The next morning Rin nervously searched her closet for the perfect outfit. She wasn't just an intern now, she was a secretary, meeting her boss's clients and ushering them into his office or into the conference room. She needed to look extra professional, which she could afford with the pay she would receive now. Pulling a form fitting creamy mauve dress from her closet she nodded in approval. It curved neatly around her chest, just above her breasts and the sleeves hugged her arms down to her elbows. The hem ended a bit before her knees, molding to the curve of her hips and butt perfectly.
She styled her hair, curling it loosely, letting it fall down her back, before heavily painting her eye lids in natural tones. After finding some creamy looking pumps with a large rounded toe and thin heels she grabbed her things and headed out to get some breakfast.
She and Kagome sat at the table silently, nothing heard but the crunch of the cheerios they were eating. Finally Kagome looked up and said proudly, "I've decided not to go into Inuyasha's office with him today. I'm going to demand he give me some real work to do."
Rin looked at her blankly for a moment before bursting out with laughter. "Well what is it you two are doing in there exactly, Kagome? Hot make out sessions or full on fucking?"
Kagome's eyebrows shot up at Rin's blatant question. She stumbled to put her answer together finally settling on a simple, "Both."
Rin laughed again, her arms holding her stomach, trying to control herself. Finally catching her breath she said "Sorry Kagome, I couldn't help myself. Just tell him you feel bad and want to do some real work like you are getting paid to do. Unless he hired you for sex, in which case you're being a real hooker."
Kagome sent Rin a glare and shook her head."Shut up Rin. Really."
Rin burst into a new fit of laughter and waved at Kagome's retreating back. Throwing both her and Kagome's dirty dishes into the sink they headed out the door, Rin trailing a still angry Kagome.
The drive to work was silent, each woman lost in their own thoughts. Rin snapped Kagome from her mind as she yelled,"WAIT! Pull into Starbucks!"
Kagome whipped around to give her friend a 'what the fuck' look. "Sorry girl, just thought I should get Sesshomaru some coffee. Suck up to him."
Kagome's mouth dropped before gleefully shouting, "Sesshomaru!? First name basis, huh?"
"What? NO. No. In fact he wants me to call him Lord Sesshomaru. What an arrogant bastard." she explained with a roll of her eyes.
"Yeah, right. Well lets go through the drive through. What do you think he'd like?" Kagome asked.
"Uhm.. black coffee maybe? He doesn't seem like the type to want sugar in his coffee.. or anywhere near him for that matter. Might rub off on him and make him be a little nicer, Kami forbid." Rin told Kagome with a giggle.
Kagome nodded her understanding and ordered the drink as well as a caramel apple spice for Rin. Letting Rin slip her a five to pay for the drinks, they headed to the T&S Financial building.
Stepping off the elevator the girls gave each other a sympathetic wave, each whispering 'good luck' to the other. Rin saw that Sesshomaru's door was open and she headed towards it, resting her body against the frame of the door until he noticed her.
Looking up his eyes lingered on her for a moment before looking back down to his paperwork.
"Yes?" he asked her.
"What kind of secretary would I be if I didn't bring my boss coffee?" she responded, flashing him her biggest smile.
"I do not like coffee," he stated apathetically, not bothering to look up.
"Ok.. well maybe you'll like this coffee. Just try it." she paused waiting for him to react. When he said nothing she let out a small, fragile, "Please?"
The demon sighed, looking at her, before giving her a wave to enter. She crossed into his office, walking the ten feet to his desk on the other side of the room. She sat the still warm cup down in front of him and stood before the desk, waiting.
He looked at the cup and then back up to her hopeful face. Realizing she wasn't going to be leaving until he tried it, he lifted the cup to his lips and gave it a taste. Giving her a blank look he said, "I tried it. Now kindly leave my office and take phone calls."
Rin stared at him for a moment before sighing and giving up. Sipping her drink pointedly, she turned on her heel and left the room, letting the door shut a little more loudly than she should have.
The day dragged by slowly. Rin watched as Kagome left Inuyasha's office with a red face and stack of papers to be copied. Rin shot her a double thumbs up and Kagome's blush deepened as she rushed past to get to the copy machine down the hall.
Rin glanced at the clock and saw it was only eleven. Crap, she thought it was at least one and time for lunch. Her stomach grumbled slightly and she swatted at it as if her motion would cease it's whines.
She heard a man clear his throat. Glancing up she met the gaze of a handsome demon. He had black hair, pulled back into a short pony tail at the nape of his neck. He wore somewhat grungy clothes and a thick brown tail swished from his backside. Rin let her eyes scan over him for a moment in surprise before shaking herself mentally.
"How can I help you, sir?" she asked him politely.
"I'm Koga, famous photographer. Maybe ya heard of me?" he boasted.
Rin scrunched her face slightly, about to pop out a quick 'no' before realizing that may be insulting. She settled on telling him she thought she had heard his name before. The demon nodded eagerly at her response.
"Well beautiful, I'm here to shoot a couple of pictures with Sesshomaru Taisho for Nikkei Business. We're doing a spread on the number one most eligible bachelor in Tokyo in the business world." he clarified with a charming smile. "He should be expecting me."
Rin pulled up Sesshomaru's schedule on her computer and saw that Koga was indeed in the eleven o'clock slot, but instead of his name someone had typed in 'intolerable wolf demon'. She stifled a giggle. Sesshomaru was definitely expecting him. Picking up her phone she hit the button connecting her to Sesshomaru's office phone.
"Yes?" she heard him say on the other end of the line.
"Sir, Koga's here to do that photo shoot." she told him, suppressing another giggle as she heard a growl.
"Send him in, Rin." he said before clicking the phone down angrily.
Rin gave Koga a smile before ushering him towards the door. "Right this way, Mr. Koga."
She opened the door to find Sesshomaru sitting behind his desk still, with a menacing glare pointed in their direction. She gave him a face that she hoped said 'please be nice' but if he got the memo, he ignored it. Rin turned to walk out as the men began their pleasantries, which she could tell were extremely difficult on Sesshomaru's part. He obviously didn't like this wolf one bit.
"Hey, wait!"Koga called to her back. "Why don't you stay and help us out?" he asked her, a gleam in his eyes.
"Help you?" she echoed, letting her confusion show through.
"Yeah. I need a spotter. Just kinda watch the shoot and point out anything that might ruin a good shot." he explained coolly with a shrug of his shoulders. "Stuff like his 'perfect' hair being out of place, wrinkled tie, etc."
Rin glanced to her boss to see his face remained as uncaring as ever. He voiced no objection and didn't seem to care so she gave a small nod. Situating herself off to the side behind Koga she watched as the man gave Sesshomaru directions.
First he ordered the 'eligible bachelor' over to the window to get a shot of him looking out the window thoughtfully. Rin snorted as Koga told the dog demon to look like he wants to find his true love. Yeah right, like he would even care to.
Next Koga mussed Sesshomaru's tie and hair, earning an annoyed glare and growl. "Look sultry." Koga directed. "Try to seduce through your eyes." Rin tilted her chin slightly at that direction. Not as if the man had to do much 'trying' to look sexy and seductive. Koga snapped away, making Sesshomaru try a million different poses.
Finally after an hour, getting tired of the wolf Sesshomaru told him,"You're trying my patience, Koga."
"Okay, okay! Just a few more of you in front of your desk, maybe sitting on it. But let's straighten you out." he said, moving towards Sesshomaru to fix his disheveled tie from earlier. Sesshomaru growled at the hands coming towards him and moved back closer to his desk.
"Hey dog boy, calm down. Just doing my job here." he said recoiling back slightly in fear. Sesshomaru was known to lash out and the wolf did not want to lose any body parts today.
Before Sesshomaru could say anything Rin cleared her throat loudly. "Alright boys. Let's calm down." she scolded the two men. The demons did not take their eyes of each other but finally Sesshomaru looked from Koga to Rin as she appeared in front of him. She ran her hand through his hair to neaten it out while he stared at her impassively. She glanced up to his face, slightly surprised he was letting her do it since she had gotten the feeling he didn't really like her.
His eyes met with hers, staring into them as her small hands moved down to his dark blue tie, which rested against a creamy off white shirt. She pulled the knot up to tighten it around his neck, straightening the tail as she pulled. For a moment she got caught up in his gaze, letting herself sink into his amber orbs, when she was taken aback by the clicking of a camera.
Whirling around she saw Koga jumping around, snapping pictures, saying "Oh that's great guys."
"Now Sesshomaru, place your hand on her waist, gently, not too hard, and turn and look at each other again." he directed.
Rin turned pink. How long had they been staring at each other like that? A baritone voice filled her ears and she turned her nose up at it's words.
"I thought this was a solo shoot Koga. I'm an eligible bachelor after all." Sesshomaru pointed out, obviously losing even more patience.
"Just go with the flow you two. It's art. You never know when these pictures may come in handy or how they could relate to the article." Koga shot back, slightly miffed. He tapped his foot impatiently, waiting for them to follow his directions. Sesshomaru growled at him, but placed his left hand on Rin's hip.
She blushed furiously and suddenly found it difficult to think. He was touching her. And Kami did his hand feel strong and domineering. The feeling made her head spin and she reached her hand back up to his chest. Wait? What? She felt panic rush through her her body when she realized her hand was now placed on his chest, feeling his toned muscles beneath it. Why would she do that?
"Good, Rin, straighten his tie again. Great thinking. You could easily be a model." Koga cooed to her, saving her from severe embarrassment, though he did not know it. She silently thanked him and cleared her throat.
"Yeah, I'm just that good." she joked back, trying to play off the movement as premeditated. Koga snapped away and she found herself sneaking peeks up at Sesshomaru's face. She moved her eyes upwards, only to find them looking directly into his once again. Neither of them moved, Rin frozen in fear, and Sesshomaru just staring down at her with his usual stoic features.
"Alright, that's a wrap!" Koga yelled to them, a little louder than necessary, already moving to gather his equipment back up.
Sesshomaru made no move and Rin found herself wondering what he was thinking. Finally, after deciding she must look like a total creep, she stepped back from him, letting his hand fall to his side.
"Uhm, well that was really.. fun." she told Sesshomaru. "Thanks for letting me.. sit in.. on it." she trailed off. When he made no move and instead sat on the front of his desk, she gave Koga a sweet smile and practically ran out the door.
Swiftly walking to the bathroom she collided with a hard mass and nearly fell back onto the floor. Feeling dazed, she glared up, only to see she had run into Inuyasha, with a disarrayed Kagome trailing behind him.
"Shit, Rin, sorry." Inuyasha said, gripping her arm to keep her steady.
"Are you okay, hon? You look flushed." Kagome asked, concern in her voice. If only she knew. Which she would later but for now Rin nodded hoping her best friend wouldn't push any further.
Inuyasha walked away towards Sesshomaru's office leaving the two girls conveniently alone.
"Seriously, Rin. What's wrong?" Kagome whispered, lightly grazing her arm in comfort.
"Oh shit Kagome. Just had a really awkward run in with Sesshomaru," Rin muttered back. "We touched. His hand was on my hip." At Kagome's wide eyes and smirk Rin quickly added,"For a photo shoot. The photographer basically used me as a prop but-" she cut short, feeling nervous someone with sensitive demon ears might over hear.
"Well why don't you join me and Inuyasha for lunch? We'll talk about this later." Kagome said with a wink. Of course she was going to make this a big deal. Rin rolled her eyes and gave a nod.
"That sounds good. I definitely need to get out of this office for a bit." Rin replied with a sigh.
"Hey Kagome, hope you don't mind but I invited Sesshomaru to lunch with us. Just a few business details we need to talk about real quick." Inuyasha shouted over to his girlfriend from Sesshomaru's office door.
Rin shot Kagome a death glare, leaving Kagome to fumble with excuses, but finally she just nodded in acceptance. Kagome gave Rin an apologetic look as the silver haired brothers walked towards them.
"Uh Rin is joining us too. At least now we'll be a foursome. Like a double date!" Kagome slipped out, causing Rin to nearly die right there on the spot.
"I do not date." Sesshomaru said, giving her a hard look. Rin and Kagome exchanged glances before giving nervous giggles and assuring him Kagome had been joking. Sesshomaru ignored them and hit the down button for the elevator.
The doors opened and he waited for the rest of the group to get on, holding his arm in front of the door to insure it wouldn't begin closing before they were settled. Rin stepped in front of him with a mumbled 'thanks', feeling the urge to reach out and touch his chest again. She mentally slapped herself. Was she insane? He was her boss and a really big jerk to boot. The last thing she should be doing was feeling the urge to touch him. In any way.
Kagome and Inuyasha chattered the entire ride to the lobby, giving Rin's already pounding head a more intense throb.
"Where were you guys thinking we should go?" Kagome asked Inuyasha.
"Well I wanted to take you somewhere fancy. Hope ya don't mind." Inuyasha told her with a smile.
"I did not agree to lunch with you to sit in on your..'date'." Sesshomaru interjected, his eyes narrowing at his little brother.
"Oh relax, Sesshomaru. It ain't a date. Just taking some classy ladies, to a classy lunch." Inuyasha muttered, his ears twitching in annoyance.
Rin looked between the two and felt awkward. Of course Inuyasha would turn this into some sort of thing to impress Kagome and now she and Sesshomaru were dragged into it. Just what she wanted. A stretch of black brought her eyes back into focus and she gasped at the sight of the huge limousine in front of her.
She had never ridden in one before, not even to prom. She tried to contain her excitement as a driver got out, walking around to their side of the limo. He opened the door for them with a polite dip of his head. The group climbed in, the men letting the women slide in first. Inuyasha settled beside Kagome, placing his arm around her shoulders and nuzzling her neck.
Rin looked away, wishing there was a partition between her and her friends instead of them and the driver. Sesshomaru seemed to be thinking the same thing as he gave Inuyasha an annoyed scowl and turned to look out the window. Rin looked over to him, wishing she were brave enough to chat with him, but his tight posture and annoyed look was not inviting in the least.
After twenty or so minutes the limo pulled up to a very fancy restaurant. The doors were settled between two marble pillars and once they got inside Rin stared in awe at the shimmering walls and huge fountain in the middle of the room. The hostess seated them and handed out menus, which Rin couldn't even read. A different language was scrawled across it's pages. She glanced around to her fellow companions. No one else had picked up a menu and she inwardly groaned.
She noticed Sesshomaru watching her and threw her menu onto the table with a smile, trying to hide her uncertainty and the fact she had no idea what to do in such a nice restaurant. After a few moments of her pretending to take in the decor, the waitress finally came back to take their orders.
Inuyasha ordered for both he and Kagome in french, saving Kagome the worries that her best friend had. Rin stared dumbly at the waitress when it was her turn to order.
"Uhhhm. I'll have.." Rin trailed off, wanting to sink down in her chair until she was far enough to hide under the table.
"She will have what I'm having." Sesshomaru cut in, not even looking to Rin. "Choucroute garnie followed by Pain au chocolat. We will both have a glass of your best merlot.
Rin let out the breath she had been holding. Much to her surprise, Sesshomaru had stepped in and saved the day. She mouthed 'thank you' to him, which he gave a small nod at and went back to sitting in front of her silently.
"Well if you'll excuse me," Inuyasha began, breaking the silence,"I gotta hit the john."
Rin and Kagome both face palmed at his words. Just like Inuyasha to start off sounding polite and end inappropriately. Sesshomaru shook his head at his little brother and continued to sit in silence once he left.
After a few moments Kagome gave Rin a small smile and said, "I'm going to go uh.. check on him."
The words earned her a suspicious eyebrow raise from both of her remaining dinner companions. She excused herself and scurried away from the table.
"They can be so gross." Rin lamented, out loud, though not to anyone in particular. To her surprise Sesshomaru responded.
"Inuyasha has no couth. And never will. Your friend would be better off realizing that now." he said coolly, taking a sip of his water.
"I don't think that's true. They are gross, but still a cute couple." Rin said, suddenly feeling defensive of Kagome and her dating choices.
"Hn," he snorted out.
They sat together for a another minute or two before Rin realized she never properly thanked him for helping her the week before with Kohaku. Not that he probably wanted thanks, being Mr. I'm Too Good For Anyone and all.
"Hey Lord Sesshomaru?" she started, using Lord to butter him up. "I just wanted to say thanks."
The man raised an eyebrow at her incredulously before asking, "For what?"
Rin shifted her eyes to the table, twirling a piece of her hair nervously. "Well for taking care of that guy Kohaku last week at the mall. You really helped me and Kagome out. And I appreciate it. Even though at the time you didn't even know who we were." she added the last part breathlessly, remembering that at the time, it was most likely a random act of.. well, just a random act. Sesshomaru probably didn't walk around doling out favors to people.
She saw recognition on her boss's face. He gave a slight shrug. "That young man was tearing up my mall. I own it and he was destroying my property."
Rin resisted the urge to roll her eyes at him. Of course it had absolutely nothing to do with the two women in need.
"Why was he attacking you?" Sesshomaru asked, jolting Rin out of her annoyance with him.
"Oh well he is my.. ex boyfriend." she looked away from him again, feeling shy with telling him about boy problems. "He's just being a big jerk because I broke up with him."
"If you liked him enough to date him at all, you need better taste in men." he stated, shaking his head.
Before Rin could say anything back to him, Inuyasha and Kagome reappeared at the table. They both wore wrinkled clothes now and it was apparent that Kagome had tried to smooth her hair back down with water. Rin shot her a look as she sat down for leaving her alone with the ice king. Kagome gave her a wink and settled back into her chair, immediately latching onto Inuyasha's arm.
The waitress arrived before anyone could speak again, setting wine down in front of all of them. Rin stared at it, feeling uncomfortable. She wasn't legally able to drink yet. Not that she thought wine would really affect her much, but the last thing she wanted was to look like a lush in front of her new boss, and bring his opinion of her even lower.
"Do you not like Merlot, Rin?" she heard Sesshomaru ask her.
"Oh what? No. I mean yes! Yes I do. I meant no, I don't not like it. I've just never had it before." she said, stringing the words into one long mumbling sentence. She inwardly kicked herself for once again looking like an idiot.
If she didn't know better she could have sworn she saw the demon smirk. But just as she did a double take it was gone. She brought the glass to her lips and sipped.
Holy shit. This was disgusting. Just fucking awful.
Rin looked around desperately while trying to conceal the fact that she hadn't swallowed the sips of wine yet. Finally, she brought the glass back to her lips and let the wine in her mouth slide back down into her glass, hoping no one saw.
But Kami hated her so of course the first thing she saw on her glance back up was Sesshomaru watching her with interest.
Rin smiled anxiously, a blush creeping up her face.
Their food arrived quickly after that, saving her from having to further converse with either Sesshomaru or the touchy-feely, gross couple next to her. They were now feeding each other unabashedly.
By the time they finished it was already 2PM. They climbed back into their limo and headed to T&S Financial, Rin secretly relieved that she could get back to the office and focus on work. It would be nice if she could cease embarrassing herself in front of Sesshomaru, something more easily accomplished with him pent up in his office behind closed doors.
He sat next to her on the cushy leather seats, leaning back into the top of the seat, relaxed. The wine must have helped bring down his intensity. He had now resumed his scowl towards his younger brother, however, evidently as sick of the two love birds as Rin.
They arrived back at the building, going their separate ways once they reached the twentieth floor.
Rin did her work and avoided all unnecessary contact with Sesshomaru.
When the day ended she gathered her belongings and did a happy dance. Which she promptly realized Sesshomaru was watching. Clearing her throat, she walked calmly to the elevator, banging her head against the wall as soon as she was inside.
Oh great, he probably heard that too with his sensitive ears, she thought.
There was no escaping.