Love’s Labours
Lost
By Stella and the Black Rose
AN: YAY! Another chapter! Only five more to go! *hugs* to everyone still with us, thank you
so much for your support. We sincerely
hope you will enjoy it!!!!
Disclaimer: Bandai owns GW
and Escaflowne.
Pioneer owns Trigun. We own….erm, these nice
shoelaces and a clock, and….
Chapter 9
Heero rolled out of bed Sunday
morning, and silently thanked the powers that be for the heat still being
on. The company president groaned as he
stood up and tried to lift his mind out of the fog of sleep. He scowled at the calendar hanging on the
wall and thought about the events of the day before – trying not to dwell on
the kiss he had received. The fact that
she had seemed apologetic about the incident didn’t relieve his mind the least
bit. If anything, it darkened his mood
even more.
“Business,” Heero
muttered. “This is just business. Contract… Addendum. I need to find that addendum.” He flung open the door and stomped out of his
room.
Vash stood in the kitchen,
finishing off a ridiculously huge bowl of cereal and letting Kitty lap the milk
out of the bottom. “Good morning
boss. Geez,
you look happy.”
Heero rifled through the
unopened mail and supermarket circulars littering the countertop, but found
nothing from PCC. He turned to the
spiky-haired tester. “Have you seen an
Addendum C?”
“To the PCC contract?”
“No, to the electric bill. Yes, to the damn contract.”
Vash shook his head and smirked
down at his friend. “Wow. Just when I thought Van had you beat in the
grouch competition, you managed to really dig down deep and pull out the
win.” He leveled his cereal spoon in
front of Heero’s mouth like a microphone. “How does it feel to be a champion?”
The resounding clatter of silverware hitting the tile
floor across the kitchen echoed through the apartment. “If you say another word
besides ‘Yes I’ve seen the addendum’ or ‘No I have not’, you and the flea bag
are going to go live in the stairway with the rat.”
Vash’s shoulders slumped. “I haven’t seen it, boss.”
“Hn.”
Heero
turned and stalked back to his room.
Unmindful of the time, he picked up his cell and dialed Millie’s number
at home. Perhaps PCC had sent the
addendum to the office and she hadn’t forwarded it along just yet.
The connection crackled in his ear.
“Wolfwood.”
Heero’s
jaw dropped and he glanced at the display on his phone. It read
“Oh it’s you. You
realize it’s Sunday at
Heero gawked at his phone. He forgot the time difference, but no
matter. He just wanted to talk to his
secretary. “I thought you went to church
on Sundays.”
“I do, but not even the priest gets up at
“Let me talk to Millie.”
“She’s asleep.
Call back in a couple of hours.”
“Wolfwood…. Put her on the
phone.”
The gruff voice growled in his ear. “Listen, Yuy, I’ve
seen her paycheck, and no offense – you don’t pay her enough to take your phone
calls on a weekend much less at this ungodly hour of the day. So, call back on Monday when she’s in the
office.”
“This is important.”
“Then I think you ought to ante up some dough.”
Heero groaned and fought the
urge to just open the window and send the phone sailing to its doom. He almost smiled at the thought of the
satisfying “crack” that it would make hitting the pavement from sixteen stories
up. “Fine, I’ll pay you a hundred
dollars to let me speak to her right now.”
The man on the other end of the connection snorted. “I mean salary-wise. She needs a raise. When was the last time you gave her an
increase?”
“Hn. I
don’t…”
“That’s because it was far too long ago. You’re taking advantage of this sweet girl
that worships the ground you walk on and does everything you ask – only to be
shouted at and awoken at an indecent hour on her day off.”
Heero rubbed a hand over his
face. “I’ll give her a ten thousand
dollar raise if she’ll stop sleeping with you.”
Silence greeted his answer.
“I’m waiting, Wolfwood. Maybe you should wake her up and ask her what
she thinks.”
“Give her eight thousand and I’ll let you talk to her
right now. She deserves it, Yuy.”
“Fine. I’ll call into payroll tomorrow and have them make the change.”
“That’s
more like it.”
“But tell her I’ll give her another two
thousand dollar bonus to kick your ass out.”
“Here,
you can tell her yourself.”
“Hello?” A sleepy feminine voice yawned into the phone.
“Millie, have you seen an addendum to the PCC
contract? Was it sent to the office?”
“Oh hi, Mr. Yuy.
How’s
Heero could feel the creases
deepen in his forehead. “Better than what? Never mind. Have you seen an addendum sent to our office
from PCC?”
“Ummmm, not
that I recall. But I sent a bunch
of stuff to you the other day, it didn’t get there yet?”
“No.”
“Oh. That’s
strange. I was positive I sent it out on Wednesday. But I’m sure it will be there real soon.”
“But you haven’t seen an addendum,” Heero
pressed.
“Not that I remem-” She yawned
again. “ber. Sorry.”
Heero’s shoulders slumped. “That’s fine.
I’m sure it just got lost in the shuffle.”
“All right. Well, I’m going to get some more sleep, now.
You should, too. Tell Mr. Vash…”
“Yes I know. You
said hi.”
She giggled. “Good
night.”
Heero hung up the phone and
sunk back onto his bed. Where could that
addendum be? Had Relena sent it at all? The software mogul frowned. “I’m sure it was just an oversight. But I need that section so I can sign the
contract and end things with her.” He
flung an arm over his eyes and collapsed back into his pillows.
I wish there was an answer. I wish I could have
known. If I could change the past, I
would. I’d take that risk.
But this one’s just too much.
* * * * * *
Heero awoke early Monday morning
after a fairly uneventful Sunday evening.
He got up, only to drop into the desk chair in front of his laptop and
hit the space bar to wake it from its own sleeping status. He pulled up his email account, trying to
ignore the little voice in his head that hoped Relena
had sent him a message. Today is the first day of the next two
years, eleven months, twenty-four days, two hours and thirty-eight…Shit. Stop
thinking about her! She is out of my life – or will be as soon as I can find
that damn addendum and get this THING over with.
He scowled and opened his inbox, scanning the list of new
mail. Vacation notice, vacation notice, hnnnnn, looks like I’m going to have to place a call to HR
and find out if these people are taking advantage of my being out of the office. He deleted the lot of messages, then noticed he was receiving another email. “Mailerdaemon, your
message was delayed.” He blinked. What
message? He clicked on it, wary that
it was one of those viruses that were still circulating about, but his
antivirus software didn’t even hiccup.
“Your message to Relena.peacecraft@pcccorp.com has been
delayed.” He clicked on the attachment,
wondering which message she hadn’t received.
Relena,
I
think we’ve all had experiences that make us think twice about starting
relationships. I say that not to make
light at all of your particular situation, and I thank you for trusting me
enough to share those things with me. If you only knew…. It scares me sometimes how well we seem
to get along, but I am thankful for your friendship.
Heero’s eyes widened as he
continued to read. It sounded like…well,
him, but he knew he hadn’t written this to Relena. How on earth….?
I,
too, have my own reasons not to rush into anything as far as romantic
relationships go. Maybe it’s
predictable, but there are so many women out there that are just interested in
the amount of money I make. The one that
particularly comes to mind is the one that broke Van’s heart – Millerna. She didn’t
even have the decency to pretend she wasn’t using him. As soon as he introduced
her….
His jaw clenched tighter with each passing moment that he
stared at the screen, reading the words again and again. Whoever had written this was impersonating
him, sending Relena emails from his address, and
telling her details of his personal life.
Details that he considered very private. They knew about Millerna,
so they had to be in the apartment. They
had to have reason to want him out of the picture with Relena. They had to be….
“Vash.”
He said aloud, his hands gripping the edge of the table so hard his knuckles
turned white. He bolted up from his
chair; it fell over with a loud bang but Heero didn’t
even look backwards. He stood leaning
over the table, trying to breathe and calm his angry pulse. “I have
my own reasons not to rush into anything as far as romantic relationships go….”
“GOD DAMMIT VASH!” He screamed and chucked open the bedroom door, intent
on murdering the software tester in his sleep.
“No. I’ll wake him up THEN kill him.”
Heero stalked through the
hallway, his voice booming over the open space and reaching its target a split
second before he did. “You’d better call
the police, Vash, because I’m about to commit a
homicide.”
The blond sat up in bed just in time for Heero to grab a handful of his t-shirt and slam him against
the back of the sofa. “EEK! What the heck? Heero, what the
hell is wrong with you?”
“Why have you been sending emails to Relena
pretending to be me?”
The green eyes grew wide and then darted away. “Uhhhhhhhhh, are
you sure you didn’t email her and just forget?”
“Positive.”
“Maybe your computer has a virus. I’ve heard…”
“It does. One with blond hair and
green eyes. Tell me why you’ve
been pretending to be me, or I swear when I get done with you, that rat will
seem like your fairy godmother!”
“Dang, you’re scary boss!”
“I’m not in the mood for games.”
“When are you ever?”
“An explanation! Now!”
Heero loosened his grip and
stood back. He crossed his arms and glared.
Vash swallowed hard and took a deep
breath.
“I…I just…I
wanted to keep her from getting hurt. I
wanted to warn her, ya know, that seeing as we’ve
made this pact and all, that you weren’t interested in pursuing anything
romantic with her. But then I couldn’t
tell her about the actual pact, so I told her about…”
“Millerna. I saw.”
“Oh. Well, then
you already know.”
“Why are you so interested in her feelings?”
Vash toyed with the edges of
the blanket in his lap. “Well, um…that’s
a little tougher to…” He glanced up and then quickly away. “I like her. I think she’s nice.” The tester gave him a weak smile, slowly
rising from the bed. “Why can’t I send
her an email, boss, and…”
Heero’s hand caught the other
man squarely in the chest and shoved him back down. “I don’t have a problem with you emailing
her, as long as it’s about business and you sign your own FUCKING name to it, Vash!”
Blond spikes sagged beneath Heero’s
withering stare. “Boss? Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t tell her anything bad. I just wanted to…”
“Wanted to what?” Heero
snarled, pacing the room. “You revealed
my personal information to someone who does not need that information. She is a business associate. She doesn’t want or need the details of my
private life.”
“Maybe she does, boss.
She wants to be your friend.”
The GLLC president froze in mid-step, finding Kitty’s
water dish – and Kitty –
in his path. In a swift
motion, the ceramic bowl cracked against a nearby cupboard, sending the tiny
black cat scurrying towards its owner on the sofa.
“I don’t want
her to be my friend! I want to sign the
contract and get on with my life. That’s
all.”
Vash reached out for the
nervous ball of fur, cuddling it under his chin. Two sets of green eyes turned on Heero. “With all due
respect, I think you’re making a mistake.”
“I don’t make mistakes.
You, on the other hand, if you ever do this again, I’ll charge you with
identity theft and force you out of the company. Is that clear?”
The taller man gained his feet, but Heero
turned his back, stomping his retreat down the hall.
“I
used to think it was the bourbon that made you mean.” Vash’s
voice called out from behind him.
Heero whirled around and
slammed the door to his room with a loud bang.
The sound was satisfying, the feel of the hard wood a comfort to his
fingertips. He pulled it open and threw
it shut again. And again. The walls rattled. It felt sinfully good to abuse the oak panel.
He paused for a moment when he heard the front door open and pound shut. Heero peered out
into the living room, noting that Vash and the kitty
were nowhere to be found. Guilt nipped
at his stomach until the software mogul ruthlessly dismissed the emotion
without pay. I have every right to be angry.
A
sleepy voice called out from the other side of the apartment. “What on earth is going on out there? Where’s Vash?”
“None of your business,” Heero
spat and gave the door a final slam.
He stayed in his room until it was time to go to his
Heero shook it off and mumbled
something about how throwing his jacket overboard was destruction of personal
property. “Maybe she and Vash do deserve each other.” He stepped into the hallway on
his way to attend his first half-day of classes.
The frowning executive shuffled into the elevator
checking the time and watching the lighted numbers fade in hypnotizing
succession. His peaceful monotony was
broken when the car jolted, stopping at the seventh floor. A cheerful looking older man nodded at the
other passenger before moving inside. Heero glared at the unsuspecting neighbor who dared to
cross the threshold. He didn’t take the
hint.
“Hey there, sonny. Still pretty cold out. I can’t wait for the spring and warmer
temperatures can you?”
“Hn.”
“You guys just moved in, right? I saw you hauling your bags up when I was in
the lobby last week. Where are you
from?”
Heero expelled an annoyed
breath. “
“Wow. Well, I bet
it’s not any warmer there, huh?”
“Hn.”
“So is it just you four guys, then? Did you move here for business, or do you
have girlfriends in town? Ehn?” He winked at Heero and nodded
with a smile.
“Work. We’re here strictly on business. Well, all but one of us, apparently.”
The man chuckled. “Sounds like he’s the smart one.”
“Hn.” Heero’s black look darkened even more. The elevator chimed and the two men went
their separate ways.
Back out in the frosty air of the city, his mind wandered
avenues of places he didn’t want to go. Relena was…everything he could have asked for in a
woman. Smart, beautiful, pleasantly
challenging…responsible, pragmatic, the list went on. In a fairly short time, they had seen a lot
of one another. And no, they hadn’t gotten along a hundred percent of the time,
and no, they didn’t agree on everything, but she had still managed to awaken
feelings in him that he hadn’t really ever felt before. It was strange, unsettling, and yet
comfortable at the same time. All other
things being equal, he wouldn’t have hesitated – even if dating and pursuing a
woman’s affection wasn’t something with which he was terribly experienced.
But all things weren’t equal. He had a company to be responsible for –
thousands of people depended on his leadership, his decisions, to continue to
be able to provide for their families.
Millions of people worldwide depended on him and his product
to run their businesses, complete their homework, and even to do things
like perform laser surgery. Great, I’m sounding like one of Van’s
commercials.
He
had a responsibility. He couldn’t just
give up and say oh, this is hard, and I want something else now, then run out of the apartment to chase after his
libido. HE couldn’t do that.
Damn you, Vash, what
happened to loyalty?
* * * * * *
He watched with trepidation as the storm accumulated
over land. He knew it had to be
devastating to Van, but-
“Dammit, Heero,
what happened to loyalty? I can’t
believe you-you-”
“Van, I’m telling the truth.”
“No! No, you’re not!
You’re jealous, that’s what it is, isn’t it? I’m getting married, and I’m going to be
happy, and you just can’t stand it!” He stamped his foot into the ground, both
fists balled at his sides. Heero was instantly reminded of Van’s temper tantrums when
they were still kids.
“Van, stop
acting like a child.”
“Then you start acting like a friend!”
Heero flinched. “I
AM!”
Quatre gulped
before jumping to Heero’s defense. “Van, we’re all sorry, but we saw her flirt-”
“Flirting isn’t cheating. It doesn’t mean she’d…”
Vash finally
stood from his chair, turning a compassionate expression towards their ailing
friend. “Van, I didn’t want to tell you
this, but I saw her last week, getting into the car with some other guy. At first, I thought he might be a friend or
something, but then she kissed him. I
was so angry! There she was, getting
into the car you bought her, and kissing some other guy! I should have told you…I just didn’t know
how.”
Van paled. “You’re all liars!”
“Van! If you want
to believe that, then go right ahead.
But I’m not going to participate in this wedding, and I’m not going to
be there to bail you out when she’s cleaned out your bank account and run off
with someone else.” The software mogul
spun on his heel and stalked across the room.
“Wait, Heero, if Van-”
But he was already out the door.
Hours later, he got the call at his office to go find
the reluctant bachelor. Fists flew, and
then tears fell. Heero
wished Van didn’t have to suffer. But Millerna had really sunk her claws in deep if the marketing
VP was questioning his friends’ loyalty.
A quiet knock sounded at the door an instant before Vash let himself in.
Van didn’t seem to notice.
“I’m never dating again.” Van downed another shot of
tequila.
“Hn.”
“She lied to me.”
“Yes.”
“And I was the fool for believing her.”
“It happens,” Vash piped up.
“Thanks.” Van
poured another shot from the bottle as Vash took a
seat beside him on the couch.
“Van, there are things worth having in life, people
worth knowing and sharing things with you don’t normally share with the rest of
the world. Millerna
isn’t one of those people. She’s selfish and greedy, and doesn’t know what it
means to care about someone.”
“So, what do you suggest?”
“It’s simple, Van.” Heero
stood up and moved towards the door. Vash was better at comforting than he was, so it was best
he just head home while there were still a few hours left to sleep in. “Find
the one that does.”
* * * * * *
Uptown NYC
“Please,
reporter girl. Come on, I’m really in a
bind here – I can’t take him to class with me.
Think of what happened at the restaurant.”
The
crack of a blue hotel door opened further to reveal Meryl
Stryfe, wrapped only in a towel and still dripping
from a shower. Vash
fought to keep his gaze level with hers and not allow his eyes to trail down to
the knotted terrycloth right above the swell of her-
“Why
didn’t you just leave him at home?” The
reporter narrowed her sharp hazel eyes from her hiding place behind the door. “And why the heck are you wandering the
streets in your pajamas at
Vash
sighed, feeling the corners of his mouth turn downward. “It’s a long story. Let’s just say that Heero
found out about my lousy typing skills and wasn’t too pleased.”
Meryl
pressed her lips together, the confusion obvious on her face “Lousy typing? What are you- Oh my god! I thought you were kidding the other
night. You mean you really have been
e-mailing Relena?”
“Well
you see, reporter girl… Ehhh…”
A
petite set of arms crossed over the damp towel.
A bare foot impatiently tapped on the carpeted floor. “Out with it, Vash.”
He
shifted his weight from one leg to the other, tucking Kitty under his arm and
settling himself against the doorframe.
“Ok, it’s like this. I think the
boss has a thing for her – and that she feels the same about him. So when I caught them exchanging e-mails, I
thought – what could it hurt? I might be
able to help them along, or at least save her some
heartache if the Grump King decided that he was going to stick to the
pact. Only he didn’t see it that way.”
“And?”
“He
had a little tantrum this morning. You
didn’t hear him yelling at me all the way over here?”
“Can’t say that I did. But you should
have expected him to be absolutely furious if he found out.” Meryl tucked a wet
piece of hair behind her ear and readjusted her covering. Vash squeezed his
eyes shut, avoiding the tempting sight.
“I know, I
know. And I realize that it might not
have been the best way to go about it, but I only wanted to help my
friends. I just want them to be
happy. And to tell you the truth, I
don’t think that he’s mad because I was emailing Relena
about him. I think he thinks I’m
violating our pact.”
Meryl
threw him a skeptical glance.
“Seriously,
if I didn’t know any better, I’d say that Heero was
mostly upset because he thought I
was trying to make a move on Relena. He’s in love with her, Miss Meryl. I just know
it. But he’s too damn stubborn to admit
it.”
“Then
what are you going to do, Vash?”
“I
wish I knew, reporter girl, I wish I knew.
But right now I really have to get to class, so can you keep Kitty? Please?”
The
dark-haired woman rolled her eyes and stretched out an arm, accepting the
purring bundle.
“He
likes to watch tv before
lunch, then he takes a nap, but he can’t go to sleep unless you scratch him
under his chin for a couple of minutes.
Oh, and be careful what show you turn on – no Tom and Jerry – he might
get an inferiority complex watching the mouse outsmart the cat all the
time. Oh! And his milk has to be just on the warm-ish side of tepid and-“
The
reporter groaned and shook her head. “I
think I can manage. See you in two
hours?”
“Yeah. Thanks again, Miss Meryl.
Guess I’m going to class in my pj’s.”
“Eh,
don’t sweat it. You’ll fit right
in. They look more normal than what you
usually wear.” The blue door closed in
his face, a bit more gently than last time, and Vash
let out a long breath as he meandered towards the elevator. “
* * * * *
Advance Computer Science Principles I
Heero
slammed his briefcase on the desk nearest to the heating vent and plopped down
in the hard wooden seat. The interior of
the aged brick building was what he’d expected it to be. Plain walls, off-white like the pages of an
old book wrapped around him and reflecting what hazy sunlight the warbled
ancient windowpanes allowed to filter through. Polished oak doors, worn and varnished too
many times, guarded the entrance to the classroom and the small closet beside
the pristine chalkboard. How many people
have sat in this room over the years?
How many great minds pondered the questions of the universe,
deliberated and reached the conclusions that have shaped life as we know
it?
He
turned his attention to the briefcase, removing his books, a notebook and pen
as the door banged shut and the din of his classmates’ conversations
ceased. Heero’s
eyes followed a short, bearded man in a sport coat as he hurried to the front
of the room, tossed a worn leather bag on the heavy, wooden desk and promptly
hopped up beside it.
“Hello,
people. I hope you’ve all had your
morning coffee. I’m not one for prissy
introductions or writing out little papers that tell you what I expect of you
this semester. You’re here to learn
advanced programming. I expect you not
to be morons. Let’s jump right in, shall
we? Since the lab won’t be open until
next week, we’ll just have to talk theory for now – so answer me this: If you
wanted to run Z/OS’s word processing program, Word
Zero, on Alliance-ware, what are the first basic changes you would make to the
source code? You, in
the back, wearing the suit. Where
would you start?”
Heero sat
up in his seat and just stared at the man, not quite believing the words he
just heard. That had to be the stupidest
question he had ever heard. “There’s no
reason to run Word Zero on Alliance-ware.
If A-ware doesn’t have its own program, that’s their problem. Use Zero.”
The
professor sat back and snorted, launching himself off the desk. “It seems we have a Z/OS fan in our midst,
ladies and gentlemen.” Light chuckles
resonated throughout the room. “And tell
me, what’s so great about Z/OS that makes it the end all and be all of computer
operating systems? Is it the fact that a
simpleton can use it? That it strips
away all control people might have over their machines by integrating everything so that the
users don’t even have to think? They can
just leave that to Yuy and GLLC and its programming
gods out in
Heero
slowly rose from his seat, feeling his breath coming
in short, even gasps. “I guarantee you
most people don’t want to think. They
want to turn on their computers and work.”
“Is
that so?”
“That’s
what our market research shows.”
The
professor shrugged. “And how is it that
you’re such an expert, Mr….”
“…Yuy. Heero Yuy.”
* * * * *
Lionsgate Apartments
Soap Opera, soap opera, talk show,
talk show, talk show. Quatre sighed as he
flipped through dozens of channels searching for something that wouldn’t turn
his brain to mush. Daytime television
really made him want to be at work.
The doorbell rang, offering brief respite. He paused his channel surfing to answer it, but Van beat him to
the door.
"Package for a Mr. Yuy."
"I'll sign for it." Van took the electronic pen
and tapped the pad.
"Thanks," the driver said and left.
Van let the door close behind him and gingerly placed the
package on the table. Quatre walked over and peered down at the box.
Van raised an
eyebrow. "It's something from
Millie."
The CFO let his
fingers brush over the well-taped box, giving it a slight shake. "I know you’re bored, but I wouldn't
open it if I were you."
Quatre nodded, gently setting
the box back down. "Yeah. Wonder what’s in there… But Heero should be back soon, I think."
Van’s eyes flew to the door. "Great. Maybe we should leave."
"He's been in a bad mood lately, hasn't he?"
"Lately?"
"Well, more than usual."
Van made a face.
"I think you're giving him too much credit, Quat-"
The television dialogue cut into their conversation.
"But Roger, what about my
family?"
Quatre and Van both turned
towards the TV. A middle aged man stood
in the center of the screen, his face set in a dark expression. The
younger-looking blond woman hugged herself, her eyes seemingly filled with
tears. Roger advanced towards her, and pulled the attractive woman into a loose
embrace.
"Trixie, your life has been a lie.” Roger’s voice sounded in
a hoarse whisper.
Quatre wondered what kind of
lie, and who had been telling them to her.
She seemed so innocent.
“You owe it to
yourself to find the truth."
Quatre nodded.
"But I can't just
leave my husband and children to run away with you to an underground city. I need to think about it, first."
"Ugh! Who writes this garbage?" Van hit the
button on the remote to change the channel and headed back to the sofa. The CFO snapped to attention and charged back
towards the television.
"Van! I want to know if Trixie is going to run away with Roger!"
The marketing director stared as his friend, then back at
the screen. "You're watching this crap?"
"It's either this or 'my husband's a transgendered alien from the future' on the Harry Derringer
show."
"I think the alien thing sounds better."
The door swung open like a clap of thunder, and the
apartment seemed to grow darker as if a storm cloud had suddenly blown in from
out of nowhere.
"Heero."
"Van, Quatre?" His
eyes found to the box on the table.
"What's this?"
"The package you've been asking about.,”
the CFO explained. “It arrived about
twenty minutes ago."
Van stepped forward, shoving the box at his friend in a
swift, hasty motion. "We didn't open it."
"After your tirade this morning that chased off Vash, neither of us was willing to risk losing our stake in
the company over the charge of felony mail theft."
"Your obvious attempt at guilt isn't working, Quatre."
"Guilt?” the blond blinked. “No one was trying to make you feel guilty, Heero. If you feel
some amount of guilt, perhaps it's your subconscious telling you that you were
wrong to treat Vash like that and you should be more
considerate and make an effort to stop being such a grouch all the time. But as for any of us purposely trying to make
you feel guilty...The thought never entered our mind.” Quatre fidgeted
under Heero’s ruthless stare. “So, do you? Feel guilty?"
The company president reached for the package. "No."
"Oh."
"How was class?" Van cut in.
Heero opened the box, tearing
brown paper and mangling the cardboard beneath it. His efforts were rewarded when he finally
slid a manila envelope from the papery wreckage. His eyes hungrily devoured the
page of company stationery attached to the front; he scowled and ripped it to
shreds, muttering something under his breath.
Quatre caught the words: "Idiot
professors" and "couldn't program a Hello World java applet."
"That good, huh?"
Heero found an envelope and
pulled a neatly stapled packet from inside.
He sat down, flipping pages, his eyes skimming over the contents. Van shrugged and left the room. Quatre turned back
to Trixie and Roger in ‘Days of our Lies’.
Trixie stood in the presence of
another man on screen. One who was
clearly not Roger.
The CFO scowled at the interloper.
"
A loud thud wrested his attention from the engrossing
saga. He looked back to see Heero with his head
cradled in his hands, elbows on the table and pages spread out all over the
grainy surface. His lips were set in a
grim line and a deep frown marred his features.
Quatre opened his mouth to address his friend,
but Heero shot up from his chair, grabbed his cell
phone and stabbed a series of numbers.
“Miss Peacecraft’s
office.”
The tone of Heero’s voice made Quatre’s blood run cold in his veins.
“Please, Heero. Do the right thing.”
* * * * * *
Pizzazz Deli
Uptown NYC
There was something different about him; she noticed it
right away. His posture was stiff, his
shoulders tense, and his eyes were cold, detached…. She was staring at that
picture of him on the magazine cover again.
Relena had to look away.
“You wanted to talk about something? I was told it was urgent, my secretary called
as soon as my plane landed.” Relena could hear the strain in her voice as she fought to
sound unaffected and business-like, all the while
mentally berating herself for hoping this meeting was for some other reasons.
Reasons his emailed correspondence had more than hinted at.
His features remained unchanged. “I received your list of required changes as
an addendum to the contract.”
“It was part of the original contract,” she corrected,
taking the seat across from him. “We
just described them in greater detail in the addendum.”
“I disagree.”
“I’ll be happy to show you where you’re wrong.”
“I’m sure you would.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
A frosty glare flashed in her direction. He seemed like a statue carved in ice. “Those changes are not within the scope of
what GLLC is willing to do to accommodate PCC’s new
product launch.”
“Those changes are necessary in order to have your
product run on our new line of business servers. If you are no longer interested in extending
your market share….”
“Now that I’ve seen the document, I understand why you’ve
been hiding it.”
Relena felt her jaw
slacken. “Hiding! What on earth are you talking about? We sent that section to your office first,
before we found out you were in
“Your demands are unreasonable.”
“What is unreasonable?”
“You expect me to do all those revisions to a brand new
release?” Heero asked with a shake of his head, the
first real movement she’d seen him make.
“Not my department of developers, but me personally…”
“It was my understanding that past releases were so
flawed because you did not directly oversee them. PCC does not have time to deal with software
bugs; we know you’re the best…”
“I can’t possibly manage my current workload and do all
those changes.”
Relena pursed her lips together
and frowned, forcing her tone to remain quiet and even. “Fine, if your developers can get the changes
done in time, I have no objection.”
“You missed my point.
The software doesn’t need to be changed.”
“Our consultants say those code revisions are necessary
in order to integrate certain components with Z/OS in order for it to be
effective…”
“It’s fine as it is.”
“I’m sure it is.
But this is very…”
Heero bolted up from his chair,
and leaned over the table, apparently unconcerned about the steadily increasing
volume of his voice. “I can’t afford to have to do these kinds of revisions
every time a computer maker comes out with a new model. Your engineers should learn to work with it
as it is.”
“It’s brand new technology,” Relena explained, rising to her feet. “How can they
possibly…” She glanced up to see anger heating his expression. At least it was better than the
carved-from-ice man that had been sitting across from her. She looked away. “I see.
We had hopes you’d be more cooperative.”
“There’s nothing to be cooperative about,” he spat. “If you want patches and device drivers, hire
your own team of developers…”
“It would take such a team months to orient themselves to
the proper source code and overwrite the function calls, and then it wouldn’t
be a certified version of your software.
We don’t have that sort of time right now, and it’s not like we were
asking you to do it for free. We
outlined, in my opinion, a fairly generous compensation bonus for doing the
work. I think it is you who is being
unreasonable.”
Dark blue eyes narrowed from across the table. Relena had no idea
what it was that seemed to be bothering him so much, but in his current state,
she really had nothing more she wished to say.
“If that is all, Mr. Yuy, I’ll be going, now.”
She turned to leave, but his voice reached out and coiled
around her, halting her progress. “So
that’s what this has been all about, then.”
“What?”
“These…pleasantries. Your attentions to Vash. Find the weakest link….”
“I don’t know what
your other partners have to do with anything.
I’ve met Vash only once….” Realization hit her
and Relena couldn’t have been more surprised if he
had just slapped her. Her eyes widened
and she charged back to where he stood.
“You…How dare you…. It’s bad enough that
you’ve apparently been wasting my time, dragging out these negotiations when
you had no intention of agreeing to our requests, but to then accuse me of…of
prostituting myself for my company!” Her mouth opened to continue, but she
caught herself at the last second and reeled in her temper. “I don’t need this.” She stomped towards the
door, but he was too quick. He caught
her by the shoulders and whirled her back around.
“Relena…”
She struggled in his grip. “Don’t touch me!” She wrenched free and
stumbled back. Relena
turned away. “It doesn’t matter what
I’ve been through the last two days…You, I shouldn’t have tried. They told me
you wouldn’t do it, that I was wasting my time…”
“Wasting your time?
Is that what this has been to you?”
She spun around to face him, startled by the emotion
evident in his voice. She wanted
to scream and yell and pummel her fists into his chest. She wanted to lie and tell him she didn’t
care, that she had never cared…. But Relena had never been one to cause a scene or to deny her
true feelings. “That’s not what it’s
been to me.”
“Relena…I…”
“Heero, I really need those
changes….” She looked at him, studying his stoic face, pleading with her
eyes. She would have done anything at
that moment to finally just let go – to tell him everything if he’d hold her
and lend her some of that strength he always seemed to command. She expected the words she heard next, it was only that she dared hope not to hear them.
“I can’t agree to it, Relena. And I won’t.”
She nodded and looked down at the floor, taking a deep
breath and allowing her gaze to dart up, briefly scanning his features as she
tried to hide her disappointment. “I
understand. I should go, I have work to
do. But if you’re ever again in the
area, you could stop by, or call….”
“I can’t do that, either.”
She couldn’t help the bitter smile that tugged at her
lips. “I see. Well, then… Good-bye, Heero.”
He nodded and she walked passed him to the door. But she stopped before she pushed it open,
her heart stinging with his rejection. “You were right, you know.”
“What’s that?”
“You were right.
The rumors were more correct than I.”
* * * * * *
Lionsgate Apartments
“Well, Vash. That’s what you get for being a pervert, I have absolutely no sympathy for you.”
“But Van! It was
the most horrifying experience I’ve ever had.
If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go grab some battery acid and blind
myself.”
Quatre stood up and gave the
traumatized tester a pat on the back. “But you had to know when you signed up for
the class that the ‘Art of Human Figure Drawing’ meant the figures of both
women AND men.”
Vash watched the CFO’s
retreating form as he headed to the kitchen.
“Believe it or not, the thought never really occurred to me.”
Van snorted. “I’d
believe it.”
Vash sank back into the couch
cushions, trying to concentrate on anything except the mental image replaying
over and over in his mind. “If you had
been there, you’d be suffering along with me, friend. There I was,
sketchbook in hand. The professor seemed
like a nice enough guy when he introduced himself and
told us that our model, Terry, would be out in just a minute.”
“And let me guess,” Van smirked. “You were expecting some cute, perky co-ed to
come out, drop her robe, and drape herself over the
couch in the middle of the room for your viewing pleasure.”
Vash grinned. “Well, basically… yeah.”
“And then?”
“And then Terry came out and dropped HIS robe… and proceeded to
drape his hairy backside on the couch and stayed there for the rest of the
hour. If I didn’t disapprove of suicide
so much, I would have stabbed myself with my pencil and ended it right
there.” Vash
shuddered, but quickly recovered as Quatre returned
with a plate of sandwiches.
“Ooooh –
food. Maybe life is worth living
after all. So, what did you guys do
today? Where’s Heero?”
A heavy veil of silence dropped onto the men in the
room. Vash
looked from one to the other, but was finally answered when the front door
swung open and Heero’s rigid figure marched into the
apartment.
The tester watched Van and Quatre
exchange knowing glances. The marketing VP jumped up from the sofa and stormed
towards the kitchen, stopping inches from Heero’s
face.
“You didn’t.”
“I did, and that’s the end. Get out of my way, I
just want to go to bed.”
“You had no right to do that without consulting us! All of us!”
Heero pushed his way passed the
other man, heading for his room. “Van,
the changes were unreasonable. And I’m
the CEO. It’s always my right.”
“Changes?” Vash
repeated. “Quatre,
what are they talking about?”
“The addendum to the PCC contract arrived today. Heero looked over
them, but then he picked up his cell phone and left without a word to either of
us.”
Van’s angry voice rang through the still-frosty air of
the living room. “You son of a bitch, I
can’t believe you!”
Quatre
leapt up and took up a position between the two men. “Van, this isn’t going to change
anything. Heero,
I thought we had all agreed…”
“Apparently,”
Van seethed,” It doesn’t matter what we want.
Heero is the king and the rest of us are his
lowly peons.”
Vash
stood up, slowly making his way towards his business partners. “I thought Relena
was your friend, Heero. How could you just turn your back on
her? I wanted to help her. I thought, I hoped, that maybe you did, too.”
Heero
stalked away, taking up his familiar pattern of retreat down the hallway. “Listen to me. This is the last time I’m going to say it,
and the last time I want to hear about PCC or the contract or Relena Peacecraft. I am not here to be supporting other people’s
companies that they can’t run, Vash. I don’t give a damn what she wants, what you
want, or what Van and Quatre want. All that I want is
some god-damned peace and quiet and some time away from work and feeling like
the whole world’s depending on me - for just once in
my life!”
The
door to Heero’s room shut with a resounding and final
bang. Vash
glanced up, actually surprised that the door was still on its hinges after all
the workout it had been getting lately.
There had to be a way to fix this.
There
just had to be.
*********************************************
Quick note: Across Enemy
Lines is not being abandoned. Neither is
Missing by a Mile.
We apologize for the delay in continuing those fics;
we understand we’re testing people’s patience, and for that we cannot apologize
enough. Thank you so much for
reading. Love, Rose