FLEETING DREAMS: A SECOND CHANCE

CHAPTER I

By ... Divine Selenity

2000, July 27

[REVISED 2001, February 05]

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Author’s Notes:

Okay. This is the first chapter of Fleeting Dreams: A Second Chance. You have to read the Prologue to understand this. There’s been a gap in time and you need to know what happened before to cause all of this. Okei Dokei?

This piece is an alternate universe purely centering around Heero and Relena’s love life since I am a devoted fan of this couple. Please, if you don’t like that coupling, don’t waste mine time, and yours for that matter, e-mailing me and ranting about my choice of couples. Of course, you’ll see appearances from our other beloved Gundam pilots and the other girls, I can’t just leave them out. They’re so adorable.

Anyway have fun and don’t forget to write back at [email protected] to make any constructive criticisms. Remember, CONSTRUCTIVE criticisms, not flames. I love e-mail so don’t worry I will answer them. Expect it at weekends though. As I said before I’m relying on the feed backs to determine whether or not I want to continue publishing this fanfic. So, keep those e-mails coming.

P. S. I have nothing against yaoi or yuri, but I don’t write along those themes.

Disclaimer: REALLY wished with all my heart that I owned Gundam Wing but sadly, I don’t. Hey, at least I own this story.

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"This is DEFINITELY NOT my day."

A young woman in her early twenties could be seen emerging from a shiny black limousine. Garbed in a soft dove gray suit with a double-breasted jacket, her strawberry-blond hair pulled back in a coil, and her sunglasses covering her eyes, she presented the epitome of a successful business woman. Carrying her briefcase in one hand and removing her sunglasses with the other to stare at the impressive building in front of her, she mumbled once again, "DEFINITELY NOT my day."

With that, she strolled into the oppressing building, straightening up as she did so, therefore adding to the aura of confidence that appeared to have everyone looking at her with admiration. Indeed she was beautiful creature, a fact that didn’t escape the males’ eyes and a reality that her fellow females envied in her.

* * * * *

"WHERE IS SHE?"

As many people scuttled out of the way of their very angry superior’s path, the young man at his side didn’t seem affected by his foul mood. Tensions were running high, but Duo Maxwell had many experiences with his partner’s foul moods – oftentimes being at the receiving line of many, but he had weathered it out. However, he did feel extremely sorry for the person his partner’s irritation was directed at.

Duo brushed his hair back from his forehead, only to sigh in annoyance as it once again flopped back to its normal place – in front of his eyes. With a frown, he thought, ‘This is all Heero’s fault. He hurried me up so fast to the office that I didn’t have time to put gel in my hair. I am never EVER going to do that again.’ He admired himself in the glass partitions of the opposite office, his bright blue eyes sweeping his gaze from his head to toe, as he flipped his trademark long, brown-haired braid over his shoulder. It was common knowledge that his braided hair drew many admiring glances from the opposite sex. They thought it to be very, very sexy. With a final flip of his hair, he grinned. ‘Well, not too shabby. I guess it’ll have to do, but if our contact turns to be a very hot babe, I will kill Heero Yuy.’ After all, he was still single, needing to play the field, unlike Heero, who already had a special somebody. ‘A very special somebody at that. That lucky dog.’ If she wasn’t Heero’s, Duo himself would try to date her, but ‘Oh well,’ he thought with a grin. ‘Let’s just hope the babe is a real looker.’ If possible, his grin got even wider . . . that is until he heard yet another shout right next to him.

Duo grin faded, as he sighed dramatically. ‘Hopefully Heero won’t kill the lady. It’d be such a loss if she did turn out to be a babe.’ He broke away from his musing to look at his enraged partner. Sure he was tall standing at 6’2, which was natural for an American. Never in his life, though had he met a tall Japanese male. After all, Asians were normally short. Heero Yuy was actually the same height as he was, possibly even taller. ‘Must be the European gene in him,’ Duo concluded.

His height was really helpful especially when Heero Yuy got into the business conferences. It added intimidation along with his proverbial deadly glare and scowl. That was part of his appeal. Nobody wanted to mess with him after that. Add to that, not only did he exude power and money, but he wasn’t necessarily gruesome to look at. He was in fact quite a looker, listed by Newsweek as one of the fifty most eligible bachelors in America, a fact that excited the ladies of the office. Duo would always hear the gossips that went around between the ladies during the office breaks and their conversation would have the usual,

"Wow! Did you see Mr. Heero Yuy today?"

"Yeah . . . gorgeous as always. With that nice slender physique . . ."

"Slender . . . but underneath all those clothes that slender physique disguises his strong, shapely muscles"

"Tell me about it . . . and that richly colored dark brown hair with those locks that would always hang down right in front of his eyes."

"Yeah . . . don’t forget the eyes . . . divine . . . that’s what they are. Whenever I look at his Prussian blue eyes . . . I feel like he’s seeing through me and I get that tingly feeling all throughout my body . . . "

"I know exactly what you’re talking about."

And then, Duo would hear the wistful sighs of the ladies as he quickly headed back to his office, chuckling along the way and his eyes twinkling with mischief, for he could never wait to tease his buddy.

Power, money, and good looks all wrapped up in one package. Every man wanted to be like him while every woman wanted to be WITH him.

His musing was once more interrupted by another shout. Again coming from Heero. ‘God, he needs to cool it because he is messing up my eardrums and giving me a great big headache. What he needs is a little R and R [Rest and Relaxation].’

Duo threw an exasperated glance at Heero Yuy, entrepreneur extraordinaire, who was currently donning his legendary glare, the reason why many of the subordinates had called him terrifying and strict, a description that applied to him even when not in one of his temperamental moods. Be that as it may, he was truly a compassionate man, sometimes even funny, and Duo was already exaggerating it when he meant sometimes.

His Prussian blue eyes normally sparkling with amusement or concentration, now showed angry depths, expressing how annoyed he was at the late arrival. His charcoal black suit emphasized his tanned colored skin. His naturally unruly dark brown hair, which was earlier tamed just for the upcoming appointment, had came undone from all the pacing. Even with that rugged look, he still maintained his aura of confidence as the overseer of a multi-million-dollar company.

‘But, got to admit,’ Duo thought, ‘Heero is a pretty impressive individual.’ He’d worked with the man for only four years. At first, when Duo had been made a partner after his own company merged with Mizaki Industries, he had thought he’d be working with the old man, Natsushi Mizaki, himself. After all, he was the one managing the Mizaki Industries before he handed the management down to his grandson, Heero Yuy, while still retaining part of the company’s ownership. Not to say that Heero was a spoiled brat waiting for money from his grandfather, since Heero himself had numerous companies under his command that he had built on his own. It just so happened that he also had a grandfather who happened to be the legendary Natsushi Mizaki . . . and surprise . . . surprise, he was also known for being an entrepreneur extraordinaire after entering the American market and taking it by storm. Like grandfather, like grandson. ‘Which brings me to what I was telling him earlier in the morning,’ Duo scrunched his face contemplating this thought.

"Heero buddy you need a life." Duo grinned, one of those idiotic grins he had that clearly stated he was up to no good, while draping his arm on the back of the other young man in a sense of camaraderie.

Heero merely looked at the other boy and with one slight lift of one dark eyebrow, "And what may I ask brought on this sudden interest in my life?"

"What life?" Heero could’ve smacked Duo just for that remark, but he didn’t. He should’ve but he didn’t. He could’ve but he didn’t. After all they’ve known each other for four years and Duo was one of those few people he trusted -– one of his best friends actually, even though they were as different as night and day. He being the one between the twosome with a very serious outlook in every aspect of life while Duo tended to be lively and extremely annoying man who always made a point to comment on his lifestyle or, as Duo said, lack thereof. Damn he should’ve smacked Duo.

On a somber note Duo continued, "Seriously though, Heero I know you’re a really capable person but I know some of the tension must be getting to you. This merger business with Forscue Incorporated is important yeah, specially with another competitor on the horizon, but take it easy. We’ve got Barton’s people working with us and if their past performances are anything to go by you know as well as I do that the man has the best of the best, top-notch operatives around. So that being said . . . " Duo immediately returned back to his mischievous self, turned Heero around facing his office and started shoving him in that direction in an uncouth manner. Heero’s ‘hey’s’ and ‘DUO!!!’s’ were ignored as his friend cheerfully continued, "Why don’t you get out of everybody’s hair and go into your office? All your glaring and yapping around is getting in everybody’s nerves thereby preventing them to do their job and we need them to be performing their jobs. Capisce?"

Duo ignored Heero’s resounding ‘no’ and, with a final shove, he had pushed the still infuriated man through the double doors of his office and slammed them behind him. A grateful sigh of relief could be heard from all the workers and relieved smiles formed all around the room. Then, on second thought, Duo poked his head again into Heero’s office and said, "I have a thought. Why don’t you call that nice fiancée of yours? It’ll help lessen your grouchy mood." With a sweet ‘buh-bye’ Duo once again firmly closed the door. A second later, a resounding crash was heard throughout the office along with Heero’s ‘I’m gonna get you later you braided BAKA !!!!’ Whenever Heero reverted to his native language, Japanese, it was a sign that he was really irritated. Grinning like a Cheshire cat, Duo’s only thought was, ‘Oh yeah, annoying Heero Yuy is definitely my calling in life.’

With that he turned his attention to his audience, reverting back to his business face saying, "What’s everybody looking at? Nothing here so get back to work!" Then merrily, whistling all the way too, walked down the other end of the hall back to his office. . . but he stopped . . . turned around . . . then made a beeline for Heero’s secretary, whose cubicle was directly in front of Heero’s office.

After being satisfied that she was there – Duo poked his head in to take a peek at what she was doing – Duo walked in and plopped himself down on one of the chairs in front of her desk.

"Hey Mrs. C. how ya doing?" Duo greeted with childish glee.

"You want something . . . what is it?" Smiling, the middle-aged lady never took her eyes from the computer screen as she talked to him. "Now out with it. I still have a lot of work to do."

"Why do you always think that? Can’t I just come here to say hi like I always do?"

"And since when have you done that?"

"You wound me," and to make a point Duo, on his knees, clutched at his chest to feint injury. Then he sat back down again when Mrs. C. didn’t seem to be paying him attention at all. "Fine be that way. Anyway, I just wanted to know if you’ve heard from our Barton Corporation contact, a Ms. Nicole de La Houge as I recall, in charge of the Forscue merger. She was supposed to be here as Heero’s 1:00 appointment, but as you can see," pointing to her clock, "it’s already 2:00 and she’s clearly not here yet which is why our fearless leader has been on the edge today, specially with that new threat to the merger."

"Really?!?!?! I haven’t noticed," she smartly replied. Then with a smile, "The whole office is shaking with tension but, I can’t alleviate that either because, sorry to say, I haven’t heard from her. I took the liberty in calling the Barton Corporation, talked to Trowa Barton himself in fact. He just said that she’s coming, but that was thirty minutes ago and, as you said, still no sign of her."

"If you ask me," and Duo continued talking even with Mrs. C.’s adamant ‘I didn’t’, "she shouldn’t be an operative for the Barton Corporation. Clearly she can’t match up with their high standards and it would be shameful if she always slips up like this. It puts a bad dent on Barton Corporation’s respectable reputation. She should be fired." He finished with gusto by pounding his fist on his palm.

"Oh I totally agree with you, but, oops, too late. She already resigned," a voice from behind him suddenly interjected. Duo and Mrs. C, clearly startled by the new presence, turned to the cubicle’s opening and encountered a vision looking defiantly straight at them – and she definitely did not look amused.

* * * * *

Relena Darlian was DEFINITELY not having a good day. In the past thirty hours she has gone from one part of the world to the next. She hadn’t eaten anything other than the crummy airplane food, nor had she gotten but a wink’s full of sleep . . . all because of one lousy executive who suddenly decided she wanted to fall off the face of the earth.

Twenty-four hours ago she was at basking under the glow of the sun in England. When the sun was shining, England in June was just about perfect., she had decided. She had just come out of the stuffy building behind her that housed the Barton Corporation’s European main base after finishing a very grueling day of negotiations, something that she had stayed up all night for, studying the contract word for word and making sure the deal didn’t include anything that would jeopardize her client’s company. It was a good thing she had because they did indeed try to get nasty. ‘Those sneaky corporate lawyers,’ she thought. Luckily, for her client, and unfortunately for them, she had found them out. Now her client had wanted another contract to be drawn up – by her of course – by the next month. After all that was her forte, managing the Barton Corporation assets and supervising mergers and negotiations for their clients.

The Barton Corporation, Relena’s company, had assets of its own that they merged with other companies that were too weak to stand up by themselves. They had nourished them to the outstanding successful companies they were today. Though they were busy running these other companies, their main forte was still mergers. A elite branch of their corporation provided expert assistance to corporations in danger of hostile takeovers or buy-outs. They helped the company managers prevent raiders, motivated solely by quick profits, endanger the longevity of a company. Not only that, but they also acted as advisors to those companies who hire them, though their job can run visa-versa. They help advise and engineer takeovers and buy-outs that, in the long, run will be beneficial to both companies.

Now, at the age of twenty-seven, Relena Darlian had worked for the Barton Corporation for five years. Immediately after finishing her degree at the age of twenty-two, she was promptly accepted as a part of the staff, working first for a few weeks as a staff assistant in order to settle in to the firm’s routine, then she worked her way into becoming the communications manager for a year and a half, switching over to fill in the vacancy as the financial director until a permanent employee was found to fill the position. Thereafter, she was promoted to becoming the junior executive of the company and thereby acquiring a fair amount of shares in the company and becoming one its partners as well, an incredible feat for one who has only been part of the team for two and a half years, especially for one who was only twenty-five years old. She was known for her thoroughness and quick thinking, which was why she was usually called in – often last-minute – to handle cases that might blow up in the faces of the less experienced negotiators.

After she had exited the building, she had taken out the clip from her hair letting her hip-length blonde hair loose while sighing in relief, grateful that the negotiations were over. Just as she was relishing in the smell of newly mown grass from a nearby courtyard and the happy chirping of the birds, wheeling and diving in the sky, far above her head, a sleek black limousine had stopped right in front of her and its driver had gotten out of the vehicle to approach her.

"Are you Ms. Darlian ma’am?" the chauffeur had asked in inquiry.

"Yes? That’s me. What can I do for you?" She smiled at him as a pleasant gesture though she was definitely confused since she hadn’t called a limousine service to take her back to her apartment.

He smiled and gesture to the limousine. "Ms. Noventa sent me to fetch you down here and bring you home. She is very grateful for your services. ‘Consider this as a bonus for a very rewarding day,’ she said." Then he opened the door and gestured for her to get in.

"Thank you very much." Relena happily crawled into the awaiting limousine and closed her eyes for a quick nap, grateful that she needn’t drive nor direct a cab to her London apartment. But her peaceful state lasted for only a second because of the insistent ringing of the cell phone in her purse, demanding to be picked up.

Puzzled as to who might be calling and already frustrated at the unknown caller, she brought out the device from her bag and looked at its back-lit display, only to groan in dismay once she recognized who it was – but answered the phone nonetheless.

"No. I’m definitely not interested in doing you any favors as of this moment. No shopping for your sister. No visiting business associates for you or your dad, and definitely no more business calls," she announced firmly, before the caller had a chance to say anything.

"I definitely missed having you around here to boss me around Darlian," came the chuckling voice from the other end of the line.

"Trowa Barton, you have one minute before I hang-up this phone. As much as I love hearing you admit that you miss my bossy attitude, my eyes are beckoning sleep." In spite of her exhaustion, Relena drew the phone nearer to her ears and smiled. Moments like this with Trowa Barton were rare, especially since both of them jetted around the world quite often, managing the Barton Corporation’s assets. At the same time, like Relena, Trowa was also an expert negotiator, handling those extreme cases that Relena wasn’t handling. Plus, he was also Barton Corporation’s junior vice-president, along with the fact that he was son and future successor of Jan Breydel Barton, the owner of Barton Corporation. All in all they were very busy people, which was why, Relena cherished those precious moments were they could just sit down and talk to each other like in the old days.

"My, my, somebody is DEFINITELY cranky," came his amused voice.

"DEFINITELY sleepy too, that’s why there better be a point to this call, Barton," Relena laughingly answered.

"Why? I can’t just call my favorite girl without a reason?"

"No, you never do anything without a reason Trowa. This had better be good, Barton."

"Right." Trowa’s voice turned serious. "We have a problem."

She raised her eyebrow’s at this. "What kind of problem?"

"I need you to return to Washington, D. C. . . . A. S. A. P."

"The situation’s that bad? Negotiations can usually be set back for a few days can’t they?"

Trowa sighed, and his somber voice reached her ears as he explained the situation. "Ever heard of the Mizaki Industries?"

"Hasn’t everybody? To put it bluntly, it’s owner, Natsushi Mizaki, is a Japanese Bill Gates, as wealthy and as prestigious. Why?" Then on an afterthought, "Oh my, don’t tell me they’ve actually assigned us to handle one of their mergers? I thought their company itself already had experts for that. And if our corporation was handling it wouldn’t Jan have wanted to take care of it himself?"

"Well, actually, they’ve been our client way before you were part of the staff. It’s just that for the past years other executives, who have experienced working with them, dealt with their negotiations. Plus, four years ago they experienced a shift in power. Natsushi Mizaki turned executive control to someone else while still retaining part of the company’s ownership."

Relena was about to interrupt him to inquire the new chief executive officer’s name, but Trowa had anticipated it. They had known each other for five years, after all. "Don’t ask me who the new CEO [chief executive officer] is. I don’t know either. I have never met the guy before. As much as possible dad’s been the one who’s been communicating with him," he finished.

After digesting this bits of information, Relena went back to her original question. "So what’s the status? Who’s been handling the case?"

"Mizaki Industries was trying to engineer a silent buy-out over Forscue Incorporated, a dying computer company. For months they’ve initiated a fake-out. They’ve intentionally leaked in the business arena that they were interested in Forscue Incorporated’s rival, CHIPS to be exact, instead of Forscue Incorporated. And because of the supposed interest of Mizaki Industries in buying CHIPS, other competitors have also taken interest in it and the CHIPS company stocks have skyrocketed for the past five months while Foresters Incorporated stocks continued to decline making a buy-out pretty easy." Trowa took a deep breath.

"I feel a but coming on," Relena injected wryly.

"But,"

‘I knew it,’ Relena thought

" . . . it seems that they now have competition. Several actually. If I’m not mistaken, all of those companies who have previously invested in CHIPS Incorporated, have now withdrawn all their interest and turned it to Forscue Incorporated as of today, right after the market opened."

"Why now? When it’s so close to the close of the negotiations?" Then dawning came to Relena. "Oh my gosh . . ." They should have anticipated this outcome. Both Trowa and Relena would have, but they weren’t the one working on the merger. ‘Well, the suspense is killing me,’ thought Relena. ‘It’s time for some truths.’

"So tell me Trowa, who’s our leak?"

"You’ll be surprised, Lena."

"Try me," she retorted. "I’ve been in this business too long for me to be surprised. Business dealings are way better than T. V. soaps. Back stabbing is common while loyalty is a rarity. So, hit me with your best shot. I want to know who’s the scum bag responsible for me not being able to get any semblance of beauty sleep."

"Don’t say I didn’t warn you," Trowa reminded her. At her snort of derision, Trowa answered. "Nicole de La Houge was taking care of the case."

Relena was dumbfounded. "You’ve got to be kidding right?"

"Sorry, I know you were fond of her, but our latest protégé turned out to be eager to move on to higher grounds. She wanted to be on the top the fastest way. Selling to the highest bidder turned out to be the easiest way for her. So she folded."

"But . . . but how can that be? We carefully scanned her, and both you and I interviewed her ourselves." Then her voice turned hard as steel she continued, "And neither of us ever make any mistakes when choosing who will work for our branch."

"Looks like we did. And now we have to rectify the situation."

"I was afraid you’d say that. Sometimes being the best of the best isn’t that great," she complained tiredly.

"You’ve had five years to get used to it," came the reply.

"Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I can’t complain once in a while. So what do you need me to do?"

"We’ll talk about the case further once you get here. I’ve taken the liberty of booking you a flight straight from London to D. C. No stop-overs at all. It should be leaving in about an hour from now. I’ve informed them that you might be a few minutes late, but I told them that they are not to leave without you under any circumstances. I’ll pick you up myself once you arrive."

‘So much for rest and relaxation,’ Relena thought in yearning. She was about to turn off her cell phone but Trowa spoke.

"And Lena?"

"Yeah?"

"Try and get some rest. You sound like hell." Then all there was left was the dial phone.

‘Some compliment. Just you wait Trowa Barton. Once I get there, you’re going to do some major begging. Hmm . . . I have been thinking about buying myself a new, expensive attire – scratch that – with Trowa around I can buy myself a closet-full of clothes." The thought perked up Relena’s tired nerves and as her light blue eyes twinkled with mischief, she directed the chauffeur to head to the London airport after they made a quick stop at her apartment.

That whole episode had been twenty-four hours ago. Six hours ago, around 5:30 in the morning, she had touched down in Reagan National Airport, feeling utterly spent. As she walked through the connecting bridge towards the airport gates, her entire frame filled with pain with every step taken, all she could think about was inflicting equal pain on a certain junior vice-president of a certain Barton Corporation. However, the sight that she saw when she actually reached the airport gate instantly changed her mind. All she could think about was, ‘I hate it when he does that,’ for standing ahead many other people waiting for other passengers of the plane she had ridden on was Trowa Barton, smiling that cute boyish smile of his and holding a bouquet of lovely full bloomed roses for her. The sight took her breath, not to mention any memory of her pain-ridden body, away.

To put it simply, Trowa Barton was a Greek god. ‘No question about it,’ as she stared at his tanned smooth face. ‘Actually, correct that,’ she paused, ‘he’s a Latin god. After all he is of Latin origin though he was born here in good old America.’ He towered over her 5’7" with his 6’4" height. Normally man of that height were either lanky or heavy-weighted. Trowa was neither. He had a lean figure clothed normally in one of his business suits that didn’t do a great job of hiding every inch of his perfectly-toned body. Every woman within a fifty-mile radius of him were aware of that fact. Also, Trowa was not only in good shape but he was good-looking too. His choice of hair-style hid most of his face – to lessen the appeal Trowa’s mother had once confided in Relena. ‘Boy, was he wrong in doing that,’ Relena inwardly giggled. Women loved the mystery in a man, and they found plenty of that in Trowa. They found him very attractive indeed. ‘Oh well, who am I to disillusion him, anyway?’ His hairstyle not only increased his sex appeal to the opposite sex but it also made his dark green eyes stand out more, since his dark brown hair contrasted against their coloring. His eyes, it reminded her of emeralds, the purest kinds.

Many women working in their company envied the attention Trowa Barton paid her. Ever since she had started working there, for some reason or another, she would encounter Trowa Barton, whether literally bumping into him – which was how they met for the first time by the way – or whether they would just happen to ride on the same elevator. No matter what, she would always see him around. It wasn’t until a two months after the start of her employment that Trowa came up to her and started up a conversation. That conversation led to another and another, then that conversation led to a visit to the building’s cafeteria. An encounter that was followed up by dinner. The next thing she knew they were the best of friends – keeping no secrets from one another. ‘Well at least, he had no secrets from me,’ she guiltily amended.

Trowa and her . . . they were a formidable team, especially when it came to business strategies, which was why there were a lot of times they were assigned to work on the same project. More often than not this earned Relena envious glares. Not that she cared anyway since there was nothing to be guilty about. She and Trowa were just friends. At least, that’s what she’d always thought they were. Weren’t they? But, she had to admit though, she and Trowa didn’t act as if they were ‘just’ friends. They’d developed this closeness that, at first and at times still, had scared her since she was still wising up from one of the biggest mistakes she had ever made in her life. Falling in love with the wrong guy. Relena shook herself from her musings, it seemed that she had been thinking about the past more than once today. ‘I wonder why.’ Her curiosity was piqued. ‘Must be exhaustion,’ she concluded.

Pasting a brilliant smile in her face, she gazed at Trowa and, suddenly in a burst of spontaneity, dumped her traveling bags on the floor and launched herself to his arms. Trowa, momentarily surprised, nearly wasn’t able to save the beautiful roses he had specially bought just for her from being crushed. But, ‘Thank God for fast reflexes and martial arts classes,’ Trowa gratefully thought, and gently gathered the woman he had considered his best friend for five years into his welcoming arms.

Within the circle of Trowa’s arms, though Relena was beginning to succumb to sleep’s spell, her mind was still going on overdrive. ‘There was a time when I would never have pictured myself embracing another man like this except for Heer - ’ Before she could finish the thought, she shook her head. ‘Get it together Darlian. That’s the second time today and this isn’t exactly the time to be delving into the past, ‘coz that’s exactly where it’s supposed to be, the past.’

After a few moments Trowa broke the silence. "You must have missed me more than I thought."

Grateful that he diverted her thoughts from the past, "You wish. I’m just so tired I could fall flat on my face." She backed away from his embrace and yawned. "And dreadfully sleepy too," she added. "You do realize that with only a wink’s full of sleep you’re going to have to carry on the business negotiations right?"

"The meeting’s not scheduled for until 1:00 this afternoon. You can sleep in for about five hours and then we’ll board a plane to New York." While talking, Trowa had gathered all her belongings, a dark gray travelling duffel bag and her briefcase, shouldering the former on his right shoulder. His left hand still carried the roses. With his right arm, he had kept his hold on Relena’s waist, urging her closer to him, to keep her balance and to lean on him.

"Why New York?" This information had caught her interest.

"That’s where their main base is. But, once we’re on the plane we’ll – " While Trowa had been talking, he had inadvertently glanced at Relena, who seemed not to be listening to him. ‘Poor girl was rundown.’ Trowa’s gaze softened and he thought, ‘I’ll ask for some time off with pay for her. She has been working too hard as of late.’ Trowa turned his gaze at Relena, who really did sound – and look – dreadfully tired. "Come on sleeping beauty, let’s get you home so you can get some rest."

Relena looked as if she was already half asleep as she mumbled incoherently, "But Trowa Brussels is a long way from here. And to be honest, even though I really want to go home, I really don’t want to ride again on a plane with their stuffy, cramped seats." Then she snuggled closer to Trowa as she imagined that she half-walked outside the airport premises.

All Trowa could do was stare at her as he half-carried her and at times half-dragged her outside. ‘I really wish that I wasn’t carrying all these stuff. If I wasn’t I could just make things easier for her and just carry her myself.’ As he walked to the sleek black limousine awaiting them right outside the airport’s entrance, all Trowa could think about was, ‘Brussels? Where did that come from? I meant either my family house in Richmond, Virginia or her apartment in Alexandria, Virginia. Either way, both are home to us.’

However, Trowa had another thing to think about as he entered the limousine handing Relena’s luggage to his family chauffeur and placing Relena on his lap, his arms loosely about her, with her head resting on his chest. Once they were situated, and the driver had started driving to his D. C. apartment – he had decided that he would let her sleep some more and because of that they needed to be closer to the airport – Relena had snuggled closer to his warmth, settling her face against his neck, her head now resting on the crook of his left shoulder. She had mumbled once more. He barely made out the words, ‘Trowa, you owe me a new wardrobe.’

At this Trowa just became more confused than ever.

Throughout the ride to Trowa’s apartment, Trowa had heard Relena murmur more in her sleep. He could only catch a few words, but from the gist of things, they were names of people she had probably known a long time ago. Among the names he heard were Milliardo, Noin, Dorothy, Wufei, Sally, Mama Darlian, and Papa Darlian. Now, it wasn’t strange for one person to dream about people she had known before, he wasn’t concerned about that. What puzzled Trowa was that Relena was tearfully crying in her sleep, especially whenever she mentioned the names Heero and Hilde. His shirt was already soaked with her tears, yet he didn’t mind. All he could do was tighten his hold around her and draw her closer to him, if possible, wishing her tears would stop. Miraculously, they did.

By the time he had carried her, and her belongings, into his apartment and settled her into her room – she had designated the guest room as hers, which essentially was since she stayed there whenever she was over his house, which was a lot of time – he had grown more puzzled at the woman he held in his arms. After tucking her in, he kissed her forehead, stared at her peaceful face for awhile more, caressed her cheek lovingly, and stood up to go to the living room. As he walked past the her bedroom door, he stopped and looked at her once more, ‘I just realized that even though you’re my best friend, I don’t even know a lot about you. What secrets are you hiding from me Relena? More importantly, why are you hiding such secrets?’ With a solemn shake of his head, he walked away.

Heavenly. That’s the only word to describe the aroma that she was smelling. Groggily, Relena opened her eyes, only to close them once more because of the intensity of the sun’s glare.

‘Oh God, what time is it?’ With a deep breath, she ventured one eye open and looked at the clock right next to her bed. It clearly read 10:00 in the morning. She shut her eyes once more. ‘Ugh. It is too early to get up. Must go back to sleep.’ She snuggled once more into the comforts of the blankets and its warmth.

A minute later, ‘Must go to sleep. Must go to sleep. Way too early. Must go to sleep.’ Relena was chanting to herself under the blankets hoping to lull herself once more to sleep.’

Five minutes later, ‘Five thousand, Five thousand One, Five thousand Two, Five thousand Three . . .’ and on she went counting the tiny little lambs in her head.

Ten minutes later. Sniff. Sniff. ‘There’s that heavenly smell again.’ At that precise moment her stomach grumbled. ‘Right, first things first, my stomach definitely needs some loving care after being put through that torture they call airplane food.’

Relena proceeded to sleep-walk towards the kitchen, guided solely by her nose. Of course, the scratches and bruises that she received from accidentally bumping into things were blamed solely on her nose for not noticing those things along the way.

Finally she had reached her destination. Trowa had an apron on and a spatula in one hand. She’d seen this plenty of times of course, but she laughed anyway, which alerted him to her presence.

With a lift of an eyebrow Trowa asked, "And what exactly are you laughing at?"

Relena continued on giggling and sighed with contentment. "No matter how many times I see you with an apron and a spatula, the image of it can make me laugh. Imagine that. One of the most powerful men in America has a domestic touch in him."

"You sure recovered fast. You’re already making fun of me and my hobbies." After saying so he set a plate of newly cooked omelets and bacons with freshly backed biscuits on the table. To top it off, he laid a cup of coffee, with cream and drowned with sugar, just the way she liked it, next to the plate.

"You are my savior." She gratefully inhaled the delicious scent and immediately set about the task of satisfying her complaining stomach. Trowa only smirked at this and said, "I know."

She managed to eat the meal in a record time of five minutes, take a bath within another five minutes, and dressed, styled her hair, and put make-up on her face all within ten minutes.

Once she jumped into the limousine, this time held open by Trowa, she had a grin in her face . . .

. . . only to have it vanish once they boarded the plane and got down to business.

"Okay. So let me get this straight," Relena stated once more, within the confines of the plane, as she desperately tried not to feel the hopelessness that was starting to feel a permanent part of her mood nowadays. "Nicole de La Houge not only leaked all our plans to a rival company, but it turns out that throughout the time she was handling the case she never even documented any of the statistics needed about Forscue Incorporated?"

Trowa only nodded at this. And his calm façade was only infuriating her more, but on second thought, she knew she was also supposed to be calm, or else she wouldn’t be able to think straight.

"So has Mr. Mizaki already been informed of the situation?"

"Yeah. Dad talked to him last night himself. That’s when he told me about the whole mess Nicole made."

"Options?" she inquired.

"None that seem favorable at this moment. I honestly do not know how to approach this situation."

. . . ‘And life just can’t possibly get any worse than this,’ Relena grimaced, feeling tired all over again.

. . . She was wrong.

In New York they rented a cab and were caught up in the midst of the traffic rush so typical in New York. Finally, they pulled in front of an impressive building. As Trowa paid for the cab, Relena stood on her exhausted feet, fleetingly glanced at her watch, then returned to her musing of the building. The building was new, with a glistening black-mirrored exterior that towered above the ground. However, realization suddenly dawned as she looked more closely at her watch, Trowa finally joining her at her side and cried out in distress.

"What’s wrong?" Trowa asked, concern clearly expressed in his face.

"What’s wrong?" Relena returned incredulously. "This is what’s wrong Barton." With that she proceeded to shove her watch in his face. With a widening of his eyes, she knew he understood her distress. He even voiced it for the two of them.

"We are so late."

"Not the impression I was trying to make." Relena then took a deep breath and started walking ahead, leaving Trowa to follow behind her as she entered the oppressing building. A grimace was clearly on both of their face.

Their footsteps made tapping sounds against the marble floor in the lobby where she was warmly greeted by the receptionist, who gave her a wide smile, and Trowa with an even wider, and seductive, come-hither smile.

‘We don’t have time for this.’ Relena thought exasperatedly. ‘Later, she can flirt all she wants, but as of right now we are very late for an important appointment.

Smiling tightly, she broke the receptionist’s gaze from a stoic looking Trowa. ‘Serves her right. Trowa hates girls like that.’ Then going back to business mode, "Hi. We’re representatives from the Barton Corporation. We have a 1:00 appointment with Mr. Natsushi Mizaki that we really need to be in right now."

The receptionist who had welcomed her warmly before, now gave a her a dirty look, as she coldly informed her of where to go while turning and smiling at Trowa every other second. After finally extracting the much needed information from her Relena and Trowa boarded the elevator. By now it was 1:45.

"I blame this on you and your good-looks." Relena muttered as she smoothed her hair and straightened her suit.

"I’ll take that as a compliment, thank you very much." And the man just stood smirking at her the whole ride up to the seventh floor where they encountered yet another receptionist, with the same results. It was now 2:00.

"Trowa?"

"Yes?"

‘And the man was still calm.’

"Once this is over, you owe me another new set of wardrobe." She walked, leaving Trowa behind her, towards the end of the hallway as the receptionist had sweetly informed Trowa, all the while ignoring Relena. They passed numerous people in different surrounding cubicles who seemed knee-deep in work.

As she walked towards a cubicle, that she assumed belong to the CEO’s secretary, since it was outside an impressive set of doors that she once again assumed belonged to the new CEO, Trowa caught up to her and asked, "Oh yeah about that wardrobe business, since when did I owe you any by the way?"

Relena was never able to answer since they stumbled upon what seemed to be a bantering session between a good-looking young man with long, braided hair – at this she did a double take – and an elderly lady typing away and ignoring the presence and chatter of the young man.

Relena had learned the hard way not to eavesdrop, but something interesting caught her attention before she could make herself and Trowa known to them. The man, after doing a poor imitation of a wounded man – at which she laughed inwardly – had mentioned Nicole de La Houge. She frowned at this. ‘Hmm . . . I guess they still don’t know the situation.’ She was about to correct them, when she was interrupted once again.

"If you ask me she shouldn’t be an operative for the Barton Corporation. Clearly she can’t match up with their high standards and it would be shameful if she always slips up like this. It puts a bad dent on Barton Corporation’s respectable reputation. She should be fired," the braided man had commented.

Relena scowled at that. Even though she agreed that Nicole should be fired, this braided fool needn’t talk about it like that. After all, they were talking about an employee who was part of the Barton Corporation. Never mind that she turned out to be a scheming witch. If they could talk about one employee of Barton Corporation like that, imagine what they could be saying about their other employees. And one thing Relena really hated – other than back stabbing – was talking about people behind their backs. It was injustice. For a second, Relena reigned in her temper and coldly spoke up, "Oh I totally agree with you, but, oops, too late. She already resigned." And two shocked faces looked at her direction.

* * * * *

‘Me and my big mouth,’ Duo thought as he mentally smacked his head in frustration. ‘This totally screws up my first impression. Oh man, and what if she’s a babe?’ Both Duo and Mrs. C turned their attention to the source of the melodic voice . . . and his jaw nearly dropped.

Duo Maxwell looked at the heavens above in accusation. ‘I swear, somebody up there has it in for me. First, the hair, now the babe.’ Only one word came to the mind of he who was always articulate, and that was, ‘WOW!’

‘Now, she is more than a babe,’ he thought in admiration as he carefully surveyed her. ‘She is truly a vision.’ From where he was, he’d guess that she could be around 5’6"-5’8" in height. ‘Not too small and not too tall,’ he assessed. She was wearing a soft dove gray suit with a double-breasted jacket that only enhanced the shapely curves he could see. Her strawberry-blond hair was pulled back in a coil with loose tendrils falling down from it that added an extra allure to her face. Also, and this was something he liked, she wasn’t wearing a lot of make-up. Just enough to add to her natural beauty. ‘So far so good,’ Duo thought as he stared marveled at the supreme confidence her obviously irate face exuded.

Once more, with a sweeping glance at her, he thought, ‘Good looks, confidence, and from the looks of it intelligence. God,’ he groaned mentally. ‘Somebody must really hate me up there.’ Trying to salvage the situation from the obviously bad first impression he’d made, Duo smiled exuberantly – the smile that had been labeled by the ladies as the killer smile – and extended his hand for an introduction.

"Hi. The name’s Duo Maxwell, junior vice-president of Mizaki Industries, you must be Ms. Nicole de La Houge. Welcome to Mizaki Industries." As Duo looked at her, he noticed that no longer was she furious, but she did look confused at something as she thoughtfully frowned up at him, and then looked at a man right behind her that Duo did not even notice until now.

Once more, Duo thought, ‘Yeah, somebody hates me up there alright. She obviously has a boyfriend already, by the way they’re looking at each other.’ Duo couldn’t help but curse his unfortunate luck.

Relena was confused. ‘Didn’t Jan already talk to Mr. Mizaki about the change in plans?’ Then she grimaced as she realized something, ‘Oh God. If they don’t know about the change in plans, then that means Trowa and I will have to be the ones to break to the news that a member of the elite Barton Corporation was actually responsible for the leak.’ She looked up at Trowa and though he outwardly looked calm, his eyes conveyed his confusion. She was hoping he would set the tone, but he was just standing behind her and letting her make the first move.

‘This makes it three sets of new wardrobes, Barton.’ With a sigh, she turned back to the man – Duo Maxwell was it? – and gave him one of her more generous smiles. Grasping his hand in hers, she introduced herself. "Hi. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Sorry to disappoint you, but I’m not Nicole de La Houge." Mentally she added, ‘And I don’t think I’d like to be since she’s definitely in big trouble right now.’ With a gesture to Trowa and herself she continued, "My name is Relena Darlian, Barton’s junior executive, and this is Trowa Barton, Barton Corporation’s junior vice-president." Trowa only nodded in acknowledgement as he eyes the other man. Relena ventured on, "We’re here for our 1:00 appointment with Mr. Natsushi Mizaki."

At this, Duo seemed perplexed. ‘Don’t these people know that Mizaki doesn’t handle company affairs anymore? The old man’s busy getting a tan in the Caribbean right at this moment.’

Relena seemed to sense his mood as she asked, "Is something wrong? I realize that we’re late for the appointment, and for that we’re terribly sorry, but if you want us to wait –"

Duo cut her off with an apologetic smile. "No, no it’s not like that at all. It’s just that you weren’t scheduled to meet with Mr. Natsushi Mizaki. He is occupied right now – splashing in the warm waters of the Caribbean to be exact. You’re meeting with Mizaki Industries’ CEO." With another smile, pointing to the double doors beyond the cubicle he added, "Here why don’t I bring you to him. I’m sure he’s very anxious to meet you." Duo saw Trowa Barton put his arm on her waist to lead her along, ‘If I wasn’t sure before, I am now. They’re definitely an item.’ Duo merely shrugged at this, ‘Oh well, there’s still that 3:30 appointment of mine for tomorrow.’ He grinned in anticipation.

Behind him, Relena leaned closer to Trowa as she whispered angrily, "You do know that I’m going to kill your father after this right? He not only informed us last minute, but he neglected to mention that we’re not meeting with the owner himself but the CEO. Do you know how humiliating it was to appear totally unprepared like that? Love him like a father I might, but he’s going down tonight once we get back."

"Sorry Lena," Trowa reverted to his nickname for her, "but you’re going to have to wait in line after me. I got first dibs." Then switching the topic, "So, what do you make of the situation yet?" Trowa asked as he saw the young man in front of them, Duo, knock on the door and poke his head in at the same time. "What’s our plan of action?"

"Well, we could engineer another fake-out for one, or they could just go ahead and buy CHIPS as it is." She ticked off her fingers one by one with each idea, then continued, "I’ll call this one. Back me up?" She looked up at him questioningly.

Trowa, removing his arm from her waist, laced his fingers through her and murmured, "You know I will. I’ll follow your lead. Let’s knock ‘em dead." Smiling at her, he ushered her into the double doors opened by Duo Maxwell.

* * * * *

Heero Yuy hated tardiness. It showed unreliability and questionable characteristics. And, he abhorred those traits. But the thing that he hated the most – no he despised the most – was being ordered and pushed around, literally, especially by one Duo Maxwell.

As he leaned against the doors of his office, Heero sighed and brushed back his unruly dark brown hair. ‘Maybe, Duo was right. I do need to relax.’ At this thought he grimaced, ‘I really must be tired, I just imagined myself admitting that Duo is right.’

He angrily brushed his hair back again since it had flopped back down to its usual untamed state. ‘While I’m at it, I need a trim.’

Pushing himself from the doors, Heero strode to his desk at the center of the spacious room and promptly sat down to his plush leather chair. He had to admit that he’d been overworked and exhausted. ‘Understatement,’ he thought as he settled more comfortably into the chair and heard his bones crack.

‘R and R,’ he sighed. He really was considering Duo’s proposal. After all, Duo could manage without him. He knew about the company as well as he did. ‘He can’t be as good as I can, but hey, who am I to complain?’ Heero smirked at this.

At the age of thirty-two Heero Yuy was a multi-millionaire. He wasn’t as wealthy as his grandfather was at this moment, but he was getting there, the protégé of Natsushi Mizaki, as he was called. Ever since he was young, he had been reared by his grandfather and father, Lucenzo Yuy, to be a killer for the financial arena and it was all paying out. By the age of twenty he had graduated at the top of his class, magna cumlaude actually, and had proceeded to build his first companies. By the time he turned twenty-one he had made his first million. At twenty-five, he was already a multi-millionaire, well respected among his field as an honorable man, for non-hostile buy-outs, yet cunning just the same. Then four years ago, just as he turned twenty-nine, his grandfather had asked him – no, ordered him was more proper – to take over management of his most prized company, Mizaki Industries, a billion-dollar fortune by itself. He was pleased with his grandfather’s confidence in him, and that was why he made every effort to prove that that confidence was justified.

But all that now was in danger of changing. Mizaki Industries had always been prided for the creation and production of leading technology, focusing their areas mainly on software, computers, and perfecting patent materials for building. Forscue Incorporated, a dying company known for their brilliant scientists, had agreed to merge with them. It was to be a silent deal so that competitors wouldn’t complicate negotiation deals. However yesterday all their plans turned to dust as the competitors got wind of the deal and did exactly what Mizaki Industries were afraid they were going to do. They each put in the bid for Forscue Incorporated thereby increasing the cost of buying the company. Mizaki Industries couldn’t even put a bid in for now since all competitors were hell-bent on preventing them from acquiring Forscue Incorporated.

Heero groaned, ‘This is a mess.’ Now all he was waiting for was for the blasted Barton Corporation operative to come. He wanted to know his options and he wanted to know it now. As he stared up at the ceiling he thought, ‘When did life get so complicated?’

He hated these moments when he had nothing to do because it was during these times when he gets very philosophical and sentimental, looking back at another time that he shouldn’t. He sighed wistfully as he stared, through the immense window of his office, at the city of New York before him.

It had been exactly seven years today. Seven years when he had let something that was infinitely precious escape. He hadn’t known at the time that she would, but she did. The reason? He had no idea. She just vanished without a trace. ‘God, I can’t believe I’m actually getting sentimental over such a brief interlude. I’m going to be a married man in less than two months. I can’t muddle over the what-ifs of the past.’ Then he shook his head, ‘Actually that’s exactly what I’ve been doing for these past seven years. Thinking about what-ifs and so on. If it wasn’t for Hilde – "

His journey through memory lane was disturbed by the ringing of the phone. It was a private line, used just between himself, his family, and his close friends. "Yuy speaking," he answered.

"I know," came a husky feminine voice from the other line.

"Hilde?" ‘I was supposed to call her, but I forgot.’

"Bingo." she laughingly answered then, "So are we on for tonight, a little celebration for your victory in acquiring yet another company, and managing yet again to fatten your grandfather’s bank account even more?"

Heero had the look of utter guilt. ‘I had forgotten all about tonight.’ He had also forgotten to tell her about the foul-up.’ He spoke back, "I wouldn’t be celebrating too soon if I were you."

"Oh, why so?" She definitely sounded confused. "I thought you were already clinching the deal. Forscue’s owner had already agreed to the merge. The stocks were down. What else could possibly have gone wrong?"

He sighed tiredly. "Long story, but I’ll tell you everything during dinner."

"So we’re still on tonight?" Heero could picture her smiling cheerfully at this.

"Yes we are. Actually, as soon as I get things in the office back in running order I was thinking that maybe I’ll take my overdue vacation time and swing by to Brussels. Want to come with me?" He had no idea why he suddenly decided that he wanted some vacation time. And for that matter, he didn’t know why he was asking Hilde to come with him either. In all the seven years that they had been betrothed, he had never asked her to come to his family home in Brussels. Somehow, she would just appear there, ‘Probably invited by my mom each time,’ he guessed. ‘There’s a first for everything. I’m feeling pretty spontaneous today.’ At that thought, his face darkened. Spontaneity had once caused him a lot of trouble, maybe he shouldn’t have invited her after all. ‘Too late,’ he thought as Hilde gave a hearty ‘yes’ to his offer.

Before he could say good-bye to her, he was startled by a knock on the door followed by a familiar brown, braided-haired Duo whom he liked to call BAKA. "Just a minute Hilde," he mouthed into the phone.

Turning to the smiling BAKA he asked, "What do you want?" then ordered, "And take that stupid grin of your face."

With a salute, Duo nodded, but continued smiling. "Hey buddy. I just thought you’d like to know that your 1:00’s here. Should I let them in now?"

‘About time.’ Heero nodded. "Ask Mrs. C to bring in coffee and refreshments too. I’ll just finish my call with Hilde," as he proceeded to ignore the ‘kissy’ faces and sounds that Duo made. "Hilde, my contact’s here. I’ll just see you for dinner I suppose?"

"Sure." A pause. Then, "Don’t work yourself too hard Heero . . . I love you." She’s said those words for so many times over the past few years, but no matter what, Heero couldn’t help but feel unease at the declaration. And no matter what, he couldn’t utter those words back at her, though he knew that she deserved to hear it. So instead he said, "Don’t worry I won’t," and hung up the phone.

He took a moment to gather his wits. He had never said those three words that he knew Hilde wanted to hear. He couldn’t, how could he when he knew he never would be able to love her like she wanted him to. He’s only ever said those words once to somebody special, during a burst of spontaneity, but that was still the only time he had. After all, he was a one-woman type of man, and, dense fool that he was, he let that one woman get away. He let Rele-.

He was interrupted by the sound of footsteps entering his office. ‘Right. Business first. Personal life later.’ He turned to greet – ‘Who was it again?’ and he looked at his appointment calendar – Ms. Nicole de La Houge, only to blink as he saw a tall distinguished man enter. ‘I wasn’t aware that Ms. Nicole de La Houge had suddenly changed genders,’ but what started him more was the woman right beside him whose hand he lovingly clasped within his own.

‘It couldn’t be could it? After all these years?’ And as he studied her in disbelief, she seemed to sense his eyes intensely scrutinizing her and she turned her questioning sky blue eyes to him. Those same blue eyes fractionally widened in disbelief and with that small single action he knew. ‘After all this time,’ His eyes softened for a moment. ‘After all this time I’ve found her.’

* * * * *

Anger had been forgotten as nervousness washed over her. Trowa and her were both trying to salvage a possible million-dollar deal, and with Trowa seemingly out of ideas for once, he’d asked her for their plan of action. She offered the only choices she could, "Well, we could engineer another fake-out for one, or they could just go ahead and buy CHIPS as it is." With those words she had sealed her doom. Because if their plan failed, then it would have been because of her. This made her extremely nervous, more than she already was, which prompted her to timidly ask Trowa, "Back me up?"

His answer was take her hand within his, intertwining them, and squeezing it slightly. "You know I will. I’ll follow your lead. Let’s knock ‘em dead."

Then he slowly smiled that gorgeous smile of his and at that instant she thought, ‘Maybe, just maybe, I could get over the past and really learn to move on.’

She in turned smiled at him radiantly, trusting him to guide her into the office. However, her peace of mind was invaded by a sharp tingling of her senses, as if someone was studying her. Only one person had ever caused such a reaction in her. She was afraid to look, and all the time she chanted in her head, ‘It couldn’t be. It can’t be. I’ve been careful not to be tracked so why now?’ Then she remembered something that she should not have ignored before, and unconsciously, she tightened her grasp on Trowa’s hand. ‘How could I have stupidly forgotten? Natsushi Mizaki . . . now I know why I felt like I was forgetting something. He was the loving patriarch of the –‘ She raised her head and sought the eyes of her examiner for confirmation and her widened eyes was the only indication of the turmoil that blazed through her.

‘Oh my God. It is him. Natsushi Mizaki’s grandson,’ Relena could only stare for standing across the room was, ‘Heero Yuy.’

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

. . . just as a reminder . . . don’t forget them e-mails . . . or feel free to e-mail just to say hi . . .