Chapter 4: Slight Misunderstanding

        Serena sat idly running her fingernail along the rim of the wine glass in boredom. They had not been here for five minutes and already she was about to fall asleep in her chair. Some young man was trying to talk to her but her interest perhaps wasn't al he had hoped for. Truly she didn't care enough tonight to even feign enthusiasm, but he was persistent and she finally had to forcibly shoo him away. Sitting alone was a definite improvement and only her extreme disinterest chased the rest away. Damn fortune-hunters she thought quietly. She craved a little excitement. Dear God I wish that Darien were here, at least that would afford more entertainment than this.
        As if by the magic of those would, Darien walked into the room just then and started greeting the varied few lords and ladies around the room with apologies about his slight tardiness. Serena almost choked and started franticly praying Oh for love of - I was only KIDDING!!! Great, just great, now I have to spend an evening in the same room as him! She may have a crush on him, but he certainly did not reciprocate the feelings. He had known her since she was thirteen or fourteen, and he still thought of her as a bumbling little fool. She hated him and yet ached to be around him, constantly at war with herself. She leaned forward in her chair and gracefully offered her hand to him as he came over to greet her.
        "And how are you my lady?" he said formally but with a mocking grin as he gently kissed her proffered hand, giving her little electric shocks with each gentle touch,
        "I'm just fine Darien, as if you cared." she replied waspishly. His grin widened in humor,
        "My, my, here I was trying to be nice, and you start biting my head off. Well, if that's the way we play now I guess you won't mind me calling you Meatball Head then." It wasn't really a question. Serena replied, keeping her voice low so as not to draw attention,
        "I do so mind you arrogant jerk!" he grabbed at his heart as if wounded,
        "Oh you hurt me so! What have I done to deserve such malice from this child?" he asked the ceiling jokingly. Serena was well on her way to furious,
        "Child? I'm a grown woman Darien!" She shoved away from her chair and stormed away to the other side of the room where more people were mingling. A small group of handsome young men congregated around her the second she left the table. She was actually feeling better now that she had some tension worked off and was enjoying the conversation of the men around her. Among them was her dear friend Richard who happened to be standing near by. He made a daring joke and she couldn't keep from laughing. Richard was always one of her favorite companions because of his quick humor and sparkling wit - and the fact that he was happily married and so consequentially had no romantic interest in her.

        Darien watched her as she walked away. There was something different about her since the last time he talked with her. He occasionally saw her around but he hadn't actually spoken with her for almost half a year now. He noticed that the men swarmed around her, but she didn't really flirt with any of them as the other young coquette's around the room did. She actually appeared perfectly guileless. A rare enough quality these days. He wondered at the men though. Why were they hanging around Serena? She never was one to care overmuch about attracting men and I can see that hasn't really changed, so what's with the fan club? He looked at her more closely.
        The years had been kind to her evidently, transforming his memory of a awkward, coltish young girl into a very well-shaped woman. He studied her trim, yet full, outline through her comparatively simple dress of silver and blue silk and found it vaguely familiar. He noted that her hair wasn't up in the style he remembered so well. Whatever happened to those Meatball Head pigtails she used to wear all the time I wonder... and then it hit him like a ton of bricks. Serena had grown up! So stupid of him not to really realize it before I guess I just never really thought about it. Now he looked at her with new interest. She was certainly a sight for sore eyes, no wonder those men hunger for her. But still, there was something unusual about her - what was it?
        It was the way she moved, the way she walked Something different about it than the other girls - but what? He examined her carefully as a man got her a fresh glass of Madeira wine and she moved on to another group. He thought perhaps her hips swayed more than usual in a girl her age, as if she had some sort of confidence she was not aware of. An idea dawned on him as he also recognized how comfortable she seemed with men. Jesus! She's.. she did..she has..Agh!..good God, she must have..a.. a lover! he stuttered mentally (a hard thing to do indeed). His Serena had taken a lover before she was married? Wait wait - since when did she become my Serena?!
        This whole situation was becoming too much for him. He needed to go home and just sort all this out, but he couldn't seem to tear his eyes away from her now. She laughed at something one of the men around her had said and his heart squeeze. She was so beautiful when she laughed and he wanted to just enjoy it but something kept nagging at the back of his mind. He had heard her laugh before but he felt a strange twinge at the back of his mind as if there was something about that he should remember. After a minute of trying to figure it out, he gave it up for a lost cause and decided to go speak with her. He just had to know if his suspicions were true.

        "Serena, how have you been faring tonight? It has been almost a month since I have heard from you." Richard asked her. Serena and he had moved slightly away from the others to talk together.
        "Oh I'm fine. I've been spending a lot of time with Contessa Bochelli lately. Do you know her?"
        "Oh yes, Giana and I have been acquainted for quite some time but I have not seen her since her husband died." Serena smiled, pleased that her two best friends liked each other. She poked Richard in the stomach playfully and said,
        "And how about you? A little bird told me that Greta is expecting another child - any truth to it?" Richard actually blushed slightly with pleasure.
        "True as they come! You have a well-informed bird, might I ask who spilled?" she grinned mysteriously.
        "A woman never tells her ways." Richard chuckled. A voice added from behind suddenly,
        "But a child does, so tell the man already." Serena whirled around and came face to face with her worst nightmare and her most beautiful dream. Sweet Lord he's handsome.
        Sweet Lord she's beautiful he thought at the same time. He unhappily noted that she did not seem pleased to see him. What else do you expect when you say idiot things like that! He glanced over her shoulder to her male companion and saw that he was frowning in disapproval, Darien didn't particularly care about him though, Serena was the one he wanted to talk to. He grabbed her arm, again the familiar twinge hit him but he ignored it.
        "I need to talk to you about something." She wrenched her arm out of his grip and, without a word, turned her back on him and struck up her conversation with her friend again. She had completely ignored him. Damn her anyway!
        "Serena..." he said, getting angrier by the minute. Her friend looked at him and said,
        "I don't think she wants to talk to you and I think I can probably see why." Serena continued to ignore him. Darien clamped his hand down on her shoulder and stated,
        "I don't much care what you think, I have an important matter I need to discuss with Serena alone." Richard was about to say something, but Serena cut him off by placing a delicate hand on his chest. She took her hand away and placed it over Darien's at her shoulder, which sent an unexpected jolt through both of them, although neither was aware it was shared. She patted his hand.
        "Richard, I'll talk to Darien. Please excuse me for just a moment." she added in a lower tone, hoping Darien wouldn't hear because the news was still secret, "I'll be hoping the best for the baby." She smiled and accepted Darien's proffered arm. All the blood had drained out of Darien's face though when he made out Serena's comment to that Richard fellow. A baby? Oh my god...

        They stepped into one of the back rooms and Darien closed the door. Serena tapped her foot impatiently and stood waiting expectantly for him to speak. Darien ran a hand through his hair, unsure of how to start this conversation. Finally he figured just to be as blunt as he had always been with Serena.
        "Are you...Have you..well..taken a lover?" he blurted out. She stood stunned for a second but then she was furious, her eyes sparkling with rage.
        "That is none of you GODDAM BUSINESS!! Why would you even think it WAS?!? How dare you pull me away from my friend only to accuse me of THIS?" She was absolutely blazing furious. Ok, perhaps too blunt.
        "Listen Serena, I've known you since you were still a little girl and I don't want to see you hurt, ok? This could ruin your life, don't you understand that?"
        "What a hypocrite you are! You don't want to see me get hurt? You hurt me every chance you get. You tease me, you call me an idiot, you make fun of my hair and my clothes, you call me a bumbling fool because I'm klutzy, and you tell me I'm ugly to my face if not behind my back! Don't you think that hurts Darien? Even just a little?" she was starting to cry a little because it hurt so bad just thinking about it, "Damnit, as if I didn't know! As if I didn't know it already you have to throw it in my face constantly! Don't you know how much that hurts Darien?" she buried her face in his shirt and clung to him, her voice trailing off. "How can you even talk to me about getting hurt by someone else?"
        Darien's heart broke, he had never meant those things to be mean and he thought she could tell. Why in the world would she actually believe she was ugly? Who would have thought she would have taken him seriously? He hurt so bad for her. He bent down and lifted her up in his arms. He sat down on a nearby chair and she curled up in his lap, still crying as he held her. God it feels good to hold her, she's so soft, I only wish the circumstances were different. he thought wistfully. She quieted down quickly and tried to slip out of his arms, thoroughly embarrassed. He grabbed her and tightened his hold. She looked up and wondered what he was thinking. Whatever it was she refused to speak first. Darien looked at her and cupped her face with one of his large hands, running his finger across her cheek lightly. It was a simple touch but it did wonders to Serena who closed her eyes and just enjoyed it. Finally he spoke.
        "Serena, I'm sorry. I didn't realize I was being such a jerk, but I never thought you would believe what I said." She snorted in disbelief. He looked at her, rolled his eyes and said with an honest smile,
        "No really. You are so beautiful Serena, I swear I never thought you would take any of it seriously." She looked at him as if he were playing a joke on her.
        "Do you honestly expect me to believe that?"
        "Yes woman!" he said in mild exasperation. "Trust me, I've seen enough women to know what a good one looks like and you, Meatball Head, are a very nice one!" he said with a grin. She slapped him on the arm.
        "Hey, don't start that again - I specifically stopped wearing those things because you always called me that. I guess taking them down didn't help much on that account." she responded to his grin with a bright smile and Darien felt as if he were looking at the sun. She could blind a man with beauty like that! he continued to himself in good humor.
        Serena herself was in fine spirits when she finally cleaned herself up to re-enter the small party. It had only been a few minutes but so many emotions had been unleashed that it felt like hours. For once in her life she actually felt beautiful, or at least pretty. Darien had said so and she trusted his objective opinion or maybe you only really care what he thinks... she had never been good at lying to herself. Darien caught her before she walked out and asked her,
        "Honestly, as a friend Serena, I heard you mention to your friend something about a baby. You know I mean no harm - tell me true, are you pregnant?" He looked so sincere and worried that Serena forgot her anger at the question and suddenly started laughing. Darien looked somewhat displeased, that was the last reaction he thought she would have. When she had calmed herself reasonably she replied,
        "Um, no. Richard's wife is pregnant again and I just wished him my best, but he doesn't want anyone to know just yet." Darien was confused.
        "His wife? He has a wife? I thought he..that he was..you're..ah.." She started giggling merrily,
        "Oh I'll have to tell him that one someday! No, Richard is married, and happily so."
        "But why all the secrecy then?" Serena shook her head.
        "Don't you know anything? It's bad luck to spread news about a baby before the first 3 months."

        They both departed arm-in-arm, smiling and laughing at the jokes they were telling each other. For the night at least, they were friends. Richard couldn't figure exactly what was going on between the two, first with the hostility and now with the laughter. Whatever it was, he had a hunch there was something between them that ran deep. They sure would make a beautiful couple... he thought and turned away.