Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Life Is Hard To Live ❯ Confronting The Past ( Chapter 3 )

Title: Life Is Hard To Live
Chapter Three: Confronting The Past
Author/s/: Veresti
Main Character/s/: Bra/Leigh and Pan

~*Author's Notes*~

N/A…

*Begin Chapter*

She stared up at the towering building before her, and wondered if she had the nerve to actually go inside of it. She was standing there, staring up at it blankly for so long that a Security guard came out and asked her if she was all right. She nodded mechanically and then proceeded to ignore him once again. The guard shook his head and went back inside to his post, wondering if the lady was quite right in the head.

After what seemed like a moment to her, but was actually a long time, she finally gathered enough courage to go inside. She slowly made her way into the only free receptionist at the front desk. The lady looked up and smiled at her brightly from her chair behind the reception desk.

"Capsule Corp. building two, how can I help you?" she asked cheerfully. Leigh smiled. She had seen this receptionist many times before she had left Satan City, when she would go to visit her brother. The lady had also worked at this Capsule Corp. building for over ten years.

"I think so. I'm here to see Trunks Briefs," she explained, resting her forearms on the desk top.

"I see, do you have an appointment with him?" asked the receptionist, her expression scarcely changing.

Leigh shook her head. "No I don't. But I don't need one."

The woman frowned. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid you need to have an appointment to meet with the president-" she began.

"Not really. Not if you're close family. I don't blame you for not recognizing me, but I use to be known as Bra Briefs."

"What?!" gasped the receptionist. "I'm sooo sorry that I didn't know you right away. Come right this way and I'll call in and see if he's free-" offered the flustered receptionist.

"Don't bother. This is a surprise visit, so I'd rather just go up and see him without all the formalities. Don't worry, I know the way there by myself," she said. The very flustered secretary merely stared at her slack jawed for a few minutes, and then rushed forward.

"Ms. Briefs-" she began.

"He won't mind, I assure you. I promise that no matter what you will not loose your job. If he fires you, I'll just hire you back, okay?" cut in Bra.

The receptionist eyed Bra warily. "Well, if you're absolutely sure-"

"I'm sure-" interrupted Bra reassuringly. She flashed the woman her million dollar smile and that seemed to some how make the secretary more at ease then Bra's words.

"I'll just get back to work then," said the receptionist weakly.

"Thanks Brenda," said Bra gratefully as she suddenly remembered the receptionist's name. The woman's face practically grew as bright as a Christmas tree, as did her smile.

"No, thank you Ms. Briefs," responded the flattered receptionist.

"Please, call me Leigh or Bra."

"Alright… Bra," said the secretary hesitantly with a nervous smile. Bra nodded and then turned to go down the hall towards Trunks' office. She grimaced slightly as she took in the odd looking orange color of the walls in the hallway and sighed. One thing was for sure, Trunks tastes hadn't improved over time. If anything, they had gotten worse. He had always had the worse fashion and color coordination sense.

He had also always been painfully oblivious to that fact and thought that he had a wonderful sense of style. Everyone in the family tended to humor him and tell him that he did so that he didn't make a fuss. Trunks was spoiled alright. But to be truthful, she had been too up until the time she left home. After that it had all gone downhill from there. Nothing seemed to go right now a days.

She was jostled out of her thoughts as she realized that she had reached the elevators. She shook herself, as if she could make herself let go of her memories. She pressed the up button and seconds later there was a loud ding announcing that the elevator had arrived. The doors slid open and five or six people milled out of the elevator before she could board it.

She stepped into it slowly, realizing that every step she took brought her closer to confrontation with her past. It was a daunting prospect to say the least. She wasn't quite sure if it was one that she was prepared to greet. It seemed too much to bear at the moment, but she trudged on, refusing to give up.

She pushed the button for the President's floor and patiently waited for it to start. It did seconds later with a smooth bump only. She stood there, looking around at nothing in particular in the elevator, examining its walls or looking at the few posters that adorned its walls.

Seconds later, a beep heralded the elevators arrival on the President's floor and she stepped out. She carefully maneuvered threw the throng of people waiting to get into the elevator and went directly towards Trunks' office. As she walked past the secretarial pool, she received more than a few glares from Trunks' loyal fans that worked for him.

They were seemingly jealous of her. She chuckled lightly to herself. If only they knew the true nature of her relationship with him… but she wasn't going to go out of her way to set their minds at ease. She was busy enough without pacifying some love sick bimbos that were chasing after her brother.

As Bra approached the desk of Trunks' personal assistant, the woman looked up. The woman smiled gently at Bra. "How may I help you?" she asked politely.

"I need to see Trunks right away," said Bra simply.

"Okay Ms Briefs. Would you like me to tell your brother that you're here?" the kind woman asked. Bra gave her a surprised look.

"How did you-" she started to ask.

"I'd know you anywhere Ms Briefs," explained the assistant. Bra looked into the woman's soft brown eyes and smiled. She had always liked

"You're the first one to be able to recognize me Ms Devouer."

"Really?" asked Ms Devouer looking up in surprise.

Bra nodded. "Yeah, since I came back to town, no one has recognized me," she said with a shrug.

"That's odd…" muttered the assistant. "Well Ms Briefs, would you like me to announce that you are here, or do you want to just go right on in?" asked Ms Devouer, repeating her previous question. "He is just catching up on some paper work, so you won't be disturbing him."

"Please call me Leigh, or Bra at the very least… and I'll just go right in. He doesn't know that I'm here and I want to surprise him."

"Oh, okay. Go right on in," said the assistant, gesturing towards the door of his office. Bra walked slowly towards it, growing more and more apprehensive as she approached. She was shaking slightly and starting to sweat as well as she finally reached his door. She stood there in front of it for a couple of minutes, deciding wether or not she should go in or make a run for it.

Seconds later she gathered her courage and quickly opened the door before she could change her mind. Trunks was sitting at his desk, with his head bent over it as he looked at a thick sheaf of paper in a manila envelope.

"What is it Ms Devouer?" he asked without looking up. Bra didn't say a word, but instead walked right up to his desk before standing in front of it. For the longest time she simply stood there, waiting for him to say something. He finally gave in, and slowly looked up.

"You're not Ms Devouer," he said stupidly. Bra rolled her eyes.

"No obviously not," she retorted. His baby blue eyes narrowed.

"How may I be of service to you?" he asked stiffly, obviously not use to any female treating him that way. Bra suddenly snickered… and it slowly turned into a full fledged laugh as she realized that he too, did not recognize her. Trunks' mouth drew into a thin line and he openly glared at her.

"May I ask what is so funny to you Miss?" he said sarcastically. "Or is this just some kind of joke?" Tears began to run down Bra's eyes as she continued to laugh and her sides began to ache. Trunks stared at her blankly as if she had gone completely and utterly insane.

Bra's laughs finally died down after some time, but she still wanted to laugh every time she looked at him and saw his sour expression. He was not amused in the least. She sat down in one of the soft blue chairs that were placed in front of his desk, and situated her self before looking up again.

"You seriously don't recognize me?" she asked finally. Trunks frowned.

"Hey, listen here, if you are trying to get money out of me, it won't work," he said suspiciously. "I never did a damn thing to you and I am positive that I have not fathered any children," he went on. Bra gaped in surprise at him before bursting into laughter. Trunks' eyes narrowed even more if possible and he gave her an even more sour look.

"I fail to see what is so funny."

"Oh Trunks, you are such an asshole sometimes!" exclaimed Bra with a short laugh.

Trunks bristled. "Now see here-" he began defensively.

"Save it for someone who cares and don't get your panties in such a ruffle," she said. "It's me, Bra."

His eyes widened in shock and his jaw dropped. "B-bra?"

"Did I stutter when I said it?" she asked sarcastically.

"Is it really you?" he asked in an awe filled voice. His eyes were wide with surprise as he waited impatiently for her answer.

Bra rolled her eyes. "Of course its me."

He jumped out of his chair, accidentally knocking over his chair because he was in such a hurry. He was around the desk in no time and hugging her tightly to him. He buried his face in her long lavender tresses and sighed happily.

"YOU'RE BACK! I can't believe that you're back!" he muttered over and over. Bra smiled and hugged him back, glad to see him after so long. He pulled back slighty, pressing his lips gently against her forehead, Trunks pulled her even tighter into his embrace if possible and murmured softly to himself. Bra merely clung to him, not really minding the crushing arms around her that would have snapped a regular human in half. She reveled in the feel of them actually since she had not felt them around her in so long.

"Trunks I missed you so much," she admitted without looking up at him. "Did you ever miss me?" she asked wistfully. He stroked her hair softly, kissing her face absentmindedly every now and then.

"B, you know I missed you too. Do you even have to ask that?" he said with a chuckle. Bra smiled happily and continued to stay within the protective circle of his arms. Gradually her hands began to drift down the soft material of the shirt that covered his back until her hands were resting on his firm butt.

Trunks turned bright red and whispered furiously, "Bra, not in the office!" He looked around to make sure no one had seen her do that before returning his gaze to her. "Someone might have seen us!"

Bra, frowned deeply and shoved him away. "And if they did? So what?" she snarled, throwing her hands up in the air. Trunks' jaw dropped and he stared at her with wide-eyes. This was not the Bra that he knew so well… she had changed all those years that she was gone. She had changed in a way that was so vastly different from her previous self that he was uncertain if the change was good or bad.

*End Chapter*