Play For Me

Chapter 2: Lost

Maka wondered how she found herself at the Evans' home... or should she say mansion. After a flurry of manager to manager discussion (Ms. Mjolnir and Mrs. Evans) Tsubaki had been whisked away to some private studio, leaving Maka to guard the door.

That bothered her. She at least wanted to catch a glimpse of the man to confirm her mission. But she had seen the pictures of him, in magazines and on billboards. The shockingly white hair, in stark contrast to unique amber eyes.

It had to be him.

Wes Evans had to be the one.

So when Marie had told her they were having tea at the Evans' residence, Maka's hopes lifted exponentially. But then...

How in the hell did she get lost?

She could see the vast green expanse out of a large window in the hallway, meaning she wasn't anywhere close to the tea room. If anything, she guessed she was near the back of the residence.

She sighed in exasperation upon walking past the same life size portrait of a stern man in a military uniform. She was so lost.

All she wanted was to go to use the facilities. Yet every door opened to something different, every hallway led to somewhere else. It was no use asking the maids, since apparently there was more than one tea room.

And she had no idea which one it was. She halted at a crossroad, four pairs of painted eyes stared down at her from the walls as if to say, You are a disgrace.

Not knowing what to do, she sat.

Maybe Tsubaki would notice? After all, Wes Evans hadn't even made it back yet. Tsubaki must be bored with just Marie and whats-her-face now. They would go looking for her...right?

Maka sighed again, as she knew this wasn't true. She was notorious for wanting to scope the place out, make sure no fans had snuck in, or paparazzi hiding behind trash bins. It's funny how she hadn't wanted to, and she smacks herself on the forehead at the irony of it all.

"Uuhh.."

The voice makes her jump, and she turns to the source of the sound. A man stood a couple feet away, and she couldn't tell if he was weird-ed out by her oddness, seeing as how he had sunglasses on.

Which she did not get seeing as how they were inside.

He had white hair, and Maka wondered if he was an Evans. Surely this mansion was big enough for extra relatives...

"Fan girl?"

That brought her out of her ogling, "Excuse me?"

The boy sighed, and Maka inwardly gulped at the row of sharp teeth, "Look, My br- Wes is kind of out right now. So if you're here to see him... how did you get passed the guards anyway?"

He stayed where he was as Maka got up, racking her brain to explain the misunderstanding.

"Oh I'm not a fan of Wes Evans- I mean...I am. His work's great and all but I'm not here to see him. Sort of. Uuuh.."

The man frowned the longer and longer Maka rambled and she eventually shut up.

"Uh-huh..." he responded after a moment of awkward silence, "So, why are you here again?"

"Um," Maka had the answer on the tip of her tongue when her cell phone went off. She stared at in with a mix of furious disbelief and realization. She had a fucking cell phone, why didn't she just call Tsubaki.

But that thought was interrupted when the man groaned and when she looked up her had a hand to his forehead. "Turn the racket off..."

He sounded like he was freaking 80, and Maka watched in suspicion as he shuffled to lean against a wall.

"Are you..." it dawned on Maka as she took in his messy hair and dirty clothes, "...Do you have a hangover?"

"What's it to you?" she supposed it was a glare he threw at her when he turned his head and she reached in to her pocket to find her cell phone.

"Maka!" the voice on the other end yelled with worry that could only be Tsubaki, "Where have you been I've been looking for you everywhere! Wes is here and he wants to meet you!"

Oh. Crap.

"Uuh. I'm lost," Maka admitted and she was slightly annoyed when she heard a snort from the other end.

"Tell me something I don't know." before Maka could retort, the spectator who had somehow drifted closer echoed, "You're lost?"

She gives him a frosty look, "It's not my fault this place is so huge." then to the phone, "What room were you in anyways? There have to be like...seven different tea rooms!"

"Ten," a voice responds absently and she turns back in confusion to the Evans boy, "Well..if you count the one being refurbished, I suppose that's eleven."

"Who in the entire planet needs eleven tea rooms?" Maka didn't even like tea, and she repeated Tsubaki's vague directions, "The Glass Tea room, near the main hallway, gotcha."

As she pocketed her cell, she noted the man's frown.

"...we only use that room for special guests, who the fuck are you?"

Well that was rude, "I'm Tsubaki Nakatsukasa's bodyguard. Er, we were invited by Mrs. Evans."

"Huh." she feels like she should be insulted from his skeptical voice, "Never heard of a female bodyguard."

"What was that, punk?"

"Master Evans!" Maka was reminded of her old nanny, as a maid ran up to "Master Evans" who was now clutching his forehead with both hands.

"Where have you been? The Mistress will be furious! Were you out all night again?" she fussed at Evans' clothing and hair.

"I'm fine," he growled, and Maka wasn't surprised when the maid gave a small squeak and stepped back. He turned back to Maka, "I'll show you to the tea room...if you want."

"Uh..you have a hangover. And you look two seconds from passing out-"

"Psh, you want to stand in the hall looking like an idiot forever or are you going to follow me?" he waved off the maid, who gave a shaky bow and half ran the opposite direction. She was about to protest but he was already heading a seemingly random hall.

It was silent for a while. Maka didn't want to abuse his hospitality by attacking his alcohol-subdued brain with loud noises, and the man seemed content with cruising through the halls like he owned the place.

"What's your name?" Maka asked finally, curiosity winning over courtesy.

He paused and Maka caught the small twitch of an eyebrow (it was his fault, she said he didn't have to help her) before he responded, "Soul."

...Soul?

"...Soul?" Maka asked, skeptical, "What kinda-"

"Hey, it's my name. Deal with it."

"So you're an Evans than?"

"...Nah."

"What? Then why are you here?"

"Free loader."

"Figures."

"..."

"..."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know~"

"What are you-"

Soul groaned when the loud bang of a door echoed throughout the area.

"Makaaaaa!"

"Maka! Where are you?"

"I'm going to puke," Soul announced haggardly and she stared with concern as he shuffled through a doorway, gently closing the door behind him.

"Maka!" and Tsubaki was in front of her then and the world was once again a rush of "Oh my god" and "Found you!" and "Wes is waiting!".

She found herself being dragged back to "The Glass Tea Room" where Mrs. Evans (who Maka finally guessed was Wes' mother along with manager extraordinaire) barely gave Maka a glance as she was busy with her blue tooth and a steaming cup of tea.

And there he was.

In the flesh.

Maka could feel her head spinning when she looked in to those amber eyes. Her heart pounded when he smiled at her, and got up to greet her.

He was a lot more handsome than when he was in magazines and billboards. He was tall, Maka realized, the closer her came to her, and his smile was charming.

"You must be Ms. Albarn, I heard you were Ms. Nakatsukasa's best friend and body guard." he had a British accent. Oh my god.

"Y-yes." Maka stuttered quietly and she kept from elbowing Tsubaki who was snickering under a hand.

He gave a graceful bow that Maka had only seen in movies, "I am Wes Evans. It is a pleasure to meet you."

Oh. My. God.

+Typed up while eating a Klondike Bar. (Random Trivia)

+I am going to say Wes' eyes are amber. I have always considered them to be amber and the fact they are amber is relevant in the story. Kind of.

+Soul is about 24. Maka and Tsubaki are 23. Wes is...um. Like 50? No kidding, he's around his mid-twenties.

+Will get started on my one-shot collection...eventually.

+Updating Acquired Taste...a bit less than eventually.