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 Posted: Sat Jan 01, 2011 9:38 pm
"Mr Michaelis." She said crisply into the phone which was tucked between her shoulder and her ear as she typed up a search for the perfect garden location her latest client had demanded. "I regret to inform you that my schedule is rather... busy at the moment. Plus, taking up such a high profile client would be very hectic." The blond woman hit the enter key and began scrolling, blue eyes darting from search result to search result. "I'm also wondering why you are the one asking to hire me for a business associate's daughter's wedding."
"Well, well, well." Shinra sounded mighty amused over the phone and she stifled a sigh. "Can't I help out an old friend with a problem? I have heard that you are a pretty good wedding planner, Evie, my dear."
"Playing the acquaintance card, are we?" Eve Summers replied, trying to stifle a grin spreading on her face. "I suppose you could email the details over and I'll see if I want to take it up. No guarantee, though."
"A maybe is almost a yes." The older man laughed, evidently coming to the conclusion that she would ultimately agree. "How about I bring along some... persuasion to seal the deal?" He listened, only to hear the flat reply of a dial tone and shook his head. "Still not ready to meet this 'persuasion' after a few years, I see."
He was right.
She wasn't.
She knew exactly what Shinra Michaelis was up to. Even as she pursed her lips in agitation and clicked to close a few tabs more viciously than she should, she also knew that he wouldn't be stopped. Her hanging up on him would do nothing to halt the older man's determination. In some ways, he was like her. That was why she had liked him when he encouraged her to dump the water onto his nephew's face. But if he was really like her, she knew that he would bring said persuasion along, sooner or later. And if she did take up the client, she would have to see him.
"Business is business." She told herself sternly, and relegated her eyes back to the screen.
She didn't know when to expect it, which kept her a little bit on edge, which prompted Rea to silently quirk an eyebrow at her. It made her remember when she had seemed so unsettled after taking in copious amounts of Negaverse energy. She verbally assured the other that she was fine, and it was just the stress of the job. It took a few deep breaths and the feeling of Flora (Not her alternate identity of old, but the Cream Burmese Cat she had adopted) purring contently on her lap as she was stroked to properly calm down.
Being brought back to the past was rather... unnerving sometimes.
Eve had to admit that she did miss some aspect of their lives as superpowered teenagers saving the world heroically, but there was also the reminder of all the painful, bone-chilling bits of the job. It was never nice to remember the shocking realization that it wasn't as easy as it seemed, to experience all that death, to come close to it herself...
Of course, they now still did run into old friends and acquaintances now and then, some more than others. It had taken her a while to grudgingly accept Daphne, but hearing Elzo babble happily over the phone that Daphne was now pregnant made her smile.
The other ex-Negaverse agents? She hadn't really seen them; didn't bother nor had the use to mention them. Sure, she was pretty much alright with Daphne now, and Serenade had easily slipped back into being friends with Ursula after they had released the couple from the crystal... But it was still strange, to think back to the day everything had ended, when the Negaverse had been purified.
It was lucky then, that Eve didn't have quite a few Negaverse friends whom she befriended as civilians, which would make things more awkward. It was only one particular one she had to avoid, and so far, she had been rather successful.
So far.
She was more antsy in her office than she was at home, watching the entrance to the store dubiously. Her partner; a wedding dress designer she had met in the business, asked her if she was waiting for anyone. She said, "No" a little too harshly than she should and immediately tried to redeem herself by saying that Senri Cross was known to have impromptu show-ups.
Just the other day, she had gotten an inner tube decorated with bright cheery floral prints from their office's common blue-haired visitor, which was still on her office table. As annoying as she liked to declare it was, she honestly had to always hide an amused grin every time he sauntered into the office.
It was good to relax every once in a while. Being in the office and working reminded her of how serious Sailor Flora had been regarding senshi business. It wasn't something to easily forget, after all.
A few minutes before gathering up her things to meet with the las couple of the day, Eve wondered if she was simply being too paranoid. After all, if he had wanted to make the effort to see her, he would have done so long ago... right?
She bit her lip and carried on with her job, smiling as she greeted the excited young couple. She was being stupid. She was an utter, utter idiot for letting such a small thing bother her.
It was pushed entirely out of her mind until the couple Shinra Michaelis introduced appeared in her office. Eve didn't know why she was so startled to see the name 'Seth Einetta' on the list the couple e-mailed her, even though she had expected it. It was hard to think of how she should react properly to seeing that name again. How she should react when she would see him at the wedding... but would he even go? Would he even approach her?
So many dilemmas. So many questions. She was weary just letting her mind run with how the scenario might play out at the wedding.
What she didn't expect was that he came earlier.
Shinra had practically shoved him through the doors and said a quick hi to her before leaving them alone. She had froze there, face blank as he had entered, and her first instinct had been to bolt. It was a very stupid instinct, and Eve wondered if it was because her days as Sailor Flora were over that her instincts had dulled. There were two bouquets of different colors in her hands; they had just taken pictures to send to a bride who was currently overseas.
On the other hand, Seth too, looked pretty shocked to see her, which meant that Shinra hadn't told him anything.
Someone cleared their throat and Eve realized, with a start, that her colleague was still there, camera in hand. "Uh... you should take a break." She managed, putting the bouquets on a nearby table. Her partner got the hint and left, glancing curiously at the both of them.
Her mind was utterly blank as she stared at Seth and he stared back, the both of them quiet. She broke the silence with a sigh and tore her eyes away, not knowing if she could stand looking at him any longer. There were so many emotions rising within her and there was a faint prickling at the back of her eyes. "So, uh. Hi." She managed out. "I'm kind of in the middle of work right now, actually." She willed her voice not to tremble, not to show any sign of weakness. It took every bit of self-control to not tell him bluntly that she didn't want to see him, wanted him to go away.
He crossed over to her desk, where she stood, shuffling through papers, except she wasn't really reading them. "You need a break too."
It was so strange to hear his voice again. So strange to think back to when they had first met, when she had brightly wrestled him into going to the ball with her, only to have things end up the way they did.
"I'll be fine." She replied, still not looking directly at him. "I mean, I get enough of a break with the almost daily proposals..."
"Proposals?" He broke in, and was it her imagination, or did he sound annoyed by this?
"Senri Cross," Eve said, looking half amused, half annoyed as she shifted the inflatable inner tube from the table to below her desk, "thinks it is hilarious to send me ring-shaped things to propose to me. The other day, I got proposed to with a doughnut, of all things, honestly..." She had freaked out once, when Fleur had decided to be an a** like she always had been, and revealed to her a small part of a past memory, causing her to misinterpret things entirely. After finding out the truth, both Senri and her had thought it was pretty hilarious, and the former decided to carry out what his past self had been doing before.
She wasn't sure if she should wish that Senri was here or not. Had Zephyr known Raite? What would they have said to each other if they did?
That didn't really matter. What mattered was that he was standing close, but not too close, and she could feel him staring at her. Perhaps he was just thinking how much she had changed. Her hair was longer, pulled back into a ponytail; she hadn't had time to cut it of late. She had also grown taller.
So had he. How could one person look the same, yet so different?
They had fallen into a state of silence once again, and she was reminded of when she would always fill it with her chatter back then. Now, it was just hard to think of what to say in the current circumstances. Years had passed, but it was still hard to forget that period of shock and unhappiness. It was hard to forget when she discovered that he had been in the Negaverse just when she was contemplating that perhaps, she had been too hasty to swear off love at such a young age. She had denied being heartbroken, always convinced herself that she was angry and hurt because she had been betrayed.
"Since Shinra dragged you here," She stated, now turning to stare out at the window, "I presume that you didn't want to be here."
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Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2011 11:36 pm
It is the day of the wedding.
Shinra has practically forced him into tagging along with the groom as the party gets ready. It's not even conducive to nap here because everyone is talking excitedly and in desperation, he excuses himself and goes to the balcony.
Then he hears her voice.
"Oh wow, you look great! Are the boutonnières here yet? ...That's good! Your bride looks stunning, by the way; I just popped in there and she was just like... wow!" He slips back into the room to watch her talk animatedly and shake hands with the groom with a laugh. "I need to go down to check that everything's going smoothly! See you later!"
She leaves and Shinra elbows him, which he replies with a frosty glare. His uncle jerks his head towards the door and Seth sighs, thinking it for the best. He does need to get away from all this noise after all.
He catches up to her just as the elevator door is about to close, and she stares at him, mouth in a thin line. She has easily regressed from the cheerful woman reminiscent of when he first met her, to someone so cold and formal, like when he had first met her again weeks ago.
"I cannot believe you're part of the entourage." She says as the elevator doors ding open. They enter the ballroom; her eyes sweep over the tables and she leans over to shift a few roses in a flower arrangement.
"Shinra dragged me along." He replies, stifling a yawn.
She barely even glances at him as she moves along, not even letting a single quip fall from her tightly pursed lips. Her hair is pulled back with a ribbon and she is immaculately dressed in a pantsuit, with a peek of a pink shirt from under her black jacket. It is so different from the girl he once knew who wore lacy pastel-colored dresses decorated with floral prints. Even her heels are a sensible black, and they click along the floor as she descends from the staircase, speaking into a walkie-talkie.
"You don't have to be here." She points out, arching an eyebrow at him. "You're a guest. The ceremony's not due to start in," she pauses and checks her watch. "An hour forty-five, goddammit, those ice-sculptures aren't here yet..." She pulls a cellphone out of her pants pocket and dials frantically away.
"Really," She says to him as she waits for the other person to pick up, tapping her foot impatiently. "You're more of a hindrance than anything. Go back to the groom's room."
"We," It is hard for him to get the words out. "Need to talk."
"Not now." Eve dismisses him and starts chattering away on the phone. Once she hangs up, she starts down the stairs again. "I'm serious. I'm in the middle of work here, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't force me to talk about the good old days, which by the way, I don't really care to remember. At least not the part you want to talk about." She snaps, turning to glower at him for a moment.
She morphs back into the bright Eve Summers when the wedding ceremony starts, and then introduces the couple into the ballroom. They thank her, and her face glows with pride. It is for this moment she lives, to see the happy faces of the bride and groom. They are so utterly in love...
And her love life is in complete shambles. She thinks, as she sees him approaching her from the side. She can't very well escape when she is talking with the couple, and he stiffly congratulates them before asking her if she wants to dance.
She stares at him for a moment, face frozen into a smile for the sake of her clients. The bride laughs and encourages her to have fun and it is because of that request that she accepts.
She is silent as he takes her hand and guides her into a waltz. She follows along, trying not to look too horrifyingly sullen because a wedding planner must always smile in front of her clients, because it is their day and everything has to be perfect.
"You're not working now." He tells her. "So now we can talk."
"I'm not repeating what I said earlier." She tosses her curls, avoiding his gaze.
"What do you want from me?" He pulls her closer and whispers in her ear. A part of her barrier is withering away because he is so dangerously close and she closes her eyes, trying to retaliate and shove back those unwanted feelings.
"You were the one who told me to take control of my fate." She hisses back. "Eve Summers is not Fleur. I am not submitting to emotions she had for some Knight. And besides, even if that Knight had feelings for Fleur in return, she is so different from me."
He is silent for a moment. "This is about the Negaverse, isn't it?"
The song ends just then, and she pulls away from him, shaking her head. She doesn't want to talk about that. She doesn't want to bring that up anymore.
She somehow manages to avoid him by dancing with the groom's friends and she breathes a sigh of relief knowing that at least, she will be out of the country the day after.
"She is going to Italy." Shinra says, with a maddening smirk on his face, and Seth wonders how he even gets hold of this sort of information. His uncle tells him that he will not divulge his secrets, though he suspects that she had probably mentioned it to one of the men she had occupied herself with (on purpose or not, he wasn't sure) and Shinra had weeded it out of them.
... But it does make sense.
He has heard that Serenade Soriano is having a piano recital over in Italy, and it makes sense that she would have invited her court along, even though her days as Princess Chronos were of the past.
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