Bonds of Paper (closed for Mayu)

[Mayu]

She looked into the mirror and looked back at him "I have always done and accepted your opinions, but are you sure about the price doesn't matter thing? you live in a loft but your no millionaire, or are you and mom never told me?" She giggled at the thought, but she was happy in the way her finances were settled. She didn't want him to think she was enjoying herself because he was spending money on her.

 

[tinwoodsman]

"Oh, Bella!" Jared actually had to take a breath to refocus, "In that dress you look... I mean... that dress ON you is... well, it's worth every penny." A sudden thought hit him and Jared smiled, "Well call it a Welcome-to-the-New-Job present. How's that sound?"

 

[Mayu]

Bella smiled at him and nodded her head, she went back to in to the dressing room and came out with three dresses. She was afraid to even see the price tags, she had something very special planned out to. Coming back over to him she kissed his nose lovingly. "Thank you Jare" She said lovingly.

 

[tinwoodsman]

Standing, Jared slipped an arm around Bella and hugged her, "Hey, there's nothing I wouldn't do for you." He pulled away, just enough to see her but not fully let her go, "I'm always going to look out for you. You know that, right?" He smiled before giving into the desire to hug her again.

 

[Mayu]

She smiled as he held onto her, pulled away then held her again. Nodding Bella knew he would always be there for her. "I know you will always be there, I will be there for you as well" She said happily. Thinking for a moment she wondered.

"So what's next on your list of activities to do?"

 

[tinwoodsman]

"Well, we could also get hair and make-up done and then grab some lunch... though I might ask for a very manly lunch with all this girlie stuff we're doing." He teased and jabbed her shoulder before helping take her things to the front register.

 

[Mayu]

She laughed looking at him "Smart Ass" She giggled and nodded "Anything is fine with me, you don't have to do all this you know. You were not really into this kind of thing, then again you have missed me very much" She kissed his cheek. Wrapping her arm around his own.

 

[tinwoodsman]

"Well, the way I see it... you probably need all this to get noticed by the big wigs at work. And if going through it with you is the best way to spend time with you too, then I'm willing." he smiled and reached over to cover her hand, as if securing it on his dense bicep.

 

[Mayu]

Bella was very content, looking into his gorgeous eyes. She always thought Jared was very handsome, a lot of people she went to school with thought he was the cats "meow" she thought the same way they did, and she wanted to admit it but was to afraid of doing it. Since romantic feelings of siblings loving each other was taboo.

 

[tinwoodsman]

Jared walked with Bella, arm in arm, to find a salon to do her hair and make up. Passing an old woman who smiled and nodded, he returned the old ladies smile and continued. A thought struck his mind, however, that the old woman probably though that he and Bella were a couple. While the shared similar physical characteristics they actually had separate sets of parents, and yet they were always told they were perfect together because they looked like a family.

And what if they were wrong? What if the reality was that people who didn't know just saw a couple, plain and simple. What if his darker hair and larger stature were enough to tell people who didn't know better that they weren't related at all? Shane certainly didn't jump to the conclusion that he was Bella's brother this morning.

Almost passing the salon, Jared stopped and snapped himself back to the present, "Oh, sorry. We almost missed it. My mind was on something else." He laughed, mostly at how he could be so preoccupied with such a trivial matter. Why was it so important to him anyway? "Do you want highlights?"

Jared wasn't even sure why he'd asked that.

 

[Mayu]

Bella smiled looking at him, she saw that he was in la la land and hoped he was ok. She was about to say something but he snapped out of it. Which was a good thing, she shook her head and sighed a little bit. "It's alright, you ok tho Jared?" When they got into the salon she went over to the girl working there.

"Yeah it's been years since Ive had high lights" She said kindly, looking up into his eyes she leaned in kissing him softly on the nose. She wondered what people would think if they found out that they were related in some way.

 

[tinwoodsman]

"It's alright, you ok tho Jared?"

"Hmm?" Jared fixed his blue eyes on Bella's hazel, and smiled, "Yeah, just thinking about what we might do after this." it wasn't a total lie.

He stood, patiently waiting, and started to blush a bit when she kissed his nose. A glance at the girl behind the counter made him realize she was probably feeling more awkward than he, so Jared glanced at Bella and winked. Looking back to the girl behind he counter he explained, "She's meeting my parents for the first time." he couldn't help but smile as he wrapped a playful arm around around Bella, "I mean, we want her to look like a million bucks. Right? First impressions and all." Bella could tell that he was enjoying a personal joke, as his tone was one they often used when playing pranks on people. But to Jared, something felt different this time as he started to realize that this woman might take him seriously.

 

[Mayu]

Bella enjoyed it when he held onto her, in the back of her head hearing what he said. She wished they were not related, would have been easier. Her desire for him was hidden away deep inside, with a grin on her face she laughed at the joke he made. "A million bucks huh? Ive never looked like a million bucks. Or have I and Ive never figured it out?" She stuck her tongue out at him teasing him.

 

[tinwoodsman]

Jared cooed and turned Bella to face him, "Babe," he tried not to wince feeling how artificial that word was. He knew, deep down, that if Bella were his woman in real life he'd try to come up with a better pet name than 'babe'. But it was too late, and he pressed on. "To me you'll always be a million bucks! But we just need to impress the type of people who think the world revolves around them." he smiled, hugging Bella, and turned to face the girl at the counter. "You can do that right?"

"Oh yes sir, we'll take good care of her." The girl moved around to lead Bella to get her hair washed.

As the made their way Jared pointed a playfully stern finger at the young lady, "Whatever she wants, she gets. Okay?" He winked to Bella and started to look around as if trying to decide where he would go or what he would do next.

 

[Mayu]

She smiled looking at him, hearing the word Babe it felt strange being called that by a family member. But hell it was different, and she knew he didn't like it either. She knew what she wanted hair wise. She wanted a little trim, thin out and because her hair was dark brown, she had them put blond streaks in her hair. She wanted to do something different, looking up at the girls they seemed so happy. And they started to talk to one another, she looked over at Jared and grinned at him. Mouthing out

"Thank You" to him and winked at him.

 

[tinwoodsman]

When Bella came back from her rinse, conditioner and scalp massage, Jared would be no where near the waiting area. In fact, he was gone entirely, but since the girls already knew what Bella wanted to do with her hair they wasted no time is getting to work. She was going to be here a while.

By the time Jared came back Bella was just starting on her highlights, so he didn't know about the actual cut. In each hand was a cup of coffee, and taking the chair next to her he held out one of the cups, "Double Cappuccino for the lady." he said with a theatric smile. Sitting back he sipped his Double Mocha. "How's it going?"

 

[Mayu]

Bella noticed he was gone, she figured he was off either getting something to drink or just stretching his legs. But when she looked again he was there, with two cups in his hands. She walked over to him and took the Double Cappuccino. "Thanks Jared, this is just what I needed a nice pick me up" She said happily, and twirled around.

"What do you think of my look?"

 

[tinwoodsman]

Jared's eyes went wide and the stylist put the finishing touches and then was wordlessly impressed. Not only did she look... well, 'hot' was probably the inappropriate word, but 'amazing' just didn't seem appropriate enough. What really stood out in Jared's mind was how much she looked like her own woman. Not just his mother's step-daughter or 'Jared's little sister', no she was just 100% Bella.

"You look... Gorgeous! Absolutely gorgeous." He finally admitted.

 

[Mayu]

She smiled kindly looking at him, the other girls seemed to agree with Jared. For the first time in a very long time she felt pretty. "I'm glad you think so, looks like everyone thinks so" Looking at the mirror one of the girls handed her, she was happy.

 

[tinwoodsman]

Jared was glad to see Bella happy, in fact he was just glad to see Bella at all. She was quite a feast for the eyes and for a moment he felt jealous that Shane was the one taking her out tonight and a hint of irritation that he probably had no idea how lucky he would be to have the her for his date. "Yeah, there's no way you're not going to make an impression on a room full of doctors." he forced a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes then tried again.

Tilting his head, Jared smiled and held out a hand for Bella, "Come on. I have pay for this, and I'm sure they're going to recommend some hair care products for the up-sell." Jared sold stocks for a living and knew full well the need to use any opportunity to add on a few dollars here and there to pad the sale. Even as a waiter he could turned a $15 dessert into a $50 master piece by using a shot of cognac as his closing suggestion.

"Lunch?" he finally asked, knowing the day was slipping by faster than he would have preferred.

 

[Mayu]

Bella smiled at him, she was happy to have him in her life. But it did suck they were related, in the back of her mind she would rather have him as a boyfriend. Shane was a nice guy, but the way he treated her brother. Lets just say that didn't impress her that much, family was very important to her and if Shane didn't respect her brother she had a huge problem with that. But for now she just sighed to herself and nodded for Lunch. She had a surprise for him back home, and couldn't wait to finally show him what his little sister had been up to.

"Sounds good to me" She kissed his nose lovingly.

 

[tinwoodsman]

Jared was starting to get used to these little nose kisses, and his blushing ears were all the proof Bella would need. Still, it was kind of strange for one's sister, even sister-in-law, to give nose kisses but these people didn't know that so he resigned to simply enjoying them for as long as he could get them. For a single moment he wondered what Bella would do if he tried to plant a quick kiss on her lips, and then dismissed the idea just as quickly.

"Cool, let's go." Jared decided to play is safe and took the products and put his arm around Bella's shoulder to walk her out. This, amazingly enough, was almost second nature as he'd grown up more than used to walking and moving with her in close proximity. While he was much taller he knew exactly where she fit. "Where to now?"

 

[Mayu]

She smiled looking at him, thinking of all the things they could do. She had seen things and done many things in her life. She loved spending alone time with Jared, thinking for a moment she had a wonderful idea, since lunch had been a lovely thing. "I have something very special in store for you Jared" She said happily.

"Just a little something that took me a year to finish" She was always vague on certain things.

 

[tinwoodsman]

"Oh?" he was curious now, and hated how Bella always knew just how to tease him. He always played along but she once made him way 4 days for a surprise, but at the same time she never disappointed. "So where is this surprise you've spent a year working on?"

 

[Mayu]

She smiled looking at him, when they got home she went into her room for a moment, then came back out with a CD in her hand. She smiled very contently and took a deep breath, she sat down beside him and looked into his eyes.

"You ready?" she hoped he liked what she was about to do.