Disclaimer: I don't own any of Dragonball/Z/GT.

Author's Note: I'm using the name "Rui" to denote the first name of Trunks' secretary since I do not know what her real first name is. If anyone knows, please let me know since I prefer to stick to what really is, series-wise.

Corporate Calamity (part 7)

The next morning, Trunks entered his office lobby area only to see his secretary swamped with little pink notes. She handed the stack over to him. As he browsed the first few, he realized all were from the same person...Marron.

"Uh, are ALL of these from her?"

His secretary nodded. "She's been calling for the past couple of hours. I predict another should be coming in any time now. She sounds desperate to speak with you. Shall I patch her through if she calls again sir?"

"Please don't. I'll call her back. Just give her that message." Trunks replied as he turned to enter his office.

"Sir?"

"Yes, Rui?"

"If I may speak personally sir?"

Trunks nodded. He and his secretary were slowly breaking the formalities of professionalism. It was what made his secretary so good at her job. She knew the man she worked for. It was just taking Rui a little longer to adjust to it than it was for Trunks.

"A battle between two friends results in a loss of both."

Trunks didn't say anything, he just nodded and tried to shake off the shock of her figuring out the entire problem with very little if any info to go on. She could be a decent executive and had several offers already. But Trunks defended her well and found ways to keep her happy with him. There was no way any other company would pry such a talented secretary away from Capsule Corporation. Quietly, without another look back, Trunks entered his office and slumped into his chair. The sound of the last sentence he heard rang through his head as if it were a knife piercing his heart. *Rui's right. How did I get myself into this? But, perhaps my path is seeming ever clearer. But that path could lead to as much ruin for me as either of the other two. Face it Trunks, you're tangled in the webs of two women and a male in such a predicament meets his doom gruesomly.* Trunks thought as he slumped his face onto his desk. His eyeballs looked upward however, to face the two pictures sat poised at an angle from each other on one side of his desk. One was Pan and the other was Marron.

*Oh Kami, how the hell did I get myself into this! Crap, it'd be best if I just didn't exist. But, that'd be too easy and very unprideful of a man of my stature.*

While Trunks was lost in his own thoughts, he didn't notice Rui enter his office. "There's a client here to--sir?"

Trunks' ears eventually brought the rest of him to reality once again as his eyes moved from the pictures to a pair of legs standing in front of his desk. *Nice legs* was his first mental thought as his eyes continued their upward journey. *Nice curves* was another thought before his eyes finally met the face of the body's owner.

"Uh, yes?" Trunks stupidly replied as his brain tried to catch up and takeover where the thing between his legs had left off.

"Sir? You feeling okay?"

"Fine. What did you want?"

"Mr. President, the client from Colate is here. Shall I send him in?"

*Colate? Hmm, as long as it's not Pakar.* "Yes, fine.Thank you."

Rui didn't reply, she just turned about to return to her office in the lobby and retrieve the client.

*Nice ass too. Shit Trunks, you really need to figure out your own personal agenda and get laid before you end up in a sexual harassment case!* Trunks thought as he tried to smack himself out of his thoughts. Luckily, the Colate client was a good enough distraction. Trunks stood and switched into business mode as he greeted the client. He offered him a seat before taking his own.

"Mr. Briefs, I am here to inform you that Colate is a bit disturbed with the goings-on over at Pakar."

*Pakar, I knew that damn name was going to pop up. I'm just so damn lucky! Marron...* Trunks thought while listening to the client's reasons.

"Inform your president that he need not worry. I am well aware of Pakar's motions. I have even discussed the matter with a senior exec there. Their president is next if they maintain their present course of action. But from what I know, their president is getting the idea from his new vice president. I may have to deal with this issue unconventionally. But rest assurred, I'll deal with it."

"Thank you sir. I will relay that back to our president. I'm sure he will be relieved when knowing you are on top of things with this Pakar matter." the client said as he stood, shook Trunks' hand and departed.

*Marron, what are you up to? This could have global economic repurcussions if you maintain this little endeavor of yours. And in the name of what? A personal matter with me? Geesh, like mother like daughter.* Trunks thought as he grabbed his phone and spoke into the intercom to his secretary.

"Rui?"

"Yes sir?"

"Get Pakar's VP on the line please?"

"Right away."

Moments later. "Mr. President. I have Miss Marron on line two for you."

"Thank you Rui." Trunks replied as he switched lines and picked up the phone.

"Marron?"

"Trunks, what do you want?"

"I'm asking again, why is Pakar in a potentially hostile stance? Back down."

"I can't do that. The Board is liking the idea. It's out of my hands now. There's nothing I nor the president here can do about it other than follow the Board's directives."

Trunks sighed. The predicament had indeed worsened. And now, even as he spoke to Marron, he suddenly felt a familiar ki some distance away but close enough to make him uncomfortable...Pan.

"Marron, for your sake as well as mine, our personal life will stay out of this. I will deal with this situation business-like and you may not like the outcome. It could cost you your job. But, whatever happens, the personal matters stay personal, okay?"

"You talk as if you're confident Capsule Corporation can deal with the situation."

"Capsule Corporation doesn't have to. Since I must also follow procedures, this must be brought to the attention of the Board of Execs here. My mother will go ballistic and that's all I need. With her on the rampage, well, let's just say, not even I want to be there to see the results."

"Bulma?"

"Yes Marron, she's now going to be involved. And like my dad, she will take it personally. You're attacking her family to some degree. This company maintains its place in our family and a threat to it is a threat to our very family."

"I thought you said personal matters were going to stay out of it?"

"Yours and mine as individuals yes, but Capsule Corp is a family business. It will be personal from a group perspective."

"So how do you plan to keep the two separate hmm?"

"I'm not going to give them all the information. I'm not going to single you out eventhough I know you started all this. I'm just going to keep it straight Pakar, no specifics."

"But if it gets out that you're withholding information---"

"I'm doing it for you...for us."

"Is there an us, Trunks?"

Trunks didn't reply. So Marron redirected the question.

"Trunks, if there's an us, then what is it between you and Pan? I've seen a spark between you two as well and she's protective with you like a dog with a bone. Or is it you're playing us both?"

"I'm not playing."

"Then what's going on? Honestly Trunks, which brain are you thinking with hmm?"

Again there was silence on the other end.

"Trunks, for your sake, no, for our sake, you figure it out very soon. I'm not going to play any sort of game. Games hurt people and I've known you too long to know that you're capable of causing such." Marron angrily replied before hanging up the phone without giving Trunks a chance to reply.

Trunks stared at the phone for a minute before setting it back onto its receiver. Before he could do anything next, there was a tap on his window. Outside was one rather upset-looking Pan.

*Crap, when it rains, it pours. This is going to be one of those days.* Trunks sighed as he turned and opened the window to let Pan in.

"Hello Pan, what brings you here?"

"Hmph."

"Are you going to just stand there and pout or did you wish to speak to me?"

"Trunks, you need to choose. I'm NOT going to dangle like this anymore."

"Pan, I didn't even know you wanted to be more than 'just friends' until recently. How can I choose? I don't even know if there's a potential with us or not. We've never even really dated."

"We don't have to. Trunks, we know each other better than we know ourselves. I know you can't deny the feeling of a kindred soul. We are meant, destined."

"We have a lot in common, I agree, but Pan, how can you clarify the difference between a very, deep close friendship called a bond of best friends from that of potential mates? Love can be in both while having very different consequences. Have you thought of that? For example, I love Goten, but as a best friend, nothing more, but it's still a form of love. It's a type of love I currently have for you as well. But now, you ask me to see you with that other form of love. It's a love I've yet to experience in life. I don't even have it with Marron yet and there's a good chance that I never will. "

"But if you don't give us a chance to be something more than friends, how will you or I know if the love is that of friendship or something more?"

"I don't know. To pursue it would be sacraficing the friendship we already have Pan. We can never go back to being the same once we cross the line. If it isn't a love between mates but rather just a love between friends, we will have destroyed our bond forever. Even if we stay friends, the awkwardness of knowing we tried to step beyond it will always lurk in our minds and prevent us from being as close as we once were. It's a risk I'm scared to take Pan. I enjoy our friendship too much to put it on the line like that."

"So what are you saying? That you never want to know if the bond may be that like what your parents or my parents felt towards each other? Remember my dad and mom were best friends before they became mates and their friendship wasn't harmed but rather strengthened when they discovered that 'next step'. Your mother and father were slightly different in case, but still, their closeness in seeing each other constantly, developed into something more and now, even they are inseparable as bonded mates."

"My parents ride a loosely defined love though. I want something a bit deeper than that. Yes, I want something that your father found. But that type of love is the rarest in the universe. He was lucky. The odds are a zillion to one against me."

"He's my father so perhaps the odds are better for me. Think of it from my perspective too. Perhaps you need a little Son luck?"

"Pan, I--I--just don't know."

"You're not getting any younger."

"Thanks for the reminder, as if my mother didn't remind me enough every morning. Now, I need to get on with the running of this company if you don't mind. We can discuss this another time, please?"

Pan stared at the corporate saiyan for a moment before leaving the same way she entered and without giving him another word.

Trunks sighed in frustration as he slumped into his chair and rubbed his tired eyes. He didn't get a chance to relax however. His secretary stepped in.

"Sir?"

Once again, his eyes trailed from legs to face, but this time, his eyes met hers. *What is it with Rui? She's my secretary, for Dende's sake! I'm just horny. That's got to be it.* Trunks thought as he waited for whatever task she was going to delegate to him.

"Mr. President, you are now free for lunch. Shall I order something for you or are you going to be eating out-of-office?"

*Food! Rui sure knows when to say the right things when he needed them most.* "Out-of-office,but you're coming along too. A luncheon with just you and me. I don't think I thank you enough for all the cover ups and crap you have handle because of me."

Rui blushed, but nodded her acceptance of his invitation. "Shall I call for the company limo?"

"Let me do that for once. You don't need to do everything. You deserve a break too." Trunks replied softly with a gentle smile as he dialed the motorpool office.

At the luncheon, Trunks found himself enjoying Rui's company. He really hadn't gotten a chance to see how she was outside of the stuffy office environment. When not working, Rui was easily conversational, had a sense of humor, and was more youthful than when in the office.

Rui too, was finding that her young employer was more than he seemed and was actually not as irreponsible and immature as he made himself to be during his moments of escape from the office. The guy had manners, etiquitte, and a great personality. She reminded him alot of his mother, only this woman wasn't related to him. He felt confident and secure with her for reasons he couldn't explain. These feelings weren't what he felt with either Pan nor Marron. But oh Dende, he wasn't falling for his secretary amidst the female frenzy he already had, was he!?

to be continued...