Chapter 8
Sorry for another late update guys, I have been really busy
Athrun was frozen in his place. Cagalli had already left but the shock in him made him oblivious to all his surroundings at that moment.
The jerk called Yama was still standing in the office and he was saying something to Athrun, probably to provoke him but Athrun couldn't hear a word he was saying. His mind was still in chaos and it was as if his senses had ceased to work.
He was staring at the ring Cagalli had given to him in anger. A huge part of him hoped this was a prank like the one she pulled at him when she mentioned Meer Campbell and the remaining small part of him hoped that this was just out of anger and she would come to her senses later.
'I have to fix this', Athrun thought.
He stormed out of the office and ran towards Cagalli's car. She was already in the car and ready to drive. Athrun opened the passenger door and got in.
"Hey, what are you doing here?!", Cagalli asked in surprise.
"Cagalli, I know you're angry with me but I need an explanation to this, how can you end our 3 year relationship just because of a argument?".
"You're not in a position to demand anything!, now get out of my car!", Cagalli fumed.
"No, I'm not demanding anything, I love you, Cagalli, and I know for sure that the argument we had last night affected you deeply...I am willing to make amends, please don't end this now...we've worked so hard for 3 years to be where we are now-".
"There you have it, that is answer that you needed".
"What answer Cagalli?".
"That we have worked so hard to be together...Athrun, if we're truly meant for each other, why do we always have to fight for our relationship?", Cagalli asked.
Athrun didn't know what to say at that moment. The question hit him deep in his heart and the scariest thing about it is that, it was actually a meaningful to ask.
"Why is our relationship always about pain and suffering and fighting all the time?!", Cagalli continued.
"Cagalli, that is not true".
Cagalli laughed bitterly and sarcastically.
"Then you need to open your eyes a little bit more Athrun".
"No, Cagalli, you're wrong".
"Athrun can't you see how toxic we've become to each other at all?".
"Huh?".
"We fight on a daily basis, if it's not about you trying to micromanage my life, it's about you trying to control me, and if that's not the case then we're arguing about something else, can't you see how toxic this cycle has become?".
"Cagalli, we don't regularly fight, it's just that we disagree on a lot of things".
"Calling someone weak is not 'disagreeing' with someone Athrun".
"So that's why you're doing this?. I knew it", he sighed.
"Yes!, I have been trying to give this relationship the benefit of doubt for 2 years, thinking that our arguments and fights are just a phase but after last night...I realised that this is only going to get worse...yelling insults at me simply because I couldn't refuse someone's kind gesture that he insisted?".
"Cagalli, my love-".
"Don't call me that!", she interrupted him.
That's what it took for Athrun to finally realise how serious Cagalli was.
"I'm tired of this Athrun, this is not something that started yesterday at all, I have been feeling like this for a long time but I tried to push the feeling away many times until yesterday...I don't want to get married to Yama Sahaku or anyone I don't love just because of Royal protocol but at the same time...I cannot stay in a relationship that has started to eat me up from the inside and stress me out just for the sake of love...love is not enough for people to be happy Athrun", Cagalli said holding back tears.
A brain fog erupted in Athrun's brain. He couldn't hear anything and couldn't move either. He was frozen in place, trying to process that Cagalli had actually, in reality...broken up with him.
Just yesterday, they were talking about their future after their fight in his car. Come to think of it, she was actually right, their relationship consisted of a lot of fights.
"Now please go. I'm tired and I need to go get rest at home", Cagalli said with a tear stained face.
Athrun couldn't find the strength to say anything at all, so he got out of the car and watched as she drove away.
Athrun stood there in the parking lot. He was still in shock and denial.
Cagalli didn't want to be with him anymore. How was he going to live without her?
Rain started pouring down but he kept standing there, too weak to move an inch and too confused to notice that he was soaking wet in rain water.
He opened his palm to look at the ring he had given her, now returned to him. He tried his best to hold back the tears and his heart started aching physically.
He had just lost the love of his life.
"Do you think it's done?, I think the broth is still too thick", Lacus said with a worried frown on her face.
"No dear, I think that is just fine, it has to be thick like that", Caridad said with a loving smile.
It was almost night fall and Lacus was making a warm cozy dinner with her soon to be mother-in-law. Since the weather was getting a little cold they decided to make a heartwarming dinner dish which has been a family favourite since Kira was a child, Tantamen Ramen.
"This reminds me so much of when Haruto would come home from Camping with the boys and I would prepare this dish for them", Caridad smiled.
"By the boys, do you mean Kira and Athrun?".
"Yes, dear", Caridad chuckled at a fond memory, "Athrun was too young but surprisingly he was able to make this dish for us when I was sick or both Haruto and I were gone".
"What about Kira?, did he know how to make it too?".
Caridad's infectious laughter filled the room.
"My little boy has always been lazy, he didn't even know how to boil water until he was about 14 years old".
Lacus chuckled.
"Maybe he just isn't talented when it comes to cooking".
"No dear, with Kira it wasn't a matter of talent. He was very lazy in his childhood and teenage years, you know. Even when it came to school work. He would not do his assignments on time at all and always had to rely on Athrun to help him with them on the very last minute".
"Poor Athrun", Lacus laughed, "So Athrun was really that present in Kira's life?".
"Yes, more than that actually. His mother and I were really good friends so since her and her husband were always at the PLANTs for work, we would take care of Athrun durin the day. He was actually 3 years old when he met Kira, so they were basically raised together like brothers".
"Wow, that's fascinating. War is a terrible thing, now you cannot even talk to him because he is always busy going from one battlefield to another", Lacus said with sadness.
"Yes, it's really sad, I miss him sometimes".
"What about your niece?".
"My niece?", Caridad frowned in confusion.
"Cagalli, don't you wish you could see her sometimes?".
Caridad was silent for a while.
"Oh, I am really sorry for asking that, Caridad", Lacus said.
"No, it's okay...I just...I used to think about it when she was still a baby but as time went on, the bond disappeared. When I got them from my sister after I found her dead in her house one morning, it was only a week until we approached Lord Uzumi to let him know of our situation and he immediately adopted her. So in total, I have only spend less than a week with her and there was no maternal bonding at all. Believe me, sometimes I feel guilty for not feeling the same way I feel about Kira towards her but sometimes the things we blame ourselves for are just natural, it's not like I don't care about her, it's just that, I don't feel any connection with her, especially a maternal one", Caridad said sadly.
" I understand you", Lacus said with a warm smile.
"Alright, I think we should serve dinner now...by the way, what have you and Kira planned concerning your wedding?".
"We're just going to have a very small private ceremony by the beach. We will also invite Athrun and Cagalli too".
"It's really sad that you won't be able to have your dream wedding because of the current situation".
"Don't worry Caridad, I don't really care about fairytale weddings anymore, all I care is having my family and closest friends on my special day".
"You're such a darling".
They both laughed at that.
After dinner, Lacus and Kira sat outside at their favourite spot, holding each other.
"So what's the situation out there?", Lacus asked.
"Still nothing, it seems like Orb has not decided on what to do with COMPASS yet, the PLANTs and the Atlantic Federation have already stopped overseeing it".
"I wonder what Cagalli is thinking right now".
"I think she will do what we talked about".
"Do you think we did the right thing?", Lacus asked with guilt plastered on her face.
"Yes", Kira said, "The world might need us but he or she needs us more", Kira added, placing his hand on Lacus' slightly plumbing belly.
Lacus smiled and placed her hand on top of his.
"So when should tell everyone the news?", she smiled.
"When the right time comes", he smiled back.
Lacus had found out that she was pregnant the day before they went to visit the Foundation kingdom. She had wanted to keep it a secret for a while and surprise Kira but the war betrayed them.
However just after the last battle, she told Kira and he was more than estatic. He was going to be a father.
And right now, they sat admiring the clear night sky and ocean, thinking about the blissful future ahead of them.
Athrun opened the door to his apartment. He walked tiredly and absent mindedly to the living room.
He didn't seem to care about how dripping wet his clothes were when he threw himself onto the couch. Why would he care anyway?, his whole life had fallen apart in just a few minutes.
Even though he was heartbroken and devastated right now, he couldn't help but be confused. There was still doubt in his mind.
The Cagalli he has come to know all these years was not a quiter. Of course, he had messed up quite terribly but he had sincerely apologized and was willing to do anything for her to forgive him.
The Cagalli he had been with all these years was very forgiving. She always emphasized that everyone made mistakes and deserved a second chance, hence why at that moment, sitting in his livingroom, shock still consumed him.
It's not like he was feeling entitled to her forgiveness or her giving him a second chance but he was just so appalled that she ended things without even taking more time to think about it.
Yes, he knew he had messed up and he felt extremely guilty about it but he was just so heartbroken that he kept trying really hard to hold back the tears that were threatening to escape his eyes.
"Cagalli", he muttered in sorrow.
His thoughts went back to reminiscing about their time together. Her beautiful innocent smile that he has just destroyed. Her beautiful lively golden eyes, the smell of her hair and the way she tightly clung on to him everytime they held each other. The tingling sensation of her breath on his neck...
There was a knock on his door. Her jerked up quickly in high alert. Who could it be at that time of the night?.
He slowly aaa carefully walked to the door. The person knocked again but a little louder.
"Who is it?!", Athrun asked but there was no answer.
He got suspicious. First of all, why didn't this person use the door bell?...Then a wild thought got into his mind...what if it was her, Cagalli. He quickened his pace towards the door.
He finally reached the door and looked at the door camera.
"Shinn?", Athrun asked in surprise.
He opened the door and there stood Shinn, a little wet from the rainfall.
"Shinn, what are you doing here?", he asked.
"May I come in?".
"Y-yes", Athrun said hesitantly.
He wasn't sure how to react at Shinn being at his door step at almost midnight and much less in the weather they had that day.
"Please take a seat", Athrun said when they reached his dining room.
Shinn weakly pulled a chair and sat, it was clear that something was wrong and Athrun wondered why Shinn would choose him, of all people, to talk to when he was sad like this.
"Would you like something to drink?".
"No, thanks, I'm fine".
"What are you doing here at this time of the night?", Athrun said in the most polite way he could.
Shinn sighed.
"I arrived here in Orb just a few hours ago, I needed to talk to you, since I cannot find a way to contact Commander Yamato".
Shinn had been living in the PLANTs since the second war. He had even obtained a citizenship there too.
Athrun kept listening curiously.
"I want to know if you have spoken to him at all...since you guys are friends. We need him and Lacus to come back. COMPASS won't be able to operate until they come back and settle things with the public".
"The world needs to go on without them if they don't want to come back. You cannot force people who no longer want to be on the battlefield to fight".
"Have you seen them or at least contacted them since the end of the war?".
"That doesn't matter".
"It does matter, we need to know what's gonna happen to us, all the soldiers of COMPASS are all worried of what's gonna happen".
Athrun kept quiet, digesting everything Shinn had said.
"The attitude of the PLANT leaders is unclear but it shows that they want the Commander to come back and hold talks with them and clear his image to the public, especially to the Eurasian Federation", Shinn said, "even the Atlantic Federation has said they'll stop sponsoring COMPASS if he doesn't come back".
"He is not coming back", Athrun said and silence fell into the room for a while.
"So...you've met him", Shinn said in a low voice. Even though he knew that Athrun and Kira's friendship started since they were children, he couldn't help but feel jealousy towards Athrun.
He had tried so hard for the past two years to gain his Commander's trust and friendship but he never got it. He had been loyal to Kira since he joined Compass and never even dared to oppose him because he respected him too much.
Whereas Athrun had not put as much effort as him but Athrun was always the one Kira trusted. He couldn't believe that Kira would still trust Athrun even after getting beaten up by him.
"That doesn't matter, you just need to know that he isn't. You guys need to move on without him or Lacus".
"But how can we move on without him?, that's impossible, if he doesn't come back then COMPASS might be forever suspended".
"You can, you guys can go back to your respective countries and join the military, you can rejoin ZAFT, or come back and join the Orb army since you were born here-".
"Never!, over my dead body!", Shinn raged.
Athrun's eyes widened to the sudden outburst.
"I will never come back to Orb, especially when it's still being ruled by the Atthas".
Athrun sighed.
"Are you done?, I need to go to sleep and I am in no mood to argue with you".
"You're just as naive as you were when you were still her bodyguard, aren't you?", Shinn said angrily.
"Shinn, if you have nothing meaningful to talk about, I suggest that you leave my apartment".
"So, you're gonna stay here in Orb?".
"Yes".
"What a wuss you are. Staying in a country ruled by hypocrites just so you can be close to a girl who tried to marry someone else the very minute you left to meet the Chairman in the PLANTs".
"That's enough, now get out", Athrun stood up.
"What?, you do not want to hear the truth?, wake up, you of all people should know that trusting anyone from the Attha family is stupid-".
And that was when Shinn's ranting was cut off by a punch from Athrun.
Athrun didn't say anything but tge anger in his eyes scared Shinn. He had seen Athrun angry many times but this was scarier.
"Close the door on your way out", Athrun said leaving Shinn laying on the floor in the dining room.
Athrun had always ignored Shinn in the past because he had realised that he was just an emotional and dramatic kid but this night was different.
He was too angry and too caught up in his grief to tolerate Shinn's insensitive outbursts. He was also fed up with him bad-mouthing Cagalli, especially knowing how his outbursts affected her during the second war.
Athrun went to his bedroom and collapsed on his bed without even caring to take his regular shower before bed. He didn't even have the energy to take off his clothes or at least tuck himself under the sheets.
All he could do was hold the haumea stone that Cagalli gave him a long time ago and her ring.
This is the stone that helped him endure a lot of things when he was away in the battlefield because whenever he held it he felt like Cagalli was there with him and gave him strength.
"Cagalli", he said, trying to hold back tears.
It was a few minutes past midnight and the thunderstorm was still ravaging things outside.
Marna walked down the corridors of the Attha Manor. She winced to every lightning strike and closed her ears to every thunder sound.
The old lady was known for being tough and a lioness when it came to protecting and taming the ferocious princess of Orb but when it came to thunderstorms, she would coward away from it.
She had been woken up by a sound coming from Cagalli's room, she had heard the sound of a glass breaking, probably a water glass. She knew that since the security had not panicked, there was nothing to worry about but she just wanted to make sure her little girl was fine.
She knocked on the door first but no one answered.
'She is probably asleep', she thought.
She opened the door and was surprised that it was unlocked. She entered the room and turned on the light and to her surprise Cagalli wasn't there.
Her bed was still neatly made but the window was open and wind was penetrating into the room, that's why one of the glass vases had fallen from the window.
"Oh, Haumea, who left this window open?", she complained as she closed the window.
She cleaned up the mess and started looking for Cagalli. She wondered why she wasn't in her room past midnight.
She looked for her in the dining room and the kitchen, assuming that she had finally gotten an appetite and decided to eat her dinner but Cagalli wasn't there either.
She finally decided to go look for her in her home office but she was too skeptical because Cagalli had never worked until past midnight even on the most busy days, not even her father had done that.
She opened the door to her office and was shocked by the scene in front of her.
Cagalli was seated in her office desk and was signing and writing a lot of documents. She hadn't even changed out of her uniform yet.
"Lady Cagalli", Marna gasped, "what are you doing here past midnight?".
Cagalli looked up in surprise, she hadn't even noticed that someone had entered the room.
"Marna, hi, I uh...I just wanted to finish up a few proposals and sign a few documents".
"Oh, dear, look at what you're doing to yourself...I know you have a lot of pressure since you have taken on a job that you are too young for...I know you have a lot of pressure to prove yourself worthy of that position but dear, can you please take a moment to think about yourself...to take care of yourself?...Please?".
Cagalli smiled at her nanny's concern.
"I know Marna, but I really need to finish these before Thursday, where I'll be making a huge announcement".
"What announcement?, Are you getting married ?", Marna asked worriedly, "What is it that you're going to announce dear?".
"It's a surprise, you'll have to find out when I announce it", Cagalli smiled.
"My dear you know I don't like surprises", Marna said and then gasped at a sudden realisation, "...you are not getting married right?".
Marna was joking when she asked that but her heart sank when she saw that Cagalli's expression didn't change at all.
"Cagalli, are you getting married?!, my dear I know you have obligations to fulfill as Representative but this will ruin your life, you'll never be happy again...and what about Master Athrun?, how will he feel?".
The old lady asked worriedly but she then noticed another change on Cagalli's face, her face turned angry at the mention of Athrun's name.
As an emotionally intelligent woman, Marna decided to change the topic.
"My dear, you need to rest, it's 2.08 a.m. right now and you'll be going to work in the morning".
"It's okay Marna, I'll go to sleep in just a few minutes", Cagalli smiled at her.
Another lighting striked and Marna flinched. She was scared of it but she didn't want to leave.
"Then I'll sit here until you finish, you might end up working till the morning if I don't".
Cagalli chuckled. After signing two more papers, she stopped.
"Okay, I'll go to sleep now", she said tiredly standing up from her chair.
They walked to down the hallway and entered Cagalli's bedroom. Cagalli went to take a shower and was shocked when she came back and saw Marna still sitting on her bed.
"Marna, you're still here?, you can go to sleep now, I'm fine".
"I need to talk to you".
Cagalli was confused and she sat down slowly on the bed beside her nanny.
"Cagalli, my dear, I have noticed that you might be angry or whatever kind of disdain you have towards Master Athrun right now".
Cagalli looked away, signalling that she would rather not talk about it but stubborness was a shared quality between the two women.
"I am not gonna pry into your private life but I only want to say this to you...never marry someone you don't love...not for duty or out of anger or any other reason...I am telling you from my own experience. The wedding is the least burden of marrying someone you don't love. The real burden comes when you have to share a bed with them, get naked in front of them, have sexual relations with them for the rest of your life. I thank Haumea everyday of my life that my husband passed away just ten years into our marriage".
Cagalli's eyes widened in shock, how could Marna be happy that her husband is dead.
"Because, being alone is better than being with someone you don't love...and no, my husband wasn't abusive at all, he was the sweetest man ever but when there's is no love there's no happiness, my dear".
Cagalli looked down on the floor with an unreadable expression that left Myrna wondering what she was thinking about.
The old lady got up to leave.
"I want you to take your time and think about it dear, you can sacrifice your life and happiness for Orb but can the people of Orb sacrifice their happiness and lives for you if they're asked to?".
With that Myrna closed the door after leaving Cagalli's room.
Cagalli thought about wjat Myrna said but then shook her head. She didn't want to think about anything at the moment.
She didn't want to think anymore. She had to make decisions and thinking too much would just distract her, that's why she had worked until 2.a.m in her home office because she would rather distract herself with work than to think about anything else.
She had to make decisions as a leader without putting her feelings upfront.
A certain pair of green eyes slowly opened. They felt heavy and swollen, probably from all the crying of the previous night.
Athrun slowly got up and flinched to the smell of his previously wet clothes that he had gone to bed in. He silently cursed at himself for being so atrocious and abandoning his hygiene decipline.
Never in his life had he gone to bed without showering or with his work clothes on. He yawned and something in his hand caught his attention.
He opened his palms and looked at it. All the terrible memories from the previous night came back and his heart ached again.
It was the ring that Cagalli had returned to him when she told him it was over between them.
Now that the grief had come back, Athrun couldn't find the strength to get up and take a shower.
It had only been a day since he last saw her but he was already longing for her. Her innocent smile, her outbursts and her cuddles. And what made it worse was that he was never going to experience that again.
He sighed and checked his phone for any messages from her, hoping that maybe she may have changed her mind but sadly there weren't any.
However there were 5 missed calls from his assistant, 3 missed calls from the newly appointed Commander of Orb ground forces (his subordinate, since he is now Admiral), and 4 missed calls from Admiral Colonel Kisaka.
"I have meetings with them later today, why are they calling me so early in the morning-", Athrun gasped in shock when he looked at the alarm clock, "Oh my Gosh!!!".
It was already 12.17 in the afternoon.
He sped to the bathroom and took of his uniform.
"Damn it, how did I oversleep until now?".
He took a really quick shower and got dressed. He didn't even care to do his usual shower routine, he just showered enough not to stink.
He almost fell down while putting his work trousers on and almost forgot his car keys on his way out because he was rushing himself too much.
He didn't even have breakfast. He was astonishingly late. He was supposed to be at work by 8 a.m. but now it was already lunch hour.
He felt so embarrassed and shocked at his indiscipline.
He sped his car through the heavy traffic on his way to work.
"And the emails?", Cagalli inquired.
"We have already send them to both President Foster and the PLANT Chairman but they haven't given us a reply, Cagalli-nee-sama", Toyah reported.
"Well, that's expected, they might have been the ones to initiate this but it is reasonable for them to not want COMPASS to be suspended permanently, it helped them interfere in battles without being directly affiliated but we have to protect Orb's interests, not theirs", Cagalli said, "so we move on, on Thursday, I am going to make an announcement to the press, whether they have replied to us or not".
"Cagalli-nee-sama", Toyah said raising his eyebrows.
"I know it sounds outrageous, but like I have told you before, Toyah, there are always two sides to every political conflict or strategy. These two countries were really financing COMPASS because of it's goal to keep peace around the world, they wouldn't have immediately abandoned it after Kira's mistake, they could have chosen to fire him from COMPASS and chosen another leader and kept defending the oppressed people around the world. But since they only sponsored it so that they would fight their enemies through it without getting their hands dirty, they quickly abandoned it as soon as the odds were not in their favor".
Toyah could just nod.
"When you really care about peace, you fight for it till the end, and we as Orb cannot go fight in other places alone, so we will have to fight to protect our land now and stop affiliating ourselves with nations that do not believe in peace as muc as we do".
Toyah nodded.
"Do you need anything else Cagalli-sama?, perhaps should I order lunch for you?".
"No, Toyah, thank you for offering but you can go for your lunch break now".
"Thank you", Toyah bowed and left Cagalli's office.
Cagalli sighed and cllapsed her upper body on her desk. She had already had 3 Cabinet meetings and drafted more than 6 economic proposals before her lunch break and she was now too tired to even order her lunch and eat in her office.
She started wishing a certain someone was there to order for her and eat with her but she quickly shook that thought out of her head as soon as it appeared.
She started working again to distract herself from such thoughts because she had already made her decision and was not willing to go back.
Athrun arrived at work in a frenzy. Everyone was already going out for lunch and he could only pray that his assistant would still be at her desk and help him rearrange his schedule.
"Ms. Reed", he called for her when he reached her desk.
"Admiral, we have been looking for you the whole day, where were you?", Samantha said in panic.
"I has a small accident, I'm so sorry for not informing you", he lied.
"I was about to cancel all your meetings for today. Colonel Admiral Kisaka suggested that when he came here a while ago".
"Why would he do that?".
"He said that he knows that you're a very punctual man and he was certain that if you didn't come to work, then you must have been involved in an accident or something really serious had happened...so he so was sure that you wouldn't be able to come to work at all since that was the case".
"Oh", Athrun said with a pang of guilt. It was literally his first day as Admiral and he had messed it up.
"So can I help you reschedule your meeting?".
"Yes, please".
They worked on his schedule for a while a finished.
It was time to leave work and Samantha remembered something.
"Sir, there's a letter that came for you", Samantha said searching for it in her bag.
Athrun looked at it and saw that it was addressed from Myrna's brother's address and he automatically knew who had sent that letter.
"Thank you", he said.
"Sir, are you okay?...you look really sad today".
"I do?".
"Yes".
"I'm sorry".
"No, you don't need to apologize, I just wanted to know if you were okay".
"I'm fine, thank you".
"Well have a good day sir", Samantha said and left.
Athrun opened the letter that was obviously from Kira.
"Athrun, it's me, I'll be coming back to Olofat tomorrow, I heard that Cagalli will be adressing the COMPASS issue in a press conference the day after tomorrow, so I want to be there when it happens, I need to study the atmosphere in Orb after that so I can see when it is safe for Lacus and I to move back normally or not.
I cannot stay in a hotel because I'll have to use my bank cards, so may I please stay at your place?. I know you cannot reply to this letter but I hope you will let me stay at your place".
Athrun chuckled at his friend's sence of humor. Of course, he would like to have his friend over for a few days. He had missed their old days of hanging out.
But he would have to sleep on the couch. Athrun had a king sized bed in his bedroom but he had never allowed anyone to sleep in there because of his strict hygiene. The only exception was Cagalli.
Since he was a child, he was notorious for not wanting to share a bed or clothes or blanket with anyone. It just felt disgusting for him but when it came to Cagalli, it was different. Even if he would take her out of a pit of mud, he would want to sleep beside her in his bed.
How he missed her. He was still in grief and couldn't believe that she was gone from his life forever.
Samantha walked slowly to her Apartment. She was still frustrated at how Athrun never really paid attention to her unless it was about work.
She gasped when she saw someone standing behind her when she reached her door.
"Good evening, Ms. Reed".
Samantha was buffled and scared at the same time. What was he doing at her apartment?. Had something happened to her mother?. Her mother had been a maid in the Sahaku Manor for over 20 years, since she was a year old. She had visited that household many times during her childhood and teen years but the Sahakus only saw her as an insignificant servant's child.
So seeing Yama Sahaku standing at her door step was surprising and worrying at the same time.
"Master Sahaku, how are you?, such a...pleasure to see you", she stammered and bowed.
"Samantha Reed, as beautiful as always, how are you?", Yama said.
"I'm fine. Thank...you...uh, sir", she stammered again.
Yama Sahaku, the heir to the Sahaku family had complimented her and even asked her how she was doing?, that was appaling to Samantha.
The arrogant young man who still treats his servants like trash had actually greeted her and Samantha couldn't help but suspect that there was a string attached to his politeness.
"Are you going to invite me in or not?".
"Oh, I'm so sorry sir, please come in".
They sat in her dining room and Sam kept fidgeting her fingers in anticipation.
"Would you like some tea or anything else to drink?".
"No, I am here to discuss something with you. It'll be quick".
"Discuss with...me?, is it about my mother?".
"No, not at all... It is about something that I want you to do, something that will benefit both you and I".
"Huh?".
"Yes, you and me...although I do not like your disrespectful way of speaking, I think we can make a deal".
He was referring to her "huh?" question. It was forbidden to use informal language when talking to Nobles in Orb. However some Nobles cared about that and some didn't.
"I apologize sir".
"So, here's the deal, I have an enemy...I could call him a rival in this case...but he's more of an enemy. I want you to get rid of him".
Samantha gasped in shock and her eyes widened.
"Sir, I'm not a murderer, I cannot do that, I'm sorry but you came to the wrong person".
"I never said I want you to kill him".
"But you said that I have to get rid of him".
"Not in the way you think", he chuckled, "Come on, I might be a selfish person but I'm not a murderer".
"So, what do you want me to do and how does that help me in return?".
"I just want you to drug him and lay in bed with him naked until the morning, so that his girlfriend catches him red handed".
"Why?, who are you talking about and how would that benefit me?".
"I get married to the woman that I want to get married to and you get to keep Athrun Zala to yourself by threatening him with a fake pregnancy".
"What?, My boss...no, I don't like him...in that way, I mean!", she lied while blushing.
"Calm down, it's okay, your secret is safe with me", he laughed.
"No, that's not true, who told you that anyway?".
"I have both your work and personal phone tapped because I wanted to make sure I knew your boss' every move. I can see all your calls and messages, including the ones between you and your friend, who's name I have forgotten but over the past five months you've talked a lot about your boss with her, including how it frustrates your that he never notices you as a woman".
Samantha was absolutely shocked. What kind of a cunning man was he?, why did he hack into people's phones?. And she wondered why he wanted to get Athrun out of his way so badly, all because of a woman. Who was this woman?, and why was she so special?.
"Sir, I don't know what to say to that".
"Well, it's okay if you don't want to do that but, you know, this was a once in a life time opportunity for you to get Athrun Zala all to yourself".
Sam kept quiet for a while, so Yama stood up to leave but she stopped him.
"How is this going to play out?...I mean...what's your plan".
Yama smirked.
"Tomorrow, I'll send a man here to deliver the substance, it is a mixture of a sleep inducing drug and a sexual stimulant. The day after tomorrow, there will be a press conference and he will have to attend. You will put that substance into his morning coffee and by the end of the day it should kick in. You will escort him home in your car when he leaves his office drowsy and unable to walk. And since he would have been given a lot of water and drinks during the representative's press conference, he won't be able to know where the drug came from, his water or the drinks at the press conference or anywhere else...once you get to his apartment, around midnight the sexual stimulant will start working and even if he doesn't sleep with you, the next morning he will wake up to both of you naked in his bed. And he and his girlfriend who will arrive early in that morning, will think that you had sex".
"How will his girlfriend come?".
"I'll create a false alarm and I will make her believe that he is in danger and I know she will come".
Sam kept quiet for a while, digesting the idea.
"So will you hold up your end of the deal?".
...
...
..
"Yes", she finally said confidently, "are you sure that no one will be hurt in this process?, I mean physically".
"No one, and don't worry about your safety either".
"Okay, I will do it then".
Thanks for reading guys.
Please let me know what you think guys.