Part 1: An Important Meeting
"Thank you, Naga," the executive said mildly, glancing behind the woman to
see a smaller red-haired female in expensive designer sunglasses waiting
impatiently with her bodyguard, a taller blonde man.
Lina and Gourry, he noted mentally, then turned back to his meeting.
"Gentlemen," Xelloss turned to gaze about his table of visiting executives,
noting Mr. Phibrizzo, Mr. Vrumrugen, Mr. Zangulus, all in turn. "That will
conclude our meeting for the day. Thank you." He sat back and patiently watched
Mr. Zangulus join the secretary to go for lunch. Xelloss smiled to himself. It
was good to accidentally hire the sister of one of the most powerful weapons
manufacturers in the country. They weren't all into just weapons, though. Mr.
Vrumrugen was partnered with Mr. Zangulus in small arms and surveillance
manufacturing, not to mention a little secret darker business that Xelloss found
very useful at times. Mr. Phibrizzo headed that darker department of their
company, but also worked with overseas affairs, and was rich enough to own his
own company. Phibrizzo also found time to be a stunt man on action movies with
such big names as Zelgadis, Amelia, and Xelloss' very own sister, Lina Inverse.
He put on his most charming smile and went out to speak with the latter.
"I'll see you tomorrow on the set!" the red-head was yelling as the group
boarded the elevator, and a beautiful woman standing next to Phibrizzo turned
and smiled, waving slightly, her blue eyes friendly, as the doors closed and cut
off their conversation. Turning to see Xelloss, she placed both hands on her
hips, "XELLOSS METALLIUM! I," she paused for dramatic effect, "have gotten you a
date." She grinned, and Xelloss winced delicately.
*Just* what he needed.
And Gourry, of course, just stood there, surveying the painting-replicas on
the wall, not even paying attention to what was happening to poor, poor Xelloss.
He made the effort to turn his smile from pained to pleasant and followed
the pair onto the elevator. "You don't need to do that, Lina," he replied as she
chattered on about her latest movie, where she'd met the girl. "I can handle
myself quite well, you know."
"You haven't dated in three years and I'm doing something about it," she
stated firmly, and refused to hear anything more on it, single-handedly carrying
most of the conversation as they reached the ground floor and got into the
waiting limo. Xelloss only smiled, used to his younger sister's pushiness. She
liked to be in control of things, and almost had a nervous breakdown the year
before when their father died.
So he listened to her with half an ear as she talked about the girl she'd
found. A blue-eyed blonde, tall, pretty, and nice, she worked with the animals
in Lina's latest movie, training them and taking care of them. He refrained from
laughing when his sister socked Gourry for adding a bit about the girl's better
physical attributes, but couldn't help a widening of his smile. Lina could
always make him laugh.
His smile turned reminiscent. When they were kids, when he still tried to be
protective of her, Lina would push his face in the mud and stand up to the other
little boys herself. And she'd whop them too, usually. She'd always been small
for her age, but she was one helluva spitfire, and had learned to defend herself
quickly. There were a few times, of course, that she hadn't won and had come
home sporting black eyes and bruises -- mainly as she got older and more
sensitive about her small chest size. But she'd just set her chin when Xelloss
asked about them and held the tears stubbornly back while he treated her cuts
and wounds. He'd learned to use other methods to find out what had happened and
go behind Lina's back to take care of the matter. He earned a private reputation
for fighting rarely but fighting dirty, and by encounters with both siblings,
people learned not to annoy either.
But it was rare that Xelloss found his temper beyond what he could control,
and so his bouts of violence were isolated only to matters involving his sister
-- and now that he ran the family company, he had others to do such unpleasant
work for him.
He followed his sister and her bodyguard, who was looking interested in what
she was saying, into the restaurant, hands in his pockets as Lina greeted the
majordomo and looked voraciously over the menu. Her constant physical activity
tended to goad her already hefty appetite to gluttonous proportions.
Xelloss ordered hot tea and a light soup while his sister and her bodyguard
took care of the rest of the menu. He sipped his tea contentedly while they
argued and talked loudly, Lina gesturing widely with her arms and nearly
knocking the waiter over. It really was unprofessional the way they bickered.
They finally got their food and settled down to some serious eating. Xelloss
ate his soup slowly, watching his sister talk with her mouth full. She was
always talking, and usually loud.
He thought about the girl she'd found. *That little schemer,* he smirked,
proud she'd learned *something* from him. He wouldn't fight it -- one date to
make his sister happy wouldn't be so terrible. And she had a point -- he hadn't
been out in a very long time. Though not as long as Lina thought.
Ever since Zelas dumped him . . . But no, he wouldn't think about her.
He tried to listen to his sister again, to get his mind off of the memories
that were trying so desperately to resurface. Memories of Zelas's blonde hair
and long legs. . . . That thing she would do for him, and the way she liked to
be on top . . .
He sighed and smiled at something Lina had said, making an extra effort to
pay attention to her. Too many more thoughts like that and it would be very
uncomfortable walking out of the restaurant.
Lina paid for lunch and they went back out to the limo, agreeing to drop
Xelloss off at his office before returning to the movie set. They had one more
scene to shoot before finishing for the day.
When Xelloss got back to work, he informed his secretary that he was going
home early and locked his office up before going down to the parking garage,
jingling his keys merrily as he went. He bid the garage attendant a cheerful
goodbye and pulled out onto the busy street. Since he was the head of a whole
corporation, he drove a sleek, expensive black car.
He went straight home and took a shower, lingering a bit under the heat.
When he got out and dried his hair, he changed into some casual clothes, rather
than the suit he'd worn. Jeans and a dark button-up blue shirt, and some tennis
shoes.
He took his time driving because the filming wouldn't be over quite yet and
he didn't want to run into Lina. When he got there, the guard told him she'd
already left. Xelloss pretended to be concerned and asked if he could go and
make sure for himself. The guard had no real reason to refuse him.
As he strolled onto the lot, he smiled to himself and his step immediately
lightened. All he had to do was ask a bit of directions and . . .
Soon he was standing by a cage with a sleepy tiger in it and several
tethered, barking dogs nearby. (The dogs being much removed from the tiger's
reach, of course.) A horse behind both cage and dogs was snorting grumpily and
eyed Xelloss with distrust. He took the time to pat the dogs, all of them
licking his hands and whining, obviously looking for treats.
And then a feed bag with legs rounded a nearby corner and Xelloss
straightened, blinking at it. Then he got a better look at its legs and looked
curiously at *those* for a moment. They were very nice legs. Long and tanned and
mostly bare. There was a hint of shorts peeking out from under the feed bag, but
they must have been *very* short to show that much skin.
The woman dropped the bag with a heavy "wumph" and Xelloss got his first
peek of the rest of her.
He kept his jaw from dropping, but couldn't help staring a little. A full
chest in a tight shirt, big dark blue eyes, those short shorts showing off her
long, firm legs, yards of blonde hair pulled back in a French braid, and . . .
pink sandals?
Xelloss stared at her feet for a moment as she straightened and looked at
him.
Filia's first thought was that he was a new sound boy and horribly rude to
see her hauling that heavy bag without offering to help. Her second thought was
that he was *damn* sexy. And her third was to wonder what was so interesting
about her feet. She glanced down at her pink sandals and blushed a little. Oh.
And then he looked up at her, and smiled, and there *were* no more thoughts.
Filia found herself flushing intensely.
The yipping of her dogs finally broke her out of the state she was in, and
she hurried to feed the poor neglected beasts. It was really horrible of her to
get so distracted over a silly man -- and a stranger, at that! Although . . .
she risked another glance at him and saw him still smiling at her . . . he
really *was* good looking. In those snug blue jeans and that dark shirt with the
top three buttons open, showing a nice chest . . . the contrast of fabric and
skin. . . .
Filia suppressed the tremor that wanted to run over her body and squelched
those thoughts down -- *hard* -- hiding in the task of feeding the dogs. When
she straightened, she was much more composed, and even had the presence of mind
to greet the stranger petting her dogs.
"Hi," she said, wiping her hands on her shorts and holding one out to him,
shaking his hand firmly and congratulating herself on her control. "Are you new
here?" He had a nice smile. Friendly -- cheerful, even. It made her feel much
more relaxed.
"Perhaps," he replied mysteriously, with that generously cheerful look. "I'm
certainly not old."
She smiled a little, amused, and scratched her dogs' heads. He came closer
and patted another of them.
"What are you doing Thursday?" he asked.
"Oh," Filia replied, blushing, "nothing . . . yet . . ." She ducked her head
and tried desperately to repress a blushing smile.
"How about dinner? Something simple . . . pizza?" he asked, moving a little
closer to her and smiling.
She couldn't stop the smile that spread, or the consciousness of how close
he was, but she *could* look down at the dogs and pretend to be absorbed in them
instead of him. "I, um, . . . yeah. Yeah. Sure."
"Can I get your number? So we can, you know, plan." He smiled when she
glanced up at him from beneath her lashes and then quickly back down again. She
was nervous.
"Uh . . . we'll need . . . paper," she said absently, flushed and confused.
Xelloss kept his smile cheerful, pretending not to notice that his chest was
only centimeters away from her arm. Filia was short of breath and definitely not
looking at him.
"I can remember it," he replied softly.
"Oh." She was breathless when she told it to him the number.
Xelloss smiled, pleased. "Thank you." He stepped back slightly and took her
hand, bringing it to his lips and kissing it before turning and walking off.
Filia watched his back and held her hand close to her, hoping it hadn't tasted
like dog food. She blushed deeply at the thought of his being so repulsed by her
hand that he would never call her.
She alternated between smiling goofily and worrying for the rest of the day.
"Mr. Metallium, your sister is here, and I'm taking an early lunch," the
secretary told him, leaning in the door in a way where the men could see down
her blouse.