ff: Bells & Whistles
Bells & Whistles
"Past"
It has been nearly three years
since that fateful day. Trunks took that final plunge that altered
my life forever. As I stood by his sister, I couldn't hide my
tears. Bra naturally tried to console me, but she too, knew the
reasons behind the drops from my eyes. There was nothing either
of us could do. This was it, Trunks and I could never be.
And even now, as I read the headlines
on the mainpage of Western Capital City's newspaper, The WCC Tribune,
I have to question fate. Trunks' life has been nothing close to
happy and content. Ever since that day, the reporters have kept
the world informed of the troubles the once 'World's Most Eligible
Bachelor' was enduring. What started out as an arranged marriage
to the daughter of another powerful company president was turning
into disaster for Trunks and Capsule Corporation. Bulma had arranged
it. Her son had hesitated when she told him, but he gave in. He
didn't know what he wanted out of life anyway so he allowed his
mother to cut him a path. It wasn't uncommon afterall, for corporations
to seal deals by the marriage of offspring between executives.
Bulma had waited long enough for Trunks to choose his own mate
and he never bothered to seek one out. So she got one for him.
Her desire for grandchildren and her worry of Capsule Corporation
slipping out of the Briefs family control without an heir were
pressures she couldn't be patient with any longer.
Sure, Trunks' wife was beautiful
and grade A super model quality. She had been trained since birth
to make a wonderful corporate wife, but nobody had expected the
stange twist of fate that bore down on the union of Trunks and
her.
I remember the days before the
wedding like they were just yesterday. Trunks was nervous as he
always is at something new and unpredicatble. And me, being his
closest, bestest friend (aside from Goten who wouldn't understand
anyway), he confided in me and sought the comfort a friendship
often offered. I had asked him if he loved her. He said in marraiges
such as this, love eventually could come around. "You learn
to love it." he said with a semi-confident smile. But his
eyes betrayed him. His blues were searching my soul and trying
to grasp something from my heart. At first I thought it was out
of our tight bond of friendship which of course, would change
once he was married. His wife was protective and jealous. She
thought of me as a threat. But his eyes showed something to me
that he had never shown before. It made me wonder, did he feel
the same way about me as I have about him for so many years? Inwardly
I cursed myself for not showing him my secret crush that manifested
into love for him. But again, I always thought his 'love' for
me was like that felt between brother and sister. He often referred
to me as his step-sis. And again, I returned to the image of his
searching blue eyes.
Anyway, for the past three years,
they have been trying to conceive a child... a must-have heir
to the Capsule Corporation and Briefs future. Frustration and
humiliation plagued them as reporters found out about the problem
while Trunks was trying desperately to find out if it was he or
she with the fertility problem. After both opted for medical examinations
it was found that his perfect corporate wife was barren. She would
never bear his child. Standard marital rules state that if a child
cannot be produced from the union than the marriage can be annulled.
Whether they discussed it or not, it was now public. They were
breaking up permanently. The two companies forged in the partnership
were now also on shaky ground. I cried the night I heard this
news. Trunks didn't deserve this. He was the perfect gentleman
and extremely handsome and kind, a 'white knight' that women sought
so hard to find but rarely did. I have no doubt in my mind that
he attempted every option to try and save the marriage. Perhaps
it was the wifey's choice or could it be she knew of her barrenness
all the while and went through with this so her daddy could get
a piece of the Capsule Corporation and Briefs fortune? Ah, but
I'm probably being bias out of my own caring for Trunks.
Trunks had once told me a while
back that he didn't want to get married out of fear of this very
situation. Too much value had been placed on him too fast thanks
to his mother. Every woman he met or dated was out to get his
fame and fortune and he doubted there would ever be a female that
could overlook those and love him for himself. I wanted to scream
and throw myself at him and say "HERE I AM!!!" but that
never happened. Something held me back. And even today, if I can
find out what it was, I'll grind it to a pulp! Bulma had told
him that if he married money then the woman wouldn't care about
his own and would love him for him. But, Trunks tested her theory
by dating money. He even took it one step further by dating fame.
Be if famous corporate daughter or movie star, he ended up used.
All they wanted was his body. Trunks became their boy toy. Needless
to say, Bulma never said another word about that theory of hers.
And what about me? As gutsy and
bold as I always thought myself, I was a coward around Trunks.
I could never tell him how I really felt about him. Perhaps if
I had, he'd have seen me differently. But, maybe I feared our
great friendship would change if I let the cat out of the bag?
Probably. We had a perfect friendship. Now, I've graduated college
and am a financial assistant at a prominent investment bank in
Satan City. A scholar of money as my dad puts it. Okay dad, whatever.
But, I'm single and facing similar problems as Trunks. I'm Mr.
Satan's granddaughter so his fame and fortune follow me. Male
or female, they're all gold-diggers. And so, I can't help but
wonder, was Trunks and I meant to be together? We have so much
in common that its uncanny!
Glancing at the news on tv, the
same subject appears as on the newspaper. Isn't there anything
more important going on in the world than the nitpicking of a
corporate marriage gone awry!? Perhaps I should blast something
if only to draw the attention away from Trunks' troubles. Trunks
has done nothing but good for these people and they turn and stomp
his life to the ground! He's given them jobs, put money back into
these cities, defended them from deadly enemies, helped save this
entire planet, and his company gives them wonderful conveninces
and devices to make their lives easier. How can society treat
him like this!? Vegeta once said that Earthlings are crueller
and more selfish than any full-blooded saiyan could ever be. I
now see his perspective.
I want to run over to Trunks right
now and hug him and tell him everything's going to be okay. Is
my motherly instinct kicking in? Why isn't his own mother helping
him through this? Is the Briefs family really as cold as Trunks
used to say it was as a joke? Was he joking or was he trying to
be serious without hurting his and his family's pride? I have
to wonder now.
So now what? Poor Trunks. Is it
pity or sympathy that I'm feeling? Perhaps both? There HAS to
be something I can do. There just has to be! The question of the
century though, is what?
to be continued...