Assuming the Worst
What if the first time Mai had arrived late to work had been rather different?
'Naru' (also known as 'Shibuya-san', 'Shibuya Kazuya' or 'Narcissistic, heartless, annoying pretty-boy' by his various associates) stared thoughtfully at his tea cup. The reason? It was empty. It had been thus for nearly an hour and a half. He had been very thirsty for the same amount of time. A simple set of eight movements could solve this –now quite serious- issue. And yet he was overcome by reluctance.
Why?
Having rationalised this far, he found that did not really want to know the answer. Unfortunately, this was impossible, as to know that the last thing he wanted to do was to understand why he was reluctant to get his own tea, he had to know that it was something he did not want to know. In conclusion, he understood that it had something to do with the fact that Mai made better tea than he did, she smiled attractively when she opened his door, there was always a kind word or an faux-insult and an extra biscuit... She would be here within fifteen minutes. Good.
This made him smirk slightly- the opportunity to bark 'Mai, Tea!' at her, then sit back and listen for the explosion was always an interesting interruption in his day. Was that the door?
Lin was slightly surprised when his wards study door swung violently open as he came back from lunch, and Naru looked blankly at him.
"Is everything ok?" He asked incautiously.
"Fine." The door shut definitively behind the SPR boss' tense back.
Lin raised an eyebrow.
After reorganising his most recent research papers, Naru found himself staring once again at his sakura-blossomed nemesis. Thirsty...
Where was she? Blatantly she had overslept. Or perhaps she had gotten delayed on the bus? Maybe she was sick...No, she would have called. Unless she was very sick. Perhaps she had been under psychic attack in her dreams? What if a poltergeist from their latest case had followed her home, as he had been concerned about? She was such a magnet for trouble; it was entirely possible that she had attracted a whole new problem all by herself! What if she was in trouble and needed help?
A mental picture of Mai in a rather short skirt and cute pink top being abducted by ghostly mafia men calling desperately out to him behind a gag...Her ankles and wrists bound... No!
He came back to his senses with a jerk which sent the abhorred tea cup wobbling precariously on the end of the desk. No. She was fine. Just being, well, her usual scatty, warm-hearted self. She'd be here soon.
Was that the door? It couldn't hurt to check...
Takigawa shut the door into SPR's main office quietly behind him. Where had he left that scarf? On the hat stand... No, there it was, on the table...
Argh!
In the process of turning to look at the table, Naru's door had flown open, and an impressively blank faced psychic was staring, not quite impassively, at him.
"Hi, Naru. Just came for my scarf. Everything ok?"
"Yes."
"Ah...I'll just go see Lin before I go."
"Fine." The door clicked shut behind him.
Where the hell was she? It was five minutes past her start time! What if she was scared/sick/alone/worried/in trouble or even...Dead?! She should have called by now if she was going to be late! Perhaps he should ring her? But then, if she was ok, she would know he was worried. That might be bad. But it wouldn't matter if there really was a problem...
He drummed his fingers on the desk, anxious and hating it. That girl would be the death of him. And she was naive enough not to even realise the effect she had on him. Prancing around in those short skirts where other men could see her legs... Perhaps he could have a 'mini skirts are only suitable in the office' rule. Nah, even he could see that was mildly perverted and unenforceable. Damn.
And the way she fought back! So mild and demure at one moment, then passionate and fiery the next... She'd always tell him straight, exactly what she thought, never mind that he was her boss, ridiculously wealthy (well, she didn't really know that, but they'd all assumed it), male, older, more attractive, much more intelligent...And harsh in return. He loved that she took it as well as she gave it.
What if his beautiful, passionate, demure Mai needed him?
Well, considering that she was not even aware of his (blatant, in his opinion) affection for her, perhaps she was also unaware that she needed him?
Perhaps he should make her aware of this...
Was that...It was! The door again! It must be her this time.
Mai stepped through the door into her favourite place with a smile and a happy sigh. Taking off her coat and slipping into her office shoes, she turned to hang it up and ran into a broad chest.
"Naru?..Mmmph!"
She melted into the kiss, and moved softly into the embrace, finding instinctively the niches in his body that hers corresponded to. Warm hands on her back pulled her closer, and silence fell for blissful moments.
Eventually, they stopped for breath, perfectly in tune, and held each other for a minute, trying to ground themselves again.
"That was...wow. Naru...?"
"Mai?" His voice was warm, tender, affectionate, and everything she had desperately wished him to use when speaking directly to her.
"Yes?" Her voice was hushed, intimate and slightly husky.
"Mai...Tea." He released her and made his way back into his study, satisfaction in every step, closing his study door firmly.
She stood, speechless. Then threw a cushion at the study door to express her feelings. Moving to the kitchen, she mumbled grumpily as she picked up the tea leaves.
"Ooooh, I'll kill you one day. Then I'll exorcise your ghost so far into the spirit world that you'll need an existential map to tell you that you exist, never mind where you are! I've been waiting forever, you stupid, beautiful, wonderful man..."
R&R... :)