Author Notes: Rin completed a year of grad school in this, meaning she is 23-years-old going into this fic. Maru is around 29 or 30 years old (you can't have a 24-year-old partner in an accounting firm—I'm pushing it with Maru being under 30). Also, I kept their names in Japanese style (first name last), even if they are in New York.
Tsubaki Rin stepped out of the taxicab, black high heels hitting the pavement with determination as their owner secured her purse strap around her shoulder and gripped the handle of her first briefcase. Rin eyed the imposing front doors of Durst and Sung's New York headquarters with awe, and her head tilted back as her eyes moved up the structure's eighty-six floors. Calm down, Rin...it's just a job. True, it's the job you'll have for the rest of your life...it's your first real job...but it's just a job all the same. Calm down. Hearing the taxi driver clear his throat, Rin reached into her purse and drew out a twenty. Handing him the bill and telling him to keep the change (it was only a three dollar tip anyway), Rin firmly shut the back door and clunked her sleek high heels to the entrance, which had three sets of revolving doors.
Walking in, Rin paused for a moment to look around. The building's first floor lobby wasn't exactly crowded, but it was no dentist's waiting room either. People in sharp suits with professional expressions on their faces passed by quickly, and they looked like they all had to be somewhere five minutes ago. Rin spotted the security desk near the back of the lobby, around the corner from the elevators. It was where she was supposed to check in for her first day as a financial analyst. She would only be an assistant to someone else for her first three or four years, but that was fine with Rin—getting pushed into a job like that without much experience except a summer internship with Meryl Finch was not exactly her biggest dream. Having this opportunity to live and work in such a huge, bustling city after spending her entire life in a medium-sized town...now that was a big dream.
From across the lobby, Rin spotted a tall man in a black trench coat and a dark gray suit headed towards the elevators with a black leather briefcase in tow. Unlike the people around him, he looked calm and solid—a real businessman. He had thick, blue-black hair, and he obviously had a nice body under that coat. Rin ogled him for a bit as she slowly strolled towards the security desk. Who is that hunk? I hope he works on my floor. If not...well, I guess I still get to see him in the lobby every morning. Sighing, Rin arrived at the security desk to see a very cute guard manning the phones. He looked up when she approached the desk, his pretty brown eyes gazing up at her with a questioning look on his face. Eyeing his nametag, Rin announced her arrival,
"Good morning, Kohaku! My name's Tsubaki Rin, and this is my first day at D&S, so I was told to come see you first thing. Nice to meet you!" Taijiya Kohaku smiled brightly at her over-enthusiasm, which practically melted Rin's heart, and he shook hands with her, saying,
"Likewise, Rin. We're going to set you up with a badge saying you're an employee, and then I'll give you directions up to the correct office." Motioning to the other guard to let him know he was leaving for a bit, Kohaku stood up, keys jingling at his side...right next to his handgun. Rin was never comfortable around guns, but she just kept her gaze away from the object and followed him to a door behind and to the right of the desk.
At the elevators, Sesshou Maru waited with about eight other people for the elevator to come down and pick them up. Turning to glance around the lobby in boredom, his eyes landed on what had to be a nymph. A young girl, perhaps early twenties, was speaking to Kohaku with the prettiest smile he had ever seen. She was extraordinarily beautiful—not in the way a movie star is beautiful, but she was fresher and livelier. Her long black hair was tied in a long braid that hung down heavily from her head to the small of her back. Her dark blue blouse, black jacket, and black skirt fitted her form like a lover's hands, and Maru couldn't help but wish her skirt didn't reach all the way down to her knees. She looks like a new employee. Kohaku will probably get her on a date before I can.
Maru knew only too well how girls flocked to the security guard, even if he was only that—a security guard. His job type, his uniform, his youth, his looks, and his personality...he usually got to the new girls first.Another lost opportunity. Convincing himself that she wasn't his type, he made sure his face looked expressionless and, taking a deep breath, pulled his eyes away from the girl as Kohaku led her to the back room for an employee badge mug shot. The elevator dinged, and the group piled in, headed up for their doses of the daily grind. Maru couldn't help himself, though, and watched her bright face until the elevator doors closed off his view.
Rin gave Kohaku her best smile when he took her picture for the badge, and then watched him pull the little picture out of the huge bulky camera. He set it on the table while waiting for the image to appear on the film, and turned to Rin.
"So where are you from? If you don't mind me asking..." Kohaku said, genially. He leaned against the table and crossed his arms, the muscles underneath rippling. Oh, he's so cute! Not as handsome as the guy in the lobby, but he's still good-looking. Rin blushed, and answered shyly,
"This really small town in Iowa. There's probably more New Yorkers riding the subway than there are people in my town." He laughed at her joke, a really sexy laugh, and Rin's face got a little redder. Smiling, he chuckled through his next sentence,
"You're funny. I can tell already that everyone is going to like you." Rin's face lit up at that—she wanted people to like her here, especially if she was going to spend a good chunk of her time in this building.
"Really? I hope so. I'm so nervous." Kohaku's eyes were shining with mirth, and he lifted his hip from the table to turn and check the photograph.
"Looks like it's ready. You'll need to fill out the information on this card," he said, handing her a blank beige card, "and then I'll put it all together and laminate it for you." While Rin turned to a counter on the side and leaned down to start writing with a pen she pulled from her purse, Kohaku couldn't help but admire her rear end for a couple of seconds. His cheeks turned red, and he spun away from her to get her paperwork out of an immaculately clean file cabinet.
As Rin finished signing her name in the tiny space they left for her, she capped her pen and tossed it in her purse, which sat next to her briefcase on the counter. Looking it over as she turned to hand it to the security guard, Rin blew on it to dry the ink and then glanced up to see Kohaku skimming a sheet of paper, his cheeks as red as bricks. Biting on her lip to keep herself from smiling, Rin held out the card to get his attention.
"Oh, thanks. Okay, now," he said, taking the card from her, "your new boss wants to see you first. His name is Sesshou Maru, 71st floor, Room 7146. Take these papers up to his secretary...erm, I forget his name—can't remember everybody—but I do know he's an ugly little guy, no offense to him." Kohaku handed her the folder of papers he had been looking at, and Rin smiled at his joke. "I'll just take care of your badge and you'll be set to go." Rin watched as he put her picture onto the card and laminated it in an old-looking little machine on a side table. Snipping off the excess, he turned to Rin, handing her the ID card.
"Looks like you're on your way now." He smiled, getting Rin a little flustered, but she thanked him and slipped the ID card into her briefcase. She then picked up her things, and Kohaku put his hand on the doorknob to open it for her, but didn't turn the handle. Grimacing at the door, he visibly blushed.
"Uhm...before you go. Would—would you like to go to dinner sometime?" He turned to meet her startled face. Rin's mouth had parted, and she fought to make her brain function correctly. My first day at work and I'm already getting a date! New York rocks! She plastered a smile on her face and answered,
"That sounds great! I haven't been to any of New York's restaurants yet, and I'm dying to try one." The tension in Kohaku's shoulders left, and he smiled broadly at the girl next to him.
"What kind of food do you think you'd like?" Rin thought for a moment, and then declared that she wanted to try New York's pizza. Writing down her phone number on the pad of paper Kohaku kept in his shirt pocket, they decided to eat dinner that night at seven. Finally emerging from the back room, Kohaku pointed out which set of elevators to use, and Rin shyly smiled at him as she ran to catch one on its way up. He waved as the elevator doors closed, and Rin smiled at her reflection in the doors once they had.
-Seventy-One Floors Up-
Stepping off the elevator, Maru turned down the hall and followed it around a corner. Then turning into a wide hallway, he passed by a secretary named Ahun who was on her way to her boss's office. She waved at him, but Maru only inclined his head. Continuing on, he pushed open his outer office door and found Jaken on the phone at his desk, which was covered with memos, letters, and the like. Mondays are the worst. Jaken grunted into the telephone, then finally hung up and shimmied around the desk.
"Good morning, Mr. Sesshou! You've got a meeting at ten with a client, another at eleven with Mr. Houshi, and lunch at the Palm at 12:30 with Mr. Houshi. Oh, and the front desk just called up. The new recruit that personnel hired to replace Yura is here and she's on her way up. Personnel said that she came from Gale with a lot of recommendations." Jaken handed Maru some messages and letters, but Maru simply raised an eyebrow in reaction to Jaken's last announcement.
"A new one? What is the woman's name?" Jaken managed to make himself into a laughingstock when he squawked and ran around to the other side of his desk to grab the little note he had scribbled down, spluttering out,
"Tsu—Tsubaki Rin, Mr. Sesshou! She'll be here within the next five minutes, I'm assuming." Maru simply continued on to his office, swinging the door open and flicking on the light. Great, another college kid with no experience, just a bunch of book knowledge. Well, as long as she was intuitive, unlike Yura, who was as slow as a third-grader—if she could pick up things quickly, he wouldn't mind training a new recruit. After hanging his coat on the coat rack near the door, he walked to his smooth mahogany desk, centered in front of the full-length windows and covered with stacks of papers, however neatly arranged. Maru set his briefcase in his leather chair and pulled off his jacket, setting it on the back. He switched on the desk lamp and pressed the button on a little remote control kept inside his desk drawer—like magic the shades to the windows slid closed to block out the morning sun, which made the room as hot as Hades if the shades weren't down.
Pulling out his laptop and arranging things on the desk, he shuffled papers for a few moments before a buzz echoed from his phone on the corner of the desk,
"Mr. Sesshou, Tsubaki Rin is here to see you." Reaching across to tap the intercom button, Maru closed his laptop with his other hand and replied,
"Send Miss Tsubaki in, Jaken." He then set a legal notepad in front of him and picked up his favorite pen. Looking up as the door opened, the girl from downstairs peeked her head around and gave him a brilliant smile. Correction: Mondays are the best. Maru could feel his heartbeat pick up immediately, but fought the blush that was trying to make itself known on his cheeks. Why the hell am I blushing? I'm next in line for a CEO position at one of the big accounting firms in the United States, and I'm blushing! Standing up, he attempted to smile for the beautiful girl, even if he was out of practice. Rin opened the door completely and stepped inside, which made it hard for Maru to ignore how well her body was shaped, even if it was mostly hidden from his eyes underneath those clothes. Behind Rin, Jaken choked on something at seeing his ice-cold boss smile, and quickly shut the door behind the new recruit, coughing into his hand.
"Good morning, Mr. Sesshou! It's a pleasure to meet you," Rin gushed, obviously excited. She walked quickly up to the desk and extended her hand, shaking his hand vigorously. "I'm so thrilled to finally be starting my new job!" Rin knew she was acting like a moron, but seeing her dream man sitting behind the desk just made her IQ drop drastically. Without his coat, Rin could see a ponytail at the nape of his neck, and wondered how far down it went. He was the kind of businessman that wore silk ties and the suspenders to match, and his sharp image just made Rin's heart thud inside her chest. My dream guy is my boss! How great and yet how awful! No one is allowed to date one's boss! New York sucks!
Maru slowly found it easier to keep the smile on his face upon seeing the blush that rose to her cheeks and feeling the soft hand in his own. He let his thumb rub one of her knuckles for a split second before releasing her hand. Taking her small stack of papers to leaf through for the pertinent information, Maru leaned back, admiring the tone of her skin as she fidgeted where she stood.
"Please have a seat, Miss Tsubaki." Motioning to the leather armchairs situated on the other side of his desk, Maru seated himself and pulled the notepad into his lap. Rin, as she put down her purse and briefcase before sitting down gingerly on the edge of the chair, said,
"Please call me Rin. Tsubaki sounds too dark to me, though I haven't a clue as to why." Maru couldn't help now but smile, however odd it was to be smiling so much in one morning. He nodded, and asked,
"Just so I can contact you, I'll need your phone number and address for emergencies." And in case I want to ask you out. Wondering where that last thought came from, Maru handed Rin the legal pad and his pen. As she wrote, she asked,
"What sort of emergencies, Mr. Sesshou?"
"Call me Maru, just to be fair. Well, sometimes a client may have just be subpoenaed for a lawsuit and they are concerned about the amount of a settlement, so they need to meet with their analyst as soon as possible." Nodding her head as she handed the pad back to him, Rin blushed when his eyebrow lifted upon seeing where she was living.
"This is not exactly a safe New York neighborhood, Rin. And it's a 25-minute taxi to the main office every morning. You're only staying here temporarily, correct?" When the girl dropped her gaze away, he knew before she even said anything that it was where she was staying on a more permanent basis.
"Well, I have a lot of loans to pay off, and I haven't actually taken in any money since I quit my college job at the bank, which was a month ago. So I decided to live thin for a year, and pay everything off, so that I could start out fresh." Rin fidgeted with the strap of her purse while she spoke, and Maru watched her soft hands, one of which was wedged between her knees. I wish I were wedged between her legs. Pinching his own leg behind the desk in order to keep his mind on the right subject, Maru continued,
"You know, you have ten years to pay off those loans. And besides, the company wants all of its analysts, whether they've been with the company for one day or thirty years, to be within reasonable distance to the office unless they're out of town on business. We'll have Jaken call up a real estate agent to find you a suitable place to live within walking distance, if possible." Maru wrote down a few things on the notepad below her writing, Rin looked up at his handsome features, uncertain how to convey her point.
"I-I haven't calculated how much I can afford per month, but I know I can't afford anything in this area. My place is fine until I get on my feet, Maru," Rin assured him. Maru's chest tightened a bit when she used his name. He smiled at her again, in response to her saying his name, but played it off as if he was trying to be affable.
"I'm not sure how much the recruiter told you about your job specs, Rin, but fill me in please." Rin blushed again at his gorgeous smile, which Maru was quick to notice, and answered,
"Mr. Manten said that I would have a starting salary of $25,000 a year with some stock options, health pla—" Maru cut her off here, his eyes confused and his mouth open a bit.
"H-he said $25,000 a year? What a moron..." Rin's face fell.
"It's less? O-oh...I didn't kn—" Cutting her off again, Maru leaned across the desk, a smirk on his handsome face, which got Rin's heart fluttering inside her ribcage like a bird.
"Rin, your starting salary is $45,000 a year...approximately. Mr. Manten is old, but we keep him around because he's a nice guy. He probably gave you the wrong figure on accident. My question," he said, admiring the way her cheeks flushed, "is why you came to Durst and Sung, thinking that you'd be paid so little when other offers must have been higher than Mr. Manten's?" Rin, unable to hold his gaze, dropped her eyes to her purse strap again, twisting it in her hands.
"My dad used to work in New York before we moved, and he said it was a really great place to live if you knew how—and no other offers had a job vacancy in New York. I...I'm used to living with parents that earned $40,000 a year together, so I was pretty sure I would be fine by myself...I just wanted to live in the Big Apple, I guess." Rin looked up to gauge his reaction, and couldn't help but return the smile he was giving her.Be still my heart! He's so handsome...why did he have to be my boss?
"Well, welcome to the Big Apple, Rin. Let's hope nothing untoward happens to you in that neighborhood until you move to some other place. I do happen to know that, in my apartment building, the elderly couple down the hall is planning to move to Florida in about three weeks. I'll talk to them and give Jaken their names for the real estate agent. It's only an option, though—don't feel pressured." If you come to live in my building, it makes it much easier to ask you out. Pinching his leg harder, Maru wrote down a few more things on the notepad.
Rin's heart fluttered inside her chest after hearing what he had to say...$45,000 a year...in his apartment building...welcome to the Big Apple. Rin dug her nails into her purse strap and took the opportunity to admire his broad shoulders as he jotted down notes. Glancing at his neck, which was bent down a bit, Rin eyed the ponytail, wishing she could free his hair and run her hands through it.
"Your office is the other door that was inside Jaken's area. It's a bit dusty because Yura left us a month ago, but it should be empty. You'll get a laptop for business use if you visit the personnel office," he said, glancing at her papers, "and no one really cares if you put personal things on there. The window outside the office will eventually have your name on it, but the maintenance staff can be a bit slow about changing the names. As for today," Maru said, looking up at Rin's happy expression, "I'm meeting a higher-up for lunch today at a pretty good restaurant. I'm sure Mr. Houshi would like to meet you." I just hope he doesn't flirt with you the way he does with all the other women he has met.
"Uhm, I don't have a lot of cash on me right now, but thanks any—" Maru waved his hand at her, interrupting yet again. He seems to do that a lot.
"The restaurant will put it on the company's tab. Don't worry about it. We'll leave at 12:00, so you've got a few hours to settle into your office and pick up the laptop. This is a list of software programs you'll need for it," he said, handing her one of the papers in his hand that was mixed in with hers. "Sango in the personnel office will also take care of business cards, if you want them. I do have a meeting in about thirty minutes, so if you would like to sit in, be my guest." Maru enjoyed getting the woman flustered, and she did it so prettily. Rin looked like she was a five-year-old looking at the entrance to Brisney World. She nodded at everything he said, leaning toward him expectantly the whole time, which made her luscious perfume drift to his nose.
"It's so much to take in, but I'm so ready for it, Maru. I promise to do my best," Rin piped up, a bright grin on her face. By God, she's beautiful, Maru thought to himself. Standing up, he set the legal pad and pen on his desk and walked around it. Rin stood up, briefcase and purse in hand, and preceded him to the door as he spoke,
"Usually, the ten o'clock we have today is fifteen minutes late, but try to be back here at five minutes to ten if you can." With his hand settled in the small of her back, he opened his office door, his cold mask back in place.
"Jaken, give Rin directions to the personnel office and the key to the other office. Buzz me when the ten o'clock gets here." Jaken scrambled around his desk, his chubby little hands working like magic to find the right key.
"Certainly, Mr. Sesshou!" Rin gave Maru a small smile as he leaned back inside his office and shut the door, a tiny smirk lifting the corner of his mouth. Jaken grumbled out concise directions and finally found the key to the other office. Rin thanked him and let herself into the other room, flipping on the light using the switch by the door. It was almost exactly like Maru's office, except there were no stacks of papers adorning the surface of the desk. Rin allowed herself to spin around a few times in glee, but then smoothed her skirt and made a fist. It's time to finally start the rest of my life.
-A Few Floors Down-
As Rin opened the door to the personnel office, she was greeted with quite an odd sight. A man with short black hair (except for a tiny little dragon tail at the nape of his neck) in a very nice business suit, was getting smacked by a woman in a stylish black and red dress with very long, straight black hair, tied high in a ponytail.
"Pervert! I go out with you once and you think it's suitable to grope me whenever you want! This, Miroku, is sexual harassment, and I'll drag your ass to court if I have to!" the lady said, her cheeks red with either anger, excitement, or embarrassment—Rin couldn't exactly tell. Miroku rubbed his cheek and tried to smile jovially.
"But Sango," he began, which alerted Rin to the fact that she had found the right office, "I just came by to ask you out again. I'm trying to show my affection here!" He grinned lecherously, which got Sango's face even redder, and she pursed her lips in frustration.
"Well, your affections after only one date should not be shown by groping me." Miroku's grin fell into an easy smile, and he stroked his hand up her arm. It was then that Sango noticed Rin, and squeaked in surprise. Miroku turned around and flashed a smile at Rin, but Rin made sure to temper her reaction to look as if she were merely being polite by smiling back. Miroku is definitely off-limits—Sango here looks like she needs a guy like him.
"Uh—hi! I'm here to see Sango," Rin said, pointing at the woman behind Miroku. He glanced back at Sango, whose cheeks had finally returned to a normal color. She stood up a little straighter and nudged Miroku to step aside.
"Good morning, Miss..." Sango began.
"Tsubaki. It's Tsubaki Rin, but please call me Rin. Maru told me you could set me up with a laptop for work. It's my first day," Rin explained, beaming up at the taller woman. Sango already seemed enchanted by the young girl. True, she was perhaps only two years older than Rin, but working in a building with a letch really made a girl grow up fast. Throwing a glare to Miroku, who didn't know why he was being glared at, Sango gripped Rin by the elbow and smacked a smile onto her face.
"Sure thing! I'm assuming Mr. Sesshou gave you a list of the software programs you'll need to put on it. Let's just step back to the computer room and I'll get you started." As she directed Rin to the right door, Sango coyly looked over her shoulder at Miroku, who raised his eyebrows at her.
"Maybe if you're nice, we'll go to dinner this Friday. See you later, Mr. Houshi," Sango purred, closing the computer room door behind her. Miroku groaned in frustration.
"I don't think I'll ever understand that woman."
Inside the computer room, Sango made her way around the aisles of random computer parts and computer terminals to an aisle with about ten boxes stacked together in a row. Sango picked one up and brought it to the table in the front of the room where she carefully set the box down on the top.
"What exactly do you do, Sango? It looks very technical." Rin looked around the room at boxes of motherboards, CD-ROM drives, and other little gadgets she didn't know about. Sango laughed a bit as she cut the tape on the box.
"Well, we're very dependent on emails, the Internet, and networking in this building. I'm not exactly a personnel officer, but it's best if my office is with personnel to keep up efficiency. I make sure that viruses are taken care of and that people are able to use their computers. Things like that," she said, flipping the box lid open. Inside was a very sleek-looking laptop, and she quickly got it plugged in where it needed to be so that she could start installing the right programs. Rin watched for about five minutes in silence, fidgeting with her sleeve.
"That man that was talking to you—uhm...his name was Miroku, right?" Rin ventured, desperate to strike up a conversation with Sango since she seems to be such a nice person.
"Yes, Miroku Houshi, one of the CEOs of Durst and Sung," Sango recited. Rin gasped, shocked that the 'higher-up' Maru had been referring to was...such a lecherous guy. Sango nodded as if Rin had actually said something with her gasp.
"Ever since I arrived at D&S, it's like he has been in here at least four times a week. I'm actually disappointed if I don't see him every morning," Sango said, her voice getting a bit softer.
"How long have you been working here?" Rin asked. She looked down to see Sango's fingers flicking over the laptop's keyboard with surprising precision as the HardNull Office Suite loaded into the hard drive.
"It'll be eighteen months in a couple weeks." Rin's mouth dropped open.
"He's been down here four times a week or more for the past eighteen months? He must really like you!" Rin sighed, her face blushing at the romanticism the lecherous CEO was displaying. Sango's cheeks lit up as well, but she continued to work on the laptop, flipping open jewel cases and sliding in the CDs as they talked.
"Well, after about six months, I finally said yes to a date. We went to this really nice restaurant, and he flirted with me the whole time. It was very romantic. Of course, he tried to invite himself up to my apartment when he dropped me off later, but I just...I can't rush into something like that, you know?" Sango said, shrugging and looking to Rin, who was tense as she listened to Sango, nodding at everything Sango said.
"I know exactly what you mean! I have this funny feeling, though, that if the right guy came along, I would actually want to rush into things..." Rin giggled, which got Sango going. From behind her hand, she said,
"I guess Miroku isn't the right guy then, right?" Rin coughed, trying to catch her breath.
"Well, not for me, but maybe for you. I think he really likes you, and I only just met him." Rin nodded vigorously to show her emphasis, and Sango bit down lightly on her lower lip in thought.
"You really think so? I've been teasing him a lot lately, so it's no wonder that he thinks he can grab me whenever he wants to. Erm—though, it's not like I'm really mad when he does it. I just wish he'd be serious once in a while." Sango popped open the CD-ROM drive again, and withdrew the CD, snapping it into the jewel case and shutting the case with a click.
"Well, I've got all the stuff on here that you'll need. Remember to run the virus-checker once a week, and to de-fragment your hard drive once a month." Rin nodded, hopping from foot to foot as Sango closed the laptop and slid it into a very nice little carrying case with a padded strap. Rin draped the strap over her shoulder and turned to Sango.
"Thanks so much. This is the coolest!" Sango smiled at Rin's excitement, ushering her to the door. Rin looked up at the clock on the wall, and gasped when she saw what time it was.
"I've got five minutes to get back to Maru's office, but I wanted to ask you if you want to do something this Friday. I don't know anyone in New York, and it'd be nice to hang out with someone during my first Friday night in the Big Apple," Rin said. Sango smiled at the younger girl and nodded.
"Sounds fun! Just give me a call down here sometime so I can get your phone number. We'll have to go to a trendy nightclub in order to properly introduce you to New York's fun side." Winking at Rin, Sango tapped her wrist to remind Rin to get going, and Rin called back a good-bye before briskly walking to the elevators. A full minute passed before one finally arrived, and Rin stepped into the empty elevator, pushing the button for seventy-one. Sango's office had been on the fourteenth floor, so it was going to be a little while. At floor twenty-one, a young man of average height stepped on. He was good-looking, but compared to Maru, not as...sexy, Rin admitted to herself. Oh great, now I'm comparing all the guys I see to him! This is going to be rough.
As the doors closed, Rin felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Chancing a glance at the young man, Rin found him staring at her, and blanched. She gave him a tiny smile and looked away quickly. This guy really gives me the creeps. He got off at floor forty-two, but not before "accidentally" brushing his hand against Rin's chest. Gasping, Rin glared at the young man, who didn't look back at the elevator doors. They shut and Rin shot herself a mean look in the reflection of the metal doors. That jerk! Finally reaching floor seventy-one, Rin made her way back to the office and knocked on Maru's door, waiting for his permission before entering.
"Ah, Rin. I see you've got the laptop. I wonder if Sango is still trying to bat away Mr. Houshi or not. Did you see him there?" Maru said from his seat behind the desk. Rin, upon seeing his gorgeous face, suddenly felt more relaxed and smiled.
"She was slapping him when I got there." Hearing a tiny chuckle, Rin fairly beamed at him, considering how he appeared cold to his assistant versus how he acted towards her. Suddenly remembering the incident on the elevator, Rin's smile faltered a bit, and Maru's eyes seemed to change.
"What's wrong?" Rin shook her head, and then glanced at her watch. Telling him that she wanted to put the laptop in her office, Rin excused herself for a quick minute. Setting the case on her empty desk, Rin found the cord for the phone sitting on the corner and plugged it in. Walking back to her door, Rin pulled it open to see a pretty older woman speaking with Jaken. Must be the appointment. Smiling as the woman turned to look, Rin held out her hand for a handshake and said,
"Good morning! My name is Tsubaki Rin, Mr. Sesshou's new assistant. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Okamaki." The woman smiled gently and returned the handshake warmly. Behind the desk, Jaken was grunting through the phone grumpily, informing Maru that the client was actually only a couple minutes late.
"It's nice to meet you, too. You look very young, I must say. How long have you been at Durst and Sung?" Rin laughed lightly at what she hoped was a compliment.
"This is my first day to be honest. I just graduated from Gale's graduate school about a month ago, so Mr. Sesshou has been kind enough to take me under his wing, so to speak." The lady nodded almost sagely, and Jaken quite coolly told Rin that they could go into the other office. Rin smiled, hoping the little guy would soften up a bit, and opened Maru's door for the client. Stepping in after her, she shut the door behind them, and heard Maru greet Mrs. Okamaki.
"Good morning, Mrs. Okamaki. How have you been lately?" He didn't sound at all cheerful, Rin noted. His responses almost sounded forced. He didn't sound like he was mad at Mrs. Okamaki, though...or that he even knew her that well. Mrs. Okamaki didn't seem fazed at all, as if she expected him to be aloof. Inwardly shrugging her shoulders, Rin sat on one of the couches against the wall as Mrs. Okamaki took a seat across from Maru. He nodded once at Rin and then began going over the liquidation papers Mrs. Okamaki was finalizing after her husband's death took the business along to the grave. Taking mental notes, Rin watched how fluidly Maru spoke and how he seemed to know exactly what he was talking about.
Concentrating on the sound of his voice so that she could try to make hers sound just as calm, Rin noted with interest that it sounded almost aristocratic, as if he was a noble in a past lifetime (if such things existed). Mrs. Okamaki nodded once in a while, making a few comments here and there, but the meeting ended within half an hour after she signed a few final documents. Shaking hands with Maru, she stood up and draped her large purse over her shoulder, then turned towards the door. Rin popped up and held the door open for her, but Maru called the farewell,
"Please give me a call if you have any other concerns. If I'm not here, my cell phone number is on the back of the card I gave you." Saying her thanks and nodding, Mrs. Okamaki pretty much ignored Jaken, who sneered at her behind her back and she left the office with a flourish wave of the hand. Rin closed the door and turned back to Maru, who had come around the desk. Blushing at the way his shirt stretched across his muscles in just the right places, Rin tried to think of something constructive to say.
"That was very educational, Maru. You have a good business attitude. I wish I could get my voice as calm. I have the feeling that my midwestern accent would grate on some people's nerves." Rin smiled along with her words, her hands fidgeting behind her back. Maru moved his athletic body back around the desk, giving Rin a view of the long ponytail that ran halfway down his back over the Y-back suspenders.
"Your voice is fine, Rin. I happen to like it," he began as he seated himself and motioned to the chair that Mrs. Okamaki had just vacated. Rin blushed again as she made her way over to the chair. "I'll be going up to see Mr. Houshi in about fifteen minutes, and we'll stop by your office before leaving for lunch, so you've got some time to get things in order. Tell Jaken what office supplies you'll need." Rin nodded, her blush having receded. Well, maybe I can date my boss. I'll just have to look for the right signals...New York does rock!