Chapter: 1
The Dilemma

At 5 AM on the dot, the alarm started to commence its shrill ringing. The Sun has not yet even grace its presence on the inhabitants of the Earth, yet, the incessant unpleasant ringing had stopped almost the same time it had started.

A figure got out of bed, and trudged towards the bathroom after untangling from the sheets that confined him to the bed. Sleep had blurred his vision as he came face to face with his reflection. Despite not being completely awake, his body performed his duties – from squirting out remnants of a rolled up and almost finished tube of toothpaste to mechanically brushing his teeth. When he finished, he washed his face and walked out to his gym in his luxurious loft.

On to a clear space set specifically for this morning workout, Li Xiao Lang crouched and began practising his martial arts. His breathing synchronised with his movements – each breath he exhaled had matched a move – his shifts were executed with finesse. His eyes gleamed with determination; any traces of sleep had vanished with each shove and push. Within an hour, the sun rays had finally began peaking in to the dark rooms of his lavish apartment and taking as a signal, he dragged himself to the bathroom again to shower.

Xiao Lang soon emerged from the bathroom, with a towel in hand, drying off his messy brown hair while he walked to his living room, turning on the television and strode to his little kitchen to make himself some breakfast. His ears picked up the tidbits of the news and the weather forecast which predicted rain throughout the day. Once he finished, he put his plate down onto the sink, silently vowing to wash it himself when he got home from work.

Looking at the wall clock, adjacent to his wall-mounted television, it was finally time to leave for work. He dressed up immaculately with his designer suit and walked out his empty apartment, armed with his trusty briefcase. His hand darted to his pocket and brought out his sleek cell phone. With a tapping of a number he knew by heart, he greeted and continued on his conversation in Chinese while approaching his chauffeured vehicle.

With a stare, he motioned his chauffeur to go to their allocated destination while he engaged in a conversation in his native tongue.

Kinomoto Sakura didn't start the day well – her alarm clock had failed to wake her up 3 hours before she actually had to go to work and she may have injured herself already. She ran in her heels, pushing and moving through the crowds during rush hour to reach the coffee shop so she could get her boss's coffee. She may have been the assistant, but she felt more like his lackey. She sighed, the events of just an hour ago came back to her: she had jumped out of the bed and hit her head, managed to slip in the bathroom due to the rushing and not to mention, burnt her toast.

She entered the coffee shop and frantically cut into the line – she was greeted with glares of tired minds of the general public.

"Sakura!" A girl motioned her to the table with her order – smiling brightly as she handed her tray to the girl, ready to be swept away. The table was littered with different manuscripts and letters, the brown haired girl waved back to her friend while pushing her glasses towards the bridge of her nose.

"Thanks Naoko, I owe you one!" replied Sakura to her friend, while scrambling back to the entrance with the tray of coffee in her hands.

"Sometimes I don't understand that girl," Naoko sighed to herself before going back to reading the manuscript sprawled in front of her.

Sakura thanked her lucky stars, her friend had helped her and managed to make her save some time. She waited for the pedestrian signal to turn green and dashed off to the entrance to her workplace, trying not to spill any coffee on the ground, or rather herself.

Her heels managed to make a minimum of noise as she jolted towards the closing elevator doors, slammed her body through the decreasing opening and finally got in, and smiled. Noticing the eyes of the other occupants of the elevator on her, "I am fine," she beamed as the doors finally closed.

As soon as the elevator stopped at Sakura's destination, she heard the receptionist, a middle aged, immaculately dressed woman, Asuna, barely fazed by Sakura's stumbling actions mumbling, "You barely made it, he isn't here yet." Sakura walked past her and made a beeline for her desk – the coffee cups were intact. Almost.

Slamming into someone was definitely not a part of her plans. Spilling coffee on her white shirt was definitely not what she planning to do today. She muttered profanities under her breath when she felt her skin burn when the coffee seeped through her shirt. "I am sorry, Yuri," Sakura managed to say amidst the pain. Yagami Yuri had been startled and looking at the poor girl's outfit, she pulled her colleague up and smiled.

"I am so sorry! Come on with me, Sakura, I have a spare shirt in my desk," Yuri said, while walking to her desk to bring out a shopping bag and handing it to her colleague. "Thank you so much, Yuri, at least I saved his coffee," Sakura replied, walking towards her boss's room, placing the unspilled coffee on his desk and heading to the bathroom to change into the shirt Yuri lent to her.

As soon as she walked to her desk, the office messaging system on her computer beeped and she read the one line that had changed the office atmosphere from a lax and relaxed state to a tense and busy one:

He is here.

With her notes and materials in hand, Sakura waited next to his door, counting down how long his footsteps are going to reach his room. He had walked in and Sakura greeted her amber-eyed boss with obligatory greeting like she had for the past 2 years.

"Good Morning, Mr. Li."

"Good Morning, Mr. Li."

Li Xiao Lang had merely nodded at the greeting before passing by his secretary and into his room. He had noticed the coffee that had been placed on his desk – he took a few sips.

"Kinomoto, what is on the schedule for today?" He asked. He knew what he had for today, he needed to confirm everything once again at the beginning of the day. It was a system he had become accustomed to – he barely looked at his secretary while she spoke of meetings, important calls and all the deadlines they had to meet today. When she finished, he had merely waved his hand to dismiss her.

"Kinomoto, wait," he had merely said, his assistant stopped in her tracks and turned to face him.

"Yes, Li-sama?" Sakura asked in a professional tone, wondering what errand he would torture her with.

"Who is Naoko?" he asked, his eyebrows knitting together while he waited for her answer. He had noticed that name on the coffee cup ever since he started sipping on it.

"Uh, Naoko is a friend of mine, she was the one who bought the coffees while I was late, sir." Sakura said, she had not checked the coffee cup before she had placed on his desk.

Li had chuckled to himself and got up from his chair, his eyes trained on the file Sakura had placed last night – "Call Kei in here please." Sakura nodded while she walked to her desk, calling Takamura Kei into the office. Takamura Kei was one of the head of marketing with a notorious reputation. It was a miracle that he had managed to stay in the Li Corporations for almost 3 years. One look towards him, Sakura could see what kind of a person he was, and the rumors that went around the office didn't help alleviate the man's reputation either. She knew why he had been called. He may have been a good worker at times, but he was a liability. Sakura could bet that he would be fired today. She just knew it.

Takamura Kei, a man with blue eyes and dyed blonde hair, dressed in a grey suit and a blue tie that accentuated his eyes – his face may have been handsome, but with a scowl permanently etched into his face, he had looked older than he actually was. Kei had not even acknowledged the girl but in fact, he had sauntered into the CEO's office like he was going to be rewarded. Sakura had sighed, and started to work on some pending proposals that had to be written up and handed to Li for approval.

Just as her boss had walked out of the office, Kei followed, his face red and eyes gleamed with anger. She and the other employees were working peacefully when they heard the sound of glass breaking and bellowing voice of Takamura Kei, who had been swearing at the CEO and his family, calling them tasteless names that even Sakura found disgusting.

"LISTEN HERE, SYAORAN LI. YOU OWE ME THIS COMPANY. I BROUGHT UP THE PROFITS, I'LL SUE YOU ALL!"

The entire floor was eerily quiet, the air felt still and the silence was bone chilling. Xiao Lang turned when he was addressed as Syaoran, and looked at him dead in the eye. His glare was menacing but Kei fumed and screamed, "I'll ruin you, just you wait!"

"Listen Kei, leave with whatever dignity you have left intact, or leave with an armed escort with horrible legal consequences," Syaoran said sharply, "In fact, if you don't walk away in 30 seconds, I'll ask Sakura here to videotape the whole thing and post it into that video website."

Sakura looked at her boss when he had mentioned her. She had a different sort of respect towards him but sometimes even he knew that she did not like him at all – she was tortured: she remembered the late night runs to the coffee shop on the other end of town, writing out drafts even though the tenders and pitches had deadlines for a later date. He was the reason that she hasn't been able to see her family for almost 2 years. She had so much work – it had been impossible to plan a visit or much less, spare a single day to drive an hour to her sleepy yet cozy hometown of Tomoeda. At least she had managed to get her leave for the weekend so that she was back with her family, celebrating her great-grandfather's birthday with him.

Kei had looked at Sakura and while her face was still etched in shock, he sauntered away to the exit, muttering to himself. The office had resumed its business once Kei had left. It was a very rare scene to watch an employee create a huge scene in front of the esteemed CEO.

"Kinomoto, ask someone from HR about Kei's workload, it looks like we are going to have to work overtime so we can get everything done as scheduled."

Wait, what. Sakura looked at her boss with a stunned look on her face. He knitted his eyebrows together at her response, "Is something wrong, Ms. Kinomoto?" he asked.

"Li-sama, I have requested for a leave this weekend, I was actually thinking of going to my hometown for my grandfather's 80th birthday," Sakura replied. "Well, the request has now been denied. Overtime starting today, Kinomoto. I am sure you celebrated enough birthdays with your grandfather," he waved her off, and walked back to his office and closed the door.

Sakura clenched her fists tightly, her anger had been rising ever since the day had started and this decision had been the tipping point. However, she didn't have the guts like Kei did, she wanted to scream at the man who declined the request of a leave just like that when she had been asked for it since 3 months ago. Her day has been turning out far worse than she had imagined it – all she wanted to do today was finish up her tasks and then be merrily on her way home and pack for 2 days of escaping the tight grip of Tokyo and go back to her childhood home in the company of her friends and family.

"That jerk," Sakura murmured under her breath and stomped back to her desk. The telephone on her desk rung, and despite the little cloud of depression that had crept up on to the Sakura – making her emerald eyes duller and downcast, she picked up the receiver and forced her voice to perk up. "Hello, this is Li Corporations, how may I help you?"

"Kaiju, it's me, just wanted to know when I should pick you up from the bus stop" the person from the other end had gruffly spoke.

"Hello to you too, Touya. I thought I told you not to call here – you could have waited till lunch," Sakura pouted immaturely, but hearing her brother's voice helped reduce the sadness she felt at that moment. She hadn't even retorted to her brother about calling her with that name – even at the age of 26, she would squabble with her brother like she had when she was 10 years old.

"To answer your question, I have to cancel, my boss is making me work the weekend. I am sure Grandfather will understand," Sakura continued. She knew her great-grandfather, who she lovingly called grandfather would understand, but she had really wanted to celebrate the 80th birthday with him so much – it was a milestone. They had barely had time to celebrate birthdays together – she remembered how Touya and she sent her grandfather presents when she was around 12 years old. They were estranged, but soon, they began to repair the relationship. She had met her great-grandfather before on holiday before that back then, but she didn't know about his identity then. She had remembered the dress he had given to her – it was her mother's. She had visited him every day until their holiday was over. 4 years later, when they met again, Sakura surprised his father and brother by saying that this was the man who had extended his generosity on her on that holiday. He was then an integral part of her life – her father, brother and great-grandfather.

"WHAT? This is no time for jokes, kaiju. We had a deal. We shouldn't have let you go to Tokyo," Touya grumbled – there it was, Touya had always held resentment when she applied for this job two years ago. It didn't help when her boss had overworked her and all the work didn't let her go home.

"We miss you. I know you see Tomoyo every other week whenever she goes to Tokyo, but dad hasn't seen you in a year. We haven't had a Christmas meal for almost 2 years. Just, who does that gaki think he is?" Touya spit out. Sakura didn't know how to reply. It was true, she hasn't seen her father for a year – he had been busy with archeological digs and had been away for a long period of time and he hasn't visited Tokyo for a while – except to Narita Airport and back home. She missed his home cooked meals. She truly did want to go home.

"Kinomoto, call Hyuuga-san and tell him that we are going to have the meeting pushed to 5 pm instead, Meiling wants to attend it. Take this to HR right now." Syaoran told the girl after opening the door and placing a file on her desk. At the same time, "Hai, Li-sama." She breathed out as she leaped from her chair. "Touya, I'll call you back when I am done with work. Yes, I am not coming for the 80th birthday. Goodbye." she managed to say on to the receiver before finally standing up and placing the receiver back to its original place. She could feel her boss's gaze on her and she knew he had heard what she had said over the phone. She grabbed the files and went straight to the HR department – a few floors down her floor. When she had returned, it seemed like Syaoran hadn't moved from his spot – rather, he leaned on the wall and looked like he was observing the entire floor from the same spot.

Sakura silently went back to her desk, punching in Hyuuga Mika's number and relayed the same information her boss had presented just merely a few minutes ago.

"You know, Kinomoto, I didn't give you this time to chat with your friends," Syaoran said before he walked into his office again. Sakura was shocked at what he had said. She would have given him a piece of her mind if the phone hadn't started ringing right then.

"Kinomoto, please send Syaoran to the conference room, the President wants to talk to him."

Sakura once again stood up, knocked on the glass door and poked her head in, "Li-sama, the President wants to see you in the conference room urgently." Upon the mention of the President, Syaoran's head shot up from the file he was reading and he got up. "Be sure to get me out of there in 10 minutes, Kinomoto, we have a lot of work to do," he dismissed his secretary with a short wave and walked to the conference room to greet the President of Li Corp, his mother, Li Yelan.

Li Yelan had been seated in the conference room with her niece, Li Meiling, waiting for her son's arrival. After his ascension as the heir and CEO of Li Corporations, she had just kept the title of President of the company. Her face was marred with stress, although she had neared the age of 50, she was ever so youthful, with her black flowing hair, red lips and pale face – however, if you managed to squint closely, you'd see the presence of age. She still looked like a regal queen of a dynasty. Her niece, Li Meiling, looked much more like her than her biological son and daughters – whom had managed to look like their father – with their hair and eyes.

She could see his son's shadow signalling that he was walking towards their room. The documents near her had alarmed her a lot – she knew she could pull some strings but she needed some leverage to ask her son to do what she wanted.

"Mother." Syaoran greeted stiffly when he entered the bright conference room.

"Xiao Lang, I hear you are handling your work really well, good job," Yelan said. The diplomacy in her voice sometimes made her son stiffen but her years at the company had trained her to be this way. This was the easiest way to break bad news.

"I am sure you haven't called me in here to compliment my work, mother." Syaoran replied, his gaze on her didn't falter. "Can I ask why I have been called here?" he asked. Syaoran had noticed his otherwise engaging cousin had been quiet the entire time. This meant that there was something wrong.

"Xiao Lang, remember that you weren't supposed to leave Japan because your visa was being processed?" Yelan started. "Of course, I do. I did have to leave for Hong Kong during that time period because of that Ryuzaki problem. What's it got to do with that, mother?" Syaoran explained.

"Well, Syaoran, the thing is your work visa has been denied and so, pack your bags, you are going back to Hong Kong" Meiling stated. "I thought the lawyers handled it, what is wrong with them?" Syaoran declared angrily, his fists clenched tightly.

"I told them not to work on them, Xiao Lang, after all, your sister Fei Mei could have handled this on her own," Yelan articulated. "You have to reapply and wait for the visa application again, until then, Meiling will be taking over the operations here, Xiao Lang." Yelan declared, her eyes trained on her angry son. The tension in the room could be cut with a knife.

Suddenly, a knock sounded on the door. It opened and an auburn haired woman with intense emerald eyes peered in. "Li-sama, there is a Mary Smith wanting to talk to you urgently. If you want, I can tell them you are in engaged in something else," she squeaked when she noticed both the ladies' eyes were trained on her.

"Excuse me, but you can't barge in here like that!" Meiling started, however she had quieted down when Syaoran glared at her. Upon hearing what his secretary had said, his brain formulated a plan. A plan that was both stupid and risky. A plan that can save him from going back to Hong Kong.

"Kinomoto, come inside please," Syaoran uttered, motioning her to join them into the room. Sakura was confused, she had to follow orders and so, she had entered, bowing in respect to the President.

"Mother, I know the dilemma we are in but I have something to say," Syaoran mentioned while backing towards Sakura until they were both next to each other.

"What is it, Xiao Lang?" Yelan asked, calmly.

"Well, mother, Kinomoto and I, I mean, Sakura and I," Syaoran started. His eyes went to his assistant and in front of his mother and cousin, he held her hand and spoke the words that astonished Sakura and the ladies with him.

"Mother, we are getting married."

Well, that's it for the first chapter, I hope you like it.
This happens to be my first fanfiction on this site(a very overdue one) and this idea has been stuck in my brain for a while. I would like to thank my friend, ivory-sword for looking at this and giving me the encouragement to post it! If you are into the Avengers and Merlin, she has amazing stories up her sleeves.

As you can tell, this is going to be an AU and is sorta based on the movie, The Proposal. I have taken liberties with certain information and also, managed to put in Japanese whenever I could in order to stay true to the characters. I'd love to know what you think of the chapter.

Till next time!
(21st May 2016)