Title:Love and Bitter Memories. Chapter 3 Author:Tapestry Email:Shaddow_Cat@hotmail.com. Standard Disclaimer Apply 'Darien's POV' I sat at my desk...wearing,what must have been a silly smirk on my face. First of all...I had gotten rid of Beryl Brooks from my life...fired 3 lazy workers and got on Miss Serena Lunaria's nerves.~FLASHBACK TO YESTERDAY~ "So the top floor here will be....??"trailed off Serena. "Pastel pink."I replied. "Pink??"repeated Serena unsure. "Pink."I confirmed. Looking at my watch...I saw it was 9.00pm.It had taken us almost 9 hours of discussion to finish all the 90 floors of the new Shields building... "I thought we'd never finish..."yawned Serena,getting up to stretch. Her hair was was in a mess,her white blouse was untucked from her skirt and her jacket had been discarded hours ago... I smirked."Everybody's gone...guess we should to." She nodded.The mask was back in place....Serena Lunaria had actually relaxed her guard for a moment... Gathering up her things,we proceeded to the elevator. "Can I drop you home??" "Thank you,very much...but I can call someone." "But I insist.After all...you ARE my interior decorater."I said chuckling slightly,much to her annoyment. "I do not need to be coddled,Mr Shields.I am perfectly capable of-" "I'm sure you are...but I insist."I said cutting her off. She frowned.Not saying anything else...the two of us,proceeded to the blue corvette I owned. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Reaching Serena Lunaria's dark apartment house...She got out. "Miss Lunaria...fancy going out sometime??"I asked her...arching an eyebrow.Not that she could see in the darkness. "No thank you,Mr Shields....I make it a policy not to date my clients,or anyone for that matter.Thank you for the ride.Good night."she told meicily. "Why is that??" "Just because."she said walking up the steps. "That's not an answer you know..." "Take it or leave it Mr Shields...I don't care..I don't explain myself to anyone."she replied not looking back as she shut the door. I was stunned.I was her client,yet she'd blown me off,like wind would do a leaf...this was getting interesting... "I'll get you yet,Serena Lunaria..."I whispered getting back into the corvette and driving off...~END FLASHBACK~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I shook my head slightly.I was acting sentimental...I never did that.. Serena Lunaria was fast invading my life and my thoughts..I had to stop this.... Pressing a button on the intercom... "Raye....when is the new building's,interior scheduled to be finished and when will the work begin??"I asked her. "It's due to be finished 2 months from now,Mr Shields...I believe they started work today...."said Raye. "Thank you." I said switching off the intercom. Two months....speedy work..... Suddenly,my office door flew open.... "What the hell-??" I saw Beryl Brooks at my doorway,with my secretary... "Mr Shields!!I'm sorry!!!I tried to stop her!!I really did!!!"exclaimedRaye. "It's alright...leave us..."I stated calmly. When the door closed... "What do you want Beryl??"I asked coldly. "You cancelled the merger....you've got explaining,Darien."she said. "That's Mr Shields,to you....and I don't have to explain anything." Beryl frowned."I thought we were getting to be good friends,..Darien..." said Beryl. I smirked slightly. "Then you assumed wrong Beryl,....you tried to steal from my company by using your,'relationship' with me."I bit out. "You don't mean that,Darien....I'd never do anything like that..."said Beryl in a sickly sweet voice. "No??Well...that's very interesting...."I sneered."I suggest you leave, before I have someone SHOW you...how to leave." "You can't do this to me!!"shouted Beryl. "No??Watch me,sweetheart...."I said,pushing the intercom..."Security!!" Beryl stared at me angry.."You'll pay for this Darien Shields...I'll MAKE you..."spat Beryl. "Please...don't hold your breath...you're beginning to sound like a broken recorder,sweetie..."I smirked at her. The door slammed hard....a few frames in my office tilted.I smirked... well....now that was taken care of.... The phone rang... "Hello???" "Hello Darien,how's the new building coming along??" "Grandfather!!Everything's fine!!" "Good...I would like to meet the interior decorater who is doing the building..." "When??" "Would tomorrow night be too inconvenient for you grandson??"askedgrandfather. "Not at all.."I replied. "Good..I shall expect you then..." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Hello??Serena Lunaria speaking." "Hello..Serena."I said into the phone. Silence... "Mr Shields..." "Yes,...I was wondering...are you free tomorrow night??" "I'm busy."stated Serena simply. "Really...My grandfather wants to meet you,Serena."I told her. "Lunaria."she corrected. "Lunaria...My grandfather has invite you over to his estate for dinner." I continued. Silence again.... "I accept..." "Good...I shall send a driver to pick you up..." "Mr Shields....-" "Serena!!The men have painted-"came a voice over the phone.. I chuckled slightly... "I have to go,Mr Shields...I am VERY busy..."said Serena sarcastically. I chuckled."Whatever you say,Miss Lunaria..." I heard an exasperated voice followed by the beeping sound of the phone as Serena had put down her line. Putting down the phone,I sighed and returned my attention to the paper work in front of me,that lay untouched on my desk. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The next night... I stood at the penthouse door,of where Serena Lunaria lived. The door opened....Serena stood there wearing a navy blue velvet coat.Her hair was pinned up and she wore a silver dress....tear drop diamond studded earrings decorated her earlobes. The earrings had given her crystal blue eyes a sad looking expression.As if crystalline tears would form. Her eyes held so much pain....so much disappointment and loneliness.... But as soon as I had seen it...the emotions were gone..leaving only the blue eyes which seemed to be made of ice...leaving me to wonder....if I had actually seen those emotions plague her at all.... "Good evening Miss Lunaria...you look lovely." Serena smiled a frosty smile..."Why thank you...you look good yourself, Mr Shields..." Reluctantly,she took my offered arm.... Both of us,heading towards the elevator.... We sat in the limo in silence.She was avoiding,looking at me....I knew it. She stared out the window.I watched her out of the corner of my eye.... She was a mystery....cold....hard....independent....I wondered why I even bothered to try and understand her when there was nothing to understand??? She's cold...hard...independent...mysterious...protective and annoying at times.What was there that was so alluring about her?? Was it because she shrouded herself in mystery??The way she was stubborn and annoying??What???And why do I even bother??I was never the sentimental type.So...why bother..?? My mind snaps back into it's thinking mode...and I'm glad...I don't need to get anymore sentimental than I already am doing.... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We reach my grandfather's mansion.I help her out of the limo.Her hands were.......very cold... She smiled politely..but icily as we entered the mansion. I smirked to myself....all the maids concentration were getting haywiredagain. Grandfather should fire them...flaunting their short work skirts.I lead Miss Lunaria to the dining room. Grandfather is sitting at the head of the long table.As always..... "Good evening,Grandson..."came my grandfather's voice. "Good evening sir...May I intrduce to you,the interior decorater of Shield's Enterprises newest building,Miss Lunaria." "Good evening Miss Lunaria..." "Good evening,Mr Shields,sir..."came Serena's voice. "Please,leave the formalities my dear.I do not really care for them." chuckled grandfather. "Of course,sir..."acknowledged Serena.After dinner... "So,Serena....you are the owner of Moonlight Designs Corp...correct??" asked grandfather. "That is correct...I do own Moonlight Designs co."said Serena. "Such an achievement for one as young as you."commented grandfather. "You are-...how many years old????" I looked with interest...even I didn't know the prestigious young woman's age... "Twenty-three..."she said simply. Grandfather had a thoughtful look on his face. "Very young....Just your early-twenties." "I worked hard."said Serena,not smiling. "Yes..indeed you did....don't you agree grandson??"asked grandfather. Caught off guard,I looked up. "Huh??Oh...yes...yes...indeed." At that moment,my handphone rang...startling me.Excusing myself,I left the den and headed to my grandfather's study. "Andrew??"I answered the phone. "Dare...Beryl's at it again..."came my best friend's voice. Blast that woman....doesn't she ever get tired of trying to hack into the system and steal secrets and money???But then...what did I expect... she did say she would get revenge... "How'd she bypass the primary security???"I demanded. "She didn't!!She must be paying someone in the company to do it for her! As far as I know...the person was using a company computer.But we've yet to trace the station...the person is still trying to bypass the secondary security system.Once we trace the station,we'll have security guards up in the building."said Andrew. I looked at my watch.It was nearly 10.30pm.Everybody should have been out of the Shields building now.... "Dammit...find that mole!!"I exclaimed,switching of my handphone. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I dropped the handphone into my pocket,looking up,I saw Serena Lunaria watching me with those icy sky blue eyes. "Trouble,Mr Shields??"came her cold voice. I frowned."None whatsoever...why are YOU here??"I questioned.I'm not in the mood...I just want to get back to the city now... "It's almost 10.30pm...I SHOULD be leaving..."he said eyeing meskeptically. "You're right...my grandfather..??"I asked. "Bid's you a very much goodnight,"she answered,a frown marring her beautiful features."As do I...I would very much like to return to the city."she said. "Fine....let's go."I told her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! To be continued...Visit my Shrine: http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Lights/5079 Watch for Chapter 4. Sorry...I know this is short,but I thought this seemed like a nice place to end the chapter.