
      Paradise v2.0


      Author: aria


      Rated: R


      Rating : 


      Chapter 5
      Serena felt the sunlight warm her body and rolled over, inhaling a lungful 
      of sand in the process. She thought she was fine until she looked over and 
      saw Darien laying beside her naked. Gloriously totally stark naked. She 
      started coughing all over again as the memories came flooding back.
      Darien sat up and whacked her on the back. "Are you ok?"
      Serena stared at him, unable to tear her eyes away. "Youre naked."
      Darien pulled her back down to him. "You arent exactly dressed either, 
      darlin" he drawled as he settled her against him.
      Serena felt so calm, so happy. You never would have guessed that they were 
      stranded on an island. She wrapped her arms around him and lay partially 
      over his chest. "I really should be more worried."
      His chuckled rumbled in his chest.
      "Is that agreement?" Serena lifted her head slightly so she could see his 
      face.
      His eyes were closed and he looked as though he didnt have a care in the 
      world. "Id be quite happy to spend the rest of my life like this."
      "Oh really? And how are we supposed to feed ourselves?"
      He didnt even move. "Theres fish in the sea."
      "And water?"
      "Well figure something out."
      Serena laughed and swatted his stomach. "Im serious! We cant live here!"
      He leaned on his elbows and looked over at her, his dark eyes gleaming 
      with mischief. "And why not? We have everything we need. Food, each other. 
      Were set." He lay back down to soak up more sun and waved his arms over 
      his head. "Look around. Its paradise. Youd really rather be back in the 
      city rushing around trying to meet deadlines? I sure as hell dont."
      "Wont people miss us?" she sank back down to his chest. The thought of 
      staying wasnt all that bad and was starting to warm on her.
      "Serena! Im just kidding! Weve got to get back and find out what the 
      hell happened back there. Not to mention we have a lot of unsettled 
      business."
      She faked a sob. "You talk me into a wonderful dream and then rip it out 
      from under me! You cant do that!"
      "Oh yeah? And what are you going to do about it?" he challenged with a 
      smile.
      Serena grinned and slid a little closer. "I might just have to get rough 
      with you."
      "Oh yeah?" Dariens grin grew a little wider. "Bring it on."
      ----
      A few hours later they were dressed and Serena was watching him negotiate 
      a coconut tree.
      "Get back down here! There are plenty of coconuts on the ground!" she 
      looked around at all the fallen coconuts. "Youre going to fall!"
      He shimmied up a little more. "I will not." Darien whacked at an 
      especially heavy branch with a stick dislodging a few. "There see? Fresh 
      coconuts all around for breakfast."
      "Dont you mean lunch?" she laughed, gathering what she could. She stood 
      at the base of the tree and waited for him to slide down.
      He laughed, remembering the great morning they had. "Yeah, I guess so, 
      huh?" Darien grabbed the remaining ones and headed over to a pointed rock. 
      Kneeling down, he started slamming them against the rock to remove the 
      husk. Done that, he handed it to Serena. "See if you can find something to 
      poke out those little holes." He pointed at the three black spots.
      "Ok." Serena walked a ways looking for something that would do the job. 
      She settled on a fairly thick stick and a rock as a hammer and went to 
      work. Soon they were enjoying a fresh lunch.
      She sipped on the sweet juice and leaned back against a warm rock. "Do you 
      think theyve noticed were not around yet?"
      He nodded and swallowed. "I should think so. Theyve had the last half of 
      the night and all this morning." Darien took another bite before putting 
      his coconut down. "Come on lets got for a swim."
      Serena just stared him incredulously, so without waiting for her consent 
      he picked her up and ran with her to the surf and jumped in.
      She clung to him and screamed when they hit the water. "How can you be so 
      cheery? What if they never find us?"
      Darien flipped over onto his back and floated with his eyes closed to the 
      sun. The perfect picture of bliss. "I dont know. Maybe its because Ive 
      spent an incredible night and morning with an incredible lady."
      Serena dipped below the waterline hoping to wash the blush off of her face 
      and cool the heated memories that flashed back to her mind. Who would have 
      thought that being marooned on an island could be so fabulous? Or that she 
      and Darien would end up together? It was better than she could have ever 
      dreamt and she would have happily forsaken the rest of the world if he 
      hadnt been right about things needing to be done.
      She linked hands with him and floated, weightless in the crystalline 
      waters. Serena closed her eyes and smiled at how happy she was. How truly 
      happy and content she was for the first time in her life. She laughed out 
      loud when she thought of the irony of it all. Shed been working so hard 
      for so long to get financial security only to be happy with just the 
      clothes on her back and penniless.
      Darien looked over at her and saw the bliss clear on her face. He wondered 
      what she would say if...Darien tugged her closer, so that they were face 
      to face. "Are you up for some aquatic acrobatics?" He winked and wiggled 
      his eyebrows.
      One delicate brow arched as she teased. "I dont know..." she took a gulp 
      of air before he dragged her under to do exactly what he suggested.
      Serena let the silence of the water envelope her just as Dariens kiss 
      ensnared her senses. They floated, entwined in each others arms until a 
      loud rumbling reverberated through the water shattering the stillness.
      They immediately came up to the surface once more.
      Darien nodded to her. "By my guess, I would have to say that theyve found 
      us." He floated around for a moment, staring into her eyes as if he was 
      sad to be leaving.
      Serena sighed inwardly, she was sad to be leaving. But maybe they could do 
      this again sometime.
      "Lets go." The tone of his voice told her he was feeling the same way she 
      was.
      They touched the sand with their toes the same moment the launch did.
      "Serena!" Raye was the first one on the sand and running toward them. She 
      tackled her best friend and was practically in tears. "Oh thank god youre 
      alright!"
      Serena pried her off with her good arm. "Raye!" she steadied herself. 
      "Raye. Im ok." She rubbed at her shoulder.
      "Oh my god youre hurt!"
      Raye started to fuss over her arm while Serena watched other people file 
      off the boat. Malachite practically ran to her side while a tall blonde 
      man went straight to Darien. She recognized him as Andrew from the photo. 
      They spoke to each other for a moment. It had to have something very 
      important from the intense looks on their faces.
      "Serena! Are you ok?"
      Suddenly she was in a pair of strong arms and they werent Dariens. She 
      pushed him away. "Im ok Malachite."
      He ran his hands through her hair and then focussed his attention on her 
      shoulder. Serena could have sworn she saw tears in his eyes. "Are you ok? 
      Ive been so worried!"
      She didnt get time to ask anything though when another arm curled around 
      her waist protectively.
      Darien shot Malachite a warning glance and walked her to the boat. "Come."
      Raye shot her a look and she knew she had some explaining to do. But right 
      now she needed a shower.
      ----
      Serena walked out of her bedroom dressed in fresh clothing and grinning 
      from ear to ear.
      Raye leaned back on the bed. "So how come youre looking like the cat who 
      got the cream then?"
      She raised a brow at her friend and proceeded to dry her hair.
      "Dont look at me like that. I want details. Lots of them." Raye rolled to 
      her stomach and rested her chin on her forearms. "Now spill. You know I 
      wont leave you alone until you do."
      Serena was looking at her bruise in the mirror and scowled. It looked like 
      she wasnt going to be wearing anything baring her shoulder for a long 
      time. She shrugged, oh well. She didnt care. Serena was too happy.
      "Well?" the harsh tone brought her back to reality.
      "Well, what?" keeping her tone innocent she sat across the bed from her 
      friend.
      "Did you and Delicious Darien do it on the island?"
      Serena rolled her eyes. "Way to be subtle, Raye."
      "Youre keeping me waiting tool long for an answer to be subtle."
      She rolled onto her back, and stared at the ceiling. "What do you think?"
      "I think that Darien must be a wild cat in the sack to have you looking 
      like that."
      Serena blushed and hid her face in the blankets. "Well you can think what 
      you want."
      "So youre not going to tell me a thing."
      "Nope."
      "Fine I wont tell you what been going on with me then."
      "You?" Serena rolled back to her stomach suddenly very interested in the 
      conversation. "Whats been going on with you?"
      "Im not telling unless you do." The dark haired woman laughed.
      "Since when did we regress to the third grade?"
      They shared a laugh before getting to the nitty gritty.
      ----
      Serena stood out on her balcony happy in the knowledge that he best friend 
      had also found love.
      It seemed that Raye had been seeing a wealthy heir to a Japanese 
      multinational corporation, Chad Kumada. Apparently he had her convinced 
      that he was a street musician when she fell for him only to tell her that 
      she was a multimillionaire after her proposed.
      Serena laughed into the breeze at the thought of Rayes face when he broke 
      the news to her. She must have had a fit! Raye prided herself on being 
      very observant and perceptive and to have been deceived so hugely must 
      have infuriated her to no end.
      She leaned on the railing and took a breath of the cool night air. Luckily 
      she knew Darien pretty well after their time on the island. She blushed, 
      she knew him quite well.
      Serena was reliving the experience in her mind when she heard a knock on 
      the door.
      She walked through the room and opened it to find a huge bouquet of roses 
      with legs standing there.
      Laughing she took hold of one of the hands supporting the massive array of 
      flowers and dragged him in. "Darien?"
      He dropped the roses to his side and pulled her into his arms. "How did 
      you guess?"
      She welcomed him with a kiss and smiled, "I dont know...something about 
      that entrance just screamed Darien."
      "I knew I should have gotten enough roses to hide the rest of me." He 
      tossed them carelessly onto her coffee table. "I just thought that I would 
      stop by and see how you were doing."
      Serena rushed over to the roses and fussed over them. "Im doing pretty 
      good." She picked up the flowers and headed toward the kitchen. "Im going 
      to put these in some water. Make yourself comfortable."
      She had to split the roses between three different vases but she managed 
      to get them all taken cared of. She walked back in with one of them and 
      put it on the table. "Thank you. These are beautiful."
      He pulled her onto the couch. "No, youre beautiful. Those are just 
      flowers."
      "Flatterer." She laughed. She was just so happy being with him she seemed 
      to do that a lot lately. "So you came all the way across town to see me?"
      "Yup." He rested his cheek on the top of her head and breathed in the 
      delicate scent of her shampoo. "So what do you feel like doing tonight?"
      "I dont know." She snuggled a bit closer. "Staying here on this couch 
      sounds like a pretty good option right now."
      "Absolutely." He kicked his shoes off and put them up on the table.
      He cuddled her on the couch for a while. They didnt talk they just held 
      each other and were content with that. They would have stayed that way for 
      the rest of the night but the shrill ringing of the phone interrupted the 
      pleasant silence.
      Serena reached for it but Darien pushed her arm away. "Let the machine get 
      it."
      It sounded like a good idea so she came back down to put her head on his 
      shoulder to listen.
      "Hello, sorry to miss you Serena." The voice coughed. "Its Malachite if 
      you havent guessed." He paused for a moment. "I miss you Serena. I know 
      Ive been an idiot and Ill change. I swear. I dont know whats going on 
      with you and Weston but I wanted you to know that I still love you. Please 
      call me back even if..." he paused. "No. Dont call me unless you are 
      going to take me back. I dont think I could handle you telling me that 
      you just want to be friends. So call me if you are still interested 
      otherwise just pretend that I never made this call." He sounded as though 
      he was going to add something else but simply hung up instead.
      Darien looked down at her. "Wonderfully blunt isnt he?"
      Serena rolled her eyes. "Well, words were never his strong point."
      "So what are you going to do?"
      Serena leaned up against Darien and had no intention of moving. "Im not 
      going to call him back." She looked up at Dariens surprised expression. 
      "What? He wanted it that way."
      He tightened his arms around her. "Youre absolutely sure?"
      She tipped her head back. "Yes. Why, arent you?"
      "Of course I am." He stroked her golden head. "Ive never been more sure 
      or happy."
      Serena settled back down again after having been reassured. "Me neither."
      He kissed her so thoroughly that her entire body melted into his embrace. 
      "Come on. Lets go out for dinner." He leant down to put his shoes on.
      Serena nodded. "As long as you dont order us anything with coconut in 
it!"
      Laughing, he dragged her out the door.
      ----
      The next morning, Serena walked into work with an enormous grin on her 
      face. She sat down totally prepared to have a pleasant day even if it was 
      inside working. But the idyllic scene was soon shattered.
      "Serena. Can I see you in my office?"
      She looked up to see Malachite hanging his head out of his office.
      Instant dread pooled in her stomach. The look on his face wasnt a 
      pleasant one.
      She got up and walked in, trying to make herself as small as possible. 
      "Yes, Malachite?"
      "Its Mr. Mason, Ms. Jacobson. And I have some bad news for you." His tone 
      was crisp and completely businesslike.
      "Yes?"
      "Im afraid Im going to have to let you go."
      Her back instantly straightened. "Excuse me? Youre letting me go? Why?"
      "We have to make some cuts. But its no longer your concern. Youve been a 
      fabulous employee and Id be happy to give you a glowing reference"
      Serena swung open the door with a bang. "Dont bother!" and she stormed 
      out of the room.
      Darien was heading toward her when she arrived at her desk and started 
      grabbing her things together. "Serena? Whats the matter?"
      "Mr. Mason," she couldnt hide the scorn nor keep her voice at a discreet 
      level. "Decided that its best to let me go."
      "What?" Darien whirled around in the direction of Malachites office 
      before Serena grabbed his arm.
      "Dont worry about it. I dont really want to work here any longer 
      anyways." She stuffed the things that fit into her purse and whatever else 
      she could get into her briefcase.
      "Let me talk to him." Darien went to move her hand but she held on 
tighter.
      "Darien its ok."
      "But what are you going to do? You wont be able to keep your apartment."
      She shrugged and gave him a wobbly smile. "Ill be ok."
      He put his hand on her shoulder. She was so strong. "Ill think of 
      something." He smiled a little. "Ill meet you at your apartment after 
      work ok?"
      Serena nodded and hefted the strap of her bag over her shoulder. 
      "Alright." And with that she left.
      ----
      Serena wandered around her apartment from the time she got there to the 
      time Darien arrived.
      He was right. What was she going to do? There was no way she was going to 
      afford that apartment as well as the bills that went with it. She ran her 
      trembling hands through her hair for the thousandth time that evening.
      She ran toward the knock at the door knowing who it would be.
      Darien gathered her up in his arms when she hurtled toward him. "Its ok. 
      Ive thought of something we can do."
      Wiping the sheen of tears from her eyes, Serena looked up at him. "What?"
      "You can move in with me."
      She leapt back. "Darien, I couldnt do that to you! Im sure another 
      person living with you is that last thing that you need."
      "I wont take no for an answer. Dont worry about me ok?"
      Serena threw her arms around him smiling into his chest. "I dont know how 
      to thank you, Darien."
      "You dont have to thank me. Come on." He tugged her arms and grinned 
      mischievously, "Lets celebrate."
      ----
      They spent the next morning packing up her things. Darien had gotten 
      movers to show up in the afternoon to take them to his apartment.
      Serena stood in the middle of her living room and sighed. She was going to 
      miss the place.
      They headed over with the last load, following behind the truck in 
      Dariens car.
      Serena looked out of the window at the street signs as they went past and 
      noticed that they were driving into the very fashionable, very expensive 
      part of town.
      "Darien, where do you live?"
      "Not too far from here. Why?"
      "Just curious." Her heart nearly stopped when they arrived at an enormous 
      building that looked as though it had been built in the last week.
      Darien pulled her with him almost as giddy as a little boy on Christmas 
      morning. "Come on!"
      She let him lead her through the lavish foyer and up to his floor. The 
      penthouse. Eyes wide she watched him pull out his key and lead her in.
      Serena stood in the doorway and stood staring at the luxurious living 
      space. Smooth clean lines, lightly coloured, it was everything that she 
      expected his home to be like but it was much more extravagant than she 
      ever expected for a mere network manager.
      Darien could see the wonder in her eyes, as well as the confusion. He knew 
      what she was thinking. He took her hand and led her to the couch where he 
      sat her down next to her.
      "Serena, there are something things that I havent told you about myself."
      She nodded, still in an obvious daze.
      He took her cold hands in his. "Well, I havent been completely honest 
      with you."
      Serna blinked. "You can say that again."
      "Let me start from the beginning."
      Serena put up her hand. "Youre name is Darien Weston isnt it? At least 
      that much it true right?"
      "Of course!" he rubbed at her hands trying to warm them. "Therere just 
      some other things..." Darien looked at her and saw how infuriated she 
      looked. "Im not just an IT manager."
      She looked around the room again. "I gathered that."
      He was getting uncomfortable with her clipped answers. It just wasnt like 
      her to be so curt. "Have you heard of Weston Financial Corp?"
      She nodded. "Let me guess. You own it?"
      Darien shook his head. "Of course not. It belongs to my grandfather." He 
      hurried on before she could say anything. "Someone has been stealing 
      client information as well as some of our development software."
      Serena shook her head and pulled her hand out of his grip. "I dont 
      understand. What does that have to do with anything?"
      "We traced it back to someone working at Malachites office. Which is why 
      I"
      "Started working there." She finished for him. Serena looked up at him and 
      could see that wasnt everything he wanted to say. She was almost afraid 
      to ask. "What else?"
      "I knew about you and Malachite from the beginning."
      Serenas jaw dropped as the realization hit her. "And thats why you 
      wanted to get so close to me." The sense of betrayal seeped into her 
      bloodstream and pooled somewhere in her stomach sending it lurching into 
      her throat. It had been an act. She clamped a hand over her mouth. 
      "Wheres your bathroom?"
      Darien led her to it and held her as she lost everything she had eaten. He 
      brushed her hair out of her face and filled up a glass with water for her. 
      "Are you going to be alright?"
      No. Not in a million years. She pushed him off. "Ill be fine."
      "Youre sure?" he knelt down beside her.
      "Im fine! Just get away from me!" Serena stood up shakily and leaned 
      against the wall as she tried to get her stomach to settle and come to 
      terms with what she just learned. "Ok, let me get this straight. You got 
      yourself a job with us because you are trying to find out whos been 
      stealing this information and youve been using me to get to Malachite?"
      "Yes and no. I admit thats how it all started, but I really fell for you, 
      Serena. I mean would I have asked you to move in with me if I wasnt in 
      love with you?"
      "I dont know. Maybe youre just feeling guilty for using and making a 
      fool out of me."
      "I do feel guilty but its not why I want you here. I love you Serena."
      He looked so sincere it almost made her cry. She had wanted to hear those 
      words for so long. Serena could feel her entire body start to shake from 
      keeping the tears at bay. "Then youll understand when I say that I need 
      some time to work things out."
      "Of course. Take all the time you need." Darien was somewhat relieved. He 
      imagined her taking the news much worse than this. "Im sure you want some 
      rest. The bedroom is over here." He took her hand to lead her out but 
      found Serena was rooted to the spot.
      "No. I cant stay here." She pulled her hand out of his. "I need some time 
      alone."
      "Ok. Ill leave you alone"
      Serena looked at him straight in the eyes. "No, Darien. Youre not 
      listening to me. I cant stay here." She looked around for her purse and 
      jammed it under her arm when she finally found it. "Ill be back for my 
      things."
      Darien was panicked. She was like a zombie. "What? When? Where are you 
      going?"
      She jerked around and started walking toward the door. "II dont know 
      yet." All she knew was that she needed to get out of there. "Ill call you 
      when I get there."
      Darien tried to take her hand again. "Serena. Dont. Where are you going 
      to go?" the thought of her wandering the streets in a daze scared the 
      living daylights out of him. "Its going to get dark soon. Its dangerous 
      out there."
      "Trust me. With the mood Im in, no one will want to mess with me." Serena 
      turned around again and without a word disappeared behind the closing 
      elevator doors.