Author: Ashkara
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: 1+2, 3x4, 5+Sally
Warnings: AU, yaoi, sap, waff
Disclaimer: As much as I wish I did, I don't own the G-boys. Gundam Wing is the property of Bandai, Sunrise et al. These stories are written for entertainment only- no money has been made, or is ever expected, though it would be nice... Ahem. Well... So don't sue me- I just got out of college and I don't have anything worth suing for, anyway!
Coffee Shop Encounters CSE-1: Arabian Blend
Everyone who knew Roberto's Café agreed that it was a perfect location for a good coffee shop. On the corner of Noventa Boulevard and Ninth Street, it was right where Kelendrin's business sector met the government complex, one of the only neutral territories between the two.
Nothing was ever really neutral in the capitol city of the New Earth Sphere, after all.
Roberto's was a cute little place- the counter was on the left as you walked in, the entire rest of the place filled with small tables and chairs, low, plushy, cushioned chairs and couches and plants. It was the sort of place you could relax in quite easily.
Relaxation was what Quatre Raberba Winner needed. The young man was easily one of the most envied people in Kelendrin- heir to a great fortune, CEO of the largest, most prosperous company in the Sphere, gorgeous, with his blond hair and striking blue-green eyes, and quickly becoming one of Kelendrin's most prominent political forces. It was an awful lot for an eighteen-year-old to handle on his own.
Quatre's father had passed away nearly three years before in a tragic plane crash, leaving the young man in charge of Winner Enterprises Inc. Not that Quatre wasn't up to it- the boy seemed to have a natural head for business- but he still felt inadequate to the job, despite the numerous magazine articles, stating that he was the best CEO that WEI had ever seen.
Roberto chuckled as he watched the young man walk in- he knew that face. He never seemed to leave the shop- Roberto was there from opening till closing time, always smiling, always with something to say. Always ready to listen when, say, a distraught young businessman darted in for a quick caffeine fix on his way back from the Senate to his office.
And Quatre was wearing his why do I put up with this shit? face this time.
Roberto waved and smiled. "Hi, Mister Quatre! What can I get you today?"
The blond managed a return smile. "What's the strongest thing you've got?"
The café owner shot the young man a concerned look. "De strongest I've got- what do you need dat for?" he asked, his Cajun accent making itself known.
Quatre grimaced. "Trust me, Roberto, you don't need to know! I just need to keep my eyes open..."
The Cajun shot the businessman a look as he moved to prepare a Depth Charge, double strength mocha with two shots of espresso, mechanically. "You know, Quatre, de bes' ting for tired eyes- you need to relax an' sleep. You don' get enough of dat, boy!" He set the drink down and frowned amusedly as the blond downed half of it without batting an eyelash.
Quatre Winner smiled over at the Cajun. "I know. I've been trying, too, but something always comes up, or someone needs a meeting, or..."
Roberto laughed, a deep rumble coming from his chest. "Dat will get you nowhere, boy! You've got to try harder!"
His face suddenly lit up with an idea. "Tell you what- you drop by here at eleven tonight when you leave for home- we will make you relax, okay?"
Eleven? Quatre hadn't been aware that the place was open that late, or even that Roberto knew his schedule that well. He nodded tiredly. "Sure. But only for a while."
~*~
Roberto's was a different place at eleven PM.
The light jazz Roberto played during the day was replaced with heavy rock and roll beats and guitar solos, and the conservative suits and ties of the mid-day hours were gone. The café was filled with young people- college students, working teenagers, other young business-type people. Quatre felt distinctly out of place, and began turning back around for the door...
"Mister Quatre! I'm glad you came, but where d'you tink you're goin'? No walking out on Roberto jus' yet!" The café owner grabbed his arm and hauled him into the room.
He was unceremoniously shoved down into a chair, and Quatre almost panicked as he felt hands working quickly at his throat- "Got to lose de tie, Quatre. You need to leave your office behind, okay?" He managed a shaky smile as he felt his tie shoved into his pocket.
"Hey, everyone!" Roberto shouted, drawing the attention of the crowd of people. Quatre tried as hard as he could to fade back into the comfortable chair... "Dis here's Quatre, and he works too hard. So help him relax, okay?"
The blond wanted to crawl out of the café and was getting ready to leave-
"Hi, I'm Duo! Nice to meet you!"
He turned towards the cheerful voice and stopped. The young man standing next to him was amazingly attractive- long, chestnut brown hair held back in a braid that swayed about his hips, violet blue eyes and a magnetic smile. You couldn't help smiling back at him.
Quatre replied automatically, "I'm Quatre, my pleasure."
The long-haired boy laughed. "Geez! You really do need to relax! Lemme guess- you work around here, crazy hours- I'd bet you're just leaving your office, and Roberto persuaded you to drop in here, right?"
Quatre could only nod.
Duo nodded sagely. "Yeah- he's good like that. Caught me doing the same a few months ago. Don't remember how I did it. I'm Duo Maxwell- I run that orphanage down on Eighth and Jackson Streets."
Quatre's eyes went wide- he had heard of the place, heard quite a lot, actually. The small center was something of a halfway home, where many street children lived and went to school. "But... you look awfully young to be heading something like that!"
Duo laughed again. "That's what everyone says, and they're right, but I enjoy it, so there you are. How about you?"
Quatre grimaced. He'd tell this young man who he really was, and he would no longer be just another guy- he'd be the CEO of Winner Enterprises again. He sighed. "I'm Quatre Winner."
Duo's eyes went wide. "Like... Winner Enterprises? Cool! But hey! You shouldn't be telling me I'm too young for my job, then!" He turned and yelled to Roberto, "Hey, Robbie! How about a couple sodas over here, man!"
Quatre raised an eyebrow. "Soda?"
Duo nodded. "No drinking for me- you never know when a kid's gonna need you at 100 percent, and you look like you'd fall asleep if I bought you a beer."
Fair enough. Quatre smiled up at Roberto as the smirking man handed him a drink. He and Duo clicked glasses.
The chestnut-haired young man smacked his lips as he relaxed back into his seat. "So... D'you like your job?"
Quatre blinked. It had been a very long time since someone had asked him that. "Well, I guess so. I mean..." He shrugged helplessly. "To be honest, I hate it sometimes."
Duo simply gestured for him to continue.
"I mean... there's so much to do and, well, it's not like it's hard work or anything, but everyone expects so much from me! And I have to act like this, smile like that to all the damned reporters, make the same, old speeches..."
"What do you do for fun?" Duo asked.
Quatre looked lost for a minute before he smiled sheepishly. "I can't remember the last time I even read a book, Duo, that had nothing to do with work."
"Ah- there's the problem!" Duo said, stretching his legs out in front of him. "I've been there- you get so absorbed in being your work persona that you forget who the real you is. Ouch."
Quatre frankly stared at the other man. That was exactly how he had been feeling! "I know! And then you finally get a moment down time and you get all kinds of tense, because you don't know what to do with it..."
Duo nodded along. "You want to go out, but you realise that you don't really have anyone to hang with... Yeah."
They sat in silence for a while.
Duo finally sat up, looking apologetically at his watch. "Hey, I've got to be getting back, but I'm glad I met you. This is probably gonna sound weird, but you should drop by sometime if you want someone to talk to or to hang out with. The guys would really like you, I think."
Quatre laughed. "I will. Thanks for talking to me."
The braided man shot him a look and a wink. "See you around, Quatre!" He turned and left with a cheerful wave.
Quatre left soon afterwards, and was surprised to find that he was smiling.
Roberto watched him leave with a smile of his own.
~*~
Nearly a week had passed.
Quatre Winner rubbed his temples absently as he stared down at the memo on the desk in front of him. ...you get so absorbed in being your work persona that you forget who the real you is... He could almost hear the braided man's words in his mind as he closed his eyes and sighed.
Duo had been right. Quatre was not happy and, for the first time in a long while, he could pinpoint a time and a location where he had truly enjoyed himself.
"So why haven't I gone back?" he asked his empty office, staring into the silence as his fists balled in the paperwork in front of him.
He abruptly stood up and stretched, loosening his tie and unbuttoning the top button of his shirt. He hit the buzzer on his desk-
Julia's head popped through his partially opened door- "Yes, sir?"
He smiled at her- his secretary was a gem, really. She kept the same crazy hours he did, at times hovering around him much as he imagined his long-dead mother would have, had she been given the opportunity. "Sorry to keep you here so late, Julia. Can you call downstairs to have my car brought around? I'm going out."
The woman looked both surprised and relieved. "Certainly! But... If you don't mind... where are you going, sir?"
He smiled. "To meet a friend at Roberto's."
~*~
"Hey, Quatre! Guys, this is the guy I was telling you about! Quatre!" The blond laughed as he finally saw the braided man waving at him. He hadn't noticed it last time they met, but Duo was shorter than he was!
He walked over with a smile to the table- Duo had three friends with him this time- all around the same age as Quatre, himself. He addressed the grinning, braided man. "Hi! I'm surprised you remember me..."
Duo winked and made a swatting motion with his left hand, as though batting the idea away. "I never forget a face. Have a seat! Guys, this is Quatre. Quatre, these misfits are Wufei Chang, Trowa Barton, and Heero Yuy."
The blond didn't miss the way Duo's voice seemed to linger, like a caress, on the last name. I suppose it's always like that- the cute ones are always taken. But his eyes tracked over the others- a Chinese man, his ebony-dark hair pulled back from his face into a tight ponytail. He couldn't help thinking, as he looked at this one, that he wouldn't want to get in a fight with him...
His eyes slid to Heero Yuy, sitting to Duo's right. He couldn't help realising that Heero, too was strikingly gorgeous, with his dark, unruly hair and serious, glowing blue eyes. He had never met a Japanese person with blue eyes before- the effect was stunning- Duo and Heero made a lovely couple.
He finally turned to the third-
Quatre felt his heart stop beating, only to start up again at breakneck speed. Trowa Barton had light brown hair that was cut short in the back, but long in the front, with his heavy bangs falling into and obscuring nearly half of his face. And what a face! Fair skin and high cheekbones, and bright green eyes focused on his own... He managed to smile, feeling himself blushing self-consciously. "Hi, nice to meet you all."
Roberto approached with a smile. "Mister Quatre! I'm happy to see you back here! What can we get you tonight, eh?"
The blond smiled. "I still might fall asleep right here if I drank anything... how about a Pepsi?"
"Is dat all?" Roberto winked as he turned to leave.
There was a small, uncomfortable silence before Wufei piped up, "Rough day?"
Quatre gave them a look. "Yeah- you have no idea."
Wufei snorted. "You never know- we do put up with Maxwell on a daily basis."
Quatre barely contained his smile as the braided man pretended to be hurt and the others smiled discreetly. "You could always drop by and speak to my Board of Directors..."
Trowa finally spoke, "Be careful- he just might take you up on that- he's a business major."
Quatre felt a tingle running down his spine- Trowa's voice matched his appearance, gentle and low, with an underlying humour to it that spoke volumes to the blond. He smiled back. "Is that right? D'you all go to school together?"
Duo nodded cheerfully. "Yup- Heero's into Computer Science, Wufei does business, Tro's a bio major with a concentration on vet medicine and I'm majoring in linguistics. Crazy, eh?"
The blond's eyes went wide. "Sounds like heaven! I'd love to go to school..."
Duo snorted into his glass. "Huh? Man, you'd hate it within a week's time! It can be such a drag..."
"So can real life, baka," Wufei responded dryly.
Duo glared at him.
~*~
Julia smiled as she watched Quatre walk into his office with a new spring to his step the next morning. "Did you have a pleasant evening, sir?"
He smiled over at her brightly. "Yeah- I met some great people, and they actually asked me if I wanted to go on their hiking trip this weekend."
She fought hard not to giggle- it had taken long enough, but Quatre Winner was finally breaking out of his restraints. If she had any say in it, she would see that he got to live his life, too! "I take it you accepted?"
Quatre gave a vigorous nod before vanishing through the double doors of his office. His head popped out again, though, within seconds. "Oh, and Julia? Should either a Duo Maxwell or a Trowa Barton call for me, interrupt me wherever I am, okay?"
"No problem, sir." The door closed again.
Julia smiled. Good for you, Mister Quatre!
OWARI
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