"Hello I'm your boss and you're the new employee who just saw me shove an entire cupcake into my mouth." AU
Kanda stares up at the sky scraper, the tallest in New York. It's raining today and he hasn't got an umbrella, but he really needs to dash across this twenty meters from the subway entrance to get to the damn building. It's his first day at Bookman Inc. and he's already late and about to get wet. There's no choice for it, so he grits his teeth and swears—the torrential downpour just had to occur while he was on the train. His suit gets soaked through and his bangs stick to his face, but, what the hell. Nothing could already make his day more shitty than it already has been.
The thing is, Kanda doesn't want to work at Bookman Inc. Sure, it's about the richest company right now with decades of credibility under its wing—the enterpriser Bookman is an elusive figure despite the billions of dollars he's worth. In the late 50s a simple company set up shop dealing with security systems, and now forty years later it has emerged into a conglomerate with the most intimidating power in the financial chain. Rumours say that the way the company is run is the secret to such success, and the only way for such a 'success' to occur…Kanda suspects that this job is going to kill his soul in exchange for the hefty salary.
But he shouldn't complain, because he's fresh out of college and he has a job, which is not what he can say for most of his graduating class. Granted, the job isn't spectacular either; he's actually a personal assistant to one of the bosses. He never thought he'd apply to be a personal assistant, but he majored in English and he didn't know what the hell he wanted to do—still doesn't—so when an advert came by his way, he had thought 'why the hell not'. He was convinced he wasn't going to get called to the interview in the first place, but he was and he was sure he wasn't going to pass it either; he answered all questions to the panel as clipped as his personality is used to while a creepy taciturn old man was watching in the corner, but hey, here he is: late and wet on his first fucking day. Goddammit.
The glass doors of the building immediately slide open when he's standing in front of it, causing a cool blast of air conditioned air to blow directly into his face. He shivers a bit and heads to the reception, palming his fringe out of his eyes.
"I…I was told to report here. First day."
The receptionist, demeanour poised and fingernails manicured, smiles at him. "Your name, sir?"
"Yuu Kanda."
Her fingers run over the keyboard while Kanda shifts his gaze around, trying not to feel how uncomfortable he is because water has seeped into the back of his shirt.
"Mr Kanda?" He turns his eyes back to the girl, where a phone is pressed to her ear. "Mr Bookman will see you in his office," she nods, sliding over a card. "Seventy seventh floor, the elevator on your right."
Kanda takes the card and nods his thanks, making his way over to the right side of the lobby. There is one lone lift at the end of the corridor that he walks through, away from the other lifts on the left. He presses the button but nothing lights up, then he notices a scanner above it. He flashes the card he's holding onto it, mildly impressed when the elevator starts moving, digital numbers counting down the levels.
And then it hits him. The fancy card and private elevator. Bookman? Shit, he's the personal assistant to the big fucking boss. Maybe he should've cared a bit more about who he was going to work under. Maybe. But that's too late to ponder about now, especially since that his hair is dripping puddles onto the marble floor and he's probably going to get fired for being late. Kanda rides up the elevator with trepidation, running over the various scenarios that might happen—but he doesn't even know how the big boss looks like, probably some old man in his late sixties with demands like caviar for a snack. Kanda, personally, hates caviar.
The seventy seven floor arrives much faster than he likes, but Kanda is no coward. He got stuck in the sub and the rain is terrible, both are truths that he couldn't have predicted, so fuck it. He's got to face his boss at some point. The floor is quiet, his shoes makes the worst squeaky noises as he steps in, mentally judging the black marble walls and glass panels that make the office look very sleek, but also pretty pretentious.
When he exits the corridor he sees only a glass desk with a telephone on it, and further in there's another glass encased room, one that probably takes up the most of the entire floor, with an even larger glass table that's strewn with folders and papers, and a huge black roller chair that's faced away from his direction. There is a sort of humming that comes from behind the chair, which Kanda assumes that's his boss.
Kanda pauses at the inner room's doorway, unsure if his presence is known—his shoes made a racket that he could've woken up from—but the humming continues and it actually gets louder. Okay. Either his boss is one of those eccentric let me smile while you're fucked to death types, or just really deaf. Kanda knocks on the glass door, but the chair doesn't turn around. He scowls. Fine, he's being ignored because of his tardiness, but if he's going to get reprimanded, he's rather just get this over with.
"Sir," he says as loudly as he can.
The humming stops abruptly and the chair swivels around so fast that the person on it nearly topples over. A redhead about his age stares at him with his hand pressed to his mouth, and a…what was that, a fucking cupcake (?) lodged in. An earbud drops from the redhead's ear to his collarbone, and Kanda stares back, bewildered.
"F-fug—" the redhead scrambles up, yanking the earbuds away from his face and shoving his music player to some corner of the table.
The other hastens to chew and swallow the cake he's just stuffed into his mouth, but he ends up choking a bit and turns around, slapping his chest. It takes at least three minutes before the redhead straightens up as much as he can with crumbs at the side of his mouth.
"Err…hi," he begins, and Kanda takes the time to notice that the other is dressed similarly in a suit like he is, but the other is slightly taller, and he also weirdly has a medicinal eye patch over one eye. "You didn't see that."
Kanda raises an eyebrow. He doesn't care if other employees skimp on their work, as long as it doesn't affect him. "Where's the boss?"
"Boss?" the redhead repeats questioningly.
"Mr Bookman," he clarifies. "I was told to meet him here."
The other blinks. "I'm Bookman."
This kid? (Even though they're probably the same age, but well.) "I don't have time for this," Kanda says with narrowed eyes. "Where is he? You can't be a boss in this company and certainly not Bookman."
"Um, actually, I am?" the redhead says slowly. "I'm Lavi Bookman—oh, oh, you're talking about the old man," he hums. "Nah, he only comes to the office if I screw something up. I've been the "boss" for about a year now."
"No fucking way."
The redhead—Lavi—frowns. He holds up one finger and reaches for the phone. "Hey, Emilia? Could you come up here for a sec? And bring Yuu Kanda's file. Please and thanks."
Kanda eyes the other for any sort of waver in his manner; if this is an act then he can wait for the inevitable slip up, but a minute later a blonde in high heels makes her way in.
"Mr Bookman, here's the file you requested."
"Great," Lavi grins, gaze shifting over to Kanda. "Now, could you convince him that I'm the CEO?"
The girl pauses, turning to look between the other two slowly. "What do you mean?"
"It appears that Yuu doesn't believe that I'm his boss."
"Don't use my first name," Kanda scowls, a reflexive action. "He stuffed a cake into his mouth when I came in," he states in return.
"You didn't see that!" Lavi interjects hastily. "I mean, sure, that was unprofessional but I was hungry."
"Well…Kanda," Emilia begins, raising an eyebrow. "I suggest that you at least look up the company website before you apply for a job, and Mr Bookman," she sighs. "Crumbs," she taps at the side of her mouth.
Lavi quickly wipes at his mouth, trying not to look contrite.
Emilia presses her lips together, though there is an amused tinge to it. "You have work to do. Get on with it, sir."
"Yeah, yeah," Lavi grumbles as he watches the girl take her leave.
"I'm not convinced," Kanda says during the resulting silence.
The redhead beckons him over to where the other is, and he reluctantly obliges. There's just no way he's going to be a personal assistant to a guy who looks just as young and stupider than he is, but as Lavi accesses the computer on the desk with a login and password, Kanda dreads the twist in his abdomen. An internet browser is pulled up and a quick google search leads them to the company's website: Bookman's Inc., and the first thing that Kanda sees are red hair and one green eye.
Lavi Bookman, 24, CEO to Bookman Inc. has recently been credited with—
Kanda breathes in and lets a slow breath out.
Fuck his life.