|
"The Handsome Clerk "Written By: Zazu Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing, nor do I
own the characters. I have borrowed them here for some fun and creativity,
and this is not for profit. I do, however, own the plot mentioned
here, and any instances that you may find similar to real life events
are purely a coincidence. All of the characters depicted in this story
are adults. Rating: PG 13 Warnings: Yaoi, sap Pairings: 1+2 Summary: Heero has a crush on the clerk in the
store " The Handsome Clerk " Chapter 4
There hadn’t been a single call, and he’d been sure to charge his cell phone on Saturday night. He’d waited all night, finally giving up at around ten to cook himself some ramen; even then it was a tasteless dinner.
He’d called Duo only to reach his voicemail, and had left two messages, both unreturned.
He was worried, although he wasn’t sure if it was worry for Duo, or worry that he’d done something wrong. Had he startled Duo with the kiss? But they hadn’t meant for it to happen.
Maybe Duo was having second thoughts? But Heero thought that their date had been thoroughly enjoyed by the both of them. Had Duo just been pretending?
He couldn’t resist sending a text message out to Duo, almost as a last hope.
Are you ok? What’s going on? Where are you?
It was a several hours later that his phone chirped and Heero snatched it up.
I’m sorry, Heero, I wish I could tell you face to face but I’ve found someone else. I apologize and I’m sorry, but I will never see you again.
He sat back, numb. But several minutes later, Heero shook his head and focused on the computer screen in front of him. He mentally berated himself for being an idiot to take the good happening to him without a grain of salt.
But it didn’t matter. He would focus on his job, and nothing else.
*****
Duo stirred, his head pounding. His first thought was that he’d drank too much alcohol the night before. He swore to himself he would never do it again, and he moved, only to feel something tighten around his waist. He froze. A hand slid over his belly and he realized someone was behind him. As soon as the hand left his body he jumped up, moving back, promptly falling off of the bed.
“Duo!”
“J-Jack?” Duo was still gripping the blanket, but he realized that he was still clothed. Jack looked sleepy and his hair was a mess. Still, he peered at Duo, his face a look of concern.
“Are you all right?” he asked, moving towards Duo. “Did you hurt yourself?”
“What-What’s going on?” Duo asked.
Jack blinked at him. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, why the hell are…were we sharing a bed?”
Jack suddenly laughed. “You’re kidding me, right?” he asked. “You decided last night to give us a try, just over this fashion show. You were all over me, touching me, until you passed out cold.”
Touching him? Duo mentally shook his head, trying to remember. Hadn’t he told Jack that he didn’t think it would work out?
Jack sat down on the floor by Duo. “Are you all right?”
“I think it was a mistake,” Duo said slowly. “I must have been drunk. I’m so sorry, Jack, but I don’t think we should do this. A couple of days or not.”
Jack looked stunned. “But, Duo, you said you would try!”
“I can’t remember saying that,” Duo said. “I’m sorry.”
Jack looked angry. “That’s it? You can’t remember? That’s how you throw away your words?”
Anger stirred within Duo. Of course he kept his word! “All I remember, Jack, is telling you that I didn’t think it would work.”
“You said no such thing,” Jack snapped. “What am I? What are people to you, Duo Maxwell? Toys? Someone you can charm into bed and that’s it? When you wake up and decide you don’t want it anymore, you tell them that you can’t remember?”
It was Duo’s turn to be stunned. “But-But I really don’t remember!”
“Sure you don’t,” Jack said, standing. “That’s a convenient excuse isn’t it? But remember this, Duo,” Jack looked down at Duo. “You were the one who was all over me, and I was the one who refused to take advantage of you, no matter how you were touching me, and taking advantage of me.”
It was like a slap in the face as Jack went to the bathroom, slamming the door shut. Duo could count on one hand the number of times he’d been drunk and the only time something like this had happened was when he’d been leaning on Quatre for support and accidentally stumbled and ended up groping his friend.
But he’d hurt Jack. Obviously he’d said something that he couldn’t remember, and not only that, he’d been the one who touch Jack without permission; never mind that it hadn’t gone anywhere.
The thought of Heero flashed through his mind, and Duo suddenly felt like a prick. He’d done something irresponsible while he was drunk and although his relationship with Heero could hardly be considered steady, Duo felt like he’d cheated on the other man.
Jack exited the bathroom looking a little more calm, and Duo decided to wash up before facing the man again.
“Look, Jack,” Duo said, approaching the man who was sitting in one of the chairs by the window. He sank down in the other one, and gladly accepted the coffee that Jack offered him. “I’m really sorry that it happened. Honest. But…I never meant for any of that to happen.”
Jack sighed. “Whatever, Duo.”
“Really!” Duo said. “Look, I-I don’t know how I can make this up to you.”
Jack studied Duo for a long moment. “One collection,” he said. “You stay with me and be my inspiration for one collection. Six pieces. That’s all I ask.”
Duo swallowed. “How long would that take?”
“You call your shop and tell them you need leave. Only your shop. Tell them whatever you want, but not that it’s about me. I won’t let other people know what my inspiration is.”
“But how long?” Duo asked.
“Two weeks,” Jack said. “Roughly. Two weeks of your time, Duo, and we’ll forget this, forget your words, forget your touches.”
His cheeks burned. This was a small price to pay for an apology for what he’d done to the other man. He knew that Jack genuinely wanted to court him and somehow, in his drunken stupor, he’d managed to take advantage of him.
“We’ll stay here for this show, and then you’ll come back with me to my home. After I’m done, you can leave, and we’ll never speak of this again.”
Duo nodded and went to call his shop.
The last thing he expected, though, was to enjoy it. Jack watched people to be inspired, and he took Duo all over the city so that they frequented parks and coffee shops, and Jack observed Duo in those settings.
And as promised, Jack worked at his designs whenever he could, and Duo allowed himself to be measured so he could be the model for the designs. He devoted two weeks to the man and called Quatre to tell him he would be delayed, mentioning nothing else.
He desperately wanted to call Heero, too, but each time he looked at his phone, he felt a pang of sadness. If Heero had been missing him, he certainly hadn’t called to tell Duo that.
Little did Duo know that Jack had been secretly deleting his call log and voice messages, and even replied with one single text message that effectively stopped any communication from one Heero Yuy.
*****
“Mr. Winner,” Heero nodded at Quatre as he walked into the office.
“Heero!” Quatre frowned when he noticed how tired Heero looked. “Are you all right? You look a bit tired.”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
“Missing Duo?” he asked teasingly. Heero looked up sharply and glared. Quatre’s smile faded away. “What’s wrong?”
“Duo…has met someone else. We are not dating.”
“What?” Quatre asked. “But he told me that…”
“I’d rather not talk about it, Quatre.” Heero pulled out his folders and handed one to Quatre. “Here are the latest upgrades for the system…”
The moment Heero left, Quatre called Duo. His friend had warned him that he would be busy, but Quatre’s mental prayer was answered when Duo picked up the phone.
“Hey Quatre!”
“Duo! What’s going on?”
“What do you mean?” Duo asked.
“I just saw Heero and he told me that you told him you’d met someone else.”
“What?” Duo exclaimed. “I did no such thing!” Silence reigned for a moment before Duo laughed humourlessly. “Well, he never called me so I guess by blaming it on me in front of you, he was finding a way to tell me through someone else that he wasn’t interested.”
“I don’t think so,” Quatre said. “He looked really tired, Duo. I’ve never seen Heero look like that. He’s always been in top form! Did you call him and tell him that you were going to be away for two weeks? Maybe there was a misunderstanding!”
“I didn’t call him, Quatre. I didn’t get around to calling you a day or two later, right? At least you called to ask where I was. Heero didn’t bother. And we even had a date set on the Sunday night I was meant to come home.”
“There has to be a misunderstanding. Just what exactly are you doing, Duo? Where are you?”
“I can’t say. But I’ll be home soon enough, Quatre.”
“Who are you with?” Quatre pushed. “Come on, Duo, what is going on?”
Duo let out a breath. “I’m with Jack, okay? I…He told me that I inspired him and he begged me to stay with him for two weeks so that he could complete a six-piece collection.” Duo couldn’t bring himself to tell Quatre what he’d done when he was drunk. “I was intrigued to see the sort of inspiration other designers drew from so I told him I would stay. I promised not to tell anyone because Jack doesn’t want people knowing his sources of inspiration. I’ve already broken my promise to him now.”
“But I thought you weren’t going to lead Jack on!”
“I’m not!” Duo sighed explosively. “I told him. We’re clear that this is strictly for the six-piece design and nothing else.”
“You’re absolutely sure?”
“Yes.”
“It still doesn’t add up, Duo. Why would Heero have said that you met someone else?”
“I don’t know. Maybe he saw reports in the entertainment news? I know there was a picture of Jack and I in there from the fashion show. Maybe he misunderstood.”
“Then call him to explain, Duo.”
“I’ll only be here another four days. Then…I’ll call him and see what’s going on.”
“All right, Duo.”
“I have to run, Quatre. I’ll call you when I’m back in town.”
“Be careful, Duo.”
Quatre sighed as he clicked off the phone and leaned back in his chair. Trowa appeared at his door with a mug of coffee and Quatre smiled appreciatively.
“Everything all right?”
“Duo and Heero had a bit of miscommunication,” Quatre explained.
“Where is Duo?”
“He’s with Jack. Something about his being Jack’s source of inspiration and a six-piece set of designs. He wanted to see how the other designer drew inspiration.”
Trowa frowned. “I’ll be right back, Quatre.”
A moment later, Trowa was setting down a magazine on Quatre’s desk.
“Tabloids?” Quatre asked. “Since when did you read tabloids?”
“I read them so I know any and all news regarding you and your company,” Trowa said. “Read the headline.”
“Jack Harman’s ex-inspiration, model Keira Fitzgerald speaks out.” Quatre flipped to the page and quickly read the article. His eyes widened.
“That is the same Jack, isn’t it?” Trowa asked.
“I have to warn Duo!” Quatre snatched up his phone and dialled Duo’s number, only to reach his voicemail. He tried again, and this time, left a message. “Duo, its Quatre. Jack is dangerous; you need to leave him now. A model Keira Fitzgerald has stepped out to speak and says Jack tried to force her into bed as the last of his inspiration! She only got away by hitting him with her shoe, and now he’s managed to destroy her career. Call me back as soon as you can and stay safe!”
*****
Heero sighed as he returned to Quatre’s office. The other man had left a phone call asking for his immediate return, and he’d gathered with a phone call of his own that it didn’t really have to do with the business that they shared. Still, the man was one of his biggest clients and Heero didn’t want to offend him.
“Have a seat, Heero,” Quatre said. “I have something to show you.”
“What is it?”
“How did you find out that Duo was with someone else? Tabloids? The news?”
“Does it matter?” Heero asked, face devoid of emotion. It wasn’t something he wanted to talk about.
“It really does,” Quatre said. “Please, answer me?”
“He sent me a text message on the first Monday after he was supposed to be back,” Heero replied. “What does it have to do with anything?”
“I…I think Duo may be in danger,” Quatre said, offering the tabloid to Heero to read. “This man, Jack Harman, is a fellow designer of Duo’s. He fancied Duo and has tried to court him, and after Duo met you, prior to going on this trip he told me he was going to clear things up once and for all with Jack.” He watched as Heero’s face darkened. “Keira Fitzgerald was a spokesperson for one of my subsidiary companies. According to Trowa, we received pictures of her acting in a manner that violated our contract, and we had to let her go.”
“How do you know she isn’t making this up?” Heero asked. “She could be lying to make her way back into this world.”
“She doesn’t want to be there anymore,” Trowa replied as he walked in with another magazine. “She’s fulfilled her dream, she said, of being a model, and she’s seen the ugly side of trying to go higher, trying to be someone’s inspiration, and she was hurt by it. She’s stepping out to warn others against Jack Harman.”
Heero read the words again, and his stomach turned. Duo was with this man?
“Duo’s in danger?”
“I left him a message but he hasn’t called back yet,” Quatre said. “Duo didn’t know, when I told him, that you said he’d met someone else. He told me that he figured you saw entertainment papers and such because there was a picture of him with Jack in the papers after the fashion show. He said he got caught up with travelling and straightening this out at the shop that he forgot to call me for a couple of days, and he figured that since you didn’t call, you weren’t interested anymore.”
“I did call!” Heero said. “I left voice messages and text messages, and who knows how many missed calls! All I got was a message in return saying that he’d found someone else and no longer wanted to see me again!”
“Maybe Jack has managed to get his hands onto Duo’s phone?” Trowa hazarded a guess, offering a second magazine. “Keira Fitzgerald has proof that Jack tried to tear apart her relationship with her long-time boyfriend by intercepting her cell phone when she was in the washroom and things like that.”
Heero gripped the magazine in his fist. “We need to find Duo.”
*****
Jack listened idly to Quatre Winner’s voicemail, keeping an ear out to ensure that Duo was still in the shower. Deleting the message, he sighed. That Keira Fitzgerald just had to interfere. But no worries…
He set the phone back onto the coffee table and deliberately poured his drink all over it. Letting the phone soak for a while, he then cleaned it up.
Shortly after, Duo exited and Jack pulled his most apologetic face. “Duo? I’m so sorry.”
“What for, Jack?” Duo asked, about to take a seat on the couch.
“Your phone rang and it startled me. I knocked my drink over and it got soaked.”
Duo snatched up his phone and immediately began to tap the buttons.
“I’m so sorry, Duo. I swear, I’ll pay you back for it.”
“No big deal,” Duo said. “I was meaning to get a newer model anyway.” He carefully extracted the SIM card, hoping that it still might work. There were text messages and things in his cell phone that Duo had wanted to preserve, but now, he realized that they were probably gone. Smiling anyway, he looked at Jack. “So, let’s see the progress on your fifth design.”
As he led the way to his working area, Jack secretly smiled, touching his pocket where he kept heavy sedatives. He’d made a mistake with Keira Fitzgerald by trying to seduce her into bed…
…but he would make no such mistake with Duo Maxwell.
- TBC -
|
