CHAPTER 1 : BUSINESS AND PLEASURE

'What do you mean you're selling the company?' yelled Natsu, standing up and slamming his palms on the table.

His eyes flicked angrily from Markarov to Laxus who sat quietly at their respective ends of the long wooden table, their heads bowed.

'I know things are getting tougher with the economy, and the tax hike and everything, but we can't just give up like this!' he continued.

The room was silent, all those present at the board meeting filled with remorse and frustration, in stark contrast to their normal noisy and rambunctious behavior. Beside him, Lucy laid a hand on Natsu's arm, urging him to calm down.

'How the hell do you expect me to calm down?' he yelled 'We've built this company from the ground up! I love Fairy Tail Industries like my own child! And now you're telling me we've just got to sit back and watch it taken by the highest bidder? Just so he can chop it up and sell it for parts?'

'Enough!' said Erza. 'Sit down Natsu,'

She glared at him from her seat across the table, her brows furrowed.

'Fighting and yelling about it will get us nowhere,' she said with forced calm 'we all know that the company is in bad shape right now, and with the recent anima incident, the market for magical items isn't what it used to be,'

The dark haired man on Lucy's left sighed and removed his tie. On any normal day, he would've been shirtless by now, but however, as with everyone and everything, there just seemed to be no mood for it.

'I heard from old man Jura that both Caitshelter and Phantom Lord have filed for bankruptcy yesterday. Seems like this slum is hitting all of our allies,' he said.

Suddenly, a phone began to ring, its shrill tone echoing in the large, silent room. The pale, blue haired woman who sat beside Gray quickly retrieved it; and after a few moments, set it back down again, and announced

'Reporters have gathered downstairs. They wish to speak to the chairman,' she said timidly, casting her gaze over the short, balding man.

'Go in my place Laxus, we'll continue this meeting tomorrow' he told his grandson, crossing his legs and leaning his bony hands heavily against his knees. As the members of the board rose up in further argument, the old man held up a withered hand, and the room immediately fell silent.

'We will wait 24 hours. If we do not get a favorable response from the buyers by then, we will consider other options,' he continued.

'Is there really no other way?' asked Lucy 'If we're bought over by an enemy company, they'll most likely disband us. We could lose so much more than the company,'

Gray snorted and crossed his hands over his chest.

'Well, to be perfectly frank, Lucy, if your boyfriend hadn't gone around stomping out the competition, creating more enemies than allies, we probably wouldn't even be in this predicament,' sneered the black haired man.

'Hah!' yelled Natsu 'Says the guy who chucks his pants off at every single news conference and business meeting there is! I'm surprised that they haven't listed you as a sex offender!'

The men were just about to lunge at each other's throats when suddenly; a sharp whistle pierced the air of the conference room. All heads swiveled to the fair headed beauty sitting on Laxus' immediate right; next to Erza. Her forehead was creased in an unusual frown and her hands were clasped in front of her on the table, gripped tight with determination.

'That's enough from the two of you!' she scolded 'How on earth are we supposed to attract potential buyers if we cannot even be unified ourselves. We have to hold together in these hard times, and not forget that it is our loyalty to each other which keeps us strong,'

Chairman Makarov's heart swelled with pride as he saw his young apprentice take centre stage with such tenacity and spirit. Of course, those two qualities were ones which everyone possessed. And as he watched the two boys men return to their seats, heads bowed; he was reminded of a time where he had first met those two hot headed teenagers, still fresh out of high school, full of burning passion to succeed in the corporate world, and even a greater desire to outdo each other. With the exceptions of Lucy and Juvia, he had known all his trusted board members since they were young. He had trained them well, and prior to the economic downfall of Fiore, Fairy Tail Industries had been one of the premier magical manufacturing companies around.

With a great sigh, he adjourned the meeting. There was a general disgruntled murmur of frustration and disappointment as everyone began to pack up their things and make for the exit.

'I expect to see you all at the Councilman's gala tonight,' said the old man 'There will be plenty of people of great influence there, and we must try our best to secure out company's future,'

'Juvia is curious,' said the foreign blunette, pausing suddenly 'why is this elaborate party thrown when the money can so obviously go elsewhere? Juvia thinks this Councilman Shinra is being extremely wasteful'

Surprisingly, it was Erza who replied,

'Those lofty fools live in their own little worlds,' she sneered darkly, much to the shock of the others 'They trample on anyone and would do anything just to acquire what they desire,'

Something flickered in Makarov's eyes and for an instant, his frown deepend.

Maybe, just maybe, this might work.

'Erza, may I have a word with you in private?' he asked

The rest of them filled out of the room and Erza was left alone with the old chairman. It was currently three in the afternoon, and the gala was due to begin at dinner. He got up from his seated position on the table and walked towards the floor to ceiling glass windows that took up the entire eastern wall of the room. From their 27th floor of the building, the view beyond the semi-tinted glass stretched majestically onto the large expanse of buildings and dwellings that made up the city of Magnolia. Although the chairman stood no taller than her waist, he exuded an aura that would make most grown men cower in fear. Such was the strength of the great Makarov, one of the ten members of the International Trade Council and revered business strategist the world over.

'How much do you know about a man named Zancrow?' he asked finally, not facing Erza, his hands clasped behind his back.

Erza's brow rose at the question.

'Only that he is a ruthless businessman,' she replied 'One of the prime players in the Grimoire Hearts group, they say that not one of his strategies has ever failed, and that he is even capable of outsmarting the devil himself,'

'A challenging foe, yes; but I shudder to think what would happen if we ever have to face off against him,' she added as an afterthought.

'Indeed,' replied Makarov slowly 'But would you face him, if I asked you to?'

Stunned, she replied.

'Of course, anything for you, chairman. But why-'

'I cannot trust anyone else to do this my dear. You see, I have already received propositions on the sale of the company. And one of them, most unfortunately, comes from that man himself,'

She breathed in sharply, understanding the subtle implications and also the heavy burden that had been entrusted onto her. She would definitely have to do whatever it took, to prevent Fairy Tail from falling into Grimoire Hearts' hands.

'He will be at the ball tonight,' said Makarov.

'Yes sir!' announced Erza 'I will not fail you chairman!'

Makarov turned around, his expression still grim, and stared at Erza eye to eye. It could've been her imagination, but it felt like he was holding something back from her, in those dark, mysterious orbs.

'Is anything the matter, chairman?' she asked tentatively.

'Please do not hate me for asking this Erza,' he said, shuffling his feet nervously on the floor. He looked up at her imploringly, 'Promise?'

Erza remained where she stood, silent and waiting.

'I know I promised to respect your privacy on this matter, but I have to know. Two years ago, what exactly happened between you and Councilman Fernandes?'

Her eyed widened, her breath caught in her throat, and an angry red tint made itself visible on her cheeks all at once. It had been so long, so why did it affect her so much? Why did she still feel like hunting down that evil bastard and make him pay for all he had done? He had seduced her, toyed with her feelings, used her, and then abandoned her. She made up her mind long ago- when he disappeared into thin air virtually overnight- that she never wanted to hear his name again. But why then, was her heart thumping madly, like the beating of a thousand drums?

'I… I cannot answer that question now chairman,' she said 'I'm sorry, but I… I just can't,'

The chairman sighed and looked away.

'Very well then, off you go,' he said

….

An hour later, a frown of frustration formed itself on Erza's face as she found herself spacing out for the nth time since Makarov's meeting. She was back in her large office now, and regardless of how she tried to busy herself, flashes of memories kept coming back to her as if called by some invisible siren. Seated in front of her, Wendy clicked away at her handheld device, reminding the redhead of tomorrow's appointments. The girl had just finished her high school education and was now working part time as Erza's secretary.

'…and of course there's that meeting you have with Mr Bastia over lunch. I've taken the liberty of making reservations at that French place you told me he likes….,'

The small blue haired girl noticed that her boss had drifted off yet again.

'Unless you'd prefer something else? Uh... Miss Scarlet? Erza?' she raised the volume of her voice slightly.

The redhead snapped out of her momentary trance and sent the girl an apologetic smile.

'I'm sorry Wendy. I've been floating off to god knows where. I think the big sale must be getting to me. Why don't we wrap up here and you can take the rest of the day off?' she offered.

Wendy, being her usual perceptive self, noted something was not right with Erza, something bigger than Fairy Tail. She bit her lip nervously. Dare she say it out loud? Of course, it was only rumors, but she certainly did not want to invoke the redhead's temper. She stuffed the handheld into her purse and threaded her fingers together, choosing her words carefully.

'You know, I've been reading the gossip column recently… you know the one in Sorcerer Weekly?'

'Ah yes,' Erza mumbled while shuffling the papers around her desk 'What has that Cassie come up with now? Did I decide to elope with another pierced-like-a-hedgehog rock star?' she asked lightly.

'No, actually, the article isn't about you,' said the blue haired girl 'It's about Ultear,'

'Who?' Erza tilted her head, trying to remember why that name sounded so familiar.

'She's that bitch who tried to ruin our business in Galuna Island!' said Wendy in earnest 'Convinced the townsfolk that our products would turn them into ugly monsters!'

Although it happened long before Wendy joined Fairy Tail, Erza was impressed that she knew about it. Was she worried about Ultear? Not so much… that woman lost anyway.

'What was the article about?' asked the redhead

'Well, ah… you see…,' she began

'Spit it out Wendy, I don't have all day,' If there was one thing Erza didn't like, it was a person who had a tendency to beat around the bush.

'They've spotted her with Jellal!' she said in a hurry.

Wendy was relieved to see that Erza hadn't exploded like she had predicted. However, there was a sinister look in her eyes, a cold, calculating look that looked almost predetorial.

'Where and when?' asked Erza stiffly.

'Pavilion mall, yesterday evening' Wendy didn't like the look in Erza's eyes as those normally warm chocolate orbs darkened and her lips tightened into a thin line. Was she aiming for revenge? Did that mean the office gossip was true and Jellal had, in fact, dumped her two years ago?

Erza thanked the young girl and walked out of her office with that same look on her face. A shiver ran down Wendy's spine and prayed for mercy for whoever who dared cross Erza today.

….

She shut her apartment's front door and laid her purse on the large wooden dining table. She wondered why she still bothered keeping it. It wasn't like she hosted parties anymore.

….

Silverwear gleamed in the light of the overhanging lamps as the last morsels of pie were scraped from its dish. Erza never could pride herself as a great cook, but she comforted herself with the fact that she made a killer apple pie. It was one of their annual get-togethers, and Erza was glad she was still close to her college friends.

Shou stood up from his seat, holding his glass of champagne aloft.

'I propose a toast to Wally and Milliana upon the joyous occasion of their engagement!'

There was a round of whoops and wolf whistles. The spiky haired blonde continued.

'And of course, to our gorgeous hostess, thank you Erza for this wonderful dinner! You have personally ensured that I will not be able to fit into my jeans tomorrow!'

Another round of laughter and sounds of happy agreement filled the air.

'You've definitely set the standard Erza!' giggled Milliana 'I have absolutely no idea how I could match up to your cooking when I throw your engagement party'

Curious eyes widened as the gathered group, including Simon, Midnight and Cobra waited patiently for the redhead's response. Beside her, she could feel Jellal stiffen; the arm he had wrapped around her shoulders had stilled from drawing mindless patterns on her bare arm.

'Come on you guys, we're a long way from that,' she said, trying to placate them.

Cobra guwaffed heartily, spilling some of his champagne on his lap.

'Let them be,' he said, sniggering 'Those two act like a married couple already. I should know, I'm their neighbor,'

And they began laughing again, though Erza felt an odd queasiness from Jellal, as if he was holding back, from that point on.

….

Discarding her clothes, she stepped into the hot shower. Feeling the misty spray rain down her body, she rolled her neck this way and that until she heard a satisfied pop. As her aching muscles uncoiled under the delicious heat, she released a breathy moan, shut her eyes and allowed her thoughts to wander freely.

….

She woke up that morning bundled up in rich Egyptian cotton sheets, in a room –though she would never admit it- she recognized as much as she did her own. He still had his arms around her, her back to his front, with his fingers dragging a single red rose petal across the naked skin of her neck and arm. His lips soon followed, placing soft, feathery kisses on her delicate skin.

She giggled suddenly as he hit a particularly ticklish spot, just below her jugular –on purpose, she decided- and attempted to squirm away from him. For a man who had a supposedly iron hard persona on the council, Jellal Fernandes was surprisingly playful first thing in the morning. Not that she complained.

He held her in place and rolled over her with a sinister grin on his face, effectively caging the redhead with his lean body. She raised her arms and coiled them around his neck as he bent down to nuzzle the side of her throat, eliciting even more giggles from her. Her writhing body beneath all but shattered his self control; but he would not give in so easily. He lifted one hand from the bed and ran it lightly along the inside of her thigh, playing close to, but never touching her heated core. She felt his hardened manhood under the sheets, and blushed, knowing she was in trouble.

Their games were suddenly interrupted by the loud ringing of his phone. The shrill sound distracted Erza and she turned to the cordless, sitting about a foot away from the bed on the nightstand.

'You should… ah… you should… nghh… definitely get that,' she said half heartedly.

'No distractions,' he mumbled 'whatever it is, I'll deal with it later,' as he resumed his assault on her neck, moving southwards towards her breasts.

There was a loud buzz of the answering machine, followed by the drone of a deep, masculine voice.

'Councilman Fernandes, this is Vidaldus Taka speaking. If you are there, I highly recommend answering this call; I have some urgent news regarding the Tower,'

Jellal stiffened suddenly and drew away from her with a cold, faraway look in his eyes.

'Tower? What tower?' she asked, but he didn't answer her. Instead, he reached over and picked up the cordless, getting off her in the process.

She observed him with narrowed eyebrows as he sat at the edge of the bed, listening intently to the speaker at the other end of the line. She made a mental note to have Wendy run a background check on this man, Vidaldus, whoever he was. She covered herself with the sheets as he got up, pulled on a robe and walked swiftly out of the room, casting a sideways glance at Erza as he did so.

Although he attempted to shut the door, he left it ajar in his haste and snippets of conversation floated into the room.

'Tonight? I thought you said one week'

'How long can you delay it?'

A pregnant pause, and then...

'Fine, I'll be there. Give me 12 hours,'

Erza heard the call being cut off, and Jellal walked back into the room. He shut the door behind him and leaned against it, tilting his head skywards for a moment before taking a deep breath and looking Erza straight in the eye.

'That was a… ah…, a business partner of mine,' he said before she had the chance to ask him

'For the past few months, I've been investing in several overseas ventures, and I was just informed that one of them is about to bear fruit,' he explained

She wasn't completely convinced. How come she didn't know about this until now?

'Good for you,' she said cautiously, with no mirth in her voice 'should I know what these ventures are?' for their jobs sometimes took precedent over their lives.

He sat beside her on the bed, his shoulders slouched.

'I'll be going away for awhile,' he said softly 'for how long, I can't be sure, although…,'

A light bulb seemed to flicker on inside his head, and he turned to her, taking her hands in his, and looked at her earnestly.

'Come with me,' he said, smiling giddily now. 'We'll go away, far away from everyone else, and we'll finally have the life we always dreamed about. A cottage by the sea, no cares, no worries, just you and me and in the future, well, who knows-'

'Wait, wait, wait,' she said 'Slow down, what are you saying?'

Her eyes widened as he got down on one knee before her, her hands still in his. Her heart raced as he squeezed her hands gently, took a deep breath and said.

'Erza Scarlet, will you marry me?'

….

She stepped out of her bathroom, securing her emerald bathrobe around her naked form.

Three guesses why she loved the color.

She removed the towel that was wrapped around her damp red tresses, allowing her hair to skim across the velvet green cloth. Pushing all other thought from her mind, she moved towards the closet, sliding open the door before skimming through her selection of dinner dresses. The chairman wanted her to confront Zancrow tonight, and as her hands paused on a blood red, high necked, Chinese-inspired, cheongsam type outfit, she wondered what kind of color he would find most appealing.

Disgusted at the direction her thoughts were taking, she let go of the red dress and completely rejected the idea. The thought of even being near that man sent shivers down her spine. She would find other ways to deal with him. Other, more civil ways. Her eyes settled on a long, sleeveless black number. Made of black satin, it bore a plunging neckline and red rhinestone embellishments on the bodice. She took out the dress and held it up against her body as a wave of nostalgia filled her.

She should've been angry that she had chosen that particular dress. It was, of course, his favorite. She remembered vividly how he had run his fingers lovingly along the dress, tracing the contours of her form through the thin material as they snuck into the bridal suite of an unsuspecting councilman's daughter one night several years ago. She shut her eyes, trying to block out the memory before it, like many others like it, left her to drown in her own tears, as she had done many times before.

She didn't reject his proposal. Neither did she accept either. To his disappointment, she told him that she needed time to think. But for what, she herself didn't know. Something just didn't feel right. Her heart broke as she saw him inch away from her with that dejected look on his face, as if his world had just crumbled around him. She was quick to console him of course, she hugged him tightly and assured him that she would give him her answer by that night.

Later, when she had dressed and was readying to leave, his arms encircled her waist from behind, he pulled her flush against him as he rested his head in the crook of her neck.

'Whatever happens Erza, please believe that I love you. Only you,'

How fickle his words had been. That very same night, Makarov had called an emergency board meeting. It seemed like someone had been tampering with the Ministry's financial records. As a result, nearly billions of jewels worth of taxpayers' money, stocks and shares has disappeared in the blink of an eye. This affected the magical companies as well since the government could no longer support the large corporations. There was a public out roar the very next day, with throngs of people boycotting the companies, protesters filling the streets and endless chaos everywhere as the Ministry seemed to crumble from the inside. Amidst all the chaos, Jellal Fernandes and Ultear, daughter of Ur vanished into thin air.

The chaos was subsequently blamed on several notorious groups such as Grimoire Hearts and Oracion Seis although the allegations could never be proven as evidence was even harder to find than the two missing councilmen. Erza, however, did not know what to believe, but rumors turned into gossip which then morphed into sick twisted lines of half truths and whole lies. By the end of the first two months, there was not a soul who deemed Jellal Fernandes innocent. They just couldn't prove it.

It was the height of Erza's embarrassment when two officers of the Rune Knights arrived at Fairy Tail and dragged her away under the flashing bulbs of the media for questioning. They had found out about her link to Jellal and thought she was in cahoots with him. Of course, the press had a field day.

TITANIA ERZA, THE LOVER OF A TRAITOR

She would never forgive him for that.

Stowing the black dress away, she pulled out a coral pink halter dress with princess like frills and while lace along the hem and a beautiful butterfly ribbon along the back. She removed its hanger and laid it out carefully on the bed. She was just about to begin apply her make-up when she heard movement in the hallway outside her room.

Her senses went on high alert as her head snapped in the direction of the sound and she tightened the robe around her body. There was no one else at home, and although Natsu and Gray had the tendency to show up unannounced, she realized that they would've been noisier than her intruder. Her hand found the small silver letter opener she kept on her desk as she heard the sound again. She was sure this time, footsteps.

She opened the door and inched out of the room slowly, keeping her breathing as calm as possible although her heart was beating like crazy. She was halfway down the corridor when she realized she was naked under the bathrobe.

She slapped herself mentally for abiding to such corny horror movie clichés. However, as she moved into the hall, there was no one in sight. The front door was closed and locked. Nothing seemed to be out of place. She breathed a sigh of relief and was just about to credit the temporary insanity to her hyperactive imagination when something on the dining table caught her eye.

Sitting innocently on the marble chess set was a single red rose. Beautiful, flawless, it sat there in the waning evening light, looking proud and majestic; the play of light of the evening sun caused its color to bounce off the marble chess pieces, seemingly surrounding the flower with a halo of light.

But what made her heart thunder in her heart were the little rose petals, scattered on the floor from where she stood, all the way to the table. Fear pounded through her veins as the sound of footsteps resumed, this time, directly behind her.

Even before she smelt his cologne, even before she heard the deep baritone of his voice, and even before her heart leapt as every cell within her rejoiced to be reunited with him, she knew he was there.

'It's good to see you again, Erza,'

To be continued!

REVIEWS SHALL MAKE MY CHAPTERS COME FASTER!

Just saying.. heh..