Chapter 2

Lisa! Wait!"

Lisa gasped, but she didn't glance back. Instead, she rattled on quick instruction to her stunned driver to bring her to the airport, while simultaneously trying to fit her ball gown skirt into the car and wiping away her tears.

"No, stop!" Naoki was only a few steps behind. Damn, only Lisa can run that fast in a heavily-beaded wedding dress. He didn't even want to think about the heels.

"Leave me alone!" Lisa tried to close the car door, but Naoki was already by her side, preventing her from doing so.

Naoki, decked in his best man suit, was trying to soothe her. "Lisa, please, calm down. I know you're upset, but let's talk about this. Please, step out –"

"No!" She struggled to close the door again, but Naoki was stronger. "Go away!"

It was heartbreaking to watch such a lovely young woman suffer from pain. Though she was trying to stop it, the tears just kept on falling.

"Lisa –"

"Is it true?" She threw it out there. "What the woman said back there – is it true?" She was starting to break down, but she managed to hold herself together. Lisa was always the composed and graceful one, even if it was just a façade – which sadly, Naoki could see right through. "I know he's your best friend, but be honest to me. Is it true?"

"No," Naoki shook his head. "No, I don't think it's true." He urged her softly, "And I'm your friend and he's your friend, too. You know he'll never do that to you."

"I... I know," Lisa whispered. "I just... I don't – I don't know what to do anymore."

"Look, I don't know what happened, but I'm sure there's an explanation. You should talk to him –"

"Stop..." Lisa cut him off. "Stop it." Just having this conversation was too much for her already. It was taking a lot from her to not turn into a hysterical mess. And that was unacceptable because she was never a mess.

"No, listen –"

"Do you even see him here?" She finally stated. This time, Naoki didn't know what to say. Lisa looked past him, and if possible, she seemed more crushed. "He's not here..."

"He... he'll come..."

"He's not even here," Lisa repeated as if Naoki hadn't spoken.

"He's just trying to settle things with the guests. I think he's also confronting the intruder –"

"No, don't." She shook her head, silently begging him to stop it. "Don't make excuses for him, Naoki-kun" Her words were starting to break.

"I..." Naoki clenched his fist. He didn't know how he could make this better, or at least, bearable to her. She was terribly hurt, and he knew there was nothing he could do. "Lisa, please..."

"Just leave me be." She turned to look straight ahead, but he could clearly see the continuous flow of her tears. "I need to be alone." Her face became blank, and her tone was dead. She might seem unfeeling at this moment, but Naoki knew it was only because this was her breaking point.

"Lisa..."

"Enough, Naoki-kun"

He hated that Lisa chose that time to bring her instilled noble personality into the situation because his own kicked in. It made him feel disrespectful by ignoring her wish to be left alone.

Naoki straightened immediately. "Just... just please let us know you're safe," he requested before closing the car door. The car started moving away, but his eyes never left it. Through her silhouette, he finally saw Lisa's perfect posture crumble – her shoulders hunched and her head bowed down.

-------------------------

Lucy blinked blearily. Where the hell was she? "Ugh..." She groaned. Why was she feeling woozy? Why was she on a bed?

"She's awake."

She sat up quickly, which proved to be a wrong move because it brought another dizzy spell. Lucy massaged her temple, while trying to inconspicuously glance around the room. There were two big men by the door, and one of them was talking on his phone. She figured that he was the one who spoke earlier. These men didn't seem to be as hostile as Gorgeous Man, but they were not exactly welcoming either.

Wait.

Gorgeous Man. Groom. Wedding.

Everything came back at once, and she groaned again at the onslaught of information. Information she wished she could forget. Wait... maybe she could pretend to have amnesia or something. She fainted right? Maybe she fell on her head. But... there was no blood, no bumps, no physical pain. Crap.

"Where am I?" Lucy slowly swung her legs to one side of the bed. She wanted to add 'who am I', but one look at those muscles made her reconsider.

"At one of the rooms inside the church."

Oh. That was...

No, that wasn't comforting.

She peeked again at the two men by the door. Lucy knew that there was no way she could get past them. "Do you really need to keep me here?" She asked, but this time, she got no answer. She also knew that they would not be answering any of her questions anymore.

Lucy was still busy contemplating when the door was thrown open. In walked Gorgeous Man, and the two huge men – bodyguards, most likely – went out. They were alone now, and she didn't like this one bit. He still looked furious.

'Oh please, let me faint again, let me –' Lucy squeaked when he seized her arm roughly. She felt electricity coursed through her body, but she wasn't able to dwell on that because Gorgeous Man was glaring at her full force.

"Who the hell are you? What the **** do you want?!"

Lucy might be afraid, but his tight grip was starting to hurt her, and that was not okay. "Let me go!" She struggled. "You're hurting me!"

Gorgeous Man looked surprised for a second. He let go instantly, but his hands clutched the edge of the bed. She was caged in between his arms, and the message was clear: she was not going anywhere until he got his answers.

"What are you trying to pull? Who sent you?!"

Lucy was confused for a moment. Who sent her? Why would he ask that type of question? Suddenly, she came to her own conclusion. "What do you mean who sent me? Does that mean you got another girl pregnant? Oh wow, this is rich! Good thing I stopped the wedding then!"

"Pregnant?" He looked at her incredulously. "Why do you keep insisting that I knocked somebody else up?"

"You're certainly not denying it!"

"You're merely twisting my words!"

"I am not! I'm just stating my own observation!"

"You have no right! And I damn well don't owe you any explanation!"

"You can't –"

Lucy's retort was cut short by a cough from the side. The couple twisted to see a dark-haired man looking pointedly at the both of them. Lucy turned forward again, and she was surprised to see that her face and Gorgeous Man's face were only inches apart. Both of them had unconsciously leaned closer during their bickering. Gorgeous Man apparently noticed it, too, because he immediately stepped back.

"Naoki.."

"She left, Tann."

Gorgeous Man, who Lucy now know as Tann, ran his hand through his hair in frustration. "Damn it." Tann's eyes darted back towards her. "This is all your fault!"

Lucy was immobilized by his piercing stare.

Naoki decided to intervene. "First things first, what's your name?"

She thought of lying again, but she knew that they would catch it. "Lucinda or Lucy."

"So, about your friend who got pregnant –"

"Geez! I got no one pregnant, okay!" Tann growled. "Isn't it obvious? That little girl is just looking for ways to snitch some money off us!"

"Hey!" Lucy started to protest that she was not a blackmailing, money-hungry bitch like he was implying. And what if she was wearing an unflattering x-men t-shirt? She was not a little girl! "And besides, you're the one who's asking weird questions about who sent me!"

"I just want to know who your contact is!" Tann exclaimed. "I thought I put this event on media black out. **** it." He turned to Lucy. "Who do you work for?" He wanted to get to the bottom of this. He wanted to know if she was just some measly reporter looking for a big break, or someone sent by some rivals who were against the merger of the two families. "What the hell do you want?"

"Nothing!" Lucy got defensive again. "I just, um... I..." She was still thinking of ways to make 'I thought it was another wedding' sound acceptable when her stomach grumbled. After all that drama, she still hadn't eaten. Would it be too bad if she asked where the reception was supposed to be? She was already on their hit list after all.

Tann fired another question. "How'd you get in?"

"Err yeah, about that..." She fidgeted. Lucy knew that it would not help her case if she told them that she lied and manipulated her way in.

"Oh ****, so now you have nothing to say?" Tann's messy hair was messier than usual because he kept running his hands through it. "Now you decided to finally shut up? Are you freaking serious?" He stared at her in aggravation. "You are so infuriating!"

"Slit your wrist, it will lower your blood pressure," Lucy muttered under her breath. Unfortunately for her, Tann caught it.

Instead of glowering at her, Tann just shut his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them again, he eyed Lucy from head to foot. Needless to say, it made her uncomfortable. After some consideration, he finally asked, "Do I know you?" He was not in the mood to deal with some jealous, obsessed, unable to move on – he breathed deep again. "Did we have a one-night-stand or something? Because I stopped doing that shit years ago –"

"What?! No!" Lucy's whole body instantly flushed. "No! That's just – no!" She finally understood the deliberate once-over he gave her. He was judging her appearance, and apparently, she passed. She didn't know whether to feel pleased or offended. Sure, he was unbelievingly hot, extremely attractive, undeniably sexy – but anyway! The attitude – uh, hello? So not prince charming. 'God, I don't even know you.'

"What?"

Lucy's eyes widened when she realized that she said that out loud.

"What do you mean you don't even know me?" His voice was low and that scared Lucy even more. "Are you mental? So what, you just go around and spend your free time ruining people's wedding and spewing bullshit –"

"I made a mistake, okay!"

She was finally fed up of Tann. Yes, she made a mistake, but she was honestly willing to fix it. However, he gave her no chance. He kept throwing accusations after accusations at her. Sure she had no right to expect that they treat her nicely, but even she could tell that Tann was being exceptionally rude. Naoki was not giving off a friendly vibe either, but his behavior was nowhere near Tann's. The latter was just... argh.

Lucy didn't want to give him another opportunity to interrupt so she continued right away. "My friend got pregnant, and she found out that her cheating *** of a boyfriend was lying to her all along and that he was getting married – today! And he told her this place, and oh god..." Her face suddenly paled when a new realization struck her. "That bastard is probably off somewhere else marrying some poor unsuspecting woman!" She buried her face in her hands. "Oh, no..." Not only did she ruin an important event, but she also failed to find Yusuke. "I'm sorry..." Her miserable voice was muffled by her hands. Slowly, she placed them down and looked at Tann. "I'm sorry. Just let me talk to the bride. I'll explain everything – just bring me to her. I'll even go out there and explain to the guests." She was willing to embarrass herself and explain to the hundreds of people out there her nutcase behavior earlier. "I'm really, really sorry."

Tann just sat down on one of the chairs. He was evidently tired, too. He looked at her intently, trying to gauge her real motive, but all he could see was honesty and regret over her actions. She was truly sincere in her apology.

"Just bring me to the bride," Lucy requested again. "We can still save this wedding, right?"

"No, it's too late," Naoki spoke after a moment.

Lucy saw a strange expression cross Naoki's feature, but she wasn't sure what it was. Shrugging it off, she went back to the matter at hand. "What do you mean too late? A long time couldn't have passed. I was out, what, ten minutes?"

"Around an hour and a half," Naoki supplied, surprising her. "And with the arguing earlier, I'd say you've been here for about two hours. The guests are gone. Lisa's gone."

"Lisa? The bride...?"

Naoki nodded. "Yeah."

"Then come on! Let's go after her. I have to explain."

"No, you've done enough," Tann scoffed.

Lucy bit back her nasty comment. He did have the right to still be angry at her. "Then what are you still doing here? I told you the truth – go and tell her then!"

"Weren't you listening?" He glared again. "She's gone. She jumped on her private plane and flew somewhere else."

"So? Go after her," Lucy pointed out, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You're rich, right? Then go jump on your own private jet, too!" Was she missing something here? Why did she feel like she was more enthusiastic than them to bring her back?

"Look, you don't know her. She needs time. She does that. She'll come back when her mind is clear."

Lucy was stunned for a second. So... that was it? Seriously, that was it? They wait for her to return? "What if she doesn't..." Lucy trailed off when she noticed that Naoki was clenching his fist. "Hey, are you..."

Naoki's expression straightened. "Lisa's going to come back," he answered her first unfinished question. "She always does."

Lucy's brow furrowed. Was that bitterness she heard? Judging by that calm front, she thought that she was imagining things. But when she saw Tann narrow his eyes, Lucy knew that it was, in fact, there. Tann had detected the undertone, too.

Desperate to distract herself from the tension mounting in the room, she looked for her phone. Thank goodness it was still securely tucked in her pocket. Flipping it open, she saw that she had one message. It was from Aoi.

Lucy, where r u?! I'm goin mad here. Yusuke is with Mary, and they're both cryin and I don't know what's happening! What the hell is goin on?! – Aoi

She reread the message. Wait – how can he – what did that... huh? Yusuke was there? Aoi was right... what the hell was going on?

Lucy knew that she needed to get home now. She slid off the bed and cleared her throat to get their attention. "Um..." Both men still hadn't moved from where they were. They seemed to be lost in their own thoughts, and it was obvious that their discussion with her was over. When did it exactly end? She wasn't sure, but it suddenly and completely did.

"Where are you going?"

She stiffened in her spot. Lucy wasn't aware that she was inching closer to the door, but her action obviously alerted Tann. "I need to get home," she answered truthfully. 'And I seriously need to eat,' she added mentally. She was feeling a little wobbly on her feet.

Lucy took a quick look around the room and spotted some pen and paper by the desk. Determinedly, she walked towards it and scribbled her number on the notepad before ripping it off. She marched to Tann and held out the piece of paper. He sure was gorgeous, but definitely obnoxious.

"I know you said she's gone, and you made it clear that you don't want my help, but if you change your mind, here's my number." When he made no move to take it, Lucy reached for his hand and slammed the paper on his palm – all the while ignoring the strange flow of electricity when her hand touched his. "Just take it, Gorgeo–" She abruptly shut her mouth, and heat flooded her cheeks when she realized that her earlier nickname for him slipped out.

And for the first time since Lucy laid her eyes on him, Tann was not scowling. He looked... amused?

'Glad I entertain you in this screwed up situation,' Lucy thought dryly. She was now one hundred percent certain that this was, indeed, a screwed up circumstance.

Their reaction to the turn of events was not what Lucy would consider normal. Something was wrong here, and it was either they refused to acknowledge it or they simply accepted it or she just didn't understand what it was. Nonetheless, Lucy would leave the ball in his court. It was not in her nature to simply turn her back on something like this so she gave him her number. It was now up to him.

However, if they still didn't want the help she offered – like Tann made clear earlier – then she wasn't going to force herself in it anymore. She started the mess, but it seemed like they were only creating a bigger one out of it. They had a weird way of dealing with things. If they didn't want to involve her, then that was fine. She had other problems to deal with, anyway.

"I'm leaving," Lucy announced before turning towards the door. Yeah, well, at least her exit was peaceful.

----------------------------

"Come on, Lucy," Aoi poked her side. "It's been two weeks. Lighten up! Mary already gave him a second chance. You should just let it go, too."

Lucy simply grunted in response as they continued their walk along the street.

"I mean, don't you think you're taking this grudge against Yusuke a bit too far?"

"Not really, I've only spit in his face three times," Sakura replied sarcastically. At Aoi's wide eyes, she groaned. "I'm kidding."

"I wouldn't put it past you at this point," Aoi snorted. "You literally give him the chills whenever he visits Mary. Try to cut him some slack."

"I'd rather cut something else."

Aoi chuckled. "Seriously though, Mary's opinion is the one that really matters. You're just causing yourself some unnecessary stress."

"I just don't get it," Lucy sighed. "How could she be so willing to welcome him back in her life when he almost left her –"

"She loves him."

"So that's it? Reasons don't exist anymore? I mean, he almost got married –"

"But he didn't," Aoi pointed out. "He didn't go through his wedding and came back to Mary. He realized that Mary is the one who he really loves."

"If he loves her, then he shouldn't have done the things he did! There's no excuse. He lied, he cheated, he –"

"Made a mistake. And he's going to make it up to her for the rest of his life." Aoi linked their arms together. "Lucy, he's not perfect."

"No shit, Sherlock."

"But no man is."

Lucy resorted to grunting again.

"So now, can we please move past this?" Aoi raised a brow at her. "Because I feel like I'm defending him, and it's not sitting well with me. Believe it or not, I'm still put out by him."

"But you're just choosing to accept Mary's decision and support her," Lucy finished, earning herself a slight squeeze.

"Exactly. I knew you would get it."

"Yeah, well, you sucked at defending him." Lucy kicked some imaginary dirt. "Fine. I'll try to make his visits a little less miserable. No more cornering him and telling him little tales about situations that could accidentally put his life in danger."

Aoi halted mid–step.

"Um, no, I'm not kidding about that one." Lucy shrugged nonchalantly. "I do that every time Mary goes to the kitchen to make her odd afternoon snack." She paused briefly. "And man, I do mean odd! Seriously, is it normal for a pregnant woman to crave for –" Lucy cut herself off when she noticed that Aoi was shaking. "Aoi! Are you okay? Are you hurt? Are you hyperventilating?"

That caused Aoi to shake even more. "No – shit, no!" Laughter continued to explode from her form. "Damn girl! You really – oh gosh! I don't –" She was gasping for breath and trying to string a coherent sentence through her laughter. "I can't believe you were doing that!" She wiped the side of her eyes. "You were actually making daily threats to Yusuke? No wonder the man looks like he's about to piss on himself whenever you're in the room! Oh my..." Aoi let out a huge breath. "Lucy, you're one crazy chick!"

"So I've been told," Lucy grumbled as they started walking again.

After calming herself, Aoi started again. "Although, I have to admit, you're being remarkably sensitive to the whole Yusuke issue."

Lucy's mouth formed into a tight line. Of course she was sensitive! She destroyed something else because of it. However, they knew nothing because she didn't tell them about what happened. They assumed nothing did because Yusuke came to the apartment. Lucy didn't bother to correct them. It was not their burden to bear. Besides, there was no news or anything about it. That made her wonder how they kept it a secret. Then again, she remembered Gorgeous Man saying something about a blackout. With how controlling he was, it should be no surprise that they pulled it off. That obnoxious, overbearing –

Aoi broke her thought. "I mean, I know you have created this image of your perfect man –"

"I have not."

"Uh-huh, sure." Aoi rolled her eyes. "Anyway, so Yusuke didn't meet your standards, but Mary loves him. If you love someone, you just do, you know? Standards just don't exist."

Lucy stubbornly kept her mouth shut. Although Aoi correctly guessed the reason why she was still wary of Yusuke, she just let her friend think that it was the sole basis.

"Oh," Aoi paused in front of a pastry shop. "Is it okay if we stop by here? They have Takashi's favorite –"

Lucy waved of her explanation. "Of course, it's okay. I'll come with." She spotted a café a couple of blocks away. "Wait, I'm craving for some latte, so how about I meet you out here instead?"

"Sure, that's fine."

"I'll be just a minute." She continued on her way, and Lucy soon found herself paying for her purchase. She was moving to the side to wait for her drink when she saw Naoki step in.

Lucy froze. And then panicked.

What was she supposed to do?! They didn't contact her so that meant they didn't want anything to do with her anymore, right? So what now? Should she ignore him? Should she ask what happened? She really wanted to know, but she wasn't sure how she would be received. What if they cause a scene?

Naoki was scanning the area, and before his head could turn towards her direction, Lucy ducked. She instantly slapped her forehead. 'What the hell am I doing?!'

The people sitting at the table closest to her shot her weird looks. She pretended not to see them. She also pretended that they didn't inch away from her.

Lucy cursed when she heard her name. Her drink was ready, but how would she get there? Naoki was still close by. She took a quick look around. If she moved closer to the windows, he wouldn't see her. She could just grab her latte and then bolt out.

'Alright, I'm coming!' She internally answered when her name was called again. Lucy crawled slowly to her right while acting as if there was nothing strange with a girl on her hands and knees on the floor of a coffee shop. Nope, nothing creepy at all. 'Almost there...' She moved out of the way when some high school girl almost stepped on her.

"Watch it, weirdo!"

Lucy moved away again and just settled for a glare. She would snap back, but she just wanted to be out of there as soon as possible.

The girl huffed and shot her a dirty look before finally going.

Lucy couldn't help it, "Bitch." Facing forward, she continued her mortifying journey. However, what greeted her was a pair of legs covered in black slacks. The person was sitting before her. 'Crap.' Apparently, her slight detour led her to a table and its occupant. In the corner of her eye, she saw that Naoki was still standing in line. 'Thank God.'

She looked up.

'Or not.'

Amber eyes stared back at her.

Lucy crossed her fingers. 'Please don't let him remember, please don't let him –'

"You."

Yeah, that was too much to ask. After all, what she did was utterly unforgettable. "Yeah, me," Lucy tried to sound bored so he wouldn't make a big deal out of it. She would fake check her nails to complete the act, but it was rather hard to pull off when she was kneeling between his legs.

"... What... the **** are you doing?"

"Uh..." She swallowed. "Looking for my earring."

Tann snorted at the obvious lie. Aside from Lucy's stiff back, twitching fingers, forced tone and inability to look straight in the eye, the evidence was glaring back at him. He pointed wryly, "You're wearing them." Her hair was pulled back so he was able to see it.

'Damn it!' Lucy gave him an annoyed look. "Yeah well, you don't know where else I'm pierced so you don't get to judge!"

He grunted. "Then I don't even want to know how you lost it in the first place."

Lucy started to get nervous. The situation she was trying to avoid with Naoki inevitably found her. "So... um..." She raked her brains for something to say, but in the end, she decided to just dive in. "I hope things are fine now. You have to know that I'm still sorry about that, and if there's still anything I can do –"

"Listen –"

Lucy's irritation flared up in an instant. She was trying to be nice, and once more, he was being rude! "No, you listen! I'm sincere in helping and I really do want to know how things are. I feel so bad about it, and I just can't – what?!" Lucy growled when she noticed that he was avoiding her gaze.

"Nothing, just..." He rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. "Can you stand up?" It was rather disconcerting that she offered to do anything for him while in that compromising position.

Oh. "Oh." As if on cue, Lucy turned bright red. As if things weren't bad enough already! Was it also too much to ask for the floor to just open up and swallow her whole? She was practically lying on it – it didn't have to open much!

Lucy staggered to her feet, ignoring the looks she was getting. Whatever high she was on a minute ago... died a minute ago.

Tann let out a resigned sigh before standing up, too. "If you really want to know, she's back now. You can stop feeling guilty."

Before she could open her mouth to respond, Naoki was beside them. "Oh, Lucy, right?" He sounded polite. "I'm Naoki."

Lucy simply nodded. She knew that saying 'nice to meet you' wouldn't be... err, nice. Welcome to awkward situation number... yeah, she lost count.

Naoki looked back and forth between them. "So have you asked her yet?"

"No. And you won't either."

"What do you mean? Why?"

"Forget it. It doesn't have to happen."

'Yeah, forget me, why don't you?' Lucy scrunched up her face. 'Sure, talk like I'm not even here.'

"But Lisa wanted to see her."

"She doesn't need to. She already knows the story."

"What would you tell her then?"

'Yeah, go on, just keep on ignoring me. I'm having such a lovely time standing here like an idiot anyway –'

Tann's brow furrowed. "... What are you doing?"

Lucy froze in her internal tirade. It slipped her mind that she make expressive faces and do hand gestures when she ranted. God, like they didn't have enough to question her mental stability!

"Uh..."

"So," Naoki coughed, saving her from experiencing another awful moment. "Lisa wanted to meet you."

Numerous questions instantly popped up inside her head, but Lucy readily agreed. "Okay, that's fine." This was her one chance to make it up to the bride. Even if Lisa was angry at her, she would deal with it... as long as they meet somewhere public where no serious body harm can be inflicted.

"Don't worry, she's not mad. She just wanted to talk," Naoki assured her. "It's a good thing we bumped into each other. We weren't sure how to reach you."

Lucy stared back in confusion. "I left my number with him." She pointed to Tann.

"I threw it the same day." He shrugged casually.

Lucy's eyes instantly narrowed.

"How about you give it to me, and I'll pass it to Lisa?" Naoki suggested. He handed Lucy his phone.

"How about we don't do this?" Tann interrupted.

Lucy glared at him. He didn't want her around, and he wasn't being subtle about it. That just rubbed her the wrong way. With a pointed look, Lucy took the phone and saved her number. "Here. Just tell her to call me about the details. I have to go." She swiftly turned around and walked away. However, at the last second, she couldn't resist. She faced Tann and stuck her tongue out. '***!'

When she was finally out of the establishment, Lucy took a lungful of air. She didn't even want to think about the nightmare that occurred in there. With heavy feet, she dragged herself back to the pastry shop.

"Lucy!" Aoi instantly bounded to her side. "What took you so long?"

"Uh... um... long line."

"Oh, so you didn't want to wait anymore?" Aoi eyed Lucy's empty hand.

'Crap!' Lucy cursed inwardly. After all that, she still didn't get her latte. Uh... hello? She freaking crawled for that thing! It was so unfair!

Why, oh why, was the world so cruel to her?

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