Present Day
He awoke with a start, legs tangled in silky grey sheets, sweat trickling down his back making his thin, white shirt damp. Inhaling gulps of air his heartbeat started to slow and he squinted in the pale dawn light trying to read his alarm clock. Five thirty. He had to be up in half an hour for work, and so swung his legs over the edge of the bed, hesitating for a few seconds before he made his way into the bathroom.
Twenty eight year old Kuchiki Byakuya was the CEO of Kuchiki Enterprises, the software company owned by his great grandparents. Having inherited the title at the mere age of twenty five, he was now the owner of the multibillion dollar company. Having transitioned smoothly into adulthood, Byakuya exhibited all the qualities the head of the Kuchiki family should have; proud, and stern, yet just, following his inner moral compass and rationale when making decisions, and thus was highly respected amongst his colleagues. Despite his cool, stoic appearance, Byakuya had demons, demons that nobody was aware of, demons that awoke in the dead of the night to feed on his fear. The type of fear that comes with pain and humiliation, one that had him waking up with a start, panting heavily, as he shook the brutal images from his mind.
Having made his way to the spacious bathroom, he leaned towards the mirror observing his pale, drawn face, noticing the soft lines starting to form near his mouth. He was aging before his time, the past sucking his youth dry, day by day, till he was a mere corpse wandering inside a warm body. The only time he felt anything was in his nightmares, in his subconscious mind, the bone chilling fear, the shame, the guilt, survivor's guilt they call it.
After brushing his teeth, he turned on the shower, letting the water run as he undressed and stepped inside the bathtub. The water ran scalding hot, soaking into his flesh, squeezing between the pores of his body, making him feel clean and whole again. He furiously rubbed the sponge against his body till his skin turned red and raw, till it smelt of nothing but fresh soap. He always felt cleaner after a hot shower, the lingering feeling of dirt washed away by water. After towel drying his hair, he wrapped the white cloth around his waist and walked towards the bedroom where he had laid out his clothes from the night before; a pair of navy blue dress pants, a white collar shirt, matching tie and a navy vest. After dressing he went into the kitchen, and poured himself a steaming cup of black coffee, no cream, one sugar, and skimmed through the morning paper, ignoring the sports and entertainment sections.
At precisely 8'oclock he grabbed his coat, keys and was out the door within fifteen seconds, waiting for the elevator to take him down 50 floors. The high rise luxury condo, boasted superior accommodations, well furnished and highly immaculate, it was a place for those with extravagance. The breath taking view from the glass window of the elevator even amazed Byakuya as he gazed at the morning sky, the pale yellow light casting long shadows across the city. The elevator came to a halt on the last level, and Byakuya made his way towards his sleek black 2014 Jaguar. Pulling out of the basement he sped away into the morning sunlight, ready for the gruelling task of conducting interviews. Byakuya despised conducting interviews, convinced that very few were fit to be employees of his company. Every interviewee was scrutinized in depth, from their resumes, to their attire, the way they presented themselves and their answers to exhausting questions that Byakuya would throw at them.
Half an hour later he pulled up towards Kuchiki Enterprises, a three story building, its shiny windows reflecting the pale morning sun. After parking in his usual parking spot, he pushed the glass doors open, his shoes clicking on the polished marble floor as he made his way towards the glass stairway on the left. Sleek black and white couches stood on the right side of the room resting on soft thick white carpet. Potted green plants, stood on either side of the doorway adding a breath of life, and colour. He nodded at the receptionist seated behind a polished mahogany desk her fingers clicking away on the keyboard as she paused briefly, murmuring a quiet good morning. On the wall behind her, the company name was nailed to the wall in giant black block letters, drawing the attention of any visitor towards the center of the room. He made his way to the third floor, towards his office which was down the hall away from customer support. Employees murmured quiet good mornings, their eyes quickly darting away from his face as he made eye contact, nodding in return. His office was spacious, and orderly, a large black desk sat in the center of the room with stacks of paper piled neatly to his right. His telephone sat on the left, and in between, a desktop computer. A large, black filing cabinet leaned against the wall, filled with paperwork, and a lamp stood on the opposite side. Next to the lamp was Byakuya's personal closet, where he hung his coat, along with a few pairs of extra shirts and pants, for late nights. Behind him stood a wide glass window, and while the view wasn't spectacular, it did give him relief on stressful days as he gazed out the window while sipping on a cup of coffee.
Just as he turned on the computer, there was a knock at the door. He beckoned the man inside, Mr Vincent Turner, Vice President of Kuchiki Enterprise, and a friend of his grandfather's.
"Byakuya," he started as he closed the door firmly behind him. "Shall we move to the boardroom. I believe our first interviewee will be here shortly." He was an older man, tall and well built, with thick salt and pepper hair. A little stubble grew along his well defined jaws and his clear blue eyes, were warm, and welcoming. He wore a crisp white shirt, the cuffs of his sleeves slightly rolled up, a Rolex watch winking in the light as he gestured towards the boardroom. Byakuya followed him out the office, a notepad and pen in hand, ready to take down detailed notes of all the candidates they interviewed. The interviews were to be conducted in the span of one day, since Byakuya refused to take any more time out of his busy schedule to find a suitable employee. The resume's were screened by the HR department and qualified candidates were presented to Vince, who in turn handed Byakuya the top eight candidates for the position of Byakuya's personal assistant.
The boardroom was well lit, a dark table stood in the center with leather chairs surrounding it. A massive white screen took up an entire section of the wall where notes were scrawled down during meetings and presentations were viewed. He took his seat, rummaging through the papers to find the first resume that Vincent had handed him a few days ago. The name read Marie Clare.
"She's in for 9'oclock today. Her resume is solid. She has had over 10 years of experience in a senior administrative position for an executive, and she graduated with a degree in business administration."
"Tell Helena to send her in," Byakuya opened his notepad, pen poised ready for the daunting task at hand, yet his face betrayed no emotions. Through the glass in the window Byakuya watched as the receptionist led Marie Clare towards the boardroom. She was a tall woman, donned in a black pant suit, her hair drawn in a tight bun at the back of her head.
"Marie Clare, pleased to meet you Mr Kuchiki, Mr Turner," she gave each of them a firm handshake before sitting down. Byakuya was pleased with what he saw so far. Her attire, body language and cool professionalism oozed confidence.
"Ms Clare, I hope you found the place easily."
"I did, thank you Mr Turner," she replied flashing a small smile.
"So tell us a little bit about your previous job Ms Clare?" As Vincent conducted the interview Byakuya sat in silence, scribbling down notes and analyzing his potential employee.
"I worked closely with the CEO of a large manufacturing company. We dealt with exporting furniture to various parts of the country as well as oversees." As Marie Clare droned on about the details of her previous role, Byakuya noticed that she barely glanced at him, focusing her full attention on Vincent. He frowned in disapproval noting that down.
"Ms Clare, what makes you an ideal candidate for our company?" Byakuya asked in cool voice, fixing his cold grey eyes on her. She hesitated, shifting in her seat slightly as she forced herself to look into his eyes.
"Well I'm a highly motivated individual that has uhh..a lot to offer. I'm extremely detail oriented and I can lead a team to accomplish a task successfully." She stumbled over her words, and glanced away, turning her attention to Vincent who gave her an encouraging smile. Such a generic answer, Byakuya thought, as he jotted some more notes down on his notepad. After answering a few more questions from Vincent, the interview was over and he walked Marie to the door bidding her a safe trip home.
"Byakuya, you really need to loosen up a bit. You scared her off." Vincent was the only one who addressed him in such a casual manner, and while Byakuya respected him as an elder and his grandfather's friend, he didn't approve of Vincent's casual, playful manner.
"She is incompetent. When she walked in I thought she could be the ideal candidate I was looking for, yet she spewed some generic answers and had terrible eye contact."
"Maybe if you didn't glare at her, and smiled even a little, it would have put her at ease."
"If an employee cannot handle something so simple as my glare then they will never be fit for this company," he scowled.
The next few hours were spent interviewing more candidates, and Byakuya became irritated as each person grew progressively worse. One had a feeble handshake, another was five minutes late, a young gentleman walked in overly confident, his radiating smile and boisterous laughter earning him a stony death glare from Byakuya after which he evaded eye contact. Another candidate sauntered in casually, wearing an unprofessional low cut blazer revealing her cleavage as she leaned into Vincent, smiling coyly.
"This is an absolute disaster, and waste of time. I thought these candidates were screened properly," he spat in disgust.
"They were. Clearly you can tell by the resumes that they are all qualified candidates. Besides I really liked that last lady," grinned Vincent.
"Despicable. Throwing herself at you like that with no shame. Are we finished for today?"
"Actually we have one more, a young man named Abarai Renji." Vincent took out the last resume from his file, and skimmed through it. "Let's see here, he is fairly young, in fact a couple of years younger than you. He graduated with a degree in business administration as well. He's only been working in corporate world for five years but his resume is impressive. Not only has he provided administrative support, but he's also been in tech support, and has worked as a financial analyst. He's well rounded and diverse."
Byakuya read over his resume, and found himself to be mildly impressed with this Abarai Renji. "Despite being young his qualifications are beyond his years," remarked Vincent.
"Well let's see if he can actually look me in the eye, unlike those other buffoons." Byakuya watched through the glass window, expecting to see a man, dressed in an immaculate suit, conservative, and confident. A stern face, and strong eyes, ready to take the world by storm, a man not unlike Byakuya himself. However, he was stunned into silence and his eyes widened slightly as he took in Abarai Renji's appearance, unable to believe the man who stood in front of him. A flame of red hair pulled in a high ponytail emphasizing tribal tattoos that decorated his forehead. He was wearing a crisp black suit that framed his broad shoulders accentuating his tall build, and muscular physique. His handshake was firm and warm brown eyes, met Byakuya's cool grey ones as Renji gave a small smile to the two men seated across from him.
"Well Mr. Abarai, you have quite an impressive resume for someone so young," said Vincent smiley widely. Byakuya fought the urge to roll his eyes, knowing that Vincent had immediately taken a liking to the overqualified, punkster.
"Thank you Mr Turner. I was in a co-op program while I was in school. So I've worked with some very great people who helped me build the necessary skills that I need." His eyes paused briefly on Byakuya's and flitted away to Vince.
"Abarai Renji, tell me a little bit about your previous roles."
"Well, I started off performing simple administrative tasks until eventually I worked with the executive of the company. In addition to my daily duties I was also IT support since I have a working knowledge of many technological aspects of the software we were using."
"That's great!" boomed Vincent. "And you also worked in the financial sector it seems?"
"Yes, I did some analyzing/accounting for another company after my co-op finished. However right after I graduated they hired me permanently."
"And why did you leave your previous job?" asked Vincent, leaning in eager to hear Renji's answers.
"I really want to work in a software company, and believe that with my knowledge in software, and IT I can be a valuable asset." Vincent nodded eagerly, his smile growing broader.
Byakuya threw an irritated look at Vincent, and immediately realized that he was not too fond of Abarai Renji. His overly confident and less than humbling attitude left a bad taste in Byakuya's mouth, along with the wild shaggy mane of red hair.
"Abarai Renji," he said, in deadly soft voice. Renji turned his attention to Byakuya, unblinkingly.
"Mr Kuchiki," replied Renji, the coolness in his voice masking the pounding in his heart. He could feel Byakuya's hard, cold eyes on him and dared not look away. He knew that if he looked away, it would all be over in an instant.
"We here at Kuchiki Enterprises, disapprove of visible body art, and believe in dressing conservatively," he said stonily as he glanced at Renji's ponytail, his mouth curving in disgust.
"I'm sorry that you feel that way, Mr Kuchiki," replied Renji quietly, grateful that his voice came out sounding strong and clear. He could feel the beads of sweat trickling down his back as Byakuya's smouldering eyes continued to burn him.
"Ahem," Vincent cleared his throat, interrupting the tension between the two young men. "Well that is all for today. Thank you very much Abarai Renji," grinned Vince shaking his hand enthusiastically.
"It was a pleasure meeting you Mr. Turner, Mr Kuchiki," replied Renji leaning in to shake hands. As he caught a whiff of Renji's scent and as warm brown eyes locked on Byakuya's a jolt went through his body like a strike of lightning that left him tingling. It left him feeling slightly light headed and snatching his hand from the redhead's Byakuya started clearing the desk as Vincent gave him a curious look and proceeded to walk Renji out the door. As Vincent disappeared behind the corner Byakuya gazed at his right palm puzzling over the strange sensation, wondering why his stomach was churning and his heart racing.