My Girlfriend, My Pet.

Chapter 13

As Elizabeth packed the last of her bags, her father entered her room. "Hi Dad. What's up?". 

William Stark was known for his ruthlessness, both in his personal and professional life. At the age of almost seventy, he was ready to hand over the reins of his empire to his daughter. This would probably be her final hurdle after decades of grooming. She was to woo Raiden, wed him and unite his company along with Stark Pharmaceuticals. 

"Liz. All packed up?". 

She nodded as she sat across her father, on her bed. "Packed and ready to go.". 

"I'm getting old, Liz. I won't be around for long. You need to promise me that you'll be in charge and know what to do when that day comes. You're going away for three months with Raiden. I've seen the way you look at him and I know that I won't have to push you in that direction. You like him, don't you?". 

"Yes, but-"

"But?". 

"He doesn't feel the same way, Dad. I mean, I don't want to live with him forever, being married to someone who doesn't love you back. It's...", Elizabeth trailed off. 

William Stark paused for moments before rising towards Elizabeth. Laying a hand on her shoulder, he said, "I don't care. Love is superficial, Liz. There's no such thing as true love. Infatuation, yes. That's as far as it goes. You will marry Raiden and you will merge our companies together. Failure to do so...", he got up and made his way to her door, "...would leave me very devastated and disappointed in you, Elizabeth.". 

Elizabeth blinked back tears that had welled up in her eyes. Liking Raiden was one thing, trying to force him into a marriage was another. She couldn't disappoint her father but she would never live a happy life if Raiden and her were wedded into an unhappy future. "What about my happy ending?", she whispered as she sealed her luggage. 

~~~ 

Raiden had finished work earlier and decided to surprise Iona and Maggie by dropping by earlier to pick up the Shikoku. The minute he pushed the office doors open, Iona visibly jumped. 

"Wow. You okay?". 

She couldn't even bring herself to smile properly as she was caught off guard. Raiden wasn't supposed to be here for another two to three hours. The fact that he had come straight from work meant that he was still rather smartly dressed - and Iona had a weakness for seeing Raiden in fancy clothes. Heck, she had a weakness everytime he was in close proximity to her. As he approached the desk where she was seated, she could feel blood rushing to her face and the beating of her heart actually echoed in her head.

"Hello? Earth to Iona?". Raiden was waving his palm in front of her, snapping her out of her daze.

"Hi! Sorry, just wasn't expecting you here so early. Thought you said after four o'clock?". 

"Yeah, I know. My bad, should've called before coming over. I figured that the sooner I could get all the paperwork done, the sooner I could get the dog and...", Raiden caught himself, then looked away and pretended to scrub invisible dirt on his shoes. 

"...and?". Iona walked round the desk and was facing him. She was careful not to stand too close - who knows what might happen with her adrenaline pumping and him constantly mentioning the dog. That time when she had slept over, she had to pretend to sleep and spent almost an hour relaxing her body before she felt safe enough to actually fall asleep and not change shapes in front of him. 

"And..what?". Think of something, you idiot! 

The door to the office swung open and Maggie was standing there, dressed in overalls and carrying a sack of...something. It didn't smell nice. "Raiden! Hey!". Her eyes darted to Iona and back to him. "What'cha doing here so early?".