Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Counting the Seconds ❯ Chapter Ten ( Chapter 10 )

From the Desk of Scilja

Ohmigosh, I hear that, I'm late! My sincere apologies to all but I had to keep changing things around to finally get what it the way I wanted. I think this chapter itself was edited over six times 0.0 Hope you like this one!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

DISCLAIMER: No own.

Counting the Seconds

By Scilja

Chapter Ten

"You fool!"

Relena wrenched at the ribbon around her wrist, but her vision was hazy from the tears that were collecting in her eyes that it took a few hard tugs before it finally came off. Hands trembled with the keycard so as to the door opened at the third attempt. The white tie fell to the floor while she negligently kicked off her shoes near the door post.

'You knew he would crush you to shambles, but you did it anyway! You only have yourself to blame!'

She sped to the bathroom, her heart pounded achingly against her chest while her throat constricted to a tightness she was never aware it could do. Turning the tap to burst out cold water, she collected the frigid liquid in her hands and splashed it on her face, hoping it would ease the burning sensation in her eyes. Again, and again, she cupped the pouring stream and wet her features. Her fingers slid down from her visage as she slowly breathed in the air that had turned chilly from the freezing temperature. The flow of the cold waterfall and her labored breathing were the only noises present. Gradually opening her eyes, she surveyed herself critically in the mirror.

Her cheeks and nose had turned numb from the icy water. Blonde hair mused in tangles, the edges slightly damp. Red had rimmed around her eyes, and soft beige skin turned to a pale hue. Water droplets gathered along her cheeks and dripped unto the sink, joining the water that was rushing from the marble faucet.

Cerulean pools narrowed in distress and she choked to stifle a small sob. 'Hopeless, that's what you are, truly, utterly hopeless.' A tear managed to spill forth, in which she roughly rubbed it away. 'Dammit! I thought I was done crying over him! He's not worth the crap I'm going through! He isn't!' She cursed at herself for being led so foolishly into his trap. How could she have been so simple-minded? She had given him another peek at her heart, but once again, he had torn it from her and threw it to the ground like a worthless item.

What made the weight heavier on her chest was that she willingly put herself into his hands. 'I could have said no,' her body trembled with grief, 'I didn't have to go back to him. If I had just ignored him, none of this would have happened.'

In anger, she made a fist and pounded it against the edge of the sink. "Why the hell did he keep shut about his engagement? Why didn't he tell me the truth? And why did he kiss me and act like everything was meant to be?!"

Clenched hands dragged down from the basin until she fell to the floor. Her fingers curled at the carpet underneath as her shoulders shook uncontrollably, "Why does he keep playing with my heart like it's some cheap toy?"

Painful images of him ran through her mind. His mysterious Prussian blue pools, his wild untamed hair, his hard, lean body, his strong hands…

Eyes shot open when she began to reflect. His hands…

"He wasn't wearing a wedding ring."

Her words echoed off the tiles of the bathroom like a cry of realization, and her downhearted state instantly shifted to full resentment for the man. 'Was he playing hooky on vacation?!' Furious at the thought, Relena grit her teeth and hoisted herself off the ground. The thought of how he had manipulated her increased her growing anger. 'Did he think I was another pick of the day?' She reached out to turn off the faucet. From the force she put on knob, it was a wonder it didn't snap off the sink.

'I'm sick and tired of this little game,' she wiped her hands and face dry with a white towel and stomped out of the bathroom.

With renewed determination and coolness, she picked herself up, 'We'll get this over and done with.'

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Seeing the ribbon on the floor, Hilde quizzically picked it up. It wasn't normal for Relena to leave a mess scattered about. Her attention was brought up when she heard footsteps increase in volume from the hallway.

"Hey, Rel! How'd it go?"

When Relena came into view, Hilde looked skeptically at her. She looked…disheveled to say the least, but her friend smiled, hiding whatever she didn't want to show, "Interesting, to put it."

Her brow furrowed worriedly, "It didn't go well?"

She laughed, "No, no." The Executive Coordinator didn't have a chance to get another word in when Relena said, "How about we start planning for the commercial now?"

All Hilde could do was nod. Perhaps there wasn't anything wrong. Relena did tell her she went to a meeting with ZW's CEO earlier. "It's about time we do so."

"Great," she gave her another smile before she set off to the bedroom. "Set a date with them and we'll get down to business. In the meantime, I'll send call for a few crew members to start gathering shots of Z-Scape."

"Right."

Then Relena was gone, and Hilde was left staring down at the satin tie she held in her hand.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Heero shifted through the papers that had been recently given to him. Across from him in his seat, the braided man eyed his colleague and friend warily. His mouth formed a frown and blue depths flickered irately at the documents. It was clear that ZW's CEO was not pleased.

"Kushrenada again?"

"You bet," Duo sighed irritably as he propped his elbow on the armrest and supported his head on his hand.

The man whapped the stack of papers on the crystal coffee table and ran his hand through his dark tresses. "Shit." Their status was plunging quickly, and he knew that they had to act fast to pull themselves back up.

Ever since Heero had become the new CEO for ZW Enterprises, there was a pest whose ego had the tendency to shake the company out of its shoes ― Treize Kushrenada did just that. Being the supervisor that he was, Heero had given the man more than enough chances to reclaim himself, but evidently, he refused to be on the same level as they were. Kushrenada's personality could be a possibility due to knowing that his new boss was younger than he was.

To add to his aggravation, he had been given no more than a glimpse of Relena for almost three days. He had tried to contact her a few times, but had been unsuccessful, being told she was either preoccupied, asleep, or out. The last time they had bumped into each other was when he passed by the lobby.

The foyer looked different for it was swamped with technical gears, light stands, wires, and editing devices. No doubt about it, she had started the shooting for the commercial. He saw her from a distance, chatting with one of the camera men. From the motions of her hands, she was gesturing to the various angles of the gardens that the camera should take. Two other crew workers were attending the pool side and another scribbling hurriedly against a clipboard. A few others were tending to the positions of the lights and inspecting equipment and such.

After directing the lighting of the gardens, she turned her head and her eyes met his for a brief moment. She had looked at him in an unfamiliar way ― there was no bright smile or any twinkles in her blue depths. Before he had the chance to reach her, she had almost uncaringly brushed him by, giving him only a simple greeting. He had a nagging feeling in the back of his mind that she was deliberately avoiding him. He had yet to find out the reason why.

Brushing it aside, Heero scowled at the matter at hand. "Did you give him a good lashing?"

Duo gave him a satisfied smirk, "The best."

"Alright, we'll just have to inform the others that the aircraft will not be available until further notice."

This caused the Executive Marketing Producer to jerk his head in Heero's direction, his disapproval visibly shown on his face, "What?! No way, there's gotta be another option. The entire campaign could be changed."

Crossing his arms, Heero leaned back on the couch and shook his head, "We can't change it otherwise it will affect the transaction between other dealers. We have no choice, Duo, we have to cancel the date and move it to another time."

He was about to open his mouth to protest but was stopped short by the beeping of the communicator. Grumbling his disappointment, Duo walked over to the vid-phone and pressed a button, "What."

"Evening, Mr. Maxwell."

Upon seeing Relena's face on the screen, Duo floundered, abashed at his manners, "Rel!" The sound of her name caught Heero's attention. "Sorry if I gave off the wrong impression, I take it back!"

She laughed softly at his hasty attempt to apologize, "We all have our days, Duo," she replied understandingly. "I'm sure each of us would love to grab the world by its lapels and give it a good kick."

All the pent up strain he felt left him in a rush of laughter. "Ah, you just made my day," he gave a mock salute at her, "good work Darlian."

A dainty hand returned the gesture, "Maxwell."

"So to what do I owe the pleasure of having a pretty gal like you grace my screen?"

"Hilde and I have gathered up enough information to prepare the commercials. We have the sketches and figures completed." He could see the papers strewn about on her desk that supported her point. "Now all we have to do is meet for a run-through so you can take your pick out of the bundle."

His eyes widened in surprise, "No kidding? Well, that was quick."

"All in a day's work," she said.

Duo scratched his head in doubt, "Eh, princess, let me see when Heero wants it, hang in there for a sec, 'kay?"

She had pushed the thought of Heero in the way back of her mind until Duo had mentioned him. He came back and his image stayed rooted in her thoughts. Just when she thought things could get any more difficult, Heero appeared before her on the screen. Through her composed posture, she felt her insides quiver at the sight of him. 'Control, breathe, control.'

"Ms. Relena," he said.

It had been a long time since she had heard his voice that she forced herself not to sway to the smooth velvet tone. "Good evening, Heero, when would be an appropriate time for this?"

"Tomorrow."

She was taken back by the promptness of his answer, and over Heero's shoulder, Duo expressed the same reaction. She wasn't prepared for him to be so quick about it. Schooling her features, she gathered her wits together, "Alright then, Heero, when and where?"

He searched for any hint of recollection from their event on the swing from her features. Coming up with nothing, he hid his discontentment from her. They would have a chance to talk later on.

"Same time, same place as before, Relena."

'After lunch. At the meeting hall on the ground floor.' Scenes of their rendezvous flashed across before her eyes. From his hardened gaze at her, he knew more than he was implying. Her chest began to ache again, sore for the broken shambles of their relationship. The beating of her heart came in flat rhythms, with an unsung melody slowly dying away. Shaking off the throbbing agony, she fought to regain professionalism…

Professionalism. 'That's it. Just do your job. That's what moved you to come in the first place.' In an instant, Relena gave her consent. "Agreed. Have a good evening, Mr. Yuy."

In a blink of an eye, the connection was terminated, leaving two people and their thoughts wavering in silence.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

A white, rolled up screen was pulled down from the board. The tray clinked when Mac placed pastries and sweets on the table's surface. Seeing the many goodies on the platter, Duo did not hide his delight, making a quick grab at a cinnamon roll. An attendant hooked up the video projector to an outlet and activated it with a push of a button.

"Mac, many thanks," Relena looked from the pouring of the coffee into her cup to the holder of the pot. "You are much too kind."

The brunette woman gave her a wide grin, "My pleasure, Ms. Darlian. Wouldn't want you to starve and get dehydrated any time soon." After checking if all the cups had been filled, Mac bowed, "Please feel free to call me if you need anything." She ushered out the attendants and left the room, closing the cherry wood doors behind her.

Hilde set down the manila folder she held unto the table and settled into her seat. She handed the sketches over to Relena, who sat to her left, while addressing the gentlemen of ZW across from her.

"As you may have noticed, we have been shooting some scenes for the commercials over the past three days," Relena began. "In total, we have created three visuals." With a flick of her wrist, a disk appeared between her fingers, which she passed to the dark-haired lady. Taking the cue, Hilde rose from her seat and inserted the disk into the projector. She crossed the room to switch the light off, dimming the room so the images on the screen would appear clearer.

Heero watched the images that displayed on the screen and was impressed with the effort put into a 20 second film. Professionally-speaking, it was of high-quality. As for leisurely-speaking, it was all he expected and much more. Over the humming of the video projector, his eyes would occasionally glance in the direction of Relena. He was thankful the room was darkened; he was partial to the shadows for it didn't mind of his secretive nature. In this case, he took this chance of drinking in her figure.

She could feel his eyes on her, and it was unnerving knowing that if she looked into them she would find it proudly staring back at her for being such a naïve little girl. He had gotten what he wanted, so why did she still get the feeling it was yet far from over?

Returning her attention to the commercials, the screen displayed a silhouette of a couple on the shores by the moonlight, leaning against each other contentedly. At that point, she wanted to burn the disk. It mocked her of the kind of relationship she didn't have.

Relena blinked incredulously when the brightness of the lights flashed the room. The video had stilled to a blue screen, indicating it had run through the end.

Wiping off the sugar from his fingers with a napkin, Duo breathed a 'Wow'. "Man, you guys sure know your stuff really well," he said with admiration. "That was unbelievable."

Hilde clasped her hands together nervously, "So, you like it?"

At once, the ZW associates gave them their liking without any hesitation, relieving both Hilde and Relena to great heights.

The VP smiled, satisfied that she had pleased him, "Thank you, Duo. For a second, I was afraid that you would dislike it."

"Hell, I don't think you'd have to worry about that, princess!"

They laughed good-naturedly, giving the air an atmosphere of light-heartedness. Then Heero asked, "Do you have any ideas of the placement of the commercials? About which ones should air when?"

She felt a moment of panic. Though she had seen the makings of the commercials, she wasn't paying much attention to the final edited ones that played a few minutes ago. Her mind racked through every nick and corner, trying to remember the other two. The only one that left an impression was the part with the couple. Remembering it now, she felt warm and glanced over at Heero. He probably knew all too well what she was feeling.

Wetting her lips, she quipped, "I think the one with the couple should air late at night, since that's the time when most lovers are…active."

Duo and Hilde grinned so slyly at her last word that a delicate blush streaked her features.

Thankfully, Heero relieved her any awkward moments by coughing into a fist. He cleared his throat, "What about the other two?"

She groaned mutely, a headache was fast approaching. 'Why must I be given the memory of a goldfish?!' Relena screamed inwardly. 'Think, think,' she mentally smacked her brain.

Before she could say anything, voices from outside increased in volume, and it sounded to be going near their location. Relena picked up an argument between two women, one restricting the other's actions. Then the noise ceased, but it was only because the door slid open and two people stepped in. The first of the two rushed forward, and Relena froze in her seat when she saw who it was.

"Good afternoon, everyone," said a smiling Cheryl.

TBC…