Jealousy is a simple word, yet one of the most destructive emotions there is. Yumi Ishiyama's current situation allows her to know best.
Many, many times had she felt it, when she saw Ulrich walking with Sissy, Emily or other girls from his class that talked to him ever so rarely. However, years had passed. The line she had drawn in their past - "Let's stay good friends" - was never erased. Ulrich never confessed to her, respecting her opinion on their relationship. Though she was positive he was also afraid of what she would say. The duo stayed good friends, but drifted apart after high school graduation. William had confessed to Yumi directly afterwards. Her reply? "Yes." Ulrich had witnessed the scene, while searching for her to congratulate her. Any hopes he might have had up to that point had been shattered. Her eyes were full of regret as she eyed him and watched him walk away. That was the last time she had seen him. Yumi and Ulrich were utterly and completely broken apart by that one powerful emotion.
William was very understanding in the beginning of their relationship. He supported her when she went against her parents' wishes. She wanted to move out of the house and start living independently. Her parents were angry with her at first, but softened up when she explained how important this was to her. She left out that she just wanted to get away from the place that reminded her of him. However, William had caught onto her actual reason and helped convince her parents by stating that he would keep an eye on her. Hiroki had blabbed about their relationship status to their parents, who ironically didn't mind that he was Yumi's boyfriend. William was being polite in front of them, which helped. But Yumi knew he did it for himself. Moving away was better for him too. No reminders, meant more time to focus on William.
When she parted from her parents and brother, she silently bid farewell to Kadic Academy and all her memories as well. She stashed them away in an archive in her brain.
William helped her settle in her apartment, which was a ready-to-live-in apartment that only missed its decorations. The downside was the size of the rooms as they were all very small. But she was going to live alone anyway. No other person would need her space. Of course, her little amount of savings was nowhere near enough to manage. She applied for a job. It was a simple receptionist job for a large company, coming with a decent pay. Yumi had decided to take self-study courses that would eventually be equal to the level of a University graduate. It would however take her approximately five years, but Yumi had little choice if she also wanted to work.
Yumi got along with generally everyone. It was easy to strike conversations and she found that the people were all friendly. Of course, there were a few exceptions. One being a brunette with glasses that looked exceptionally graceful as she sat in front of her computer, trying to divide the attention between her work and the conversation with her assistant. Yumi had often seen Emily working in the office, but never paid her any attention.
On day one of her job she was trained by her colleague, who had been working there for ten years. However, due to her pregnancy, she would soon quit her job. Her colleague had weighed her options and figured it would be better not to force herself to work and raise her baby. Yumi had no trouble picking up the rules and the manners for the job. She politely greeted guests, explained where they had to be or what they had to do. Occasionally, she was to bring her co-workers coffee or tea. Usually once in the morning and once in the afternoon. It was a course of action and reaction and Yumi found that she liked the simplistic job a lot. The female colleague who trained her had become a good friend over the few months that she had left. Her thoughts would suddenly go to Aelita, the only female friend she had in high school. Although each time that would happen, she would shake her head and focus again.
She met up with William twice a week. At first, she was wary of how the relationship would turn out. But William had shown no signs of ill nature and stayed with her as his casual self. Yumi appreciated his determination, as she was aware that he knew she didn't fully reciprocate his feelings. Sometimes, he would surprise her by nonchalantly entering the building and asking where he had to be to fill in a form to save his girlfriend from boring office hours. Even though she glared at him for making stupid jokes, she had to laugh at each new thing he came up with to merely speak with her for a few minutes. Her colleague had noticed the regular visitor, but never mentioned anything as it didn't hinder their job. She was glad that the Japanese girl had somebody to make her laugh.
After two and a half years, things became different. Her colleague had long since left, though still staying in touch via phone. Yumi felt that the atmosphere had changed. The workers had become stiff and depressed, working overtime to meet the expectations of their boss. Maybe it was a seasonal thing. It was winter after all and people that were looking forward to days off around Christmas would suffer until the last moment. The overload of work stopped nobody, but Yumi felt like she wasn't as involved anymore. The once friendly aura, turned hostile and she was considered a distraction from their work. Only later did she find out the real reason for being ignored.
A week before Christmas the director of the company did his monthly rounds. This time he was accompanied by a young man, who didn't look happy to be there at all. Yumi had overheard some conversations of her co-workers in the offices when she stubbornly went to bring them their drinks. Wanted or not, she was not going to be fazed by a bunch of grumpy workers. The rumours spoke of the director supposedly being the uncle of the young man. Their last stop for introductions was surprisingly the place where everybody starts their day, the reception desk. "And this is miss Yumi Ishiyama. She has been working for us for two and half a years now. I'm glad our company hired such a hard worker. She always greets everybody with a lovely smile on her face," the director went on about her job, explaining to the young man what her responsibilities were. Yumi had stopped listening after making eye contact with the young man. One she knew all too well.
"Ulrich," she whispered to herself. The director noticed that he hadn't mentioned him yet. "Oh, my apologies. This is Ulrich Stern. I'm sure you've heard the rumours by now. Yes, he is my cousin, but that's of no importance in this company as we all have a job to do. He will be the new manager for the team on this floor," he explained. Yumi looked at the director, short of words. She was to believe that Ulrich was going to manage the most important team of the company. The team was on the ground floor for reasons. It made it easier to search for a specialist when one was required. The office behind Yumi had at least one person responsible for each area of the company, from financial to customer service. It was a lot to take in and she was sure Ulrich must have felt the same way. "Why don't you introduce yourself now?" The director suggested.
Ulrich had a poker face. Yumi found it hard to read his emotions, something that she had no trouble with when they went to high school. He extended his hand to her and said, "Nice to meet you." Yumi shook his hand, still too shocked to say anything other than "likewise." The director carried on with his explanations, satisfied that he finished his introductory rounds. "Miss Ishiyama, I would like to propose something to you. Would you like to become Ulrich's secretary? I have seen how hard you have worked these past two and a half years. You always do your work perfectly, beyond expectations and you do more than only necessary tasks. What do you say?" He offered her. Now Yumi was dumbfounded. She had an "excuse me?!" moment in her head. "I'm not sure if I'm the right person," she began but stopped when she saw the look on Ulrich's face change. He now had a surprised expression on his face. Apparently the director just announced something he also wasn't aware of.
She started a thought process. If she took the job, her salary would definitely increase. It would be easier to get by each month, probably much easier. But she would have to deal with the awkwardness between them. How would he act? Would he still be mad? Of course he would. If she didn't take it, wouldn't that mean that she was giving in?
Ultimately, she decided that she would accept the director's offer. Whether or not Ulrich would agree, didn't make a difference to her. Yet she felt she had no courage to look up and see his reaction. So she focused on the director and continued her sentence, "but I would be happy to take on the challenge. I believe I can be of good use to Mr. Stern." She heard him scoff. "Just call me Ulrich," came his crude response. "Okay," she said, still not looking at him. The director wanted to tell Ulrich to be nicer, but got interrupted by a phone call. "I'll be back in a few minutes," he announced and walked away leaving them with their silence.
"How are you?" She asked him eventually. "Fine," was the short reply. "I didn't think you would take to an office job. What happened to becoming a soccer player?" Yumi ignored his bluntness. "As you can see, it didn't happen," he said. "Right," she stated. "Probably not the best timing in the world to talk about such matters," she thought. The director returned and explained to her she would start her new job in January because they had to find a replacement for her. Then they left her to do her job as opening hours officially begun. She wondered what kind of person would come to work there soon.
They found somebody very quickly and Yumi was eager to train her newest colleague. Her name was Kelly - of whom she was pretty sure she had seen before - and she was fluent in understanding the job and executing it. She was quite the talker and Yumi got to know the girl at lightning speed. Apparently she had a flamboyant boyfriend called Odd, whose Italian was perfect. Hearing this, the Japanese girl felt constricted. There was only one person she could have meant. Kelly carried on with her story. In her spare time, she was an artist who sold her paintings online. And she revealed the couple had plans to live together with a pet, a dog named Kiwi. "You know, I feel like we're going to be great friends Yumi. We should hang out," she suggested. Yumi told her they should make plans someday. "Or you could get a boyfriend and we'll go on a double date," she beamed at her. Yumi however declined that idea immediately.
"Uhm, I have a boyfriend, but he doesn't like double dates," she lied. If they didn't even go on dates, how would they handle a double date? "Too bad, well then it'll be the two of us. I'll introduce you to Odd in the near future," she replied bubbly. Yumi nodded, not finding it necessary to mention that she actually knew them both. Kelly continued the conversation. "What are your plans for Christmas?" Yumi had to think. Her parents would go on a trip to Japan for a week, taking Hiroki and Milly - yes, they got together - with them. William almost cried when he told her that they couldn't be together during the Christmas holiday because he had killer tests to study for and a family occasion. He wanted to safe her the trouble of meeting his family during the most exciting time of winter. "I'm going to treat myself to the best dinner I've ever had and buy myself a nice gift," she grimly concluded out loud. "Really? That's crazy. Doesn't your boyfriend have time at all?" She questioned. "Well, he used to be a rebel who didn't care about studying at all. Since he has a dream now, found a drive to go for it, I don't want to interrupt his planning," she defended him, though started to doubt. "I might ask him if he has a little time before the holiday starts though," she added. Samantha grinned and said, "yeah, you should. Buy him something to show your support!" They spoke a lot and soon it was time to close the office.
Besides the new friend she made, the only thing she would miss about being a receptionist would be that she got to go home at five o' clock sharp each afternoon. While the two of them closed up, Kelly asked her something. "Hey Yumi, I know you're going to be the new manager's secretary, but be careful okay? I think people aren't too happy about you receiving that offer from the director," she warned her and explained further. "I overheard the people in the main team during my last round there. It seems other candidates were set aside because the director favoured you. Next to that, you also personally know Ulrich, so it might look like you got into it because of connections without proving yourself. Of course you already work hard, I mean thanks for being an awesome mentor, but they don't look at it that way. Seriously, weird people," she finished talking.
Yumi was thankful that Kelly was outspoken. She had figured out the reason earlier as to why the workers from the main team suddenly started to dislike her. Their friends were probably the candidates for the job. Then there was Emily, who never failed to come across as a hard worker. But Yumi knew she must have informed the others about the connection Yumi and Ulrich have.
"It's going to be a long winter," she thought.
A/N: Samantha was first in line to be Odd's girlfriend, but I decided against it as it is more convenient for her not to know Yumi or remember Yumi. So I chose Kelly, who is a minor character in Code Lyoko that appeared once or twice. She won't appear much in this story. As for Emily, she won't have an evil personality. I hope you liked this first chapter. Hit review if you did :)?
