"Vejiita?" Bulma said sweetly, while fixing herself a cup of coffee. It was times like these when she had to use every single ounce of charm that she possessed. Her mother had taught her well, and although Bulma considered herself at being an expert when it came to the opposite sex, she still had problems with her husband. He was definitely not any easy man to manipulate; he was far too smart for something like that. More than likely, he would grow very angry and agitated at her very suggestion, which was why Bulma was a little more than frightened at the moment. It wasn’t that she was scared of her husband; he would never intentionally hurt her. The problem was that she wanted something, and if Vejiita became angry enough, he wouldn’t give it to her. She simply had to approach him in a well thought, well rehearsed manner.
In all seriousness, the situation wasn’t quite as dire as Vejiita would make it out to be. The Western Capitol Technological Society was holding its annual banquet that night; it was a rather pretentious and exclusive dinner, and they were very selective about who was invited and who was left out on the street. As it may happen, Bulma had made a few astounding technological advances in the Capsules, and the WCTS had decided that they would honor her with an invitation to the yearly banquet. She couldn’t possibly have been more thrilled when she received the invitation, but as time went on and she prepared for the dinner, she began to worry. She would show up at the banquet wearing the new silk gown that she had bought for the occasion, her hair done up and all of her best jewels displayed proudly --- but she would not have a date. And how would it look if the owner of Capsule Corporation, a woman of her ultimate style and beauty, could not even get her own husband to join her at a banquet? And if Vejiita refused to go with her and she went with another man, the situation would be even worse. The WCTS was a very prestigious organization, and if they thought that she could possibly be having an affair, they would not let her in through the door. Thus lay the problem. She had to attend the banquet with Vejiita, but her husband would surely refuse to go.
Her hands shook with nervousness as she poured in a teaspoon of sugar into her coffee. He was certainly not going to be happy about the situation, and Bulma would have bet her entire life savings that he would give her a flat out ‘no’. But this dinner meant a lot to her, and it was at least worth a try. If her charm and pleading did not work, then she would simply have to threaten him. And if that did not work, then she would simply have to find a new husband.
She forced her voice to be steady as she spoke. "I was invited to a dinner tonight, a rather formal dinner, and I would really like it if you accompanied me to it." She mentioned casually, stirring in the sugar.
The gentle clinking of the small spoon against the ceramic mug echoed like a church bell, sounding foreign in the quiet kitchen. Now that she had asked, she could feel the wait of her question hanging heavily on her shoulders. Bulma swallowed hard, praying that he would say yes, but knowing that he most likely wouldn't. She found herself nearly in tears, thinking of the dinner that she was going to miss. It was to be the dinner of the century; the dinner that everyone would be talking about for years to come. And she was going to have to miss it. As she stared at Vejiita, she already knew what he was going say to her, she could tell just by the way that he had stopped shoveling food into his mouth, a half smile of amusement on his handsome face. He would rather dress up as a Smurf and wander around downtown Tokyo than attend a dinner party.
Vejiita finally looked up from his breakfast and swallowed, giving her a skeptical and annoyed look. "You've got to be kidding me, woman. I am not going to go to some dinner with you."
Bulma closed her eyes briefly, she had expected this all along, yet hearing from him slightly defeated her. Her first option of using charm on him obviously did not work, so she was going to have to try a different approach. A pleading look struck her pretty features, and she stuck out her bottom lip just enough to justify a pout. Instead of using the sweet, nonchalant voice that she had been using before, she spoke in commanding, yet soft and vulnerable voice. It was another one of her many and abundant talents. She had been known to make men fall on their knees with that voice. "Vejiita, please. It would really mean a lot to me."
He put down his fork beside his plate and glared out the kitchen window at the gravity chamber. She could see in his eyes that this approach was not going to work either. She should have known, of course. Vejiita was not one to give sympathy on any occasion, especially not over a dinner party that he knew absolutely nothing about. And she could sense that he was getting annoyed with her; he didn’t like to have to say ‘no’ more than once. Mentally, she rolled up her sleeves and faced him with a determined look on her beautiful face. It was time to use her last stock of ammunition. And if this didn’t work, then she didn’t know what would. It was downright evil of her to use this kind of thing against him, but a girl had to do what a girl had to do.
"If you don't go with me, I will find another date." She threatened, taking a leisurely sip of her coffee. Vejiita had never really shown her any serious signs of jealousy, but she had a feeling that he would feel very threatened indeed if someone tried to steal her away from him. Not because he cared about her so, but simply because they were taking something belonged to him
He smirked at her. "Who? No man in his right mind would want to be seen with such an ugly, bad-tempered thing like you."
She returned the smirk, knowing that her next argument would give her the win. Vejiita's stubbornness could only go so far before the pride kicked in, and she was sure that she would snag him with her next line. "I'm sure Yamucha would be glad to take me. I haven't seen him since the wedding, after all."
Vejiita's face went blank, and she could vaguely sense a hint of jealously in his dark eyes. He knew that she and Yamucha were once together, though she had never mentioned it to him. He did not see Yamucha as competition at all, because frankly, Vejiita knew
that he was better than her former boyfriend. But she had always assumed that he was at least a little angry about the relationship that she and Yamucha used to have. Not because he cared about her all that much, but because she was his now, and he didn’t like to think of her mixing with the wrong sort. She watched the fight of his inflicting emotions flash across his face in that endless battle she had come to know so well. "No need to bring that idiot out of his boring, weakling life. I will go."
Bulma suppressed an ear to ear grin, for the worst part was yet to come. Now that she had gotten him to go to the dinner, she had to properly attire him. This was something that he was definitely not going to accept. She cleared her throat. "Since it is formal.... You’ll need to buy a tuxedo. I would pick one up for you, but I have some work that I need to do before the dinner. Plus, I need to get ready myself. So you will have to go shopping for one."
"What?!" Vejiita nearly choked on his bite of food. He looked up and he glared at her with a seething expression. "Have you finally lost all of your pathetic, little, human brain? I am not going to go shopping.”
She looked him straight in the eye with determination and her voice took on a very scary and threatening tone. "Yes. You are going shopping. I am not going to show up at the banquet with you wearing that ridiculous spandex! You are going to go and get a tuxedo, or trust me, there will be hell to pay. Do you like sleeping on the couch? Because if you don’t get a tux in time for dinner tonight, that’s exactly where you’re going to be. For the next ten years!"
Without giving him a chance to argue, Bulma reached for her purse and dug through the contents, spilling it out onto the kitchen table. Amidst capsules and sunglasses, hair ties, compacts and lipsticks and a dozen other feminine items, she found her wallet. She wasn’t sure if Vejiita knew how to use a credit card or not, but he was going to learn awfully fast.
"Here." She said, and she slapped all of her credit cards --- a total of around thirty, onto the table before him. “You can take my credit cards and go to the shopping center downtown. And if you don’t find a tux by dinner, I am going to be a very unhappy woman."
Before he could say another word, she pushed herself up from the kitchen table and strolled out the door, leaving him alone with the breakfast dishes, thirty credit cards, and....a mission.
Vejiita entered the shop and looked around him carefully. It was the first one that he had found on the drive --- he figured that all the stores were pretty much the same, so he might as well just pick the closest one and get the entire thing over with. Upon entering through the door, he was immediately assaulted by a barrage of different perfumes, and he backed up for a moment, wondering if he had made a bad decision. He waved a hand in front of his face to ward off the smell of perfume and made his way further into the store. The lights were outrageously bright, and the Saiya-jin prince had to blink squint and blink several times as he tried to adjust his vision to the light. When his eyes finally did adjust, it was even worse. Racks of expensive clothes in a bright array of colors surrounded him, almost driving him to the point of claustrophobia. Women bustled by him in a hurry with armfuls of clothes, giggling at the sight of him. Sweat began to drip down his temple.
He wanted to get out of this place as quickly as possible. He just wanted to buy the damn tuxedo and leave. He couldn’t possibly imagine why Bulma actually enjoyed doing this on a regular basis. He felt for the credit cards she had given him before sending him off that morning, making sure they were still in his pocket. A young woman with a name tag, which he guessed must work there, wandered out from behind the counter and began to walk towards him. Simple, he thought. I’ll just command the girl to get me a tux, give her the credit cards, and leave.
"You.” He called out, pointing at her. His lifted his head up and posed in his usual regal stance, crossing his arms. “I need a-"
The woman walked right past him without even giving him a second glance. She had heard him; he was sure she had heard him, but she had just blatantly ignored him. He was new to this whole shopping thing of course, but he was pretty sure that the store servants were supposed to help the people that were shopping.
Instead of helping him though, she walked over to another young man wearing an expensive looking suit and asked in a sickly sweet voice, "Can I help you with something?"
Vejiita stood open mouthed for a second, then glared after her. She had blatantly ignored him, and then went to help some other guy. He desperately fought the urge to rip her ugly little head off. He was certain that Bulma would be angry at him if he harmed anyone, plus he would probably ruin the store in the process. His mate would be even angrier with him if she knew that he had destroyed one of her favorite shopping centers.
Fine, he thought, I'll just find what I need for myself. I don’t need some bimbo to help me find a suit.
Painstakingly, he searched the racks before him. He was pretty sure that he was in the men’s clothing section, but with the way that the store was laid out, he couldn’t be certain. He was beginning to acquire a very large, very painful headache. Finally, after several minutes of desperate searching, he found what he was looking for. He tilted his head, staring at it, and immediately thought that Bulma would love it on him. It was a perfect black tuxedo, and he could tell just by looking at it on the hanger that it would fit him. There was really no need to try it on. Actually, he didn't want to go through the effort of trying it on. He just wanted to get out of this store. He grabbed the tuxedo off of the hanger and stalked over to the counter where the clerk who had ignored him earlier was counting money from the last purchase.
"You there." Vejiita stated, trying to get her attention.
She reached up and picked off an invisible piece of lint from her sweater, still not noticing him, or at least, not wanting to notice him.
"Excuse me!" He yelled suddenly, and the clerk looked startled as she finally glanced up at him. He watched her disapproving eyes as she took in his appearance. Wild, troll-like hair and a one piece spandex outfit. He could tell by the way that she was looking at him that she thought he was trash. Honestly he did not look his best, but what did the lady expect? He had just spent ten minutes being barraged by perfume, knocked into by giggling women and searching through mounds of clothing.
She stared at him blankly. “What do you want?”
Vejiita was taken aback by her rudeness, but he didn’t have time to argue with her. He just wanted to get out of this damn store! He simply threw the tuxedo onto the counter and snarled at her menacingly.
The woman stared at him once more, then laughed; it was an annoying sound that sounded like gunfire in the silent store. She gestured at him with one hand and placed the other on her hip. "I have to ask you to leave. We don't serve people like you."
"What?!" He asked through clenched teeth.
She signaled to the security guys over by the door, and they began lurching over to grab a hold of him and help him out of the place. "You have to leave the store right now. We don't deal with people like you." She informed him.
"But-" He stammered, picturing Bulma yelling at him and crying because she didn't get to go to the dinner. Pictured sleeping on the couch for the next ten years. This was simply not something that he had expected at all. She had made it all sound so easy when she told him to take the credit cards and go shopping. He had no idea what kind of trouble this would be.
"Are you going to leave on your own or are we going to have to make you leave?" The clerk asked in an even tone.
Vejiita glanced over at the security guards and at the clerk once more. "I can find my own way to the door!" he grunted.
Bulma entered her and Vejiita's bedroom, weary from a hard day’s work. She had done more paperwork today than she had ever done in the entire course of her life. It seemed like ever since her dad retired, the workload had just been piling up. At least she had gotten home in time to beautify herself for tonight’s banquet. She took off her shoes and placed them in her closet. Her feet were absolutely aching, and the thought of wearing the heels that she had selected for tonight was not appealing at all. Rubbing the back of her neck with her hand, she made her way into the bathroom to take a shower. She reached her hand into the shower and turned the water on, testing the temperature. The hot water was going to feel so amazing on her aching muscles. She peeled off her shirt and was working on the button of her pants when she heard a noise from the bedroom.
She turned to find Vejiita in the doorway, his fists curled at his side. His entire body was completely taught and shaking with fury. His mouth was twitching in what she recognized as his way of suppressing anger. The infamous vein on his forehead was also beginning to show. She sighed. Obviously Vejiita did not have a good time shopping for his tuxedo.
"They wouldn't serve me!" he yelled at her angrily. “They refused to let me buy the tuxedo.”
Bulma gave him a confused look. "You mean the store wouldn't sell you anything?"
"They said that they didn't deal with people like me." He spat out the words and hit the bathroom wall in frustration, causing his fist to go completely through.
Bulma let out a small squeak. She had seen him angry before of course, but every time he started destroying the house it frightened her. The repair bills alone were scary. "All right Vejiita....calm down....we'll go shopping right now and get you a suit from another store. We still have plenty of time.”
“I’m going to go back to that store, and I’m going to destroy it!” He roared, and his hair began to take on a golden hue.
She sighed. “Vejiita, we’ve been over this. You can’t just destroy the shopping center. There are other ways to get even with people.”
This interested him, and he leaned his head to the side, staring at her. “Like what?”
From store to store they went, blowing money on just about everything they were offered and wearing it out of the store. The clerks in the other shops eagerly helped Vejiita into dozens of suits, shirts, and slacks. They were especially happy to help him after Bulma mentioned that she was a big tipper. Bright pink golf hats, Gucci shoes, top hats, tuxes, fur coats, Armani suits, and brightly colored ties were put into bag after bag and toted out of stores. They acquired so many bags and boxes in fact, that five clerks from other stores were helping them carry their purchases through the shopping center. Bulma was wearing an eccentric evening gown, complete with satin gloves and a feathered boa. On her arm, Vejiita looked unbelievably handsome in a gorgeous black tuxedo. Five clerks had been hired to simply follow them around the shopping center, carrying all of the boxes and bags of clothing that they had purchased. People stopped and stared as they progressed down the aisle of shops, intrigued.
Finally, they arrived at their pointed destination: the same shop that had kicked Vejiita out earlier that day. Bulma and Vejiita nodded briskly at each other, then gripped hands tightly and walked into the store together, toting over a dozen shopping bags. The five clerks that they had hired followed them into the store as well, carrying huge boxes in their arms and dozens of bags over their shoulders.
The clerk who Vejiita had encountered earlier dropped the phone that she had been talking into when she saw them walk in. She recognized the woman immediately. Bulma Briefs was one of the richest women in the entire world, and from the looks of it, she was on a shopping spree. She quickly replaced the phone on the receiver and hurried over to her.
"You're the owner of Capsule Corporation aren't you? I've seen your picture in magazines! Wow! What can I help you with?" She asked in an awed voice, picturing dollar signs and a huge tip.
"Vejiita?" Bulma said sweetly to the man on her left.
The clerk looked at the man and noticed that he looked vaguely familiar.
"Do you remember me?" Vejiita asked her.
"Um...." She said in a flustered voice, desperately trying to place him.
"I came in here this morning to buy a suit. You wouldn't help me.” He reminded her with a glare.
Recognition flickered in her eyes and she glanced from Bulma to Vejiita. "Oh dear! I’m sorry, I-"
"You work on commission right?" Vejiita interrupted with a smirk, holding the shopping bags out for the flustered clerk to see.
She nodded.
"Big mistake." Vejiita snarled, grabbing a hold of Bulma's hand and heading out of the doors with his head held high. “Big. Huge!"
Fanfic
with a Twist
[ Chi
Chi's fanfic ]
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