"Were you dropped on your head as a child?"
"Actually, yes, I may have been dropped several times. My mother was a very clumsy woman."
"Then I guess that would explain why you find it so difficult to not misplace incredibly important documents that contain essential financial information that must be sent to the CEO of the entire Ootori Corporation by today."
"I think it's really cute how you accent every important word. I also think it's really cute how you don't blend words together or use contractions. Everything's so formal and straight. It's super super cute." Her grin was going to be the death of me. It was innocent, honest, and so Tamaki. It was Tamaki's grin until I looked in those cold dark eyes of hers. Perhaps I should have her put on human resources' list of employees recommended for psychological evaluations.
"This discussion is not about my speech habits. This discussion is about your lack of organizational management skills."
"You know it's also really adorable how you have no trace of an accent and speak with perfect English grammar. Such a smarty!" Ms. Knightly fluffed her idiotic purple pen in my face before grinning, clasping her hands behind her back, and practically skipping out of my office.
I do not know if I can handle her anymore. This is only her second week, and I already want to fire her. I also want to rip something apart. The only time in my life I have wanted to hit something as badly as I do when I'm with Emma Knightly is when I first met Tamaki. Tamaki at least had a few redeeming features. He was actually a decent person. Emma Knightly was a monster. I could always tell what Tamaki was thing, which made his idiocy palatable. Ms. Knightly is a mystery, and one I have no willingness to solve.
IIIII
Kyoya Ootori. I don't know whether I wanna kiss him or kill him. I love the way he speaks, and the way he is so light on his feet for a guy. The refined way he sits and writes and drinks and eats. The way his silky black hair falls in his face and his low ponytail thumps on his back as he walks. I also really love that he wears glasses when he goes home. He hasn't noticed that I've noticed yet, but every night before he goes home he changes from contacts to glasses in his car. The glasses make him look so much younger. I guess that's why he doesn't wear them to meetings. He seems like the type of person to grasp for any competitive edge. I love that about him too. Mrs. Emma Ootori. Eh, doesn't have that nice of a ring to it.
The only thing I love more than watching him is making him squirm. He's so rigid and such a perfectionist—bordering on OCD that man is—that messing with him and making his eyes flash in hatred is like heroin to me.
This is probably the reason why I lost all of those other jobs that I've had. I really don't play nicely with others. It's not my fault that my personality presents people with a false sense of security. I don't try to manipulate people; it's just how my brain thinks. I'm always nice to people, and I enjoy being happy and emotional around people, but I also like subverting authority. Probably a little too much. Mr. Ootori has more patience than all my other bosses. It's been two weeks already, and I still have a job. That simple fact alone is either a testament to Mr. Ootori's patience or his stubbornness. Possibly both.
I might be fired after the stunt I pulled tonight though. I can hear him tapping his pen on his desk through the wall separating my office from his. It's funny that when I sit at the conference table against the wall I can hear most of what's going on at his desk since the two tables share the same wall. You can tell when he is sending a nasty email because he types harder and faster. I wonder if that's any indication of what he's like in bed.
Ooo, a knock on the door. Must mean that either I'm going to be fired or commended—or commended then fired for being a tool.
"Come in."
"Ms. Knightly, I…"
"Come on, weren't you the one who said we should call one another by our first names? Right, Kyoya?" That a little mean. Kyoya Ootori barely even looked phased. He just walked—no, glided—calmly into the room and sat down at the conference table across from me.
"Fine. Emma, would you kindly read to me what is written on this paper?" His smoky eyes moved from mine, to the paper he had set down, then to my fluffy purple pen. Good thing I write in my own coded shorthand.
"Sure. 'Kyoya, the new computer system you created for sending new financial information directly to the head branch of our Finance department works perfectly. Now you don't have to worry about e-mailing me the documents every Friday. I commend you for your foresight and look forward to any new changes you make that will aid the Ootori Company further.'"
"Good. Now, are you the one who authorized the IT Department to create software allowing the American and Japanese Financial Departments to connect without needing the approval from the American branch CEO?"
"Yes, sir. Ted down in IT had the software tested and ready to be used, so I told him to just go right on ahead and use it. It makes things run so much smoother, and neither of us need to worry about delivering it. You're looking at the future of business, Kyoya Ootori!" I had him. I had him now.
"Firstly, authorizing the IT Department to create the software was my idea. Theodore was waiting for me to authorize it, which means that you used your powers as my secretary as well as your bubbly personality to convince him to put the software into use." Uh Oh.
"Secondly, you assumed that because the software runs a check against all of the financial files in the company's database that there was no need to physically double-check the information yourself, and since you did not bring me the information either, that eliminated the triple-check that would have come from my perusal of the documents. This process is crucial to make sure there are absolutely no mistakes." My hands are all sweaty. It's kind of getting hard to hold the pen.
"Thirdly, you did not inform me that you had made these changes, leading me to believe that you simply had not compiled the files and had not done your job, which amounts to lying to your superior."
"I'm sorry." Damn it, "I'll go pack my things." I knew that this would happen. I still got him though, in the end, even though he figured it out faster than I expected.
"That will not be necessary. Since I was the one who authorized Theodore to create the software, I was also the one who oversaw the tests. Coincidentally, today was the first day that those tests were run, so all of the information was filtered through my office so that I could monitor both the weekly financial records and the new software. Your mistake had no impact whatsoever, which means that, at present, I have no rational reason to fire you. That is all. Have a wonderful weekend."
Bastard.
None of my superiors have ever one-uped me before. None of my bosses have ever been that calm and cool while reprimanding me. Did any of that even count as a reprimand? I mean, other than those gray eyes fading to black eyes that made me feel as if I was peering into the frozen depths of hell itself.
IIIII
I am exhausted. That woman almost undermined my authority in my own company. No one has ever gotten that close to working underneath my radar. In fact, because of a strange glitch in our inter-office web memos, the authorization to the IT Department to begin implementing the new software did not reach them in time to make the weekly financial report's deadline. If Emma Knightly had not gone down to authorize the process herself, my company would have lost over 1.2 million dollars. She was lucky her insubordination worked out in her favor.
"Mon ami! This is Tamaki Suoh-Fujioka calling! Where are you, mon ami!" That is right. It is 10:00pm.
"Hello, Tamaki. My webcam is malfunctioning, so we are just going to have to make do with voices." Tamaki is what some people might call as "best friend," but sometimes looking at him after a long day just made me want to wring his neck. Because of this, I tend to have a dysfunctional webcam.
"You sound exhausted, Kyoya. Don't you know that you need to get your beauty sleep? In high school you would sleep forever, being an adult doesn't have to change that." As unrealistic as ever.
"Is Haruhi there?"
"My darling wife is trying to teach Sophie how to cook a stew-pot. My little girl is so adorable in the little pink apron Daddy got her!"
"Are you talking about Haruhi or Sophie?" Tamaki erupted into laughter, which probably made me smile for the first time today.
"KYOYA! You're beautiful face! Did something happen to your camera?"
"Yeah, I found a wire that was not connected." He is such a moron. It is hopeless to try and combat his idiocy when I know I will most likely give in. Why does such an imbecile have to be my weakness?
"Have you been frowning a lot? I can see wrinkles, my dear Kyoya. You know that gentlemen should not have wrinkles."
"What about gray hair? It is almost indistinguishable from your golden locks, but I can see some gray in your hair. You are only twenty seven. In a couple of years you might be as gray as the Chairman." I saw him smile, his violet eyes glistening.
"Actually, to tell you the truth, Kyoya, you're looking at the new Chairman of the Suoh Corporation. My father's taking my grandmother's death harder than expected. He decided that he would rather move into a more permanent administrative role at Ouran Academy. Father's still helping manage the Suoh group, but he says that being around the youth at Ouran makes him the happiest."
"Congratulations. I am glad to hear that everything is going well, though I still feel sorry that I could not make it for the funeral. I know I would have liked to be there for you."
"It is alright, mon ami. You did so much to help my family reconcile that it'd be almost silly to expect more, but I guess that is how it has always been."
"It's only because you're such an idiot."
"Kyoya, can you hold on a second, I have to answer this phone call." This inevitably happened to one of us during our talks. Tamaki is still his upbeat and cheerful self, but being the head of the family has aged him quite a bit. He does not like to show it, but those of us who know him well can tell that he has really matured. The death of his grandmother hurt the family quite a bit, especially since Tamaki's mother passed away as well two years ago. She was feeling better when I met her in France on that class trip, but it did not last forever. At least he was able to spend a few years with her, and she was able to witness his wedding and see her first grandchild enter the world. Things have not been easy for him; however, Tamaki is still Tamaki.
"Sorry about that. It was just Father. He is picking up Sophie tomorrow to go to the amusement park so Haruhi and I can spend the day together. It'll be so magnificent. I've been planning tomorrow for so long. It's going to be the best day ever! We're going to Hokkaido to buy some Marimo!"
"I am not entirely sure that Haruhi will…"
"DADDY! DADDY! DADDY! DADDY! DADDY! DADDY!" Enter Sophie. If I could find a way to harness her energy, I would be able to power a nuclear reactor and make millions.
"Hold on, sweetie, Daddy's busy right now."
"Are you talking to Uncle Kyokyo? I wanna talk to Uncle Kyokyo! Go away, Daddy."
"What? Go away? But Sophie!" Tamaki dramatically flung himself backwards off of the desk chair, acting as if her words had slain him. Sophie just laughed as if it were a game then ignored him to climb up on the desk chair. Well, she is Haruhi's daughter after all.
"I guess I'm gonna go check on lunch, then"
"Hi Uncle Kyokyo! Guess what I learned today from Mrs. Kate? Guess, guess, guess!"
"Um…hmn…this is a hard one. Did you learn some new English words?"
"Yup! You guess right every time! You're so smart Uncle Kyokyo!"
"If you keep learning from Mrs. Kate, you will be even smarter than me when you grow up."
"I'm sorry, Uncle Kyokyo, but I'd rather be as smart as Daddy, 'cause he's the smartest person in the world!"
"Sophie, I think it would be better for you to want to be as smart as Uncle Kyoya, not as smart as your father. Now, go run in the kitchen and help Daddy finish making lunch. Make sure he doesn't take out the chrysanthemum."
"Hello, Haruhi. I like that look on you. Short hair makes you look more professional, always has."
"And long hair makes you look like a hippy, especially with the glasses. It's probably a good thing that you decided to get contacts. I told you to get Lasik though; you're rich enough."
"Hmn, blunt as usual. I like my glasses. I am not myself without them."
"I might just tell that to Renge. She would definitely find a way to work that into the new chapter of Seven Guys for Seven Girls."
"I can not believe that people actually buy that tripe."
"You can't believe that people will buy a manga yet you were the one who let Tamaki create something as idiotic as a host club? Are you getting senile already?"
"I thought that we would be done with that whole thing once high school was over. Unfortunately, Renge married into the Host club. What the hell was Kaoru thinking?"
"They fell in love. Stop questioning it and move on with your life. Speaking of love, I did the background check on your new girlfriend."
"She is not my girlfriend; she is my secretary."
"Same difference. Anyways, I sent you the information I could find. I'll warn you ahead of time that I wasn't able to get much. If the great Shadow King couldn't find much on Mrs. Emma Knightly, Haruhi Suoh-Fujioka wouldn't be able to find much either."
"Thank you anyways, Haruhi. I appreciate it. Umn, Haruhi, it could just be my computer, but it looks like there is smoke behind you."
"Tamaki! What the hell did you do?"
"Ahhh! Mommy's so mad she actually cursed at me!"
I shook my head and ended the call, pulling up my e-mail and opening the file Haruhi had sent me. There was not much I did not already know except, hmn, well, this piece of information. This could provide me quite a bit of leverage in case Mrs. Emma Knightly decides to pull another stunt like she did today.
IIIII
A/N – Thank you to everyone who read the last chapter. I appreciated the reviews that I got! Dialogue for this kind of story is much easier to write, but I hope I didn't overdo it. This chapter was especially difficult because of the business lingo. I hope that worked too. I'm looking forward to any feedback! Review or message (or both ^_^) if you wanna comment!