Hesitation

Now that I thought about it, how much would I get paid? The shachou hadn't told me yet. I hoped it was enough for me to buy jiisan some eggs. And he still hadn't exactly specified how long I would be working here. I mean school was going to be starting soon for Pete's sake!

Agano-sempai looked slightly worried when she saw me. Did she think I had tried stealing something from the meeting room?

"Agano-se-"

"I have your schedule that the shachou e-mailed me." Agano-sempai handed me a printed copy of the schedule.

"Hey wait. How did-?"

"He has a cell phone."

"Eh, what time is it, Agano-sempai?" I didn't see a clock anywhere.

She immediately whipped out a pocket-watch, that I hadn't seen on her person, and flicked it open. "Approximately 10:00 a.m." She really was the brisk and accurate type.

"How long will I have to-?"

"Check the schedule."

Right.

It looked like I had my job as a paper filer start at 6:00 at night and end at 9:00 in the same night. Today I was to work from 10:00 in the morning to around 6:00 at night. 8 hours! And the days after that too were scheduled the same way. Then when school started again, every day was marked off and the late night hours would start. It looked like I'd have to cram my homework as usual, as with all my former jobs. It was just my luck to have gotten work in a high, sophisticated corporation that was going through some hard times, which I was somehow, in a vague way, involved in. It was all so confusing.

And I had the notion that the shachou was giving me all this work on purpose.

"Mikan! Get to work!" snapped Agano-sempai strictly.

"Hai!" I scooted into the chair next to her and began to file the papers waiting for me there.

I will not lose to him.

Oo

Thank god for coffee.

Natsume stretched himself out on his new high-back chair and took a look around his temporary office. It wasn't as good as his old one, but it wouldn't be very long before the carpenter repaired the splintered wood table. He would be wondering who in the world had split a solid oak-wood desk in half, but that was nothing to worry about. He'd had worse cases before such as the time he had to call a plumber to fix a sink that Tsubasa had "removed" from the wall in one of his rages. They always were a problem. Maybe he should put him in anger management.

Brrrrriiiingggg!

The chair nearly flew out the window this time.

"Shit!"

He still wasn't used to the phone and its shrill high-pitched ringing. It had sounded like a silencer for a minute there. All guns always emitted a high-pitched squealing sound, but a silencer had the most annoying one.

"Hello?" His voice came out gruffer than he expected. "This is the shachou of Alice Corp. speaking." Usually calls went to his secretary, who apparently was absent today.

"Hello. Is Mikan there?" a cool female voice cut through the speaker. "She is supposed to be back by now. Tell her that she needs to get back here now or she will suffer the consequences." It was an emotionless voice that made him wonder why the hell would Mikan even associate herself with these kinds of people. And he wondered where 'back here' was.

"I'm sorry, but she has work right now. And I'm afraid that she won't be able to come back until later. I can have her return your message if you-"

"Then I'm coming over."

What the hell? No!

But before he could form his thoughts into words, the phone had clicked suddenly and only the tone was heard.

"Shit!"

He must've sworn at least twice as much today than he usually did. It hadn't been his plan to see her before the day was over. Or else everything he had planned to tell her in the morning would end up spilling itself out in front of everyone. And Natsume Hyuuga did not want that, not in the least, not that he wasn't desperate to get her to remember everything already and save him some trouble. If only it were that easy. But it wasn't. Instead, some friend of hers was on her way here and would probably end up ripping her away from her post. And then Alice corp. would lose its newest employee for good.

(notice how this is all in his head)

Oo

"Ah-choo!"

"Bless you. Someone talking about you?"

"Yeah, probably." My nose felt really itchy now and tingly. It usually felt this way when… "Hotaru?"

And at that exact moment, the door burst open with a bang.

"WAhhhhhhhhhhh-mph!" Someone's hand had clasped firmly over my mouth.

"Be quiet, polka dots." That someone murmured in my ear.

When did he get here?

"mmmmmmmmph!" I sure wasn't staying quiet when someone was gagging me at the same time.

"Mikan."

The voice caught me off guard and I ceased struggling against the shachou's surprisingly strong hold.

"Hotaru…" His hand had relaxed and I'd managed to wrench it off.

"Mikan." Hotaru didn't usually repeat things.

"What are you doing here? I thought you-"

"You promised to come back." She accused mercilessly.

I winced at the memory. It was true that I had promised, but that was when she had been pressuring me about going shopping for school supplies. And I had hastily answered to her demand that I would go with her when my interview was over. I hadn't expected to be sent immediately to work. "…eh." I laughed just as Tsubasa did when he was in this kind of situation. "Sorry about that Hotaru, I didn't-"

"You can't promise one thing and then do another."

"But Hotaru-"

"There's no need to explain," She sighed impatiently. "Just tell me when your hours are over."

"Ummm, about that. I-"

"I'm afraid she has plenty of hours left to work." The shachou was ruthless when it came to these matters. "So you'll expect her done by 6:00."

Hotaru was silent for a moment and for a minute there, I thought she was going to do something Hotaru-ish. But what she said next surprised me.

"Fine. But I expect you to make up for your promise." And with that she began heading out. But before she was past the door she turned slightly and said, "I will call later for an interview myself."

My mouth fell open slightly.

Things were getting weirder by the minute.

"Get back to work, Mikan!" Agano-sempai probably wanted to make a good impression on the shachou.

"Yes, ma'am!" She really was starting to sound like some Lieutenant and I turned to rush back to my beloved papers. But before that could happen, a hand caught my wrist.

"Wait."

Were my eyes deceiving me or was the shachou holding on to me for no reason?

He had that look in his eyes again. And it had the same effect as last time. The look lasted a couple seconds longer before something not short of disgust replaced it and he let go of my wrist like it was contagious.

"Never mind." As he left, I noticed something.

Where his fingers had been there were angry red welts in their place. And when I took one last look back at his hands, they were quivering quite agitatedly.