Through the Lens by Destiny

Object of Beauty

Disclaimer: all disclaimers for the characters of this story rightfully apply.

Through the Lens

Chapter 1: Object of Beauty

"I'm mortified, petrified, stupefied by you."

--A Beautiful Mind

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His head was bowed; body slumped in his black leather lazy-boy, and in his hand was a glass cup filled with some sort of brown liquid. He reeked of that scent His face was ruff from days of not shaving. The blinds were closed so the whole house was dark making the mess surrounding him less noticeable. He wasn't the type to drink. Nor was he the type to lounge around in the same clothes for a week. And usually the house was kept in such pristine order that it drove most people mad.

But he had fallen upon a bad spell and couldn't find the will to climb out. He had lost the only thing that ever mattered most. He could still see her face, hear her voice, and the scent of her teased him unmercifully. He tried to make sense of it. He couldn't figure out why she had left him. All he knew was that she was the world and he was nothing without her.

He was in a camera store, owned by his best friend Miroku, trying to find a replacement for his old one. "What do you think of that one Sesshoumaru? It's a beauty isn't it? Top of the line." He placed the camera up to his eye and focused the lens until he could see out the front window clearly. Lips filled the camera, cherry red and deliciously full. Almost as tempting as the actual fruit. He zoomed out slowly until the whole face overflowed inside the camera. To say the face that filled the lens was beautiful would truly be an understatement indeed.

She was perfection.

And the camera zoomed out more. Letting all of her in enchant him to a greater extent than her face did. Sound lost its meaning as the vision of her engulfed him. Her eyes were azure blue framed with smoky lashes twinkling with happiness. Skin so creamy was flushed from the biting cold of a New York winter day. She was wrapped up tightly in a blue wool coat. It almost swallowed her small curvaceous frame. Laughter danced on her lips as conversation was passed between, whom he could only assume, was her friend.

Then he lowered the camera, eyes still transfixed on her, he was breathless. Before he could catch himself he was moving towards the door. "Hey! Sesshoumaru! You got to pay for that, man!" But he was out the door, knocking some poor defenseless person into a display, not taking the time to put the camera down. He'd pay for it later. She was walking down the street. Going to only God knows where. He followed behind her. He had to. There was this need in him to know where she was going, to memorize her every step. He'd never felt this way before.

The woman turned to some building, pulling open the doors, and walked into the light. Sesshoumaru waited a moment before following in after. It was a studio. A dance studio to be exact. She stood in the front, right in front of the mirror. Her body flowed with the gentle beat of the song. Hips turning slightly, arms lifting and twirling in fluid motions, and the sway of her hair as it swirled around her as she danced; was this love?

A knock on the door brought Sesshoumaru back to reality. He lifted his head and let his eyes focus on the annoying sound. The banging continued, then yells of his name. Struggling to his feet he made his way towards the door pushing past plates of food and piles of clothes that had yet to be worn. He undid the locks and turned the knob letting the light of day storm in, and Miroku with it.

"Where have you been, man? I've left you like ten thousand messages." Miroku was scanning the mini-mansion as he made his way in. He had to lift his eyebrow in amazement for a moment. The place was a pigsty.

"Busy," came back the hoarse voice of Sesshoumaru. Almost daring Miroku to say otherwise. Turning his assessing eye on his long time friend he took in his appearance. Sesshoumaru's hair was a mess. Tangles and knots graced through strands that were usually brushed to silken brilliance. What surely was an expensive shirt and tailored pants had day's old stains and wrinkles like no tomorrow.

"Well. Your girlfriend came by the shop looking for you. She said you hadn't answered the phone in days and I called like ten times and kept getting the machine so I thought I'd come check on you." Now Miroku was not one to clean but he found himself picking up the loads of trash that was piled around the house. "Hey, aren't you two supposed to tie the knot?"

"Yea." His eyes unfocused and he was gone inside another memory. "Something like that."

And that's where the problems came in.

It was a business meeting. He worked in advertising. He was the picture taker. His girlfriend, Satine, had gotten him the job. It was her brother's company and a damn good one at that. And right now they were making a deal with some Chinese company to promote some product or another. "Hey Jonathan." Sesshoumaru stood along with the fore mentioned Jonathan recognizing the owner of the voice almost instantly. "Hey babe." A swift kiss and they were all back in their seats, Satine now next to him, and his mind slowly drifting to other places.

Drifting towards the woman in the lens.

"Excuse me for a moment." He was out of his seat again. "Restroom." As if that was truly the reason. His steps were quick as he headed to the back. He pushed open the bathroom door and let out a deep breath. Sesshoumaru knew how the story was supposed to go. By the end of this night he was supposed to ask Satine to marry him. But that woman; she filled his mind and thoughts of her, simple thoughts, made him lose sight of his obligations.

He walked slowly over to the sink. Almost dragging his self. He turned on the faucet and splashed some water on his face trying to clear his mind. This craziness had to stop now. Grabbing a paper towel he patted his face dry then pushed open the bathroom door and hit someone in the process.

Shit's and ouch's flown. Apologies and it's all right's were said. Then amber sunsets met cerulean blue and words were forgotten. A smile and laughter filling those haunting orbs and another sorry then return of her belongings. It was her, the girl in the camera. He couldn't, he wouldn't, pass up this opportunity. "Um, I've seen you before." Damn. That was all he could come up with?

She looked amused and raised an eyebrow in question. "You have?"

"Yea. Would you mind going for coffee sometime?" He was nervous. He, Sesshoumaru, was actually nervous.

"I've been today." And she smiled once more before placing his paper towel back in his hand and walking away in that slow easy motion that he'd imprinted in his memory. He wanted to hit his self over the head. He wanted to scream in pure frustration but it was not his way. Instead he pocketed the paper towel and headed back towards the restaurant table.

"You've been gone forever. We were beginning to think you fell in the toilet." A group laugh and then he was back in his seat. Their orders came quickly. His napkin completely used he reached for the paper towel in his pocket and for some odd reason he looked at it before he wiped his mouth. Maybe it was because she had touched it but for whatever reason he did and there was a note written in her precise script; meet me at Central Park tomorrow at 3:00 so you won't have to follow me anymore. A smirk graced his lips. He folded the napkin once more and replaced it in his pocket.

There would be no engagement tonight.