Duo's POV
The Wedding Planner Part 6
Long Day
The Romefeller Estate was impressive. I always liked taking people there first, if they thought they wanted a fancy, upscale wedding. It would either scare them off, or give them a realistic picture of how much money they'd be squandering on their lavish event.
Of course, after Yuy's posturing, and the stunt with the gate, I was in no mood to enjoy the tour. Wanna piss me off? Treat me like a girl. Works every fucking time. And Yuy obviously wanted to piss me off. Well, numbnuts...mission accomplished. By the time we reached the huge carved mahogany doors, I was simmering with anger.
Then the doors were flung open, and Silvia Noventa came out in all her regal glory. Still pretty at nearly sixty years of age, she was a well-known dowager, and a merciless tease. She'd been managing the Romefeller property, as well as several other elite places, for nearly a decade. I'd met her through Quatre, and aside from her tendency to grab my ass at every opportunity, I found her to be a lot of fun. Thus, I'd made a special request that she conduct our tour of the facility.
"Duo! Darling!" She flung her arms around me, planting a big, sloppy wet kiss on my cheek. "How positively divine to see you!"
"You, too, Silvia" I said, extricating myself from her clutches, and glancing warily at Yuy to see a slightly stunned expression on his face. Didn't know I rubbed shoulders with society's elite, eh? I turned towards him, slipping an arm around Silvia's waist. "Allow me to introduce you. Heero Yuy...Relena Peacecraft...this is Mrs. Silvia Noventa, the proprietor of the Romefeller Estate."
She leaned into me, flirting shamelessly. "Duo, you little duck...you didn't tell me it was Miss Peacecraft you were bringing!"
"Didn't want to spoil the surprise," I grinned in return.
Relena was glancing back and forth between us, a bit perplexed. "You two are--friends?"
Silvia winked devilishly at me. "Friends, indeed!" Her hand was resting firmly on my ass, and she gave a little squeeze. "Duo here is a favorite of the whole staff," she cooed. "And he's my personal favorite." She gave Relena a conspiratorial wink. "Surely you can see why."
Relena's return smile was a little weak. "Of--of course."
"But look at what you've landed yourself," crooned Silvia, now thoroughly warmed to her task. She walked once around Yuy, the way a pack of wolves might circle a wounded caribou. "Gods, those eyes!"
I followed her gaze to the slightly wide, confused blue eyes. Wow. When he wasn't glaring spitefully, his eyes were downright...beautiful. That deep blue color really stood out against the dark mop of unruly hair across his forehead. And those high cheekbones, and perfect lips...
And what the hell was I thinking?! Heero Yuy was a first-class asshole, and here I was daydreaming about his eyes like some moonstruck calf. Maybe I had been hanging around women too much lately. I needed to get a fucking grip on myself!
I shook off my stupor and walked over beside Relena, watching Yuy's devastatingly pretty eyes narrow and turn to ice. "Silvia's going to show us around personally," I told the bride-to-be. "The private tour." Do I know how to impress a client, or what?
"Oooo!" Relena cooed, wrapping an arm around mine. "Duo, how ever did you arrange this? And so quickly!"
"Connections," I shrugged, not even looking over to see if Yuy was glaring. I could feel his eyes boring holes in my back. "Silvia, dear?" I held out my other arm, and Silvia grabbed it, pressing up against me.
I did spare a glance back at Yuy then, smiling serenely. Hey, asshole...if I'm so lacking in masculinity because of my job, why are both the ladies with me, eh? Yeah. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.
And for the next three hours he had to do just that. Both women clung to me throughout Silvia's grand tour, with Relena asking my opinion on everything from the colors of glass in the chandeliers, to the suitability of the tapestries in the foyer. Under other circumstances, I'd have been bored out of my mind...but knowing how thoroughly livid Yuy was kept things interesting. You could just never tell when he might snap and decide to wring my neck. There's nothing like a hint of danger to keep the adrenaline flowing.
The three hours of merciless flirting ended on the balcony overlooking steep cliffs and the raging ocean far below. The view from the balcony was my favorite.
My first sight of the sea had been as a college student, when I first came to Earth, and I knew right then that I never wanted to leave. We didn't have things like oceans on the colonies, and it was nothing short of breathtaking.
Relena commented that it would be difficult to keep her veil from blowing in the constant sea-breeze, as she reached to tuck a strand of my hair back into my braid. The coquettish gesture wasn't lost on her fiancé, and his icy stare made me look apprehensively at the long drop, glad there was a solid stone railing to keep him from shoving me off the precipice.
I might be a flirt, but Relena was no better. I swear, she went out of her way to make Yuy jealous. Not that I minded, seeing as he'd been such a jerk. But if she drove him to homicidal behavior, I knew who his first target would be.
"So, how 'bout we check out the ballroom one last time?" I suggested, wanting more than just a railing between me and certain death. Let's see him try to kill me by tossing me in the orchestra pit. Heh.
~*~
It was as we were leaving that the day took a downward turn for me. (Honestly, lording it over Yuy had almost been fun, if a bit like playing with fire.)
Silvia caught my arm, leaning in close. "Duo, dear. I was so sorry to hear about Alex. It was tragic. You were such a lovely couple."
I looked sharply at her, surprised at the way my throat constricted at the mention of my dead fiancé. Shit. It had been over a year, and I could still tear up at the sound of that name. I'd forgotten that Silvia met Alex when we attended one of Quatre's fancy shindigs at Romefeller.
"Sil--honey--can we talk about it some other time?" I asked quickly, darting a glance at Heero to see him watching curiously. "I'm...y'know...still a little..." Devastated. Crushed. Broken. Miserable. Take your pick.
Talking about Alex was way too personal. I didn't want Mister Death Glare or Miss Pretty Pink Princess to know about my sad, tragic private life. It was none of his goddamned business, or hers. Frankly, it wasn't Silvia's either, but I should have known she'd feel she had to say something.
Her eyes lit with understanding. "Oh, I'm sorry. You poor dear." She pulled me into her arms for a bone-crushing hug, whispering condolences...along with a proposition or two. Good old Sil.
I managed a half-hearted smile for her, so she'd stop feeling guilty for ripping my heart out. And then we were in the limo and heading back towards the city.
I leaned back on the seat, closing my eyes.
"Um. Who was Alex?" Relena asked. I could tell she was trying for a light tone, having guessed that my engagement had ended badly, and wanting to know more.
"My fiancé," I said flatly, too miserable to be tactful or even pleasant. "Died in a fire," I added, turning my head away so she'd get a clue and stop talking to me.
"Oh. How--?" Her voice stopped suddenly, and I stole a glance out of the corner of an eye to see that Heero had a firm grip on her wrist, and was giving her a stern look.
Score one for Heero Yuy on the sensitivity scale. Apparently he could tell I didn't want to talk about it...not that anyone with half a brain couldn't have figured it out. But I was just a little surprised he didn't let his princess keep badgering me. I would've thought he'd enjoy seeing me squirm.
We didn't talk for the rest of the ride, and it was with great relief that I settled in behind the wheel of the Jag and headed home. As I faced the forty-minute drive to the city, I was kind of glad we'd taken the limo up the coast. Had I done all the driving, I'd have been totally worn out. Instead, I was just mildly exhausted...mostly from putting up with Yuy all day.
Even being around Heero was tiring; he was so--intense. Those piercing blue eyes, half-hidden in that mop of untidy hair, seemed to be constantly looking for reasons to take offense. Just trying to figure out if I was stepping on his toes was an exercise in futility. It seemed that everything I did was some kind of infringement. Not that I tried too hard to spare his feelings. Or at all. Heh, heh.
But once again, when I saw the level of control Relena was trying to exert over every aspect of the wedding, I did feel a trace of sympathy for the guy. Then again, maybe it was just because he'd made Relena stop pushing for details about Alex. Whether he knew it or not, I considered that a huge favor, and for the first time since I'd met him, I wasn't fighting the urge to punch his lights out.
TBC...
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