A/N: Enjoy the read :D! Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko! Only my imagination :)!
Yumi and Ulrich were back at work. The project was nearing its end, with the results being fine-tuned. Odd's presence was no longer required since he had finished his parts. The model he had created was to the client's wishes. Ulrich was satisfied with how it had all come along.
But there were a few other problems that needed to be solved before the end of the week.
"Emily, can you help us for a few minutes?" Ulrich was talking on the phone. He was standing beside Emily's trainee, who was currently having trouble fixing a bug in the code of their application's latest version. It was scheduled to go live next week. The trainee's insecurity wasn't speeding up the process and Ulrich finally called in his mentor for help.
"She's coming down now," Ulrich told him. The trainee, Jamie, reminded Ulrich of a smaller Jeremie. Only this one had black hair and clearly wasn't a genius. Next to that, his practically non-existent self-confidence drove Emily crazy now and then. When it was present, it was mostly based on nothing.
"What's the matter, Jamie?" Emily suddenly appeared behind them, looking very annoyed at the fact that she had to put on hold whatever she was working on. Jamie pointed at his screen. Ulrich cast a look in Emily's direction. Her hair was tied into a high bun today. That combined with the obvious displeased look had Ulrich – although not much – sympathize with the younger employee.
Jamie had applied for the traineeship to fill in the slot of the large practical course students like him had to follow in order to get full credits for the year. Emily had warned him it wasn't going to be easy and he had claimed it to be no problem.
"I believe the application should have been finished already. I thought all was fixed. You know that we cannot develop any 3D-models without the program, right? Our back up program doesn't provide us with the advanced functions we are used to," Emily harshly reprimanded him.
"Yes, I'm sorry. I accidentally reset the code of the version to one before the final one. I didn't know how to put it back, so I have been trying to fix the errors we had listed," Jamie showed her the list on the screen. "It proved a little harder than expected, so if you could please give me a few pointers, I am positive it will work out," he finished speaking and went back to his timid mode.
"I'm glad you're this optimistic, because I don't have the time to help you out. I cannot afford to alter my schedule to make way for something that was already finished. I'll mail you a few commands and starting points you should look into. Please, don't do this again," she said.
Emily then walked out of the main office in silence, without waiting for an answer.
"She sure changed a lot," Ulrich grumbled. He noticed Jamie was trembling a little. "Don't let her intimidate you. If you wouldn't be capable, she would have had you replaced. I agree with her final statement though. Don't do this again. Mistakes are fine, but grave ones like this are too risky. We can't permit them," Ulrich warned him. "Don't forget to take a break," he told him.
Ulrich returned to his office, left his door open and went to check his e-mail. Emily had already notified him that she had the final version of the application complete with its coding saved in her personal files. She was going to let Jamie figure things out. That way, he could practice more.
He smiled. At least the team leaders could handle themselves most of the time.
"Ulrich," Yumi knocked on his door. She always did regardless of whether it was opened or not. "Odd called to ask if he has to come for the final presentation on the first of March," she relayed their friend's message. "He said you were busy on the phone."
He checked his phone. "That was around the time I called Emily," he looked up, "Tell him he needs to be around to brag about his work," Ulrich dismissed her and started to ready himself for his next appointment.
Yumi sighed as she closed the door. She understood he needed time, but the strange distance between them felt awkward. It was hard to act normal. "Just be patient, Yumi," she whispered to herself. In fact, she knew Ulrich had hardly any time to chat with anyone. She had memorized his schedule, so she was aware of how busy he had been the past few weeks. "Let's just hope he doesn't forget the paper work." She had set her mind to focus on business again.
The remaining time of the day was spent idling around. Yumi had already organized everything. There wasn't much to do, except for calling Odd. Ulrich's agenda was full and he would be preoccupied for the entire week. She wasn't needed for all his appointments. She had sorted out the new files. Those were only awaiting Ulrich's approval (or the opposite if he didn't agree). Nobody phoned their office. But that was probably because everyone had been scheduled in already.
Yumi was simply bored out of her mind. "I guess I'll study after giving Odd a call," she told herself. She rummaged in her bag to discover that she had left her notebook at home. She sighed again.
A knock on the door startled her out of her boredom, at least temporarily. "Come in," she said, trying to sound busy.
"Hey, Yumi. Is Ulrich in?" Emily stepped inside.
"No, he is out. Do you need anything?" She asked.
"Not really. Just wanted to ask him if he wanted to go for lunch with some others tomorrow. His advice got our team on the right track and we were able to finish a project that was going downhill at first. We wanted to thank him," Emily explained, while looking around as if she hadn't been there a thousand times before.
"According to his agenda, he should be free around that time. But knowing Ulrich, he'll probably buy lunch and eat it on the way to the next place," she informed her with a little more detail than intended.
"I guess that's that then, if you say so," Emily's statement seemed innocent, but Yumi fished out another meaning. "Don't fall for it," she thought.
"You know, you could try calling him," she suggested, using a sarcastic undertone.
"I tried, it's switched off," Emily responded. Yumi knew that was a lie. If there was anything Ulrich would never do, it was letting his phone's battery run out. Especially when he was out of office.
"Oh, that's too bad. Is there anything else?" Yumi asked, wondering about Emily's advances. She wasn't going to offer to notify Ulrich.
"Well… I'm not all too concerned about this, but I've heard the rumours from the others. They're still saying you're coming across as someone who got close to Ulrich for the job. And that you're keeping up a pretence of wanting to do well for the company, while nobody knows what you're really doing behind the scenes. I figured it wasn't my place to say anything, but I can if you want me to. I mean, I have more background information than the others, so I can help you shut down nuisances for you," Emily revealed.
Yumi hadn't really given the dissatisfaction of the other employees much thought anymore with everything that had passed. Of course, the amount of workers that openly hated on her had decreased drastically. However, the whispers and glances had made work a much less comfortable environment to be in. Despite Ulrich's efforts to keep everything under control, she knew it was worse than before.
"It's okay. I'm not bothered by it. Besides, I think the source of the rumours might have been someone who had "more background information" in the first place," Yumi hid her accusation by using air quotes. Emily blinked twice. "That might have been the case." She adjusted her glasses after trailing off with the empty words.
"Yes, so, please refrain from doing anything unnecessary," Yumi said, thinking the last word as addition to her sentence. "Got it," Emily said, walking out of the office. Yumi never had considered Emily a troublemaker. Although it looked like it was time to change her view on the woman.
"Time to inform Odd," she told herself as she got out her phone.
"Hey Yumi," she was greeted by Odd's usual energetic voice.
"Odd, Ulrich wants you at the showcase next week's Tuesday," Yumi got straight to the point.
"Oh, well that was to be expected," Odd said.
"Huh, yes it was," Yumi said, a little surprised by his mild reaction. "He could've told you himself, but he's a busy man this week," she grumbled. Odd was laughing.
"What? Doesn't he give you enough attention?" He teased her.
"No, I mean, I have plenty to do each day, but he still needs to approve of pretty much everything. And if he doesn't make time for that, I'm going to have a lot of people who come to ask for progress. Which means they're plainly going to complain until my head explodes," she fussed, doodling on a post-it in the meantime.
"Sounds rough. Should I relay the message? Something along the lines of 'hey Yumi's going to kill you if you don't do your work'?" Odd asked, snickering afterwards.
"Very funny, but I'm sure he is aware of the problems it'll create if he doesn't," she told him.
"You hear that Ulrich? The lady is troubled by your absence," Odd said as laughed out loud again.
"ODD! Is Ulrich there? Is the phone on speaker mode? Argh," she quickly hung up.
Yumi felt her face heating up. How was she supposed to know that Ulrich was wherever Odd was? Her phone rang a few seconds later. It was Odd again. She hadn't really cooled down from her embarrassing moment, so she ignored the call. Her phone continued to ring and she wondered why it took so long to stop. "What?" She eventually answered.
"Just wanted to let you know that I'm strangling Odd now," a voice responded.
"Ulrich," she breathed out. "Sorry, I didn't want to sound stingy. I'm only worried about the work that's piling up… literally," she said as she looked at the desk in the corner of her office.
"Don't worry. I'll be at the office tomorrow. A client called to request the appointment to be moved and I finished not long ago. I have been at Odd's for about ten minutes now," he said.
"Okay," she cheered up. "I'll see you tomorrow then."
She heard him chuckle. "See you."
"Oh, wait, why are you calling with Odd's phone?" She asked, thinking about Emily's remarks.
"Because I was in a hurry to call you back," Ulrich replied. He coughed once. "Ahem, well, mine is in my jacket in the hallway."
She stifled her laughter. "Well, don't kill Odd. Bye," she said, hanging up after hearing him say he'll try not to.
The phone conversation had lifted Yumi's spirits. She eyed the time on her screen. "One more hour," she confirmed. "Time for the final rounds."
Like promised, Ulrich was present at the office the next morning. However, not in his own office. Yumi tapped her fingers on the desk. He had messaged her that among everyone that needed his help Emily and Jamie were taking up a lot of time. Apparently Emily's trainee hadn't managed and he was not hearing the end of it.
"I'm back," Ulrich announced as he stepped inside. He was tired. "Next time, warn me please. Don't these people know how to type an e-mail? Or call? Even a letter with explanation would be fine. Unbelievable… just after I admitted that they could handle themselves," he whined.
"You're not off the hook yet," she walked over to him and pointed at the desk where she had organized all the files. "About thirty of them," she said. "Believe me, I know, because I counted them over and over out of boredom."
"Heh," Ulrich smiled. "Let me get some coffee." He turned around to open the door again, but Yumi held him back by putting her hand on the door.
"No, you'll be called away again if you're spotted. I'm sure. So you stay and I'll go," she ordered.
He smiled. "Go ahead."
Ulrich was about to let her pass when the door opened. It caused Yumi to stumble right into Ulrich who caught her while his back hit the wall. Yumi immediately looked up to see his face, but Ulrich didn't show any signs of pain. "Are you okay?" He whispered. "Yes, thanks," she softly replied. He steadied her with both hands. But the seconds of his touch felt like minutes with the sudden tingling feeling that travelled through her body. Yumi blushed and thanked her luck for not being the one that faced the door. Ulrich on the other hand urged himself to keep his expression neutral. "Unfair," he whispered. Yumi didn't hear it, being too busy with extinguishing herself.
"Uhm, excuse me. I didn't know Yumi was behind the door," Emily poked her head through the opening to check if everything was alright.
"It's alright," Ulrich assured her. "Can we help you?" He had retracted his hands already and was now standing next to Yumi.
"My team and I wanted to invite you to lunch as a thank you for helping us out the other day. Are you available?"
Yumi withheld herself from making a stupid comment. Emily must have found out that Ulrich's appointment after lunch was cancelled. Unknowingly, she was clenching her fists. Emily didn't notice, but Ulrich did.
"Sorry, I've got a pile of work to go through. Yumi will be helping me. We can't go," Ulrich rejected the invitation.
Yumi faced the windows to hide her smile. Apparently she had been worried for nothing. Both of them were a team and it seemed neither of them thought otherwise.
"Are you absolutely sure? We're going to that café that you once mentioned," Emily tried to tempt him into coming, not fully comprehending that Ulrich was speaking for Yumi and himself.
"Yep, but do have fun. The food is really good," he told her, practically chasing her out with words.
"Okay, good luck with the workload," Emily said and closed the door. Yumi went back to her desk.
"You really don't know how to keep a poker face huh," Ulrich commented after enough time had passed for Emily to walk away.
"That really depends on the persons and situation, you know," Yumi crossed her arms. "Thanks for turning it down," she smiled. "And for including me." Her afterthought had her lost in thought for a few moments.
"No problem, I did promise after all. And I don't feel like spending such a casual time with them. If I go there, I'd rather eat in peace," Ulrich said, while approaching Yumi's desk. They were standing across from one another now.
"Is it the one you took me to?" Yumi questioned him. "Yes," he answered. "I don't go there with just anyone though." He stared at her. Yumi didn't know where to look and was fidgeting with her doodle post-it.
"Let's go there next weekend," he said.
The suggestion came so unexpected that she dropped her post-it. He picked it up and saw she had drawn a rose in every corner. Ulrich took the pen on her desk and started drawing a fan and a sword. "Ah, not as pretty as the roses," he admitted. "Will you come with me then?" He asked, handing it back to her.
Yumi couldn't figure out whether the symbolism meant more than just a reference to their time as Lyoko warriors. She nodded. "Yes." Ulrich was relieved to hear her positive reply.
Both of them got back to work afterwards, but they were equally excited for that day that they should be calling a date.
A/N: See you next time! Note, 'you' can be used as singular and plural, so I decided to have a mind game of my own. Keep in mind that the bonus chapters are (far away but) incoming, so let me know in advance if you want to see someone in the second bonus chapter (after ch. 30!).
