Yay! I'm off hiatus! I decided that I would give you guys a slightly longer chapter this time, because of how long you had to wait. I made it through my finals and such. Well… almost. I've still got one more. But it's history, so…
This totally counts as studying.
Anyway, so speaking of "studying" I was watching Hetalia videos on YouTube and ended up on one about AmericaxBelarus and thought to myself about how underappreciated that pairing really is. I thought… "Hey, I should spread the love! Wish I could draw, but I can't, so instead I'll just write… Oh, wait… I have a fanfiction to finish already… I'll do that now to make way for some AmeBel later."
So, that is why you get a new chapter! I kind of wish I could incorporate some AmeBel into this one as well, but it has nothing to do with the story plus I have the fem!America in this instead of her male counterpart and she simply doesn't go as well with Belarus.
ANYWAY, onward with this nonsense. (Which I do not in fact own, by the way.)Hope you like it!
Heracles and Mathias followed excitedly behind Mr. Fernandez-Carriedo and his assistant as they walked swiftly down the halls of the incredibly fancy-looking office building. They rounded a corner, suddenly entering a room containing about five other incredibly nervous-looking boys standing in a clump, and the other half of the room containing a giant set filled with cameras and various light filters. As the boys entered, a man popped up from behind the set to peer at them with deep violet eyes through sharp glasses. He raised an eyebrow at the group of men, pointedly glaring at Antonio before turning his attention back to the boys.
"Hello, new talent. How nice of you to join us. Take your place with the others and we can get started."
Yao strolled through the front doors of the lobby on Thursday morning with a giant smile on her face. She had found something for her new boyfriend on the way to work and she knew he was going to love it. It was a mug with a great big sunflower carved onto it. She knew that this was Ivan's favorite flower, and so when she passed it in a shop window, she had decided to surprise him with it.
As she headed towards the front desk, she saw a blonde woman standing and talking with Daisy, who seemed less cheerful than usual, and almost uncomfortable. Yao continued to approach the desk, albeit a bit cautiously. She glanced again at the blonde at the desk, who had stopped talking, in order to see her face.
She was quite beautiful, with the same ivory skin and dark round eyes that reminded her of Ivan. The woman turned her head towards Yao, who awkwardly pretended that she wasn't just staring at her by being consumed with interest in signing in. However, her efforts to be ignored by the mystery woman were futile.
"Ms. Yao Wang? Assistant to a Mr. Ivan Braginski, yes?" Her slight accent caught Yao's attention.
Yao gulped. She suddenly felt like she was a little girl about to get in trouble with the principal.
"Ah… y-yes?"
The woman handed Yao a booklet entitled New and Revised Guidelines for the Workplace. Smiling, she turned and began to walk towards the elevator. Both women watched her leave, and then Yao turned back to Daisy.
"What was that about, aru? Who was that woman?"
Daisy smiled uncomfortably. "A-ah… she's Mr. Bonnefoy's assistant, I guess… She just gave me the same booklet and told me to 'keep up the single life.' What does that even mean? She's scary! Also, I haven't seen Ludwig in a while and I think he's avoiding me and I don't know what I did and maybe it has something to do with this, oh-"
"Daisy. It'll be fine, I promise. I'm sure Ludwig isn't avoiding you; it's just a weird coincidence, aru. I am going to go upstairs now. Try not to have a panic attack while I'm gone, aru."
"Ivan? Are you here yet?" Yao called out into the office for her boyfriend. She still had her gift to give him. She made her way into the office, setting her things on her desk and peering into Ivan's office. He was sitting at his desk, sorting through paperwork and looking exhausted. Yao wondered if he'd been there all night. Suddenly, she got an idea. She walked over to the coffee machine on the other side of the room and filled Ivan's gift with coffee.
Crossing the room once more to Ivan's desk, Yao set the mug next to Ivan's slumped over body, who appeared to be taking a nap. Yao smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder, gently shaking the sleeping giant, who slowly turned his head up towards his smiling girlfriend.
"Yao-Yao, what are you doing here so late? Go to bed, I can handle this…"
Yao raised an eyebrow. "Handle what? Ivan, it's nearly 10:00 in the morning. How long have you been here?"
The large man lifted his head up all the way, squinting at the light seeping through the window. A look of panic once again spread across his face. "How long have I been asleep, you mean? I need to get back to work… If I don't get this done by noon, Natalia will…" He paused. "…I do not even want to think about it…"
"What?" Yao was puzzled. Something was wrong with Ivan lately. She didn't know what it was, but ever since that one day when they were late, he had been so uptight with maintaining every. Single. Rule. It seemed like this was happening more and more lately. Ivan would be doing just fine, but then suddenly have these bursts of panic in which he'd transform into a huge workaholic.
It was getting a little ridiculous.
He even followed the little regulations that nobody else paid attention to anyway, such as using the intercom buzzer to notify me when he was going to use the phone even though there are several lines always open. Or, when he was walking out of the building he made sure to sign out next to his name each and every day. Or, in an even stranger turn of events: he had stopped drinking.
No, seriously. He never poured any Vodka in his coffee anymore, and I never caught him taking a sip out of the flask he kept in his desk drawers.
Honestly, she was starting to worry. No, Yao was beyond the point of worry. She had actually considered staging an intervention. But then, she didn't know who else would be involved aside from herself. Maybe Ivan had family, but Yao had realized that she really had no idea who this person really was.
She just didn't know what to do. So, she simply decided that it was just a really heavy workload he had, or something like that, and that it would pass, eventually.
If only she knew how to keep her mouth shut.
But she didn't.
"Ivan?" She asked tentatively.
I fidgeted under his gaze. "I… er… was wondering if I could… talk to you, aru."
"Who's Natalia, Ivan?" she asked suddenly. Ivan smiled cheerfully, but Yao could've sworn that she saw something resembling fear in eyes for a split second.
"Nobody important… Just someone I know." Yao still looked skeptical. For good measure, Ivan stood up and gave her a small kiss on the forehead. "I'm fine. I just have things to do. See you during lunch, da?"
"I don't know what is going on with him, Maddie, aru. I'm positive that there's something he's not telling me. This Natalia person is obviously causing him emotional trouble. I do not think that he is having an affair, but I can't think of any other explanation… what do you think?"
"Well… eh… What did you say the name was again? I could maybe check my files to see if she's an employee or a customer, if you'd like."
"Her name was Natalia, I think…"
"Hmm… ok, so I've only found one match to that name in the database. She's Mr. Bonnefoy's executive assistant, and her full name is Natalia… Braginski."
"Braginski? As in… Ivan Braginski? Meaning they're related somehow?" Yao suddenly thought back to that morning, with the beautiful blonde at the front desk. Immediately, her face had reminded her of Ivan. Ms. Vargas' words suddenly came back to her.
"She's Mr. Bonnefoy's assistant, I guess…"
"…so, Ivan has a sister who's higher up in the company than he is… maybe it's an inferiority complex thing. Maybe he feels like he needs to work hard to show her up?" Maddie suggested.
She didn't answer. Instead, she simply told her, "Sorry, I've got to go. I have things to get done. Have a nice day, Maddie." After she said goodbye, Yao hung up the phone, reaching into her purse for the new booklet that she had acquired that morning and forgotten about completely. Flipping to the first page, she noticed a post-it note stuck to the front page that read:
Turn to page #3; this rule is important.
Yao obliged and turned to page three. On that page, someone had marked one rule with a star in permanent marker:
*16. Any employee caught dating another employee or showing any forms of PDA will be terminated.
-foreboding music-
Natalia, what have you done? You have stolen our fluff! HOW DARETH THOU.
Alrighty then~ So, I have decided that the next chapter will be the last one for this story, because I want to move on to other things but I decided that I would actually finish this story instead of simply nullifying it like I did with my others. Also, in honor of the last chapter, let's have a little guessing game:
So, I never have very sad endings in my stories, meaning that this new office rule will not exist by the ending. Therefore, my question is this:
How will all employees I've mentioned fight this new rule? (Bonus points to whoever is able to use all characters I've mentioned so far.)
Anyone who gets something close to the right answer will get a free oneshot with the pairing of their choice.
…GO!
