You know, I'm glad I've got the second chapter out. This story is going to be 
very different than Tug of Love. Trust me. If you still have questions, e-mail 
me.

UNION OF HATE
Chapter 2
Sailor Galaxy

Serena stared at him blankly.

" What?"

Darien shifted in his chair.

" It's quite simple, Ms Carter. None of us want the other to solely take care 
of Diana. The only other thing to do is to look after her together. And that's 
why we have to get married."

Serena shot him a look.

" We don't have to get married-"

"- so you're saying we live together?"

Serena blushed.

" No, of course not. Not together as in the romantic sense. We don't even have 
to live together. You can have visiting rights."

" And if I had suggested visiting rights, Ms Carter, you would have thought me 
an insensitive-"

"- I already think you that, Mr Refatalki-"

"- why don't you apply for visiting rights and Diana can live with me?"

Serena bristled.

" No! Diana is going to stay with me. That's final."

Darien looked bored. He drew the sleeve of his jacket and shirt back to look 
at the time. Shaking his head slightly, he looked up at the ceiling and blew 
his breath out. 

" Looks like we aren't going to have much chance at solving this problem 
tonight. If I may suggest this, can we carry on this discussion at some later 
date? Only I have this business meeting and..... you understand."

Serena opened her mouth and then closed it. Truth was, she wanted Darien go. 
She wanted some time to gather her frazzled nerves before Seiya came to pick 
her up. But she wanted to finish this here and now. She didn't want to see 
Darien again. Did she?

" Of course. Any time which would be convenient for you to discuss your niece?"

Darien's cobalt eyes narrowed. He hadn't missed the sarcasm. Good.

" I am busy all day tomorrow. How about lunch the next day?"

A frown drew Serena's brows together. Lunch? With him?

" I-"

" A car will come to pick you up. Will you be at home or at work?"

" I-"

Serena hesitated. Truth was, she didn't know where she was going to be. She 
needed to look for a flat so that she and Diana could move in. Luna had been 
very kind about letting them stay with her but Serena could see that Luna's 
social life was being hampered. Why, just two weeks ago, she had caught Luna 
and Artemis locked in a passionate embrace. She didn't know which of the two 
parties had been more embarrassed. Her or the two lovers.

But maybe she would be over at Seiya's. He had volunteered to help her with 
Diana. They were very close. After the initial dating was over between them, 
they had found out that they had a lot of things in common. Both of them 
thought of each other as a brother or a sister. Well, Serena thought of him as 
a brother anyway.

" I don't know where I'll be. If you could tell me where you would prefer to 
eat lunch, I'll make my own way there."

" Very well."

Darien gave her the address. Serena knew where the place was. Darien stood up. 
His large frame loomed over her and his head blocked out the light. Serena 
nervously stood up but it didn't make very much of a difference. He was still 
nearly a foot taller than her. She wasn't small, five foot and seven inches, 
but Darien made her feel tiny. He couldn't be any less than six foot. A few 
inches over probably. 

They stared at each other. Stormy blue eyes into sky blue eyes. Serena's gaze 
locked onto Darien's and the air thrummed with tension. Her small, pink tongue 
came out to lick her bottom lip. Darien's eyes darkened and he frowned a 
little. He blinked and the spell was broken. Serena stepped back and looked at 
the floor. She could tell that she was blushing. She could feel the heat 
emanating from her cheeks. What was she thinking?

" Well Ms Carter. I thank you for your hospitality today. Until lunch."

He dipped his head and walked towards the door. Serena followed him. She 
jumped when the doorbell rang. Who was it? Oh...

Darien opened the door. It was Seiya. He was carrying a long stemmed rose and 
was dressed in a dark blue suit which was the same colour as his eyes. His 
gaze went from Darien to Serena. To Darien and then back to Serena again.

" Serena. I had no idea that you had a visitor. I'll come back."

Darien turned his gaze on Serena and twisted his lips in an act of distaste. 
Though why that should be, she had no idea.

" Had I known Ms Carter was going to be entertaining a visitor, I would not 
have troubled her. So I'll leave you two to it. Good night."

With that Darien acknowledged Serena and Seiya with a nod and strode towards 
his limo where a chauffer was already out of the vehicle and on his feet, 
opening the door. Seiya and Serena both watched the limo glide away.

Serena blinked and looked at Seiya and attempted a smile.

" Seiya. You look really handsome. Come in for a while. I need to get my 
purse."

They stepped in through the thresh-hold and Seiya closed the door. Serena 
could sense his curiosity but she wasn't in the mood to talk about the visit 
and the proposal of marriage. Most girls she knew would want to tell the world 
that somebody had asked them for marriage. But then, Serena's circumstances 
weren't normal.

" So you think I look handsome do you?"

Serena gave Seiya a backward glance over one shoulder.

" Ummmm. Blue suits you."

Serena heard Seiya mutter something. She couldn't be sure but she thought that
he'd said something along the lines of 'fat lot of good it does me.' But of 
course she must have been mistaken.

" What did you say?"

Seiya smiled at her but his eyes remained serious.

" I said that I think you look beautiful. Not that you don't always but 
today..."

He whistled and Serena laughed. She picked up her purse and looked at a mirror 
which hung over a wall. She primped her hair and looked at her face. 
Everything was fine. Which wasn't the way she was feeling. She had felt so hot 
before that she was surprised her minimum amount of make-up hadn't melted.

Seiya cupped her elbow gently and pulled her towards the door.

" Serena we have to get going now. We're going to be late."

" Just a minute. I need to check to see how Diana is."

Seiya sighed and impatiently looked a his watch again.

" Okay. I'll go start the car."

" You do that."

Serena lightly took the steps two at a time and peered in through the door to 
Diana's room where she saw Luna sitting up with the baby in her arms. The 
older woman saw her and motioned with one finger telling her that she'd be out
in a minute. Serena nodded and closed the door. Diana was such a nice baby. 
She had her father's blonde hair and her mother's light blue eyes. She was 
certainly going to have a lot of men knocking at her door when she got older. 
And it was going to be her job, as Diana's aunt and substitute mother to make 
sure that Diana didn't get hurt.

Luna came out and closed the door.

" She's asleep."

She carried on before Serena could get a word in edgewise.

" Don't worry. If she wakes up early, I have to change her nappy. If she wants 
more milk, I have to put half a cup of water in. And then I have to make sure 
that I make her pass wind. I know I know Serena. I may be older than you but 
not so that I don't know how we've been looking after Diana for the past 
weeks. I can remember everything okay? Don't spoil your evening by worrying 
unnecessarily."

" Okay Lun I trust you. And I'm sorry if I gave you the impression that I 
thought that you couldn't look after her. I'm just protective of her."

Luna waved her hands about.

" Too overprotective if you ask me. Now, Seiya's probably waiting and I agree 
that you should keep a man waiting sometimes, but not too long. It puts them 
off you."

Serena laughed.

" Luna, Seiya's not like that. Not to me anyway."

" Serena. You have so much to learn. Seiya's a man. You treat all men the 
same. Husband, lover, boyfriend, friend, whatever. Besides, this will give you 
practise."

Serena lifted an eyebrow.

" Practice? For what?"

" For whom actually. I'm talking about Mr Refatalki. He seems very experienced 
and a man of the world. Of course you're also going to need experience to 
handle him."

" I handle him just fine-"

"- oh I don't mean the way you're saying. I'm talking of this in a romantic 
sense. When it comes down to love and passion, you need a sweet tongue not the 
tongue of an asp."

" Luna. I'm not interested in him that way. Besides, he's trying to take Diana 
away from me."

" Every-one's interested in him Serena. And as for him taking Diana away from 
you, what do you expect? She is his niece and so far the only heir to the 
Refatalki fortune. Now, go. We'll talk about this when you come back. You've 
kept Seiya waiting long enough. Have fun dear."

Luna gave Serena a gentle push towards the stairs, and after a smile and wave, 
she turned back and disappeared into her room. Making her way down the stairs, 
Serena sighed. She was getting a headache with all this. She couldn't handle 
it. And what was happening to Luna anyway? Who's side was she on? Not Serena's 
judging by the things she had said.

Closing the door quietly behind her, Serena half ran down the drive to where 
she could see Seiya parked. 

" Serena. Finally you've made it. Got lost did you?"

" Oh Seiya. I'm sorry-"

"- never mind. But we're going to be late and the man who hosts these things 
definitely doesn't like unpunctuality."

" Hosts what things?"

" Business dinner. You should know about it but I guess since it's not 
concerned with your department, you weren't told. We're considering a small 
merger between our Selling Department and one of his Selling Managements."

" Who owns the Selling Management? What's his name?"

Seiya shifted uneasily in his seat.

" You'll find out soon enough. I don't know much about him but he's rich."

" Does this concern me? Is that why you're not telling me anything?"

" What? No don't be ridiculous. This has nothing to do with you, at all. 
Everybody's advised to bring a partner and I chose you. Is that so bad?"

" No. Or it wouldn't be if you tell me everything."

" You'll find out Serena don't worry about that. Now, this area is kind of
tricky. I've only been here once before and I got lost then. We can't afford 
to now as we're already late so if you don't mind.....?"

Seiya left the question unfinished but Serena got his drift. He was using this 
excuse as not answering her. She leaned back on her seat. He was right. If he 
didn't want to tell her, it didn't matter. She would find out herself soon. 
What she would find out, she wasn't sure off. And she didn't even know why she
was making a big deal out of this. She just knew that this night was going to 
be spoiled. Her evening had already been, why not her night too?
                    
                    *********************************************************

" Ah. Ms Carter. Mr Granger. You've made it. But you're late."

Seiya started on an excuse but Mr Harris waved it off.

" Never mind. No harm done. The big boss is late himself. But make sure you 
don't make this mistake again please. We would really benefit from this merger 
so I don't want anything to spoil our chances. Now, go take some refreshments. 
I'll give you both a call when he arrives. It will be your job to be pleasant 
to him and make sure that he's at ease."

Mr Harris walked off to talk to the assistant director who had also just 
arrived with his wife in tow. Serena stared after him and smiled. He was just 
like that. He was strict but friendly strict. He could give an employee the 
telling off of his or her life and in the same breath ask him or her if there 
family were doing alright. They all liked him and he was a good employer.

" What would you like to drink?"

" Just... water."

She saw Seiya shake his head in disbelief and go off to the drink's table. She 
smiled to herself. Seiya just didn't understand why she didn't like alcohol. 
She could drink it on occasion but after what had happened.... even if it had 
been years ago, it had been very traumatic and had left a permanent scar on 
Serena. She was just fine the way she was. She didn't need alcohol.

Thanking Seiya when he brought her glass over to her, she eyed his glass which 
held gin and tonic. Not very strong but still... it could effect Seiya. Serena 
shook her head wryly. With all that had happened today, it seemed as if she 
had a plan to go through every bad thing that had happened to her. And if that 
took place, then she was going to have a break down. She just wouldn't be able 
to handle it. Only now, she had managed to think of Mina and Andrew and not 
burst into tears. She would just have to keep her mind on other things. Like 
Seiya and how much he drank.

Seiya noticed her look.

" What?"

" I thought you said this meeting was important. You have to impress the big 
boss and you won't be able to do that if you're drunk."

" I'm not drunk-"

"- not yet-"

" -and I can handle it. Everybody's drinking."

Serena groaned.

" Seiya, do you remember what happened last time? You got so drunk that you 
started to-"

"- I remember I remember. That wasn't exactly my best day Serena. Don't worry 
okay? I won't pick you up and sing Tarzan's song. I promise you that."

Serena just shook her head and took a sip from her drink. She looked at her 
watch. When was the big boss getting here? For a man who didn't like 
unpunctuality, he sure was very late.

At that moment, Mr Harris called to get Serena and Seiya attention. He pointed 
towards the door and gestured both of them to go there. Serena followed Seiya. 
She was behind him so she could see who got out of the car but she did hear 
Seiya. And that was enough.

" Welcome Mr Refatalki."

Serena tuned out the rest of the sentence. Mr Refatalki? It couldn't... no of 
course it couldn't. It couldn't be him. For all she knew Refatalki was a very 
common Greek name. Or if not, Refatalki didn't mean that it had to be him 
exactly. It could be anybody. His uncle for example. But as Seiya moved out of 
her way, she knew the truth.

It was Darien Refatalki.


What does Serena think of Darien turning up here? Does she think he arranged 
it? What does Seiya think?

Review, people review!

Sailor Galaxy

sailorprincessuk@yahoo.co.uk