"Be patient when it seems things are not going right and may never be right again. Accept that what is yours will come to you in the right way at just the right moment." — Iyanla Vanzant
Chapter 5
Xian
"She was right, you know..." he softly said to his wife as he caressed her arm. It was two in the morning and he was lying in bed restless thanks to the events that had transpired last night in his house. His son's reaction after realizing what was happening with Sakura left no doubt on his mind that he still felt something for her. Even if Syaoran had learned how to mask his emotions he was still not good enough to masked them from his father. He had been watching the whole scene from a corner before deciding to step in.
Yelan turned to face him, "Who are you talking about love?"
"Sakura." He took a trend of hair out of her face and kept enjoying having her on his arms.
She loved the touch of his hands on her skin. With time she had learned that for him it was a gesture that spoke his emotions through it. When he was preoccupied he would touch her one way, when he wanted to be romantic he would touch her differently, but his caresses in the middle of the night only meant he was in a thoughtful mood. Right now, his lack of sleep and gentleness only told her there was something bothering him inside and he was still thinking on how to deal with it.
His light almost hazel auburn eyes were his greatest attribute for Yelan. She could easily drown herself in his lovable eyes. "About what?" she asked.
"Syaoran came into my office yesterday and asked to buy the soccer terrain. He wants to make improvements to it with the purpose of running his own league."
Yelan stood silenced for about a minute. She softly put her hand in his chest, "I thought we had agreed that he could stay playing soccer Xian. You promised."
"I didn't ask him Yelan, he came to buy it."
"And you think it's because of her?"
"I'm not saying it is."
She turned to look at the ceiling and think about this for a moment, "He's not meant for the office. We both know that. He has never in his life run anything, much less a business."
He smiled and put his arm around her to snuggle closer to her. "Do you think Xiefa is ready to take the office then?"
"We've been training her, haven't we?"
"Even if Sakura is not around?"
She surprisingly looked at him, "What are you getting at?"
He smiled sweetly at her and caressed her face, "Nothing. It's just a question." He gave her a quick kiss and closed his eyes signaling this conversation was over at least for tonight. He had no doubt his wife would try to get more information from him but she would probably do it subtly, in an indirect way. Her cunning ways made her even more lovable to him. It was like a game and he had just played his first card.
~ o ~
She couldn't sleep by Jun's side tonight. There were so many things bothering her she wouldn't even know where to start. His misplaced jealousy was something she hated dealing with. I mean, she knew she should have told him yet there was something that always held her back from doing so. Come to think about it... there was always something that held her back every time she had to talk about her past to anyone.
She walked slowly down the corridors of the large mansion. Red curtains adorned the end of the hallway with a half table set below the window. Visiting Xiefa throughout the years always made her wonder how Syaoran had spent his childhood in this house. She could clearly see why he spoke of it not too fondly as everything was so perfectly organized. Not that he was a disorganized person but a child growing up in these circumstances would never be able to enjoy his childhood to the fullest.
She turned towards her right and went down the stairs to the first floor. No doubt sleep wouldn't find her any time soon tonight. She walked into the kitchen without bothering to turn the lights on and looked through the fridge. It was full of things the entire family liked. Wei always made sure to satisfy each member of the family when it came to doing the groceries. She could see Xiefa's favorite chocolates in a corner, Feimei and Fanren's favorite strawberry shortcake dessert in another corner... there was nothing missing in this fridge. After looking at several racks in the fridge, she finally came to the last one where a bowl of fresh strawberries caught her attention. She slowly took it out and placed it on the stand alone bar. She opened the plastic and started eating one.
'Mmm! Note to self, I need to ask him where he got these. They are perfect!' she thought. As she was about to take another strawberry, she looked up and found Syaoran watching her from one of the table's seat. Her heart skipped a beat but she recovered from it. She put her hand in her chest and took a deep breath. "You scared me!" she softly said. "Since when do you like hiding in the dark?"
She could feel him smirk, "Maybe around the same time you started sleepwalking into the fridge."
She chuckled, "I couldn't sleep."
He watched with much fascination as she took another strawberry into her mouth. The way she put it into her lips, the way her mouth savor every last bit of the strawberry, the way her face used to soften up when she swallowed it... every little movement she made he found alluring.
She curiously looked at him, "What?"
"Are they that good?" He stood up and walked towards the bar.
She chuckled and nodded.
He grabbed a strawberry from the bowl and ate it. "You're right, these are good."
She chuckled, "I need to ask Wei where he got these. They taste different from the last ones he brought."
He listened to her carefully while eating the strawberries with her. "Since when have you been my sister's best friend?"
"Since I came to China. Not just Xiefa, they have all been very nice."
He ate about three more strawberries before softly saying, "You didn't have to leave."
She looked at him, "Did you honestly think I could've stayed?"
He didn't hold her stare for long as he reached for another strawberry and ate it. "You know, when I was a kid I remember my father always had the last word in my house. Whatever he wanted we all had to comply with it. A true head of the family... building Li Corporation has always been his life. I remember spending time with him aside from the dinner table was near impossible."
"He has always loved you and your sisters even if he sometimes doesn't show it."
He smiled. "I remember I used to play with my soccer ball on the backyard of this house. He hated it. 'You should stop wasting your time kicking balls and start maturing into your future as the heir of Li Corporation.' He used said. I always ended up crying in my room till my mother comforted me. I still don't know how she convinced my father into letting me play but she did."
"She loves your father and he loves her very much. You can see it in his eyes. Perhaps saying no to her has always been his weakness."
He shook his head, "My father has never been weak Sakura. I feel like I owe my mother a lot. If she hadn't come up with the idea of letting me play till I started the university and got my bachelor's degree in business, I wouldn't be here right now. I'm pretty sure that for him letting me play pro must have been her plea or idea as well, but this time I don't know what she gave in exchange for letting me play."
"Does it matter?" she asked.
"What?"
"To you, does it matter how she did it? You're doing what you love. Even your father enjoys going to your games now. I'm sure watching you play and having fun in the field is worth whatever she did for you."
But it wasn't enough for him. His father had always been a business man even throughout his son's childhood years. He shook his head and said, "I want to know."
She chuckled. "You take after him, you know..." She took another strawberry into her mouth.
He frowned, "What? I don't remember me being that controlling."
"Your father is the reason why you can lead inside the field Syaoran. There's no way you don't know that," she said in a matter of fact way.
He frowned. "I'm not sure if I should take that as a compliment yet."
She chuckled. She took a deep breath before finally saying, "Thank you for not fighting earlier."
He took his last strawberry on his hand and calmly said, "I'm not a patient man Sakura. You know this so you better learn how to control your boy toy or else you'll have to deal with the consequences."
She sighed, "He's not my boy toy Syaoran he's my boyfriend."
There was something so wrong about that sentence to him. He didn't know Jun well and yet he disliked everything about the guy already. Irritation usually found its way to him whenever he heard from Jun since that first moment he saw him at Sakura's side in the elevator. He stared at her, "A boyfriend would never put your life at risk for something that happened in the past."
"Where you the one that told him?" she asked.
Syaoran shook his head, "Meiling did. But still, that's not reason enough to put your life in danger."
"Can you blame him?"
"I don't care." He quickly said. "Don't expect me to hold back if it ever happens again."
She watched him as he turned around and walked away eating his last strawberry. As she watched his back fading away into the living room, she thought on how difficult it must have been for him to hold back. Since she had met him, she knew how protective he was of those closest to him. Even after separating herself from him she knew if this were ever to happen again he would make good on his promise.
~ o ~
"Where were you?" Jun asked. He had woken up in the middle of the night to find the rest of the bed empty.
"I wanted a snack so I went to the kitchen. I brought you strawberries in case you wanted some." She simply replied.
He watched her sit right next to him with the strawberries on hand. "At this hour? You usually don't snack this late..."
She needed to fix this. If she wanted this relationship to work there was no denying that she would have to go back and explained to Jun what happened in her past or else he would not move on from this. And she desperately needed him to do so. She sighed and looked at him, "Don't interrupt me till I finish."
He nodded.
She took a deep breath, "Seven years ago I dated Syaoran, but it wasn't always like that. When I first met him, he was one of my first real friends at school. We didn't quite hit it off really well at the beginning but after getting to know each other we became really good friends. After a couple of months of knowing each other we started dating. We had what anyone would call a sweet high school romance throughout two years and eight months of our relationship. We dated for exactly three years and four months total and the last six months of our relationship we fought about every little thing you can possibly imagine. Our communication as a couple failed completely and the only thing it brought us was pain and heartaches. It was tiresome and suffocating, and after trying to endure it he ended up breaking up with me, the reason being that he needed to focus on his career and I was holding him back." She caressed his face and smiled. "I can assure you there is nothing going on between us but it does feel weird to see him again after so many years and I'm sure that for him it should be the same." She saw him nod and, in silent, mimic if he could ask now a question. She smiled and nodded.
"Did he know you were here?" he asked.
"No. He's not used to visiting his family. I guess after starting his pro career in Japan it was more difficult to do so because of his team's schedule. And since his mother visited him quite often in Japan I'm also guessing he never felt the need to do so either."
He nodded and sat up in front of her. "I'm sorry for what I said before. It's just... I've patiently waited for you. I've tried to understand everything you have needed me to since I met you Sakura. I've understood that your work takes up a lot of your time, I've tried to make peace with that sister of his for the last three years because she is a dear friend of yours, I've understood that whenever you're having a bad day it's better to leave you alone till you come and look for me, but babe... this is not something you can ask me to understand."
She shook her head, "I know I should've told you before, but trust me when I say I didn't thought it was that important. And I didn't mention anything before because when I left I just wanted to start again. I wanted to forget about my past and just start again and right now I can assure you Jun there's nothing going on between us baby." She ran her hands through her hair frustrated.
Jun looked away, "You've always asked me to tell you how I feel." He looked back at her, "I don't trust him Sakura."
"Then trust me Jun." She smiled and caressed his face, "Syaoran and I were done seven years ago. And right now we both have what we wanted. He has his career just like he dreamt of having and I have my life with you. And this is the way things are."
He nodded and hugged her. "I'm really sorry for getting mad at you earlier."
She shook her head and sighed, "No, I should have told you earlier."
~ o ~
Two weeks later the weather finally started to clear up. In the mornings the cold was still pretty much there but right after noon the beginning of spring could be felt in the relaxing breeze. In Meiling's books, that was considered a perfect day.
She was humming to herself while looking at a magazine Carli had told her to check for new trends coming out on the market. It was important that even when she was on her mini vacations she would stay up-to-date with the latest fashion. "Xiefa, do you think we can get Sakura out of the office today?"
Xiefa calmly ate her breakfast while looking through the business section of today's newspaper. "What for?"
"Shopping! Tomoyo and I want to go shopping just like old times."
Xiefa passed one of the pages and uninterestedly asked, "And you need Sakura for that?"
"Off course! We were three before your brother decided to screw everything up."
"Meiling!" Tomoyo shook her head. If Xiefa had minded the comment she never showed any signs of doing so. She merely chuckled and continued reading her newspaper. "Forgive your cousin Xiefa. Sometimes she talks too much for her own good. But I guess what she means is do you think your father would mind if we take Sakura for a day?"
Xiefa took a sip of her coffee and shook her head. "Nope. I'm sure he won't mind at all since it's her day off."
Meiling's eyes brightened. "Yes! Then we can ask her to come."
Xiefa looked at Tomoyo, "I'll text you her apartment address. You'll probably find her trying to do another new recipe she probably found searching Pinterest."
"This early?" Tomoyo asked.
Xiefa nodded. "She first reads a couple of recipes and, after finding the one she wants to try, she goes to the supermarket to get the stuff. And, since Jun is out of town again, I'm pretty sure she would probably try a hard one just to keep herself busy for the day."
"Not this time! We're going shopping. Come on Tomoyo! Let's go get Sakura before she starts cooking and doesn't have time for us." Meiling eagerly said. Determination already set on her mind.
"You don't want to come with us?" Tomoyo asked.
Xiefa shook her head. "Unlike Sakura, I don't usually like to take days off. There's always something to take care off in the office for me." She smiled as she put her newspaper down and walked towards the stairs to get ready for the day.
Tomoyo chuckled but nonetheless followed her friend out the door and into the car. After following Xiefa's directions, they were able to find the apartment complex with the name of 'Garden View' engraved in stone right next to a beautiful waterfall that adorned the front of the property. They put the code Xiefa had given them in the box in front of the gate and waited for the electric gate to open itself.
"This complex is nice. No wonder she never thought of going back to Japan." Tomoyo thoughtfully said as they passed a couple of townhouses with beautiful gardens on the way to finding Sakura's. A small park could be found in the middle of the complex. She could see some people where jogging around the park while others were walking or sitting in a small bench right in front of a lake. It was a peaceful place to live in.
A couple of minutes later they finally found her apartment. Meiling parked her car in front of it when she saw the number 1723 in a small plaque adorning the front of the door. They both got out of the car and she quickly knocked on the door.
Sakura opened the door and was surprised of seeing them outside of her door. "Girls! What are you doing here?"
"Well, we are going shopping and wanted to know if you wanted to come as well." Tomoyo said.
"This is a nice place you have here Sakura." Meiling looked around as she confidently invited herself in. A 60" TV was placed in the wall to her left with a white round leather sofa and a small crystal round coffee table in front of it. In the far side from the door she could see a crystal dining table with wooden contemporary chairs and a small bar on the right that looked towards the kitchen. At the right of the TV, in between the dining room and the living room there was a closed door which she could probably guess was her room.
"Thanks. Come in." she said although the only one that was actually waiting to get in was Tomoyo. "You guys want something to drink?"
"I can do with a little water. When I get back into modeling again I'm afraid I'll be so out of shape that I won't be able to model anything at all."
Tomoyo rolled her eyes. "You've never had problem with your weight before Meiling."
Sakura chuckled but went to get the water for them. "What are you getting at the mall?"
Tomoyo chuckled, "Meiling needs to buy something for Kyu."
Sakura gave them their water and frowned. "Isn't Kyu's birthday on November?"
Tomoyo nodded, "Yeah... it's not that kind of gift. Let's just say she will need to ask for forgiveness soon."
Meiling rolled her eyes and scoffed, "Oh, is not like it's a big deal. I just did a shoot he'll probably not like."
"Probably?" Tomoyo smirked.
"Alright! He won't like." She rolled her eyes and excitedly looked at Sakura. "Well, let's go. It'll be just like old time."
Sakura chuckled and nodded. "Let me get my purse and we're out of here."
~ o ~
He swam another hundred meters. Even if their coach had given them two weeks off before starting practices again he couldn't stay put without doing anything. He needed to be in shape, he needed to be strong. He wanted that trophy as if his life depended on it. There was nothing that could stop him from preparing for the tournament, not even these two weeks off. Eriol and Kyu had told him they would at least take a few days since their girlfriends were in town but that was not his case.
He turned under water and started another hundred meter swim. His mind wandered to its latest favorite topic named Sakura, something that clearly was bothering him already. There was something that always pulled him towards her, he knew that much. Seven years away from her were not enough to forget her. Another thing he clearly knew too well. And then to find her again but dating that moron who didn't even care for her life... What was she thinking? She had never been weak... much less let a man decide what she needed to do. It was never in her, and yet that night she had let him make the decision without even having a say on it. He even watched as Jun silenced her with a stare. I mean, he could clearly see she didn't love him. What in the world was she still doing with him?
He reached the end of his lap and reclined himself on the cement by the end of the pool. He took his goggles out and tried to catch his breath. He checked the timer on his watch to make sure he had made the whole circuit on time and stopped the watch from keep going.
"Did you make it?"
He looked up to find his mother smiling at him. She was wearing long pants and a loose elegant shirt as she sat down on one of the pool chairs.
He nodded. "I need to write this time. Tomorrow I'll have to do better."
"Will you be staying the whole week?" she sweetly asked.
"I'm not sure. The guys want to go to the cabin and stay a few days. Can we use it?"
She nodded. "When are you planning on going? I can send a few people to get it ready for you."
"It will have to be this weekend. Next week we start practices again."
She nodded. "Then I'll let Kani know so that she can pick up some members of the staff and prepare it for you. Do you need her to take some of your belongings as well?"
He shook his head. "It's fine. We'll probably just stay three days. We won't need much."
She nodded. "I was talking to your father the other day."
He got out of the pool and went to get his towel which was in the pool seat right next to his mother. He could already see where she was going with the whole sentence. "Don't tell me, the terrain?"
She smiled at her son, "What are you thinking with this?"
He sighed, "Mother, let me handle my own affairs."
She watched as he dried his hair first and insisted on staying with her task. "Your own affairs are coinciding with a terrain bought by Li Corporation. Until a decision has been reached on the sale of this terrain I am entitled to get information of it."
He shook his head and smiled. "That may be right but the information you're entitled to have is only the one that comes from your offices, not from me."
"Then let's just say, as a mother off course, I'm curious to know why my son instead of thinking of signing a contract on a European soccer league is more concerned with signing a contract to buy a terrain in China."
He dried the rest of his body and rested the towel on his neck before looking at her, "It's my money. I can do whatever I want with it."
"It may be your money but you are my son. Does this have anything to do with Sakura by any chance?"
Dealing with his mother had never been an easy task for him yet hearing Sakura's name on her lips made him warn her, "Leave her out of this mother."
"Why should I? You have never been interested in returning to China. While you were away all these past years in Japan you never stepped one foot in here. The only thing I can think of that has changed is the fact that now you know she is been living here."
"This has nothing to do with her." He was already losing his patience after hearing Sakura's name in the conversation but stayed calmed knowing being casual about it was the only way his mother would leave him be.
"Doesn't it?" she asked.
He chuckled, "Regardless of how amusing I find your little theory, this has nothing to do with her. This is something I want to do on my own."
Yelan looked sternly at her son, "Syaoran, you've never run a business before. To be able to do it you need to invest much of your personal time in it so that it can be successful and right now you only have time for your training. Have you decided not to play pro in the European League then?"
After drying his hair once more with his towel, he put it around his waist and calmly said, "Mother, stop worrying. I haven't decided anything yet. Let me handle my life please," before walking back inside the house towards his room. As he was walking down the corridor, he found Eriol and Kyu walking towards him. "What are you guys doing here? I thought you were going out with your girlfriends."
"Oh, we are but we're giving them a little alone time so that they can enjoy themselves shopping." Eriol answered.
Syaoran chuckled, "You mean you're hiding from them?" He continued walking towards his room as Kyu and Eriol followed him while talking.
"Hey, we're not hiding!" Kyu said. "We're just giving them some girl alone shopping time before we finally go there. Do you want to come?"
Syaoran smirked, "Shopping? With Meiling and Tomoyo? Absolutely no."
"Yeah! You can come in and share our pain... I mean our joy of spending time with them on the mall." Eriol chuckled.
Syaoran chuckled and shook his head. "Thanks but I'll pass."
"You might want to reconsider."
He stopped and turned around to find Xiefa smirking with her hands crossed reclined against the wall right in front of his room. She had clearly been eavesdropping into their conversation as she was going up the stairs and couldn't help inviting herself into correcting her little brother's decision.
He narrowed his eyes at his sister. Out of all four of his sisters Xiefa was the one he trusted the least. He didn't hate her or anything like that in fact he loved all of his sisters. But out of all of them she was the most similar to his mother. Always conniving and controlling people into doing their biding. "Why would I?"
She smiled at him and shrugged, "Just a hunch." She winked at him before walking away towards her room which was located to the left of Syaoran's.
"Okay, that was weird." Eriol said.
"Yeah, no arguing there." Kyu said.
There was no doubt his sister was up to something. He knew her too well. "Let me change and I'll go with you guys."
Kyu looked at him surprised, "Really?"
He nodded before going into his room and closing the door after.
To Eriol, there was something off about what had just happened. He took out his cell phone and texted his girlfriend.
*Hey baby, are you two already there?
*Well, actually three. We picked Sakura up to come with us. Hope you guys won't mind."
Eriol scoffed. "I guess we're not the only ones who think those two belong together." He softly said as he showed his phone to Kyu.
Kyu looked at the message and smirked. He was pretty sure that Syaoran perfectly understood his sister's message before changing his mind. "Do you think we should ask Xiefa how to get rid of Jun?"
Eriol shook his head. "I think if she knew how to do so she would've done it a long time ago. Xiefa is not the type of person who waits to act. Plus she takes after auntie... calculating and mischievous."
~ o ~
After three hours alone in the mall and having tried hundreds of different outfits, the girls had decided to enter a small natural scent store on the corner of one of the hallways. Aside from cooking on her days off, Sakura loved to try different aromas. She was used to buying the small bubble bath balls with soft calming scent and used them on her bathtub whenever she had a day off. Feeling fresh was something that soothed her mood most of the time and trying on different aromas helped her calm her stress down.
"What about this one? Do you think Kyu will like it?" Meiling asked showing them a small bottle of oil for the skin that smelled like roses.
"Well, does he like a sweet scent or a strong scent?" Sakura asked her.
"I'm not sure. I mean, is not like he talks about how I smell." Meiling chuckled.
"Has he never given you a compliment on it Meiling?" Sakura asked.
She shook her head.
Sakura sighed. 'Looks like we're going to be here for a while,' she thought. "I'd try a sweet scent and if he doesn't say anything you might want to subtly ask him."
She nodded and put the bottle back in its shelf. She kept looking around the racks to try to find a sweet scent just like Sakura had suggested.
Sakura kept looking around the racks. She had recently purchased one of cherry blossoms and loved the smell of it. It was definitely one she wrote down on her favorites list. As she kept walking around the store, she found in one of the racks the store had brought a new scent of sandalwood. She stared at it before taking one of the testers and spraying a little bit of the body splash in one of the tester papers. The smell brought her back memories... memories she had well guarded with silence. She remembered too well how his pillows would always have this intoxicating smell on them.
"What is this smell?" Tomoyo took the paper out of her hands and smelled it as well. "Where have I smelled this before?"
Sakura recovered from her memory lane halt and smiled before quickly said, "It's a new scent. I hadn't seen this one here before."
Tomoyo nodded and smiled, "Smells good."
Sakura nodded, "Yeah, just not for me. I think I will help Meiling with finding a sweet one." She turned around to search for Meiling but instead found herself facing the one person she least wanted to see right now. "Syaoran!"
"You guys are still not done yet?" he grumpily asked.
Eriol and Kyu walked behind him with their hands on their pockets. When Eriol saw his girlfriend at Sakura's side he smiled. He walked towards her and gave her a quick kiss on the lips before asking, "How's shopping going?"
She raised the five bags she had on hand and smiled sweetly at him.
"That good huh..." he chuckled and took the bags from her hands. "Come on! Let's get Meiling and get out of here. I'm starving!"
The rest of them nodded and walked a few more steps till they reached the aisle she was in. She was looking at some of the sweeter scents when they arrived. "Oh, you guys are here already?"
"What are you doing babe?" Kyu curiously asked.
She quickly put the bottle she was looking at in the shelf before quickly replying, "Nothing. We're just looking around."
He gave her a quick kiss as well and grabbed her bags to walk out of the store. Unlike Tomoyo, Meiling was the one with the most bags on her hands so he had to use both hands to carry all the stuff she had bought. They walked out of the store and decided to eat at a sushi place that was conveniently right in front of the store.
"Oh Sakura, wait and see the plates they serve here. They are so good!" Meiling excitedly said as she dragged Sakura to walk at her side. A couple of minutes later they had picked their table and the waiter took their orders.
Meiling waited till the waiter was gone. She took the advantage that Sakura was here to bring up the topic of the cabin to her cousin knowing that with Sakura here they would probably have a better chance at been able to go. Or at least they used to in the past. Why change something that has worked before right? "Syaoran, we were thinking a couple of weeks ago how good it would be to relax at some place before I have to go back to work and you guys to practice, and coincidentally the cabin was mentioned. Do you think you can spare a few days to come with us before I ask auntie for it?"
"I already asked mother to borrow the cabin for this weekend for us." Syaoran simply said.
Sakura followed everyone's stare and looked at him. "You asked your mother?"
He nodded. "I think it's a good idea to relax for a few days before starting practice again."
Eriol touched Syaoran's forehead for a second. "Are you sick?"
"What are you doing?" he grumpily tossed Eriol's hand away and narrowed his eyes at him.
Kyu chuckled, "Well, since you never said anything when we mentioned it to you, we all thought you would say no."
"Mother is sending the staff to clean it up tomorrow so we can stay the weekend."
"Really?" Meiling excitedly asked.
"But no more than three days Meiling." He warned her.
Meiling squealed happily and nodded. "Sakura you'll be coming too, right?"
Sakura looked at Meiling, "I didn't know anything about this till now."
"Oh come on! Please!"
"There's enough room for all of us in the cabin if you decide to go." Syaoran added.
She nodded. "I'll check my schedule and let you guys know later."
"Oh, leave everything to Xiefa and just come."
She chuckled at Meiling's childish answer, "I'll see and let you know."
"Fine."
Twenty minutes later the food came. The table was occupied by several sushi rolls all with different toppings in them. While for many other people sushi tasted the same whether it was from China or Japan, for her sushi always tasted different depending on where she was eating it. Sakura grabbed the first one and to her surprise it was really good. She always had trouble when eating things that were traditionally from Japan in other countries but this one was good to her.
After enjoying their lunch, they all went to the front to pay for their meals. Eriol paid first. He signed his merchant receipt before allowing Kyu to go after him. He nudged him to take a look at Syaoran who was right behind Sakura waiting to pay as well. Kyu immediately caught the message and nodded. Eriol took Tomoyo's hand and left first towards the front of the restaurant to wait for the rest of them. Kyu quickly paid for Meiling's and his meal. "Come on." He softly said to Meiling. "We can wait with Eriol."
Meiling frowned while following her boyfriend but quickly caught on as well and smiled to herself.
Sakura took out her card but Syaoran put his on the counter. "Pay the rest out of this one."
She quickly took his card away from the waiter's hand and looked at Syaoran, "I will pay for my own meal."
He took his card away from her hand and placed it on top of the counter again. "I'm... inviting you on this lunch."
She narrowed her eyes at him and asked, "Is there a specific reason why you feel like you have to do this?"
"Do you need a specific reason?"
She put her hand on her waist. "Yes."
"Fine then... Consider it my thank you for the tie advice." He said as he nodded to the waiter to take his card from the counter.
"You don't need to thank me." She gave her card back to the waiter and Syaoran took it back from him.
He took his card from the counter and gave it to the waiter again. "I know, but I want to." He kept Sakura's card on his hand so that she couldn't do anything to avoid it.
"Why do you want to make everything more difficult?"
"I'm not making anything more difficult. I'm even making it easier for the waiter who only has to charge one card instead of two."
The waiter chuckled as he cut the receipt from the machine so that Syoaran could sign it. They both looked at him curiously but didn't say anything about it. Syaoran signed the receipt and thank the waiter again for his service.
Sakura sighed.
She started to walk away when she felt him take her shopping bags from her hands. "I can carry these too for you." He softly said.
A small smile started to find its way on her face but she quickly stopped herself. "There's no need really. I can do it myself." She said knowing how much he hated back then carrying her bags whenever she went shopping with his cousin. She tried to take the bags from him but he quickly moved them to his other hand evading her way into getting them.
"Don't."
"You really don't have to." Sakura insisted.
"Are you two done fighting?" Kyu asked smirking their way.
They both narrowed their eyes at him but nonetheless started walking towards the parking lot following behind.
~ o ~
The next day, she was feeling confident as she walked into Makimasi Corporation for her meeting with the president. Although she didn't trust the guy, she knew he was fond of her so it was a good start. She didn't have anything to fear about this meeting. In fact, she just wanted to get it over with so that she could keep working on the tournament things that were still not completed. She waited patiently as his secretary announced her in.
"Ms. Kinomoto is here to see you." The secretary nodded after hearing his answer and turned towards her. "You may go in. He's expecting you."
Sakura smiled and nodded. "Thank you." She walked in and greeted Mr. Makimasi. Although she disliked everything about this man, she put a smile on her face in a professional way, "Mr. Makimasi, it's nice to see you again." She shook his hand and took one of the seats in front of him.
"Ms. Kinomoto, I keep hearing about you wherever I go. I'm impressed. People say you could easily run a company without much trouble."
She politely smiled but at the same time responded, "That's not my background. I'm merely a tools to develop projects and coordinate events."
"And yet that is the fame you've acquired among us business men." He smirked.
She nodded, "Thank you for the compliment but as you must also have heard I like to get down to business quickly." She handed him a black business presentation folder with the agreement inside.
"Ah yes." He smiled while grabbing the folder and opening it. He flipped through pages quickly but stayed silent with them.
"The offer is simple. Li wants you to be part of our team as we create the best spectacle that soccer history has seen. There are only quite a few people who get this chance that Li is offering. Being his biggest competitor has made you very valuable to his eyes and as such he decided to give this opportunity to you setting aside our every day rivalries in the project development field."
He stayed smiling as he closed the folder and looked at her. "What about you? What do you think?"
She was wary of the fact that he had hardly read any of the pages that were inside the folder. "I wouldn't be here if I didn't think his words were true. Will you join us?"
He stared at her, analyzing her words. "How about I make you a deal?" He leaned back on his chair and smiled at her, "I'll sign this contract if you come and work for me."
She stared at him. There was a reason why she knew not to trust him. From the very beginning her intuition had warned her about this and yet, since Xian wanted him in, she had no choice but to accept his decision. "I'm not part of the agreement."
"If what you say is true, you want this World Cup to be the best and for that you need me. The only way I'm signing these papers is if you come and work for me. It's up to you then. My offer is on the table."
She smirked, "Tell me something Mr. Makimasi, have I always being part of the new renovation plan you're considering for your company?"
He shot her a conniving smiled before replying, "I'm a business man Ms. Kinomoto."
Sakura confidently smiled. If there was one thing that Xian had taught her well was how to deal with difficult situations like these. "You're mistaken though. I don't need you to create the best World Cup opener in history. I am only giving you a chance of being part of something great. Something that can put your company in history books."
"Am I not doing the same?" he innocently asked.
She smiled at him, "Then we're done here." She stood up from her seat and walked towards the door.
"You know," she heard him say and stopped to let him finish. "Being this confident in your abilities could be your downfall."
She turned around from the door and looked at him, "Being this confident in my abilities is why you want me." She turned around again and walked out of his office.
~ o ~
Xian finished hanging up the phone. He had just been talking to Mr. Makimasi who had just finished complaining about the way his assistant had handled everything and his decision of not joining his team because of it. Xiefa walked quickly into her father's office and sat down in front of him. "I just received a phone call from Sakura... She failed to close the deal."
He looked at his daughter and sighed. Sakura had been his last card when it came to Makimasi. "Where is she now?"
"She said to let you know she was taking the rest of the day off."
He nodded.
"What do you want to do? Should we start asking for quotes again or do you want to meet with him personally?"
"I already met personally with him once. He will not get the same courtesy again." He stood up and walked towards his window. "Let me think. I'll call you when I have an answer."
Xiefa nodded. She stood up and left him to his thoughts.
He waited till she was out of the office before getting his phone out and speed-dial the first number that came to mind.
Hi Love!
He chuckled. "I wonder what you have done for greeting me like this." There were no gray days when it came to his wife. The mere sound of her voice was enough to clear any clouds from his mind. He heard her laugh at the other end of the line and smiled.
Well you mean apart from talking to my son?
So there it was... She had talked to Syaoran. He smirked and chuckled. "You did? Pray tell me, where you able to convince him?"
You forget I am your wife after all.
He chuckled. "And he is my son after all. But this is not why I called you."
I'm listening.
"Sakura failed to get the deal."
You said you were sure she would close it.
"I will tell you the details later, for now I think you need to call Minerva. Let her know of our plans and see if she can recommend us someone for the sound equipment."
On it. Love you!
He heard the end of the phone call and stared at his phone. He chuckled. She was so competitive. Even if it was a small phone call she needed to have the last word.
~ o ~
She came back from her long walk. Today had been one of those days she hated from morning till night. Jun had left two days ago to his seminar down at Japan, her friends were all spending time with their boyfriends, and finally she had blown up one of the most important meeting for the tournament. She really felt like crying yet she knew she wouldn't do so. That stupid jerk wasn't worth one tear from her even if it was a failed deal.
'I'm so looking forward to tomorrow morning.' She sarcastically thought. Xian wouldn't be happy about it that was certain. Xiefa would probably pester her about it as well. She sighed and stopped in front of her apartment complex. The only thing that could probably save her from all the bullshit she was about to hear tomorrow would be if she came up with a backup plan and yet that required too much thinking and analyzing from her part.
She was walking around the park thinking on her next course of action.
"Ms. Sakura!" the front gate guard greeted her. He was doing his normal stroll around the complex when he found her walking.
"Hi Mr.Tsukiro. How have you been?" she greeted back with a smile.
"Good. I was hoping I could run into you today. My daughter just gave birth to a baby boy today."
"That's great. Congratulations!"
"I'm about to head over there once my shift is over. I was about to ask you if you wanted to come with me but I see you have a guest waiting for you."
'Great! My night just got better.' She smiled. "I would love to but it will have to be another time then."
"Ah great." She saw him take out a small notepad and wrote down something before giving her the paper.
She looked at the paper to find the hospital information on it. "In case you wish to visit Gia. I'm sure she'll be glad to see you."
She nodded and smiled. "Congratulate her for me tonight."
"I sure will." He smiled back at her.
Saying her goodbye, she kept walking towards her apartment. She could only guess who was waiting for her... Xiefa. She just couldn't wait till tomorrow to let her know that she had screwed up with the meeting. She ran her hand through her hair and took a deep breath before turning towards her apartment. She stopped at the sidewalk.
She had expected to see an angry Xiefa and yet she found a smirking Syaoran with a bag on his hand. He pushed himself from reclining on his car and walked all the way to the front of her apartment to wait for her. She sighed walking towards her apartment as well opening the door. "I shouldn't really let you in, you know..."
He chuckled, "Why? You'll get yourself in trouble for allowing a friend inside your apartment?"
She smirked at him, "I'm not in the mood for games Syaoran. I'm sure you know what anyone could say if they see you entering my apartment at night."
He shrugged not minding the warning and walking inside her apartment after her. "Hey, it's not my fault that you came back this late. I was actually here at 8:30 and..." he held a bag up emphasizing its contents, "I brought some ice cream. What do you think?"
She chuckled and rolled her eyes, "Thanks, but I'm not too sure if a sugar high is what I'm looking for tonight."
He chuckled as well, "Don't be so hard on yourself. It was just a meeting."
She opened her eyes and stared at him, "You heard about it?"
He softly smiled at her. "I was in my sister's office when you called in."
She turned her face away feeling a little embarrassed that he had actually heard something as disappointing as that. "Did your father say anything?"
He scoffed. "Oh yeah, he came in and said you are a complete failure for lacking the ability to close a deal for the company with an idiot who thought too high of himself to even work as a team on something as the World Cup."
She scoffed and rolled her eyes at him, "He did not say that."
Syaoran smirked, "Then why ask? You know he wouldn't say anything to me or just anyone about this."
She stared at him. The practical part of her mind was screaming at her to ask him to leave and yet her emotional part just couldn't. Curiosity got the best of her as he asked "What flavors did you get?"
"Let's see." He opened the bag and took two pints out. "There's Pistachio and Chocolate Chip. Which one do you want?"
She frowned, "You don't like Pistachio."
"Well then I guess you've just chosen yours." He said smiling and offering the pistachio flavored ice cream.
She shook her head and smiled at his childish ways while taking her pint out of her hands. She didn't fail to notice that he had actually gotten her favorite flavor. It was one of the few things that hadn't changed with time. She grabbed two spoons from her kitchen and came back to the living room.
Syaoran had the TV control already on hand and was switching the channels when she interrupted him. "No soccer games." She said as she walked towards her couch and sat next to him.
"What? Since when do we have these restrictions with the TV?"
She looked at him. "You play soccer, you dream soccer, and even I am planning an event with soccer involved... you won't get to watch it on my TV tonight. Give yourself a break from time to time."
"Bah! Don't tell me this is about the ice cream... You can't be that vengeful!"
She scoffed, "I don't fight for an ice cream flavor."
"Fine! We can watch Spartacus then." He suggested.
"I don't want to watch Spartacus."
He sighed. "Okay then, what do you want to watch?"
As he kept going through the cable guide she finally found something she liked on. "Oh! The Musketeers is on. You can put it there."
He opened his eyes and quickly looked at her, "What? Are you serious Sakura? You're going to make me watch that?"
"I'm not making you watch anything. You are welcome to leave if you don't like it." She innocently smiled at him.
He stared at her before turning his gaze towards the TV and putting on her show. "This show better be good, no... better than Spartacus."
She chuckled and turned to watch her show.
He started to watch the show which surprisingly wasn't that bad. I mean, it wasn't Spartacus but the show had its action scenes. He was about to say something when he watched her spacing out watching the TV. He took a scoop of ice cream before asking, "You want to talk about it?"
"Mmm?" she questionable answered.
"The meeting, you want to talk about it?"
"What is there to talk about?" she said while tasting a scoop of her ice cream.
"What happened?"
She sighed. "He wanted an exchange. He would only sign the agreement if I resigned to my post on Li Corporation and go work for him."
He stared at her. "Father can't say anything to you because of that Sakura."
"Is not just that Syaoran," She ran her hands through her hair. "I already cancelled some contracts thinking that Makimasi would be involved in the tournament opening. This only sets us back a few weeks."
"So? You work on the contracts again." He simply said.
"Syaoran-"
"You're not a quitter Sakura. You've always known what you want. So you work on these new contracts till you get them."
She stared at him thinking that all she really wanted to do right now was to kiss him. There was no way she could hear those words coming from him and not feel the impulse to do so. She saw he was probably having the same mental battle within himself about it as well. Before any of them could act she smirked, "You know what I want right now?"
He stared at her, "What?"
"Chocolate chip ice cream," she teasingly smiled.
He frowned and narrowed his eyes while shielding his pint. "Get your own."
"Aw come on, just one scoop."
"One scoop? It's a pint. One scoop is like one fourth of the pint." He complained.
She rolled her eyes at him, "Don't exaggerate."
He looked at his pint. "I'm not! Look at it, it is almost one fourth."
"Aw Syaoran... It won't kill you to give me a scoop." She put her puppy eyes to him knowing there was no way he could ever say no to her now.
He narrowed his eyes at her, "That look comes from a whim."
She triumphantly smiled.
He sighed and gave in, "Just one scoop and measure it."
She chuckled but approached him and took her scoop. "Mmm... I haven't eaten ice cream in such a long time."
He chuckled, "Then it's good that I brought some."
She smiled at him and turned to watch the Musketeers again. She had to admit she had missed this. When she made the decision of staying in China seven years ago, she knew she would miss him as a man. But really what had hurt the most about their breakup was that Syaoran had always been like a best friend to her. She used to jog in the mornings with him, go to the movies with him, watch the games with him... In the end she had learned to count on him. "Thanks for coming tonight."
He stared at her as she watched the TV. There were so many things going through his mind right now, so many things he wanted to say to her. That he was sorry could be the first, that he was willing to do anything in his power to make her happy could be the second, that he wanted her back... Gosh he wanted her back! There were so many things he wanted to say to let her know that he was here for her whenever she needed him to be and yet he held back. "You're welcome. Does this mean I can put it on Spartacus?"
She smirked, "Not a chance."
Author's note – Well, here is chapter 5. Please review and let me know your thoughts on how the story is going so far. Each review keeps me wanting to write more and more for you guys. Let me know what you guys think ; )