Disclaimer: I don't own The Promised Neverland
The Boss' Girl
Norman Minerva was a calm, strict and professional man with an air of coolness around him that at times felt a little too cold and a stony face.
It was to be expected with all the stress of being the CEO of a multi-million company.
It wasn't that he was a bad boss to Hayato.
On the contrary, while he held high expectations for everyone under his employment he always treated everyone with respect.
He knew literally everyone by name, he politely thanks whoever managed to finish a task, gave short yet powerful peptalks if he noticed someone was struggling and often had one of his closest employees gather feedback for improvement for the workers.
Hayato really admired the man and was ecstatic when one day the boss himself approached him in person instead of just sending an email.
"Boss! Good morning!" he right away greeted, jumping to his feet.
"Good morning, Hayato." Mr. Minerva greeted back with a nod before clearing his throat.
"Listen, I have a favor of you to ask." he said and Hayato had to resist the urge to gasp.
"O-Of course! Whatever you need, sir!" he agreed right away, only settling down and the other man held up a hand to signal he wanted him to be quiet.
"Alright, so I'll be expecting a guest at about four in the afternoon but an issue has come up with one of our partner companies and I'll need to have a meeting with them and sadly they are only available this afternoon. Would you please go downstairs to the lobby and pick her up and maybe keep her busy for about an hour or something before bringing her to my office?" Norman explained his situation.
Hayato blinked as he processed everything for a moment before smiling.
"Of course! You can count on me, boss!" he grinned and to his amazement he was rewarded with a smile.
It was honestly barely a smile, the corners of Norman's lips raising only a tiny bit but it was definitely there.
"Thank you, Hayato. I knew I came to the right person." he said before walking away to do... some kind of boss-stuff.
Hayato watched the other man walk away in awe until he disappeared around the corner.
With that he slapped his cheeks to snap himself from his daze and let determination fill him to not let his boss down.
Grabbing his phone he set up a small alarm so he wouldn't be able to somehow forget the time and went to do his normal work.
*BEEP BEEP BEEP*
Hayato jumped in his seat, fumbling with his phone for a moment before managing to turn the beeping off.
Remembering why he set the alarm in the first place and checking the time to be sure he gasped when jumped from his seat, running to the elevator to go downstairs.
As soon as he reached the lobby he saw the front desk where one of the security guards, Cislo sat talking to a woman who Hayato guessed was the guest he was supposed to take care of.
"Uhm... Hello?" he called, grimacing at how awkward that was.
Definitely not the impression he wanted to leave.
He however didn't have much time to think about it as both Cislo and the woman turned to look at him.
He blinked upon getting a good look at the woman.
She was actually pretty cute with a petite build, bright green eyes and short orange hair that pointed in every direction with one lock standing straight up like an antenna.
"Hey, Hayato!" Cislo greeted with a wave, avoiding an awkward silence.
"A-Ah, good afternoon." Hayato smiled nervously as he walked closer while mentally praying he wasn't being too creepy.
Apparently he wasn't since the woman gave him a wide grin back.
"Hi there! Are you gonna take me to see Norman?" she asked and Hayato was surprised by her boldness both in addressing him as well as the boss.
She was calling the bos by his first name!
"Y-y-yes I-I am!" he stuttered, hating how his nerves were making a fool of him.
Luckily Cislo seemed to take pity on him and stepped in.
"Emma, this is Hayato. He's gonna take you with him. Hayato, this is Emma. Take good care of her, alright?" said and with that Hayato finally managed to pull himself together and nodded.
"Right! If you would please come with me, miss Emma?" he told the woman who's smile hadn't left.
"Okay! Bye, Cislo!" Emma waved at the guard who gave a nod before following Hayato to the elevator.
"Sooo~ What are your plans for me before I can see Norman?" Emma asked, rocking back and forth in place.
"Oh! I was thinking I'd take you maybe to the cafeteria. I mean, the coffee there is way better than from any of the machines since it get freshly brewed." he answered, wondering to himself why he didn't spend at least some of his time before she came to make an actual plan.
Luckily Emma just nodded.
"Sounds good!" she agreed.
They stood in silence for a moment until the elevator finally came and they got in.
Then Hayato noticed he didn't have his phone on him.
He must have left it at his desk.
"Miss Emma? I know I just said I'd take you to the cafetaria but it seems I forgot my phone. Would it be alright if we made a quick stop there?" he asked, hoving his finger over the button for his floor but waiting for an answer before pressing.
"Okay, two things! First, you don't have to call me 'miss', Hayato! Emma is just fine and second, it's no problem at all." Emma answered, surprising him once again with her boldness as she grabbed his wrist and forced him to press the button.
"Okay, Emma it is!" he still smiled back and up they went.
After a couple moments they reached the floor.
"Hang on a moment, please." he told Emma before rushing to his desk and and after searching for a moment before finding his phone.
"Is that your girlfriend?" he yelped at hearing someone ask this from right behind him.
"Emma!" he gasped, clutching at his heart as she just smiled sheepishly.
"Sorry for not staying put but I was curious. That girl, is she your girlfriend." she asked again and he yelped and turned bright red at seeing her pointing to a picture of Ayshe and her three wolfdogs he kept on his desk.
"Ah- I- She-" "She's definitely not his girlfriend!" a new voice laughed.
"Jin!" Hayato called at his friend and coworker.
He always wore high-collared shirts and scarfs that kept his mouth hidden for some reason but Hayato just knew he had a shit-eating grin.
"Really? Family then?" Emma blinked innocently and Jin snorted.
"Nope. Actually she's-" "A friend!" Hayato blurted getting in between them, not wanting someone he literally just met to know how he was some creep who kept a picture of a girl he had a crush on at work.
"Sure, let's go with that." Jin playfully rolled his before looking at Emma.
"I don't think I've ever seen you around before. Are you new? I'm Jin by the way." he asked, holding out his hand.
"I'm Emma and no, I'm not new. Hayato's just making sure I don't burn down the building." Emma said as she shook his hand.
"Well, I'm not sure if Hayato's the right choice then." Jin joked, making her let out a giggle.
"Har. Har. Very funny, dude. You're just jealous the boss didn't ask you." Hayato now was the one to roll his eyes, smirking wat Jin's shocked look.
"Wait, wait wait! You mean the boss asked you himself?!" he cried and Hayato nodded, feeling proud of himself.
Emma on the other hand seemed more confused as she looked back and forth between them.
"Why would he even-" "Hey, Jin! We're still waiting on those reports!" one of their colleagues called, cutting Jin off before he could finish.
He looked back and forth between Hayato, Emma and whoever called him, conflicted, before pointing at Hayato.
"We will talk about his!" he snapped before rushing away.
"So... Wanna go to the cafetaria?" Hayato turned Emma who gave a small nod.
Together they went up the elevator till they reached the correct floor and got out.
"Here we are! Believe me, this place has the best drinks and food! It's even got a few cakes and trust me, they're awesome!" he gushed as when they reached the cafetaria where multiple people were on break.
It was honestly more similar to a restaurant then a regular office cafetaria with the wide menu of drinks, treats, lunches and even dinners for those that worked late.
"Is there anything you'd like? It'll be my treat." he told her.
"Ah! You really don't have to do that!" she tried to deny his offer but he shook his head.
"Really, it's no problem! Just tell me what you like." he insisted.
"Well, if you're sure... Does this place have jasmine tea and carrot cake?" she asked hesitantly, a small embarrassed blush on her face.
'Cute.' Hayato felt his own face heat up so quickly told her to find herself a seat while he got them drinks and snacks.
"Here we go!" he grinned a few moments later as he plopped a tray in front of her as sat across from her at the table she had picked out.
"Thank you." Emma hummed and went to take a bite of her cake, right away lighting up.
"You were right! This tastes great!" she beamed at him before taking another large bite.
Hayato resisted the urge to laugh and took a bite of the muffin he got from himself.
"Say, Hayato?" he hummed to let her know he was listening.
"Just with Jin. You were both acting like it was such a surprise Norman talked to you. Why's that? What's he like at work?" she asked, playing with her fork.
"Oh! Well, it honestly was a surprise he came to ask me to keep you company yourself! He's almost always in his office and mostly communicates by e-mail. When he does come out he's mostly strict and business orientated but he's a really good boss. I mean, he takes everyone's opinion seriously and makes sure we have everything we need. Still, he at times feels a little cold with that calculating look." he told her, feeling confused when she looked thoughtful.
"What?" he asked.
"Nothing. I just never thought of the word 'cold' when thinking of Norman." she said.
"Huh? So you know him outside of work?" he asked.
Yeah, he'd been surprised she been calling the boss by his first name but figured she was just bold.
"Yeah, of course! The two of us and Ray have been best friends since we were babies." she beamed happily, eyes shining.
"Wait! You're friends with mr Minerva and mr Gracefield?!" Hayato blurted in shock.
He had heard how the boss was old friends with one of his two Vice CEO's but he'd never put any thought into it and now this cheerful pretty girl across from him was saying she was friends with them both?!
"Then how would you describe him? The boss when he's outside the office, I mean?" he asked, feeling curious.
"Norman is kind and smart. He's always so soft and smiles in such a sweet way." she listed of as she smiled tenderly to herself.
"He is?!" Hayato gaped because that was the complete opposite of what he always thought.
"Well yeah and I was only just getting started. Norman is gentle, always there when you need him and he's got this silly love for puns." Emma giggled.
"Puns?" Hayato repeated weakly.
His boss liked something so honestly dorky?
He wanted to ask more when from the corner of his eye he spotted movement.
A woman was walking with a cup of coffee only to trip and start falling.
"Hey, look out!" he cried, jumping from his seat and sprinting over where he managed to not only catch her but also pull her up and avoid the hot coffee hitting her.
"Hey, are you okay?!" Emma asked as she joined them.
"Y-Yes, I'm alright. Thank you. I'll go and see if I can find something to clean this. Thank you again." the woman said before leaving.
"That's was amazing, Hayato! You just were with her so fast!" Emma excitedly told a blushing Hayato after they sat back down.
"I-It's nothing really. I was always pretty fast and part of the track team in high school." he rubbed the back of his head bashfully.
"Really? I did volleyball in high school!" Emma grinned and soon they were talking about high school, hobbies and all kids of stuff.
It went on until Hayato's phone started beeping again.
"Huh? What's that?" Emma asked.
"An alarm I set earlier, just like when I had to pick you up. I'm supposed to start taking you to the boss now." Hayato answered, resisting the urge to pout.
He had really been enjoying himself with Emma.
Time really does fly when you're having fun.
"I should take you upstairs." he sighed while getting up.
"That won't be necessary." he umped and yelped upon gearing a familiar voice.
"B-Boss?!" he turned around the fin the other man standing a few feet behind him.
"Norman!" Emma cheered, jumping from her seat and launching herself at him for a hug.
"Emma!" Hatato's jaw was nearly on the ground as he watched Norman happily hug Emma back, a large smile that matched her's on his face.
"I take it Hayato has taken good care of you?" he asked ater they finally pulled away.
Emma's antenna wildly swung back and forth as she nodded.
"Yeah, he even bought me carrot cake!" she answered, pointing to her plate for emphasis.
"Did he now? And here I was thinking I'd get you some myself before he took you to see me." Norman raised an eyebrow.
"Well, no one's stopping you from buying me another slice~" she fluttered her eyelashes, making him chuckle.
"Maybe another time." he told her before turning to look at Hayato.
"Thank you for taking care of Emma, Hayato. It really means a lot." he said, offering Hayato a smile that nearly made him faint.
"Y-You don't have to thank me, boss! It was no problem at all!" he tried to deny.
"At least let me pay you back for whatever you got Emma!" Norman insisted as he reached into his pocket and placed a bill on the table.
"Shall we go, Emma?" he offered the woman an arm to which she grinned.
"We shall!" she chirped, looping her own arm through his and walking away with him but not without waving back at Hayato.
"Bye, Hayato! I'll see you around!" she yelled before disappearing around the corner.
"Yeah...?" Hayato waved back in a daze before her last words registered.
See him around?
Did that mean Emma would come back to the office?
Nah, she was probably just being nice.
With that in mind he went to pick up the money his boss had left, only to nearly scream at seeing a fifty dollar bill.
It turned out that Hayato did see Emma around.
Ever since the day he'd been asked to keep her company he's seen her somewhere in the building more and more.
One time she was just talking to Cislo, another time Jin and Hayato even once saw her communication with another security guard, Zazie, who happened to be mute in perfect sign language.
After a while he finally managed to gather up his courage to approach her again and by now had talked with her another few times before someone whisked her away.
It would usually be Barbara, the boss' secretary, who'd often call her loudly and right away start talking with her herself as they walked off, one of the two Vice CEO's Vincent who'd politely greet her and ask her to follow, the other Vice CEO Ray Gracefield who also happened to be friends with her and who'd usually great her with some sort of insult which resulted in the two bickering likebrother and sister as they walked off and last but definitely not least there was his boss, Norman Minerva himself.
Ever since Hayato met Emma he learned that the man he looked up to so much was literally a coin with two sides.
One was the stern, professional genius of a man everyone knew him by.
The other side however was the total opposite.
Whenever Emma was around his icy persona would melt away in half a second, betting replaced by someone constantly smiling and joking with her as he allowed all kinds of physical affection like hugging or holding his hand.
Then again, maybe he wasn't a coin after all.
Did coins really have an in between regarding their sides?
If there was, it would be how protective Mr Minerva seemed to be over Emma as Hayato had caught him a few times glaring at a few male colleagues who had tried to flirt with Emma, scaring them off and right away going back to being smiley when Emma looked at him again, completely oblivious to both the flirting and how he scared them off.
Hayato just hoped he wouldn't disapprove of him.
Yes, that's right.
Hayato wanted to ask Emma out.
After a couple more instances of spending time together, short as some may have been, he'd developed a small crush on her.
After all she was cheerful, sweet, funny and even looked really cute.
Besides, it wasn't like he was ever getting anywhere with Ayshe.
It had taken a trip to the flower shop across the street to buy a bouquet of chrysanthemums, five cans of Red Bull and a twenty minute peptalk to himself in the mirror but he was now in the elevator, on it's way to the top floor where Emma would now most likely be.
That was where the boss' office was after all.
The elevator dinged as it reached it's destination.
Taking a deep breath he got out and to his delight right away spot a lock of bright orange air disappear around the corner.
Knowing there was only one person with that hair-color he gave chase and rounding the corner he saw her going into the boss' office.
"Em-" he tried to call her only for the door to slam closed.
"-ma..." he pouted as he stood in the hallway, contemplating if he should leave for when she came out.
"You better not be planning to give those to Emma." he yelped and whirled around to find the boss' and vices' secretary Barbara standing behind him with a smirk.
"M-Miss Barbara! I-I wasn't-" "Yeah, you were. Don't deny it, speedy." she cut him off, making him wince both at her directness as well as the nickname she had given him months ago that he honestly disliked but was too intimidated by her to ever say anything about it.
"A-Alright... Maybe I was planning on giving these to Emma..." he admitted timidly.
Barbara sighed at that and shook her head.
"The boss won't like that, you know." she said and suddenly Hayato felt himself growing annoyed.
"Why does would that matter?! Emma's an adult so why would I need his approval?! Besides, if Emma would actually give me a chance I'm sure I'd be able to proof to him how I'm more than good enough for her!" he exclaimed passionately.
It seemed Emma's boldness was rubbing off on him.
He panted as he watched Barbara stare at him in shock.
Then she snorted.
"You really don't know, huh?" he snickered, confusing him.
"Know what?" he asked, doing his best to to flinch when she grabbed him by the arm and pulled him along.
"See for yourself." she said when they were in front of a small window that allowed you to look into the office.
It had small blinders that blocked most of the view but if you looked at a certain angle you could peek past them.
He could see the boss standing a bit in front of his desk.
He had taken off his usual jacket that he wore over his shirt and vest and was glaring intensely at something on a clipboard with his other hand in his side.
Behind him Emma was sitting on his desk, watching him with those big green eyes.
Then she reached out and grabbed him by the arm, making him turn around.
She smiled and batted her eyes innocently, making the boss smile back before he turned around fully, took her face in his hands and kissed her.
Wait!
Kissed her?!
If they were in a cartoon Hayato's jaw would literally be on the floor as he watched his boss and crush pull away to lovingly look into each other's eyes before he kissed her on the forehead.
"I- They- Boss- Emma-" he tried to form sentences but couldn't as he weakly looked over at Barbara.
"Yup. Emma is the boss' girl." she nodded with a grin.
"For how long? When did this even start?" he asked as he turned back to the window and found them rubbing noses of all things.
"Longer than you'd think." another new voice answered and this time Hayato finally managed to restrain himself from jumping and/or yelping.
"Sup, Ray?" Barbara smiled as Ray Gracefield walked up.
"Yo." he nodded back at her before looking at Hayato who tried not to flinch under those sharp eyes.
"Let someone who's known those idiots since back in diapers answer your question. Norman's pretty much ben in love with Emma since we were five and told me himself when we were eleven but only finally grew some balls and asked her out when we were in college. You won't believe all the bullshit I've had to put up with through the years." the dark-haired man huffed and while his words were harsh, the was an obvious fondness in his voice.
"Still, I can't believe how any guys besides Norman have such bad taste in women to fall for someone like Emma." he joked as he smirked at Hayato's flowers, making him blush.
"Didn't you have a crush on her for a while too?" Barbara piped up, earning a pull on her pink-streaked ponytail.
"Two things. One, I am never, ever drinking alcohol again when you're without a ten-mile-radius and two, I only had that crush for a couple months when I was thirteen and going through puberty where literally everything seems date-able. Puberty crushes don't count." he held up a finger to her face, daring her to argue.
"Whatever you say." she just shrugged and rolled her eyes.
Then the door opened and together they turning around they found the couple they were talking about walking out, holding hands and giggling like a couple of lovesick teenagers.
They stopped upon seeing the other three.
"Hey, guys! What are you all doing here?" Emma right away greeted.
"Oh, Hayato was looking for you, Emma!" Barbara said as Hayato stared at her in disbelief at her act of betrayal.
"Really now?" Norman asked as he frowned at his employee who's knees shook slightly, especially when he seemed to notice the flowers.
Now, knowing the nature of his boss' and Emma's relationship Hayato understood how the boss had never been just protective whenever someone tried to make a move on Emma.
He's also been possessive as those icy blue eyes glared at him they held one single message.
'She's mine so you better back the fuck off!'
"For me? What's up?" Emma asked curiously, cocking her head to the side like a puppy before also noticing the flowers and gasping.
"Did you buy those for that girl on your desk?! If you want my advise, I bet she'll love those!" she cried and he was confused for a moment before it clicked and nodded rapidly.
"Y-Yeah! I wanted your opinion if I should give these to Ayshe! Hehehe..." he laughed awkwardly.
Luckily it was enough for the boss to stop glaring at him and turn to Ray.
"We were just planning to get going. Are you sure it's okay for me to leave early?" he asked.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll somehow keep everyone alive while you're away, Emperor." Ray said as he started pushing his friends towards where the elevator was.
"You go on that date you've been planning for ages. Go to a restaurant and 'Lady and the Tramp' some spaghetti, feed each other dessert, go to the movies and make out in dark instead of actually watching the film and-" "Go home and have some bow chicka wow wow~" Barbara cut in with a laugh.
"BARBARA!" both Norman and Emma screamed with matching red faces.
"Damn it, woman! I don't want to imagine that!" Ray buried his face in his hands.
Hayato also shoved his face in the flowers, trying to his to focus on just randomly counting petals to avoid having his mind wonder to things he really didn't want to imagine.
"A-anyway! If you're sure it's alright we'll be going now!" Norman cleared his throat and grabbed Emma's hand, dragging her away.
As they got in elevator, right before the door closed Hayato wondered how he ever thought the boss and Emma were just friends when they looked at each other with such love, right before the doors closed.
The remaining people stood in silence for a couple moments until Ray broke it and put a hand on Hayato's shoulder.
"If you want my advice, make that ezcuse from just now true and ask out whatever other girl you might fancy other than Emma because nothing and I mean nothing can get between those two." he told him firmly.
Hayato could only nod faintly.
With a nod of his own Ray walked off and so did Barbara, leaving Hayato on his own, trying to process what had just happened.
He felt a small sting in his heart knowing Emma was actually in a relationship, with his boss no less, but it faided quickly.
After all, she was sweet, fun and pretty but he had only ever talked to her a couple of times and actually barely knew her.
Also, she and his boss seemed to obviously adore each other and if they were really happy, Hayato would respect that and be happy for them as well.
Glancing down at the flowers Ray's words came to mind.
He had already bought the flowers and he actually knew for a fact that Ayshe was still single.
If he could bring himself to try and ask out a girl he's only known for a couple of months, he could also ask out a girl who he's known for a year.
With that in mind he rushed down the stairs faster that any elevator could go, ready to meet Ayshe.
Until Jin appeared in the stairway and grabbed him by his collar to drag him onto the workfloor, scolding him for slacking off on work while he'd been focussing on his love-life.
It looked like asking Ayshe out would have to wait...
The End
Thanks for reading! Please review, fav and/or read my other work too!
Also, I've actually got the idea for this after browsing Twitter and finding a piece of art that was Norman glaring at work only for Emma to distract him with a kiss. I know it's there but I somehow can't find it anymore so if anyone might have an idea of what I'm talking about, please let me know!