Laughter escaped from the young woman's lips like wind chimes on a breezy day and Ash couldn't help but smile at the pure beauty of it. No matter how much he had prayed before the date that Melody Singer might actually possess a serious character flaw or perhaps even reveal that she had a fake nose, this was not the case. Her physical appeal was equally matched with her charm.

In fact, their casual lunch date Thursday afternoon at a little Italian restaurant from Serena's list had been nothing short of enjoyable.

Truth to be told, Ash hadn't been on a date in a while simply because he couldn't really ever tell if the women wanted him for being just Ash Ketchum or wanted him for the title he carried.

But Melody did not know about the situation. And therefore Melody's true sincerity gushed out through every word she spoke, her hazel eyes shining with honesty and her smile leaving you wanting more.

So it was no wonder that as they walked along a winding path in the local park after lunch, Ash felt very confused indeed.

They passed a young couple, not much older than themselves, shouting excited words of encouragement to the toddler that was struggling to stand up between them without their help.

"How cute!" Melody pointed out.

Ash nodded. "He's trying so hard!"

Melody giggled as the baby managed to heave himself to a standing position, take a few steps towards his mother before losing balance and tottering back till he fell onto his diaper-cushioned rear.

"My niece should be about that age," she said fondly.

"The one you mentioned before?"

Melody nodded and clasped her hands behind her back as they continued walking. "Yup. My older sister's daughter but I haven't seen them for a few months since I've been traveling."

"I bet you miss them."

"Yeah. Carol sends me pictures of little Maya but it's not the same. But," Melody's voice took on an excited pitch as she swung to face Ash. "I get to go home after my stay here in Vanville! I can't wait!"

Ash laughed at the candid expression on her face and patted her on the shoulder. "I bet Maya can't wait to see her Auntie Melody."

"Would you like to see her Alvin?"

Ash stopped walking. See Maya? Leave Kalos and go with Melody to Shamouti Island? Of course, she wasn't leaving for a few weeks so who knew what stage they'd be at in their relationship by then but still, he didn't think things would move this fast. He didn't even know how he felt about her yet!
For goodness sake, he had almost kissed Serena only yesterday!

Apparently Melody hadn't sensed Ash's awkward thought process as she whipped out her cell phone and flipped it open, thrusting the screen in his face from where a chubby-faced baby shot him a grin, a few tiny teeth peeking out.

"Isn't she adorable?"

"Oh," Ash said breathing a deep sigh of relief. Really, he needed to calm down. He was behaving like a school girl! Taking the phone, he nodded with a smile. "Very."

Melody smiled and started talking about how Maya had tried to chew threw a pair of her slippers when she first started crawling and Ash tried to force his mind to stop having so many bizarre thoughts.

Serena couldn't help but wonder if Alvin Ketter and Melody Singer were on their date right now. Or perhaps they already had one. Or were planning on one for the weekend.

She wondered if Alvin smirked, that despicable smirk at Melody and if so, would she still stick with him. Maybe he only smirked at Serena in which case, Melody would be fooled into believing that Alvin was not an annoying man and therefore it was quite possible that she would fall for his false facade.

All She wanted was Melody and Alvin to work out so that he would leave her be and let her continue on with life.

So then why did that dratted grin and those teasing eyes keep making an appearance her mind, popping up every few minutes like those annoying internet ads.

Serena. That's whose fault this was. It was all that fortune teller's fault for planting the seeds of the notion that Serena might be attracted to her client.

In fact, it was so much easier to blame yesterday's almost mishap on Shauna as well.

Serena laughed to herself as she took a turn to cut through the park on her way to meet her best friend for coffee.

Of course the idea that she, Serena Yvonne, has feelings for the infuriating man was an unquestionable preposterous.

when a seed is planted, it can't help but grow.

Serena sighed and tried to take her mind off of the almost-kiss with the dratted man.
She looked around the park for inspiration. She could think about puppies like the one running around happily with some children. She could think about children too because though a handful, they were always cute.
She could think about loving couples like that couple walking in her direction, arms linked. She could think about – wait a minute!. Serena stopped.

The couple with the linked arms looked very familiar and as the distance between them and the matchmaker decreased, Serena's sapphire eyes widened when she realized who the laughing pair was.

Serena felt like she was a deer caught in the headlights, the headlights being the stupid and frustrating Alvin Ketter.

T-minus ten and counting. She could either stand here idiotically till they almost ran her over, or -

Nine.

- she could stand here idiotically and hope they thought she was a stop sign.

Eight.

Because she was positive her face was that bright and that red right now.

Seven.

Or she could turn and walk the other way, hoping they wouldn't recognize her from the back.

Six.

Knowing Alvin Ketter and with her luck, they would recognize her.

Five.

And she'd be forced into a conversation with them.

Four.

Which she desperately wanted to avoid.

Three.

Oh my.

Two.

Hey bushes!

One.

Or she could be thankful for the strong leg muscles she had developed from swimming lessons which allowed her to make such a grand leap over and behind a bunch of bushes in a state of sheer panic, peer out just slightly and watch Alvin and Melody pass her hidden location.

They would never know that the past ten seconds had been the most ridiculously terrifying moment of her still young life.

She could feel the adrenaline causing her blood to pump furiously through every vessel in her body and her breathing to come out in deep rasps. Could this day get any worse?

"Excuse me, lady?"

Serena turned to see a little boy, maybe four or five, staring in wide-eyed fascination at her.

"You have a really fat spider in your hair."

Worse? Oh yes. This day could get much worse. All hell broke loose and the kindergarten kid was the star of his class the next day as he told the story of the Flying Bush Lady Who Hated Bugs and Almost Got Arrested for Shaking Him and Telling Him to Take the Bug Away.

What was keeping Serena? Shauna wondered as she glanced at her small silver diamond watch again.

Her friend usually wasn't one to be late but it had already been fifteen minutes past their original meeting time.

Probably a new client, the fortune teller assumed with a shrug. She had come early to the bookstore where they were to meet and for the past half an hour, Shauna had wandered around, checking out the fantasy section and reading up a little on psychology.

Deciding to grab a magazine as she waited, Shauna selected Vanville Vanity and found an empty chair in a corner.

She flipped through it idly. There was an ad for men's jeans modeled by Calem Xavier who Shauna recognised as a model whose fame had been rising over the past few years. She vaguely debated if she should buy Kaiwe a pair as a thank you for cooperating with the fake boyfriend plan.

She saw a page advertising an upcoming cheese festival and wondered if she could convince the girls or her cousin to attend with her. All week she had been entertaining herself by walking around Vanville exploring while her friends were at work.

Mostly she had spent her time in museums. She had visited the art museum, the natural history museum, the science museum, and finally, a train history museum.

Not that she was complaining about being bored. It was her fault for showing up without giving Serena or Dawn prior notice but the young woman was quite sure she had had enough of museums this week to last her a lifetime.

Which is why she was so excited at the prospect of something as simple as grabbing coffee when Serena had called to offer, saying she was on her break.

Hmm, this article looks interesting, Shauna thought as her eyes fell on a page where the headline, "Oak Tech's Hot Young Execs" was splashed over the top. Beneath it was a snapshot of the aforementioned 'hot young execs.'

Shauna had to admit, their magnetism practically pulsated out from the shiny magazine pages. The one on the left seemed to be staring right at her with piercing green eyes as he sat on a leather chair with ornate handle, one hand running through his thick brown hair, and his head tilted slightly.

The one on the right had his arms crossed across his broad chest while leaning against a large desk, his jet black hair falling rakishly into his brown eyes. Neither wore a smile but it was that non-smiling, mysterious gaze, fitted suits with loose ties and shirts unbuttoned at the collar that Shauna couldn't help but nearly drool at.

She wasn't normally one to fawn over pretty boys in public but hey, that's why magazines were published with photos right?

She noted that the photo was taken by Lucas. Nice. Maybe she'd have to see if the Rice Krispy elf would give her a personal copy.

Flipping the page, Shauna decided to read the article and found that the man who had been sitting was Gary Samuel Oak, grandson of renowned Professor Samuel Oak, and Junior President of Oak Technological Operations as well as the only heir to the entire corporation.

The other man was Ash Ketchum, Gary Oak's childhood best friend and rival as well as Junior Vice-President of Oak Tech.

Apparently, due to Ash's connection with the Oak Tech head, speculations had arisen that perhaps that's how he had gotten his position on top at such a young age.

But they had been quickly stamped out when it was revealed that both young men had graduated with top marks in their business and engineering classes, each coming out with two Bachelor's degrees from their respective universities with plans to pursue an MBA in the future.

Impressive, Shauna thought, reading on. They had graduated the same year as her.

The next section in the article discussed their personal lives. Gary Oak, it seemed, was crowned playboy of the year, never dating the same woman more than twice and never seeing just one woman at any one time.

What a disgusting pervert, the young woman thought with a frown. Why would any self-respecting female want to be with someone with such a reputation?

His goal, the article read, is to date women from every nation.

There was a small collage of pictures taken of Gary with various hot women and it really did seem like he was working hard to achieve his goal as Shauna noticed that the women were of varying colors, ethnicities, shapes, and sizes.

Wow. Talk about ego. And what was wrong with all those women? She would never understand the world of the rich and famous.

She decided that she liked Ash Ketchum much more as the article stated that the young man kept his love life private. The only quote from him on this topic was, "I want only one woman and when I find her, I want to do everything right. I'll treat her like a deserving princess and never let her go."

Shauna smiled down at the child-like grin coming from another photo of Ash. Now that was a manly goal.

She was about to continue reading when a figure flopped down on the chair beside her, breathing heavily. Shutting the magazine, Shauna made to move to another spot until she realized with a gasp that beneath the wildman hair was the sweating and dirtied face of Serena.

"What happened to you?" Shauna asked incredulously as she lifted away a part of Serena's crazed hair.

"Bushes and bugs," Serena replied in a weary tone, leaning back and letting her head rest against the wall behind them.

Shauna raised an eyebrow. "Do I even want to know?"

"Probably not."

"Even if I did, you wouldn't tell me, would you?"

"Probably not."

With a grin, Shauna said, "Glad we got that straight. So...coffee?"

"Make it black."