A/N: Yes, I know, another story :'D But the idea for this one, which I've had since aaages, didn't stop bugging recently and I have so many ideas to go with this! So please read! And don't worry, my other stories will be regularly updated like this one!
I suggest you listen to some smexy Maroon 5 songs whilst reading this, because they got me going to write it! :'D
Disclaimer: Unnecessary, I know it is.
A Woman's Secret
Chapter 1
The shades were tucked, hair straightened out a bit before she plucked it back behind her ear.
A quick side-glance at her reflection in the window allowed her to smile, seeing how her outfit consisting of leggings, knee-high boots and a green blouse accompanied by a summer's scarf suited her well.
Nearly knocking into a passenger, ignoring the wolf-whistles she received, her eyes were focused on a grand company building straight ahead, across the street and behind some pine trees.
She would master it today.
Haruno Sakura was gonna knock 'em off their feet with her awesome talents and superb papers which had it written, clip and clear, black on white, what an amazing person she was to have in your office.
She would make them beg for her to stay, they'd not even consider anyone else. They would see the talent in her.
As a secretary.
We're talking about a regular company.
Maybe it wasn't the best choices, maybe it wasn't really what she wanted.
But she had no choice.
Someone needed to pay the bills, and by Jolly Roger it was her damn job to do so.
Okay, where Jolly Roger came from nobody knows, but she was determined to blow these people's minds and get the damn fucking job.
Because she was intelligent.
Not because of her long, lustrous rose-tainted locks which flowed liquidly in the most brilliant of curls around her head, tumbling down her back like a waterfall.
Nor due to those large, exotically malachite eyes that glowed with the radiance of a thousand suns.
Neither did her perfectly toned body, with the fitting curves and the delicate, tender legs play a role.
It was purely.
Because.
She.
Had.
Talent.
Let's ignore the bit about her wanting to become a great cook and all the delicacies she worked on day in day out and shit.
Exhaling deeply before she sucked in a grand breath of fresh, pollution filled air, Sakura entered through the mechanic doors which gave way, the clean smell of bureau and papers intoxicating her nostrils.
A furious computer-typing-frenzy to her right, a couple of...erm...patients in a side room – yes, this was a social insurance company; and a few steps leading her up.
"Third floor, second room to the right. Just knock." She had the instructions clearly printed out visually in front of her inner eye.
Time to get things going.
With great confidence and pride she walked up the steps, looking leisurely to the sides, trudging all the way to the indicated room before she knocked, waiting patiently.
A man a good ten years older than her, with stubbles scattered across his chin and slack brown hair framing his face opened, smiling tiredly at the young lady before bidding her inside.
"So, you are Miss Haruno?" He asked with a grin.
"Yes Sir." The rosette pulled out her politest tone and warmest smile.
Some sucking up right at the beginning wouldn't harm, would it?
Not if it got her the job.
"You wanted to apply for the secretary job here in our company, I am right." Taking a seat, he indicated for her to do the same.
His eyes never left hers.
She nodded.
"Well, then let's see your qualifications then."
Without hesitation she handed the stapled and sorted documents over, still feeling confident.
And as she watched him, she had to notice that he barely seemed interested in the actual written words on the white parchment, but instead inspected her with too eager eyes for her taste, that smeary grin not leaving his overly large lips.
There was a twinkle in his eyes, and she had to furiously accept that he was actually busy eyeing her above all else.
"You definitely seem qualified enough."
What!?
He hadn't – he wasn't – this piece or dirty shit wasn't even reading the document's contents.
Oh no.
A heavy sigh escaped her lips.
This was another man who just saw the exotic beauty within her and was keen on getting her to spend the night in bed with him. Just to see what it's like doing it with someone like her.
Sakura felt like cursing.
She wouldn't fall so low.
Why was this happening?
Not this time.
Not again.
She sighed, blowing her lips up and slumping back into the semi-comfortable café-seat whilst ogling her coffee she didn't feel like consuming.
"Here you go, a piece of strawberry cheesecake."
Sakura gazed up to find her blond best friend expertly serve her the named product before tucking the server underneath her arm.
"Thanks Ino." she murmured before stabbing the cake with her folk.
Taking a quite glance to her side, noticing her boss busy at the bar with other guests, she took a quick seat opposite the pinkette "Sakura, that's strawberry cheesecake. Your favourite, may I remind you?"
"I know."
Her azure eyes were twirled around dramatically, head shaking lightly before she brushed some blond strands out of her face, "What happened. They didn't take you because you weren't good enough or something?"
"If only that were the problem." By now, her fork forcefully stabbed at the cheesecake and Ino was sure she was trying to murder the...not...very...alive...food.
"What was the problem?"
"It was another one of those jobs where my boobs gathered all the attention for themselves instead of my qualifications."
"Oh no, not another lecher?"
"Yup" she hissed, finally deciding to tear out a piece of the cake and shove it inside her mouth, "he would've surely given me the job, if I were prepared to jump into bed with him."
"Damn!" The blond whispered harshly underneath her breath, "What ya do then?"
"What ya think? I legged it out of there."
"Good girl."
"Good girl but I'm still jobless. That doesn't pay the rent you know." Desperate emerald eyes watched as her bar-tending friend took another peek towards the bar inside, just to make sure her boss didn't notice her slacking off.
Sakura frowned, before thrusting the cutlery onto the table quite loudly and crossing her arms with a huff of frustration "How come it's so fucking easy to get a good job as a guy? Whenever I apply for a job with a male boss, it's my looks they're interested in, and whenever it's with a female, they don't see me fit enough. The last 5 bar jobs I went for were all out of my league. I'm a bloody good barman!"
"Bar woman."
"Okay yeah, bar woman. My dad taught me after all!"
"I thought you wanted to become a cook."
"Of course I do! But I needa start somewhere, don't I? I'm only 23 years old."
Ino laughed, shaking her head, "Well, I have had my ears around a bit, and according to my boss there's a bar-job open at the "La Esmeralda" hotel down the street."
"Wait." Emerald eyes frowned sceptically at her best friend, "We're both talking about the same "Esmeralda" aren't we?"
Her cerulean-eyed opposite shrugged, "As far as I'm concerned, there's only one close by."
"Ino! That's a five star hotel! They only accept the most...professional superb amazing people to apply!"
"Well, apparently not. It's a small bar near the entrance where the arriving guests are situated; they said they don't want qualifications, but they'll put you on a trial day. If you pass, you get the job."
Large viridian eyes stared unbelievingly at the waitress sitting in front of her, in a relaxing position, feet stretched out in front of her.
"You are joking..."
"Not according to my boss."
"Yamanaka!" The throaty voice of the elder man roared, causing said woman to jump up with a shiver.
"C-Coming!" She turned to the pinkette, "Okay, look Pinky; try it. You've got talent, you can mix drinks and you always know what a man, or woman, needs when sitting at a bar. You can be as creepy as the protagonist in Chocolat. So I say: fucking go for it!"
"Yamanaka!"
"I'm here, I'm coming!" With a curt wave of the hand and a wink, Ino returned to her work of serving the other guests.
Considering her words for a few seconds, Sakura stood up, having finished both her cake and cup of coffee, placing the right amount of money on the table and making a dash for it down the road to the wonderful grand hotel with the shiny turquoise rooftop.
She couldn't believe where she was standing.
"La Esmeralda" was known for it's high class prestige and top quality ranking in everything it did; the kind of place where only the rich, the celebrities and the nobles went to reside for a short amount of time.
She couldn't remember how old it was, nor to which company it belonged; but she was damn certain it was some freaking big-ass company that stank of money to a poisonous degree.
How else could it be?
You ate with silver and drank out of gold. You'd have a maid or butler for anything you needed one for, and, let's face the truth: if you ordered a chocolate chip ice cream with pistachio nuts, cranberries, passion fruit sauce and icing topped with whipped cream and a cherry as well as a biscuit, you'd fucking get it.
The hotel was nearly comparable with one of those luxury items situated in Dubai.
The fine satin, the dark red rugs, the golden, porcelain and marble figurines; a fountain inside the fucking building.
Sakura felt like gaping until her yes popped out of her skull and rolled over-dramatically on top of the velvety floor, only to stain it a slightly darker red because of all the blood, which thus would lead to the whole ground being renovated...oh help.
Breathing in deeply, raggedly, the pinkette took another step, gazing around.
There was a luxurious little Café to her left; making Starbucks seem a bad joke.
Which was annoying.
Sakura loved Starbucks.
She felt like a Queen whenever she went to get her most prized Java.
Now she felt like a rat in a restaurant it simply did not belong in.
Well, maybe she could pull a Ratatouille!
Like hell...
She approached the Café and was positively surprised to actually find a neatly printed out, carefully decorated certificate-like piece of parchment requesting a new barkeeper who would not require qualifications as long as he proved himself worthy on a trial day.
Other's just scribble a smudgy "BARKEEPER WANTED" sign on a piece of paper and hung that up, but yeah, when you're in high class hotel, you cannot afford such things.
It needs to be parchment paper decorated with swirls and elegant French designs.
Because that's the way heads roll over here.
Gradually stepping closer, inspecting the instructions with more clarity, Sakura gleamed inside.
"This'll be easy! Once they see what I've got, they'll beg for me to take this job. HAH! I bet they pay not bad, that'll so help me out with my fucking rent! GOODBYE YOU DAYS OF JOBHUNTING AND HUNGERING AND EATING RICE WITH NOTHING EL-"
"Excuse me, young lady?" a raspy voice interrupted her.
Breaking out of her inner reverie, the rosette glanced off to the side, watching an elderly man with grey hair and a moustache, who was currently rubbing a pristine white dish clean, look at her curiously.
Only then did she notice she had actually, physically danced the dance of joy like a lovestruck idiot who just got the confirmation that her crush would take her out on a date.
"Erm..." She stood up straight, hands tucked behind her back and a sheepish smile plastered on her lips.
"I see you are interested in the bar-keeping job, am I correct?"
The emerald-eyed youngster nodded eagerly.
"Well, what a shame you won't be able to apply."
A sudden frown crossed her facial features, eyebrows closely knitted together, "And why so?"
"Well, haven't you read?" He pointed with a finger towards the paper claiming the need of a barkeeper-apprentice (she left that bit out as well when she read it, so it seems).
"Okay yeah, they want an appre-"
"No young lady" he cleared his throat, "Not the part about the apprentice, but the bit before that."
Still frowning, she averted her orbs to look at the piece of paper once more.
"...searching for a male barkeeper apprentice to..."
"You are kidding..." she whispered, before Sakura's hands went to her head in sudden frustration, "You must be JOKING!"
Utter silence followed her words, and she had to embarrassingly notice how all the people surrounding her had stopped in their tracks and doings to look at her sternly and disapprovingly.
Smiling sheepishly once more before uttering a 'sorry', she turned back to the elder man, "Why does it have to be a male?"
"Those are the requirements from up above; this hotel is not only about class and talents, but about appeal and looks, little girl, and a male barkeeper is what is wanted, not a woman."
"Urgh!" She crunched her face up in frustration and sank to the ground, staring disbelievingly off into space, "Why does this always have to happen?"
"Please, young lady, lower your tone, don't forget where you are."
Excusing herself, she stood up, bowing respectfully before she rather gloomily trudged outside of the grand building and down the streets.
When Ino heard...
She let out a long, tired breath as she trailed along the pathway back to the small coffee place Ino worked at in varying shifts.
She didn't feel like conveying another miserable message of disappointment, but at least Ino was the understanding kind.
Not like her parents.
Even though her dad would laugh and speak a few words of comfort, telling her she'll manage at one point and should just not give up, she knew her mom would be rather displeased about the failure of her daughter.
Don't get me wrong, Haruno Mebuki was a wonderful, loving mother as you could just imagine, but she was strict, and wanted only the best for her daughter.
And that included finding herself a proper educational job where she would have a stable income.
"Please stop the "I want to become a gourmet cook" business, leave that to your dad; he had a damn hard time, don't try taking the same path."
Wonderful, motivational words, Sakura mused sarcastically.
She sighed once more, simply because she felt like it.
Her distress wasn't leaving her though, and her feet hurt from all the walking, running and rushing she had undergone that day.
Did anyone bother to notice the many steps she climbed day in day out?
Probably not.
Thus, the pinkette stopped in her tracks and decided to roll her feet around a bit to give them some sort of minuscule relief.
Turning to her right to observe the shop in front of her, she noticed it was a costume-selling establishment, presenting the newest, flashy dresses, crowns, masks, wigs and all sorts.
She moved forwards, standing straight in front of the window glass, seeing partly her dim reflection and that of the streets behind, partly the products on display inside.
There lay, on a manikin head, a perfectly shaped, red wig. The hair was short, spiked at the side, ended just before the nape of the neck; obviously a male wig.
Sakura giggled. If she wore that, she'd have short reddish hair instead of long, pink, lustrous locks and they'd be all boyish and if Ino saw her she'd maybe mistake her for a -
Oh...God...
Eyes wide with realisation, focused unnervingly on the wig in front of her, an invisible light bulb burst into action above her head.
That's...that's a great idea Haruno! You're a genius!
She gave the wig an approving stare and wicked smirk.
This could work out, I'm sure!
If the hotel-management ordered for a male apprentice to apply for the job, then Sakura was gonna bloody give them a male apprentice.
Nobody said it wasn't allowed for a woman to pretend to be a male, right?
As long as they didn't check for her balls, she'd be doing fine.
Right?
Right?
Wrong. But Sakura didn't know, not at the time anyway.
A/N: Hah...so...Sakura is gonna dress up as a guy then? Well, what you think'll happen?
Tell me if this whole idea is worth my brain thinking about or if I should just forget it all along XD Thus REVIEW to share your VIEW! THANK YOU!
P.S.: Esmeralda, for all those non-spanish-speaking people out there, means "Emerald" - nice right? :DDD