Three cups of coffee and a whole pile of papers later, Byakuya heard the door of his office open. Finally, he thought, assuming the new secretary had arrived.

Hadn't he told her eight o'clock? It was already half past. Her first day and already late. Well, as long as he wouldn't find her stealing office property any time soon…

Byakuya got up from his chair to introduce himself to her, mentally preparing to scold her for not being on time.

When he came walking around the corner and got a first glimpse of his new secretary, though, all thoughts vanished from his mind.

He stopped and stared.

She was tall and her long, black hair swayed as she walked. As she spotted Byakuya, she immediately reached out to shake his hand quite enthusiastically, a bright smile gracing her radiant face. He noticed her straight, white teeth contrasting with her dark skin.

"Hi, I'm the new secretary for Mr Kuchiki. My name is Trixie Rae, and I was asked to report to him, can you help me?" she began to introduce herself; Byakuya was surprised by her high, clear voice. She seemed to be only a little older than his younger sister Rukia, barely out of high school.

"Hello, Miss Rae" he quickly pulled himself together, trying to sound confident and calm, not at all as if her appearance had rattled him, "I'm Byakuya Kuchiki. Welcome to our team."

"What, you?" she wondered, "I expected somebody much older to be the leader of Kuchiki Estates."

Once again, Byakuya was dumbfounded. That was her first reaction to him? Didn't he look capable enough to be leading a big company?

He almost felt insulted, but then his gaze slipped down, first noticing her dark blue polka dotted dress, then her slim, long legs. She was wearing high heels, too.

Byakuya quickly averted his gaze and cleared his throat. "Alright, Miss Rae, should I show you around the office?" he offered, generously choosing to ignore her comment about his age.

"Oh, one of your colleagues already did! Abarai was his name I think. He said you'd be busy at the moment anyway, and wouldn't mind me showing up a little later. I'd be happy to start working right away" she explained, leaving Byakuya with a weird feeling sinking in.

Abarai had already talked to her? Hadn't he told him to leave her alone just an hour ago? "Sure" Byakuya just said.

For some reason he was feeling weird about the fact that Abarai had just stolen the opportunity from him, even though he hadn't actually planned to waste much time on the new secretary. And why was it bothering him in the first place?

Byakuya cast the thought aside and concentrated on business matters again. Well, at least she appeared to be efficient.

He led her to her desk, quickly went over the most basic instructions and then asked if it was her first time working at an office. "No" she answered, "I did several internships after I graduated high school, so I hope I'm well prepared."

Needless to say Byakuya liked the answer. Efficient and knowledgeable. She sat down behind her new desk right away and booted up the computer.

"Perfect. So, familiarize yourself with the program we are using, and feel free to contact me if you need anything. I'll be sending over some files right away for you to proof-read" Byakuya said.

She nodded, smiling back at him.

He just stood there, watching as she turned away an focused on the computer screen. Her long, slender fingers started working the keyboard.

"Weren't you going to leave?" she reminded him after a while; Byakuya woke from a trance.

Without another word he abruptly turned around and walked away.

Great, he thought to himself, first day and she must already consider me a freak.