Santa Monica | By : mirialdo Category: +S to Z > X/1999 Views: 2078 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0 |
Disclaimer: I do not own X/1999, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story. |
~In Santa Monica, in the winter time,
The lazy streetsundeundemanding
I walk into the crowd..
In Santa Monica, you get coffee from
The coolest places on the promenade
Where people dress just so..
Beauty so unavoidable, everywhere you turn it's there
I sit and I wonder what am I doing here? ~
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Seishirou sat silently at the small table at the café on sidewalk. He took another small drink of the tea as he watched people walk by to where ever they had to go. He then turned his attention back to the real reason he was sitting where he was in the afternoon sun.
The artist had returned, sitting on a bench just off the promenade and was once again drawing on the large sketchpad set over his knees. He took another drink from the cup, taking in all the details of the lone man. The length of the ebon hair resting just over the edge of his cheekbones, the interesting vest of a jade green resting over a loose shirt of soft off-white, tucked into pants the same color as the vest. Sighing softly, he once more turned his attention back to the passing crowd, so he wouldn't be caught staring at the stranger.
Subaru lifted his head slightly as the older man once more looked away from him. A small smile graced his lips as he once more studied the lines of his face and the way he sat at the table. His hand moved with his eyes on the pad that rested on his knees and he glanced down at it to see how the sketch was going. Flipping the pencil in his hand, he erased a couple lines and rethemthem slightly, making other lines a little bolder. As he looked back up at the other man, he froze as deep emerald met a warm honey brown.
Seishirou glanced back over at the artist, and belatedly realized that the man was looking straight at him. '...his eyes..' he thought silently as he studied the younger man. He was able to finally turn his attention away from him when the artist blinked and finally looked back down at his work. With a quiet sigh, Seishirou signaled one of the waiters, paid for the tea and stood up from the table. Looking back over towards the promenade for the artist, he found him gone from the bench. 'Damn.. why did I come down here for? I don't even know who he is..' He shook his head and then walked away from the café silently, heading back towards his hotel.
Subaru stopped just outside of the small fence that ran around the sidewalk café as the older man walked away from it. He sighed softly and then glanced at the waiter who was cleaning off the table where the man had been sitting. "Excuse me.. would you know who that was?"
The waiter glanced up at him and his brown eyes widened slightly as he recognized him no doubt from the newspapers. "I believe his name is Sakurazuka, sir." Subaru nodded and thanked him before closing the sketchpad, placing it underneath one arm. He stared towards the direction the older man had traveled, but didn't move to follow. Shaking his head once, he turned to walk away in the opposite direction.
A woman stood up three chairs down from him. "Yes, it seems that the person we spoke to before was not the actual owner of the firm we tried to buy. The true owner called the merger off and told.." she gestured at another man sitting over across from her. " Mr. Monou here, to in essence take the offer and stick it.." she glanced down at the folder in front of her. "Actually his exact words were, 'shove it where the sun doesn't shine'."
Seishirou had to work hard to keep his face serious as she finished. Apparently, whoever did own the company had a wicked sense of humor. "I see. Did he leave a name or number we could contact him with?"
"No number, but he did leave a name." Her voice sounded miffed that someone had dared be so rude to her. He inclined his head slightly waiting for her to go on. She calmed down a little and then continued. "Sumeragi, Subaru. He seemed very condescending during the whole time I spoke with him as well.." Again the miffed overtone colored the last sentence she spoke and her fingers tightened over the manila folder she held.
Seishirou almost snickered in amusement at her outrage at being patronized by someone. He smothered it though in time and controlled his voice to sound unaffected as he spoke. "Perhaps I should speak with him.. he might not be so *rude* to one such as myself. Maybe we can still continue the merger, if I am able to persuade him that it's for the best of both of our businesses."
She nodded sharply and then sat down. "Shall I set up a meeting then?"
"Please"
She nodded again and wrote a note inside a small notebook beside her.
He sat down at one of the tables within the same café he'd been visiting for the wee week. Strangely though, the artist had been absent for the last couple days. He wondered if the man had found himself a new area to sketch or if something had happened to him. Then he spotted him making his way towards the bench across the street and smiled faintly. He hadn't realized how much he had actually missed seeing the man. 'I need to get his name.. I should go over and ask him if he would join me for a cup of coffee.' he thought as he watched the man walking down the sidewalk. 'The worse that could happen is refusal..'
Standing, he was walking towards the exit of the café when he saw the man stop at the bench and pull a small phone from his coat. The artist listened to whoever was on the other end and then nodded in response of whatever was said before speaking quietly into the phone and shutting it. To Seishirou's silent dismay he turned away from the bench and headed back the way he came.
He walked over to the bench anyway and sat down, leaning back against the back of the bench, closing his eyes. 'It wasn't fair.. the first time he had convinced himself to actually *do* something, instead of watching..' he shook his head at that line of thought and sat up straighter, preparing to stand up and leave when something dug into his backside. Leaning forwards, he reached back behind him to pull whatever was gouging him in the back out. Giving the leather bound case a quiet glare, he turned it over and noticed the small clasp that held it shut, flicking it open with one finger.
Inside, held by metal clips was thick paper and several pencils it appeared. He pulled one of them out and studied it silently. 'No.1..' He realized slowly that the pencils and the case must belong to his artist.. it would seem he had been planning on sketching, but whatever had occurred over the phone had distracted him and he had left his pad here on the bench. Curious as to what the young man had drawn he flipped through the sketches just beneath the blank sheets of paper.
He found several landscapes, the ocean, a river, a garden of lilies in full bloom, as well as a single rose. Replacing the drawings back in the case, he almost folded it shut again, when his eye caught on a paper held within a dark sleeve of protective plastic. Interest once again caught, he carefully set the case on his knees and began slowly working the paper from the sleeve. Moments after he had begun his cell phone buzzed against his side. Giving the pocket that held the phone an irate look before debating silently, if one he should ignore it and continue to work the paper from its confinement or two replace what he had worked out, a bare couple inches actually, back into the sleeve and answer the phone.
Growling in annoyance, he slid the small amount he had freed back into the sleeve and dug the phone out of his jacket hitting the receive button. "Yes?"
A woman's voice answered him. "Sir.. I just thought to remind you, that meeting with Sumeragi.." there was a sudden hushed muttering before she continued. No doubt the hushed words were curses directed towards the other businessman. The secretary's ire served to ease is own and he stifled the amusement that came as he waited for her to finish. " is today, at 6:00 pm sharp."
Seishirou suppressed a small flash of returning ire as he looked at his watch. 5:00pm. 'Hell.. that doesn't give me much time if he wants to meet at his company's offices.' "I see and where's the meeting set at?"
"Well, I *tried* to get him to come to you.. but he refused that option and told me to tell you that he would be waiting at Shay's on the boardwalk." There were a few more muttered obscenities, directed again most likely at the object of her wrath. He waited till they died down and then thanked her for the call and hung up, replacing the phone back in his jacket. He glanced silently at the open pad on his knees and then closed it, snapping the clasp shut as he stood.
Considering where the other man wanted to meet him, he had a half hour to make himself presentable. He debated silently looking down at the leather case in his hands before he finally decided to take it with him. Tucking it up under one arm, he walked quickly towards his hotel. Hopefully he would see the artist tomorrow and be able to give it back to hhen.hen.
He leaned back slightly in the chair and sighed softly. A young woman came to stand beside his table, silently setting a cup down and pouring the tea he had ordered into it before setting the pitcher down on the table and speaking as he moved to sip quietly at the drink.
"Are you expecting another, or do you wish to order now... sir?"
Subaru glanced up at the waitress. Emerald met Emerald. "Hello, Hokuto. Yes I am expecting someone actually.. hopefully he'll arrive soon."
Hokuto grinned and then replaced the small pad of paper back into the white pouch she wore at her side. "Don't tell me you've finally decided to listen to me and get yourself a date now, have you?"
Subaru shook his head and gave his sister a pleading look. "Please don't start on that again, but unfortunately no...this isn't a date, more of a business meeting, someone tried to buy out the company. When I found out about it, I steppedk ink into things and halted the deal. However, I was foolish enough to get talked into meeting someone from this other company before I told them 'no way in hell'."
He lifted the cup again and took another small drink. "Actually, I figure I can at least get a meal out of this and then tell them to go straight to hell." he said with a straight face, the only trace of humor was in his eyes as he watched both Hokuto and the rest of the room.
Hokuto laughed and smiled brightly at him. "That's the spirit, it's what I'd do if I were in your place." She looked up and winced slightly at the look she was getting from another waiter. "Well, nice to see you, but I think I better get back to work." Bending down closer to Subaru, she lowered her voice to a slight whisper. " You need to come visit me and Kakyou sometime, I could find someone for you and then we could double date!"
Subaru suppressed both the groan and the blush that threatened to escape as Hokuto grinned again and straightened back up. "I'll be back out later to take your order." She then turned and hurried towards a different table taking out the small pad of paper as she closed the distance.
Shaking his head and sighing at her words, Subaru glanced back towards the entrance, his breath catching in his throat. It was the man from the promenade. What was he doing here? He took a sip from the tea, watching him silently as he spoke to the maîtred, and was pointed in his direction. 'Fate.. you hate me don't you..' he thought silently as the older man walked towards his table. 'On second thought, don't answer that.'
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