-PART SIX-
Bulma sat behind her desk in her office in
the Capsule Corporation's location downtown.
She was pretty depressed over what happened three weeks ago when Vegeta
and her had their heated argument. She
sat there, slumped over, twirling a pen between her fingers. She looked down at her stationary, knowing
she had to think up a good speech for her meeting in New York, but the only
words she could write was: Vegeta,
Vegeta, Vegeta...
"Miss Briefs?" Diane's voice sounded across the
intercom. It made Bulma jump.
"Yes, Diane." Bulma sighed.
"Yamcha is here to see
you." Oh, no. She was not in the mood to see Yamcha; she
didn't even have the energy to move from behind her desk all day.
"Send him in." Bulma quickly shredded the paper with
Vegeta's name on it; she sat straight up and put a smile on her face. Yamcha waked in.
"Hey babe!" Yamcha said with his arms extended for a
hug. Bulma hesitated for a moment, and
then she stood and walked over to embrace him.
As they hugged, Yamcha tried to kiss her, but she pushed him away. "What's wrong?" He asked in confusion.
"Nothing, Yamcha," Bulma sat
down on the couch. "So, what did
you come all the way down here for?
Business or pleasure?"
"I don't know..." Yamcha said
sitting closely down beside her.
"Business with you has always been a pleasure." He leaned forward to kiss her, and she
pushed him away again. He gave her a
frustrated look.
"Yamcha, I'm really busy today. I have a speech to prepare for my trip next
Friday."
"So is that the reason you won't kiss
me, huh?"
"Yamcha..."
"Or even touch me these last couple
of weeks?" Yamcha said, hands
waving in the air. "What the hell
is wrong with you?"
"We are NOT going to do this here,
Yamcha. Not on my job."
"YOU OWN THE COMPANY!" He yelled.
"You can do what you damn well please."
"Well, that may be true but I'd like
to keep whatever's left of my private life PRIVATE, got it?" Yamcha knelt down to Bulma, his eyes showing
much concern.
"Weeks ago...I was happy. You were happy. WE were happy.
What happened?"
"What's makes you think I'm not
happy?" Bulma looked away,
wondering if he could see the guilt and unhappiness in her eyes. Yamcha took her hand and she looked at him.
"If you could just tell me what's
eating you, maybe I can help."
Bulma stared at Yamcha. He was at least trying. But she couldn't tell him about what
happened; it didn't matter now. That
same day that she and Vegeta had their confrontation he packed his belongings
and left. She didn't even know where he
went. She couldn't tell Yamcha that she
missed another man, especially if it was Vegeta. She forced a smile on her face as she rubbed his hand.
"I appreciate what you're trying to
do," Bulma started. "But I
need to do this on my own. I need some
time to think things over."
"Think things over about what?"
He asked. She gave no answer. "And what about New York? Can I still go with you?"
"I-I need to go to New York alone,
Yamcha." Yamcha frowned. He let go of her hand and stood, turning his
back to her. There was a moment of
silence.
"This means we're breaking up,"
He said quietly.
"This means we need time apart,"
Bulma said standing. She walked around
to face Yamcha. He had a look of
disappointment in his eyes. "You
will give me that, won't you Yamcha?"
He looked into her blue eyes, nodded reluctantly and bowed his head in
defeat. "Thank you,
Yamcha." She kissed his forehead
lightly and they embraced. Yamcha
walked to the office door and turned around to look at her once more.
"Don't keep me waiting
forever." Yamcha said with a
painful smile. He walked out.
What am I doing? Bulma thought. She just broke up with the only man she loved, and she also was
torn with feelings for Vegeta, who also left.
Walking back to her desk, she started to cry overwhelmingly. Not knowing what else to do, she buzzed
Diane on the intercom.
"Yes, Miss Briefs?" Diane said.
"Can you get Chichi on the phone
please?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Goku and Vegeta spent most of their
morning training deep within the forest.
Goku was surprised that Vegeta wanted a training partner now, but he
could tell how he showed up at his house weeks ago that something was
wrong. After a long mock fight to test
their skills, the Saiyans sat down under a tree to take a break.
"You're not concentrating today,
Vegeta." Goku commented.
"What do you know,
Kakarott?" Vegeta scoffed. "It's not like you're at your best
today, either."
"Well, I'm a little worried with
Chichi and the new baby on the way, she's due any day now."
"Humph! You and your whinny
brats!" Vegeta stood up, looking
into the morning sky. Goku sensed that
Vegeta had something on his mind.
"What you thinking about,
Vegeta?"
"Killing you."
"Other than that." Goku stood up and walked up to the Saiyan
Prince. "You seem to be in a funk
or something." Vegeta didn't
reply. "You miss training in the
gravity room?" Assuming that Goku
was suggesting he missed anything remotely relating to Bulma made Vegeta glare
at Goku with disgust.
"Hardly. Now will you please leave me alone?" He snapped.
"Alright, alright!" Goku said, waving his hands. He sat back down. He watched Vegeta with his back turned to him, staring into the
sky, like he was waiting for something to fall out of it.
"What do you know about earth
women?" Vegeta asked, never
looking at Goku. Goku's face lit
up. He knew it had something to do with
a female, and one in particular.
"Well," Goku sighed, laying his
head back on the tree. "They're
pretty, they smell good...but I only really know four females
personally." Vegeta gave him a
shocking look. "I mean, as
friends."
"Who?" Vegeta said sitting down.
"Well, there's my wife, and we're
more than friends, of course. There's
Launch, and Mrs. Briefs and-" He stopped.
"Who else?"
"Bulma." Goku hesitantly said. "Do you know I met her when I was a
kid?"
"I am asking about females,
Kakarott."
"But-she's a female, Vegeta."
"I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT
HER!" Vegeta yelled.
"You asked me what females I knew,
and I'm telling you. I can't help it if
she's one of them." Vegeta rubbed
his head, realizing that Goku was right.
"Well? Get on with your blasted story!" Vegeta huffed, crossing his
arms and turning away. Goku
smiled. He knew that Vegeta badly
wanted to talk about Bulma; it would take a little more persuasion to draw him
out.
"Well...when I first met her, I
honestly thought she was a witch."
Ha! I knew it! Thought Vegeta. That's why I feel the way I do about her,
because she's placed a spell on me!
"But it was the technology she had
with her that gave me that impression.
You know, the dino-caps?"
Vegeta let out an exasperating sigh. "Why must you bother me with your
torpid stories?"
“Well, is there a female you like, why
you're asking about females?" Goku
finally asked, trying to remove the grin on his face. Vegeta didn't answer. He
tried another approach.
"When I first met my wife, I didn't
like her. She pulled on my tail, she
knocked me off the nimbus...and to make matters worse, her father had her and I
betrothed! " Vegeta looked at Goku
with a puzzled look on his face.
"Betrothed?" Vegeta asked, like it was some hideous act.
"Yeah, that means I HAD to marry her
when I got older. To be quite honest, I
thought marriage was something you ate!"
Goku laughed at his silly notion.
Then he stopped, looking up at the sky, closing his eyes. "But when I married her, I was made the
luckiest man alive. I regret
nothing." He looked over at
Vegeta. His lips were moving but no
words came out. Goku knew he was about
to spill it. He leaned forward.
"I-I like a female," Vegeta
stammered.
"Oh, yeah?" Goku said quietly. Vegeta turned around and looked at Goku. He narrowed his eyes.
"If I tell you, promise me you won't
tell anyone. Not even your
mate!"
"I promise Vegeta. Who is it?"
Vegeta started to sweat, and he jumped up
and stared pacing. This is hard for
him, Goku thought. He stopped and
looked at Goku again.
"Promise?"
"Yes. I promise."
"I'll kill you Kakarott if anyone
else finds this out!"
"Okay! Okay!"
Vegeta inhaled deeply, knowing when he
said the name there was no looking back.
"Bulma." He let out a deep sigh after saying it. It felt like a ton of bricks being lifted
off his shoulders after finally confessing to someone about her. It was so unusual, because he called her
name all that time they made love, but it was impossible for him to say her
name since. Especially since he was so
accustomed to calling her 'woman'. He
looked over at Goku, who was smiling.
Goku stood and walked over to Vegeta.
"Man! This is good news!"
Goku said smacking Vegeta on his back.
"Don't mock me, Kakarott." Vegeta growled.
"I'm not; I just think that it's
great that you like her!" Vegeta sat down on the grass. Goku could sense that Vegeta was still a bit
troubled. "Why are you so
upset?"
"I don't like this feeling that I
have about her," Vegeta frankly said.
"Why should I care that she's soft, and beautiful..." He
glanced at Goku, who quickly removed his smile. "She's just a weak, pathetic earth female that bitches and
complains!"
"Now I'm confused," Goku
said sitting down next to Vegeta. "I thought you said you said like
her."
"I do!"
"But you're talking like you hate her
now."
"Do you see what I mean?" Vegeta said in his frustration. "She has gotten me so mixed up I can't
think straight! Are you sure
she's not a witch?
"Oh-no!" Goku laughed. Vegeta grew quiet, looking down at the ground.
"I should kill her for making me feel
this way." Vegeta said in a
lowered tone. They both knew he didn't
mean what he said.
"So...what do you plan on doing with
this new revelation?" Goku
asked. Vegeta said nothing. "Is this why you left the corporation?"
"No," Vegeta answered. "I
left because she slapped me."
"Whoa! When did she do that?"
"Right after we slept together."
Goku's mouth flew wide open. He was bound to hear an earful today.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bulma had her face in her hands. She looked up at Chichi, who was lying down
on the couch in her office. Chichi was
rubbing her pregnant stomach and had her eyes on the ceiling. She was shaking her head slowly.
"Is there anything else?" Chichi
asked.
"Should there be?" Bulma said, sliding back into her
chair. There was a long pause. "I messed up, didn't I?"
"I really don't know which is
worse," Chichi said shaking her head again. "You sleeping with Vegeta or you breaking up with
Yamcha."
"I know." Bulma whined, laying
her head down on her desk.
"You know, I could say 'I told you
so', but I don't think that would help."
She looked at Bulma, who had now sat up, her head still in her
hands. "You deserved to slap
him."
"But I didn't mean to,
Chichi!"
"That doesn't matter. If he wants to disrespect you by making his
careless comments, then he should expect to be smacked."
"He left weeks ago...I don't even
know where he is."
"Humph! I know." Bulma lifted her head up.
"Where?" She asked.
"The bastard is staying at my
house!" Bulma went over to the
couch and kneeled down to Chichi.
"How has he been acting?"
"The same, like you...but instead
he's blowing up trees and small animals."
Bulma sat down on the floor next to the couch.
"What am I going to do?"
"Maybe you need to think things over,
dear."
"If I think anymore about this my
head is bound to explode." Bulma
sighed.
"Well," Chichi said pulling
herself up. "Why don't you leave
for your business trip early?"
Bulma looked up at Chichi.
"Why?"
"Because it's a way to get you at
least half way around the world away from this, and it could get your mind off
things so you can sort things out."
Bulma thought about this. Maybe Chichi was right. Being in her office was driving her crazy
and being at home only reminded her of Vegeta.
Maybe she did need to get away, for a while.
"I think that's a perfect idea
Chichi!" Bulma said, standing
up. "I'm going home to pack
now!"
Chichi was pleased she made this
decision. She stood and gave Bulma a
hug. "You be sure to call or
write," Chichi said, brushing the hair away from her face. "You know when you come back I will
have already had the baby."
"Oh yeah, I forgot." Bulma said, lightly touching ChiChi's
stomach. I'm sorry I made you come all
the way down here..."
"It's no problem. I could hear the urgency in your voice, and
for some reason I knew it had something to do with Vegeta. And I sure didn't want you showing up there
if he was there. You just take care." Chichi gave her another hug and headed for
the door.
"You sure you need a ride?" Bulma asked.
"No, my Dad's downstairs waiting for
me, thanks. Bye now."
"Bye." Chichi left. Bulma really
wanted to leave now, but she didn't want to leave things so sour between her
and Vegeta. Pulling out her stationary
again, she started to write. She
stopped only for a moment to call Diane.
"Diane, call the airport and have my
flight ready to leave for New York tonight."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Be sure to eat it all, Gohan,"
Chichi said sitting down at the dinner table.
"Or no dessert."
"Aw! But Mom..." Gohan
whined.
"Mind your Mom, son." Goku said, winking his eye at him. Gohan smiled. Goku looked at the empty chair at the table.
"Where's Vegeta, Dad?" Gohan asked.
"He's asleep." Goku looked at
the clock. It was only 6:30 in the
evening. Goku looked over at his wife,
who just shook her head.
"Why does he sleep all the
time?" Gohan asked.
"Gohan, mind your business,"
Chichi snapped. "Eat your
dinner."
There was a knock at the door. Goku got up to answer it, and there stood a
short older woman wearing glasses and a business suit.
"Yes, can I help you?" Goku asked the woman.
"Are you Son Goku?" The lady asked.
"Yes. I am."
"Miss Briefs asked me to deliver this
letter to either you or your wife," The woman was Diane, Bulma's
secretary. She handed Goku an
envelope. "And she asked that you
give it to Vegeta." Goku took the
envelope, and looked over at Chichi, who was now walking towards the door.
"Thank you so much Diane."
Chichi snatched the envelope out of Goku's hand.
"You're welcome ma'am. Good evening." Diane turned and walked away. Goku closed the door, looking at Chichi
holding the note. He wanted to say
something, but he promised Vegeta that he wouldn't tell anything. Chichi looked at the envelope and then at
Goku.
"What?" She finally asked.
"Are you going to give that to
Vegeta?" Goku asked.
Well, he's asleep now, maybe I'll hold on
to it until morning." Goku gave
her a distrustful look.
"Chichi, why don't you just slip it
under his door, that way when he gets up, it'll be there." Goku suggested. Chichi looked down at the note, and back at her husband again,
who was now smiling. "It's none of
your business, remember?"
"Fine!" Chichi said walking over
to the spare bedroom door, which was now occupied by Vegeta. "I'll put the stupid note under the
stupid door Goku. Are you
happy?" She slipped it under the
door and looked at Goku.
"Very," Goku said, walking over
and giving her a peck on the cheek.
"Now let's sit down and finish our dinner."
Vegeta was hardly asleep when he saw the
note slip under his door. He got up and
picked up the note. Upon opening it, he
smelt the sweet fragrance of jasmine-it was from Bulma! He slowly backed his self to the bed and sat
down on its edge and slowly read the letter.
Dear Vegeta,
I'm sure once you realize who this
the letter is from, you'll probably throw it away. Or burn it nonetheless.
But you have every right to. It
was wrong for me to slap you; but it wouldn't have happened if you hadn't tried
to hurt my feelings. You must
understand that I did not anticipate
that call from Yamcha. He put me on the
spot and I felt backed into a corner with him, and with us. I don't even know if 'we' are an 'us'. But all I know is that I'm miserable with out you, I can't stop
thinking about you, and I miss you extremely.
What happened between us happened so fast and unexpectedly, that I was
totally swept away. It did more than
move mountains, it moved me.
By the time you finished reading
this letter, I will have already left for New York City. I am leaving early for the company's
takeover over there. By the time I get
back (and this is not an ultimatum) in about a week and a half...if you're
still there, at Goku's', I understand.
But if you're back at home, waiting for me, I promise to tell Yamcha
all. Please, give me another chance to
let me back into your arms again.
-B
Vegeta looked up from the note. He quickly put his clothes on, carefully
placed the note under his tight shirt, and ran out of his bedroom. His outburst
made everyone at the dinner table freeze and stare at him.
"Hey Vegeta," Goku said
smiling. "You're awake!"
"Kakarott," Vegeta said with his
fits clenched tightly. "Where is this 'New York City'?"
"Well, gee, I think it's somewhere in
America. I 'm not sure."
"I know!" Gohan said happily.
"Well, tell me where it is,
brat!" Vegeta ordered. Gohan got up from the table and went into
his room, and he returned with a large book.
He flipped it opened and after going through some pages he came across
this page with the seven continents.
Vegeta looked on eagerly.
"Here we are," Gohan pointed on
the map, showing Japan. "And New
York City is...here." He pointed
at the United States, in a very small spot off one of its coasts.
"That's really far away!" Goku said, peeking at the textbook.
"Woman!" Vegeta addressed
Chichi, who hopped when he spoke to her.
"Do you know exactly where she is?"
"Where who is?" Gohan asked.
"Mind your business Gohan." Goku said.
Chichi hesitated at first, but hen she noticed the desperation in
Vegeta's eyes.
"I'll get the address." Chichi said getting up from the table and
going into the kitchen. Goku looked at
Vegeta. He was literally torn to pieces. He paced the floor and he was mumbling to
himself.
"Do you need money for your
flight? And what about a
passport?" Goku asked.
"A flight?" Vegeta scoffed. "You won't catch me in one of those things. I am flying there myself."
"But it's too far, you'll never make
it!"
"Kakarott, I don't care, I must see
her-NOW!" Vegeta ripped the pages of the map of the United States
out of the book and stuffed it inside his shirt. Chichi came back with the address on a piece of paper, that
Vegeta snatched out of her hand. He ran
out of the house, and with a tremendous blast leaving a huge indentation on the
ground, he was in the air-set for the United States...for New York City...for
Bulma.
"Humph!" Chichi said crossing
her arms. "And he didn't even say
'thank you'!"