Rule Number Eight:
It's not called stalking;
It's called meant to be.
oOo
There's something wrong with me. There's nothing wrong with me. Something wrong with me. Nothing wrong with me. Something wrong with me. Nothing wrong with me. Something. Nothing. Something. Nothing. Something. Nothin—Sakura paused in the middle of her thoughts and tilted her head to the left a little, following the direction of Syaoran's ass. God knows why she was looking at his ass. She just found herself looking at it when he walked by, and she couldn't stop looking at it ever since. Nice butt.
She slapped herself back to reality. No. Way. She did not say that Li Syaoran had a nice butt—what in the world was she thinking! He did not have a nice butt... just a very nice piece of bun-bun.
Okay, Sakura... seriously. Get a grip of yourself. No more thinking or looking at him. Got that? Sakura told herself.
It was bad enough that she dreamt about him every now and then. She didn't need to add more problems to her life by checking him out every second he passed by. It wasn't that she wanted to look at him. She just wanted to see if there was a difference between the dream Syaoran and the real Syaoran. So far, she got nothing.
"Like what you see?"
Sakura snapped out of her thoughts. "H-Hoe?"
"You've been looking at my ass all morning," he smirked slightly. "How is it? From one to ten, I bet I'm a ten plus right?"
Sakura rolled her eyes. "Once again, you are so full of it."
"I know I'm full of hotness," he said. "You don't have to remind me all the time—once is enough to let me know that you love me."
"You are hopeless."
"Do you have any plans today?"
"What do you mean? Don't we have work today?"
"It's Saturday," he said dryly.
It is?
The week went by so fast she almost forgot that it was Saturday already. Sakura couldn't believe it. She was still breathing after working with Li Syaoran for a full week. It was a miracle. She didn't know how she did it, but she did it. She survived the first week of work with the man.
Now, all she had to do next was to survive one more week until he moved his ass back to his own apartment, and she didn't have to see his face again—well, outside of work that was. Sakura was getting sick of his face. She saw him everywhere.
He was the first thing she saw in the morning and the last thing she saw before she closed her eyes. She had to deal with him outside of work hours and at work, not to mention that she even saw his stupid face in the shower. Unfortunately for Sakura, his stupid ego led him into putting a picture of himself on the bathroom wall. One time, Sakura was walking by the bathroom and she caught him talking to the picture—it was NOT a sight she wanted to see.
One more week, Sakura... One more week.
You can do it.
Just. One. More. Week.
"Oh," Sakura replied quietly. "Not sure. You?"
"What I do every week."
"Watching porn?"
He scoffed. "You have to throw that at me every chance you get, don't you?"
Sakura smiled innocently. "But isn't that what you do?"
"Are you interested in joining me, Miss Kinomoto?"
"N-Not even in your dreams!" Sakura stuttered, trying to hide her embarrassment.
"Don't you mean your dreams?" He quickly threw the comeback at her and walked away, leaving a speechless Sakura to replay his words in her head. Oh, Kami-sama. What did he...?
Sakura was afraid of the possibilities. He couldn't have known about her... dreams... could he?
She prayed that he didn't.
Note to self: From now on, tape mouth up before going to sleep.
"So, how do I look?" He asked as he came back into the room.
Sakura stared at the man before her with open mouth. He was wearing a casual suit, but it wasn't too informal either, and his hair was tamed unlike the messy style he always had. His dress shirt was unbuttoned at the top, slightly showing the tan skin of his muscular chest. He looked... hot. Heck! Sakura might even go crazy and throw in the unbearable word that he had once used. You know... "the F word"...
"W-what's the special occasion?" she asked curiously.
He grinned. "I already told you. I'm going to do what I always do on my weekend," he answered. "Fishing."
Fishing? Who was crazy enough to go fishing while dressing like that? Like hell, wasn't he worried about getting his clothes dirty? Judging from his taste in coffee table, his choice of clothes must have been pricey as well. Fishing—he freaking dressed up like a God to go fishing. What was so great about rearing in a bunch of smelly fish out of a lake?!
"You're going fishing in that?" Sakura had to ask. If only she had kept her mouth shut...
Syaoran was confused by her question. "What else would I wear if I'm going fishi—oh my god!" he started laughing uncontrollably. "You think I'm going fishing for real?"
"Well, you said you were going fishing."
"You seriously need to get out more," he said. "I meant—I'm going to fish for girls."
Sakura let out a silent 'oh'.
"Tell me... when people say 'there are plenty of fishes in the sea', what do you think they mean?"
"That there's a lot of fish in the sea," Sakura replied. "There are sharks, flounders, clown fish, angelfish, trout, catfish..." And the list went on.
Syaoran ruffled her hair. "You have a lot to learn, my dear Sakura. A lot." He quickly looked at his watch. "Well, got to go. I'll give you your lessons some other time," he said. "I'll either come home late or not come home at all."
He gave her a quick wink and slipped out the door before she could open her mouth to say something. Sakura sighed. He was a fast worker bee, wasn't he?
Sakura looked at the time. It wasn't even ten in the morning yet. Tomoyo was probably still in bed. After all, it was a Saturday morning and last night was a Friday night—you know what that meant. Ohh, yes.
Sakura grinned evilly and took out her cell phone, speed dialing her friend's home phone number. "Sakura, for God's sake!" cried a certain agitated black-haired man, whom she loved very dearly.
"Rise and shine, Eriol-kun!" Sakura giggled. "Did I call at a bad time?"
Eriol growled. "It's your friend." Sakura heard him said to Tomoyo while mumbling something about 'kill kill kill' and 'stab choke stab'.
"Sakura," her friend's voice sounded very exhausted, "Why so early?"
"I'm bored..." Sakura replied. "And I couldn't resist the urge to annoy your man."
"Congrats, you did what you set out to do."
"Are you free today?"
"Yeah. Eriol is leaving for a two days business trip, " Tomoyo answered.
"Is that the reason behind last night's special occasion?" Sakura teased her friend, already knowing the answer herself. Tomoyo and Eriol never needed any kind of reasons to have a special occasion.
"The girls and I are thinking of clubbing tonight," the other girl quickly changed the subject. "Want to go? Or will your roommate miss you too much to let you go?"
Sakura rolled her eyes at the girl's sarcastic remark. "I don't like him."
"Whatever you say, Sakura. Whatever you say." Sakura could tell that the other girl was grinning from chin to chin on the other line. "If you don't like clubbing then we can just have movie night at my place."
Sakura never really liked the 'club' scenes—they were loud, rowdy, and God knows what kind of people went there. The last time Sakura went to a club was also her first time, and she never stepped foot into a club after that. Whenever the girls went to clubbing, they tried not to let her know about it so she didn't feel left out, but she found out eventually when their conscience ate their guts to pieces.
"I'll go," said Sakura.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah," she said again. "About time I give it a second try, right?"
"It'll be better this time I promise!" Tomoyo exclaimed excitedly. "It was a 'college' club that you went to."
"What's the difference?" Sakura asked. "Don't all clubs have music and alcohol?"
"Yes, but this is a 'grown up' club and you get more choices."
Sakura laughed. "Tomoyo, I just want to pass my Saturday night by doing something. It's not like I am looking for someone to devote the rest of my life to—just to remind you again, I am engaged."
"Yeah. Yeah. I don't see any ring on your finger yet," said the other girl. "That's a sign to the world that you are still available. And who knows? You might find your soul mate at the club—I found Eriol, and Chiharu found Takashi."
Sakura rolled her eyes. "Yeah, tell me again why I'm going if by 'more choices' you meant those."
"Ha. Ha. Very funny."
"Just playing, Tomo-chan! You know I love your man." Okay. That was a big fat lie.
"I'll meet you at the club tonight okay, Sakura? I have to work an extra shift today, and I'm going straight to the club after work." Sakura frowned. She was hoping the girl could hang out with her for the rest of the day. "Are you okay with going there by yourself?"
"Yeah."
"I have to get ready for work now."
"See you tonight."
And they ended their phone call. Sakura fell back on the couch and let out a heavy sigh. What to do for the next seven or eight hours? What was there to do anyway?
I seriously need to get myself a new life.
zZz
"What got into you today?"
Sakura looked up from her drink and stared at the man sitting across from her. "What do you mean?"
"One, you didn't complain about anything this morning when you saw me," said the silver-haired man. "And two, you invited me into your apartment for a drink and snacks."
"Maybe I want to get to know you better?"
"Are you asking me that, or telling me that?"
Sakura groaned. What the heck was I thinking? Was she that bored?
She couldn't ask Nakuru to go shopping with her because the woman was still out of the country. Her Otou-san had to give a lecture class that day while Tomoyo and the other girls all had to work. She'd tried talking to the other tenants in the building, but all they could talk about was how hot Syaoran was. That was no fun. Sakura refused to call her 'roommate' up and ask what he was up to, therefore, she was left with the option to make small talk with Yue, the other hot but very crazy male specimen in the building.
"So, how did you become a landlord?" asked Sakura.
"Inherited the place."
"That's cool." And came the long awkward pause. Sakura fiddled nervously with her hands. "You and Syaoran seem to know each other very well."
"We've known each other for a while," the man replied.
I wonder if they're secretly in love... Sakura had no idea what gave her that thought.
"I'm not into men," he said all of a sudden as if answering her question. "And even if I am, my taste isn't bad enough to like him."
Note to self: Syaoran and Yue are both freaks that can read people's mind.
"No wonder Syaoran likes living with you," he snorted. "You're easy to read like an open book."
Sakura glared at the man. "I'm not easy!"
The silver-haired man smirked. "Only Syaoran would know about that. I only said you're easy to read."
Another note to self: They're both perverts.
"Wait—he likes living with me?"
Yue sighed. "I believe that's what I said."
"Did he tell you that?"
"It's my own assumption."
"You assume that he likes living with me?"
"It's a very logical assumption," he said. "If he doesn't like to live with you, then why is he living with you?"
That didn't really help at all. He just asked her a question to answer a question she asked him—some stupid explanation that was.
"How long have you two known each other?" asked Sakura.
"Since the day he was born."
"Wow. You two go way back?"
"Something like that."
"Then you must know a lot about him, right?"
The older man looked at her with a suspicious look. "Okay, what do you want from me? I knew you were being too nice."
"N-no! That isn't what I meant..." Sakura stuttered. "I just want to know a few things about him cause I'm w-working with him and all... you know?"
"If you want to get information on him, just say so."
"I d-don't."
Yue rolled his eyes. "He never had a girlfriend."
"W-what?" Sakura blinked a couple of times, trying to refresh the words in her head. "He never had a girlfriend?"
"One-night stands and flings, but never a girlfriend."
Sakura rolled her eyes exasperatedly. She had thought the other man could be a decent guy when she heard that he never had a girlfriend, but then five seconds later, she was told that he had flings and one-night stands only. That sure boosted the guy's image in her mind.
"He must've been a pain growing up, huh?"
"We bumped into each other again about a year ago," Yue replied slowly. "We didn't have any contact before that."
"How come?"
"He was his mother's pride and joy. His mother moved the family abroad so he could get a good education. He lived in America most of his life, and he moved back to Japan after earning a Master's Degree."
Sakura was surprised hearing about Syaoran's accomplishments. It was just hard to believe the man that seemed like he wanted to eat her alive was capable of doing those things. Were they talking about the same Li Syaoran, or was Yue thinking about some other dude out there with the same first and last name?
"Why is he a plumber now?"
Yue rubbed his temples. "I'll probably get a headache trying to explain his profession to you, so ask him when you can."
"Where are you going?" Sakura asked when he started to stand up.
"Back to work," he said. "The bills aren't going to pay themselves."
Sakura pouted sadly. If Yue was busy—and he rarely had anything to do other than sit on his butt all day, watching stupid movies—then Sakura was doomed to be bored out of her mind for the next four or five hours.
"If you're so bored, I suggest walking around."
She sighed slightly and said goodbye to him at the door. He did have a point. 'Fun' wasn't going to come and knock on her door. Sakura grabbed her things and headed out the door, determined to find something productive to waste her time on. She didn't have to meet the girls at the club until later, and it was a long, long time away.
Sakura was exiting the apartment building when she caught a glimpse of the small bakery that was located on the right. She had walked by the bakery a few times, but never had a chance to go inside and check it out. What the heck? She was bored out of her mind.
She stepped into the bakery, surprised to see that it was clean from ceiling to floor—it looked so run down on the outside.
"I'll help you in a minute, please look around!" an old lady said as she checked out two people that was standing at the register.
Sakura decided to walk around the shop a bit. She was looking at the pastry selection when someone suddenly knocked her over. "Hey, watch where you're—"
The person was long out of the shop before she could finish her sentence. She assumed that whoever bumped into her was utterly rude and needed to get their eyes and ears checked. One, they needed to learn to look where they were walking. Two, the person should have been able to hear Sakura screamed her head off... of course, unless he or she was deaf.
Sakura looked out the window, wondering if she could see whoever bumped into her. Then she saw a figure that looked sort of like Syaoran, walking with another woman. Sakura quickly ran out the shop, but the figures were gone.
"Sakura, you're seeing things." She told herself, and walked back into the bakery.
"I'm sorry," the old woman approached her. "I was helping the couple earlier."
So it was a couple that left.
But what are the chances of the guy being Syaoran?
Besides... he's out 'fishing'.
"May I help you?"
"Do you have a chocolate cake?" Sakura asked.
She was in the mood for something chocolatey and sweet on a very dull day.
"I'm sorry. The man from earlier bought our last chocolate cake. Would you like something else?"
Sakura smiled. "It's okay. I'll come back another time," she said.
She exited the bakery wondering to herself what she should do next. It wasn't like she had options to choose from; she simply had nothing to do. As she was walking down the street, a cab passed by slowly and she swore that she saw Syaoran in the back seat. Sakura shook herself back to reality.
Okay, Sakura... stop imagining things, she told herself. He is far, far away from this area, fishing for God knows what.
She decided that she was going to waste the next few hours with a productive beauty nap. She headed back to her own apartment. She was surprised to find a white box on the table with a little note by it.
'I came back, but you weren't home. Hope you like chocolate cake, but don't eat all of it and save me some.'
Sakura quickly ran out the door and fled down the stairs, running breathlessly towards the small bakery again.
"Welcome back," said the old woman.
She tried catching her breaths. "The man that bought the chocolate cake earlier..." she started saying. "Did he have brown hair and amber eyes, and looked like he was in his twenties?"
The woman nodded.
It was him.
Syaoran...
Sakura thanked the woman and left. Her mind was puzzled with what to think—what could she think about? Maybe he just wanted to be nice and bought her a chocolate cake. But wasn't he out enjoying his fishing trip? Why did he think of her while he was on a date without another woman, possibly two or three of them? It wasn't a big deal... right?
But then, why was she breathing so hard?
She picked her phone out of her purse and slowly dialed his number, telling herself to stay calm and that she was only being courteous by thanking him properly.
"Sakura?" the other line picked up.
"Um... h-hi," she said. "Just wanted to call and say t-thanks."
He chuckled lightly on the other line. "That's all?"
"Hai."
"So what are you doing?" He asked after a very long awkward pause.
"Nothing much," she answered, leaning her back against a street pole. "I had a chat with Yue today and we had tea."
"Really?" Syaoran sounded amused by the topic. "And you didn't shoot yourself in the head?"
Sakura giggled. "Not yet. He's not all that bad—quite helpful really."
"Really? Surprised to hear that," he chuckled.
"Li-san, hang up the phone. Let's watch the movie!" Sakura heard a feminine voice said on the other line.
She heard a low sigh on the other line and there was a long pause before Syaoran said something. "Hey, sorry but I can't talk right now—stupid people are shushing me. Call you later?"
"It's okay," Sakura said quickly. "I'll just see you later."
"Sakura—"
She hung up before he could finish his sentence. He was on a date... well, obviously he was on a date. Sakura wasn't sure why she had felt something tightening onto her chest when she heard the woman's voice on the other line. Just the thought of him leaving her for someone else... saddened her a bit. She supposed it was because she had gotten used to having his attention on her only. She was so used to him being around her that she kind of missed their usual spats with each other.
She hadn't seen him for like what four or five hours and she was missing him?
Hoeee. My life is so screwed.
Well, at least she knew where he was. It didn't take a genius to put 'movie' and 'people shushing' together to figure out that he was at the movies. But it wasn't like the new piece of information was going to do anything. So, what if she knew where he was? What was she going to do?
zZz
Sakura sat in the ice cream shop across the street from the movie theater, looking at the theater's entrance carefully while she enjoyed the banana split in front of her. It was her fourth one that day.
Just how long is the freaking movie?!
He should have been out by now! Unless he already left. Sakura slammed her hands onto the table in frustration. She just wasted about fifteen dollars worth of ice cream for nothing.
Actually... what was she doing anyway?
Why was she waiting for him to get out? No. No. She wasn't waiting for him. She just happened to be eating at the ice cream parlor across the street from the movie theater that he happened to be at. It was all a coincidence.
"What flavor do you want?"
Sakura snapped out of her thoughts. That voice—!
She saw Syaoran approaching the counter with a brown haired woman. Sakura quickly slid out of her chair and curled herself together under the table, hoping they would just go and he wouldn't notice her.
"Li-san, do you want to sit down?"
Please say no. Get out. Get out. Go already!
There was a long pause before he replied. "Let's not," he finally answered.
Sakura sighed in relief when she heard the door close. She poked her head out from under the table, ignoring the strange looks people were giving her. Why did people have to be so nosy? She was getting up from her hiding spot when she saw Syaoran and the woman standing outside the display window. She ducked under the table again, cursing to herself.
They just had to pick that spot to stand and enjoy their 'love-combo' ice cream cones, didn't they?
Sakura, this is your just desserts. She told herself.
zZz
Where are you?!
Sakura groaned after reading the text.
'I'm... busy.' She sent the reply.
Oh, Kami-sama... this is the price that I pay.
She groaned again, looking up at the four walls that surrounded her. She was stuck in the women's dressing room. It wasn't that she couldn't get out—it was just a matter of her not being able to get out with a certain brown haired man standing outside the door.
Okay, let's rewind and see how she even got to this point.
After finishing their ice creams, Syaoran and the woman dropped by a bookstore, where they spent two and a half hours making out in the anthropology section—no one really cared about that section anyway. Then they went to grab a nice cup of coffee downtown, and they went to the mall after that. The woman dragged Syaoran into a few shops, and then she decided to get a little slutty and pulled him into a lingerie shop. Sakura felt sickening to the stomach. And then, somewhere between trying not to be discovered and running into the closest available dressing room, Syaoran ended up standing in front of the stall Sakura was in.
What did she do to deserve this?
She was stuck in the darn dressing room for hours—just how long did it take that woman to pick a freaking lingerie? Syaoran was probably going to rip it apart anyway, so why the hell was that woman being so picky?!
She was supposed to meet the girls at the club half an hour ago, but she couldn't go anywhere with him standing outside the door. Hoeeeee!!
An object suddenly landed on her face. Sakura held the lingerie in front of her with a puzzled look. What the...?
"It'll look good on you." Sakura clasped a hand over her mouth when she recognized whose voice it was. "Will you come out, or do I have to come in there?"
Sakura took in a deep breath and opened the door slowly, feeling embarrassed about being caught. Did he know all along that she was casually following him? Just to be clear, she was not stalking him. Uh-uh. No way! She just happened to walk in the same directions as him...the whole day.
"H-hi," she smiled nervously.
Syaoran cocked his eyebrow at her with a big smirk on his face and his arms across his chest. "Humor me," he said.
"What a coincidence bumping into you, Syaoran!" It didn't hurt to try... right? "How was your date? Were you able to catch any fish—sharks, salmons, catfish, Moby Dick?"
"Hn."
"Syaoran...?" One moment, he was standing in front of her with an unexplainable expression on his face, and the next... he was pushing her into the dressing room, closing the door behind them. "Syaoran, what are you...?"
"It's either you've been stalking me all day long," he smirked. "Or we were meant to be."
Yup, Sakura thought dryly in her mind. He definitely knew that she was tailing him.
"Your girlfriend isn't going to be happy when she finds you like this," Sakura said.
"Sakura, you're really an idiot..." He whispered into her ears, and suddenly wrapped his arms gently around her waist, holding her tightly against his body.
Her mind told her to push him away, but her heart told her that it was okay... that it felt so right to be in his arms. Sakura wasn't sure why these foreign feelings were going through her head; it was so strange and new to her at the same time. And in the next second, Sakura found herself doing what she never thought she would do—she gently placed her head on his shoulder, taking in the sweet scent that belonged to him.
"Syaoran..." she said slowly. "I'm not an idiot."