Chapter 2
It was only after the elevator doors closed that Kagome realized that she had no clue where she was going. Her husband had never invited her to his office, and she'd never been there herself. The only reason she'd known where to go was because he always pointed it out in pride whenever they drove past it. In her blind anger, she had ignored the secretary (Keira), and now she was lost on a random floor. Kagome spotted a waiting area with some of the hard uncomfortable chairs you usually see in a doctor's office in front of a small, cluttered desk, and decided to sit down for a moment. Even though there was nobody behind the desk, somebody would surely come soon, and then she could ask them where her husband worked. In the meantime, she could plan an attack strategy.
Kagome, while not an individual who normally dealt with lover's quarrels, was not unaware of how this situation would end up should she just barge into her husband's office without thinking it through. Too many dramatic TV shows had drilled into her head the fact that if she brought this up, she would have to remember that he was at fault. No matter how he tried to tell her she was (she scowled, disgust deeply etched on her face) sexually or emotionally unsatisfying, he was the one who had broken their bond of trust. She took a deep breath, placing her head in her hands and leaning forward. She had not been prepared for this when she got up this morning. She chuckled without humour. She hadn't been prepared for this when she entered into this marriage either. But while Kagome was many things, a coward was not one of them.
'Before this day is over,' Kagome thought, 'One of us will pay.' A rustle of papers made her look up. A young girl had plopped down into the chair behind the desk and was now staring at the computer, snapping her gum. Kagome observed the girl, secretly glad of something to take her out of her cold, angry thoughts. It was clear from both the cluttered, small waiting room, and the clothes of the youth that this was a lesser floor. A low pony tail of slightly wavy black hair was pulled into a low ponytail. Bright red eyes were trained on her computer, fingers flew over the keyboard at lightening speed. A black t-shirt that proclaimed Three Days Grace was draped over her slender form, leading down to light blue jeans, and ending in black sneakers. In addition to all of this, she had two silver studs in the lobe of her left ear, and three studs in her right ear, two in the lobe, one in the top. Kagome sighed.
Now that the confrontation with her husband was getting closer, she was getting weaker. For a second she just sat there. Then, as if she remembered all of the things her husband had done to her, the forgotten anger came flooding back. 'What the hell is wrong with you!' an inner voice screeched. 'This son of a bitch was playing you, betraying you, and laying with you, and you're just going to let him get away with it?!' Kagome's eyes darkened, and she tightened her fists. 'No! I'm better than this!' Kagome thought to herself. She stood up and strode to the edge of the desk, then waited there for the girl to acknowledge her.
"You should just go home," the girl said in a bored voice, not taking her eyes off the screen in front of her.
"Excuse me?" Kagome said, not believing her ears.
"You heard me," the girl said. "You're never going to be able to convince them to give you more time to make the payments." She finally paused in her typing and turned to look at Kagome.
"I'm not here to make a payment," Kagome finally said. The girl frowned thoughtfully, letting her eyes rake over Kagome's form.
"Let me guess," she said disgustedly. "You're the new secretary for the top floor?"
Kagome frowned. "Why would you say that?"
The girl sighed. "You're pretty." The girl turned back to her computer.
"What does that have to do with being a secretary?" Kagome asked, still confused and mildly irritated.
The girl snorted. "Well, the people at the top have too many employees as it is. And they're hiring more? We all know what that means." Kagome was now more than irritated.
"Enlighten me," she said sarcastically.
The girl sighed, turned to look at Kagome then blew and popped a bubble, revealing a tongue ring. "It means those man-whores at the top are looking for a good lay."
"Souten!" came the deafening yell from one of the open office doors that led to the desk. "Souten" winced, shifting in her computer chair. Kagome hadn't been able to see them before, as she was sitting down, but now she noticed that there were two doors to the left of the desk, leading into offices. One door was open, and one was closed. A man with light brown hair strode out of the open door, and came to stand in front of Souten with an exasperated air. He completely ignored Kagome, but that was fine, as she was still in shock, remembering the day her husband had came home with the promotion.
*Flashback*
"Hey honey," her husband said, as he sat down at the kitchen table for dinner. Kagome had everything ready, just liked he liked it for supper. She sat down opposite him and lifted her fork. "Wait," her husband said, leaning over to place his hand gently over hers. Kagome lifted her eyes from her food to his curiously. He smiled at her lovingly. "Guess what?" he asked grinning happily, his eyes dancing.
"What?" she played along.
"I got promoted!" he said excitedly.
"Really?" she asked smiling.
"Yup," he said. "Now I'm in charge of everything!"
"That's great, I know you've really wanted that."
He stood up and pulled her into a hug. When he released her he brushed his lips across hers. "Yeah, my old man finally decided I was ready for the job," he said, smiling devilishly, one fang visible.
"Just make sure you don't burn the place down," Kagome teased.
"Oh, you think that's funny?" her husband said. He grabbed her around the waist and started tickling her, running his fingers over her sides. She squirmed, laughing uncontrollably.
"Hey, quit it!" she giggled. He collapsed in his chair, laughing with her in his lap, eyes dancing.
"What have I told you about talking that way about your bosses?!" The shouting brought Kagome back to the present, where she watched with dazed eyes as the young man was chewing the teenager out.
"Hey," Souten growled. "If they're stupid enough to get caught, like that, then why should I hide it?"
The young man sighed, then ran a hand through his hair. "Just try and keep it down, alright? I know you're just a summer intern, but some of us actually want to keep out jobs," he said.
"Yeah, yeah," Souten grumbled, turning back to her computer.
The young man seemed to notice Kagome for the first time, eyes widening. "Mrs. Taisho," he stammered.
Kagome let her thoughts settle for a moment, turning her eyes to him. "Yes?" she asked.
"You were looking for your husband I presume?" he said, sweating slightly under his skin. 'Oh man, he was SO fired!!'
"Yes," Kagome said, now focusing on him, her rage a warm pulsing sensation under her skin that twisted her mouth into an ugly scowl.
The nervous man turned to Kagome. "Did you need some help finding his office?" the man managed to say.
"I would appreciate it," Kagome said.
Souten had turned to regard Kagome with cold, thoughtful eyes. As the man strode ahead of her to lead the way to the elevator, Souten looked her straight in the eyes and drawled, "I never figured you for the wife of a man-whore." Kagome followed the over-helpful employee to the elevator and as the doors closed once again, she let her eyes drift shut, and thought 'Neither did I.'
