A/N: I'm back with another chapter. i was away on a trip for 2 weeks so i'm sorry for not updating earlier but here it is! Enjoy!
p.s. thanks for everyone that reviewed/followed/favourited or even just read my story. it makes me so thrilled :)
Chapter 2: The Girls
Serena was the first person to admit that when it came to academics, she wasn't exactly the sharpest knife in the draw. However, people she understood. At 17, she graduated from high school with mediocre grades but a stellar group of friends. Amy Mizuno, Raye Hino, Lita Kino and Mina Aino were more than friends to Serena- they were like sisters. After high school, to everyone's surprise (except her own) she then went on to complete a degree in marketing at university. After all, she understood people.
With the help of her friends, she had managed to set up a business aimed at improving and developing company images and marketing. Raye handled the business side and Serena the practical side. Lita, who owned an upmarket restaurant in downtown Tokyo, had offered herself up as their first client. Thanks to Lita, Michelle and Amara's (two older friends of the girls) high profile careers and through word of mouth, Revitalise had slowly built up their client base and were becoming huge.
Serena now employed dozens of trainees a year to help take on other clients, keeping the big ones for herself. She and Raye would often joke about their early retirement in which Serena would sit around and eat and Raye would teach law at university. Yes, things were going well for Serena.
"Mol, I'm heading out to lunch with Raye. I'll be back in an hour, okay?" Serena informed her secretary on her way out of the door.
The young and effervescent Molly smiled broadly and gave her a thumbs up as she attempted to schedule a meeting on the phone. Molly had only been with Serena for two months but Serena knew she had made the right choice hiring her. She was exactly what Serena needed- an energetic, hard-working assistant. She glanced down at her watch grimaced, she was running late as usual. Picking up the pace, she hurried to Lita's restaurant where she was meeting the other girls for their weekly lunch.
"Some habits die hard right?" Raye commented as Serena rushed in apologising, her long silvery blonde hair streaming behind her.
Raye and Mina were the only ones seated at their usual table. Serena always found herself amused at the stark difference they presented. Mina was blonde, bubbly and upbeat whereas Raye was introverted yet snarky and dignified.
"Hey! She's only five minutes late today!" Mina defended, "Besides, Amy hasn't even arrived yet."
"But Amy is a doctor" Raye argued back.
Whilst Mina and Raye bickered about whether Serena was justified in her lateness, the woman herself slipped behind the kitchen doors to find Lita.
The kitchen was incredibly busy thanks to the lunch time rush hour but Lita kept a tight ship and everything ran smoothly. The head chef was easy to spot as she towered over most people in the kitchen.
"Lita!" Serena greeted the tall, curvaceous brunette cheerfully. Serena found herself with a mouthful of curly brown hair as Lita pulled the smaller girl in for a tight embrace.
"I'm glad you're here" she said warmly.
Serena raised an eyebrow, confused by Lita's statement.
"It means my break has started" Lita giggled and winked.
She threw her apron off and hustled both of them out of the kitchen and over to their table where Mina and Raye had now descended into dredging up embarrassing high school moments. Lita and Serena caught each other's eyes and were about to intervene when Amy arrived.
"Sorry I'm late" she apologised earnestly. There were dark bags under her eyes, her short dark blue hair was ruffled and she looked ready to collapse.
"No, no! Don't you worry! Just sit down and relax!" Lita fretted, her instinctual mother-hen skills kicking into place. "Besides you've only missed a rerun of Raye and Mina's most embarrassing highschool moment."
Amy smiled wanly, "which I've already witnessed firsthand and heard multiple accounts of."
Serena seated herself between Amy and Mina and sighed in content as she peered over the menu. Lita's always had the best food without a doubt.
The food came and went yet their conversation continued without a lull. It had been some weeks since they had all last gathered like this.
"How was your trip Mina?" Serena inquired curiously.
Mina had returned from a short trip to England yesterday where she had been performing. Perhaps it was the fact that no one had really taken the effusive blonde seriously when she had expressed a desire to become a singer, but everyone had been very impressed when after school Mina had earned a place at the most prestigious music school in Japan. While her heart had originally been set on becoming a pop idol, after years of studying the art of music, Mina soon found herself falling in love with teaching and choral singing. She was now a teacher at the university and was a lead vocalist with the Tokyo Philharmonic Chorus.
At Serena's question, she became quiet and began to play with her dessert. Raye, Amy and Lita immediately turned their attention to Mina. A quiet Mina was never a good thing. Feeling all eyes on her Mina realised there was no escaping the question and let out a heavy sigh.
"Yaten broke up with me while I was in England." She confessed.
"What!" Serena exclaimed without thinking. She immediately threw her arms around Mina's shoulders and embraced her tightly.
"That's jerk!" Lita muttered murderously.
"What about work? After all you can't avoid him in the choir." The ever practical Raye asked.
Mina shrugged in response. She honestly hadn't thought that far ahead.
"I don't know. It just… it just came as such a surprise, you know?"
The girls all nodded in understanding. Mina and Yaten had been dating since high school and everyone had been expecting them to get married any day now.
"How did it happen?" Amy asked quietly.
Mina took a sip of her red wine and contemplated the question.
"We were out having dinner one night," she began, "and he said that sometime in the past few months he had fallen out of love with me. He paid for my meal and then left. I haven't seen him since."
Mina shook her head as if to dispel the thoughts and smiled at the indignant expressions worn by her friends.
"Don't worry about me guys. It's fine! Now I can check out guys without feeling guilty." She winked and giggled.
Serena felt slightly reassured by this but she didn't believe Mina was completely over Yaten. After all, they had dated since high school. Yaten had been a great part of Mina's life and she had been head over heels for him. The others exchanged disbelieving looks at Mina's words but no one said anything further. They knew Mina; she needed time to heal.
When asked about her relationship with Raye, the first thing that Serena would say is that they were like sisters. Sisters who fought bitterly but loved each other deeply. It had been like that since the day they had met. Raye's temper had a short fuse and she was judgemental and a perfectionist. This put her at odds with Serena's complacent, carefree attitude. However, Serena wouldn't change a thing about a Raye. It had seemed only natural to become business partners with Raye when she first broached the idea with the other girls. While many believed (mainly her family) that the constant proximity would only deteriorate their relationship, Serena knew that it had only fostered it even more. They could sit together in silence, each doing their own thing, without it being awkward or forced
It was times like this that Serena appreciated this. As the two walked back to the office together, Raye's brow was furrowed and her hands buried deep in the pockets of her coat. Her mind was clearly occupied, leaving Serena to address the swarm of thoughts about Mina and Yaten. Serena was the classic romantic – she was always looking around corners for her Prince Charming. Of course that Prince Charming would have to have a healthy respect for women's rights and not simply treat her as a silly, pretty girl. In her mind, she had always held up Yaten and Mina as the perfect couple. Yes, they had gone through rough patches, but in the end they had loved each other. If they couldn't make it… well… could anyone?
Raye gently shoved Serena into the elevator, breaking her out of her reverie.
"Why are you so spaced out?" she asked the blonde.
"Just Mina" Serena replied with a sigh. Raye nodded in understanding.
She could see why this was upsetting Serena. Raye wrapped an arm around her friend's shoulders and poked her side playfully.
"Come on now, don't give up on your grand ideas of true love just because Mina and Yaten didn't work out."
Serena giggled and struggled to remove herself from Raye's poking.
"I thought you didn't believe in true love?"
"I don't but you do and who am I to take that away from you?"
Serena grinned at the pale, raven haired beauty. Despite all of Raye's scolding and snide remarks, she really did try her hardest to look out for and protect Serena and the other girls.
Preview: "Since when did you get so bossy? And why do we need pizza?" Jed teased her.