Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Counting the Seconds ❯ Chapter Eleven ( Chapter 11 )

DISCLAIMER: If I did own Gundam Wing, I certainly wouldn't be sitting my butt here…

Counting the Seconds

By Scilja

Chapter Eleven

At the sound of her entrance, the occupants in the room turned to the figure near the doorway. Cheryl flashed a white smile, which Relena noticed that most of it was directed to a certain male. The air suddenly felt like it was engulfed by an invisible sordid mood. Duo let out a small groan and shifted in his seat. Hilde looked perplexedly at the grinning woman.

Seeing the red-head standing there in her designer clothes and stiletto heels, irritation glazed over Heero's eyes, but his features remained impassive. She knew perfectly well that it annoyed him to no end whenever she would barge in his meetings or any business-related events for that matter. And yet, here she was, hard to get rid off like a pounding migraine in the early hours of dawn. Dammitall.

Behind Cheryl, Mac displayed a guilty expression and her brows curved together in silent apology. Heero waved her off, mutely saying he'll handle LaVeur for the moment. Mac left the room at once and closed the doors behind her.

"Ms. LaVeur, what a surprising appearance. Do state your business here and make it quick," Duo snapped. Though he was of a lively character, Duo could be trusted, and he would return the same trust if he thought you deserved it. Hilde noted his sharp tone and immediately knew this woman was in the wrong.

The lady's grin simply broadened as if Duo's jib amused her. "I just wanted to stop by to greet Mr. Yuy." She chucked her hip to one side and placed a well-manicured hand over it, "Can't I do that without getting reprimanded?"

Duo sent a disgusted leer her way and scoffed a harsh 'No'; he was ceased from saying anything further from his colleague's appointed glare.

"Cheryl," Heero began and inwardly cringed when she blew a kiss to him, "as flattering as your actions to offer me salutations are, this is not an appropriate time."

While he talked, the debonair woman had walked to the middle of the space between the ZW members and Dreask representatives, making it evident that she had ignored the two previous warnings.

She bent to look at Heero on the same level, deliberately letting the neckline of her light green sundress droop more. Heero wanted to shove her out of the room with as much force as possible. He knew she was trying to entice him to whatever demand she was going to make. However, he was never one to be swayed easily just as it was a challenge to get the CEO to comply with contracts.

"I was going out for a while," she leaned even closer to him, smiling coyly, "and I was wondering if you would like to join me later."

His impatience was growing thin and Duo took silent caution for he knew that his friend was like an unstoppable volcano when he burst ― never stopping once and scorching everything in its path. Heero's eyes bored into hers while a low but firm growl resounded from his throat, "No."

Disappointment flashed across Cheryl's face, but instead of complying with his word, she straightened to full height and looked forlornly at him, "Tsk, darling, do you not care for me anymore? Your career seems to be taking much more of your time."

Relena arched a brow at Cheryl's understatement. She was slightly surprised that Heero knew someone as impertinent as her. Being a full-time CEO was not an easy thing and it was obvious that the dame hadn't worked a single day of her life. For the time she had known Heero, she had come across his hard work-ethics and determination. After all, a business conference had given the day of their first meeting.

"Please, hun?" She pursed her full lips.

Was the girl that much of an airhead that she couldn't see the nuisance she was causing?

This was getting nowhere, and if looks could kill, Heero looked about to shoot the red-head right then and there. In haste, Relena cleared her throat softly, "With all due respect, Ms. LaVeur, understand that this is an important matter that needs to be tended to, and it would be appreciated if you do this at another time."

She whipped her head around gave the same irritated look as before. It was tempting to slap that expression off such a flawless face. "Excuse me, Ms. Darlian," mockery shone in her emerald orbs, "I believe that this is not of any of your concern, so kindly allow me to do my will."

'Okay, now she just pushed it,' Hilde thought as she looked at the aquamarine pools flicker in exasperation.

"Not any of my concern? You are sadly mistaken, Ms. LaVeur, as I recall this is a discussion between the Dreask and ZW members, and I certainly do not see your name on it."

Duo smirked proudly at Cheryl's shocked face. Heero was amused that Relena was still a spitfire; her words could pack quite a punch. The woman stepped closer towards Relena and crossed her arms over her chest, "Excuse me?"

The VP slowly rose from her seat and made solid eye contact to her contender, "You clearly heard what I said," her lips formed a lop-sided grin, "or are you implying that you are deaf?"

Amidst Duo's small guffaw of laughter, Cheryl gasped, "Why, I've Never!"

"Never listened? Of course, you showed that earlier when you did not take note of the three attempts to cease your presence here."

She fumed, "Now you listen here, blondie, I said it once and I'm gonna say it again, BUTT OUT! I have a right to be here and you can not take that away from me."

"As a matter of fact, I can do that. I was called to this meeting and thus it is required that I stay."

With her pride and dignity clearly shot down, Cheryl was now one very angry lady. She was unable to get another word in when Relena cut her off briskly.

"Further more, Ms. LaVeur, you had better start showing more respect for both yourself and others in the near future, it is quite unattractive."

"Who are you to ―"

Again she was interrupted, "Pardon my comment, Mr. Yuy, but I cannot believe that you would marry a woman like her."

Hard Prussian-blue eyes instantly flashed towards Relena's cerulean ones; his body went rigid and focused only on the woman in front of him.

Daringly, Relena took a step forward and boldly decided that it was about time that she said what she had kept hidden. She sent a fierce look at Cheryl, "She would only love the jewels and wealth that clutched to your name, absorbing it all until it is dry. What she shows now is nothing but a hollow version of herself ― one reserved for the easy manipulation of a person in order fulfill her high demands and requests. When she had had her fill, you would be thrown away like a musty old rag, no use to her any longer. "

A fist clenched by her side as she spoke in vexation, "Your life will be nothing more than an empty void, because you would be controlled like a puppet on unbreakable strings."

Heero's eyes never left Relena and his ears burned with the words that came out of her mouth. As expressionless as he appeared, his entire being was jolted with a mixture of ire and confusion stirring inside him. 'Marry?! What? WHAT?'

"I may not be an expert when it comes to relationships," she raised her chin up, not in defiance like on the night of the gala, but of confidence, "but I know that something as precious and valuable as love should never be abused."

Then she spun on her heel and said over her shoulder, "If you don't mind, gentlemen, I would prefer if this meeting would continue another time. I believe there should be some clearance to be called for here."

The image of Relena leaving through the doors was the last they had seen of her.

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

A moment of silence donned on the room, adding more weight to the already heavy tension resting there.

'Did that really just happen?' Hilde made no move in her seat and gaped at the doors her friend had just gone through. Normally, she would be well-thought out when dealing with the next step, but at this point, she was entirely unsure of how to handle it.

Taking a glance back at the Duo and Heero, she grasped the armrests and hoisted herself to her feet, bowing a respectful apology and an 'Excuse Me' before following the path Relena went.

Normally full of chatter, Duo was knocked off speechless and gradually succumbed back to reality. No one had to tell him twice how sticky the quick sand had become. Things were getting tangled by the minute, and it was becoming trickier to clean it up.

Seeing that Cheryl was still present, he scowled in frustration, "What in the hell did you do!?"

She tilted her nose up proudly, "I did a damn good job of ridding her, that's what." Cheryl gave a startled gasp when a hand shot out and gripped her wrist tightly, jerking her near.

A deep snarl rumbled from Heero's throat and he growled menacingly, "The ring." Her face paled at the stern tone in his voice. Intense blue peered over shaky fingers and pierced through alarmed orbs, leering dangerously at the band that encircled one digit.

No wonder Relena assumed they were still married, she had still managed to retain the engagement ring. Heero was infuriated even more. Images of whatever relationship he shared with the Dreask VP collapsed from the rickety thread it was hanging on. He had barely managed to glue the shattered remnants of the unclear bond between them and then this had to happen! The ending he wanted was only a few feet away from him, but he was pushed back to the beginning.

'Shit,' he hated when things screwed up.

She blinked skeptically at him and then winced when his strong grip tightened even more, "Never," he snarled, "ever toy with me."

He lifted his other hand and roughly pried the ring off her finger, throwing it over to Duo who grinned maliciously as he caught it. He shoved her hand back and turned away, dismayed at the mere sight of her.

Wearing a pitiful, dejected façade, Cheryl cried out from her sprawled position on the floor to Heero's retreating figure, "Hee―"

His lips formed the last parting words before both he and Duo exited, punctuating them like a bolt of thunder, "Don't bother."

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

She walked in quick steps out the lobby doors and into the streets of Hawaii, thinking of the events that had just occurred back at the conference hall. If one were to compare the performance of her stature from all her conferences, none of them would come close to the way she acted in this particular one. She was more direct to the point where blunt would be considered wryness. What was more invigorating was the fact that it did not deal with a business matter, but on a personal level. How severe she had affected the pact between ZW and Dreask was far from her thoughts. As foolish as she felt for slipping on her own tongue, a sense of liberation came over her for having revealed her mind.

The scenery suddenly became unfamiliar and she sighed in irritation for wandering off farther than intended. Her pace slowed to a steady stroll as she weaved through the foreign vista, hoping to find a source of direction. Gazing ahead, she saw a vendor waiting by his cart in the corner of a curb. Relena sauntered up to the salesperson and asked the way back to the hotel. His accent came with a blend of what he knew as he explained what best he could to her. In gratitude, she bought a white-coral necklace decorated with small sea-shells.

As she admired the newly bought item, she did not notice when a group of workers came along carrying various baskets of fruits and vegetables. More joined the group and Relena realized she was close to stepping off the sidewalk and unto the busy traffic. Silently thankful for having taken gymnastics in high-school, she flexed through the throng of people scurrying by.

She sensed the troupe was dwindling in numbers and so she moved back to the middle of the pavement. Two men carrying a noticeably large statue of a mermaid caused her to stumble back a few feet. She miscalculated her distance and one of the carriers bumped her to the edge where she hastily balanced herself well enough to keep her body upright.

Her arms quickly spread out to the sides to regain a form of stability for she was on the teetering edge to the rushing automobiles. At this state, any wrong movement on her part would send her to the brink of a collision. She had no choice but to wait for the band to move along so she can reclaim solid ground.

Another bumped her arm and she barely managed to keep to the side. Like a young sapling in a strong gust, she swerved a bit before balancing again. This was getting to be more of a difficult task. Her full concentration was so set on keeping in line that she was taken by surprise of another presence standing right before her.

Her eyes widened at the sight of Cheryl who stood a few inches away. A somewhat dark and sinister smile donned on the woman's features. She lifted her hand towards Relena, drawing it more to the perplexed lady. Thinking she was lending a helping hand to get out of this messy situation, Relena accepted the assistance ― then Cheryl's eyes glinted maddeningly and her assumption was dashed to bits when the hand pushed against her instead.

Relena let out a startled gasped as she lost her footing and slipped off the concrete edge. It felt as if time slowed to an eternity as her body fell backwards.

She winced at the pain that shot through her spine when she made contact with the hard ground. Lying helplessly curled on her side, she made a grave yet swift attempt to get on her feet, but her body throbbed with a pulsating sting and she couldn't do it to any avail. She just about propped her weight on her elbow and then turned sharply to the peppered blasting of a loud horn. Fear seized her throat as she stared, gripped by the approaching headlights of the vehicle speeding towards her.

"RELENA!"

Everything suddenly became a blur as she felt her body being shoved roughly by a great impact, shooting her to another direction until she lolled to the roughness of the pavement. Her clothes scraped against stone to reveal skin and the friction brought fresh wounds. The squealing of brakes and constant honking over scattered voices escaped her ears, sounding as if they were miles away.

She groaned at the blinding soreness, rapidly blinking back consciousness to her darkened senses. Her entire being was weak with soreness and her dazed state did nothing for the better. Slowly, she sat upright, breathing heavily at her exhaustion while a raw headache beat its way to her temples.

Strange, why wasn't she dead?

Her silent question was answered by a frantic cry and she snapped fully back to awareness. Heated dread coursed through her veins and her vision became dull from the heaviness of her heartbeat. From across the street, she was able to make out at least three cars and a large truck scattered in odd locations with smoke coming from one of them. A searing pain tore through her when cloudy eyes traced the pattern of the figure lying still in what should have been her place.

"HILDE!"

TBC…