It was 7:00 in the evening, the sun casting a golden glow across the small beach town. Eucalyptus leaves leaned apathetically as the occasional sea breeze ruffled and tossed them about against a backdrop of yellow, orange, and a slowly consuming violet. A sweet sent of honey clung to the warm breeze dancing about the beach, stirring up white sand on occasion and flipping pages of lazily snoozing tourist's novels. Brown eyes gazed languidly at a gaudily decorated cocktail menu, lithe fingers drumming a beat onto the polished oak bar. He was unsure of what he was doing here, the warm but humid island air had all but lulled the brunette sitting at the counter into a rather lethargic and almost disagreeable mood. It had been his at his boss's stipulation that he take a holiday, after all, and Kisa Shouta was having none of it.
"You're being annoying." The editor and chief of Marukawa's Emerald division, Takano Masamune, rebuked in that monotone drawl of his one-day after a relatively tiring meeting with sales.
"Excuse me?" Came Kisa's surprised response, directing his gaze up at the back of his boss's head.
"You heard me. You're being annoying." came his short reply. There was only so much Kisa could do not to gape openly at Takano's back as the two rounded a corner to the elevators that would lead them back to Emerald's brazenly decorated headquarters. "I'm putting you on temporary leave until further notice. You haven't taken your vacation time yet so I'd suggest now would be a good time to do so."
"Uh… I'm sorry, but could you please explain why?" The smaller editor inquired, keeping his annoyance in check as the elevator doors slid open lazily.
"It's obvious you've been distracted recently." Takano replied, removing his black-rimmed glasses from his face and massaging the bridge of his nose tiredly as the two piled into the elevator. "If you can't keep your work and personal life separate, I'd suggest you deal with whatever kind of trite shit it is and get back to me when you're done."
"What?" Kisa knew exactly what "trite shit" Takano was referring to but couldn't for the life of him understand how the aloof editor and chief had picked it up. From what he could tell, he was doing a pretty fine job of keeping his emotions in check while in the office. Leading him to wonder what exactly had tipped him off. It was true; something had been on the 30 year olds' mind as of recent. His current situation leaving the editor feeling listless and unable to concentrate for any long period of time without his mind wandering back to the subject in question. But perhaps, in short, the real answer was that nothing at all had been on his mind. No distractions, no eagerly anticipated meet ups, nothing at all. In retrospect, Kisa's life had become unbearably boring.
"Found anything to your liking?" A friendly voice asked, drawing the brunette's attention out of his apathetic wondering and to the man across from him. The owner of the voice was a tall, fairly attractive man, sun-bleached brown hair, tanned skin… probably late twenties, clad in a flattering black v-neck and well fitting grey jeans.
Well this is a bar, the brunette mused as his eyes took in the appearance of the young man before him, I guess it would make sense for their employees to be attractive…
Giving his customer a questioning look, the man tried again, "Is there anything you wish to order?"
"I'm fine for the moment." Came the reply, handed over with a coy smile, as the brunette returned the laminated drink menu back to its place. Tacky.
As the bar tender turned to address an attractive couple on the other end of the counter, Kisa allowed his gaze to linger, watching the young man as he expertly mixed two overly sugared cocktails and placed them before his customers. It's not like I have anything keeping me from actually talking to the guy. He mused half-heartedly, his gaze drifting down the young bartenders body, stalling at just below his midsection. Truth was; he would probably be better off if he did take advantage of his current situation, and actively try to get over the person who had been occupying his mind for the past few months. This wasn't like him at all! In the past it was so easy, amenably flitting from companion to companion as if his life depended on it. Yet now that he was, again, so unencumbered by what he would have once thought of as a metaphorical prison, his will to "get back out there" as some would say, was completely for naught. Sighing forlornly at the ringed table from countless drink being passed over night after night, the brunette hopped down from his spot at the bar and wandered off towards the beach. Wondering how to apologize to Takano when he returned, it was clear that this trip would do nothing for his present state of mind.