"So a journalist, huh?" He asked walking by her side as her fingers brushed over the foreign clothes hung up on the racks.
The shop, Bloomingdales, is overall tiny. Its size only allowed 30 people in at a time. It had a crowd waiting in line out the door, but with one word from this mysterious gentleman, they were permitted entrance in less than a minute.
Their clothes' fabric comes from the richest areas in the world, making them expensive, vintage, and desirable.
The walls reflected a rich yellow color--lighter than Lucy's hair, contrasting well with the hardwood floor. Clothes were neatly color-coded, and organized by wooden hangers that were set up on a metallic rack—a rack that stretched out in one smooth line all across the sides of the shop, leaving an empty space in the middle for people to walk.
"Yep. And my manager is super cool. So overall, I love my job." She stopped in her tracks as she met her eyes with two hanged fits, taking admiration to them. She held both hangers off the rack and swayed them in front of her, comparing the two.
"That's good." He responded, showing interest in her private life as he stood next to her, examining her every movement—his arms locked behind his back as he read her.
He watched her critically contemplate the outfits, taking notice of her furrowed blonde brows and puckered lips--completely focused on the clothes at hand as if her life depended on it.
"What do you think about this one?" She held up a nude-colored blouse.
"The color would bring out your eyes," he said.
Her cheeks slightly burned up at the compliment before she locked eyes with him, looking into his olive orbs, taking notice of something... abnormal.
His smile might be there, but his eyes.. the dullness in his eyes.. it reflected some sort of... emptiness in his core.
Something she had noticed for a split-second, then brushed off. It was definitely just her inner writer analyzing things beyond necessity.
She curled her lips into a warm smile,
"Okay, I'll try it out and see if fits."
Ring-ring Ring-ring
"I'll be waiting by the cashier." He said as he slid his hand inside his suit jacket and took out his phone from his inner pocket.
"Alright." The blonde responded as she turned around and walked towards the fitting room area straight ahead.
With that, he swiftly turned and walked in the opposite direction, heading towards the door that was by the cashier.
He accepted the call and placed his phone against his ear.
"How's it going?" A calm voice initiated from the other end of the line.
"What did I say about calling me?" The salmon-haired man clenched his fist, trying to keep his voice as low as possible.
"Oh come on brother. I'm just checking up on you."
He shut his eyes and let out a sharp, controlled breath.
"The plan is working. She doesn't suspect a thing." His calm voice washed over him.
"Hold on, are you saying that--"
"Yes, I'm with her right now."
"What?!"
"Nathan!" A feminine voice calls out from behind him.
"I have to go."
"Wait, Natsu-!"
He hung up the phone and turned to face her.
"Hey," He exclaims, getting into character. "So, how did it turn out?" He looked into her sparkly brown orbs as she stood before him with a smile plastered on her face.
"It fits perfectly! I should've known there was a shop like this right by my house." She looked back at her blouse, holding it up in front of her in admiration.
"Your house..?"
She nodded,
"Yeah, I live right down the street."
"...Ah."
"How much does it cost?" She mumbled to herself, looking for the price tag on it.
Her eyes meet the thick tag attached and read the inked number on it, causing her to let out a disappointed sigh.
"I don't have enough cash..."
"Well, that's not for you to worry about." He snatched the blouse from her and took a few steps toward the cashier all too quickly.
"No Nathan, it's okay!" She followed him in embarrassment. "I don't want you to spend your money on someone you just met."
He let out a slight chuckle,
"Don't be like that."
He handed it to the cashier-lady and she scanned the tag. He slid out his brown wallet from his pocket and handed his credit card to the worker before even hearing the price.
"How can I repay you..."
He sighed as the worker hands back his credit card,
"You forget that that coffee-stained blouse of yours is my fault." He pointed at it with a teasing smirk as he took the bag from the cashier.
Lucy sighed in defeat,
"Okay, fine." She said. "But I'll definitely make it up to you."
"Sounds like a plan." He handed her the bag with a smile as his salmon-haired bangs fell over his eyes like a curtain.
.oOo.
Dragneel's Tract
In a room full of black marble tables and chairs, black leather couches and booths on different corners, and a bartending area at one side of the room: two comrades conversed about, well...
"What?!"
A redhead girl yelled out, filling the entire place with cold and heavy tension.
"Did you just say he went out there by himself?!" Her hands clenched into fists as she intensely looked into his dark orbs, feeling the rage build up inside her.
The raven-haired man sighed with an ankle over a knee on the couch, covering his eyes with his hand and rubbing his temples in frustration.
"Erza, do you really think I had the power to stop him? You know how he gets."
She groaned as she sat down on the couch across from him.
"You should've told me earlier." Her voice so firm and serious, yet less angry due to his statement being true.
"Yeah, so he can kill me?" he spat.
"Natsu is the Don of our Mafia, Gray. He cannot leave this mansion without bodyguards with him to protect him. He's being targeted every second by people we don't even know exist!" She lectured.
He let out a defeated sigh,
"I know..."
"If word got out that this happened, then people will think we're slacking off. They'll take it as an opportunity to attack." She rubbed her forehead in angst as she rested her elbow on the couch's arm.
"You're forgetting Erza...he's the Don for a reason. He knows how to protect himself."
With that, the double doors suddenly open, echoing the room with its noise.
Heavy footsteps walked in silence.
The duo looked up towards the entrance in sync, instantly recognizing the sound of heels clicking on the white marble ground.
The heavy, dark aura dawned on the room upon his arrival, sending waves of chills down their spine.
"Natsu..." The redhead let out a relieved, troubled sigh as she stood up from the couch—Gray mirroring her actions.
The clicking noise stopped as the Don finally stood before them, his red-and-black suit neatly fit with his arms by his sides.
"Erza, Gray." He greeted. "Where's everyone?"
"It's only 4 PM. They're all still at work." Gray spoke up.
"The Six Dons meeting is happening in two hours. I need them all back here now." He spoke calmly, yet firmly.
His word was the order in which they followed.
"I thought that wasn't till Thursday?" Erza questioned.
"I moved it to today." He walked past her and sat on the black leather couch.
The duo followed his form with their gaze.
Gray walked towards the couch across from him and takes a seat.
"You're telling me...you were able to move the mafia's time-line for Australia, Europe, Africa, South America, and the North— all to your accordance?" Erza crosses her arms in confusion, a little distance between her and the Don.
He smirked as he rested his full arm on the couch's hand.
"Asia's mafia—.... our mafia, is the head of those continents. Do you really think they're going to refuse Natsu?" Gray responded for him, letting out a small chuckle in proudness as he crossed his arms behind his head.
Almost every important country in the continents had mafias. Some were small, some were big.
Only one country represented each continent.
Japan's mafia... Natsu's mafia, happened to be the strongest out of all the other countries in Asia.
Not only that, but they were The Head of all the other continents as well.
"Still, changing dates to meetings isn't easy when all the Mafia Dons from the continents are involved." She sat aside Gray.
"What's the meeting for anyway?" She continued.
The Don meets his dark olive orbs with hers,
"The routined vote we have every two years: to see who's still the head." He fixed his collar as he spoke, not showing a spec of emotion in his tone or expression.
"And we'll still be in the lead." Chuckled a voice from a distance, coming out of nowhere.
The Don turned his head to the source of that noise.
"Gajeel." He greeted his most trusted bodyguard.
"I heard ya left without me and Dreyar today." The black-haired man took a seat on a one-person leather couch next to him.
"He had to go undercover, so he couldn't be seen with body-gaurds." Gray responded for him.
"Hm?" Gajeel looks at the Don in confusion. "Under-cover for what?"
"Lucy Heartfilia."
The Dragneel, head of Japan's Mafia, responded. His eyes narrowed and his voice calm-based, keeping his emotionless face straight—yet the disappointment in his tone made itself evident.
Gajeel should've known, yet there he was slacking off from knowing the important business going on.
"Right, Heartfilia." He instantly recognized her, just from the family name.
"I understand that we failed at killing her the first time, but if you give us another chance, we'll do so without fail," Erza exclaimed. "There is no need for you to get your hands dirty in this."
He stood up slowly from his couch and fixed his suit jacket, ready to head back to his office.
"The failed attempt is a blessing in disguise, Scarlet." He responded before walking off, without another word.
.oOo.
The blonde let out a sigh of relief as she injected her silver key and unlocked her door.
"Finally, I'm home." She said in relief, speaking to no one but herself.
She walked into her apartment and dropped her keys on the table beside the entrance.
"Long day at work today, huh?" A voice spoke out of nowhere in the epitome of darkness.
Lucy gasped in startlement making her jump up— her files flew off her hands and paper scattered on the ground.
Her breathing heavied as she stumbled over, reaching for the light switch in the dark room, and finally turning it on.
"Loke?!" She met her eyes with his form in shock.
He was seated on her brown couch at the far corner of the room,
"What are you doing here?!" Her tone grew angry, irritated by his little stunt.
He chuckled,
"I told you I was stopping by." He stood up with his hands in his pockets and a grin on his face.
"You almost gave me a heart attack!" The blonde leaned against the closed door, trying to catch her breath and register the fact.
After a moment of silence,
"Yes, to answer your question." She pushed herself off of it. "Kyra wouldn't let me get off work till 7 today." She bent down and began picking up her scattered paper.
"I see..." He thought out loud. "Still, it's not safe for you to stay out this late. Not after what happened last week." He said, taking a seat on the end of her bed.
"Don't worry. It's just 7 PM." She let out a slight giggle, trying her best to avoid the thoughts crawling into her mind on the events of last week.
It truly was a traumatic experience.
Though having Loke there, by her side, was enough for her for now.
"Why won't you just let me hire bodyguards for you?"
"Because... it's fine." She brushed it off.
"Lucy."
She stopped her motion, feeling his hand on her shoulder and his voice way closer.
She stood up and turned to him with the papers in her hand,
"Hm?" She looked into his hazel orbs.
"Do you know what would happen to me if I ever lose you?" He looked her dead in the eye, causing her to bite her lip in guilt.
"I'd never be able to live with myself." He continued.
He brought up his hand and gently stroked his fingers against her cheek,
"Please, let me keep you safe."
Tears developed in the corner of her eyes, touched by his worry and care.
She let out a defeated sigh as a tear rolled down her cheek.
Her hand wraps around his wrist,
"Okay." She gently smiled.
He sighed in relief,
"Finally I got through to your stubborn head." He sloppily sat back down on the bed as she placed her files down on the table.
She giggled,
"Hey!" She played offended.
"What's this?" He pointed at her Bloomingdale bag that she used to carry her old coffee-stained red blouse in.
"Oh, long story." She rolled her eyes as a smile crept on her face at the memory, wiping away the careless tears that escaped her eye just a second ago.
"You went to Bloomingdale today?" Loke furrowed his brows in confusion, knowing she couldn't afford such a high-standard shop.
His natural habit of being a lawyer made him question everything, which Lucy finds obnoxiously annoying.
She nodded,
"Yeah, I got coffee all over my blouse so I had to buy a new one." She stepped towards her bag, opening it up to take her blouse out so she could put it in the laundry.
As she's doing so, she finds a loose thick paper folded deep in the bag.
"What's this?..." She mumbled to herself as she reached her full arm into the bag, picking it up.
She unfolded it impatiently, curious to know what it was.
"Thursday.
7 PM.
Little-Shrimp Restaurant.
See you there.
-Nathan"
_______________
2389 Words
Well... now you know why Natsu moved his meeting on Thursday to Today ;)
I need to know your thoughts on this story so far! Please let me know <3
I'd like to know your impressions on it since it's still fresh. :)
I hope you enjoyed this chapter & I hope you're liking where this is going <3