A wretched, anxiety inducing noise cracked over my subconscious and I jerked awake with a start before slamming my fist down on the alarm and feeling my dread set in. One more day that I was still alive and fighting for survival here in the big apple. From far below I could hear the sounds of the already heavy morning traffic and I sighed, rubbing my bleary eyes and rolling over carefully to gently shake my two year old son awake.
"Gohan? Hey, wake up sweetheart," I placed my hand on his stomach and nudged him slightly, and his little hands clenched before he yawned and slowly opened his large, chocolate brown eyes.
"Da?" He looked at me questioningly and I smiled down at him.
"It's time to wake up. We have a big day ahead of us. Daddy starts his new job today."
"New job? Big day!" he grinned as children are able to do and leapt up, suddenly full of energy. I smiled tiredly at him and picked him up, holding his soft body in my arms as I walked us to the bathroom. I helped him out of his clothes and shimmied out of my own hurriedly, turning the hot water on and stepping into the shower with him. He was chattering on nonsensically and I smiled to myself.
I was doing this for him, all of it. It was a fresh start for us, we were making a brand new life here and it would all be worth it. We finished our shower and I helped him out and into his towel, and he followed me into our bedroom toddling unevenly, chattering incessantly. I reached for the pills on the top of the dresser and slammed back two of them with a bottle of water and then opened up the drawers and started looking for what the hell I would wear to work that day.
"Da? Want up!"
"Daddy can't right now, I'm sorry sweetie," I muttered, focusing on finding a pair of slacks and then slipping into them right after I slid on my briefs. Gohan's lower lip quivered and I pulled a deep burgundy long sleeved sweater on over my head, pulling it down so it went past the hem of my slacks. I put on a simple black vest that had a red satin inseam over my shirt and then I looked in the mirror and was startled for a moment; I actually didn't look too bad dressed like this, instead of my painters outfits that consisted of loose fitting, paint splattered and holey jeans and a plain white tee.
I reached down and picked him up and made him sit still on the dresser while I found clothes for him.
"Da? Want pants." he said innocently. I smiled at him and told him it would be just a minute while I found him something to wear. I settled for a pair of jeans and a little graphic tee with a t-rex on it and then wrestled him into it. Fifteen minutes later we were throwing on our coats and hats and shoving our shoes on and slamming the door behind us, making sure it was locked before I was running with him down the hall towards the elevator.
"Come on, come on!" I muttered impatiently as the elevator took nearly a century to get up to our floor. Gohan chattered on mindlessly, and then as we stepped into the elevator he put his small hands on my face to get me to look at him.
"Da? It ok. Good day!" he grinned up at me and my heart melted.
"Yeah, Gohan. It'll be a good day," I responded, nodding my head. The elevator stopped at the third floor and a blue haired woman climbed in before she noticed me holding Gohan in the corner.
"Hey you guys!" she grinned vapidly at us and my stomach clenched. I was pretty sure she had a thing for me but I didn't like her the same way. I just wanted to be friends but the way her eyes raked over me every time she saw me made me feel uncomfortable at best.
"H-hey, Bulma. How are you?" I laughed nervously and I would have rubbed the back of my head, a longtime nervous habit, had I not been holding onto my two year old son.
"Good, good, hey listen I'm having a party a few weeks from now and a bunch of my friends are coming over, why don't you come along with Gohan? I've got a daughter about his age, maybe a year older, come on it'll be fun?"
"Uh, ok, I'll think about it and get back to you on that, Bulma." I said softly and then mercifully the elevator opened out onto the ground floor.
"Bye!" Gohan squeaked over my shoulder to the bluenette, and I rolled my eyes as I hailed a cab. I made sure Gohan was secure and then told the cabbie where we needed to go, which would be his daycare first and then my job. It was nine o'clock by this point and I was starting to sweat nervously; I absolutely could not be late to my first day on the job.
Thirty minutes later we arrived outside daycare and I rushed inside after telling the cab to wait for me so I could drop him off. A blonde woman with a bored expression was at the counter checking in the children as they came, and I told her our name and address and that Gohan was new.
"Hey, you live in my apartment complex. My husband and I live next-door to you, actually." She said, and I looked at her with my mouth in a slight 'o' of surprise.
"O-oh, I'm so sorry, I'm still...ah, getting the hang of things here," I laughed nervously and she humoured me with a smirk. I was slightly concerned for the welfare of my son but couldn't spend much time dwelling on it as I had to run or else I'd be late.
"You be good, son! I love you!" Gohan turned around in the woman's arms (Lazuli, was her name?) and waved at me energetically before running to play with the other kids. I swallowed the lump in my throat and walked briskly back towards the cab and got in. He pulled away from the curb and I tried not to think about it, but it still nagged at me the rest of the way until the cab stopped outside of the immense obsidian skyscraper. I paid the cabbie and stepped out, looking around curiously before being nearly run over by a rush of people.
Jarred to action I hurried along with the crowd and entered into the tall glass doors into the large floor that was busy and full of cubicles. I looked down at my notes and remembered that I was supposed to be going to the fifty third floor of the building, so thankfully I wouldn't be stuck in that rat race. I was to be the secretary of a Mister V., that was all the job description had said when I'd applied for it and then against all odds I was granted the position. I didn't even know what he looked like but was hoping that someone would be able to help me as I got into the stainless steel elevators with a bunch of other people. Someone bumped into me and pushed me into the wall and eventually I receded backwards into the corner, looking down at my shoes.
When I heard the smooth female voice announce the floor I needed, I looked up and noticed that I had a clear shot to the doors since the elevator was nearly empty by this point. I took three steps forward and was out the doors when I crashed into a very tall, burly man carrying a sheaf of papers.
"Oh gods…" I muttered and leapt to help him pick them up.
"Watch where you're going, nutjob." a deep voice said irritatedly. I looked up and locked eyes with the angry gaze of a man I hadn't seen since fifth grade.
"Broly?" I asked, completely flustered and surprised. His eyes narrowed before he slowly took in my appearance from head to toe, lingering on one area of my body longer than any others.
"Kakarot?" he asked, dumbfounded. I smiled hesitantly at him, and then his face split into a wide grin and he pulled me into a bone cracking hug.
"Damn, I haven't seen you in forever! How are you?" I asked him, and noticed that he kept giving me once overs as if he couldn't believe it was me.
"Oh you know, trying to get important documents and then running into my old friend, literally; the usual," he replied with a smirk. A ghost of a smile appeared on my face and we made plans to meet up later and talk about old times.
"Alright I'll see you then," I smiled, and then it hit me that that technically qualified as a date. Blushing furiously, I walked down the hall and found the main desk and asked the lady where exactly I was supposed to report to. She had long straight blonde hair tied back in a tight bun on her head and blunt edged bangs, and she tapped away on her computer for a moment before looking me over and directing me towards a simple oak door.
"He's in there. Word of advice, never be late again, and watch out for his temper," she warned, and I looked down at my watch in surprise before scurrying towards the door. I took a calming breath and knocked, hearing a gruff voice say "Enter." I opened the door and walked inside, shutting it behind me before looking around the office.
It was simple, a window looking outside and the man sitting at the large desk was scribbling away at some documents.
"Yes?" he asked curtly without looking up still, and I cleared my throat.
"Uh...I-I'm supposed to be your new secretary, sir." That made him snap his eyes up to look at me and he got up from his chair to walk over to me.
"Hm. Well, I suppose you'll do well enough, as long as you aren't a complete dunce like the woman they had in here before," he said with a scowl, looking me over and then nodding to himself.
"My itinerary is your itinerary, I suggest you learn it, breathe it, and live it. Here, these are what I need for my meeting at noon; find them and be back within the hour." With that, he shoved a binder full of papers into my hands and stalked back over to his chair, sitting down with a flourish. Today was going to be a long day.
After two hours of rushing around and trying to get everything ready for Mister V., I skidded to a halt in front of his office door and tried to catch my breath, my hair a complete mess by this point...not that it wasn't always a mess. I could never contain the tall spikes it separated into.
Mister V. snapped his eyes up at me and then at the clock and sniffed derisively.
"I suppose you're not late, but you're as good as, now hurry up and debrief me." I was clueless at what I meant for a moment or so but then was spurred into action as he cleared his throat.
"Ah, right sir! Meeting at noon, lunch at three, report due at five, mail call at six." I rattled off, and he nodded curtly. I was still breathing heavily when he walked up to me and slowly took the sheaf of binders from me, and I tried calming my rattled nerves as our fingers grazed. I tried not touching people as much as I could as it always affected me horrifically. I craved touch in a way that was unheard of in normal people, so to keep myself from garnering attention, I abstained from touching anyone as much as possible.
He eyed me for much longer than I felt was strictly necessary, and then he snapped his fingers when he walked away.
"Come! We'll be late. I take it you understand that you are to attend my every need during the meeting?" he asked over his shoulder pompously. I nodded as I strided along behind him effortlessly, dimly noticing how much shorter he was to me in comparison.
We entered into the large double doors and he walked around until he found a seat halfway down the oblong obsidian table on the farthest side from the door, near the windows. I stood behind him attentively and watched as all of the other board members filtered in, and to my surprise Broly was amongst them. I saw him nod at me and I nodded in return, smiling hesitantly before I noticed Mister V. scowling at me. My face became instantly impassive again and then the owner of the company walked in to start the meeting.
Several hours later we walked out and I was nearly about to faint from boredom. It was just a typical corporate meeting, discussing mergers and sales and profits and whatnot. I sighed silently, puffing my cheeks out as I followed Mister V. back to his office. The rest of the day passed in business, thankfully, and soon enough I was able to leave.
I was halfway out the door when Mister V. stopped me, saying only that I had impressed him that day and that perhaps I wouldn't make such a large clown of myself after all. After a stuttered thanks and a brief smile, I left and exited down through the elevator to the lobby. I would need to get Gohan from daycare and then rush home to get ready for meeting up with Broly later that night for our date. I was so absorbed in my thoughts that I wasn't watching where I was going and I slammed headfirst into someone who started cursing immediately.
"Ah, shit, not again," the deep voice spoke, and I looked up from where I was sprawled out on the ground at who was speaking.
"O-oh, it's you, I-I'm sorry," I said hesitantly as Broly scowled down at me while rubbing his chest tenderly.
"You haven't changed one bit, kaka." He used my old nickname and I froze while he helped me up.
"Uh, right. Hey listen, there's something I forgot to mention that might hinder our meeting up later...uh...I've got a two year old son." I blurted out, blushing furiously as he stood too close to me. He looked slightly shocked.
"Are you...serious?" he asked with a puzzled expression.
"Um, yeah very. He's two, so...it's just us right now, I'm...I actually have to go pick him up from daycare at the moment but I just thought I would let you know. Um...sorry," I mumbled to my shoes, and then heard him give a brief exhale.
"It's nothing we can't work around. How about instead of meeting up later, I just come over to your house?" I snapped my head up to regard him, this time it was me who was shocked.
"You don't mind?"
"Well I admit I'm surprised to hear it, but it doesn't stop me from wanting to know you again. Besides, it's your kid, kaka. I'm sure he's cute like you are." He reached down and dusted my shoulder off and then hailed a cab for me while I flushed red at the compliment.
"Uh-um, so, I'll just email you my address then?"
"How 'bout you just text me? Here, give me your phone and I'll put my number into it." When he handed me my phone back our fingers lingered for just a moment longer than was necessary, sending thrills down my spine.
"Ok, will do!" I called softly, having to gulp twice as my throat went dry. He sent me a beatific smile and my heart fluttered slightly before I turned around and marched my happy self away from him. Once I was inside the safety of the cab, I breathed a sigh of relief and started rubbing my temples.
