WAY TO THE TOP
By Freya-Wings
Chapter 1
Hey you guys!
This is my third fic and my second fic for Cardcaptor Sakura. I know I haven't finished the other fic but I was just so engrossed with this story that I had to write it before I lose all the ideas.
Usually Sakura becomes the main POV in CCS stories and this time I wanted it to be from Syaoran's POV. I'm a girl and it's hard for me to figure out what is behind a man's head. So this is a challenge for me
Disclaimer: you all know CCS is not mine. If it is, I'll be a millionaire.
Chapter 1: The interview
'So are you going to get that job I told you or what?' Eriol said while munching his toast.
Syaoran shrugged, 'I'm not so sure. It's not as demanding as the one at the retail store but the one at the KNOW magazine did give a favorably higher salary.'
'You really think you want to work at that berserk magazine that just adores stalking celebrities with their boring intimate lives?' Eriol laughed and choked on his toast.
'Hey, I'm just doing it for the money, okay,' Syaoran said while he poured some juice into his glass and drank it.
'What, now you're being so darn money minded?' Eriol shook his head in disbelief, 'so what happened to the 'I'd rather enjoy doing the thing that I love to do instead of being such a pathetic eye on the money kind of guy.'
'Eriol, you have been my roommate for 6 years and still you don't know me but at all,' Syaoran said and gulped his last drop of juice before picking up another toast.
Eriol and Syaoran had been the best of friends since junior school. Their intimate relationship had been going on and off with fighting and apologizing but it had been a healthy friendship. Now they are together for better or for worse, in the apartment they rented.
It was a small apartment but it did have the best view of the city so Syaoran can get inspiration. Oh, forgot to tell you, Syaoran is a photographer. Not a renowned one just yet but he had been planning to be the greatest photographer of all times and buy himself his own gallery.
'Now don't make that as your excuse alright,' Eriol said again, 'I know you! You say one thing one time and say another next time.'
'Oh,' Syaoran held his chest with his hands, 'you inspire me Eriol.'
Just before Eriol could make a come back, there was a knock on the door. Eriol raised his eyebrows to Syaoran, indicating he should be the one to get that. Syaoran shook his head but jogged towards the door. When he opened it, a girl with light golden brown hair came rushing in with bags of groceries and slammed them on the table next to her.
'I hate guys,' she said after she placed her hands to her hips. Syaoran and Eriol just stared at her but she kept on talking, 'does the word love mean squat to you people! I mean, guys use them in different terms. Use the dictionary for god sakes, there's your explanation.'
'Hey Chiharu,' Syaoran said quietly and touched her shoulder, 'calm down okay. Just explain to us without raising your voice.'
Chiharu folded her arms and stayed quiet. Her face looked sour as if she was about to cry.
Syaoran motioned for Eriol to say something too. Eriol got up from his seat and spontaneously hugged Chiharu. Syaoran rolled his eyes, typical.
'Eriol,' Chiharu whined and pushed Eriol back, 'it doesn't work on me anymore, remember? I fell for that once I'm not going to fall for it again.'
'But Chiharu,' Eriol said with a grossly innocent voice, 'you look so cute when you're mad.'
Chiharu groaned, 'Oh, men. All of you are the same.' But then she turned to Syaoran, 'but you are different.' Chiharu quickly skimmed through her plentiful of shopping bags and took out a magazine. 'I think you might be interested in this,' Chiharu said.
Syaoran twisted his eyebrows but when he saw the ad Chiharu pointed at, his eyes were about to pop out if its sockets. 'Holy shit!' Syaoran said in disbelief. 'This is… this is…' Syaoran was too speechless to even continue. Eriol was eager to see what the big deal was but soon after, there was a loud knock on the door. Eriol went to get that.
'Where is Syaoran?' another girl with large black glasses came barging into the room after Eriol opened the door. 'Naoko?' Eriol questioned her presence but she immediately saw Syaoran and came running towards him and said with pinkish cheeks, 'Syaoran, I found something that you---' Naoko was about to hand Syaoran a magazine but Chiharu quickly stated, 'too late. I found him before you did.'
Naoko looked a bit hurt but Syaoran was still in trance to notice her presence. He kept staring at the ad like looking at porn. 'Hey, are you just going to be staring at that or are you going to get your ass up, get your portfolio and skedaddle to that place and give them your CV!' Chiharu verbalized while she drank Syaoran's juice.
'The opening starts today. You can make it if you leave in another 15 minutes.' Naoko chipped in. Eriol could see the unpleasant look on Chiharu's face and admitted to Naoko, 'don't take it by the heart Naoko. Chiharu is a little pissed off that's all.'
Chiharu groaned and flexed her hands up in the air, 'Men!'
'Dude, what are you waiting for?' Eriol exclaimed once he saw the ad, 'go change!'
Eriol's voice woke Syaoran from his trance. He nodded and hastily went into his room to get changed.
'So, is it just me, or do you all have this attraction for Syaoran?' Eriol asked the two young women but before they could answer, a man barged into the room without knocking. He was running all the way up the stairs, they could see beads of sweats trickling down his neck to his sweater jacket. 'Where's Syaoran?' he said breathlessly.
'What? Even guys are attracted to him?' Eriol waved his hands up in the air in defeat, 'I lose.'
'Yamazaki, why are you wearing a sweater jacket at this time of day? It's boiling mad out there,' Naoko said while she fixed her glasses.
'Where's Syaoran?' Yamazaki asked again, completely ignoring the question.
'I am telling you, it's too late. I got him first,' Chiharu said singing.
There was a loud bang on the door and Syaoran came rushing out of his bedroom. 'Yamazaki! I can't talk because I'm leaving now,' Syaoran said to him. Yamazaki just sighed and sat on the stool next to Chiharu. Then before they knew it, he already stormed out of the building.
'So how come everyone seems so eager to get a job for Syaoran and didn't help me get one?' Eriol questioned.
'Because you never helped anyone get a job, really,' Chiharu said flatly.
'Don't be sarcastic!' Eriol frowned and Naoko giggled.
Out in the streets, Syaoran was breathless. He took a cab all the 10 blocks and went inside a large and grand building in just half an hour. He was already late by 10 minutes but still, Syaoran raced to the 27th floor and was completely taken aback by the authoritatively contemporary fashionable office he saw as he entered the fashion arena. NOVEL was written in big bold aluminum letters as Syaoran set foot inside the room.
It was hectic with models in the hallway traffic and he noticed how their eyes seemed to bore inside his. 'Hello,' he said politely to the receptionist, 'I'm sorry I'm late but—'
The receptionist took a glance at Syaoran and said, 'models are in the back room.'
Syaoran laughed nervously, 'oh, no. you've mistaken me. I'm here for the photograph interview.' The receptionist stared at his boldly. She was dark haired and fashionably wrapped with branded clothes. She seemed to be surprised at his intention.
'It's so sad,' she quietly said and added, 'such a waste of good body and good looks.' Then she dialed on the receiver next to her, still muttering her words under her breath. The line picked up and she said to the receiver, 'Miss Akizuki, there's a man here for the photography interview. Candidate sugar' the woman on the line ciphered with unusually sweet voice, 'bring him in.' Syaoran was confused at the candidate sugar exclamation but didn't question it further.
'You're 15 minutes late but we'll see how far you can make it. The room is at the back. Turn to your right, go straight until you see a sign saying Kinomoto and go inside. Miss Akizuki will welcome you.'
Syaoran muttered thanks and went to the direction the woman explained to him. Much to his already awkward situation, he could feel the woman's eyes boring over him, watching his every move.
Much to his despair, there seemed to be more intensifying eye boring from every part of the room. People passing, either woman or men slash woman stared at his intently, passing without taking their eyes off him.
Syaoran had been known to have good looks but this was terrifying him more than ever. He turned a corner and was abash to find models wearing nothing other than undergarments walking down the hallway. They looked at him as he passed. Some of them muttered a hello and he received winks from a lot of models. Syaoran blushed. It wasn't everyday he was surrounded by skinny and yet beautiful women.
Syaoran became more uneasy and he adhered to his pride for support. He was now standing in front of a door with the word 'Kinomoto' written on it. Syaoran had some familiarity with this name. He scratched his head in search for the name but it didn't come across his mind.
While Syaoran was deep in his thoughts, the door opened to reveal a tall woman with long straight and shiny honey brown hair which she twisted some into a bun. She had such beautiful eyes and she was wearing what seemed to be a maroon halter jacket with green short skirt jeans and black knee length boots. She was fashionable indeed.
Syaoran smiled politely, remembering first impressions are always the key to a good first meeting. The woman in front of him smiled devilishly, 'I'm not Kinomoto, so you can save that smile for later.' She smiled again, turned around and left the door open. Syaoran assumed she wanted him to come inside and so he did and didn't forget to close the door.
The office was small to his surprise but there was another door a few meters away made from frosted glass. He could see movements inside but he couldn't tell who it was.
'I'm not Kinomoto but I am Kinomoto's secretary so everything goes through me first before going to her. My name is Naruku Akizuki and I am not married.' She smiled so innocently and waited for Syaoran's response. Syaoran was too surprised to say anything. This is quite different than he imagined it would be.
Naruku couldn't reply anything because the elegant frosted glass door in front of Syaoran opened and out came a middle aged man with a camera around his neck, walking swiftly and quite angrily. He spotted Syaoran and stopped short and said with breathless and angry tone, 'be careful with that little bitch.' Then he looked at Naruku who wasn't at all surprised at this reaction.
Syaoran was by far perplexed at this scene but Naruku interrupted his thoughts. 'We have this reaction quite immeasurably in our company. I suggest you tidy your hair and don't ask too much questions.'
Then she stopped and winked at him, 'but I think you could very much just do it.' Unbelievable! Every woman he passed seemed to have the same reaction towards him.
Syaoran wasn't ready to believe this bizarre occurrence was happening to him. Somehow, he was quite reluctant to what was coming up next.
The man said to be careful of that bitch. Man, don't twist it. Just relax and stay calm and you'll make it.
Naruku interrupted his thoughts again and she gestured him to walk into the room, smiling naughtily at him while opening the door to let him enter.
He stepped inside the room and the smell coffee stirred his senses. The room was very spacious and grandeur, the kind of offices bosses usually gets. In front of him was a glass desk, with two computers on each side. The window behind it exposed the most magnificent view of the city, Syaoran was very much tempted to walk to the window and shoot some pictures.
Syaoran heard the glass door behind him shut and then there was an awkward silence. The woman behind the desk had her back to him. He noticed behind the dark maroon chair, there was a glimpse of chocolate brown hair, silky and shiny.
Syaoran couldn't stand the silence and interrupted by clearing his throat. He didn't get any reaction but he heard the woman said in such a sweet voice, he hardly believed the man who just ran out the same door would think she was a bitch, 'are you ill?'
Syaoran wasn't expecting that response but uttered a 'no.'
'If you are ill then you could have an actual good reason for being late,' the woman said again, and still had her back to him.
'I cannot tolerate lateness.' She spoke again softly and slowly, 'the word punctuality should always be first in your to do list.'
'I'm really sorry about that,' Syaoran nervously, 'there were some incidents that occurred on my over here.' Just tolerate with this, you need the money.
'Still, you should always be at the office 30 minutes prior to the first candidate to enter this room. Do you understand what precious time you waste if this happened in this office? I don't think I could tolerate such dysfunctional habits and laziness that could affect this company, do you understand?'
Now Syaoran was a bit angry. So what is this woman thinking? It was his fault for coming in 10 minutes late but at least he came with a reason.
'Listen,' Syaoran said, forcing his angriness to die down inside of him, 'I just found out about the ad a few minutes ago and I ran for 10 blocks all the way from my apartment to this office, at least you should give me credit for even showing up.'
At this the woman turned around and Syaoran was shocked to meet the brilliant glare of those breathtakingly beautiful emerald eyes. She was wearing a dark blue jacket and white skirt that Syaoran couldn't help but notice those slender and smooth legs. She wore a beautiful face, so enchanting that Syaoran could just completely forget he was mad at her.
But those moments were over as soon as she said, 'I don't care if you just found out about this article. I demand punctuality at this office. That is the first rule written on the ad.'
Syaoran's anger came back with so much force, he could have exploded in front of her, 'Hey, at least hear me out. There are reasons for me being late. This is my first time in this company. You could at least give me another chance and I promise I won't be late again.'
The woman stared at him intently, 'you think you could pull this off? Working in this environment? I'm guessing you're straight? Do you think you could meet deadlines and answer when I call you and go to places when I tell you too and when I want you too?'
'I'm sure I would do whatever it is you ask me to as long as we both respect each other.' Syaoran fixated his eyes on hers, making sure she knew just what he meant by respect.
The woman then sighed and pressed a button on the receiver next to her and a few seconds later, Naruku came rushing in. 'Yes Miss Kinomoto?'
'How many more candidates are there?' Kinomoto asked with a bored tone.
'He is the last one miss,' Naruku chirped.
Kinomoto sighed and leaned back against her char. She threw the paper in front of her and closed her eyes.
There was a knock on the door and a woman with long dark black hair that cascaded down her petite body rushed in with a stressed look on her beautiful flawless skin. She was wearing a soft dark cyan colored pants and a white blouse which she accessorized with a little red bow on her neck.
'I have bad news Sakura-san. Chris is having bad luck today. He is stuck in Los Angeles because of the stupid weather. He can't make it. We don't have back up photographer and who else could do this shoot better than Chris?"
Kinomoto folded her arms and twisted her eyebrows. Then her eyes flew open and she looked at Syaoran. Why is she looking at me? Don't tell me…
'Tomoyo san, meet your new photographer.' Kinomoto pointed at Syaoran with her delicate fingers and Tomoyo looked at Syaoran.
Syaoran swore he felt his heart stopped beating.
'Well, well, well.' Tomoyo put one hand on her hip and looked at Syaoran as if she wanted to eat him, 'delicious treat Sakura-san. Where did you find him? We could use some extra models.'
'No, Tomoyo. He is your new photographer. Take him to the back and get him whatever he wants for the preparation of the shoot. Make sure you complete the shooting session before lunch. We need those photographs ASAP.' Sakura said and turned back to her computer screen without much more of a glance to Syaoran.
That's odd. This was probably my first time to receive a cold shoulder from a girl.
'Oh, before that,' Sakura said without looking at Syaoran, 'what is your name?'
'It's Li,' Syaoran replied with a happy sigh, 'Syaoran Li.'
'Syaoran Li,' Kinomoto said again under her breath and watched as Syaoran walked out of her room and followed Tomoyo to where he was suppose to work. Maybe his presence in this company might be interesting. She stopped her thoughts and rapidly typed on the apple computer in front of her.
And that is chapter 1!
Hope you all like it! I finally wrote the plot on a piece of paper so I know there is an ending to this,
So far two of my stories have not ended yet. I promise, this time, I will finish this. Maybe even sooner than Irreplaceable to the heart.
Cheers!
Please read and review. Means a lot to me!