Hilde’s Fashion

by Oyuki

Chapter 9

Relena walked in the gardens of Quatre’s mansion. So far, she hadn’t been able to see her brother. Neither he nor his wife were at home, and they had called her to visit them. They weren’t even home! She knew that this was a ploy to get her to spend time with Quatre. But she just didn’t see him like THAT. They had grown up together and were like brother and sister. That didn’t stop her brother and sister-in-law from match making, obviously.

There was a noise from one of the bushes. She turned around sharply to come face to face with Heero Yuy. Her eyes widened and her mouth opened. After a couple of minutes she finally found her voice and asked, “What in Heaven’s name are you doing here?”

He looked a little ruffled. His shirt was stained with dirt, un-tucked, his pants were wrinkled, and his unruly hair was even more unruly. He had been waiting in that bush since before sunrise, praying that the guards didn’t find him. “What happened to ‘hello’?”

“It disappeared the minute you started stalking me! What are you doing here?” she asked again. This time she nearly shouted.

“I’m doing fine, and yourself?” he asked sarcastically. She looked good this early in the morning. ‘Gotta concentrate,’ his mind said to him.

“Cut the bullshit and answer the question! What the hell are you doing here? How did you know I was here?” She was exasperated. He knew what his plan was, and she was not going to fall for it. She did so once and it had totally screwed her head and her heart up.

“I came to see you, of course. You should be happy that I came.”

“Well, I’m not and I want you to leave. Quatre will be here any moment and I don’t want him to find you here! Get the hell out!” she ordered and pushed him.

“Oh, so it’s for Quatre’s benefit? Is he your new boyfriend?” he asked narrowing his eyes.

“So what if he is? It’s none of your business! I don’t have to explain myself to you! You are nothing, we’re not friends or anything of the kind! So I suggest you get the fuck out of here before I get security on your ass!” Her temper had gotten the best of her. She didn’t want to play his stupid little mind games. The only thing she regretted was the little outburst with Quatre’s name. Quatre wasn’t her boyfriend and she didn’t want him to pretend to be. She wasn’t going to use him like that.

“Come on! You know you still want me--”

“Oh no, Heero Yuy. I’m not going to play your little game again. I fell for it once, but that was it. I’m not that stupid as to believe that you suddenly saw the light at the end of the tunnel and you suddenly regretted what happened! NO! Sorry, but no! Now get the hell out!” Relena pushed him again. She was so angry she was shaking.

“Relena, please give me--” he started but her yelling interrupted him.

“Oh my God! Security! There’s a pervert in the gardens! Quatre, Quatre! Help! Oh don’t hurt me! Please!” she yelled at the top of her lungs.

Heero looked around nervously to see of anyone was coming. “Shh! What are you doing?” he asked quietly. “Come on, don’t do this?”

She smiled at him for a second, then started yelling again. “Help me! Don’t touch me! Oh, please!”

The guards came running to her and when they saw Heero they tackled him. The pinned him to the ground just as Quatre came running towards her. He wasn’t only in his pajama bottoms and hadn’t bothered to put on his robe when he’d heard her screams.

“What happened? Relena are you okay?” he asked, a worried expression on his handsome face.

Relena put on her best damsel in distress face, which looked genuine, and looked up at his aqua eyes. She forced some tears and said, “Quatre, I was just walking and suddenly this pervert came out of the bushes! He tried to paw me! Oh, Quatre, I was so scared!”

Quatre hugged her to him and looked at Heero. “Who are you and what are you doing here?” he asked harshly.

“Relena, tell them you know me! Come on, stop being such a--”

Relena hid her face in Quatre’s chest. That made Heero mad as hell. Relena was trying not to laugh. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve never seen you in my life!”

Quatre looked at Heero disgustedly. “Throw him out, and double the security around the house,” he ordered. With that he and Relena started walking away. Relena looked back and smiled at Heero. She moved closer to Quatre and he hugged her tighter.

Heero gritted his teeth and was hauled to his feet by the two burly men. He was half carried, half dragged outside and they literally dumped him out on the street. He got up and dusted himself off. Grumbling, he walked back to his hotel. ‘Screw her, I’m going home!’

“I saw right through you, Relena. What was that about?” asked Quatre as they entered the house.

She laughed and said, “It was that guy I dated a while back You know the one that...”

“That guy... what was he doing here?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know, I don’t care. He’s trying to play games with me again, but I taught him a lesson. No more ‘Ms. Nice Relena’ for him.”

Quatre laughed. “Anyway, we have to make travel arrangements. You still want to go home tomorrow?”

“Hmm... yeah. I don’t want to miss work.”

*~*~*~* (i don’t remember the time difference between the US and England, so just go with it, okay? i don’t feel like looking it up)

Hilde awoke late that morning. She sighed and reached out her arm to the other occupant of the bed. Her hand didn’t find him, so she opened her eyes and looked around the room. She sat up and noticed his clothes were gone. A blind panic filled her. It was happening again... Her chest rose and fell rapidly.

‘No, no, Duo isn’t like that. Maybe we just rushed things. He had wanted to take things slowly. Yes, that’s it.’

“I’ll call him, and we’ll talk about it,” she said aloud. She reached for the phone and dialed his cell phone number. It wasn’t off, it rang six times before he finally answered.

“Hello?” he said.

“Duo, it’s Hilde,” she said slowly.

There was a long, pregnant pause. “Uhh, listen... babe, I’m kinda in the middle of something. I’ll-- I have to go,” he said hurriedly and hung up. He closed his eyes. He’d totally cut her off, but he couldn’t have helped it. He wasn’t feeling like he thought he was going to feel. And he knew he still had to keep up the charade, at least until his father announced his retirement on Monday. Then he would announce that he had to choose his replacement, and Duo had to be ready to persuade Hilde.

“Where the hell is Heero? He didn’t tell me he was going anywhere!” he said to himself. He had been trying to call him since last night and he still had his phone off. He couldn’t talk to Hilde yet. He felt too... something. For right now, he’ll just have to find a good excuse to not talk to Hilde. He dialed her number and waited for her to answer.

“Hello?” Duo heard her say.

“Hilde, it’s Duo.”

“...”

“Hello?’

“I’m still here,” she said.

“Hey, listen. I didn’t want to cut you off earlier. It’s just that I’m getting ready to... go out of town. I have to run some errands for my father in... Texas. I’m gonna be gone till, probably, Monday.”

“Oh, then I guess we can’t talk till then. Have a nice trip... I guess,” she said sadly. She wasn’t stupid. She heard all those little pauses in between. She could take it though. She was prepared to admit that maybe they’d made a mistake, and that maybe they should take it slower.

“I’ll see ya on Monday, babe. Bye.”

Chapter 10

(the next day, Sunday)

Relena opened the door and heaved her suitcases inside. She sighed and closed the door behind her. “Hilde? I’m home, are you home? I have stuff to tell you! Are you home?” she asked while walking around the condo. She finally found her in her room.

“Why are you in bed? Have you been in bed all day?”

“Yeah,” Hilde sighed.

“Oh my god, I have to tell you something! It’s the best thing that could have happened!”

Hilde wasn’t really interested but she didn’t want to hurt her friends feelings. So she asked, “What happened?”

“Well, I was at Quatre’s house, because my brother and sister wanted us to hook up, but anyway, Heero shows up!”

“Heero Yuy?” Hilde asked raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah, but that’s not the best part. Yesterday morning I was waiting for Quatre to get dressed and meet me in the gardens. He’s got the most beautiful gardens! So, I’m walking and then Heero jumps up from the bushes and then I ask him what he’s doing there. And he says that he knows I still want him! Can you believe that?”

“Yeah, because you do want him,” said Hilde rubbing her eyes. She hadn’t been crying, but she might as well have. She was feeling crappy.

“I do not! But then I start screaming bloody murder and the guards come and they kick his dumb ass out on the street. It was hilarious! You should have been there!” Relena finally noticed that her friend wasn’t being very responsive. In fact, she hadn’t say too much, like she should have. She looked at her for a long time before asking, “What’s wrong? What happened?”

Hilde sighed and covered her face with her hands. The movement of her arms revealed the hickeys on her neck. Relena’s eyes widened and she said, “You didn’t... did you?” Relena closed her eyes and hoped her friend’s heart wasn’t too broken.

Hilde didn’t answer. Her silence answered Relena’s question. Relena, who had been sitting at the edge of the bed, moved so she was in a reclining position next to her friend. She put her arms around her and said, “What did he say?”

“Nothing, and that’s the problem. He didn’t say anything. He left in the middle of the night, and I called him yesterday when I woke up and he totally cut me off. Then he called me five minutes later and apologized to me for hanging up like that and told me that he was going to Texas. I knew he was lying, but at least he didn’t say he didn’t want to talk to me.”

“No, but you know he doesn’t want to talk to you. I don’t mean to be the bad guy here, but you know what kind of guy he is. I don’t him personally, but if he is anything like Heero, than you have to--”

“Relena, I’m totally ready to admit that we made a mistake. I know we did. We rushed into it, and I know he wanted to take things slow. I--”

“You’re not taking the blame for this. He’s just as responsible; it’s not like you pressured him into it. I bet he started it,” said Relena sternly. She had tried to warn her friend about Duo, it wasn’t her fault if she went and did something stupid, but she would never let Hilde say it was her fault. She had gone through a hard break up once, she was not going to let Hilde do it again. If Duo was going to end their ‘relationship’ then Relena would make sure Hilde knew it wasn’t her fault. “Tell you what, let’s not talk about this anymore. I’m really tired from my trip, and I’m annoyed at Heero. Let’s go to the spa and let ourselves be pampered.”

“I really don’t feel up to it, Relena. You go ahead if you want.”

“I’m not taking no for an answer. Come on! We’re going and then we’ll go shopping for a new wardrobe. I can give you some tips. Let’s make the most of today. We’ll get our hair done and everything. Please?” she said and gave her friend a little pout.

Hilde smiled and closed her eyes. She really didn’t want to go, but Relena really wanted to. So she gave in. “Fine, I’ll go with you. But it better be a good massage and stuff because I feel crappy today.”

“Okay, I’ll make the necessary calls and then we’ll go!” Relena all but bounced out of the room. Hilde sighed and got up to dress.

*~*~*~*

Heero walked into his apartment and dumped his luggage. He didn’t bother to pick it up, he just left it at the entrance and went to his room. He collapsed on the bed and called Duo. He wanted to know how his ‘date’ went with Hilde. He needed something to laugh at.

The phone rang once, twice before Duo answered. “Hello?”

“It’s me,” said Heero.

“Where have you been all weekend? I’ve been trying to call you since Friday night!” yelled Duo at his best friend.

“I went to London! Geez, what’s your problem? I told you I was going to catch up with Relena in London!”

“Shit! I forgot. So, how did it go with her?”

“It didn’t go anywhere. It turned out she wasn’t even going to visit her brother, she was staying with Blondie! First I go through all the trouble of finding where she’s staying, then I wait for her for hours in a friggin’ bush. When I finally see her she’s waiting for Blondie. I tried to talk to her, but she starts screaming her head off about me trying to paw her. To make a long story short, she had me kicked out of the house! And she had to nerve to laugh at me! Oh well, I don’t want to talk about that. How did it go with Hilde?” said Heero laughingly.

“...”

“Hey, at least you got some this weekend! Did you get me my tape?”

“No I didn’t get you the fucking tape!”

“Why? Didn’t you--”

“Yes, but I didn’t make you a tape!”

“Someone sure is bitchy today!”

“I could say the same thing about you! You can’t even talk to Relena...”

“Don’t change the subject. You’re the one who backed out of the deal. You didn’t make me a tape!”

“And you can’t even get Relena to talk to you! This isn’t getting us anywhere, I’ll talk to you later,” he said and hung up.

“Yeah, well whatever!” Heero said and hung up the phone.

*~*~*~*

“Mmm... this is great. It really relieves the tension.”

“Yeah,” sighed Reline. They were getting massages at a local spa. After they were done they would go shopping for clothes, then they would get their hair done. It was going to be great. And it would be a great chance to give Hilde a make-over without her noticing. Relena had been dying to get Hilde to get a make-over but she always refused. Now that she was feeling vulnerable, it had been easy to convince her.

“All done,” said the nice young man who’d been working wonders with Hilde’s back. She sighed and got up warping her towel around her.

“Where to next?” she asked Relena.

“We’re going shoppin’,” she replied also wrapping her towel around her body.

*~*~*~*

Two hours later they were ready to drop. They had gone to almost all the stores and boutiques in the story. They had gotten suits for work, shoes for work, outfits for just hanging out with friends, more shoes, and new lingerie from a new shop called ‘Kinky Kitty’.

“I don’t know about you, Hilde, but I still want to get my hair done,” said Relena, hoping that Hilde wasn’t too tired.

“Well, okay. Since we’re already out, we might as well do it. Oh, and I forgot to tell you that I get my braces off on Monday. So I’m going to be late for work.” Hilde

“That’s good. How long have you had them now?”

“Two years. It’s great to know that I’m finally getting these things off! Let’s go, I don’t want to take too long.”

“Okay, let’s go.” Relena and Hilde went off to get their hair done.

Chapter 11

“What are you talking about Duo? I don’t know what the hell you’re saying,” said Heero to his friend. They were in Duo’s office.

“What I’m saying is that-- that I don’t... think I can tell Hilde not to take charge of his company. What kind of guy would do this? My actions have been so immature. Do you really think I am ready to head this company if I play such adolescent games with people?”

Heero was drawing a blank. Duo had never said anything like this. “You like her,” he said simply. “ I think you feel bad about what you did.”

“I do feel bad. Hilde is a nice gir-- woman. She’s funny, and extremely smart. That’s why, I think, my father chose her. She’s intelligent, she knows how to handle herself in a job like this. I mean, think about it! She didn’t do anything to me, and what do I do? I sleep with her only to coerce her into not signing a contract that will warranty her--”

“Wait, wait! So you’re totally backing out? Why?”

“Because of Hilde!”

*~*~*~*

“Ugh! I’m running so late!” exclaimed Hilde. She had gone to her orthodontist this morning to get her braces off. ‘Finally! After three years of pain and suffering they’re finally off!’ She looked in the mirrors that lined the elevator walls. She gave herself a big cheesy smile. Like the ones she never allowed herself to give anybody when she’d had her braces. ‘It was worth it!’

Relena had wanted her to wear her contact lenses, but she’d refused. Instead she was wearing silver, thin framed lenses. She wasn’t quite ready for her WHOLE appearance to change.

She walked out of the elevator smiling to herself. She was trying to imagine how Duo would react when he saw her. She was wearing a conservative two piece, black suit with a silk shirt underneath. Her designer three-inch heels clicked as she walked to her office. She flicked her hair from her shoulder onto her back. It had been trimmed at least five inches and it had been layered at the front. It looked like a silk veil around her.

As she neared Duo’s office she heard voices. They weren’t loud enough to be considered shouting, but they were loud, and that the door was slightly open didn’t help. She was in front of the door now, but she didn’t want to interrupt Duo and Heero. Only those two would be shouting at each other in the morning.

She was going to turn around and go to see Relena, she didn’t’ want to interrupt, until she heard her name. She didn’t’ want to be nose, but this involved her as well, in a way.

*~*~*~*

“Because of Hilde?”

“Yes! I’m not going to ask her to do anything. It was wrong to make that bet with you! I shouldn’t have used her like that. She told me that her other boyfriend had done the same thing and I just went right ahead and did the same thing! I can’t do that anymore! How can I face her after all I’ve done? How can I look at her in the face and not think about the fact that I dated her-- slept with her only so she wouldn’t take my father’s offer of becoming president of the company! Do you know how I’d feel?”

*~*~~*~*

Hilde only blinked. She didn’t-- couldn’t take it all in. Her eyes pooled with tears. How could Duo use her like that? How could he do that to her after hearing what had happened to her before? How could he be so selfish, so shallow?

She wanted to run, to run home and cry her eyes out. But no! She wouldn’t do that. She had run away from the man that had hurt her once, and she wouldn’t do it again. She would face him and all his lies; look at him in the eyes and tell him what she thought of him at that moment!

She blinked her tears back and took a deep breath. She reached her hand out and pushed the door open.

Duo heard the door open and stopped yelling at Heero.

A tiny woman came in dressed all in black. He looked at her. She seemed familiar, but he couldn’t place her face. He stared at her up and down. When he reached her eyes she knew who it was. “Hilde,” he said. He smiled slightly at her. She looked beautiful. “You look--”

“You fucking bastard!”

“Hilde--” How much had she heard? ‘Obviously enough if she’s this pissed!’ his mind screamed.

“Don’t say anything you piece of shit! I heard it all! How could you do this to me? Especially after what I told you!” Despite her efforts, she started to cry, but that didn’t dissuade her from telling him off.

‘Dammit. I didn’t want her to find out this way.’ His heart dropped. “Hilde listen--”

“No! Fuck you! Fuck you and your stupid little games! I hope you fucking rot in hell! You and your friend!” she said looking at Heero. “I only came in here to tell you that I don’t care what your father’s offer is...”

“Please, don’t--”

“I’m going to accept!” Without another word, she left. So fast Duo thought that she hadn’t been there. But she had. The outburst hadn’t lasted more than thirty seconds but it had happened.

“Shit,” was all he said. He closed his eyes. He took off after her. He had to explain, he couldn’t let her think that he didn’t feel guilty.

“Duo, where you going? C’mon man! Let her go, she-- Argh! Women! They totally screw with a guy’s head!” Heero took off after Duo.

tbc...

AN: Sorry so short but I have a TON of stuff to do. My committee and I have to arrange some stuff for our graduation in June. We’re trying to have it outside instead of in the auditorium, and we have to... you don’t want to hear it. Let’s just say I have a lot to do. I end up coming home at nine everyday and I still have to do my homework. Better than no chapter, yes?

Chapter 12

Duo could see Hilde walking towards the stairs. He couldn’t believe she looked so good, and he hadn’t even gotten a chance to tell her. He cursed under his breath. He’d totally blown it. He’d finally realized what a selfish, conceited, bitch he’d been for his whole life. And right before he was ready to change, his one chance to redeem himself had been blown to bits when Hilde had heard his stupid story. Hilde wasn’t just his once chance to make him feel better about himself. He’d gotten to know her a little bit of her, a little bit of what lay beneath the clothes and the bad hair and he’d learned that sometimes you had to look beyond what people could see. And he felt like the scum of the earth for behaving that way. He’d based his whole life, all his relationships in looks and never happened to realize that there were things under that.

But now? Now he had to find Hilde and beg her to let him make it up to her. But what could he say? ‘I’m sorry that slept with you to get you to agree not to take my father’s office. I just really wanted the responsibility of being president.’

He raced after her. His legs were longer, and he didn’t war heels so he caught up to her when they reached the underground parking garage. Duo grabbed Hilde’s hand and she was jerked back to face him.

“Get your hands off me, Duo!” she said and tried to pull her hand away.

He sighed, but didn’t let go. He pulled her towards him and said, “Let me talk to you, please. How much did you hear?”

She stopped struggling and finally looked at him with tear-filled eyes. He never meant to make her cry. “I never meant to--”

“Yes you did, Duo. You meant to hurt me, and you know that. I bet you were hoping I’d quit! But to answer your question, I heard everything. I heard you telling your stupid friend that you felt bad about what you did because I was a nice girl. I heard everything, and let me just tell you that I also think you are an immature child. You have no respect for anything! Now let me go!” Hilde pulled her hand away and walked to her car.

He closed his eyes, but he didn’t let her outburst get to him. He needed to say something, not to make himself feel better, but to make her feel better. He took off after her again and reached her before she unlocked her car’s door. “Listen to me, Hilde, I’m sorry. I’m sorry I hurt you. Believe me, making love with you was incredible. I’m sorry--”

“Don’t apologize to me, Duo. Don’t apologize because it’s no one’s fault but my own. I was an idiot and I believed every lie that came out of your mouth! I was an idiot, again, and I let this happen! How could I have let his happen again? Why did YOU do it? You know how hurt I was after Trowa, I told you and you still went ahead with your little plan! Well, let me tell you that I won’t ever make that mistake again! Never again will anybody, ever, make a fool out of me! I won’t let myself be suckered again!” In the spur of the moment, she raised her other hand and slapped him.

He didn’t say anything. The red imprint of her hand throbbed on his cheek. He shook his head at her. His heart was doing little cartwheels in his chest. His mind screamed at him that he’d hurt a wonderful human being. He had hurt a woman who was as fragile as glass. Someone whose self-esteem had taken a blow straight to the heard before and he’d done it too. He’d taken her heart and her emotions and stomped on them, just like Trowa had done.

“I said I was sorry, Hilde. I meant it. You heard me in there! I know I was being selfish and I was being a bastard, but I’m sorry! What can I do to have your forgiveness?” he asked. He didn’t know what he could say to make her see that he was truly sorry for hurting her.

“Frankly, I don’t care if you’re sorry. For that matter, sorry doesn’t matter! And what you can do to make it up to me is--” she started but was interrupted by Heero yelling out his name.

“Duo! Duo, where are ya man?” Heero yelled out to his friend.

Duo let go of Hilde and turned towards Heero’s voice. Hilde took the opportunity and opened the door of her care and slipped inside. She closed her door with a loud bang. Duo looked back at her and pounded on her window.

“Hilde, wait! Wait, please!”

She ignored him and started the engine. with one last look at him she drove away making her tires screech.

Duo covered his face with his hands. Heero ran up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. “Man, I never thought I’d live to see the day you would beg for forgiveness,” Heero said seriously.

Duo shrugged off his friend’s hand and walked to his car. “I can’t let her go...,” he paused, “like that. I need to... Shit, I don’t know what I need to do. I just need to see her and apologize.”

*~*~*~*

Hilde tried to concentrate on her driving. It was better than trying to concentrate on Duo. She’d been an idiot. A total idiot! How could she have believed Duo could ever like her, could ever be interested in her? She was the ugly duckling, the dork who liked the boss’ son. She shook her head, concentrating on her driving she drove home. She took deep breaths, she focused her eyes on the road. When she pulled into the parking lot of her building and released the breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding.

Closing her eyes she rested her forehead on the steering wheel. She didn’t want to cry, but her heart was breaking. It refused to listen to her rational side. Tears escaped her closed lids. She sat up and took her seat belt off. Her legs were a little unsteady. Her heart was beating fast. She had to get home.

Before she could get to the elevator, she heard another car coming. It was Duo’s silver Jaguar. ‘Fuck,’ she thought. She ran to the elevator.

Duo was far enough into the parking lot to see Hilde run into the elevator. He parked his car and ran after her.

He didn’t reach her in time. The elevator was on its way to her floor. Frustrated he ran towards the stairs.

*~*~*~*

‘Oh God! Why can’t he leave me alone for now?’ She all but ran into her apartment and shut the door with a loud bang. She locked the door and leaned against it. Giving a deep sigh she walked to her bedroom where she proceeded to change her clothes. “Looks like I won’t be going to work for the rest of the day,” she said.

Outside, Duo was just in time to see her door slam closed. “Hilde!” he called. “Let me talk to you! Please, let me apologize! Hilde, if you don’t let me in I’m going to yell my apologies through the door so the whole building can hear them. And I don’t care if they call security!” Duo waited for her response. Nothing. “I’ll count to three! One... two... three! Hilde, come on babe!”

Duo leaned on the door. He felt crushed. He didn’t know why, why he felt this... this desperation. He needed to make her understand that he had never meant to hurt her. “Hilde, I never meant to hurt you. I know that it’s redundant, but I mean it. I was calling off my little bet with Heero before you showed up! I was doing it because... because I care about you. I didn’t want to hurt you like that other guy did.” He hoped she was listening. As much as he wanted to apologize he didn’t go around shouting his most inner thoughts in the middle of a hallway.

He heard a shuffling on the other side of the door. He heard some clocks click, and for a second his heart soared. She was opening the door! His hopes were soon crushed when the door opened a little only to be stopped by the chain. He could see part of Hilde’s face. Her red eyes made him bite his lip.

“I’m not good at expressing my emotions, Hilde. Not even during sex, but if you give me a chance--”

“You’re only sorry that you got caught! If I hadn’t heard anything, and you still hadn’t asked me not to take your father’s offer, whatever it is, you would have been perfectly content!”

“You’re right, I’m an asshole. But please, understand me, I’ve never regretted anything I ever did. The only thing I regret is the way I treated you. I know I don’t deserve to ask this, but please give me another chance. I care about you, Hilde. This is so hard to say, but please, give me another chance and I’ll show you that I care.”

Hilde looked at him for a long moment before she closed the door. Duo waited there, hoping, praying that she would open the door again and let him in or tell him to leave or something. She didn’t do anything, though.

He felt like crying. Strange, nobody would ever think that a man like Duo would ever cry over something. Especially a woman when he had so many panting after him.

Wiping his eyes, Duo walked to the parking lot.

*~*~*~*

Hilde’s emotions were going wild. One part of her was elated at the fact that Duo said he care about her, another part of her was enraged that he’d used her to fulfill his selfish wants, and there was a third part of her that was saddened. That part of her was still a little girl, the little girl who had been rejected by her own family. The little girl who desperately wanted a friend to tell her everything was okay.

The phone rang. ‘Probably Relena,’ she thought. “Hello,” she answered.

“Hilde, it’s Richard Maxwell, I have something to ask you. Could you please come to my office, let’s say about now?”

Silence, then, “I’ll be there in an hour.”

tbc...