her face.
He looked back at her and smiled. He had known many women in his past and yet none had gone through the trouble of knowing him as well as Sakura did. They had all wanted him for their own greed. Money, fame, luxury… he had never been able to meet someone like Sakura who had her own mind about what she wanted her life to be and would always keep him at his feet. This dance of them, although dangerous at times, was something that always excited him. "Isn't 'I wanted to see you' enough reason for you? I missed you like crazy? Wanted to brighten your day?"
She chuckled once more and shook her head while looking at the menu in front of her once more. "It's going to come out sooner or later so you might as well just come out and say it."
He chuckled once more. "Lobster good for you?"
She nodded.
He signaled the waiter to approach them so he could give him the order. After the waiter took back his order to the kitchen, he looked at Sakura once more. "Your phone?" he asked signaling her to give him her phone.
"Oh, right!" She took it out of her bag and, after unlocking it, gave it to him. She had forgotten to give it to him when she had arrived at the site.
He started writing down the number of his other phone while saying, "I've had a lot of things on my mind lately. One of them being, I wanted to see you." He gave her phone back after saving the number under his name as a secondary phone number. Their waiter came back and offered Syaoran a small taste of the wine he had picked for their lunch and served both of their glasses after his confirmation before leaving them once more.
She grew a little bit worried inside but at the same time she had a small feeling in the back of her mind she knew what this was about. Taking her phone back and putting it back into her bag, she said "if it's about the fake pregnant model issue, I'm already past it."
"Would I have lost you if it would've been true?" he asked.
"Why worry about something that didn't happen?" she asked.
"Would I have though?" he asked once more.
She shrugged. "I don't know." She took a small sip of her wine before looking at him again. "I can't honestly tell you it didn't bother me because it did. When I first heard about it, in your mother's office, I felt angry. To know that your mother was backing that pregnant woman bothered as well. Your father was the only one who reminded me of what I had to do and at the same time I felt helpless in knowing I didn't have any control over it. That being said… I think I would've still tried it. You know… the 'let's see what can happen' part of it."
He nodded and took a sip of his wine. He knew what she had done. As much as he hated it, he knew it in his heart and yet he couldn't say anything about it this time because it had been all his fault. He had driven her to do it. She had used a spy to end any type of possibility of this girl ever showing up again in their life. "I've done many stupid things in the past."
She smirked with her glass on hand. "So have I." She took a sip of her wine before telling him with a knowingly smile on her face, "it's called resolving the issue and moving on. You can't stay in the past Syaoran. Otherwise, how are we supposed to grow from it?"
He smiled at her. "I know."
The waiter came back with their plates on hand. He set the plates in the middle of the table and walked away from them. Sakura looked excitedly at the sushi before preparing her little soy sauce with a bit of wasabi on the side and grabbing her chopsticks to dig in. She picked her first piece, dip it in the sauce and ate it. Chewing her first piece, she nodded satisfied before saying, "delicious. You picked good, baby."
He chuckled before taking his piece as well. "Also… I got offered the captain armband in Manchester."
Sakura was about to eat her second piece but, after hearing him, she put it in her plate and stare at him, "did you accepted?" She asked already knowing the answer. Eriol had told her something about this a couple of weeks ago, but she had waited to hear it directly from him.
He sighed. "I'm not sure if I want it. I like playing without the pressure of leading, even though you call me a natural leader. I don't see how an armband should make a difference."
She wasn't completely convinced about his answer but nodded and kept eating while hearing him out. Sometimes, when something was bothering him, he unconsciously would talk about whatever it was to her until he could come up with a possible solution to his problem. It was something she had learned with time about him. He would dance around the subject until he could decide what to do about it and she was glad to know this side of him hadn't changed with her. The fact that he truly liked to know her opinion on things, even though sometimes he would decide to do the opposite of what she had advise him on, made her feel like he truly valued her as a person and as a partner in his life.
"Oh, I forgot to mention. My father manipulated me into going tomorrow for breakfast at the house."
She chuckled and shook her head. "It's not considered manipulation Syaoran when they are your parents, it's just a common curtesy to go visit them. They spend more than half a year away from you."
He smirked. "Call it what you want to. Brunch is at 8:00, as he so conveniently reminded me while we were leaving the office this morning in your presence."
She kept trying to not laugh about it and kept eating instead. In the end, she was also happy they were able to talk about the pregnant lady this way and take that off their chest. When she had visited him in England, she felt in a way she had helped him think about the issue at hand back then and at the same time found herself trying to work with him on it, but they had never talked about her feelings on the matter. After reaching China with the truth in hand, she had finally sat down alone in her room and really thought about it. Her answer to herself that night scared her but that was not something she was ready to share with him. She had thought at the beginning she was the only one needing to work internally with this and knowing he also had unresolved feelings about it made her feel somewhat on an even ground when it came to this.
~ o ~
After finishing their dinner, they went back to her house. He had taken his time to look around and it was so much different than her apartment. Her house was something his sister had once told him about, but he had never visited before. He had known she was the owner of it but, since he had to leave so quickly after the tournament, he had never been able to visit it before. For some reason, only Xiefa and Feimei knew about it, according to Sakura who told him back then he was the third to know about the existence of this house. He walked around the apartment. While her city apartment was full of modern furniture and simple colors, her house was more in tone with nature. Her furniture was of a neutral color and looked to be very cozy. Her bedroom, which could be seeing at the end of the living room, was also decorated in nice simple neutral tones. Everything in this house screamed relaxing getaway to him. No wonder her sister had told him once, whenever she needed to think she would come here.
He watched her in the kitchen preparing some cold cuts for them before looking forward once more. He opened the sliding door to her porch and was also mesmerized by the sunset view. The serene beach water reflected the last minutes of the sun that day with beautiful different orange tones. Even her patio furniture matched her relaxing style inside the house. There was no doubt she probably coordinated everything. While her apartment didn't give him the feeling of being her, her house definitely did. She must've put everything about this house together exactly the way she wanted it. Some of the décor even reminded him of some of the pieces she chose for their house in Manchester.
She, on the other hand, opened another bottle of wine and serve some cold cuts in a wooden board. Walking outside towards her porch, she gave Syaoran his glass before turning back and getting the board of cold cuts to set in the wooden patio table in front of them. They cheered by clinking their glasses before drinking a sip and putting their glasses back into the table. Several hanging bulbs gave light to the place and set a nice and cozy atmosphere around them. Two patio wooden couches with cushions face each other separated by the wooden table where she had placed their cold cuts in the middle.
"This is a nice house." He said looking around before sitting in one of her couches she had in her porch.
She smiled and sat next to him but lounged herself against his chest. "I forgot you had never been here."
He put her arm around her before asking, "do you mind if I ask why only three people know about it?" he asked.
She shrugged. "It's a long story, but basically it became my place to unwind any difficulties I'm going through. Sometimes, I need a space to think. It's the reason I bought this house. Feimei and Xiefa know about it because Xiefa helped me with the acquisition, and well Feimei one day decided to follow me."
He chuckled. "Sound like her."
She looked at him and casually said, "you remember when we started dating while you were in the tournament, and I was having doubts about this relationship?"
He nodded.
"When you called, I was here." She said.
He smiled and kissed her temple. "Do you have security around it?"
She nodded. "The community is very safe but there's an entire security system in place since it's so far away from the city." She grabbed her glass of wine and took another sip of it before turning towards him once more. "Now that you've won the World Cup, you've fulfilled one of your longtime dreams… what's next for you? What do you want now?"
He stared at her and smiled. "It's not over by just winning a World Cup. I'll be the greatest soccer player to ever compete in the Premier League. Then, in four more years, I'll defend our country once more."
"As captain?" she asked.
He sighed shrugging his shoulders. "Who knows. That decision belongs to our coach."
She kept staring at him. There was one thing that she never understood about their tournament. While Mark was very good at barking instructions and trying to keep everyone on the line, Syaoran had always been the one that led the team with his actions. The only reason why she could see Mark as being a captain was because of seniority, but other than that she was quite certain on her mind that the perfect person for the job was definitely Syaoran. There was no doubt in her mind about all of his teammates following him when it came to the position. "I'd say he's blind if he doesn't think you can be their captain."
He looked away before drinking from his glass. "Let's say it's not something I will fight for."
She stared at him and narrowed her eyes before releasing quickly. For some reason, she suddenly had a feeling this captainship involved something else other than his coach's decision. "I don't see you having to do much for it either."
"That's not what I meant." He softly said.
She took a deep breath before saying, "you don't want to be captain of Manchester, even though your coach did choose you. You don't want to be captain of China either, even though you're the perfect guy for the job. What are you truly afraid of?"
He scoffed. "I'm not afraid of anything."
"Failing is only part of the journey," she said, her eyes never leaving his turned face. "Why else did you place the Junior Cup Tournament second place trophy in the middle of the award room at the house? Is it not to be a sort of martyr for you? A memoir of a time when you were a captain?"
He took a deep breath before looking at her. "What if it is?"
She starred at his eyes as a small smile started appearing on her face. "I don't see you winning that trophy a second time if you keep running away from what's naturally yours. What's more, I've heard revalidating is a lot harder than actually winning it the first time. Do you honestly think Mark has it in him to push everyone in the correct direction to win that trophy again?" She took some of her drink once more never taking her eyes off his before saying, "I tried to run away from you when I first saw you. Look where we are now, baby? Shouldn't that be a lesson already learned for you?"
He chuckled before confidently saying, "I wouldn't have let you run away from me again. Not after finally finding you."
She smiled. "I learned from this that I shouldn't run away from what naturally feels right. Those armbands belong to you whether you want to accept them or not. The way I see it, you can keep running from it or you can finally embrace it. If you want my opinion," she slowly moved over to him and straddled him before kissing him softly. "I'd say embracing it so far has been going very well for me."
He chuckled encircling his arms around her waist. "Is it?"
She nodded before kissing his lips once more. "You don't have to listen if you don't want to. I respect the fact that decisions inside the field are yours to make but, you can also keep it in mind."
"I am" desire evident in his voice before giving her another small kiss. "But," he smiled between kisses before saying, "as much as I want to take this inside, I want to talk to you about something."
She kissed him one more time before smiling. "We're not taking anything inside until the meteor shower passes and aren't we talking already?"
"Meteor shower?" he asked.
She nodded and smirked. "What a perfect timing you have Mr. Player."
He chuckled at his mischievous girlfriend and caressed her face. "I know the last couple of months have not been easy between us."
She stared at him before softly smiling. "I thought we were past this stage."
He took a deep breath before continuing, "I've heard from many around me this life is not something you are used to, enough to worry me at times."
She backed up a little but kept her eyes at his. "I can't say I totally was. Being a project developer is not as famous as being an athlete, though I think we both know that."
He nodded. "Are you really okay with not having your life as private as you used to have it before? The way I grew up babe, I could never give you the tranquility or peace of mind that comes from not having your life scrutinized every day by the media or even not being followed by fans to the simplest most casual places."
She touched his face with her hands to make sure he wouldn't turn his face from her. "Syaoran, we've been four months together now baby. If I wasn't okay with it by now, I can assure you I would've walked away a long time ago." She gave him a quick kiss before saying, "Yes, I may have some issues with things I read or see on the internet because people sometimes can't restraint themselves from putting their opinions out there for everyone to see, especially women in the media career, but the way I see it they are all entitled to have their own opinion and their opinions can only work on me if I let them. Bottom line is, I love the way I feel when I'm with you and no opinion will change that. You make me feel things I can hardly describe with words. I can only say, they leave me always wanting for more." She grabbed her wine glass from the side and drank from it before smiling at him. "So, let the media take their pictures and write about their envious opinions, as long as I have you in the end, I can assure you I stopped minding a while ago."
He bit his lip and smiled before kissing her. "I love you," he said before moaning and picking her up to take her inside the room.
"No, no, no, no!" she laughed and broke free from his hold before giving him a look. "I want to see the meteor shower mister!"
He laughed but encircled his hands around her waist to bring her closer. He kissed her and said, "fine!"
She watched as he took his phone out of his pocket, searched for something in it before setting it aside. "What are you doing?" she asked when suddenly a soft sweet ballad started coming out of his phone. Assuming what he was about to do, she chuckled before saying, "you know this is cheesy for you, right? What have you done with my real boyfriend?"
He laughed not minding. "Might as well do something productive as we wait. Come here, babe" he said while bringing her closer and starting to move at a slow pace with her. "I don't mind being cheesy with you right now." He softly said to her.
'My lungs are black, my heart is pure'
She shook her head laughing but accepted the invitation. "This is not normal for you."
He smirked. "We've never been normal, love. Normal would bore us."
'My hands are scarred from nights before'
She laughed while relaxing in his hands.
"Besides…" he said to her ear, "we still have some minutes to kill before the shower starts."
'And my hair is thin and falling out of all the wrong places. I am a little insecure.'
She smiled while looking at him. "Did you purposedly picked this song?"
He kept dancing slowly with her and softly smiled. "Why do you ask?"
"I don't peck you as the insecure type of guy." She said.
He laughed. "The only thing I am not insecure about is you."
She raised her brow and nodded. "Really?"
"Hear… this is the best part of the song." He said while nodding.
'But, she loves me, she loves me. Why the hell she loves me when she can have anyone else? Oh, you love me, you love me. Why the hell you love me 'cause I don't even love myself? Baby, the best part of me is you. Lately, everything's making sense too. Oh, baby, I'm so in love with you.'
She smiled before softly kissing him. "I love you too."
He caressed her face while keeping his forehead closed to hers. "It's true, you know. Finding you again… having you in my life makes me want to be a better man. Just for you, love."
She stared at his eyes and smiled. "Are you proposing again?"
He chuckled and shook his head. "No. I told you back then I wouldn't. I only await your decision."
"Anxiously?" she coyly asked.
He chuckled but nodded. "Very anxiously."
'But, you love me, you love me. Why the hell you love me so when you could have anyone else? Yeah, he loves me, he loves me, and I bet he never lets me go, and shows me how to love myself.'
She smirked. "I guess this is my part then."
"Mmm… I already answered why though." He said while kissing her once more.
'Baby, the best part of me is you. Lately, everything's making sense too. Oh, baby, I'm so in love with you.'
She smiled and stared at him after ending the kiss. This man was just something else. Suddenly, a movement to his right caught her attention in the sky. She smiled as the meteor shower was finally starting. "Look!"
He smiled as he stared at her happy face as she excitedly looked up before looking up as well. He felt her move on his arms to reclined her back from his chest so they could watch it together. "I love you Sak." He whispered to her ear as he watched the shower with her.
She smiled and said, "I love you too" as she felt his hands tightened around her waist to keep her close.
~ o ~
The next morning, she was up before him for a change. Sakura looked at the figure next to her and his handsome relaxed face made her smile first thing in the morning. It was his first trip back to China since the World Cup and, after almost becoming an expert in visiting him once a month, she was positively certain he would be feeling the power of the famous jet lag sometime today if he wasn't feeling it already. This scene however felt familiar to her in a way. They weren't together back then when she felt the desire to trace her fingers through his peaceful face. She smiled at the memory. He had been desperate to get her back once more regardless of her effortless attempts to delay becoming his girlfriend. She had been afraid back then, afraid that he would demand of her more than she could give him, and his wishes end up undoing her resolve of the woman she had become. As she traced her fingers through his lips, she felt relief to have been proven wrong about that thought. Letting go of her fears was proving to be the best decision she had ever made so far.
His eyes slowly opened to find his girlfriend dreamily looking at him smiling. "You're up already?" he asked.
She nodded. "What do you want to do today? My day is all yours."
He smiled. "The weather in here is so much nicer than in Manchester. What do you say if we go riding after breakfast? I haven't seen Shadow since that weekend at the cabin."
"Okay! I'll get ready and you…" she took the blankets off him not minding his grunting disapproval of it and said, "start getting up. Your parents are expecting us at eight."
"They'll expect me at nine." he said closing his eyes once more.
She was about to get out of bed when she felt his arms embracing her from behind impeding her from getting out of bed at all.
"Morning love" he softly said to her ear.
She giggled a little before turning towards him and kissing his cheek. "Morning babe!"
~ o ~
He walked out of Sakura's car closing the door after and looking at the exterior of his parent's house. The hour on his watch read 8:30am as he sighed already imagining what his father's greeting would be like after walking through that door thirty minutes late. The day with Sakura yesterday had been fantastic. He would've given anything to just stay by her side the entire time without any interruptions but alas he had told his father he would come visit his mother before leaving later so on that note, he had to come whether he wanted to or not. His father had been very clear in mentioning breakfast was at eight and yet… here they were. After Sakura got out of the car as well, he took her hand in his as they walked towards his house. The door opened for them as Wei smiled welcoming them into the house.
"Young master! Ms. Sakura! Welcome!"
He smiled. "Wei, I've asked you millions of times not to call me master."
Wei chuckled. "I know, young master."
Syaoran shook his head after greeting his butler and walked further into the house. His relationship with Wei was very different from a regular master/butler relationship. Wei had stayed with them in Japan while he studied his three years over there before going to college. In a way, he had filled part of the father figure he missed from his real father in his teenage years while being away from home.
"And here I thought you hadn't lost notion of time son. Your jet lag must be worse than I thought." Xian said as he greeted his son.
Syaoran swallowed. "Sorry father. We lost track of time."
Xian sighed. "Come, your mother is waiting, and I am starving for once. You know how it is… she won't let anyone eat a bite unless everyone is at the table."
They walked together across the living room and into the patio area. Since the weather was so nice, his mother had decided to open the patio balcony and set a table with chairs for the family to have their breakfast outside today. A long pine wooden table was set in the middle of the patio with many dishes in the middle. Leave it to his mother to turn a small family breakfast into some sort of formal party for many guests instead. He looked around and saw the rest of the family was already there sitting down no doubt only waiting on him to arrive. Taking notice of everything, he helped Sakura sit down before taking his seat right next to her as well. His father as usual was the last one to sit down and give the okay for everyone to start eating.
"So, how long will you be staying here son?" Yelan asked. "I was delighted when I heard from your father that you had come to visit."
"I'm leaving tonight. I must head to the field for practice as soon as I arrive over there." Syaoran answered.
"You only came for a day?" Feimei asked.
He looked at her and simply said, "well I was having a little home sickness. Haven't been to China since the World Cup."
"Home sickness…?" Feimei smirked. "Didn't you get a day off in Japan as well when you were playing over there? I don't remember you going through any home sickness back then. Was it because Japan was closer?" she sarcastically asked.
If looks could kill, Feimei would be dead in the floor by now after Syaoran's look towards his troublemaker sister.
Sakura, who was simply enjoying her breakfast, chuckled knowing quite well the meaning behind Feimei's words and decided to step in at her boyfriend's defense. "Didn't Xiun felt home sickness as well when you started dating him?"
Xiun quickly looked down shyly, his food apparently becoming more interesting than the conversation, before saying, "um… I'd rather be left out of this."
Sakura triumphantly smiled at Feimei's narrowing eyes and kept eating shinning in her victory.
Syaoran looked at his sister before looking at Xiun but decided to let it go for now. In his sister's life, Xiun happened to be the guy that so far had lasted the most with her and the least he knew about aside from soccer habits. Sakura had suggested once he had to know him better before judging him and he had yet to take her up on that offer.
"How is your field coming along?" Xian asked him.
"It's almost done. From what I heard from Feimei, it should be complete by early next year." He said.
"But you will still be playing in Manchester, right?" Yelan asked.
He nodded. "Yes, mother. Choi is in the process of reading resumes for a property manager. Since he's been with me from the early stages of my professional career and he is close to me, he knows what I'm expecting. I'll probably interview the finalists after he screens them and choose a person when I'm on Christmas break."
"That sounds like a plan." Xian said as he looked at Sakura who was next to his son before looking at his son smiling.
"I'm surprised you didn't ask your girlfriend to manage it for you." Xiefa casually said, voicing out what probably was on everyone's mind but none of the others would dare to ask.
Syaoran looked at Xiefa and then smiling turned towards his girlfriend, "I did. She refused."
Xiefa chuckled.
Sakura swallowed her food before answering, "I did. You know how I feel about mixing my personal life with business."
Xiefa lost her smile a little before turning her sight towards her brother not missing the message in her answer. What the heck was he thinking?
"Well," Xian quickly intervened after reading his daughter's eyes "let's hope whoever you hire will be as good as Sakura here."
"I don't expect whoever comes in to be as good, but someone who's trustworthy and knows what he or she is doing would work for me." Syaoran said. He drank some of his mimosa before saying, "mother, Sakura and I would like to go for a horse ride after breakfast."
Yelan nodded and looked towards Wei who was standing in the corner of the patio French doors. "Wei, can you please tell Han to prepare the horses for them to ride?"
Wei nodded and left after receiving the request.
After they all finished eating breakfast, they decided to walk towards the back patio area while they waited for their horses to be ready. Syaoran decided to stay a little behind and happily watched as his girlfriend talked animatedly with Feimei a couple of feet away from himself and his father.
"You haven't talked to her about Li Corp?" Xian asked his son already suspecting the answer. He tried to hide it in a question not to push his son too much with this.
Syaoran looked at his father and sighed. "I haven't."
"This is not something you should be hiding from her, Xiaolang."
He looked back at his girlfriend before seeing their two horses approaching at Han's hands. "I know, but it's also not the time to let her know yet. I'll tell her though once she's done with Riversky."
Xian nodded. "Make sure you do, son."
Syaoran put his hands in his pockets as he waited for the horses to arrive. "Can I ask you something?" His father's nod of the head was all he needed to continue. "Why did you asked her to take on Lya as part of her team?"
Xian kept looking towards his daughters talking animatedly a couple of feet's away from where they were. "Her father asked for the favor."
He stared at his father and frowned a little not liking at all his answer. "This project is important for Sakura. This is not the time for her to be having any sort of problems only because he asks for a favor."
Xian smirked and looked at his son. "Do you think Sakura can't handle it? You'd be surprised at what she's capable of doing."
Syaoran took a deep breath and was thankful when he watched as Han came walking with both of their horses in hand. "I never thank you before for taking her in years ago." He looked at his father from the side and gave him a small smile. "Thank you. She's always loved doing what she does." He watched his father smirk before turning around and walking towards Sakura. Helping her up into her saddle, he said his goodbyes to his sisters and mother before mounting his horse and gallop away making sure Sakura had no problems riding behind him.
~ o ~
They rode for a little over an hour until they found a small meadow and decided to take a break. Shadow had been leading them as they rode. Seemed to her that he was as competitive as his owner as he would never let Luna pass him not even once. Even so, the ride had been a fun one and now both horses were eating some of the grass while they decided to relax laying down under some trees.
"Can I ask you something? And… be honest. Were you angry when you saw Jun in my office?" she asked.
He took a minute to think carefully on how to answer that. "It did feel a little uncomfortable. I mean, I dislike the guy for obvious reasons, but I trust you."
She heard him and nodded slowly though for some reason she felt the need to clarify the situation by saying "Michi was with us in the meeting but, in the timing of your arrival, she was out in her desk scanning some pictures we took of the decoration to send to the partners. It's the only reason why she wasn't inside when you arrived. I mean, you know it's only business."
He kissed her shoulder before saying, "I know. That's why I said I trust you."
She sighed. "I thought this project would be a lot easier, but so far it's been proving to be very challenging in a way. Not having all the free reign I'm used to having when I develop a project sometimes bind my ideas, and the process I'm usually accustomed to follow."
He kept drawing circles in her arm as he listened to her. "I'm sure you have it under control though. You've achieved so much. This challenge is no different from others you have excelled at."
"Sometimes though it doesn't feel that way. I chose this project thinking it would be easier to handle and yet I keep meeting stop signs when it should just be flowing." She tried to explain to him.
He smiled. "Are you having difficulties with anything in particular?"
She sighed. "Just, the technicalities of where to place the pool at this moment. They expect me to develop a high-end apartment complex consisting of two building towers, yet the investors of the project want the pool on the ground. I mean, I can understand having the pool on the ground also serves as a curb appeal item to promote the place, but I have an incline this isn't the route I should go with. It feels too normal. It's something that has been done before over and over again."
He nodded. "Do you mind if I give my opinion on it? As a high-end buyer off course."
She smirked but nodded. "What's your take on it, Mr. High-end buyer?" mockingly asked.
He tightened his arms around her comfortably and said, "if I were to buy or rent a high-end place, I wouldn't mind spending any amount of money in a place which gives me privacy and a sense of calmness as I walk around it. Me, for example, being a famous athlete, the least I want to worry about is any paparazzi looking at me whenever I go to the pool. So, I agree with you on having the pool on the ground floor not being such a good idea for a high-end complex. Have you considered to make it maybe in the roof?"
"I have thought about it because of the scenery, but it implies other costs we didn't budget for thinking the pool would be on the ground floor. They would have to invest in buying a really good security system that covers the pool area since we're talking about our clients being high-end renters. They would expect all their checklist to be covered to justify their expenditure of money for a high-end place to live. Also, I was thinking maybe adding some other amenities instead of just the pool, like a recreational center, a spa like place, and a small activity center as well; a place they could see and fall in love to have complete peace of mind when staying." She said.
He nodded. "I agree." He watched her as she softly turned her face to look at him. He drew his hand up to caress her cheek before kissing her softly.
She smirked and asked, "since when did you started to think like a project developer?"
He chuckled. "I'm glad I can still surprise you."
She smiled as she felt his lips once more against hers. When the kiss ended, she looked into his eyes and said, "I'm really happy you came. Even if it is just for a day… I'm really happy."
He stared at her eyes and said, "I'm really sorry about that girl Sakura. I hate that it took some of your time and that you had to deal with all of that because of me."
She heard his apology and smiled. "I'm not." She kissed the inner part of his palm that was still laying in her cheek before saying, "I feel like whenever something like this happens it makes me think about the fact that you're not just a simple man in my life and it pushes me to work harder to make this relationship work. It's not the first time I've had to deal with this thought and I'm sure it won't be the last."
"It is the last woman." He quickly said. "I promise you. She was the last one I was with before finding you here."
She chuckled and rolled her eyes at him sighing. "It may be the last woman claiming to have your baby though I'm sure it won't be the last person we'll have to ever deal with trying to take advantage of your popularity. I accept your apology though. Don't dwell on it any longer" she casually said.
"Now, can I ask you something?" He watched her frowned but decided to continue after her silence. "I found out you're selling your apartment downtown. Do you mind if I ask you why?"
"How do you know I am selling my apartment?" she curiously asked.
"I asked Choi to look up properties for me here in China. Since I am earning more money now, I want to have another investment in my portfolio and, coincidentally enough, one of the properties he pulled up for me to take a look at was your apartment." He said.
"Did you already find a property of your liking here?"
He chuckled but nodded. "Don't read too much into this Sakura. Yes, it's my apartment. Yes, I'll probably spend some time there when I come for Summer and Christmas. You can use it as well if you want or need to but it's not something I did for us as in trying to take our relationship further than where we're at right now babe." He kissed her temple before saying, "I wanted another investment. That's the sole truth of the matter."
She looked towards the horses calmly eating their food and relaxed in his arms. "I've wanted to sell mine for some months now, but I never went through with the listing till now. It has too many memories with Jun in it and, although I don't regret having a relationship with him in the past, I like where I'm at right now. Plus, I felt it was finally time for a change in scenery."
"Will you be buying a new one? Your house is a little far from the office." He asked. He was worried about her having to drive in the late hours of the night alone all the way to her house because he knew very well, she was a complete workaholic. From what he had gathered, ever since he met her once more in China, there wasn't many days his girlfriend left early to her apartment. Now, he was certain things wouldn't change only because she had to drive farther away.
She shrugged her shoulders. "Don't know yet. Maybe later, after I sell. It just takes time with me. I need to find a place that really suits me now."
He smiled. "Well, like I said, you can use mine if you want to. It's closer to your office."
"Where did you buy?" she asked.
"It's downtown. My car is already there but I doubt you want to use it." He jokingly said.
She chuckled. "You know my answer to that." She heard him laugh and asked, "when did you buy the apartment?"
"I finalized the purchase when I landed yesterday. I signed the documents before heading to the office." He said.
"Does your father know about this?" she asked. "I don't believe your mother would be too happy to hear this."
He chuckled but nodded. Oh, he was totally sure his mother would completely disapprove of this, which is why he left it to his father to break the news to her. "I'll text you the address with the passcode."
"Is it ready though? You've only been here for just a couple of hours."
He nodded once more. "It should be. I hired a designer to put everything together and bought everything while I was in England. I spoke to her on the phone after signing the closing documents and she was going to start putting everything inside the apartment yesterday so I'm guessing it will be done soon if it's not finished by now."
She smiled as she remembered when they had just bought their house in England. He had already hired someone to put his things together because he didn't feel like putting everything together himself. Although this time it was different, since he wouldn't be in China for months, she still found it comical to think his solution was always to hire someone. "On a change of subject, I think I know what I want to do for Christmas."
"Fire away!" he said.
She chuckled at his sarcastic answer but nonetheless continued saying, "since we'll be in Japan for Tomoyo and Eriol's wedding, we should stay that weekend over there and the day after to spend time with my father. Then we can come back here and that way you can spend time with your family as well."
He sighed. "So… I'm still not getting away from the old ladies, the gents, and the famous Li family ugly Christmas sweaters?"
She chuckled and shook her head. "I don't want to get in the bad side of your mother, even if you never thought about her feelings in the past when it came to celebrating Christmas with the Li's."
He scoffed and complained by asking, "what about my feelings?"
She chuckled. "If I remember correctly, you said I could do whatever I want, and you would just follow. So, your feelings are up to you baby."
He chuckled and kissed her shoulder. "I'm in. We'll do it your way."
He smiled as he tightened his hands on her waist and enjoyed the rest of the sunset with her before he had to go back to England later on the day.
Author's Note – OMG! Finally done with this chapter. I kept going back and forth editing it and was never satisfied with it until now. I feel like it took me forever to update this chapter. I've been so busy lately I couldn't post this sooner. Hope you guys enjoyed it.