Chapter 2

Beautiful Art, Confidence and Wine

Daidouji is typing on the computer the next morning when she hears the door open. There stands Suzune in her usual business suit, but her shirt is partly unbuttoned, exposing part of her cleavage.

"Oh, Suzune-san," she says as she turns her chair. "Do you need any…thing…?"

Before she can react, Suzune walks toward her, tips her chin, leans in and touches lips with hers. The blonde's red eyes widen in shock from the sudden kiss. But as she pushes her off…

**Reality**

"STOP THAT!" she yells. But she finds herself in her own room, early in the morning. She pants heavily, leans over and puts her hand on her forehead. "What's going on? Why did I have this dream?"

It's her second day at work and already she's having strange dreams involving her and Suzune. The only question she can only ask herself is "Is there any connection with me and Suzune-san?"

**Sakura Graphic Industries**

In Suzune's office, Daidouji is helping organize some papers while the violet haired woman is on the phone. But to her surprise, the caller she is talking to is making angry.

"What do you mean it's going to be late!?" Suzune shouts. "I told you that we need it today! We are out of ink and we need it to finish our sketches and publish on them on the computer! There's no dillydallying or anything, you got that!? We need to sell more artwork, you know!?" There is a pause and Daidouji winces at Suzune's outburst a second later. "I DON'T CARE HOW LONG IT TAKES! JUST GET IT HERE TODAY!" With that, she slams the phone down to hang up. She takes a long deep breath and exhales.

She's really strict, isn't she? Daidouji thinks as she puts the last of the papers down in a bin. That explains why she wants this business to be the best it can be. But…I wonder if this company's competing with another.

"Daidouji, come with me," Suzune says as she picks up her bag. "We're going to the sketching room."

"Oh, why?" Daidouji stands up after putting down the remaining papers.

"We need to collect the finished sketched pages and scan them on the computer," Suzune replies. "And that's where you come in. You need to edit those sketched ones, making them look wonderful, whether it's in 3D or not. The point is, the artwork should look as if it's grabbing the viewer's attention. Got it?"

"Oh, okay. But it will take a lot of time, though," the blonde says. "Is that okay?"

"I'm sure with your skills, it will look great," Suzune says as she slightly turns her head. "I'm counting on you, Daidouji."

The blonde woman nods and proceeds to follow her boss down to the sketch room. It's only a few minutes before they arrive there and the violet haired woman opens the door. They are greeted with busy woman and men working at their desks. One girl with chocolate colored hair that has her hair tied up is working at a large desk, sketching a scenery with a waterfall with a rainbow and little animals near it, taking a drink. However, Daidouji notices that this girl is having a hard time and her shoulders are tense.

"Hey," Suzune says as she walks up to the girl. "Sakurai-san, you should've finished at least most of it since yesterday."

"I know, but it's hard to get the animals in there without making a mistake," the brunette says. "It takes time to get it right."

"Well, you know that we're going to sell this piece, right? It'll be on the wall in the gallery where visitors observe the artwork and then we'll sell it to them as a copy," Suzune explains.

"I know…"

Daidouji could see that there's a sad expression on the girl's face.

"This piece should be done pronto," the violet haired woman says, firmly. She taps her finger on the paper. "I expect nothing less than perfection."

The brunette gasps and groans. "Perfection is useless. I've been working my butt off to draw this scenery and I've done it like 3 times already."

"How much more do you have to do?"

"The rest of the waterfall, the trees and the rest of the animals."

"That's not good," Suzune crosses her arms under her breasts. "We have some scanning to do and then editing. There's no goofing around here. Get it done."

"Yes, ma'am," the brunette says with a nod.

Daidouji feels bad for this girl. Suzune may be a strict woman, but she doesn't like how she's treating her employees. As the violet haired woman walks over toward the other girls to check on their work, Daidouji quickly walks over and grabs her arm.

"Suzune-san," she says, "She's trying her very best, so shouldn't you be a little nicer to her?"

The violet haired woman gives her a cold stare. "You also have work to do. Here, some finished drawings." She hands the blonde a few papers.

Daidouji examines the papers. One sketch contained an autumn scenery, another is a sketch for a 3D art with cubes, cones and rectangles and the last one is some faceless figures playing with each other. All they needed is some color.

"Those need to be scanned and transferred to the computer," Suzune says as she points to a scanner with a computer next to it in the middle of the room. "You can do the editing over there."

"Ah, okay." The blonde takes the papers, turns both the scanner and the computer on and gets to work. As she scans the first sketch, she looks over at the brunette, who stops and takes a look at her drawing.

"Hey…" she whispers. "Will this…be any good?"

Suzune turns toward her. "What do you mean?"

"I…don't even know anymore…" the Sakurai girl hangs her head down. "I don't know if this is a good drawing or if I'm just messing up every time."

"Of course you're messing it up," Suzune says. "Just keep working."

Daidouji bites her lip and glances at the Sakurai girl. That tone of hers, she thinks. I don't think she's treating her employees well at all. She should be supporting her! Can't you see she needs that!?

The brunette hangs her head down lower as she sketches with little to no effort at all. "Suzune-san…I…" The Sakurai girl's voice is shaking, almost to the point of crying.

Finally, Daidouji couldn't take this anymore. "That's it!" she immediately stands up and walks over towards the brunette. She leans down to her level with a smile. "Hey, don't listen to her. I think your artwork is amazing. Actually, I have seen some of yours put up in the gallery before."

"Y-you have?" the brunette asks.

Suzune just stares at the blonde woman.

"Yes," Daidouji replies. "I'm the new woman working here, but everything I see so far is very good. So, I'm sure that once you're done with the sketching, it's going to look awesome. I know it because I've seen your work. I have even kept some of it, like the one with you and your two sisters. That one was the best I've seen."

"You actually…bought my artwork?" The Sakurai girl is surprised to hear that a kind young woman had actually seen her artwork before.

"Yes," Daidouji replies. "But I was unable to find you since I wanted to reward you for your hard work, so…"

"So you're paying Kanade Sakurai, right?" Suzune finishes. "That makes sense."

Daidouji stops and turns toward her boss with a shocked expression.

"You just realized it now?" the violet haired woman asks with her head tilted.

I'm such a fool! the blonde thinks. "A-anyways!" Daidouji says while shutting her eyes tightly. "I think your artwork is amazing! So, please! Just a little bit more and you're done! I just wanted to cheer you up a bit…" The blonde woman felt like crying herself. I guess I can't tell what this girl needs either…

She soon jumps a bit when she feels Suzune's hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sure this new girl here is right," the violet haired woman says. "With that being said, was there any mistake where I Okayed the artwork?"

Kanade looks down at the floor. "I guess not…"

"Then, you don't have to redo it," Suzune says. "I talked to the ink company. So, you have an extension until tomorrow afternoon."

It is then that Daidouji begins to realize something as she recalls Suzune calling someone on the phone. So that's who she was yelling on the phone, she thinks. She was negotiating with that company.

"B-but I was told to have it done by noon today," Kanade says.

"We know there's no way you can finish it in time," Suzune says. "Just so you know, things like this lowers your reputation."

"I see…" Kanade nods.

"So, get to work!"

"Yes, ma'am!" With newfound strength and confidence, Kanade happily does her magic.

While doing that, Suzune gestures Daidouji to come with her. As the two sit down together next to the scanner, the blonde begins to realize something.

So…I didn't have to cheer her up, she thinks. Suzune-san was just letting her finish properly. Maybe she really does care.

"So, the scanning's done," Suzune says. "Now, you click on this program to do the editing."

"This program here?"

"Yes."

"Wow! There's a lot of icons here!"

"That's the point…"

The employees, including Suzune and Daidouji, work, work and work throughout the entire day until night falls. Suzune and Daidouji are just about finished with the editing on the 3D picture they were working on while the other employees keep on working on their drawings. Daidouji looks over at Kanade, who is still working on hers. Her eyes are glued to the paper, filled with determination. A small smile appears on the blonde's face as she looks back at Suzune, who is still showing her the ropes on how to edit the sketch.

Pretty soon, it's time for everyone to go home, but Kanade vowed herself to finish the sketch no matter what.

**Next Day**

Pretty soon, as soon as Suzune and Daidouji arrive in the sketch room, Kanade happily presents her finished drawing.

"I'm finally finished!" she cries. "I'm done!"

Daidouji gives the brunette a pat on the back. "Congratulations!"

Suzune picks up the paper and examines it. She then smiles at the brunette. "Great job. Alright, Daidouji, time to get this scanned and edited. We're going to sell this one as one of the best artwork ever."

Kanade smiles at Suzune's words. She had never felt more accomplished and happy than ever.

**Later**

The editing is done after about hours and hours of trying to work on Kanade's sketch and when it's finally done, they went to the gallery to put it up as a large poster in the front of the entrance for people to look at. It's to get everyone's attention, according to Suzune. After that, it's already getting late at night, so the two had to close and head out. However, Suzune has something else in mind.

"Want to come with me for a drink?" she asks.

"Huh?"

The violet haired woman shrugs. "It's fine if you don't want to. I just wanted some company."

"No, no, it's fine," Daidouji says waving her hand back and forth. "I can stay up a little longer for a drink."

"I'm glad," Suzune beckons her to come.

The two women exit the building and walk into the night. Fortunately, they don't have far to walk because Suzune leads her to a bar that's about 4 blocks away. Daidouji is surprised that the violet haired woman is actually taking her to a bar. But since they're old enough to drink, it's not a bad idea. They go to the bartender and order some wine. After Suzune pays him, Daidouji fiddles with her fingers. It's her first time to go to a bar, especially with her own boss.

"I'm glad we're finished," Suzune says as she sips on her wine. "And I'm glad you were there."

"Huh?" Daidouji looks up at the violet haired woman.

"Sakurai-san is a good artist, but sometimes, it can take a bit of time for her to get things done the right way." Suzune turns toward the blonde. "I think you gave her back her confidence."

Daidouji waves her hands back and forth. "N-no, I…um…I would like to apologize for doing that. When something's important, I blurt out how I feel."

"I see…" The violet haired woman hands the blonde her wine. "Here. For you."

Daidouji blushes and gently takes it. "Th-thanks."

As Suzune takes another sip, Daidouji thinks, Suzune-san's smile is beautiful. I wish she'd do that more often. She can feel herself blushing for some reason. Okay, so why am I getting all nervous?

"I think it's a huge compliment to say that her artwork is amazing," Suzune says, interrupting Daidouji's thoughts.

"I guess that's fine then," the blonde says. Her eyes focus on the floor. I may have to rethink my impression on this woman, she thinks. She moves her eyes towards her boss. I mean…she's an amazing manager of a graphic design company and sells many artwork to the people. She's truly…an amazing person…

Suzune notices the blonde staring at her, but Daidouji quickly looks away.

I'm getting all nervous again! she thinks. Why!?

"Looks like you haven't changed a bit," Suzune says.

Daidouji gasps and turns toward the violet haired woman. "What do you mean?"

Suzune makes a surprised expression for a bit and then narrows her eyes, smiling seductively. "Why don't I take you somewhere private~? Up on the roof. Sound good?"

"O-okay…"

Daidouji quickly follows her boss up on the roof where nobody is around. They walkover towards a nearby bench and sit down. However, Suzune stands up, takes a few steps forward and turns towards her assistant.

"I guess you don't remember me," she says.

"Oh, yes," Daidouji says. "You mentioned something like that the other day. But…I think you got me confused for someone else. I'm sure this is the first time we've met."

Suzune narrows her eyes once more. As quick as a flash, she grabs Daidouji's wrist and pins her against the wall near the door where they came in.

"Ah!" Daidouji winces at the impact of the violet haired woman slamming her into the wall like that. "Wh-what are you doing!?"

Suzune licks her lips and smiles seductively again. "I guess I'll have to prove it to you, don't I, dear~?" She leans in, tips her chin and touches lips with hers.

"Wai-Mmmmph!" The blonde struggles to get free from Suzune's grasp, but her grip is too strong. "S-Suzune-san…stop…mmmph!"

Her boss refuses to listen as she continues to kiss her roughly. It is then that Daidouji is able to pull away for a bit.

"If this is a joke, this isn't funny!" she shouts.

Suzune raises an eyebrow. "A joke? Why would you think that?"

"Huh?" Daidouji is totally confused.

"I thought you've changed, but as always, you're being direct," Suzune walks away a few steps.

"I don't understand," the blonde woman says. "Can you tell me what in the world is going on?"

Suzune stops, not making contact with the blonde for a bit. "Do you really want to know?"

"Yes!" Daidouji says, desperately. "Please tell me!"

At last, Suzune turns toward her assistant with a serious expression on her face. "You once told me…that you loved me."

"What!?" At that moment, Daidouji's heart skips a beat. She doesn't move a muscle as she stares at the violet haired beauty standing before her, still wearing her serious expression.


A/N: And I'll have to end this here~! And wooooow~! 5 reviews already! I'm so happy about that, plus the favs and follows~! Thank you so much everyone! I hope you all review some more! Because I never knew that this will get this much attention~!

Oh, and longer reviews will be much appreciated please. I know some of you, like philipbaxton, and theraceytracey have more to say in the Male OC things, so why not do it in my stories? Not that I'm forcing you, but I would very much appreciate it if you make your reviews as long as your reviews in the Male OCs.

Anyways, feel free to give out any suggestions, questions or concerns and don't forget to review~! ;)