Chapter-15
Konomi woke up to her father laughing with someone in the living room.
"Hmm…? That's strange. My father hasn't invited guests over in a long time." Konomi thought.
Then she smiled. "It might be some neighbour or someone else. Talking to other people would do otou-san some good." Konomi thought.
She got up from the bed and realised she was still in her work clothes from yesterday.
"Ugh Sagawa Konomi get your shit together!" Konomi thought and motioned to move to the bathroom.
Just as she opened the door of her room, opening into the living room, her jaw dropped to the floor as she saw something she never thought she would ever get to see.
Irie Yuki with another man, fully in professional clothes, sitting with her father in their humble living room.
"Ah Konomi-chan you woke up? Finally! Ohayou! I thought you would miss your old friend here. You never told me you were friends with someone so intelligent" Konomi's father chimed, clearly enveloped in Irie Yuki's charms.
"Ah ohayou otou-san" Konomi replied to her father then turned to the two well-dressed men in her living room, "I don't understand." Konomi then looked at Irie Yuki in the eyes and asked, "What are you doing here Irie-san?"
"Waah Konomi. We're old friends aren't we? We're allowed to visit each other!" Irie Yuki said with a mischievous smile on his face.
"Well well Chairman, let's not forget the actual reason we are here" The other man said.
He looked a bit familiar to Konomi, but where had she seen him before she was unable to recall.
"Ah, I'm Takanori Satoshi, Head of Legal. Nice to meet you." Takanori said as he gave Konomi his business card.
"Ah, I'm Sagawa Konomi. Secretary to- ah…" Konomi said and then bowed in greeting.
"Yes, regarding that. I can see that right now is bad timing. Is it okay if we meet at the cafe near the bus stop in 30 minutes?" Takanori asked.
"Yes. But, I would like to know what is this about?" Konomi asked.
"It's about you being able to complete your earlier sentence. We'll see you in 30 minutes." Irie Yuki said and then turned to Konomi's father and smiled, "I shall see you again Sagawa-san." bowed and then Irie Yuki left the apartment.
"Yes. See you there in 30 minutes Sagawa-san." Takanori-san said and then left.
WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON THAT THEY BARGED IN MY HOME LIKE THAT!
"Well, aren't you going to get ready? You really should fix your hair if not anything else." Konomi's father interrupted her thoughts.
"Huh? Ah! Yes! Yes!" Konomi said and ran to her room to look in the mirror.
THE WORST!
How can her bed hair look that bad today of all days!
"You know you really shouldn't let just anyone into the house. It could be very dangerous." Konomi said loudly from her room to her father.
"I invited them over to thank them for their help this morning" Konomi's father replied.
Konomi stopped mid-way from picking out her clothes and went to the living room.
"Help? What happened?" Konomi asked worriedly.
"I was at the grocery store, when at the counter it turned out that I had forgotten my wallet at home. I apologised and came out of the store. But the cashier was some kind of a delinquent. He came after me on the street itself and said something like if I took them off the shelf I should buy them, if not then I should place them back on the shelf correctly. He even called me names. When your friend suddenly appeared and handled the situation. His colleague there even went and bought the things I had left at the counter. I had invited them over for tea and to return their money back. They came and drank the tea when the young man saw the photo and told me that he was your friend from school. I was totally taken aback. They didn't even take the money for the things from the grocery store." Konomi's father explained.
"What? How is that even… What?" Konomi was murmuring to herself, when her father interrupted her.
"You really should get ready fast." Konomi's father said.
"Ah!" Konomi exclaimed and looked at the clock. Only 20 minutes remain.
Konomi rushed to her room, picked her favourite office suit and ran to the bathroom.
She was ultimately running to the cafe in order to meet the time.
As she reached the cafe, she took a moment to control her breathing and then stepped inside.
Spotting Irie Yuki in a crowd was never a difficult task for Konomi. That day was no different either. The cafe wasn't crowded anyway.
She sat down opposite the two men, and immediately bowed her head in thanks.
"Thank you so much for helping my father this morning. It was very kind of you. Please allow me to show you my gratitude" Konomi said.
"Ah, there's no need Sagawa-san" Takanori smiled and replied.
"If you really want to show your gratitude, you will make the right choice after this meeting" Irie Yuki said.
"What do you mean?" Konomi asked.
"Sagawa-san, I understand that you are confused about the job offer made to you yesterday. We are here to tell you in detail what the job would actually entail, and I can answer any and all questions that you may have." Takanori said.
"Ah. I think I may not need to hear more after all. I have been offered a job somewhere else and I think I am going to take it. Thank you for your kind consideration." Konomi said.
"Sagawa-san, please hear me out and then you can decide. Is that okay?" Takanori said.
"Yes. Please do" Konomi replied.
"Being an employee at the company would not only mean a substantial increase in salary for you, but also health care benefits for you and your father including easy access to the Pandai Hospital through our company for you and your father. Since you will be the Chairman's Secretary, in order to allow you to focus fully on your duties, we will provide you with accommodation for you and your father at the company employee's residence, from where the headquarters and Pandai Hospital are walking distance. To facilitate your smooth travelling as part of your duties we will-" Takanori was saying
"You will have enough pay and sufficient health care with access to the biggest and best hospital in the country for you and your father. I don't think anything else matters more." Irie Yuki said.
"I don't know what to say. This is so sudden." Konomi replied honestly.
"I understand. Please go over this revised document and let me know if you have any questions. I shall do my best and answer them." Takanori replied.
"Think and make the best choice." Irie Yuki replied.
"Well, with that I think we should leave now Chairman. Sagawa-san shall decide the best" Takanori said and got up to leave.
"You go ahead. I'll meet you back at the company" Irie Yuki replied.
"I think we shouldn't bother Sagawa-san too much today and leave her to decide what's best." Takanori insisted and signalled to Yuki that this wasn't what they had decided.
"It's okay. I won't pester her about being my Secretary. I am staying back as her old classmate." Irie Yuki replied.
Takanori looked at Irie Yuki as if he had heard him wrong but then quickly regained his composure and greeted Konomi and left.
"We are not old school friends." Konomo quickly corrected Irie Yuki.
"You're right. You were my stalker and I am a victim in this case" Irie Yuki replied.
"What?!" Konomi said aghast. "Well if that's the case feel free to leave." Konomi said and motioned towards the door.
"You are not my stalker anymore and I am not the victim here." Irie Yuki replied.
"DAMN IT! I need to do this properly" Irie Yuki thought.
"If you are not accepting the job offer because you think I made it due to our history, then you are wrong. I run a company based full of people of talent. No matter the stakes, I would never compromise on my work." Irie Yuki said.
"He did indeed shut everyone out during college entrances in order to get into Tokyo University." Konomi thought.
"I made the offer, because you are good at your job and I think that your skills would fit my company perfectly. You have the skills and expertise that no degree can ever teach or certify. Sincerity. Before you joined your previous work, your boss missed out on a lot of things simple because of administerial defects. Silly mistakes really that could have been easily avoided or taken care of. Then you joined the company, not having even graduated from college yet. And things started getting better little by little. However, the debt mounted till then was too big to pay off and ultimately things became as they did. More than degrees from precious universities, I need sincere people in my company and that is why I made you the offer." Irie Yuki finished talking then and looked at Konomi.
"I didn't think that. It is nice to know." Konomi replied clearly taken aback by the long speech. So unlike Irie Yuki.
"What is the other job offer? Is it Tohru?" Irie Yuki asked irritatedly.
"What? Well that's… well…" Konomi stammered.
"It is him, isn't it?" Irie Yuki said "Work with me Konomi. I want you to work with me" Yuki said and looked into Konomi's eyes.
Konomi was stunned. Partly because of the sudden out-of-nature confession from Irie Yuki and partly because, even after all this time, Irie Yuki was too handsome to be true.
The years in college, late night working and all that, had taken nothing away, and had in fact added to the overall beauty and charm of Irie Yuki.
"You will work with me, right? You will accept the job offer to work with me as my Secretary?" Irie Yuki asked.
"Yes" Konomi replied in a soft whisper and before she could realise what she had just said and landed herself into, the most wicked smile she had ever seen splashed across Irie Yuki's face.
"I knew it." Irie Yuki said and smiled smugly, leaned back in his chair, crossed his legs and asked, "Breakfast?" as he motioned to the waiter to bring the menu.
