Chapter Two
Pan paced back and forth in front of the phone, occassionally glancing at it. She'd been home for nearly two days and she had nothing to do. Her parents were both at work and she'd already spent enough time with Bura. She wanted to do something else and she could think of only one person she wanted to do something else with.
"Don't do it, Pan," she said to herself. "You went on that trip to forget about him and the last thing you want to do is spend all your time with him. It defeats the purpose."
She blew out a frustrated breath and kept on pacing.
"Then again, he probably needs a break. It's hard being president of a company as large as Capsule Corp."
Before she could talk herself out of it, she reached for the phone. Then, she had a better idea.
Trunks stared at the endless columns of numbers sitting in front of him. He'd been staring at the same page for nearly ten minutes, but none of it was making any sense to him nor was he even trying to understand them. The ringing phone jolted him from his stupor and he blindly reached for it.
"Trunks here."
"Hi, Trunks!"
The pencil Trunks held in his hand snapped in half, but he didn't even notice and the numbers were forgotten once again. He grinned. "What's going on, Pan?"
"Just thought I'd kidnap you from your office for lunch. How 'bout it?"
"Sure," he said.
"Great."
He heard tapping behind him and swiveled around in his big leather desk chair. He gasped in shock to see Pan levitating right outside his window, then he chuckled. She waved at him and he pressed a button on his desk to make the glass slide upwards. She climbed in and turned off her cellular phone.
Still grinning, she straightened her rust colored v-neck sweater and long black skirt. Trunks smiled, taken aback at seeing her so dressed up.
"Interesting way to get a date, Pan," he teased before he could think about the implication of his words.
To his embarrassment, redness spread over his cheeks. Pan's dark eyes were round as saucers and she looked embarrassed.
"I didn't mean..." he started.
"I wasn't trying..." she said at the same time.
They smiled at each other.
"Let's go to get something to eat." He regarded her one more time. "You look nice."
Pan smiled shyly. "Thank you. So do you."
Trunks straightened his tie, pushed his glasses up his nose, and shrugged into his jacket. He looked as comfortable in his dark navy blue suit as he did in his fighting gear, but Pan thought that he looked too different especially with his hair gelled back.
Unaware of her scrutiny, Trunks held out his hand and with one eyebrow arched, bowed his head. When he did, a lavender strand escaped and flopped across his face. She smiled.
That's more like it.
"May I escort you to lunch, dear lady?" he asked, not even noticing the rebel strand.
Chuckling, she laid her hand in his and they flew out the window. At the same moment, the office door opened and Trunks' secretary came in with an armful of files.
To those watching, it looked as if the lavendar haired man and his beautiful dark-haired companion were engrossed in a deep discussion about the more important things in their lives--at least judging from the serious expressions on their faces. They were leaning in towards each other, staring intently into the each other's eyes.
But in reality...
"...then Goten came up behind me and slashed downward with his ki," Trunks continued. He rolled up his sleeve and showed Pan a scar that was around five inches long on the inside of his forearm. "I don't even think he realized how sharp it was. Blood was everywhere."
Pan whistled. "Yikes. Wish I had been there to see it."
"Yeah." His lips twitched and his eyes lightened in the way it always did when he spoke of his parents. "Dad was a little annoyed that Kakarot's son was able to give such a blow to the son of a Saiya-jin prince."
Pan chuckled. She filled her spoon with fried rice and shoveled it in her mouth. Trunks' story was interesting, but the smell of the food right underneath her nose was beginning to make her mouth water. With the same thought running through his head, Trunks dipped a chicken ball in sweet and sour sauce and stuffed it in his mouth. They'd been sitting at the same table for nearly an hour, and even for being half Saiya-jin and a quarter Saiya-jin, they were pacing themselves. However, the buffet was showing signs of their consumption, much to the shock of the management.
"You know," she said around a piece of broccoli, "I think going to a buffet was one of your better ideas. We don't have to wait for the other dishes to be brought to us, and they're not on to us yet."
Trunks eyed the busboy who was trying not to stare at them. He turned back to Pan with an amused smile.
"I don't know about that."
Pan followed his gaze and grinned when she saw the busboy. The young man blushed and hurried to the kitchen. Puzzled, she turned to her companion.
"Is there something in my teeth?" she asked, baring them.
"No. Could it be that young Pan has entranced a member of the opposite sex with her beauty?" Trunks gasped, feigning surprise. He felt a twinge of something foreign in the vicinity of his gut and wondered if Pan had met anyone on her trip. Taking in her luminous eyes and shining black hair, he wouldn't be too surprised if she had.
Pan flipped her short hair. "It wouldn't be the first time," she said airily, confirming his suspicions.
Trunks' eyes narrowed. She only smiled. He began to wonder what she'd done on that little quest. Uncomfortable with the idea of Pan with another man, he fidgeted in his seat.
"What's the matter?" she asked, squinting at him. "Ants in your pants?"
He narrowed his eyes at her. "No. My...er...my leg was falling asleep. So, any interesting scars you'd like to share?"
An hour later, they left the restaurant. Trunks' cheeks were a pinkish hue, while Pan was howling with laughter. He put a hand over her mouth.
"Shut up will you," he hissed.
She nodded, and managed to stifled her giggles. She curled her hand around his wrist and moved his hand so she could talk.
"It was just too funny," she said, grinning. "You didn't have to give him so much money. We had paid already. It's supposed to be all you can eat."
"I don't think he expected us to eat everything," he reasoned.
"But," Pan said with a chuckle, "it was all we could eat."
Before he could help himself, Trunks laughed and when he met Pan's eyes, laughter gave way to full blown guffaws. Somehow, they managed to make their way to the park and onto a bench.
"That was fun," he remarked and to her ears sounding a little surprised.
"You don't have to baby-sit me anymore," she said, nudging him lightly with her elbow.
"No," he said, his voice quiet.
She looked at him, and seemed to be drowning in the depths of his eyes. The space between them lessened rapidly.
"Hey, guys!!"
Jumping apart guiltily, they turned towards the source of the greeting. Goten was coming towards them with the flavor of the month clinging to his arm.
"Hi, Uncle Goten!" Pan called, waving.
Trunks wanted to beat his best friend over the head, but he quickly checked himself. He should be relieved because the last thing he wanted was to be involved with Pan. He glanced down at her, admiring the way the sun glinted off her ebony hair and couldn't help thinking that if he had kissed her, it would have been far from unpleasant.
Goten hugged his niece and cuffed Trunks lightly on the arm. The blonde hanging on to his arm giggled and ogled Trunks, much to Goten's amusement, Pan's annoyance, and, surprisingly, Trunks' embarrassment. Normally, Trunks would have taken it in stride, for it wasn't as if this was the first time it had happened. Usually, he would be flirting with her to get on Goten's nerves, but for some odd reason, he felt strange doing that with Pan standing next to him. He nodded at Mindy, giving her his best impression of Vegeta's expression of detachment.
"Hey, what are you two doing here?" Goten asked. "Aren't you supposed to be behind a desk, Mr. President?"
"He's the president?" Mindy cried, awed.
Pan choked back a laugh. She looked up at Trunks and saw his lips thin. At first she thought he was annoyed, but when his eyes met hers she saw them tear up with pent up laughter. The same thought was running through their heads.
Where does Goten find these girls?
Goten glared at them, catching the look that passed between them. "Guys, this is Mindy. Mindy, this is my niece Pan and my buddy Trunks."
"Nice to meet 'cha, Trunks," Mindy said, batting her eyelashes at him.
"Well, we might miss our show," Goten said, drawing her away before she threw herself on top of his friend.
Trunks winked at him. "I better be getting back to running the country."
Goten's lips twitched before he threw Trunks a look, remembering that he was supposed to be defending his date. Pan kissed her uncle on the cheek and left with Trunks. Goten was lead Mindy across the park when a thought crossed his mind. He looked over his shoulder to see his friend and his niece walking close together, Trunks' head so close to hers that his hair brushed her forehead.
Trunks and Pan? he mused. I didn't see any pigs flying so what's going on?
Trunks watched from his window as Pan flew away. She turned around once to wave at him, and then disappeared into the darkening sky. He had stayed out much longer than he'd meant to, but time seemed to fly by. The awkwardness that should have been there after their near-kiss hadn't occurred since Pan was dissecting her uncle's girlfriend and reducing him into a useless piece of quivering, laughing soon-to-be ex-president of Capsule Corp. The chances are, after his mother hears about how he had played hooky again she would surely kick him out.
"I could always say I was entertaining Pan," he muttered to himself. "She'll buy that. She's fond of the kid."
And it wouldn't be prudent to say that her son was fond of Pan as well.
