A/N: Hello. Couldn't get this chapter finished in the weekend, but it is here now. Enjoy the read!

Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko! Only my imagination :)!


"Good morning," Yumi greeted everyone in the main office. Several colleagues returned the greeting, some looked up to acknowledge her presence and others were too focused to react. "We're having an emergency meeting in an hour. Please try to be here. Otherwise be sure to ask one of your colleagues including me," she announced. Afterwards she checked with every team leader what the latest updates were. The progress of their projects as well as other employees within the teams.

She went back to Ulrich's office to share the new information. "Okay, so most of them are on par with the schedules. That's good. Ask the remaining ones if they need any help or if they assume the current problems are temporary setbacks," Ulrich told her. "Already done." Yumi presented him with her notes.

"Great work Yumi," he complimented her as he scanned the notes. "So Emily is the only one who is struggling," he commented. "Yes. She's capable, but having one employee in her team fired and one quitting his job isn't making it any easier for her. She's been working overtime almost every day. I'm concerned about that," Yumi said, referring to the pair that once came to complain in her office.

"Well, it's not like we've received a budget cut. We can hire a new person. Tell Emily the job vacancy will be opened today. I'll make sure it happens," Ulrich stated. Yumi nodded.

"Did your father stop by already?" She asked. He was stunned for a moment. "I forgot about that. Way to ruin my mood," he thumped his head against the backrest of his office chair. Yumi laughed a little. "Sorry, I thought he would have by now." She read the time on her watch. "Lunchtime is almost over. Do you want to get sandwiches in the cafeteria?" Yumi smiled.

"I'm not that hungry anymore," he claimed, holding his stomach. Yumi moved over to his side. "What sounds better? Facing your father with a satisfied stomach or facing him while being even more annoyed – and probably annoying him more – with the rumbling sounds of your empty stomach?" Ulrich groaned. "None," he whined. She crossed her arms. "Okay fine, the first," he said as he got up.

He grabbed her hand and walked towards the first door. "We are letting go before we exit right?" She warned him. "Yeah, we will, no problem," he said and released her hand one second later. "That's not what I meant," she grumbled when she saw him step outside his office. He chuckled and took hold of her again. "I know," he teased her.

To their surprise the door to their office flew open as Ulrich's father abruptly entered. The couple quickly let go of each other, but Yumi feared it had been too late. His father had noticed their linked hands. "Sir you're not supposed to go in there," someone called after the man. It was a new security guard that was stationed at the lobby. "I have every right. I suggest you return to your spot if you want to keep your job," his father's intimidation came on strong. "Sorry, sir, but without a worker's pass or visitor's pass, you're not allowed inside," the young man stood his ground. Kelly came over when she heard the loud discussion. "He's Mr. Stern's father," she quickly whispered before turning to the angry man.

"Here you go sir," she handed him a visitor's pass. "Let's go," she urged the young security guard. "Oh okay," he obeyed, which left Yumi and Ulrich alone with the man. "Dad, I'm sure even you are aware that this will cause unwanted attention," Ulrich pointed out as Yumi stepped forward to exit the office. "I'll leave you two alone then," she calmly said. Ulrich's father roughly swung the door. A loud bang was heard as the door shut. "Now I understand why you're lagging behind. The stats don't lie, son. You're not doing so well," his father glared at Yumi. Ulrich was irked.

"Hey, why are you blaming Yumi? It's just one or two teams that are struggling. That's perfectly normal since there have been a few unexpected problems. Other than that we're doing fine," he spoke up.

"There is no room for mistakes. I got you this job, so you'd better perform excellent. As for you, I personally think it would be better if you switch jobs or quit your job if you're going to be a distraction to him. Which seems to be the case," his father slammed words into their heads.

"Wait a minute," Yumi began.

"You actually have something to say? Ulrich here declined the business proposal this morning. And he contacted the company itself. Do you have any idea how difficult it will be to convince them otherwise now?"

Yumi shrank back. "I-," she eyed Ulrich who was visibly fed up with the man in front of him.

"DAD, are you serious?! You know full well I took on this job by myself. You didn't have a say in it. At. All. I went through the entire procedure and was chosen after three rounds. Sure, thanks for training me in your bootcamp for 400 days, but I'd appreciate it if you don't take the credits. As for Yumi, she's staying. We are a great team and she's been performing fantastically on a constant level," Ulrich defended them.

"Of course you would stand up for your girlfriend. But it's not that easy, Ulrich. You won't get what you want. I cannot afford you ruining your uncle's company's reputation."

Yumi just stared at the man and the insanity that he had become.

Ulrich wanted to facepalm himself. His father must have talked to his uncle before coming to him. "Thanks a lot uncle," he thought to himself. He walked over to Yumi and braved himself.

"Yes, Yumi is my girlfriend, but it hasn't been that long," he affirmed. "I swear that we won't let it get in between our work," he claimed as he firmly held her hand.

"Do you know where I have heard that before?" Ulrich looked confused. "Your uncle was once in the same position as you. And it did get in the way. He was worried history would repeat itself and decided to warn me. This business proposal is now out of your hands. I'm stepping in. Your uncle and I will handle this," he announced.

"It's not like my opinion would have mattered anyway," Ulrich replied.

"Because you don't take your work seriously and today it has been proven once more. I bet you're still thinking about soccer 24/7. Have you already told her how you went back to get scouted after a half year and didn't pass the first round because you refused to listen to me?" His father was mocking him now.

Ulrich closed his eyes, pained by the memories. "She knows," he lied. Yumi tried with all her might to keep a pokerface. It worked. "Well, then she must also know how lax you are," he accused his son. "Sir, I believe you've been overstepping boundaries for a while now. You can ask anyone in the main office. Nobody will agree with you," she cut in.

Yumi was ignored as his father faced his son once more. "Be prepared to pack your bags. You'll be going very far soon." With that statement he made way for the door. Ulrich and Yumi were both horrified. She took a step forward. "Is it that hard to compliment your son on the things he has achieved? It's like you're attacking your worst enemy." She felt Ulrich pull her back, but she wouldn't move. She was furious.

"Miss, I believe you're overstepping boundaries there," his father warned her again. "Not as much as you have, sir," she tried to get it out confidently but she was shaken. His father stared at her for a few seconds, then turned around and left them alone.

Ulrich was so angered that he failed to realize he was squeezing Yumi's hand too hard. She gently put her hand over his. "I'm sorry." His apology was not merely for his strong grip. She shook her head and hugged him.

A knock on the door startled them apart. "May I come in?" Someone asked. They judged from the voice that it was Kelly. "I'll be in my office. I need some time," Ulrich told Yumi, who nodded in understanding. She went to sit at her desk. "Come in," Yumi said when Ulrich had closed his door.

"Hey, is everything alright?" Kelly entered and closed the door behind her.

"Sort of." Yumi had a grim expression.

"You won't like hearing this, but you had quite the audience. The customer at the desk could also hear the shouting. I assured her it was nothing serious. However, it probably was huh?" Her friend was worried.

"At least it wasn't 'nothing serious'," Yumi revealed.

"You can talk to me anytime okay," Kelly said. "Thanks," Yumi was grateful. "If you need me at the main office, I'll come running to defend!" She grinned widely.

"Is it that bad?" Yumi dreaded the meeting they would have in one hour.

"I have heard enough to be unable to deny that," she cryptically confirmed.

"Great…"

"I have to go back. Will you be okay?" Kelly asked.

"For now. Thanks for the warning," Yumi said.

Kelly gave a small nod and went out. "See you later."

"Yeah..," Yumi couldn't reply in a lively way.

She glanced at the closed door which kept Ulrich out of her sight. Then she sighed and continued to prepare for the upcoming meeting. Fifteen minutes had passed and Ulrich still hadn't come out. Yumi got up and walked over to knock on his door.

Ulrich apparently had the same idea. The door opened before she could retract her hand. Her fist connected with his nose. "Ouch, is this payback?" He rubbed his nose. "Sorry," she hesitated for a while, "I wanted to ask if you're ready." She then informed him about what she had just heard from Kelly. "How wonderful. This day cannot get any better," Ulrich slowly trudged towards the door taking his sarcasm with him. "We should get locks, so the trouble can stay outside."

"It would most likely give them more to gossip about," Yumi said as they left for the meeting. "It would be peaceful for us. I'd love to shut myself in," he grumbled. She really wished she could tell him to do otherwise, but she was as pessimistic about the situation as Ulrich. Maybe even more than him.

They entered the office where the entire team pretended to be at work. Yumi was certain they were still gossiping until the moment they came in. Ulrich calmly went ahead and discussed all the obstacles that they currently had to deal with. "Emily, we'll keep you up to date about the applicants for the job. If they are called over, you'll be joining us for the follow-up procedures," he quickly continued with the rest of his story to avoid being questioned about this morning.

"That's it for today," he announced. Immediately afterwards several hands were raised. Ulrich inwardly cursed. He really didn't feel like it.

Someone lowered his hand. "Excuse me for saying this, but I presume everyone is aware of the earlier… discussion that happened. Is it true you got this job even though you lack experience and weren't aware of our circumstances?"

"I already told you this before. If you're going to eavesdrop, do it all the way. The next part obviously implied that it was a lie." A woman was defending their manager.

"You never know. It might be that we have two people standing before us who were just randomly picked for the job because they have connections. One because of his uncle and father and the other because she clearly can't stay away from the guy next to her." Another one joined the conversation.

"They only started dating recently, you know," Emily tried to help them.

"You were the one who mentioned their history. It seemed you weren't too fond of them. Are you trying to get on their good sides?" The same person fired back.

Emily wisely shut her mouth. From her standpoint this arguing was a waste of energy and would prove itself useless soon anyway.

"That explains how Yumi got the job anyway. Ulrich probably did her a favour, so she could earn more money."

"Didn't she work here before Ulrich came?"

"It must have been planned!"

"Isn't dating between office workers kind of irresponsible?"

"Yeah, right, since it might affect our results."

"They're way too young. They won't last a month."

"Are they even aware of the responsibilities they carry?"

The first woman that had taken Ulrich and Yumi's side looked on in frustration while her colleagues were spouting nonsense. Emily merely sighed and decided to stare out the window. Yumi shook her head in disbelief and Ulrich's limits were reached.

"First of all, it would be nice if you could stop your baseless accusations," he was enraged. "As you may have heard somewhere, some people will go abroad for a new project in a few months. I may be amongst those who will have to be present. In that time I expect all of you to work excellently. It shouldn't be impossible, seeing that the statistics were favourable before I started here and the previous manager left. I understand it may have come as unexpected news. However, that is no reason to insult your co-workers. It's intolerable." Ulrich said in a more composed manner and paused to step away from the computer desk used to manually operate the beamer.

"Are there any questions?" He asked.

Every single colleague that had raised their voice remained quiet. Most of them were surprised there wasn't more of an uproar.

"Do you have anything to add, Yumi?" Ulrich turned to her.

"If I may. I'm always sincerely trying my best to be able to do my job properly. I will apologize if you can explain to me what I've done wrong. Next to that, I request you to please leave our private life alone. We won't falter in our work. That's a promise," she clasped her notepad tight before looking at Ulrich, who was ready to support her if the 'crowd' acted up again. Nobody spoke up. "There are no other points on the agenda and I have nothing more to add," Yumi answered his question.

"If the rest of you have questions, feel free to drop by in our office or send Yumi an e-mail. We have a few meetings with clients this afternoon. We'll see you tomorrow," he ended the meeting and headed for the door.

Yumi silently followed him back to their office while trying her hardest to ignore the whispers and stares she had heard and seen before.

When she wanted to sit down Ulrich grabbed her by her hand, handed Yumi her bag and took her outside. "Wait, aren't we going back to work?" She asked as she hung her bag over her shoulder.

"It's okay. We have an urgent rendezvous," Ulrich revealed, letting go of her.

"What are you talking about? Your schedule is empty for the rest of the day," she softly remarked.

"Exactly. To the café it is," he attempted to be joyful about it and opened the door.

"Do they have a new item on the menu?" Yumi asked.

"Let's find out and get away from this dumb mayhem," he suggested.

Ulrich needed to get some air. It was like he was suffocating. He felt sorry for Yumi and found it pathetic it had come this far. He wanted a break. Above all, he wanted to take Yumi away from the toxic environment his father had created for him today. It had renewed his determination to protect them both.

"I swear I won't let him drive us apart."


A/N: Random fact: I listened to "Break Away" by the Subdigitals when editing this chapter :)!