
      Paradise v2.0


      Author: aria


      Rated: R


      Rating : 


      Chapter 6
      Serena sat staring at the phone. It had been almost three months since she 
      walked out. She should really call him.
      After she walked out, Serena had wandered around aimlessly until she came 
      to the decision that she needed to be with friends. She had used up the 
      last of her savings to book a flight to the other side of the country to 
      see Raye, knowing that she would take her in with no questions asked.
      Raye walked into the room now to the familiar sight and sighed. "Serena 
      call him for gods sake! You do this to yourself every single day!"
      "I cant. What would I say to him? Its been too long!" She could feel the 
      tears welling up in her eyes again. "I cant believe I walked out on him!"
      Raye started rubbing her shoulders. "Relax. Youve got to calm down. Its 
      not good for you or the little one."
      Serena nodded shakily and patted her stomach where her little secret 
      nestled. It had been a few weeks since shed discovered she was pregnant. 
      She had been in a daze after she found out the news, but then quickly 
      snapped out of it. But since then, the longing to call Darien grew by the 
      day. She managed a smile. By her count it had happened back on the island. 
      At least something good came of the whole thing.
      "Serena, please call him." Raye picked up the receiver and handed it to 
      her friend. "At least call him to tell him the good news." She smiled 
      encouragingly. "Come on, Ill even hold your hand."
      Serena had to laugh. "Alright." She nervously chewed at her lower lip as 
      she dialled the number then gripped Raye hand as it rung. She half hoped 
      that he wouldnt be there but the other part of her hoped that he was.
      "Hello?" the heart achingly familiar voice answered.
      Serena opened her mouth but nothing came out. She looked at her best 
      friend in alarm.
      "Hello?" he repeated, then his voice grew quiet. "Serena? Is that you?"
      She clamped her mouth shut and slammed the phone back in its cradle. "I 
      cant do it!"
      Raye put a soothing arm around her shuddering shoulders. "Its ok. You 
      cant force yourself."
      She shook her head. "I dont understand whats wrong with me. Hes the 
      most perfect man I have ever met and I cant even speak to him."
      Raye smiled, "You will. Just give it some time."
      Serena smiled sarcastically. "Raye, at the rate Im going, the baby will 
      be in college before Ill be able to talk to him."
      "At least youre joking. Thats a good sign."
      "Yeah, you can take it as that or that Ive lost my mind."
      Raye tugged on her arm and laughed. "Come on lets go shopping. Well 
      charge it to Chad!"
      ----
      Darien hung up the phone and stared at it, willing Serena to call him. 
      Where could she have gone?
      For the past few months he had gone completely insane wondering what had 
      happened to her. But he figured it would be pretty pointless to try and 
      find her. She seemed like the type of person who would return when she 
      felt it was time. And it seemed that now wasnt the time. That had him so 
      turned around he could hardly keep his mind on what he was doing at work.
      He looked at his watch. That reminded him, it was almost time to go to 
      work. He pulled on his coat over his rumpled clothing and picked up his 
      briefcase. Darien couldnt even be bothered to dress his best anymore. She 
      wasnt there to look good for so why bother?
      Darien walked onto the floor and headed straight to his office. He 
      couldnt stand to look over at her desk and see it occupied by some other 
      woman. Or walk by the office of the man that had caused the whole thing to 
      happen.
      He had gotten to the point where he was blaming everyone except himself 
      for what had happened, and to his tired intellect, Malachite was the root 
      of everything. If it hadnt have been for him, he wouldnt have met Serena 
      or fell for her. And most important she wouldnt have walked out on him 
      and ripped his heart out.
      He flicked on his monitor and went to work. Darien had decided that he was 
      going to bring Malachite Mason down soon for destroying his life.
      Since starting work there, Darien had set up a few programs to scan and 
      track the activities of everyone in the company. His eyes brows rose when 
      he took a look. It seemed that a certain someone had been particularly 
      busy last night.
      He dropped his coat and briefcase on the floor and slid into his seat. 
      This was very interesting indeed. Darien scanned through Malachites log 
      files and noticed that in the past few nights hed been checking his email 
      a few too many times. Or so he made it seem. Intrigued, Darien did a 
      little digging and came up with some remarkable things that brought a 
      small smile to his face.
      There was a knock at his door and Darien quickly switched the windows over 
      to a game of Solitaire.
      Malachite wandered into the room and eyed the clothing on the floor and 
      Dariens rumpled appearance. "Still havent heard from her eh?" he sniffed 
      disdainfully and waved the thought away with a swipe of his hand. "I need 
      you here tomorrow night to look over the system. A few people have been 
      complaining about not being able to access the net."
      Darien remembered Andrew mentioning something about that night but he had 
      been in too much of a daze to remember. But her knew it was important so 
      he shook his head. "Ill stay late tonight. I have some things to do 
      tomorrow."
      "Fine. Just get it sorted out." He was about to walk out the door but 
      abruptly turned around again. "Forget about Serena. You and she werent 
      meant to be." Having said that he walked out.
      Darien didnt know what irked him more the fact that Malachite was even 
      thinking about Serena or that he didnt think that they could go the 
      distance. They could have if he hadnt of been such an idiot and lied to 
      her. The disillusioned look in her eyes when he told her still haunted 
      him. He pushed the ache aside. It didnt look like she was going to be 
      coming back any time soon.
      He spent the rest of the day working on his pet project and straightening 
      things up on the network. Darien took a glance at his watch and realized 
      that he had been holed up in the office for the entire afternoon and then 
      some. It was getting near 10pm. Sighing, he stretched his neck and grabbed 
      his things. It was time he went home.
      He put on his coat in time to answer the phone in his pocket.
      He pressed a button and brought it to his ear. "Darien."
      "Darien, are you still at work?" Andrew couldnt believe what a workaholic 
      Darien had become since Serena disappeared. It was like work was all he 
      had in his life.
      "I was just about to head home, Drew." Darien rubbed at his eyes. He could 
      use a few Zs.
      "Its about time. I just called to see if youd forgotten about tomorrow 
      night."
      Darien sighed, "No, I havent."
      "Oh really?" the voice sounded amused and challenging at the same time. 
      "What are we doing tomorrow night then?"
      Damn him. "Im too tired to play games, right now. So Ill admit it. I 
      have no clue. Just that were doing something."
      "I knew it!" the smug voice answered. "Get out your tux and get a hair cut 
      because were going to the Winter Ball!"
      Darien shut his office door and walked to the elevator. "And what is 
that?"
      "Just the biggest social event of the year! Royalty is going to be there 
      man!"
      "I think Ill give it a pass. Im really not in the mood for a party."
      "Please." He scoffed. "Its almost Christmas and I cant handle seeing you 
      mope around any longer. Ive set you up with a friend of mine. Shes 
      looking forward to it so you cant back out."
      Leave it to Andrew to back him into a corner. "Fine, Ill go for a few 
      hours, but you owe me!"
      "I knew you wouldnt let me down. Her name is Ann and shell be waiting 
      for you at my place ok? You two will be the best couple there, next to 
      Mina and myself of course."
      Darien rubbed at his eyes not really paying attention anymore. "Of course. 
      Now can I please go so I can drive home and go to sleep?"
      "As long as you promise me to do things in that order."
      "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Ill talk to you later."
      "Ill give you a call tomorrow."
      "Yeah, see ya."
      "Bye."
      Darien drove home and walked into his apartment. He hated coming home. It 
      was so empty.
      Kicking off his shoes and dumping his coat, Darien fell onto the couch and 
      went to sleep.
      ----
      Raye flashed a trio of tickets in Serenas face. "You have to come!"
      "Raye I really dont feel like it!" Serena turned an about face when Raye 
      stepped in her path again. She had been after her to go to this ball all 
      morning.
      "It will be so much fun though!" and if anyone needed to have a little fun 
      it was Serena.
      "Not really. And what am I going to wear? I dont have a date. The list 
      goes on and on!"
      "Oh yeah? Name one more thing!"
      Serena stood there, her lips pinched together as she tried to think of 
      another reason.
      "See. You dont have another one. That settles it! Youre coming!" Raye 
      dragged Serena behind her. "Well find you something to wear and were 
      going to put a smile back on your face if it kills me!"
      "Raye you cant do this to me! You might find me a dress, but you cant 
      find me a date this late in the day on such short notice!"
      Raye was slinging dresses out of her closet at her. "I already did! Chads 
      friend Alan is in town and is dying to go. So we told him about you and of 
      course the guy is interested. So voila, you have a date."
      Serena pouted and crossed her arms. "Thats not fair. Besides I doubt if 
      youll find a dress to fit me."
      "Of course I will. Its not like youre a cow or anything!" Raye turned 
      around to scrutinize Serenas appearance. She was still quite slender 
      except for the voluptuous bloom her figure had taken and her stomach she 
      kept touching. There was a slight bump, but no one would notice if she 
      kept her hands off of it.
      "I plead morning sickness then!"
      Raye rolled her eyes. "Serena please. I have never seen you so healthy. So 
      just give it up ok?"
      Serena gave up. It was hopeless. Shed already thought of everything. 
      Sighing, she picked up one of the dresses lying at her feet. "Youd better 
      help me get dressed then. It might take a while to piece me back 
      together." She scowled at her reflection in Rayes vanity mirror. Her hair 
      hung limp and lifeless on her shoulders. Her once bright eyes looked tired 
      and old and were accentuated by the dark circles around them. "I look 
      hideous. Just remember before you start grumbling about how hopeless it 
      is, that I was against it from the beginning."
      "Sweetie, by the time Im done with you, youll knock the socks off of any 
      man within a five mile radius!" She pulled Serena up off the bed and 
      dragged her to the bathroom. "Now lets start with a shower!"
      ----
      Darien stood in front of the mirror and snarled at his reflection. He 
      looked better than he felt that was for sure. But he didnt want to 
      dammit. He was more than happy looking and feeling miserable.
      He tugged at the bowtie that felt like it was strangling the life out of 
      him. This was ridiculous. "Im not going." He tore it off and slung across 
      the room as he slumped onto the couch.
      "Yes you are!" Andrew dragged him off of the chair and attempted to 
      replace the tie.
      Darien glared at his best friend. "Where the hell did you come from?"
      "My arent we in a good mood this evening. I thought you could use a 
      little help slash coercing." He hoisted Darien up and with him propped up 
      against the wall he retied the bowtie. "What the hell have you been 
      drinking?"
      "Irish coffee." Darien grinned childishly. "Just really heavy on the 
      Irish."
      Andrew swore a string of expletives that would have made a sailors mom 
      blush. That Serena woman really did a number on him. Hed never seen 
      Darien depressed enough to start drinking. But that wasnt his problem at 
      the moment. They were going to be on a plane to hobnob with royalty and 
      Darien could barely even stand. "Darien, you have to get yourself 
      together. Your grandfather is going to be there. Not to mention the rulers 
      of a few European countries, diplomats-"
      "I dont care. I dont want to go." Darien swiped at him drunkenly and 
      fell back into his chair. "Ive got to say behind anyways and do some 
      work. Im really close to finding out whos been stealing the info and 
      stuff."
      Andrew patiently helped his friend up again. "And I dont care. You 
      promised to take Ann remember?" he sat him up and walked to the kitchen. 
      "Im getting you some coffee. If you want to throw up youd better do it 
      before you get on the plane."
      Damn! The drunken routine didnt work. Darien sat up and rubbed his eyes 
      before dragging his hands through his hair. Andrew was too damn stubborn.
      He was sitting and staring into space when he walked back in.
      "I knew you were faking it!" he dropped the coffee on the able and grabbed 
      Dariens coat and chucked it at him. "Come on. Were supposed to be at the 
      helipad in less than half and hour and we still have to pick up the 
girls."
      "Drew, just forget about me. Im not in the partying mood and if anyone 
      tries to pull the Christmas spirit thing on me Im liable to ram it back 
      down their throat."
      Andrew sighed. He really felt bad for his friend but he had to snap out of 
      it. "You cant live like this forever, Darien."
      "Watch me." He crossed his arms and sunk even lower into his chair.
      "Oh for gods sake!" he grabbed him by the arms and pulled him out of the 
      armchair and shoved him at the door. "You are going to go and youre going 
      to have fun!" his voice became pleading. "At least do it for Mina. She 
      wants to see you happy. Please? You wouldnt want to upset a pregnant 
      woman do you?"
      "Why dont you guilt me even more?" he grudgingly pulled on his coat and 
      stalked to the door. "Fine. Ill stay for a few hours, but no more. 
      Alright?"
      Andrew instantly brightened. "Great! Youre going to have a great time! 
      Ann is fabulous-"
      "Dont even try to set me up, Drew. Ill go. Ill even spend time with 
      her. But dont think for one second that Ill be interested." He looked 
      over at his friend with scrutinizing eyes. "You havent told her that it 
      was going to be a DATE date did you?"
      Andrew sucked in a breath. "Well I did say that you were a great guy and 
      all that..."
      Darien swore under his breath. "Great. So now I have to be happy as well. 
      You owe me big time, pal."
      "I swear Ill do your every bidding for a week." He caught the hostile 
      look Darien threw in his direction. "Ok a month." He put his hand on his 
      friends shoulder. "Thanks, Darien."
      Darien grumbled something and shut the door behind them.
      ----
      Serena twirled in front of the mirror. She had to admit that Raye was 
      right; now that she was all dressed up she did feel a bit better.
      The gown was a deep red, so deep that it verged on black when it was out 
      of the light. The bodice was shaped but still had a little elasticity, 
      which was a godsend. The skirt was full and flowing and she spun again 
      delighting in the way that it floated around her. She pulled the faux fur 
      wrap in the same colour around her shoulders and grinned. "Raye, this is a 
      fabulous dress." She ran her hand over her hair and touched her makeup. "I 
      cant believe this is me!" she smiled at her reflection. She hadnt felt 
      or looked this great in a long time.
      "It took enough work I can tell you that!" she teased. Raye took her turn 
      in front of the mirror. She had chosen a flaming red dress that 
      complimented her colouring perfectly. But unlike Serenas demure design, 
      it was bold and daring with a slit up the front and back of trailing 
      skirt. "Does it look ok?"
      "It looks incredible, Raye." Serena came up behind her friend and hugged 
      her. "Thank you."
      "No problem. I know youd do the same for me."
      A chestnut haired man walked into the room and wolf whistled. "Wow! You 
      two look incredible." He took their hands and led them out to the front 
      room. "The rest of the men are going to be so jealous when we walk in with 
      you two!"
      There was another man waiting for them in the living room. He was tall and 
      his dark auburn hair was a bit on the long side, Serena noticed. But he 
      looked friendly enough.
      He smiled and offered her a delicate white orchid corsage. "And you must 
      be Serena. Its a pleasure to meet you, Im Alan Ginga."
      Serena took it and smiled. "Thank you. And its a pleasure to meet you 
      too, Alan." She sniffed the delicate scent of the flowers before pinning 
      on herself.
      Chad and Raye smiled. "We thought we would go for some coffees and take 
      some time so you can get to know each other and we can get all caught up 
      before the ball."
      Serena nodded as she picked up her tiny purse. "That sounds great."
      They laughed over cappuccinos and biscotti at Alans quick wit. Serena was 
      actually having a good time, now that she let herself. She found Alans 
      intelligent quips amusing but as much as she was enjoying herself, her 
      heart was just not in it. Her smiles felt dry and her heart ached and she 
      just wanted to be with the one man she knew she probably never see again.
      They headed to the party afterwards. Serena wasnt quite sure what to 
      expect. She knew that Chad was very influential but she had no idea that 
      this was the calibre of people that he associated with. She handed her 
      wrap over to the woman at the coat check and stared in awe at the people 
      wandering happily through the building. She could see royalty from various 
      European countries, the heads of state from others, financiers, bankers, 
      and other insanely wealthy people chatting and eating and dancing like 
      they didnt have a care in the world. And while watching them for a 
      moment, neither did she.
      Alan held out his arm to her. "Shall we?"
      She linked hers through his lightly, "We shall." And he led her into the 
      swirling mass of people.
      ----
      Darien, Andrew, Mina and Ann arrived a half an hour late, or as Drew would 
      put it, fashionably late.
      Darien followed them in, still lagging behind in protest for having being 
      bullied into coming. He sauntered in and looked around at the lavish 
      Christmas decorations and sighed. It looked like all the other parties he 
      had ever been to.
      "Darien, my boy!" a tall man who closely resembled Darien greeted him with 
      a hearty hug and a pat on the back.
      He hugged him back and forced a smile. "Grandfather, how are you?"
      "Better than you apparently. Whats happened to you, Darien? You look as 
      though you were discarded by the love of your life twice over!" he stopped 
      laughing when Darien winced and shrugged. "I should keep my big mouth 
      shut." He turned to the others and smiled. "Please excuse us for a 
      moment." He put his arm around his grandsons shoulders and led him over 
      to the bar. He ordered a round and handed one to his depressed grandson, 
      "So what happened?"
      "Nothing I cant handle." He griped.
      Joseph Weston shook his head solemnly, "Darien, son, you might be able to 
      handle it but from the looks of it youre not handling it very well."
      "Grandfather-"
      Joseph put up his hand, "Im not getting involved. I was just pointing out 
      an observation. I wont get involved unless you ask me to." He took a sip 
      of his drink and patted him on the back again. "Now go back to your 
      friends and have fun. Ill see you again before the night is out." He 
      smiled and walked into the crowd.
      Darien put aside his glass without taking a drink. "Fun. Yeah right." He 
      leaned against the bar and looked over his shoulder at all the people 
      enjoying the festive season. He didnt notice the man at his side until he 
      jostled his arm accidentally.
      "Im so sorry. Let me get that." He put the drinks down hastily and mopped 
      up Dariens arm.
      Darien shook his head and tried to smile. "Dont worry about it. I think 
      you did pretty well considering how many glasses youre carrying." He 
      swiped at his arm and took a few glasses. "Where are you heading?"
      The redhead smiled. "Thanks." He pointed across the room. "Just over 
      there, to the beautiful blonde and the people shes with." He offered his 
      hand. "Im Alan Ginga."
      Darien was about the shake his hand when a voice next o him squealed, 
      "Alan! What are you doing here?"
      The two men turned around to see Ann rushing towards them. She rushed into 
      the other mans arms causing Dariens brows to rise.
      "Its so great to see you!" she looked over and finally noticed Darien 
      watching them with a curious look on his face. "Darien, I see youve met 
      my brother, Alan. Alan, my date, Darien Weston."
      Understanding the reason they seemed so close, Darien shook his hand. 
      "Its a pleasure. So where are these drinks going?"
      "Nice to meet you. Right this way." He led the way as they waded through 
      the crowd.
      Darien kept most of his attention on not spilling the drinks but looked up 
      occasionally to keep an eye on his objective, a small group of people 
      laughing at something the tall browned haired man had said. They looked 
      like they were enjoying themselves as he looked at the rest of them. There 
      was a familiar looking raven-haired beauty hanging off of his every word. 
      He saw her obvious love for the man and was envious so he looked at the 
      last member of the crowd. Tall, slender, beautiful, blonde, his steps 
      slowed as recognition set in.
      Serena.
      He stopped so abruptly that he spilt some of the drinks on the floor.
      She looked just like he remembered and he took a moment to gaze at her. He 
      let his eyes drink in the sight of her before he regained his senses. 
      Would she want to see him? Would she even care? His woes were reinforced 
      when Alan walked over to her and presented her with a drink. Serena smiled 
      warmly at him, accepted the drink but didnt actually take a sip, he 
      noticed. She simply held it in her hand like an accessory.
      "Darien? Are you ok?"
      The voice snapped him out of it. "Oh. Of course. I just spilled a little 
      of the drinks." He smiled tightly. "Ill get them replaced." Without 
      waiting for her to say anything, Darien whirled on his heel and strode 
      back to the bar.
      He rounded the bar and stood on the far side hoping that it would hide him 
      a little. From his seat he could see her clearly and he watched her every 
      move. Darien couldnt get over how exquisite she looked. But there was 
      something different about her but he couldnt quite put his finger on it. 
      She just looked luminous.
      Darien watched as she made conversation with that Alan guy and laugh 
      happily at his jokes. Jealousy twisted in his gut. Was she with him now? 
      They looked pretty cosy. He fought back the urge to walk over and punch 
      him out. He fought even more against the one urging him to take her in his 
      arms and kiss the life out of her. Sullenly, he ordered another drink and 
      watched her while he waited for it.
      ----
      Serena forced herself to laugh politely at yet another one of Alans 
      jokes. They were starting to wear on her nerves. The guy seemed unable to 
      have a serious conversation at all. Her eyes started to wander around the 
      room to look at the decorations, the people. Her scan stopped when she saw 
      a tall, handsome, dark haired man. Her heart instantly told her it was 
      Darien but her head rebutted. It couldnt be. What would he be doing here? 
      Besides hadnt it happened to her a million times before? She couldnt 
      even begin to count the times she thought she saw Darien only to have it 
      be someone who only remotely resembled him.
      She shook the thought away and turned her attention back to her date. He 
      had started another story, so she thought it would be a good time to take 
      a walk. Serena exchanged a look with Raye and put her hand on Alans arm 
      to interrupt. "I need to powder my nose. Ill be right back."
      "Of course." He pecked her on the cheek and continued on with his story.
      Serena turned away and rolled her eyes. She walked through the swirling 
      crowd of people and put her drink on the bar. She wouldnt need that. 
      Drumming her fingers on the buffed hardwood surface, Serena tried to think 
      of what she could do now. She couldnt just run out. It would just 
      embarrass Raye and Chad, not to mention herself. From what she understood, 
      Alan was quite influential and if she wanted to keep her reputation intact 
      shed have to behave with some decorum. It looked like she would have to 
      stick it out for a little while.
      She sighed and looked over at the bartender. "Can I have a mineral water 
      please?"
      "Absolutely." He opened up the mini fridge and pulled out a bottle of 
      water and handed it to her. "Anything else? Champagne to celebrate the 
      season?" he nodded at a bottle of Perrier-Jout.
      Serena smiled and laughed out loud. "I would usually love to but I cant 
      this year." She ran her hand over her stomach and beamed, "Im expecting." 
      Her smile disappeared and her stomach dropped when a familiar voice 
roared,
      "YOURE WHAT?"
      Serenas gaze jerked over to the enormously angry, devastatingly handsome 
      man glaring at her with icy blue eyes from the other side of the bar and 
      promptly passed out.