A/N : Yeah I managed to keep the deadline I gave myself. It's a little weird forcing myself to work so hard outside of Uni. I hope you enjoy this chapter like you did the last one. Arigatou gozamasu * bow *
I'd like to thank hazel_eyes_02 and AngelEmCuti, they've been with me as reader since the beginning and have reviewed. I would like to the Michiko14anime who also reviewed on the last chapter.
Disclaimer: you guessed it. I still don't own the characters. CLAMP does.
Chapter 3
Yelan smiled widely, "You must be Sakura-chan" she hugged her as one might a familiar, throwing Sakura off guard. "My name is Li Yelan, we've exchanged e-mails. I hope you don't mind me coming by today" She pulled away and looked over the girl from head to toe. "You are just as cute as Sonomi said you would be." she squealed happily
"Nice to meet you Yelan-san. My name's Kinomoto Sakura" She was a little unsure on how to proceed after being hugged, she took the formal way out.
"Oh right introductions. You remember Wei from last night, he had only kind words about you, and this is my son, Syaoran." She stepped aside allowing both of them to see each other clearly. Though it didn't go as she planed.
The two young adults stared at each other and the blinked rapidly almost in sync. Before either Yelan or Wei knew it, they had to cover their ears. "EEEEHHHHH!!!!! YOU!!!." they were pointing at each other. The both looked like they've seen ghosts.
Yelan and Wei looked at each other, and then at the children, utterly perplexed. "You two know each other already?" Yelan asked innocently. She didn't remember an event today involving a girl...unless.
"Yeah, we have. She's the girl from this morning whom attempted to pour her coffee all over me." Syaoran was nearly yelling at his mother. "and forced me to get another coffee."
"Well that's rich. As I recall you're the one who bumped into me. I was just minding my business and leaving the cafe and then suddenly you appear out of no where. Then you blame me. That's just rich." she turned her back on him. "also i didn't force you to do anything. You're the one who forced yourself to buy it. I was willing to pay for another."
Wei and Yelan began to laugh at the pair. Whom in returned just stared at them. The younger pair looked at each other and then quickly joined in with the laughter which seemed to lighten the mood. After a few minutes of laughing they quieted down.
"I made so cookies earlier today. Would you like to come in for a cup of tea and some cookies?" Sakura smiled softly, silently wishing that they would join her.
"Oh that sounds wonderful Sakura-chan." Yelan replied. "Nothing better then some tea and cookies before one starts to clean." Sakura led them to the living room and insisted that they sit down and relax "You've cleaned this place up nicely Sakura, and in such a short time."
"Thank you. I've been working on it all day." She smiled "I'll be right back with the tea."
While Sakura was gone Syaoran stood and browsed around the room a little. He never really had the luxury of doing it when the Daidouji's were here. When he was with them, he always felt like he had to be very proper. Though, right now the same apartment felt a little more homely. Even though she hadn't decorated much yet, but there were a few pictures of what he assumed was her family. They all looked very happy in them.
There were some pictures of what he assumed was her mother and then something clicked. He had seen this picture before. "Does this woman look familiar to either of you two?" He asked holding up a picture of her mother.
"Oh that's one of the many pictures that Sonomi has of her best friend, Nadishiko. She was once a model for her clothing company before she started selling toys." Yelan looked at him. "Why do you ask?" Nothing clicked in her mind, she saw pictures of her all the time.
"Well apparently it's her mother" he looked at the picture and could see the resemblance, they were both rather beautiful. The rest of the pictures were of men, presumably her brother and father. He smiled softly at the image of all three together. He poked around a little more not really picking anything else up, though he did notice she was fond of pictures. He returned to his seat before Sakura returned with the tea, not really in the mood to explain why he was looking at her things.
Sakura moved around the kitchen preparing the tea and gathering the cups. She listened to their conversation until she was finished. She wasn't surprised when Syaoran asked about he mother. Sonomi was about as obsessed about pictured as Tomoyo. The passing of her mother changed things for Sonomi. Though she had mentioned that no one her knew of her passing.
She started to think back on the day and realized the coffee shop fiasco, was not something she should have gotten mad about. She presumed it was the stress getting to her.
She smiled softly to herself while placing the cookies and the tea cups on the a serving tray. She brought them into the living room and placed them on the coffee table. "I'll be right back I'll get the tea pot." She returned into the kitchen and finished preparing the tea and brought out the tea pot. "Sorry for the wait" she began serving the tea. When she distributed the tea she gave everyone a cup and saucer. "Please enjoy everything." she smiled at them, followed by a sip of tea.
Everyone took a cookie but Yelan was the first to break the uncomfortable silence. "OH! These are delicious." This was soon followed by a chorus of agreement from the men. "You must teach me how to make them."
Sakura nodded slowly, a little put off by her reaction, for the second time that day. "Alright, well instead of coming over tomorrow for some more tea how about short baking lesson instead?" She offered. "They're rather easy to make. They're only basic sugar cookies." She took one for herself.
Yelan nodded in agreement and smiled "Yes yes. Good idea. Maybe Xiao Lang should join." She had a mischievous grin on her face. A look of confusion passed over her face, she looked confused, she was about to ask who Xiao Lang was when it was answered for her, by the person in question.
"What! First you drag me here when I could be cleaning my apartment. Now you're volunteering me for baking lessons. What next? Are you going to invite her to help clean the apartment." at some point Syaoran had partial stood up, and placed both og his hands on the table. He was fuming.
Sakura looked between the mother and soon duo. "Do you need help cleaning? I'm very good at it and I enjoy it."
Syaoran looked at Sakura in disbelief. "You're not suppose to be okay with cleaning other people's houses." He couldn't understand this girl one bit.
"Why not?" she asked "I use to work as a maid at Tomoyo's house when they had parties. I would clean up after them as well." It was true, when Sonomi was low on staff for a certain event she would pay Sakura to help out because she knew the lay out of the house. Though for the past three years she's been running the events.
Syaoran stared at her. She just openly admitted to being a paid worker for her friend's family. He couldn't believe this girl, she worked as a maid and she was almost proud of it.
Wei suddenly looked up at Sakura. "That's where we first met." Sakura looked at him seeking an explanation. "The Daidouji's held a Christmas party three years ago, and had invited Yelan, as she always does. When we arrived she asked for my aid during the festivities. I agreed and we worked together that night."
Sakura though it over and suddenly the night in question came to her as clear as day. She had been working the kitchen that night.
Sakura finished plating the hors-d'oeurves and handed the serving plates to the waiters, she started making more with a few other cooks. A few moments later an older man walked in. "Can I help you, sir?" Sakura asked while wiping her hands on a towel.
"Sonomi-sama asked me to help out. Apparently you are a little understaffed. She told me to look for a Sakura-san. Do you know where I can find her?" He looked around but the rest of the kitchen staff were men. He naturally assumed someone a little older was taking care of the management.
"You're looking at her, sir" she smiled. "lets see were we can fit you." she opened up a binder, that she had beside the kitchen and ran her finger down the list. "Where are we in the food preparation?" she called out to the kitchen staff.
The older man looked a little surprised that a 16 year old girl was handling things behind the scenes. Though the chiefs seem to jump to answer her. "We're preparing the first course now. We still have one chief preparing hors-d'oeurves" She nodded and a waiter came in for another full serving tray.
"How is it out there? Do you need another waiter?" she asked the waiter, who paused.
"We're doing okay but another waiter would make things a little easier. There are after all nearing 100 people and only 3 waiters." she nodded and thanked him as he left and another one came for some wine and left again.
"You have a choice. Be a waiter or help prepare food. Though a waiter would help us more right now." she started over the the island to help the cooks, she was trying to act professional.
"I'll help the waiters. It seems you have things handled here." the old man offered.
"Great. By the way I didn't catch your name. Mine's Sakura... but you already know that." She smiled and giggled.
"Mine's Wei" He smiled and picked up a tray. "I'll be getting to work now." She nodded and he was off.
The rest of the night was pretty hectic like always, but everything went as smoothly as can be expected. Though this was the third time she had ran things for a party at Sonomi's, it was still a little over whelming. Though, since she's worked with this staff before they were comfortable with her.
At the end of the night when only a few guests were left and had situated themselves in the lounge she personally brought in the tea and cookies. Sonomi thanked her for the hard work and complemented her on the lovely party. She bowed to her and left to the kitchen.
She was cleaning the kitchen after all of the cooking staff had gone home. She told them that tonight after all the hard work they put in, she would do the clean up. She was about half way done when someone walked in.
"Do you need something?" she turned to see Wei. "Oh Wei it's you." She smiled wiped her hands and bowed to him "thank you for you hard work." She stood up.
It was Wei's turn to bow to her. "Thank you for the good management." he stood and smiled at her blush. "Shall I help you with the dishes. There is quite a bit left." He knew how hard it was to clean up after a party.
Sakura turned to the sink, though she had gotten through half there was a lot left to clean. That's what happens when Sonomi invites nearly 100 people to a business party. "If you don't mind. Maybe I'll be able to be finished before by midnight that way." She smiled and laughed while turning back to the sink and started to wash some dishes, that had been soaking.
Wei picked up a towel and started to dray the plates in the drying rack. "I was surprised that this party was being managed by such a young lady. You did very well, you were very professional. Though rumour has it that you prepared everything as well." He started to make piles not knowing where the plates went.
"Oh well I've been working the parties here at the Daidouji's for 5 years now, last year Sonomi asked me prepare a party plan as well as manage it and it's been that way ever since. It's fun, I get to pretend I'm a little older then I am and people actually listen to me which is rare." She looked very happy at this fact. "I always try to make sure that everyone has the same amount of work, though it's hard because the waiters have a lot less work the chiefs. That's why I normally end up washing everything by myself at the end of the night." She placed a few more plates in the drying rack.
"Well you're very responsible and very good at managing a large group of people to create a lovely event." Wei smiled.
Sakura smiled at the memories. "I remember you helping me wash the dishes after the night was over." Something hit Sakura all of a sudden "My, I don't know what Sonomi will do for this Christmas party, I'm not going to be in Japan this year." She sighed, feeling bad for Sonomi.
Yelan smiled widely. "Actually it's my turn to host the Christmas party this year. You can work for me. I remember the Christmas party you are referring to and it was the best tasting party food I've ever had. The waiters always had full plates, and the food was delicious. I even remember the tea afterwards." She zoned out and seemed really happy. Sakura looked in disbelief at Yelan, and wondered if she had noticed she mentioned the food twice.
Syaoran looked between all of them. He was with a bunch of weird people, he hadn't gone the Sonomi's party that year. He was in training to become leader of the Li clan. Though last year he had gone and though it had been one of the better run parties he had been too. That was saying something because he went to a lot of parties.
"Back to the main topic." Sakura turned to Syaoran "do you need help cleaning your apartment because I'm more then willing. I got this place all tidied up and I don't really have anything to do. Well except for maybe looking for a job, but I have plenty time for that later this week." She forced herself to stop talking, she didn't want to ramble.
Syaoran rested his elbow on his knee and cradled his head in his hand. "Fine, do whatever you want." he sighed, and looked out the balcony door, it wasn't like he could stop her.
Yelan looked at her son, she knew he was trying to hide a blush. Though she was sure that the girl sitting in front of her didn't notice it. As a mother it was a sixth sense to know when any of your children is blushing. She smiled softly at him and turned to Sakura "thank you Sakura. I am not very good at cleaning while Wei is amazing, and Xiao Lang get's by. You are doing us a great favour by helping us." she bowed slightly to her, examining Xiao Lang out of the corner of her eyes.
"No problem. I like cleaning so it's like letting me get my mind off of being so far away from home." she smiled back and bowed to her.
They the rest of the tea break was had a bit lighter mood and soon they were making their way to Syaoran's apartment. When they got into the apartment Sakura was rolling up her sleeves and got and handkerchief out of her pocket and tied it on her head. "Lets get to work."
Wei got out some cleaning supplies and they all started working. Sakura was the first to claim a room, she picked the kitchen. She began to wash all of the dishes and clean all of the counter tops. About an hour later Syaoran came in and she was cleaning the fridge. "You need any help in here?" He ashed though he didn't think she did.
She poked her head from behind the door. "No I'm fine. I'm almost done." She smiled and returned to her work.
Syaoran looked around and was surprised how good the kitchen looked now that the film of dust had been removed. He was also surprised that it only took her an hour to do it, everyone was nearing the end but they all had nearly empty rooms unlike her. The kitchen was the only part of the house that was full stocked. He smiled softly and went to see his mother
He found her in the living room, she had just finished dusting the room. "Mother I have an idea on how to help Sakura with her job problem." he blurted out but then seemed a little embarrassed about telling her.
"What is it Syaoran?" Yelan was secretly glad that he son was taking interest in someone he had met so recently. It had never happened before.
"Well you know how she said she cleaned for Sonomi when she was low on staff and after parties?" Yelan nodded. She remembered times during the summer that she would stay and the house would be spotless but she would never see who cleaned it. "Well I'm never here during the weekend. Maybe she could do the weekly chores for us. You know, dust. Wash down the kitchen, ect." He looked a little eager for his mother's response.
Yelan sat down and contemplated the idea. She had intended to send one of her own maids over every week for the chores. Though there was room in the monthly budget to hire another person part time. She would only need to talk the pay over with Sakura. She also knew that with in the next month one of her maids would be leaving. "That's a very good idea Syaoran. We do have room in the budget, and Xen is leaving."
Syaoran smiled widely "Thank you mother." He motioned to leave but turned again "Couldn't you not tell her it's my idea. I don't want her to think I'm taking pity on her or anything. I just can't imagine being so far from home." He looked a little embarrassed.
Yelan nodded "Certainly Xiao Lang. It was all my idea" she smiled as her soon left. He was such a sweet man. Now only to find him a girl that would love him for that quality and not his pocket book. Maybe Sakura will be that girl. Did she have a boyfriend?
Sakura was finished and emerged from the kitchen. "Well I'm done the kitchen." she made her way to Yelan "The only thing Syaoran has to do is fill the fridge." She removed her handkerchief.
Yelan nodded "Very good. Please sit down for a moment. I wish to discuss something with you." Yelan tried to smile not wanting to scare the young woman. "Don't worry it's nothing bad."
"What would you like to discuss?" Sakura sat next to Yelan on the couch.
"Well I was thinking while I was cleaning, about how the son I know and love..." she paused trying to think about how to phrase it. "Well basically, Syaoran is no where close to godliness" Sakura laughed at the partial quote. "Then I remembered that you said you were looking for a job. So I have a proposal for you. How about on the week end when Syaoran is not here, you come in and clean it for him. I won't ask you to do his laundry he can bring it home, but just you know tidy up." Yelan looked hopeful.
Sakura looked at her hands "I feel like I'd be using a rich family that I just met to take the easy way out of my problem."
Yelan took her hands. "Well you see. The maid I wanted to send over here is leaving us because she's starting school again and can't work full time and she to quit. So I am at a lose. If you take this position it would benefit me greatly. So would you please consider it?"
"Alright. I'll think about it. I'll give you my answer tomorrow alright?" Sakura was still unsure about it. She needed to talk with Tomoyo before she gave her answer, she needed her opinion on the family.
"Yes that's fine." She smiled "I'll be at your place at same 2pm, is that alright?"
"Yes that's fine" Sakura smiled "I'll be leaving now. Nice to meet you and thank you for letting me help you." She bowed and made her way to the door "Bye Wei-san. Bye Li-kun."
She got a chorus of bye's and left unaware that someone was watching her from the bedroom.
TBC
A/N: Thank you for taking the time to read this. Next chapter the baking lesson. Until next time.
