Disclaimer First: 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 sadly just own the plot. Names and places may exist but nothing in the story is veridic. The whole plot is just a concept/product of my imagination.
Author's Note – So guys, I'm really excited to finally be posting the sequel to my first fanfiction Score. I really hope you guys are excited to be reading it. It took me quite some time to write this one as I am trying something new with the storyline. It's not finished yet like I wanted to, but I feel like I can start posting it since most of the chapters are done and I'm currently working on the ending. Before you get to reading this, if you haven't read my small excerpt from Score called "To Roads and New Beginnings", I recommend that you read it before starting this story. It's not totally necessary but some things will come from that story. It's short and I consider it to be a nice addition to the whole storyline. Also, for those of you who are coming in new to this story, this story is a continuation of my first story Score. You may definitely want to read that one before you read this one. I'm very happy for this and hope you guys enjoy! Now… on to the story! Yeiii!
Chapter 1
Three Weeks
She chuckled. "Stop it." She playfully said while caressing his lower back.
He smirked before trailing soft kisses around her neck enjoying the sound of her moans with any of his ministrations. Feeling her pulse elevate with each kiss he gave her had become one of his most favorite things to sense in his world. Balancing himself in his elbows on top of her he kissed his way up till he found his final destination… her lips. He kissed her again. They had made love once again a couple of minutes ago. Spain had been a great choice to spend their week vacation before leaving for England. He wanted to savor the moment for as long as he could. He nuzzled his nose against hers before softly saying, "I love you Sak."
She smiled after coming back down from that cloud nine blissful place he usually had her with his kisses and caressed his face. "I love you too."
He closed his eyes. "I don't want this to end."
"Hey," she softly said as she gently touched his chin making sure he was looking at her. "This is only part of the beginning for both of us."
Sighing, he closed his eyes before opening them again to look at her.
She felt a small tinge of uncertainty as she realized his eyes were hiding unspoken words between them. "What's worrying you?" she asked after seeing his reaction.
"Whenever you feel the need to start doubting me, think back to this night."
She stared at him. What was wrong with him? After the night they just had, how could he have second feelings about this? She smiled and tried to dismiss his thoughts casually as she said, "I told you already not to give me reason to doubt you."
He swallowed deeply softly tracing her lips with his finger. "It's not that easy in my world."
A slow smirk started reaching her face. "Am I not part of your world already? I can already say with certainty I've survived."
"You're part of my life but my world is complicated. A lot of times what's been showed is not real. Many will want to meddle into our lives. Others will try to break us up. Not everyone is who they claim to be. Not everything is the way it seems." He softly kissed her again before saying, "Whenever you feel the need to start doubting me Sak, come back to this night and remember how we loved each other."
~ o ~
"Syaoran Li has just signed with Manchester City. He announced his signing after his great come back performance in the World Cup. He now joins superstar Jaxon as they create the duo to beat this season on the way to winning that so awaited Champions League trophy" the sports reporter said over the news channel.
A business English man with a mustache turned his office mounted to the wall TV off with a remote control from his chair and smiled in a satisfactory way as he drank from his glass of whisky. Everything had gone according to his plan.
It had been a huge signing on Manchester's side. Everyone in the soccer industry would agree to that. To be able to grasp the three players in a sweep deal had been a great accomplishment for the team. They had won many trophies inside their league throughout the years but there was one trophy they hadn't won in decades… the Champions League Trophy… the trophy that would name them champions of all Europe. For the past two years they had been close to winning it only to come short at the semifinals. It had been something the owner had been desperately seeking for a while and with that reason in mind he pushed to sign the three players once they were done with the World Cup. He had to admit, after signing Eriol and Kyu he had thought Li would easily sign as well but his mind had been uncertain for some time. Still, he could now pat himself in the back and say mission finally accomplished. He knew the trio would bring great joy and renewed spirit to Manchester fans who where possibly hoping for many years an event like this to happen in the club.
~ o ~
Syaoran arrived in England's airport after three hours of flight, a little more tired than he thought he would be, considering he was coming out of vacations, but he was happy. For the first time in years he finally felt things were really working out completely for him. First, he had signed with his childhood dream team. Second, he would still play alongside his cousin and his other best friend. And finally, and most important for him, he was back with the love of his life, Sakura. After so many lost nights, wasted in fruitless encounters with women that only wanted him for his money or social status, he had finally found her again and she had agreed on giving him another chance. It hadn't been easy, especially knowing how she had never been a believer of long distance relationships, but she was willing to try this one with him after talking to her.
He walked through the halls of the airport with his personal suitcase on hand. The sun hadn't even started coming out yet. He had specifically prepared his flight arrangements with Choi to take the first flight out of Spain and arrive in London very early in the morning. Choi was supposed to meet him in the airport entrance once he was done picking up the rest of his belongings. In the meantime, and as he kept walking towards the baggage claim section of the airport, he took out his phone and speed dialed the first number.
"Hey handsome!" Sakura sweetly answered. "Missing me already?"
He chuckled softly. "You say that and have no idea how much, love."
"How was your flight?" she asked.
"It was good. I thought I would be able to sleep but I kept thinking about you."
"Mmm… I hope good thoughts" she jokingly said.
He smirked. "Most of them involving my last night with you."
She chuckled. "I'm at work Xiaolang!" She warned in a low voice. "You better not make me blush. I have a meeting in a couple of minutes."
He chuckled. "Choi should be outside waiting for me. I'm on my way to get my bags and then head out to the hotel." He stepped on the electrical stairs to go down when suddenly, as the stairs kept getting him down, he started to notice a huge crowd of fans through the glass doors with posters and huge pictures of him on hand. The closer the stairs got him down to that first floor, the louder the people got. Some were even hitting the glass to grab his attention when they saw him approach the baggage claim area.
"What is that noise?" Sakura asked.
He sighed. "Nothing… just people greeting others in this airport. Babe, I'll call you when I get to the hotel."
"Actually, I'm heading to that meeting I just told you about so I'll call you once I'm out. I'm not sure how long it will go for but considering I was on vacation I believe it should run a little longer than usual." She said.
"Okay, love you!" he said.
"Love you too!" she also said before hanging up.
As soon as he heard Sakura hung up on the other side, he dialed Choi's number. While he waited for his agent to pick up, he turned towards the electrical belts that transported the passenger's bags and started to look for his flight number on their electrical panels. Once he found his, he got in a good spot to wait for his luggage to come out around the rest of the people who had boarded the same flight as him.
"Hey! Welcome! You're here!" Choi answered a little more cheerful than usual.
"What the heck is going on? I thought no one knew I was arriving at this hour." Syaoran said a little more irritated than he wanted to sound like.
"You're a superstar Syaoran. I already told you controlling things in your life would only get harder after winning the World Cup." Choi casually answered.
He sighed. "At least tell me you're here already…" He didn't quite feel like waiting. He was tired and in need of a long sleep.
Choi chuckled. "Let me know when you're close to the door so I can send the guards to escort you to the car."
"Fine." Syaoran rolled his eyes before hanging up. It wasn't that he didn't like fans but, to be honest, the least of things he wanted to do right now was to deal with them. He was lacking sleep, he was tired from his trip and he had not been expecting this at all. He had been so sure he had timed it perfectly last time he spoke with Choi about this. The plan had been to take the first flight out of Spain to arrive early in the morning in London and that way he could avoid the masses of people wanting to greet him at the airport. Clearly… it failed. Luckily at least the belt started to move and soon later the bags started to come out through them. He waited patiently, though not by choice, for his bags to come out. For some reason, since he wasn't too patient for his bags to come out, he felt the belt was taking forever in getting his bags out but minutes later he finally saw his two bags. As soon as he saw them, he grabbed them, texted Choi and waited inside for the guards.
He looked around at the crowd of people who had gathered at the airport to welcome him. He noticed some of his most sports loyal fans, as he would call them, were gathered there with signs congratulating him on winning the Cup. Others had signs with words like 'Welcome to Manchester' on them. He smiled and waved at them already used to receiving this kind of attention even before winning the Cup. Then fans reacted by getting even louder letting him know they had seen his small gesture towards them though as he kept reading more signs he noticed not all of them belonged to his soccer fans.
Signs going against his relationship with Sakura caught his attention as he read some of them that were nasty enough to make him want to go over to where the person was, take the sign from her hands and burn it in the owner's face. It was something totally normal from his women fan base to feel jealous of Sakura, considering she had already lasted more than the rest of the girls he had shown to the public in the past, but this time it was different. This time he felt the need of retaliating even if as an athlete star he shouldn't. It was something he was used to ignoring but now it only put him on edge. When he was playing around he didn't care much for these things, but now it was something totally different. He was serious with Sakura. Choi had advice on taking things slowly. To let the people warm up to the idea of them being a serious couple but honestly seeing these types of things made his blood boil. He looked towards the front and thank goodness the guards were already there to escort him out. He followed them all the way to the car, made sure they put his bags inside the trunk, and closed the door after getting in. Choi greeted him with a bright smile from ear to ear on his face and sunglasses on. "Welcome to your new home!"
"What's with the sunglasses? The sun is not even out yet." He simply said.
Choi smirked. Definitely he was annoyed. "You know I always dress in style, sun or no sun."
If Syaoran didn't know him better, Choi's gray business suit and black luxurious shoes could pass him up as an important person picking up the president of all China instead of just a mere athlete. Syaoran could tell at least one of them was having fun with all of this. "It's so nice of you to be enjoying all of this unpleasant commotion." he annoyingly said.
Choi chuckled. "Eriol and Kyu decided to heed my advice and come right after the World Cup like I told them to. None of them went through all of this 'unpleasant commotion' as you call it. Perhaps we found a couple of fans but not as many as today. I have to admit even I was surprised."
Syaoran rolled his eyes once again. "I saw some posters made against Sakura. I thought you were handling this."
"Let me remind you once more on that account, I told you not to go to Spain. I told you to take things slow with her and what did you do? Should I show you some of the thousands of pictures people took of you two strolling down the streets of Spain, showing how much you two love birds care for each other?" he sarcastically asked before adding, "I assure you I won't even have to involve the ones taken from the beach. They're all over the web by the way in case you want to make any copies for yourself."
Syaoran sighed ignoring his sarcastic manager. "The whole point of having a relationship is not to suppress my feelings for her Choi. I shouldn't have to hide my relationship just because some of my fans don't like it."
"And no one is asking you to, but then you can't complain about your fans for this either. They have their right to feel however they want to feel about this. Besides, all I said was to take things slowly. We both know your bad boy reputation precedes you. That you've decided to suddenly start dating out of nowhere for many of your fans is something new." Choi looked out the window. They had finally left the airport scenery and were traveling to the hotel Syaoran was going to be staying until he chose his new house to live in. He sighed and looked at Syaoran once more. "Just listen to me for once, everything will be fine. Don't get mad and start insulting everyone because of this. Ignore them for now and give it time."
Syaoran kept looking out the window pissed off already with this whole situation. "Sakura is coming in three weeks. I don't want her looking at any of those signs."
"Then warn her about them. Nothing else can be done other than convince your fans that your relationship with her is a good one but that will not be born from one day to the other and in three weeks none of this will disappear."
Syaoran turned his face to look at Choi. "I don't want her hurt Choi."
"It'll be fine Syaoran." He assured him. "Besides, from what I gathered of Ms. Kinomoto while in China, she's not a weak minded person."
Syaoran sighed and went back to look out the window to enjoy the scenery of what was his new place. He tried to occupy his mind with other thoughts that didn't involved Sakura at the moment and the sight of the streets in England seemed like a good choice for him. The sun was finally starting to come out and, even though it was still early, there were already people walking everywhere from one place to the other in the sidewalks around. Some were dressed in business suits, no doubt walking towards their work early in the morning, others looked more casually relaxed while walking towards their destination. He was taking in everything about the city even notes on the places he would like to visit once Sakura arrived in three weeks when he felt some papers being given to him by Choi on his left side of the SUV. He curiously looked at him before taking the folder and opening it.
"This is a list of the houses the team management has chosen as possibilities of what you may like while you live here. Price is of no consequence as you know. They want you to feel at home in whichever house you choose. Brochures for each of the houses are on the right with their pictures for your review. Detailed information for each house is on the left side of the folder. The realtor is available at any time in case you have any questions after going through the information." Choi said.
"Have you looked through any of them?" Syaoran asked while quickly shuffling some of the pages to see the content.
Choi nodded. "I've scratched from the list the ones I knew for sure you wouldn't like."
"Has Eriol and Kyu chosen anything?" he asked. Although the three of them were usually inseparable, one of the things Sakura had asked for in their trip to Spain was for them not to pay any attention to the phone. So they both came to an agreement of having their phones in airplane mode while they enjoyed themselves in Spain even though he was almost certain she probably had more trouble in doing this than him. But in the end he was glad they did it even if he hadn't had any news of his friends. It had been without a doubt one of the best vacations he had ever had in his life.
Choi nodded. "All houses on this folder are close to theirs. I thought you would want to stay near them."
Syaoran nodded. This was the reason why Choi was still his agent and had been so since he signed his first contract. After so many years together Choi always knew what he wanted. He was always one step ahead. Even when Syaoran didn't always listened, he always knew how to proceed according to what Syaoran wanted. Sometimes he could get a little annoying or fatherly towards him but Choi was always ready to find a way of keeping Syaoran pleased and that was exactly what he needed as an athlete especially when he was moving from one country to another.
He looked at the pictures of the seven brochures Choi had given him inside the folder. Most of the houses in the brochures were two story houses with a bit of a modern look towards them. As he kept looking from one brochure to the other, he couldn't help but notice the difference between the houses in England and the houses in Japan. While his house in Japan had been entirely modern, houses in England had a more cultural feel to them with hints of modern as well. He didn't mind the change much as he set the brochures back into the folder after skimming through them.
"Just let me know when you want to see them. I've got the realtor on call for them. For now, I've booked you a suite in a hotel close to the field so you don't have to travel much until you decide which house you want. Also, let me know when you want to get your car." Choi said.
Syaoran nodded. "Tell the realtor we'll probably wait three weeks before I see any of them. I want Sakura to see the houses as well. As for the car, we can go later to get one or maybe tomorrow. I'd like to rest a little today."
Choi stared at him before smiling to himself. "It's such a nice change to see most of my problems are being solved with just one woman. You should've told me earlier she was the solution to all my past headaches with you."
Syaoran chuckled but smiled genuinely thinking about this. Although in the past he had many women dropping themselves at his feet, Sakura was different. Even throughout the years she had stayed true to her own believes, something he without a doubt admired more about her after finding her once more but at the same time gave him a sort of bittersweet feeling about it. While many other women would've jumped at his marriage proposal without thinking it twice, she still hadn't accepted him. I mean, he had to admit they didn't had too much time into this relationship but still… what he had said to her that day, his words were completely true. There was no other woman for him and this was the way he felt about it, but she had been hesitant. He could feel it. She didn't reject him, which was a good thing, but she didn't say yes either as any other women would've done by now. Even after spending time with her in Spain he could feel she hadn't completely open up to him entirely.
The subject of houses in England, which may have come up in some random conversation while in Spain, wasn't the exception. He had assumed they would be living together whenever she arrived to spend the week with him, and yet when the topic randomly came up he found himself arguing his way through on that one. Although on that account he felt proud of winning that small battle. Convincing Sakura that staying at his house every week she was visiting wasn't moving too fast for them felt like a well fought battle with the taste of victory in the end. Therefore, he was looking forward to go seeing houses with her for them to live at.
"We can see the houses, if you like, and see them again when she comes before making a final decision on any them." Choi suggested.
"I don't think she will like a couple of these." Syaoran mentioned as he went through some of the pictures.
"Then read through all the information, you have a package for each one of them, and we can have her see the ones you think she will also like." Choi suggested.
Syaoran nodded. Three weeks… after saying it out loud it finally started to sink in. After spending last week in Spain and arriving today in England he wouldn't see her for three whole weeks. He tried not to think about it so much. This time around, he promised himself he would try to be more understanding towards her. She loved her work. She loved having something to do, to manage her own life, to be independent. He knew these things about her and yet all he wanted to do was go back a week and start vacations in Spain all over again.
He sighed. Closing his eyes he reclined his head back. Without a doubt, three weeks didn't have to pass to know these were probably going to be one of many longest three weeks ever in his life. He had just landed a couple of minutes ago and was already feeling the loss of having her at his side.
~ o ~
Eriol was happy. Not as happy as he would probably be in a couple of months after finally being able to introduce Tomoyo, the love of his life, as his wife but if anyone where to ask him how he felt he could without a doubt say he was happy. Life had given him the perfect fiancé… time and effort had given him a World Cup title… I mean, what else could be said. He was simply living in a soccer player's dream only bettered by the fact that he was finally living and playing in the Premier League. There was just no other way of describing it.
He contentedly woke up late in the morning thinking on having that excellent breakfast his professional chef did for him every morning but, before getting up, he patted his right side to feel his girlfriend's body still warm under the covers of the bed sheet. The outline of her breathing, the only peaceful movement he could see that indicated she was still asleep. He softly moved his body to cuddle against hers. Putting his hands around her body he noticed her stirring until her eyes drowsily took notice of him. He kissed her naked shoulder and smiled. "Morning my love."
She smiled. "What time is it?"
A small grunt escaped his mouth as he turned around, grabbed his watch, and after looking at the hour went back to putting his arm around her. "Nine fifteen."
She moaned running her hand through her hair. "I should've been up by eight. I'm still not used to this hour change." They had been here for a week and she still hadn't been able to adapt to an eight hour change in her day. Although she had to admit she was getting a bit better with it, she was still having problems going to bed at the right time and waking up the next day early as she used to do in Japan.
He kissed her neck once more enjoying the lavender smell coming from her hair. "I don't mind you over sleeping."
She chuckled. "You're not the one planning various events at the same time."
He smiled. "What do you want for breakfast? I'll have Lang prepare it while you get ready."
She caressed his face. "Blueberry pancakes with coffee and a cup of fruit on the side." She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before whispering "thanks!", getting out of bed, and getting into the bathroom.
A couple of seconds later Eriol, heard the shower running as he laid alone in the bed looking towards the ceiling and sighing. He was indeed happy. After minutes of pondering on his lucky life, he finally got out of bed, put some pants on, and brushed his teeth in the bathroom before heading towards the kitchen. Still trying to get accustomed to his new home, he watched his surroundings as he passed two rooms on his left and his right before going down the stairs to the first floor.
After Eriol had signed with Manchester, he had sat down with Tomoyo to decide on what they wanted to do as far as their living arrangements, and they had both agreed on buying this new house while at the same time keeping the one in Japan. She had decided to stay here in England with him even after the end of their tournament but, since she still had many business meetings and events taking place over there, he thought keeping the house in Japan would help her feel comfortable whenever she needed to go there. Aside from that, it had been the place where they had both met and started their relationship. They had even decided to have their wedding over there with this thought in mind precisely.
Reaching the first floor, he walked towards his right and found Lang, as usual, already preparing some of their routinely breakfast like their fruits and drinks. If there was one thing that never failed to be on the table was the fruits. Lang looked up from cutting the fresh watermelon and smiled. "Morning' Mr. Hirragizawa!" He cheerfully greeted.
Eriol chuckled. "Lang, I've told you a thousand times to just call me by my first name."
Not minding, Lang smiled. "I know Mr. Hirragizawa."
Eriol shook his head while sitting on his bar stool as he watched Lang carefully and precisely slice the watermelons in small pieces. He divided them and set them in two small plates before starting to cut the cantaloupes.
"Has the lady of the house awoken?" Lang asked.
Eriol nodded. "She wants blueberry pancakes."
Lang nodded. He started working on the mix as soon as he finished cutting the rest of the fruits. "And for you, sir?"
"I'll just eat the fruit with a toast on the side." Eriol answered. He grabbed a small grape and ate it. A couple of minutes later, he watched as Lang started setting their food on the table. He got up from his bar stool and walked over to the front door. Opening it, he grabbed his newspaper from the first steps that led to his house and walked back to sit on the table. Although he had many electronic devices, he still enjoyed the passing of printed pages from the newspaper when he ate breakfast at the table.
He felt Tomoyo's hand softly caress his hair before watching her take a sit right next to him. Tomoyo, as always, enjoyed her hot coffee in the mornings along with her breakfast. She set her napkin on her legs and blissfully smelled her coffee before tasting it. It was one of the first habits he had noticed from her when he first started living with her. She was picky about her morning coffee. Unlike him, who simply drank his orange juice without any complains about it, her coffee needed to have a nice smell and be at the perfect temperature for her to enjoy it.
"I may have to go to Japan next week. Xhinho wants me to take a look at some fabrics for my next collection of dresses and I was thinking that perhaps next week between Monday and Thursday would be best since you'll be having two practices a day for pre-season. I feel like I'll rarely get to see you at all."
Eriol chuckled but nodded while reading the travel part of the newspaper. "That's fine. How long will you stay there?"
"Two days at the most. I don't think it should take any longer." She said while trying her pancakes. "Plus I want to check in with our wedding coordinator. I want to make sure everything is up to date with our wedding."
He smiled and caressed her face. "As long as you say I do is fine with me." He said before going back to his usual reading.
His response made her smile. "And I don't doubt that love, but I would still feel a lot better knowing everything is in order. The wedding is just a couple of months away." She spread a little piece of butter on top of her pancake followed by a small almost measured amount of syrup on top of it. "Isn't your cousin arriving today?"
Eriol nodded. "According to Choi he is… he hasn't answered any of our messages. Choi booked him a room in a hotel so he'll be staying there until they buy a house as well."
Tomoyo frowned. "They, as in Sakura and him?"
Eriol looked at her. "Well they need to buy. I don't think he will want to rent or live in a hotel for a year babe."
"No, I know that… but, doesn't she have her own house in China? Plus an apartment, plus her office is there as well. Come to think of it, her whole life is in China. Don't you find it strange for her to buy a house with him here? I mean, she was with her ex for about two years and she never bought anything with him. All her places in China are hers alone from what I know." she asked.
He frowned. "I don't see a problem with that. We bought a house together in here and still kept ours in Japan." Eriol casually said as he started reading the newspaper once more.
"But we're different. I mean, yes we bought a house in here while having ours in Japan, but we've been together for seven years almost eight and getting married in four months. Clearly is not the same case." Tomoyo simply said.
"Then maybe he's just buying it on his own. I'll ask him when I see him today. Like I said, he didn't answer any of my texts when he was in Spain, though I figured he'd be busy." He said smiling at her.
"What time are you heading over?" she asked.
"A little over noon." He answered smirking. "Don't want to get on his bad side so early in the morning." He said thinking already of the pictures he had seen the week before of his cousin in the entertainment section of the newspaper. Staying low had definitely not being one of his priorities when he went to Spain, that's for sure.
"Is Sakura coming with him?" she asked.
He shook his head. "I think the plan was spending the week in Spain together, then she would go back to China and he would come here."
She nodded a little disappointed at knowing she would probably not see her friend till a couple of weeks from now. Meiling was modeling in Milan right now which meant this week she would only have Eriol to keep her company until she left for Japan, and he wasn't going to be good company for long since their two practices per day were bound to start pretty soon later this week. Syaoran was the last player to arrive for their team to kick their pre-season training this weekend, and he had just done so this morning.
~ o ~
Sakura walked inside her office and sat down on her desk chair while plugging in her iPad to the big monitor. The meeting had been brutal. One week out and she felt like she was behind in every possible way as of today. The beginnings of a headache were working themselves into her head. She had so many things to take care of in her calendar and not enough time. Promoting Suri had been a success for the company but at the same time it had become a sort of weight on her shoulders. She was only hoping her new assistant would pick up things just as quickly as Suri did or else she would be in deep trouble. The last assistant she tried to take under her wing didn't work too well with her at all. She had never been able to keep up with Sakura's pace so she had to ask Human Resources to move her into another department and hire someone else for her.
She hit her phone's intercom and dialed her extension. "Michi, could you please bring me my appointments for today?"
"Yes ma'm!"
'Ma'm?' had she heard correctly? She watched as a short black hair girl with some freckles in her cheeks approached her desk with a list in her hand. "Before you start with the appointments, please call me Sakura or Ms. Kinomoto. Ma'm sounds too old for me" she casually said and nodded for the girl to begin. Lunch with Steven at twelve, meeting with Mario at one thirty, afternoon coffee with Kan, meeting with Jensen at four, and last meeting of the day with Jun. Her day clearly couldn't get worse. She looked at Michi and asked, "Jun? As in Senator Eli's son?"
Michi looked at her and nodded. Opposite to her last assistant, the first thing that caught Sakura's eye when she read Suri's report on her way over here from vacation was that Michi was a confident outspoken person. If she remembered correctly, the rest of the opinion read 'she's not afraid of speaking her mind regardless if she did something wrong. She catches on quickly after correcting mistakes.' Honesty in this line of work was something Sakura truly valued in an assistant. Known mistakes could be corrected and, in a job where she had to deal with a lot of deadlines, honesty went a long way but the most important thing right now was correcting the mistake. Putting Jun on the list of appointments for the day definitely counted as a mistake to her. It was well known, perhaps in all parts of China, the kind of relationship they had in the past and setting him up for an appointment simply wasn't acceptable. "He called in requesting a meeting with you."
Sakura blinked a couple of times trying to remind herself that she wasn't talking to Suri who knew her history and knew how to deal with almost everything when it came to her schedule. No, she was actually training a new person because she decided that it was time for Suri to start taking her own projects. Lovely… "Mmm… cancel that appointment. The next time Senator Eli's son calls to request a meeting, please have someone else already filling the other spots on my calendar."
Michi kept looking at her wondering if she had done something wrong in the first week of her job. "I apologize Ms. Kinomoto. He did say it was business related." Michi quickly said.
Sakura took a deep breath without letting the girl in front of her notice. She could tell easily the poor girl was a little nervous, even if she spoke naturally as if nothing was truly happening. Sakura had always been good at sensing these things. Although Suri had been able to help her with the training for the week she had been out, this was the first time she was actually applying what she had learned from Suri with her real boss so it was natural to feel some kind of uneasiness because of the situation. "Okay, then the next time he calls for a business meeting refer him to the administrative office so they may assign him another project developer." She could already imagine the chaos it would bring if word got out of a potential business deal with Jun. First thing in her mind… her boyfriend would go ballistic. Second… the media would have a party with that one. Better to avoid a disaster if she could.
"He was sent from the president's administrative office." Michi carefully said.
Sakura stared at her not quite believing what she was hearing. "Run that by me again?"
Michi slowly started saying "he was sent from Mr. Li's administrative office. They sent an email. It said his project would be a great fit for you."
Sakura looked away from Michi for a second before grabbing her phone and dialing Xian's direct extension. Only the high heads of the company had his direct extension and she, being the closest assistant under him, was lucky enough to also have access to it. The rest of the people had to deal going through Rosa, his annoyingly wanting-to-do-everything-by-the-book assistant. "Are you busy?"
"I'm on my way out to meet Yelan. Why?"
"This won't take long. I promise you" she said before hanging up and walking out the door.
Michi walked out after she did and closed the door before sitting in her desk. She put away the list and was about to start doing some filing when Sakura suddenly turned back and said "please email me my schedule so I may have it on my phone."
Michi nodded. "Right away Ms. Kinomoto."
"Thanks!" That been said, she turned around and walked towards the elevator. If the project came from the President's office it only meant he had approved of the project being given to her. How could he have possibly given a green light for this? Refer him to her? Had he gone out of his mind in the week she had been out? She reached his floor and without looking at his secretary she walked into his office closing the door behind her. "Mind explaining to me why you would refer a project from Jun to my assistant?"
Xian gave her a half smile. "Have you read his proposal?" he asked with a sort of easiness that let her know he was actually enjoying this at least a little.
"I don't have to read his proposal. The answer is no and you out of everyone else in this office should know my millions of reasons why not especially the one currently living at a distance." She quickly answered.
"It's a good proposal. I know you'll like it once you read it." He simply said.
"Is this your way of objecting my relationship with your son?" she casually asked.
He knowingly chuckled while putting on his suit to go out. "Sakura, I have no intentions of getting in the middle of your relationship with my son. Yelan is extremely happy and, these past couple of months, even weeks I dare add, we've been able to see him more than the last eleven years combined. From what I see, I'll keep seeing him while you still have a relationship with him. So, trust me when I tell you, I have no interest in breaking up your relationship with my son. Who knows… he may even show up to the family Christmas party this year."
She scoffed as he expertly dismissed her first thought with ease. "When a request from your office reaches my office and the name Jun is involved in the request one might think otherwise."
Xian sighed and shook his head passing her by as he walked towards his door. "Read the proposal. If you don't like it send it back. You still have time to reject it." He said without looking back at her and passing the threshold of his door to meet his wife.
Oh, there was no way she could do this project. No way at all. Even if his proposal raised her interest, working on a project with Jun was the same thing as declaring a war... one she was one hundred percent sure she didn't want to start.
~ o ~
A knock woke him up from his deep slumber as he grumpily rose from his bed and sighed. Choi had left him on the hotel just like they had planned. He had a couple of hours alone which he smartly used to take a nap considering sleeping was the last thing on his mind when he was in Spain. He walked through the open space on his hotel room towards the door. Choi had booked the best room in the hotel for him to make sure he felt comfortable enough until he found a house of his liking and instantly the city view had caught his eye when he first entered his room. Manchester was full of history. It was just as he had imagined when he first dreamt of coming here as a kid. The structural way the buildings were made was something he liked about the place and was sure Sakura wouldn't mind looking from this hotel suite considering the nice view she had on her office back in China.
He opened the door and found a smirking Eriol waiting outside his room with two other guys and Kyu on the corner.
"Nice to see you again cousin," Eriol greeted before inviting himself in.
Syaoran let him pass and invited the rest to come in before closing the door.
A whistle sound came from Kyu as he scanned Syaoran's room. "This is nice. Choi did a good job finding this place up."
"Syaoran, this is Ricardo," Eriol said looking at a dark brown haired guy on his side. He was a bit shorter than Syaoran with amber eyes and his skin was a little darker as well. Analyzing the way his slim body was built, Syaoran guessed he was a soccer player as well and could be a fast one at that too. "He's one of our middle fielders and this is Jaxon," Eriol introduced both of his new teammates who accompanied him. Contrary to Ricardo, Jaxon was a bit taller than Syaoran by almost two inches. He was well built all around with his arms visibly toned.
Syaoran nodded and shook Ricardo's hand first. "Nice to meet you."
"Congrats on the Cup." Ricardo said.
"Thanks!" he simply replied. He offered his hand to greet Jaxon as well but all he received was a nod in return. Perhaps he should've answered a bit better since he was just meeting them for the first time but, given the circumstances before this greeting took place, he wasn't truly in a mood to chit chat. For some reason he felt a bit grumpier than usual after waking up.
Kyu chuckled. "How was Spain?" he asked before frowning at his own question. "Should I even bother asking?"
Syaoran smirked. It was the only answer he would be giving them regarding Spain for now. He was still savoring the memories from last week though thinking about them right now wasn't exactly what he wanted to do, especially with them in his temporary room. He missed Sakura immensely. He missed her like crazy which was why he needed to find other ways to occupy his mind for three more darn weeks.
"Are you new to the team as well?" he asked already knowing the answer but still trying to start some kind of conversation with his new teammates.
Ricardo nodded. "I was just moved from the B team to the A."
Syaoran nodded. "Congratulations to you too then."
"Don't you know who's on your team before signing?" Jaxon asked with a deep voice staring at him before adding "I've been here for two years, I'm sure I don't need an introduction."
Syaoran didn't miss the challenge behind his words as if he was sizing him up from the moment he stepped into his room. "Funny, I didn't see your name on the games I've watched. Two years you say?" he casually asked before saying, "must have missed it."
Kyu watched as Jaxon scoffed and was about to say something when he smartly decided to get in the middle of an early word battle between teammates. "Anyways, we were wondering if you wanted to hit the streets. There are a lot of places to see in here."
Syaoran nodded. "Let me change and grab my stuff" he said knowing full well that he didn't want to walk the streets of England in the middle of the day in sweats and a tank.
"I can wait for him if you guys want to head down first." Eriol said looking straight at Kyu knowing he would immediately get the message.
"Sure. Come on guys." Kyu said as he walked out of the room with Ricardo and Jaxon who followed him to the lobby.
Eriol went into the room to find Syaoran throwing a red shirt over his head. "You know, you could be a little nicer towards our new teammates."
"That was me being nice." Syaoran sarcastically answered. He put his jeans on and tucked his wallet into one of his back pockets. Reaching for his phone, he checked if Sakura had called and after seeing she hadn't he tucked it into the right front pocket of his jeans.
Eriol chuckled. "Really Syaoran? Starting a fight before even reaching the field is a no-brainer even for you. Besides, you know perfectly well who Jaxon is."
"He started it."
"Perhaps he was trying to be funny." Eriol said as an excuse to Jaxon's reply earlier.
Syaoran's bored face said it all. "Funny?" he asked before smirking. "Then he's even worst at making jokes than he is at been a forward."
Eriol chuckled and shook his head. Sometimes he thought his cousin truly didn't have a remedy for his way of treating teammates.
"Is Tomoyo staying with you?" Syaoran asked while walking towards the door with Eriol behind.
"Yep. She's working from home as we speak. She didn't know if she would actually be able to make it, since she left a walkthrough on hold, but then decided if she later changes her mind then she'll go back to Japan to deal with it personally." He said.
Home? Why couldn't asking Sakura to call this place a home been as easy as Eriol did with Tomoyo? He wondered. Syaoran closed the door behind him and walked alongside his cousin towards the elevator. "I can't believe you're getting married before me. You should've enjoyed life like I told you to do years ago." He sarcastically said.
Eriol frowned. "I still have Sakura's number you know… in case you want to go back to 'enjoying your life' the way you used to."
Syaoran chuckled while pressing the lobby button on the elevator. "Sakura knows I'm serious now."
Eriol heard the words coming from his cousin but, judging by the tone of his voice, he could've sworn he was actually trying to convince himself of his own words. He smiled a little to avoid laughing at the situation. What a nice change. Who would've ever thought he would actually be alive and present to experience the day he saw Syaoran doubting himself when it came to a single woman? "She's coming in three weeks, isn't she?"
Syaoran nodded.
"I'll tell Tomoyo so she can prepare something around that week she'll be here. That way she won't be bored when we go to practice. She was wondering if Sakura was coming with you today but I let her know she wasn't."
"Thanks" was all he said. Eriol's suggestion was a good idea since she was coming for a week but that week she was coming they would probably still be in double practice. Pre-season would be almost over depending on their schedule, but they would probably have their regular one practice a day all the way till the start of the tournament which was starting in a couple of weeks after Sakura left from her first week visiting.
~ o ~
The trip to Spain had been wonderful. The time spent with Syaoran outside of the field had been very enjoyable. It was such a shame that the week had gone too fast for both of them. He had gone straight to England as he had planned while she had gone back home. Looking at her new picture frame, she smiled at the memory while setting it in her desk looking towards her. Syaoran was kissing her cheek as she smiled at the camera with the beach as a background from the coast of their most recent trip to Spain. They had seen so many places starting with Madrid and ending in Barcelona. Looking at the picture made her remember the day spent having fun walking through the streets and Plazas of Madrid with him, then other days enjoying the beautiful scenery of Spain northern shores and beaches before visiting one of the most famous wineries in the Bilbao area, and finally finishing their trip in Barcelona where, along with visiting some of the most famous places, they also enjoyed watching the famous Clasico soccer game which surprisingly enough they were able to get in after a last minute change of plans. It so happened that, the morning they went shopping, one of the Spanish team agents recognized Syaoran and invited him to the game as a VIP guest. It truly had been bliss.
She was anxious to see him again. A week had passed and she was already counting the days left of these two weeks so she could finally see him again in England. She had already spoken with Xian about her arrangement with his son understanding that to make this work they both needed to work hard on keeping this relationship going. He had already expressed to her his need of seeing her each month and she had agreed with him on at least spending a week each month together which was why she had already bought her ticket to leave on Friday after work to Manchester two weeks from now.
The opening of her office door brought her back to her present surroundings. She looked up to see Xiefa smirking at her. Closing the door behind her, she walked over to her desk and dropped a medium sized letter on top of it before sitting in one of the chairs in front. "Guess what that is?" She asked nodding her head in the direction of the folder.
Sakura frowned. The last time Xiefa entered her office and threw an envelope in her desk, the news she found inside weren't good at all. Finding out that Jun had sent a spy to follow her around during her mini vacation time was one of the last straws that ended their relationship. But this time, she didn't have any reason to believe Xiefa was carrying any bad news for her. She took the small envelope in her hands and opened it.
'Congratulations! You've been selected as a candidate for this year's Project Developer Award!'
Her smile started showing on her face before she re-read the golden words engraved in the embossed elegant page once more. She couldn't believe it. After so many years of sleepless days and hard work with this in mind, she had finally received the invitation. She was excited after reading it for the third time but at the same time another feeling started settling in. She stared at the classic beige colored paper with golden letters and after skimming through it for the fourth time she decided to put its content back into the envelope before sighing.
"Aren't you happy? I guess after the World Cup's success the Association finally decided to make you a candidate at last. I think it's just what you need, you know… to show them a different aspect of what you usually do. Isn't this exciting?"
Surprised by what she had just read, she looked at Xiefa. "To be perfectly honest, I'm not quite sure how to feel about this. I may be a candidate but it's not as simple as it would've been four years ago Xiefa."
"Are you kidding me? It's what you've been striving for. What we as project developers work so hard for many years. Many would kill for this opportunity since not everyone has it. For seven years straight you've been working hard with this award as your goal in mind. It may not be easy but at least this should be a middle ground for you." Xiefa in a matter-of-fact said. "You can't honestly tell me you're not happy about this."
Sakura smiled. "Happy? Yes. Excited? Definitely. If you ask me if I'm prepared to take this challenge right after finishing the World Cup event? I'm not so sure. After all, we're only talking about how my next project will decide how everyone in our line of work will look at me in the future."
Xiefa chuckled before giving Sakura her famous smirk she usually gave when she knew something others didn't. "I think you're future it's already decided, if you ask me… "
Sakura looked at her as Xiefa took the picture frame she had recently put in her desk and started looking at it with a smile on her face. "My brother does seem happy in this picture. A lot better than the pictures he used to take with those bimbos in the past. Or let me correct that, pictures reporters and the paparazzi would take of him with his ex-barbie dolls."
Sakura chuckled at Xiefa's way of creatively describing Syaoran's past women. "Mmm… it's a good thing I'm not asking you then and I'm not discussing my love life with you even if I'm dating your brother Xiefa no matter how curious you are." She took the picture frame back from Xiefa's hands and set it back in the place she had chosen for in her desk… a place where she could simply admire the memory whenever she sat down to work.
Xiefa rolled her eyes and freely moved her hand not to make a big deal out of it. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. You may not want to tell me anything, but I bet sooner or later I will at least find some things out through the media. From what I hear, you were anything but discreet." She stood up from the chair and started walking towards the door. "In the mean time, and as you make me wait to hear more about you and my little brother, I will have Michi send you the list of available projects so you can choose your next one carefully."
"I already have the list."
"Very well then." Xiefa said as she continued walking towards the door.
Sakura chuckled and shook her head. In other words, Xiefa wouldn't stop digging for information on their relationship. No, Xiefa didn't believe in giving up much less if it involved her brother. The thought almost made Sakura laugh. After hearing the door close, she looked at the picture frame once more and smiled. Just two more weeks and she'd see him again.
In the meantime, looking at the unsealed envelope lying in her desk made her jump inside with excitement. Xiefa's news brought a new set of challenges for her. Being considered for an award of this caliber was an honor for any person working in this profession and she had been chosen out of thousands and thousands maybe even millions of project developers across Asia as a candidate. The deadline of the project was usually a year which meant that she had less than a month to choose her next project carefully and develop it in a year in a way that would amaze the judges to win the award.
Unlocking her iPad, she went through the list of projects available to be chosen. As one of the top project developers in Li Corp, she had the advantage of choosing her project before any other project developer could choose theirs. All projects considered by Xian as top of the line would be given to her assistant and, once she had chosen which project she would take on, the rest of the list would be released for other project developers to pick theirs. It was one of the perks of being good at what she did. After hours of reading proposals she came across one that got her attention. It was a luxury conventional apartment complex in Hong Kong with amazing grounds around and several entertaining rooms inside. The project structure was completely blended in with nature and history as she looked at the painted walls in one of the sheets of the proposal. She loved the look of the entrance the minute she went through that page as well. It was something challenging yet familiar since she had worked in developing most of Li Corp's luxury hotels but with a twist… it was an apartment complex and it had that unique factor that she needed to compete for the award. Thinking about it, she knew it could help her tremendously in finishing on time since she had already kind of worked in projects similar to this one. In her mind she could already envision everything she could do with this project on her hands. She was going through pages and pages feeling more confident in her decision of choosing this project for the awards. Making sure to take in every detail of it, she kept skimming the pages until she came across that last page. On the bottom the name 'JL Investors' was put as the client who had submitted the project for them to develop but it wasn't the name what had stopped her dead on her tracks but the phone number below it.
'Shit!' she thought. She knew that phone number by heart. It was impossible to forget after knowing the person for five years and spending two of them having a relationship with him. She stood up from her desk and walked towards the glass window behind her desk. Crossing her hands across her upper body she started analyzing the situation. So this was the project Xian had chosen for her. He no doubt knew about the award candidates when he suggested this project to her. After reading it, she couldn't deny Jun's project was exactly what she needed. It was challenging but, at the same time, she was familiarized with the process. She could modify anything in it to make it better, and it was exactly her area of expertise which could help her with the deadline.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again. He would be pissed. She wasn't even sure he would accept this and she had no way of asking him to. They had just started this long-distance relationship; it would be unfair of her to ask him to understand. Putting her ex-boyfriend near her wasn't a good way of building trust between them at all but at the same time she felt this was a golden opportunity. Unfortunately, Jun's project met every requirement on her list.
She thought that maybe talking to Syaoran now before choosing this project could help but, then again, she didn't think it would matter much. She could talk to him as much as she wanted to, but it would be a hopeless case once he knew Jun was involved. No, going to Syaoran was a mistake right now. It was too early to tell him. Besides, she needed to think well on the words she would use when letting him know about this project otherwise everything they were working for regarding their relationship could go down the drain. Instead, she opted for meeting Jun personally first. There were several questions she needed to ask him if she was to accept developing his project. There was no point in arguing with Syaoran if she wasn't a hundred percent sure she could do this project the way she wanted to.
She turned around and with that thought in mind she grabbed her personal things and walked out of the office. Since the phone number wasn't the only thing she remembered, she followed the streets to her old apartment on her car until she was parked on her old parking space right outside from his apartment. She grabbed the proposal from the passenger's seat and walked out of her car. Knocking on his door, she waited a couple of seconds until he finally opened it.
"Sakura!" he said the surprise in his eyes visible on his face.
She stared at him. "Can I come in?"
He nodded and let her pass. He watched her warily as she strode to the other side of the room. She looked radiant in his opinion from this side of the room. "This is an unexpected surprise. How have you been?" he asked.
She turned around from the familiar sight of the dining area and looked at him. Showing him the white folder on her hand she said, "I'll go straight to the point. I saw your project proposal. I thought you were following your father into politics. Since when you decided to become a real estate investor instead?"
"I am working in politics, but I also want to invest money on the side instead of just relying on my political career. Just to clarify, I'm not into real estate. I'm merely one of the investors and the email contact. I put my phone in there conscious that you would recognize it in any case the project would by any chance end up in your office. I see I wasn't wrong. The company is a partnership. The design was submitted by a friend of mine."
"First you wanted a political event, now it's an apartment complex. What's next if I decline to do this?" she asked.
He stared at her. "I understand why you would feel that way but I'm not doing this because of you. I admit when I asked you to do the political event I was still trying to get you back but I'm not with this one. My friend submitted the project as any other client. It's true that I was hoping that you would see it but, if another project developer decided to do it instead, we had already decided to simply accept it and have the project developed under someone else."
"Jun-"
"When my friend brought the idea to me, I liked it and said to myself 'this is a good project to invest in'. Since the only thing I can help with is money it worked perfectly for us. He already had some other people who wanted to start a partnership in order to have the necessary funds to develop it. When I was accepted into the partnership they already knew who you were."
"I am your ex-girlfriend."
He shook his head. "I mean they already knew you were one of the best developers in this field."
"But still your ex-girlfriend." She sighed. "You're putting me in a very difficult position if I accept this."
He shook his head. "Our relationship right now is purely professional. I have no other intentions than having that project being developed by the best company in China. If this is what you came to find out then I'm confirming it to you right now." He said… his face serious and void of any emotions that could mean otherwise. "Did you like it? Is it something you would be interested in doing?"
She stared at him before answering, "It is. Your friend is not a bad designer. I would like to make a few changes if I decide on choosing it. Would that be okay with your partners?"
He shrugged. "I don't see why not as long as it's not the entire concept you want to change."
She nodded. "I can't guarantee I'll be taking this project under my wing yet." She said before passing him once more and walking towards the door. "It's late. I should be going."
He nodded, even if she wasn't looking anymore, a little contempt with knowing she was at least considering working on this project for them. "Sakura!" he called as she stopped at the open door and looked back at him. "It's good to see you again. I meant what I said. I do hope we can both be professional about this."
She nodded and softly smiled before saying, "see you around." She walked towards her car and left.
She hadn't lied to him. The more she thought about it the more she agreed on this project being exactly what she needed. Now that she had finally talked to him, the hard part started… convincing Syaoran about it. Although she was used to simply choosing her own projects, regardless of who liked it or not, this one was different. She wouldn't just be developing a normal project; she would have to work with Jun at some point of the project and that alone was enough to cause her problems in her relationship with Syaoran if she didn't communicate well. Not telling him and having him find out by other means would without a doubt start a war between them. No, before choosing this one she would have to talk to him and she found that the best opportunity was on her first trip over to England. This wasn't something she wanted to do over the phone. She needed to see his reaction. She needed to be sure of his feelings about this.
~ o ~
As days went by, he kept getting nervous about finally seeing her again. Even though they had spent the entire tournament together and a week in Spain he still felt a little distant about today. Spending time talking on the phone helped that distance not become bigger, but it still was so different from seeing her again. Having practice twice a day for almost a month aided in getting his mind off when it came to Sakura, but it wasn't enough.
"You seem anxious." Eriol told him kicking the ball towards Kyu who was on the other side of this ball control drill.
He kicked the ball towards his teammate doing the same drill and sighed. "I haven't seen her in three weeks." They were warming up to start the second practice with their respective teammates like the rest of the team and all he could think about was Sakura finally arriving today. Even though they had agreed on her coming over for one week every month she had also told him she would try to make it at least to every home game. That way she wouldn't chose a week he had to travel to another stadium if she could avoid it.
Eriol smirked. "I'm sure she hasn't changed much in three weeks."
Syaoran sighed. He hated this. It was only three more hours he would have to wait and yet they still felt like an eternity. "We're already warmed up. What is coach waiting for?"
Eriol chuckled. "Syaoran, I'm sure she's fine man. Chill."
"What if she gets lost or something? I should've gone to the airport to pick her up." He said absentmindedly.
Eriol scoffed and laugh. It was such a change to hear Syaoran for once worry like crazy for a woman. "She's used to traveling. I doubt she won't know what to do if she gets lost. Besides, isn't Choi picking her up?"
Syaoran shook his head and annoyingly answered, "she said she would grab a taxi when she arrived." Sometimes he hated her independence. More than usual when she wouldn't allow him to help her with something like this. He had to remind himself he had to take baby steps with her when it came to easing himself into her life. She didn't want to depend on him. Those had been her words. Unlike Tomoyo, who even though she was independent she sought Eriol's attention whenever she could, Sakura was a little more adamant on her complete independence. She straightforward didn't want to use him much less his status to ease her life. She was a fighter in her own way. She loved doing things herself instead of depending on others.
As practice kept going on, he suddenly remembered a conversation he had with Eriol and Kyu once about Meiling finally agreeing to marry Kyu.
Kyu smirked at Syaoran. "I wouldn't be laughing if I were you. Eriol is getting married next year, mine finally said yes even if it took her a little while. I mean… let's be honest, Meiling is a feisty one… but Sakura… ufff!"
Eriol laughed as well. "I have to agree on that one."
The three of them could agree the most difficult woman to convince out of the three was Sakura. Tomoyo usually agreed with Eriol in almost everything, Meiling, after fighting the decisions she didn't like eventually gave in to them, but Sakura? Her unyielding way of sticking up to her decisions was one of the things that had them fighting the most when they were young. This time though it was different. From the very first time he saw her again he had promised himself if she ever gave him a second chance he would do things differently. And this was him doing things differently even though he hated the fact that she wouldn't let him help her as he wanted to.
Finally, after three hours of practice, the coach blew the last whistle and he almost speed walked into the locker room to take a shower and change. Looking at his cellphone, she texted him when she arrived making him calm a little but not enough to stop him from walking out of the locker room as soon as he was ready. He couldn't quite remember the last time it took him so little to reach his hotel. It must've been a record time for him as he opened the door and set his bag down on the corner of the receiver. Setting his keys in the wall mount on the side he noticed Sakura's keys were on the counter along with her cell phone and smiled. He had tried calling her from the road, but it went straight to voicemail. Now, he could see why.
"Sak!" He called but received no answer. He walked towards the bedroom thinking that perhaps she was taking a nap but when he opened the door he found the bed empty. On the right corner of the room he could see she had placed her bags. Maybe she had decided to go for a walk around the corner. He was about to turn around when he noticed the bathroom door was closed. He walked towards it and slyly opened the door. He smiled crossing his arms against his chest and reclining himself against the door frame. Water with bubbles covered her body all the way through her chest while her head rested against the back wall of the tub with her eyes closed. She must have fallen asleep inside the tub.
She opened her eyes and found him staring at her with that lovely smirk on his face that made her desire him every single time. She slowly release a breath she didn't even noticed she was holding, grateful for that glass of wine she had already drank easing her nerves already and smiled. "Have you been staring at me for long?"
"Couldn't help it." He confidently answered. Taking in their surroundings, he could see she had already made herself at home in a way. She had placed her bath robe at the wall next to his. Her toothbrush accompanied his on the counter. Her shampoo and condition were next to his stuff as well.
She took her wine glass from the side and took a small sip never taking her eyes of him. "Are you planning on staring at me all day or do you plan on ever joining me?"
He chuckled and shook his head already stepping away from the door frame and undressing himself as he walked towards her. He got in behind her as she made way for him and reclined her back against his chest once he was in. He hugged her before kissing her neck. She moved her face to find his lips as he gladly kissed her before saying against her lips "welcome home babe." He kissed her once more before she turned her head around and reclined it again his chest. "How was your trip?"
She found his hands on her body and intertwined her fingers with his before smiling. "Long. I really wish this place was closer."
"Didn't you bring work with you on the plane?" he asked softly closed to her ear.
"I did but I wasn't able to work on the plane. For some reason I kept going back to remembering that time when you showed up in front of Jun's apartment with ice cream in your hand." She said smiling at the memory while playing with his fingers.
He softly kissed her shoulder and chuckled. "I still can't believe you made me watch the Musketeers over Spartacus."
"What do you like about that bloody show?" she amusedly asked.
"Babe, that's a guy show you know. Action, war… not soapy romances."
She rolled her eyes and chuckled. Bringing one of their intertwined hands to her lips she kissed it before saying, "don't complain. It earned you points with me."
"I thought the ice cream was for that." He smartly said against her ear.
She smirked. "That too." She felt his lips against her neck once more and closed her eyes sighing. Oh yes, she had definitely missed him. Three weeks was more than enough time away from him.
"I missed you." He whispered against her ear before softly kissing her right shoulder and going back to her neck. "Damn, I've missed you Sakura." He could already feel her body reacting to him as she turned her head to find his lips once more only this time she didn't turn from him. No more words were needed between them as he made love to her for the first time in three weeks.