Love Contract
Chapter 2. I Accept
"Marriage!" Pan shrieked out at him. She couldn't believe her mind or rather his mind. Trunks was the most reasonable person she knew (in business) and this didn't make any sense.
Trunks cringed at her outburst then noticed the shock on her face and her gaping mouth; he chuckled to himself. He was going to have fun with his little Panny. She stared at him in shock and anger. Her reasons were simple a) they hated each other and b) she didn't know whether he was joking or being serious.
This was not the way she planned her dream proposal. Wasn't Trunks Brief supposed to be the number one romantic bachelor in Japan? How could he say those words so casually. Marriage was not a subject to be joked about and yet Trunks was laughing his head off at this point. Pan took a deep breath to clear her head so she wouldn't murder her boss, or pound his head to oblivion.
"Trunks, why would I even consider marrying you?" she replied, avoiding the question. Her tone was cold and flat, perfect to fool him of the thousands of butterflies fluttering in her stomach. Her palms were slippery with sweat and she wiped them off the hem of her shirt. Her knees started to quiver from the chill and nervousness of her entire body. She bit her bottom lip from bursting into tears right at that precious moment.
"'Miss Pan Son, a new secretary of the infamous playboy, Trunks Brief, were seen in the most outrageous position yesterday. From the picture we can hardly doubt she is his lover, perhaps more? From research shows that these two are childhood friends and that their families are quite close friends. How deep is this relationship? Could it be another fling or is this something more? Miss Son was also seen stepping out of the Briefs' household in the morning. They arrived at Capsule Corp in separate cars. We suspect they are trying to keep their relationship a secret. From another source says that they have been spending a lot of time together late at night, we wonder why?'" Trunks finished off a quote from the newspaper article. His smirk widened until she was sure if it got any wider, his smirk would touch his earlobes. She had the urge to slap that smirk clear off his face.
Pan simply glared at him and thought back to all those days she had sparred with Trunks and why she hadn't blast him off into space when she had a chance. Pan's mind continued to scream off threats to the lavendar haired man in front of her and didn't notice he had gotten up. In a single moment he had moved from sitting on the couch to standing behind her. She felt his breathe on her bare neck; she shuddered at the warmth. She felt hot as if she was in a steam room instead of inside an air conditioned office. His neck craned down and licked the side of her neck before he slightly nipped at the tender flesh.
Pan opened her eyes and noticed a pretty vase with cherry blossoms on the front. She realized what he was trying to do again and snapped out of her fog of passion. Pan slipped from his embrace, ran toward the vase, picked it up, then threw it at Trunks. He barely missed it colliding with his forehead. Pan started swearing and shouting threats to him to go kill himself, get his remains run over by a tractor, and sizzle in hell like an omelot. Then she ran over to his coffee table and threw the stapler, flower pot, and stacks of books toward him. He dodged every single one with ease, he was easily twice her speed. She ran over to his desk and started flinging everything she could get her hands on, the notebooks, his mug, the pens and pencils, and even the stack of papers that were from the day's previous event.
Trunks saw Pan slip away as soon as she threw the stack of papers and ignoring the white cloud, he ran toward her. He snatched her wrist in time as she was running toward the elevator in front of her desk. She struggled free but Trunks being one step ahead of her grabbed her small frame and embraced her from behind preventing her from escaping. She twisted at first trying to free herself but after several failed attempts she heaved a sigh of defeat. He couldn't see her expression but from how stiff she was he could guess that she wasn't too happy being embraced by him. He slowly spun her around to see her face. Her lips pressed tight, her hands balled into tight fists, and how her gaze was fixed down told him how she was feeling. She wouldn't meet his eyes and that somehow frustrated him beyond words. He let go of her and took a deep breath to calm himself down. He raked his fingers through his hair, while trying to calm himself by deep steady breaths.
"It'll save your reputation Pan from being plastered as my lover. It will also prevent rumors and scandals from tainting the company's reputation any further because of me. And also keep Gohan from tearing me apart with his bare hands when everyone reads the morning newspaper today," he said with a note of humor in his voice for that last bit about Gohan. He hoped it would lighten the mood enough for her to look at him with one of her million watt smiles. After several long seconds ticked by he knew he failed.
Pan at first couldn't face him, too shocked at how he had tried to persuade her to agree with him. It felt as if he was insulting her intelligence by using the same tactics he used with other women on her. Did he think she was stupid? And the worst part of it all was that she had almost fallen for his charms. But the tone he used to explain was so honest and sincere... Why can't he see what is wrong with this plan?
Taking a deep breath she looked into his stormy eyes. "No, I'm sorry Trunks. I just can't," Pan said turning her body away from his intense gaze.
"Fine then, I'll just have to charge you with attempted sexual assault," he said smugly. She turned toward him. She wanted to throttle him when what he said sinked in.
"You can't do that. It should be the other way around!" Pan defended herself. Her nails bit into her flesh as her fists tightened.
"But I was defenseless in my drunken state earlier today. Ask anyone who looked in on me," he said with a devilish look in his eyes.
"You can't," Pan weakly repeated, knowing she was losing the argument. She felt her heart sink to the bottom of her stomach. If he decided to press charges, she would never win.
"But I can," he said with an slight smirk, his clear eyes looking straight into hers. Evil jerk.
Pan felt tears well up into her eyes. She knew she couldn't cry in front of him but her body never did obey her. She bit her bottom lip as a single teardrop fell down her cheek.
Trunks reached out a tentative hand to stroke her cheek but she flinched away from his touch. Her rejection felt worse than if she had stabbed him. Trunks paused for a moment, thinking of what to do. He had to convince her somehow, someway. With a heavy sigh he walked away from her. He walked over to the large floor to ceiling windows, staring solemnly at the peaceful night sky. His mind churned, he needed something else to force her to marry him. He couldn't use force such as threatening to press charges. What can I use to tempt her? The thought struck him like a bolt of lightening.
"Pan, agree to this and I'll let you off on your contract to Capsule Corp," Trunks stated. He knew the one thing that she hated beyond anything, working for him. He hoped it would be enough.
"What's the catch?" Pan asked perking up at the offer but suspicious. She was the only willing person to work as his personal secretary. Well, willingly would be too nice a word. But still...
"If you demand a divorce before the six months is over then you simply continue to work for me. No catch. A winning situation for the both of us," Trunks said as the thoughts suddenly entered his mind.
"What six months? Pan asked.
"The six months of our marriage of course. What? You want to stay married to me?" Trunks said with a handsome grin.
"Of course not!" Pan replied.
Pan thought it over for a moment. Was she willing to risk it? Marry Trunks and be free of him in 6 months or continue the living hell of being his personal secretary for another 4 years? It sounded so simple yet she couldn't fall back in love with Trunks. She just couldn't. It was unbearable enough at the moment seeing him everyday, flirting warmly with other women and giving her the cold treatment. I don't want to fall in love with him again... Pan let out a hollow laugh to prevent herself from crying. It sounded fake even to her own ears.
"It's funny because I never intended to get married," Pan joked. It was true though, her love life was non-existent at that point so she had simply given up on the thought of marriage in her future..
"Never? Why?" Trunks asked perplexed. Pan was a beauty, not the fake beauties who smeared themselves with makeup and enhanced themselves until they were fifty percent silicone. She was a natural beauty, she had charismatic personality, and a tenderly kind heart. She was equally beautiful on the inside and out.
"I'm not the housewife type," Pan easily lied shrugging. She could never tell him the truth. I'm still trying to recover from a heartbreak 5 years ago.
He was silent for a moment. Pan never considered herself the marriage type, certainly not the type to marry someone like him. He erased the doubts filling his mind and ventured on.
"So it's a no?" he asked glancing over his shoulder to see her. She was sitting on the couch, her legs crossed, leaning forward so her chin could rest on her up-turned palm. She was biting her lower lip, clearly a habit when she was overly emotional. She was adorable in his eyes.
"Okay," she whispered. Her thoughts were as organized and steady as a train crash. She went on her gut instinct that told her, what the hell do it. If she didn't like it he told her that divorce was an option they could take. What she didn't see was the wicked gleam that shone in Trunks eyes at her acceptance.
"The wedding will take place in 2 days. We have a press conference today. You have a gown, flower, and cake appointment today. Catch!" he said as he threw something toward her.
The small, square, velvet jewelery case dropped into the palm of her hand. She stared at it for a moment uncertain what to do. She opened it to reveal a ring. It was simple yet elegantly styled; a thin gold band and a delicate pink diamond crested in the center. She felt overwhelmed with emotions.
"If you don't like it I can get you another one," he said nervously as he pushed a hand through his hair.
Pan slowly shook her head. It was so kind that he would care what she thought when this was only a temporary marriage. She was touched, until the shock wore off of receiving a beautiful ring. He knew her answer all along, that arrogant jerk had planned everything already just assuming she would agree! Before she could lash out at him he placed two sheets of paper in front of her on the coffee table.
"Sign them," he ordered, handing her a pen. She picked up one of the sheets of paper, reading it over. He had quickly scribbled out in his almost unreadable handwriting four simple rules with two lines underneath the rules. Looking down at the other sheet of paper she saw that the top lines on both sheets of paper already had his signature on them.
1. No interference into each other's private life.
2. If Pan Son completes the contract, Trunks Briefs will free her of Capsule Corps' contract.
3. If Pan Son insists upon a divorce before the 6 months term is finished, she will continue her Capsule Corps' contract.
4. The public must be oblivious to the fact that the marriage is fake. If the public becomes aware that the marriage is fake then all appropriate actions will be given to Trunks Briefs to act upon.
She stared at the rules in shock. It made sense how even if they were married that they would have separate lives. But the fact that he would state it so bluntly hurt her again in a way she forget he could. The same way he had hurt her all those years ago. As the ache faded, his frankness confirmed one of her fears about this fake marriage. He truly didn't want to marry her. She felts like crying again. She seemed to always find herself in pain whenever Trunks was around her.
She placed the paper onto the table and stared at it for a moment, questions bubbling inside her. Should she ask or not. Would it make any difference if she did? She decided to be adventurous for once and take action then ask questions.
She slowly signed both sheets of paper on the line below Trunk's signature. He handed her one of the sheets of paper.
"A copy for each of us. Also, sign this one too," Trunks said taking a thin stack of stapled papers out of the folder on the corner of the coffee table. Pan looked through it and was shocked. Was Trunks serious?
"You're firing me?" Pan asked with disbelief.
"It'll be easier for us. The less we have to show ourselves in public, the less the risk of someone finding out that it's a fake marriage," Trunks said with a casual shrugged. He was doing this so it would be easier for the both of them. He planned that during their marriage she would stay at home and he would be at work most of the time. They would act the perfect couple when they were out in public but why exert themselves more by spending time together? The less time they spent together the less the chance of them divorcing because of too much stress on their relationship of always acting the happily married couple.
"That is a good reason, but I need this job Trunks. Well, it's more that I need the money," Pan said nervously looking up at him with guilty eyes. She didn't want to tell him of her financial situation at the moment.
"I'll pay you to act as my wife. The same salary as right now. Oh, but can you clean and cook?" Trunks asked, pleased that she was being so agreeable.
"Of course I can! I'm not a child," Pan stated, furious that he thought of her so useless.
"Okay, that'll be included in the job since I just fired my maid and cook yesterday," Trunks said grinning devilishly.
Pan's jaw dropped. Was she signing to be his temporary wife or his temporary servant?
"Also can you stay a little while longer? We do need to go over some minor details, " he said when she didn't reply.
"Fine, just make it quick I'm really sleepy," she said as a yawn crept up on her. Pan pulled her legs under her body as she got comfortable on the soft couch. Trunks walked over and sat beside her on the couch, leaning back looking completely relaxed.
They talked all night, or argued as Pan would put it, over small details and bits of information that would be needed to make their "marriage" believable. The media was no problem and it would be easy to fool them but their families were the new couple's main concern. They knew that if their story wasn't well planned and rehearsed, that they would be caught. Everyone knew that they had become enemies and that they would have killed each other if the law didn't forbid it. News that they were suddenly engaged would cause them to become suspicious and worried that the pair had gone insane. Trunks brought over to the coffee table two mugs of coffee. They both needed the caffeine to stay awake.
Their conversation continued late into the early hours of morning and they hadn't noticed when the sun slowly seeped into the office, it's golden rays sweeping the marble floors. Pan was first to doze off, her eyelids fluttering shut as she started to lean to her left side. Trunks' shoulder stopped her from falling onto the couch.
At first he was frozen with the shock of her trusting him enough to fall asleep by his side. He had never fallen asleep with someone else in the same room since he became the company president. He simply had too many competitors who wanted him wiped out of the business world. Some had tried and he made sure they never got the chance to try again. He had connections with people who wiped their companies out so thoroughly and put them so deep in debt that their great-grandchildren were the ones who paid the debts. His mother had taught him well enough to know that second chances and doubts could not survive in the business world.
Trunks pondered waking her up then decided against it. He was careful to not waken Pan by slowly holding her against him while leaning back onto the couch. At the slight movement Pan snuggled herself partially onto his chest, her head resting just below his chin. He smiled to himself at her actions as he wrapped his arms around her delicate frame.
They both needed the rest. Heaving a sigh he closed his eyes, listening to her even breathing as he fell asleep.
He didn't fall asleep at the office again did he? complained a certain woman with short blue hair and a determined attitude. She stepped out of her car and walked over to the main doors of Capsule Corps. She punched in her password and waited for the machine to recognize her. As soon as she was in through the doors, she heard one of the security guards click his tongue while he read over the morning newspaper.
"This sure isn't good news for Capsule Corps," he mumbled out through a mouth full of jelly doughnut. She ran over as fast as her legs would take her and snatched the newspaper from his hands.
Please let this not be another scandal about him or of a new engagement she said in her head before she looked at the front page. Her jaw dropped and her eyes bulged at the picture she saw. Her shock quickly gave away to anger then to worry then right back to anger. The newspaper must have got their information wrong or misinterpreted the facts or something! Was it the wrong couple? She looked back again and studied the couple's facial structure with her eyes and there was no doubt about it. It was him and her in that position.
"Ma'm? May I have my paper back?" asked the squat security guard. She glared at him and sped across the marble floors, her head confused beyond belief. Was her son wishing for death? If he was, she was currently more than glad to fulfill his request. She was shaking from nervousness, her feet pounding on the smooth floor, she waited for the light to come on. The elevator was tearing through her nerves, her heart pumping more fiercely as the numbers went up, 1, 2 ,3... Is he really that idiotic? Suddenly a thought popped into her already genius mind. She snapped out her cellphone and dialed a familiar number.
"Hello?... Yes, Videl, it's me... Has Gohan seen the newspaper yet?... Oh, he has... What was his reaction?... Oh, you didn't get to see, because he left right after... Did you see it yet?... No... Oh, that's good, uhm, I have to go, talk to you later... Bye," with a sigh she ended the conversation. I just hope Trunks is prepared. The palms of her hand were sweating, her forehead glistening, and her lips chapped from worrying so much. The elevator came to a stop and the doors slowly separated. With a deep breathe she strode into the office of Capsule Corps' president.
She turned her head slowly from side to side, making sure to grasp in every detail about the area in front of her. Everything seemed perfectly normal, nothing was changed, then her eyes came to see the two sleeping figures in front of her. There was nothing indecent about the scene, it actually looked romantic. Pan snuggled against Trunks and his arms wrapped around her. It was like a scene from a romance movie, even the weather agreed, the rays from the sun casting soft lighting into the room.
It was a beautiful morning, she didn't want to spoil it with shouting or threatening her son. A part of her was celebrating that they had become friends again but then another part of her was doubting what her eyes were seeing. Just yesterday they were fighting and now they were cuddling together. Something was not right.
Bulma slowly tip-toed toward the elevator, careful to not wake up the dozing couple. Trunks opened one eye toward her direction, she knew her son wasn't a heavy sleeper.
She whispered toward him, "Good Luck," giggled then shut the door, she hoped he had gotten her message.
Trunks knew what his mother had said, what she meant by that too. She told him not to mess up this chance with Pan. He slowly looked around the room searching for the clock. He found it to realize he had only been alseep for half an hour.
"Might as well wake up now," he said yawning, an obvious reaction to lack of rest. He gazed down at the sleeping beauty dozing on his chest. Pure. That would be the word to describe her. She was too innocent in everything, trusting someone like him. A deep chuckle passed his lips.
At the slight movement Pan felt herself slip from her dream back into reality. She snuggled herself deeper into her matress. Wait, my matress is breathing! Pan pushed herself up with her hands onto a wall of firm muscle, rubbed her eyes with her hands, then came nose to nose with Trunks. He grinned that devilish grin of his and she felt her heart melt.
"Panny," he practically purred as she stared at him with a blank expression.
"Trunks... What... My room... Oh," she said breathlessly as reality hit her. She was going to marry Trunks and act his wife. She looked around to find herself in his office. She sat back and realized she was sitting on top of him! At that thought her mind went blank as a sheet of paper.
"Ah!" Pan yelped as she jumped off him. She fixed her outfit as much as she could and straightened out her hair before she sent an accusing glare toward him. In response to her obvious hostility he shrugged as he sat up.
"Morning to you too," he mumbled as he got up to go into his office. She watched him swagger away as graceful as a feline. It irritated her that he looked handsome even after sleeping on a couch. His clothes were a bit rumpled and his hair was oddly shaped but he still looked good. She probably looked worse than something the cat dragged in if her memory was correct in the way she had looked every morning of her life.
She searched for the time, glad that at least she had about an hour to get home and get ready for work. Why on earth did she fall asleep in front of him. Did she snore? Did she drool? Then she realized she shouldn't care what she looked like when she was asleep because he wouldn't get to see her asleep again. She was his employee, he was her boss, their relationship had nothing personal in it. Her heart refused to believe that though.
"Here," Trunks said shoving a cup of hot coffee into her hand making her jump. She stared wide-eyed at him, she hadn't even noticed he was back.
"You changed your clothes? How?" Pan asked as she sipped her coffee, it was a little bit of heaven in a cup.
"I have a set of extra clothes in my office in case I accidentally sleep here," he said sipping his own coffee. His outfit today was another expensive, personally tailored suit that made her want to gag. Trunks was not modest that he had money. No wonder women practically threw themselves at him. She should know, she had seen enough women to fill a country that had come into Capsule Corps to openly flirt with him. But mostly it disgusted her at how he responded to those women. He never denied them if they were pretty enough and had big enough melons. Shallow jerk.
"Go home and get some rest. I'll send a stylist later today to get you ready for the press conference," he casually said, sipping his coffee then turned to go back into his office.
"You already found a replacement?" she asked stunned that someone would take up this job. A part of her felt sad that she would be leaving this more or less good job but the other part wanted to celebrate that she wouldn't have to see Trunks for the rest of the day. Then the contract hit like a bolt of lightening into her thoughts and ruined her mood.
"I called a job agency and they gave me someone," he shouted out of his office.
"Oh," she whispered, a little sad that she could be replaced so quickly as if all her hard work these past few months had been nothing. But then again this was the Trunks Briefs that made presidents of numerous companies bawl like a baby in meetings with his subtle yet ruthless verbal attacks. She didn't expect any sympathy from him, he was the last person in the world who would give it. But a dull pain wrapped itself around her heart. She really didn't mean anything to him. She was just another employee.
Snapping out of her thoughts she walked over to her desk and smiled sadly. She had spent so many hours working here yet unlike the rest of the employees her desk was bare of personal momentos. No pictures, cute pens, or a secret stash of sweets for extra energy. It was because she felt that if she didn't accept the permanence of the job for five years and continued to believe that it was only temporary, it would be. Now it was.
"Bye," she said quietly grabbing her purse as she left.
Trunks listened to the soft click of the elevator doors closing.
Pan did not feel like being on the receiving end of a lecture from her father. Her father was bound to have read the newspaper already. She thought about the marriage as she walked out of the elevator. As she walked past the front desk she saw the group of women huddled together, whispering behind their hands. Thanks to her saiyan hearing she heard everything.
"That's the girl in today's newspaper. Wow, I'm guessing she had another night with Mr. Briefs," snickered one of them.
"Mr. Briefs' sure has lowered his standards. I thought he was picky but looks like anyone will do in an emergency," giggled another.
"I cannot believe she has the guts to show her face in public, the slut," another said haughtily.
Blinded by tears she straightened her spine, lifted her chin, then briskly walked out of the building. She reached her car, leaned her head against the top, and broke down. The stress of everything couldn't be contained in her heart anymore. Big, fat tears slid down her cheeks, soaking her shirt. She wept and wept.
Was that the opinion of everyone? She knew that she wasn't a beauty half stuffed with silicone like the rest of the women Trunks had dated in the past, but was she really that hated because others thought that she wasn't good enough for him? It hurt so much, her heart felt like it was about to break in half. Did her friends think like that? Did her parents? Was she going to lose her friendship with Bra for being caught doing something like that with Trunks?
Pan didn't want any of this. She wanted a simple life. But here she was, the cause of a great scandal between her and Trunks. She didn't want him to do anything, she tried to fight him off but she was a few minutes too late at that. Why? That was what she wanted to know. Why did this happen to her? She sobbed until she felt that she would cry blood if she cried anymore.
She slowly stood back, wiped her tears with the back of her hand and got her keys out. She couldn't go home. In her sorry state Gohan would think Trunks had caused her to cry. Wouldn't that be lovely, a bloody fight between her father and her fiance the same week as her miserable wedding.
What Pan didn't notice was that two piercing eyes were watching her. A lavendar-haired man saw her crying and felt compelled to go down there and comfort her. But what comfort could he give when he was the cause of her misery. He continued to watch her from his office windows until she stood up, got in her car, and left. With a scowl he returned to his work.
Pan drove around aimlessly for a while, waiting for her nose and eyes to return to their normal skintone. She stopped by a cafe and ordered a cappuccino with her personal preferences, slowly sipping the morning away when she got an unexpected phone call from a long time friend.
In the middle of her daydreaming, her purse on the tabletop started shaking, she had it on vibrate. Her hand blindly digged into her work purse, searching through all the clutter inside until her hand found her cellphone. She snapped it open.
"Hello?" she answered taking another sip from her cappuccino and flipping through a magazine.
"Guess who?" said a masculine voice in reply with a slight accent.
"Why are you calling?" said Pan with a huge smile. She felt like squealing with happiness but then remembered where she was. Instead she let out a little giggle.
"You haven't called me in months! What am I to you? I thought you loved me!" he shrieked back with his usual dramatic flair.
"I've been really busy since I've been back," Pan said laughing. It felt so wonderful to hear a friendly voice after everything that had suddenly happened to her in the last few days. This was the best medicine to her wounds that had been re-opened in the last months since working with Trunks.
"Okay, fine. I'll let you off this once with that lame excuse. So just a quick update, I quit my old job because my boss kept trying to get me into her bed and I moved to another country. Not that you would care since you've been too busy to care about your dear, old, single, yet beyond words handsomely, sexy friend. Now I want you to guess where I am right now?"
Pan laughed at how arrogant he still was about his looks. He wasn't wrong, he had the chiseled facial features of a model and the lean muscled body of a dancer. Yet she wasn't attracted to him because she thought of him more as a close friend than a potential boyfriend.
The background noise was loud and murky at first. Every sound blurred into each other to create nothing but a mess of noises. But then after a few moments she was able to separate all the different noises from each other. She heard a woman complaining to another about problems with her boyfriend, a group of boys arguing energetically about sports, and a couple murmuring words of love to each other. And it was all in Japanese.
"You're in Japan right now?" Pan exclaimed, almost knocking her cappuccino over.
"Took you long enough to realize it. I'm standing in front of the building of my new job right now. Can you believe my luck? I've been here for two days, I joined a job agency yesterday then I got a call this morning saying I got a job. I would have called you sooner but I wanted to surprise you by visiting in person. But the thing is I somehow lost your address. Luckily your number was still on my cellphone. So can you tell me your address? Pretty please," he asked.
Pan felt almost giddy with joy and she was the type that rarely got giddy over anything. Sure he sometimes acts childish but his heart is always in the right place. Unlike a certain someone who just proposed to her. He's always the mature one and his heart is the same as a pig. Better yet, he has no heart.
She told him her address and asked if he had time later to meet up with her to catch up. He replied that he would be busy all day settling into his new job, so he asked her if later tonight would work. She replied that it was fine and they said their goodbyes.
Pan sighed. Her life in the states seemed so far away. Such as a distant memory or a dream. She had the time of her life during those few years when she could forget about Trunks. It was usually for only a few moments at a time but she did forget about him enough to be happy. She desperately wanted to be happy again, even if it was for only a few moments.
Pan collapsed onto her bed from lack of sleep. All she wanted was some rest before having to face anymore of her life. She slowly slipped into a deep sleep. She was exhausted.
Pan awoke to the head-splitting sound of someone ringing the doorbell. She burrowed herself deeper into the covers, her body absolutely refusing to do anything but sleep. The doorbell assault continued for another five minutes before Pan rolled off her bed with a hollow "thump". She quickly slipped into an old sweatshirt then plodded down toward the cause of her misery this afternoon.
She was surprised when she opened her front door. Standing in front of her was a flamboyant, young, woman wearing torn jeans and a torn pink top. The woman's outfit looked as if she came back from a fight with a lawnmower.
The woman introduced herself as Candie her stylist and quickly went to work. She was cheerful and easy to get along with. Of course the assortment of outfits Candie brought along with her including shoes and accesories was no fun for Pan to continually try on and take off.
Candie suddenly whipped out a silk lavendar dress. The top was a halter top with intricate stitching to be tight and accentuate the right areas while loose and flowing down the rest of her body. Simple jewelry and strappy black heels were added to the ensemble. Makeup was kept to a minimum.
An hour later after Candie had left, Pan was interrupted from her TV show by the doorbell screaming for attention again. Pan hurried over, flung the door open, and there stood Trunks. He looked troubled for some reason.
Trunks was standing outside her door looking burdened by something. He looked into her eyes and tried to give her a grin. One corner of his mouth tugged up in an endearing half grin. He blew out a long sigh before placing his hands on her shoulders. It was either to comfort her or prevent her from running away. Pan couldn't tell which one it was.
His gentle touch was warm and comforting for some reason. His whole body was stiff and tense. He looked into her eyes for something and obviously found it when some of the tension in his body loosened.
"Pan I need to tell you something that can't be avoided before we get married," he spoke with an edge in his voice. He told it to her in such a grave tone she started to worry.
"Stop it Trunks. You're starting to scare-," Pan said before she was cut off with his index finger over her lips.
"Pan, I need you to not interrupt me and just hear me out. Okay?" he asked with a serious expression.
She nodded she could.
He slowly pulled her into a fierce hug.
To be continued...
Author's Notes: I know that ver. 2 is very different from ver. 1 with all the changes. Honestly, I hated ver. 1 of this chapter and I still don't like this version that much. This version is tolerable though. XD
I hope that even with all these changes I am making that people will still support Pan and Trunks in this story. As they grow, change, and eventually fall in love. Thank you to everyone who has read so far. I will continue to try my best. And to all those who don't want to continue to read the story anymore because of the changes, thank you for reading up until now.
Also chapter 1 has been slightly changed to match chapter 2. So if something comes up in this chapter that doesn't make sense, I recommend to go re-read chapter 1. Now off to write more. :D