Disclaimer: Standard Disclaimers Applied
Title: Wanted: Girl Friday
Summary: //RyoSaku//AU// Afraid of losing her job, Ryuuzaki Sakuno was forced to stay at Sasabe's. Well, not until Echizen Ryoma came into picture. "Excuse me for asking sir but…what exactly is my job?" Yes, fate must be on her side this time…or not.
A/N: My second try. Yes. First off, I want to thank those who reviewed my first "comeback" fic (Silent Treatments), or even those who just read it. The concrits helped a lot too. :) But, let me have a teeny tiny request, please try not to be a grammar-nazi (got that from Polka-chan). Try to understand on what the story's about. And, more importantly, review things that would help me improve, not just focusing on my faults (Two typos, eew. And your spelling is bad. Quit it, you grammar sucks) or praising the story alone (HOMG!!!111 The story ish sooo great! Plz continue these!!!!111). Please, oh please.
Oh, oh, I got the idea of the girl Friday from my SocSci 13 professor last first semester. YEAH. From school, can you believe that? And since this story is one-year- old in my computer, I think it's about time to take my chances. Also, I was inspired of Jennai-san's (my favorite author) Business Intrigue. :) And as for the title, I can't seem to remember how my professor used to explain on why personal assistant is also called girl Friday.
I had the sudden urge to post this on Friday, but I guess that wouldn't work. :(
WARNING: This is set on Alternate Universe. Characters might be different from the way they supposed to be. Well, you get the picture. :) And I hope you could get that some in the anime series might not be in here ne?
THANKS TO: Polka-chan / Beta-dono for beta-ing. :) and to Jennai-san's Business Intrigue! YAAY!
DEDICATED TO: Colleen-chan (cutiesakuno18). :) I hope that you'd like this chapter, kambal!
NOTE: 'quote' for thoughts and quote for flashbacks. All were on their twenties, though I hardly want to change Sakuno's personality, maybe a little, but not entirely. It's cute to think that Ryoma will always be her knight in shining armor . . . despite the fact that it's AU. Don't you think so too? And so far, I think Ryoma's OOCness would not be expected, since I want him being cocky and arrogant myself. :P
Well, Read and Enjoy!
• • • •
Definition: Girl Friday noun – office worker: a young woman whose job is to be somebody's personal assistant and to do general office work (sometimes considered offensive). Source: Microsoft Encarta 2009 Dictionary. Date Accessed 14 April 2009
• • • •
Chapter 1: Deal or No Deal
". . . and Ryoma-san, are you even listening to me?" berated a woman in her mid-twenties, losing what was supposed to be her extensive patience in the process. Yet, the receiving ear of her long-winded report lingered on his silence, as if to add up to the unbearable strain of impatience that was threatening her breakdown.
Meino Nanako, Echizen Ryoma's cousin, decided that her fine lines and wrinkles weren't worth talking to a person whose only means of communication were monotonous 'Hn's and 'Huh's.' But as they had been cousins for twenty years (and still counting), she had long been used to it.
Talking to him was like talking to a brick wall. Just like the situation they were currently in. Tsk. Very Ryoma, indeed.
She closed her eyes and massaged her forehead in defeat as the young man continued slouching lazily on his favorite couch, as if without a care in the world. Sometimes, she wondered if sticking so much to Karupin had made Ryoma adapt cat-like habits.
She had been the great Echizen Ryoma's secretary ever since he started professional tennis and shocked the whole world with his skills. Obviously, there could've been no other path for him to take, as he practically had no life aside from tennis – perhaps with the exception of his cat. Although Nanako herself volunteered for the job – as she thought it would be easy and it was also out of pity for Ryoma's mother, who had had a hard time looking for one that her son liked enough – the thought of resigning had already crossed her mind twice. Aside from Ryoma's short temper and bratty attitude, she never thought that she would give up attending her own engagement party just because she couldn't miss his Cincinnati Cup.
Not to mention the fact that she was the one attending his meetings and conferences whenever he didn't want to, whenever he was too busy to attend, or whenever he was just being plain lazy.
And also that if they weren't cousins, the media and all the people around them would shamelessly think that they were lovers. Nanako even had to pacify her fiancé during that time when one tabloid columnist had audaciously spread rumors about their supposed incest relationship.
So, in shorter terms, being Echizen Ryoma's secretary was hell.
Nanako tried to keep her calm. "Don't make me repeat what I just said—" she started, but paused mid-sentence when she saw that he wasn't even listening to her anymore. With his cap down and his mouth slightly agape, the Prince of Tennis was already deeply asleep, as she, Meino Nanako, age twenty and engaged, risked her face with wrinkles just by being near his mere presence.
And that . . . was the final straw.
"That's it! I'm done here."
Ryoma made a subtle move, as he thought he vaguely heard his secretary talking. "Lower your voice a bit. It's annoying." Then he went back to his interrupted nap.
And so, the rest was history.
• P • O • T •
Ryuuzaki Sakuno was busy preparing to go to work that morning. It had been three months since she was accepted to one of the businesses owned by the third generation heir of the Sasabe family: a fairly big advertising company. And the said heir (the Boss) had the worst attitude imaginable.
"Drop the job, Sakuno!" Osakada Tomoka, Sakuno's long time best friend, wailed at top of her lungs. "God knows how that bastard treats you. Don't you even have little concern left for yourself?" She was, of course, referring to Sasabe (who, if only his will be done, would be passing up an unwritten law where it said that he must be addressed as "Sasabe-ohjisama" at all times), Sakuno's monstrous boss.
"Tomo-chan . . ." But being Sakuno, she wouldn't allow even a douchebag like Sasabe to be badmouthed in front of her. "I-I'm fine. Don't worry."
Tomoka went on with her sermon, completely ignoring her friend. "And why would I not? You're practically pitting yourself against the Devil, for crying out loud!"
"I need the money, Tomo-chan," Sakuno pointed out, though she knew very well that reasoning out wouldn't help. "Come on, trust me on this."
She was nineteen when she first found out that her grandmother retired from coaching tennis because of an illness that can trigger the old woman's death at any time of the day.
"I will do the best I can," said the doctor. "But let me be honest with you, Ryuuzaki-san. Our chances are 50-50. Heart transplants wouldn't be very easy, and in fact, expensive, too. Besides, your grandmother's old. Chances of survival during the surgery itself are lower than the usual. I'm so sorry."
She mentally shuddered as she recalled the doctor's findings a year ago. She knew something was going on the moment her grandmother left tennis. And the worst thing was, she hadn't done something about it. She had thought it was something normal, since her grandmother was aging. She had no idea that it would end up like this, and she hated herself for that.
Fortunately, before she could immerse herself further with guilt, her best friend interrupted her train of thoughts. "Goodness, Sakuno! You can't possibly exchange money for—"
"Yes, I can," she answered with newfound confidence, though honestly, she wasn't sure as to what to say next. "I-I gotta go. I'll be late if I don't."
• P • O • T •
On the way, Sakuno realized that another day would pass with an awful twist of Sasabe's bad mood added to his already given foul attitude.
Sakuno was positive that she was the girl possessing the biggest amount of bad luck on earth, for she had always been the receiving end of Sasabe's mood swings. And despite of diligently going to work every single day (she hadn't even used her sick leave yet!), her salary would always be deducted because of glasses or tables she would accidentally break or trip over. Yes, she was unlucky like that.
But, in spite of everything, Sakuno was still alive and (feebly) kicking. Every time she got a scolding, or perhaps whenever she broke some furniture by accident, she would just think of her grandmother who needed her support.
'That's right,' she would tell herself. 'Grandma needs me. I'm doing this for her.'
Sakuno, in fact, owed her whole life to her grandmother. The older Ryuuzaki had willingly taken the role of both mother and father to feed her, take her to school, just about everything. She'd been taking care of her for as long as she remembered. She thought that choosing not to stand up against her boss and keeping the job at all costs would be the best way to repay her.
Because there was no other way that she could.
"This is it." She opened the glass door, and taking a deep sigh, she made her way into the building.
It was when she spotted the time on the wall clock behind the reception desk that she realized the trouble she had just gotten into. "Shoot, I'm late!"
• P • O • T •
Echizen Ryoma was furious. His morning started bad, and now his mood was bad.
"Make sure you'll meet Sasabe, Ryoma-san," Nanako said, her hands on her waist. "It will be bad if I continue attending meetings for you. Oh, and faking it will do you no good."
He was confident he would win like he always had, or so he thought. "And what blackmail item do you have now?"
"I'll resign as your secretary-slash-assistant." Her triumphant smirk had sealed the deal.
Honestly, as much as he hated admitting it, it would be a royal pain in the butt without Nanako around. He needed someone to arrange his schedule, manage his money, attend his meetings and, most importantly, remove rabid fan girls from his line of sight. During the years he had Nanako with him, he hadn't seen a single fan girl within his five-meter radius, never had a problem on his schedule and meetings, and never had a pay lower than half a million yen every week. If he didn't know any better, he'd think that his cousin could use magic (but he did; this amazing skill seemed to be a congenital trait along his mother's side).
So there, as a little token of gratitude for her efforts, he decided to play her game. He knew that he wasn't the most patient man in town, but one meeting wasn't worth losing someone he just needed – even if doing this would make him wear a pair of sunglasses (even if the sky was particularly gray that day) and something itchy – and old school – like a huge farmer hat.
"Stupid fan girls," he audibly cursed under his breath.
Aviators and straw hat in check, he took the front steps of the advertising building and pushed the glass doors open. It was then when he felt his phone vibrate.
A text message. He flipped his phone open to read it.
It's confirmed. I'm actually getting married next week! So, I'm sorry for saying this, but I have to resign, Ryoma-san. Good luck in finding a replacement for me! I know you can :) Your loving cousin, Nanako.
Ryoma's eyebrow twitched violently. Darn. She made him – the Echizen Ryoma, popular tennis megastar – go through all this . . . this trouble, just to leave him hanging in the end? And there he thought Nanako didn't know how to get back on him. Mada mada dane, Ryoma.
But indeed, Nanako's loss was a huge blow to his organized and worry-free life. Of course, he knew this day would come – Nanako had her own life too, you know – only that he didn't expect the dismissal (more like her ditching, if you asked him) to be this abrupt. She hadn't even had the kindness to say this personally, or even to give him a call!
'Che.' He would have problems. Plenty of problems.
And the first one would be: where could he find a replacement that could be as trustworthy and responsible as his cousin?
Because the Prince of Tennis was rarely ever distraught like this outside the tennis courts – and to tell the truth, his disguise had seriously made seeing a harder task for him – he didn't notice that an equally distracted young woman hadn't seen him heading her way.
"Ow!" she cried, rubbing on where her forehead hit his sturdy shoulder. And after he offered a hand to help her stand up, she realized that her rear end hurt, too.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry!" Without even sparing him another glance, she bowed in apology. "You see, I'm in a hurry, or else my boss would fire me. But thanks for helping me out! See you around!"
And she was already gone even before Ryoma could say 'go.'
'Tch. Weird.' Weird, because usually, no matter how hard he tried to hide his real identity, people recognized him right away. It seemed that even for once, his old man's "techniques" weren't just up for naught, and could actually be useful in real-life situations.
Ryoma paused. What was he doing, feeling amused with himself and praising his perverted father?
Well, it wasn't worth his attention and concern. He had a lot more things to think of. Like finding a secretary, for example. Dang, now he understood how his mother felt when she was the one worrying about it.
'But first, better get this damn thing done for.'
The female clerk on the desk looked up from her papers as Ryoma passed by without a word. "Uhm, excuse me, sir," she said, a small hint of alarm in her voice. "Do you have any scheduled appointment? There's no way a . . . farmer-looking man like you could enter—"
Ryoma smirked as he noted that for the second time of the day, someone actually believed his disguise. But as explaining himself further would be too bothersome, he simply removed his hat, barely hiding the amused smirk on his face as the clerk drank in his trademark windswept green hair.
Removing the shades was unnecessary. "E-Echizen Ryoma-sama!" the clerk literally shrieked. Ryoma winced, wondering if one of his ear drums just shattered. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I—"
"Shhh . . ." he hushed the panicked clerk and raked a hand through his hair. "Get me there immediately."
The woman, despite being charmed instantly by his looks, couldn't shrug off the cold urgency in his voice. "Y-Yes sir."
• P • O • T •
Sasabe, as the third generation heir of their family business, walked down the hall with style – or what he thought of as. He hummed the tune of his favorite song and flashed a grin when he noticed that the employees paved way for him like he was Moses and they were the sea.
'King-like treatment, I like that.' He barely hid his smug smirk, palming a loose strand of hair out of his face.
"Ugh. The monster's here again," one employee mumbled under his breath.
"Like, of course, 'cause this is his company right?" another whispered while rolling his eyes.
"Riiiiight," the others mouthed in chorus.
"Oi, oi back to work! He's here in five minutes. Chop, chop!" Hanamura, the stuck-up supervisor who could rival Sasabe's foulness, clapped his hands twice to snap the scorning employees back to their senses. "And Ryuuzaki," he called out.
Sakuno, although still panting, was right in front of him at once. "Yes, sir?"
Hanamura handed her a cup of Starbucks café au lait. "Get this to Sasabe-sama's office, now. He doesn't want and tolerate delays, got that?" No answer. "Hurry!"
Sakuno almost spilled the coffee out of shock. "C-Certainly, sir."
And then seconds after . . . shoot. Her clumsiness reigned.
"Ahhhh!" She tripped herself over and landed the coffee on Sasabe's newly-bought suit, which he specifically reserved to wear on the day he'd make a business deal with Echizen Ryoma. She grimaced apologetically as she caught sight of his face, reddened and blotched with anger.
'What the hell?!' He pushed Sakuno as far away from him as possible. "Ugh! Are you an idiot or just a plain dunderhead? Huh?!"
She tried to recover the cup of coffee, but her hands were trembling so much that she could barely hold the container properly. "S-Sorry, sir, I wasn't—"
"Are you bitching your way on my way just so I could notice you?" Being born to an affluent family and raised up treated like the royal made Sasabe a person who never missed a moment to rub in his superiority over others. And his ultimate favorite as of recently was treating Ryuuzaki Sakuno like a rag.
Sakuno, on the other hand, tried to wipe the damaged suit clean. "I'm really sorry. I would just wash your suit—"
He jerked his arm away from her as if she had some sort of disease. "Couldn't you just thank me for being so good as not to fire you?"
She was fighting the urge to cry. She knew that she had to sustain the job no matter what.
'Grandma needs these. Grandma needs me.'
"P-Please sir." Her voice cracked, the tears threatening to fall out. "I-I beg you. Please. I need the job."
"Your stupidity is pissing the hell out of me you know that?" Sasabe yelled, pressing in on the word 'stupidity.' "And you totally ruined my perfectly good mood! Bitch."
Before Sakuno could say anything else, a nervous, cracked voice interrupted her raging boss. "Sasabe-sama, your client has arrived."
Sasabe sneered, his composure back in an instant. "Hah. Just in time. Tell him to wait for me. And you," he added, turning back to Sakuno. "Clean up your act or kiss your job goodbye."
• P • O • T •
For the next twenty minutes, Sasabe had been busy delivering his presentation to his client, the Echizen Ryoma.
Yes, say that again. THE Echizen Ryoma.
". . . and as promised, five million yen will go straight to your account, along with, of course, countless benefits. In exchange, you will be doing an advertisement and an interview patronizing the aforementioned product."
Ryoma stared blankly at the projected PowerPoint presentation in front, disinterest and boredom literally dripping out of his face. He yawned unabashedly while the ignoramus across him was too busy sugarcoating his half-hearted words. Honestly, if the poor guy wasn't such a try-hard, he could've listened to him more, and if he wasn't such a simpleton who thought that the Prince of Tennis could be convinced with just five million yen, he could've given him a pat on the back for the effort. Oh, and perhaps an autograph, too.
When the monkey was finally done talking, Ryoma couldn't have wanted anything else at the moment other than to get him out of his sight.
"So, how was it?" he had the nerve to ask. "Too temping eh? I think you should—"
"No, I'm not doing it," Ryoma cut in. Echizen Ryoma's word was law, after all.
It was a surprise, though, when Sasabe's smile didn't even falter.
'Oh yeah? Try me.' The third generation heir was confident that he could make the tennis prince sign the contract. He was Sasabe, for heaven's sake. Nobody had ever dared to pass up Sasabe's offers. "But, Echizen-sama," he started, diverting to his 'persuasive' mode. "I would like you to reconsider. Please bear in mind that this will be for your own—"
But Ryoma wasn't listening anymore. He didn't want to waste his time trying to understand Sasabe's language. 'Darn Nanako. You'll pay for this.'
When Sasabe didn't show any signs of stopping any sooner, Ryoma's patience began to thin out. "Are you deaf or what?" he snapped, in an attempt to shut him up. "Do I still need to repeat myself?"
"No sir." Sasabe tried to prove his point. "But you're being unreasonable. I'm giving you a precious—"
He was itching to give the man a good Twist Serve. No, a Cyclone Smash would do great, too. "Is this your way of treating your clients?"
"As I was saying, this is for the sake of your career. I'm just being considerate."
"You literally tear my ear drums up. Now tell me, in what way are you being considerate?"
"Ryoma-sama," Sasabe was getting desperate. It was now or never. It was the only way to keep the company running. It was all in Echizen Ryoma's hands.
"Hah. Serves you right, Sasabe," Tatsuya Megumi, Sasabe's secretary, smugly said from outside the glass walls of the conference room. She childishly stuck her tongue out at Sasabe's harried face, thoroughly using the given opportunity to take her silent revenge on her boss. Then she noticed Sakuno, standing so quietly in one corner, still red and teary-eyed from her humiliating experience.
"Are you all right, Sakuno-chan?" she called out happily. "Look, the Devil's getting punished!"
Sakuno strained a smile. "I-I'm alright, Megumi-chan." She looked down at her intertwined fingers. "It was my fault for being so clumsy anyway."
Megumi playfully smirked. "Eh? And there I thought you poured the coffee on purpose."
"N-No! How could I possibly—"
"And now look at him. Echizen-san's giving him a hard time. I think God really answered my prayers!"
"Mou. . . Megumi-chan," Sakuno tried to scold her officemate – to no avail.
"Ha ha, see for yourself."
She took a small peek to see if what Megumi had said was true. What interested her more, though, was Sasabe's client. "Wait, he's—"
"…And to think he's not that handsome or rich. Yet he acts as if he owns the world," Megumi was saying. "Not like Echizen-san though. Look at him! Oh! He's like a prince! A royal!"
"Well, Sasabe-san does own this company," Sakuno reasoned out.
Megumi flipped her long hair before going back to her seat. "Hmm . . . well, you're right. But you know what?" She approached the startled Sakuno then whispered, "It's a now-or-never situation for him. The company would blow off if he can't get this deal. It will be hard time for all of us, but if that means crushing bastards like him, then it's all worth it."
"Megumi-chan . . ." Sakuno finally gave up on trying to stop her from badmouthing their boss.
Megumi winked at her. "Don't be sorry for him; he's not worth your kind heart, Sakuno-chan."
"I'll get me some papers," Sakuno said, making up an excuse to be no longer part of the sin she believed Megumi was committing. "You want me to photocopy something for you?"
"Ah no, nothing for now," Megumi said, her attention still on the meeting inside, "just be sure not to break that, yes?"
"O-Oh, sure."
• P • O • T •
A light-bulb moment came. Ryoma couldn't believe his sheer genius, but well, he was Echizen Ryoma. A perfect idea to kill two birds with one stone presented itself on a silver platter in front of him. He now had a wonderful solution to have a replacement for Nanako, and to get rid of annoying, ignoramus Sasabe at the same time.
"Okay," he suddenly said with a sly smirk, interrupting Sasabe's long-winded speech. "Why don't we have a deal?"
"D-Deal, sir?" Sasabe was surprised to hear himself stuttering. 'A Sasabe will not do that. Never will.' But by the way Ryoma's glare bore down on him, he couldn't help but do so.
"You'd find me a secretary, and then everything would follow," the tennis prodigy said smoothly. He couldn't believe he was so eager to get Sasabe out of his sight that it drove him to suddenly bringing up his own dilemma. Anyway, what's important was the fact that he could use Sasabe to solve his problem. Ryoma wasn't one to let problems linger on his wake for too long, especially problems that involved his tennis career.
"A secretary?" Sasabe blinked hesitantly."Do you want me to call an agency that hires—" He was cut off when Ryoma lifted his forefinger and pointed at something outside.
"How about her?" he asked, as if Sasabe was a salesman in a department store whom he just ordered to get something for him.
"Who, sir?"
"There. The one beside the photocopy machine."
Sasabe deftly followed where his finger was pointing, and almost did a double take when he realized who it was.
'R-Ryuuzaki?!'
• • • •
A/N: A cliffhanger? Yeah, well you could say that. Well, I hope you liked the story though. And, a review would do me good, too. :)) Ideas for the fic wouldn't be bad either. I want to know what you're thinking about the story, too. That makes me motivated, I guess.
I cut my original first chapter, so that I can pass it now. Kinda stupid huh? And it's… well, too long if I didn't. Well, I want to know, as early as this if…you guys still want me to continue it or not. Ne?
And as I said, I wouldn't deny the fact that I'm not perfect. There are errors in which I would be committing with or without me knowing. I would appreciate if you would tell it to me, but please do it in a nice way. I tend to take all things seriously. Xin Yi, right. Like her.
Oh, and in case you're going 'what-the-hell' on the words girl Friday, please refer to the definition on the upper part of this page. :) Thank you. (The purpose of the definitions and such would be revealed in the succeeding chapters.)
Reviews are very much appreciated, much more, concrits. Constructive criticisms. But flames? I discourage you not to. That's not going to help. Not going to help in any way. Well, that's it. Thanks for reading. :))
DATE SUBMITTED: 7 May 2009