Going Courting -- Part One
by ACJ Leveille

Author's Note: This is my first Labyfic, and the first time I've posted something before I've written the end of it. I hope you enjoy, and I love getting emails - oh yeah, and PLEASE review if you read!
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"Here, this are for you," a well-dressed man said as he handed Sarah a large bouquet of flowers.

She accepted them, nodding curtly as she picked up the ringing phone. The delivery boy turned and left, and Sarah set the flowers on a corner of her desk. She dealt with the caller's problem quickly and professionally, then stopped to look at the bouquet.

The flowers were a mixture of blooms, most of them Sarah couldn't even begin to identify. Searching for a card, she brushed aside two pink buds and found a single black rose. She let out a gasp, letting the flowers go and laughing. "It's beautiful!" She told herself. "I wonder who they're for?"

She plucked the card from the bunch. It was plain white, and written in a flowing, generous script. "To Miss Williams, From a Secret Admirer."

Laughing a little, almost self-consciously, Sarah got out her lunch and went down to the cafeteria. She couldn't resist taking a last look back, glancing at the flowers one last time as she went into the elevator.
Luncheon finished, Sarah returned to her desk. She found all six of the women in her department gathered around it.

"It's gorgeous!" One exclaimed, fingering a blossom.

"Who did you get it from?" Another asked when she noticed Sarah's presence. She had an avaricious look on her face that made Sarah want to shiver.

Sarah clasped her hand to her chest in mock horror. "You mean you haven't read the card yet?"

The woman simpered, clearly indicating that she had. Sarah held back her growl of annoyance, sliding into her seat and looking at the women pleasantly. They got the hint and moved off, thought it took some more time than others.

Time passed. At one point, Sarah gave up the pretense of work and just stared at the flowers. They were haunting her. Who could have sent them?

She touched one lightly with her fingernail, brushing it's fuzzy green leaf aside to see the bright blue flower more clearly. It looked like a star - didn't resemble any flower she had ever seen anywhere. She touched another one, an orange-ish yellow one with a matte black inner cup. Her brow furrowed as she tried to remember where she had seen one like it.

"Strange flowers," a male voice commented, teasingly.

Sarah looked up. "Oh, Marcus," she said, flustered. "Did we have a meeting scheduled or anything?" She shifted through the papers on her desktop, looking for her planner.

Marcus settled onto the corner of the desk. He was watching the vase with curious eyes, but then he looked at Sarah. "What, I can't have a reason to come and see my favorite designer?" He asked, a lilting tone to his voice and laughter in his eyes.

Sarah laughed, "Very funny, Marcus. What do you want?" She looked up at her sometimes-partner. He was taller than average, with sandy blond hair that was styled to perfection. He wore a navy suit today, his pinstripe shirt blindingly white in contrast. Marcus liked to joke, and had a smile to tempt a priestess. He even had dimples!

He ducked his head at Sarah's question. "You see right through me, don't you?" He asked.

"We've been working together for more than a year now!" Sarah chuckled. "I'm sorry to say - you don't dazzle me anymore!"

Marcus' mouth curled down in a charming sulk. "I'll have to find something that will dazzle you," he threatened. He clapped his hands on his knee. "Do you want to get something to eat with me, after work?" He asked, seemingly spontaneously.

Sarah wasn't fooled. She glanced at the way his fingers caressed one of the leaves of her bouquet. She smiled benignly, not wanting his interest. "Thanks, Marcus, but I've got plans - my baby brother is coming over for a night on the town!" She confided.

"Baby brother?" Marcus looked blank.

"Yeah, he's almost twelve, and he's a real neat guy. We're planning on going to see some movie or another." Sarah waggled her hand in the air. She couldn't for the life of her remember what the movie was - even though she had already bought the tickets!

"Oh, well," Marcus said, standing, coughing a bit. "I'll leave you to your work, then." He turned and walked toward the elevator - he worked on the next floor up, in the Layout department.

"What was it you came to talk to me about?" Sarah called loudly.

Marcus turned, looking at her. He shook himself. "Oh, just something about the Peabody account - I'll catch up with you on Monday before the noon presentation, okay?"

Sarah nodded, watching the elevator doors close on him.

She turned to the flowers, smiling bemusedly. She had known for months now that Marcus was sort of interested, but she had no desire to date anyone. It was easier to pretend she didn't see his advances than to explain to him why she wasn't interested. Especially when her mind kept throwing pictures of a certain platinum-haired king at her.

"I won't think about it," Sarah told herself fiercely, squinching her eyes shut. "It's over." She opened them, staring at the flowers that Marcus had sent her.

"I wonder where he got them?" She wondered aloud. "They really are beautiful!" She smiled, then got to work.
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"Cheeky brat!" A strong curse came from an alcove in the office. A man stepped forth, invisible to all present. He wore tight dark pants and a white ruffled shirt, and his blond-white hair cascaded down the elegantly lank planes of his face.

With an exasperated sigh, he rolled a crystal between his palms and bit out a command, and was striding across his throne room in moments, collapsing onto his stark throne.

He contemplated what he had seen. The brat, tacitly claiming his gift as his own! He had half a mind to send a bog-drenched goblin to plague him! That wouldn't solve the problem, though. At least Sarah had refused the man's pitiful advances. But what was he to do now?

Sarah had grown into a beauty, dark and mysterious. She was slim and spirited, and now, mature enough to handle the feelings that he could bring to life in her soul.

His soul mate!

Jareth slammed his fist down onto the unyielding stone of his throne, not even wincing at the pain that reverberated through his very bones at the contact. Long years he had waited, patiently letting her grow up and become a woman - capable of seeing the love he was offering her. She was no longer a wilted school-girl, and it was time that she realized her destiny, he told himself.

He rolled his eyes, thinking of the hand-picked flowers he had sent her - a delicate mixture of smells and magic blooms, silently proclaiming his love, affection, desire and even his unwavering loyalty. Flowers that shouted to Sarah what he dare not say aloud, even in the dark recesses of the Labyrinth he ruled.

With a wordless growl he hurled the crystal across the room, the trapped image of his bouquet flying through the air, smashing into the stone walls at the other side, dust raining down on a pile of sleeping goblins.

One snorted, rousing slightly before going back to sleep.

Jareth regained his composure, smiled coldly to himself, and shifted on the rough throne. "Now, what will be next for you, Sarah?" He wondered aloud.
TO BE CONTINUED..............