'Dad incoming!' Hinata received a frantic text from her sister.
What?
Hinata glanced around the meeting room she was in and looked back down at her phone. 'What do you mean?'
'Dad found out where you work and is heading there right now! He doesn't approve.' Hanabi sent back. 'He just called after school asking me about it, but he was already on his way!'
Hinata stiffened, looking around the room more frantically. Could she excuse herself and make it down to intercept him? She quickly messaged the front desk to keep him on hold if he showed up.
"What's wrong?" She jumped, looking up into the annoyed but slightly concerned eyes of the director. She must be showing her discomfort more than she meant to.
"It's a personal matter," Hinata whispered.
Fugaku's face scrunched. "Will it affect this meeting?"
"I hope not, sir." She replied.
"Then deal with it later. We have to be in the car in 20 minutes. Deal with it then." Hinata nodded and placed the phone in her lap, but before long, she could feel it start to vibrate. Either the front desk or her father was calling her. She tried to ignore it, but she could feel her hands shaking with the phone.
Why was her father upset with her job? Why was he so upset to come to pick her up? Why couldn't he just call her or wait to yell at her? Could she avoid a scene?
She worked so hard to keep this job. There was no way that she wasn't getting fired if her father blew up on her in front of her boss, not after last night.
At least she was already training a replacement.
She pressed her lips together to keep them from trembling. She shook her head and tried to straighten. She had to stay professional.
When the meeting was done, she scooped up her things and followed him to their office. She scrambled for her next items, but unfortunately, he was also ready, so she couldn't beat him to the elevator.
Hinata watched the floors tick down as the elevator dropped with her stomach. She looked at her phone, a stack of missed calls from her father, and messages from the front desk.
The elevator hit the ground floor.
She could hear the shouting.
"Sir, the director's assistant is in a meeting. We can't reach her either. Please sit down!" The man at the front desk tried.
"How long is this meeting? I have been here for half an hour!" Her father's voice boomed.
"Please continue to the car." Hinata ducked her head to the director.
"What?" Fugaku asked. He looked at the shouting man that she was embarrassed to call her father.
Her father caught sight of them and stocked toward her. She stepped forward with her hands out. "Father, you shouldn't be here."
"You did not tell me you were working for this man!" Her father jabbed his finger at the director.
Hinata took a double-take between them in confusion. The director's face went hard. "Father, I'm working. You should have just called!" She tried.
"Haven't you destroyed your own career enough, Hiashi?" Fugaku said coldly from behind her. "You have to try to destroy your daughter's as well."
Her father's glare snapped up. Did they know each other?
"Haven't taken enough, have you? Had to try and take my daughter too?" Her father growled.
His hand snapped out to point into her face, making her stiff. "You are coming home! Now!" He grabbed her wrist.
"No!" Hinata demanded, yanking back on her arm.
He stared at her in shock. She felt fear drip down her spine. She had never told her father no before.
His hand shot across her face, and she squeaked in surprise. She stumbled back, holding her stinging cheek. "If you stay here, you are no daughter of mine!" He barked.
Hinata felt tears fall down her face as she shook. Her father had never, in all the years of disappointing him, struck her.
"Security." The director snapped.
She could hear her father shout and fight, but it was droned out as she kneed to the floor hold in her face.
Did he hate Uchiha that much? Did he care so little for her and her career that he would make such a scene?
She felt a hand on her head. She looked up, trying not to look as miserable as she felt.
"Let's get in the car." The director told her.
Hinata let out a shaky breath and nodded. She stood up and took another heavy breath, trying to control the sobs that wanted to be released. She followed him to the car and bowed her head to the driver that held the door open. She sat down numbly and folded her hands in her lap.
What was she going to do?
Hinata flinched as a handkerchief was held in front of her. She took it and blotted her eyes, getting her makeup on it. She sniffed and looked up at him.
The director stared ahead. He looked regretful. She wasn't sure why.
"Cancel the meeting."
Fugaku told the driver to change course. His assistant did as she was told, canceling the meeting and trying to calm herself, but it was apparent Haishi had done a number on her emotions as well as her face.
She got out of the car, sat down at the restaurant, and took an ice pack for her cheek obediently.
He had been wrong.
Hiashi hadn't trained her. This wasn't an elaborate ploy to weasel back into his business. She wasn't a sleeper agent that was going to destroy his work. She was just like her mother. She was as innocent as she seemed.
Fugaku had to admit that the signs had been stacking up. Working all hours without complaint, taking any request even if it made no sense, making sure she ordered food for him if they stayed too late, setting him up a doctor appointment, trying to hide making pastries for his breakfast.
She had no idea who he was or why her father was so angry.
Hinata tucked her head down, holding the ice to her cheek, looking numbly down at the table. She was embarrassed and hurt.
And for once, he didn't think she deserved it.
"Hiashi and I were once business partners." Fugaku started. "In college."
Her eyes slid up to him.
"I didn't think it was a good idea. We butted heads as it was, but your mother had thought that it was a good idea. I trusted her judgment." Fugaku sighed, loosening his tie and taking the offered wine from the waiter.
"You knew my mother?" She asked quietly.
"Yes, a good friend." Fugaku agreed, leaning back in his chair. "I introduce them to each other."
Hinata looked away thoughtfully.
"I'm sure you know your father can be a stubborn man." As much as he could complain about Hiashi, he wasn't going to sit here and make a list. She felt bad enough. "It went well for a while, but he got too ambitious. There was this deal that he put too much of our assets in. It fell through because the place didn't have its paperwork for what they were doing. So they had to be shut down." She said nothing, just listened. "I backed out because I couldn't trust him after that, and the company tanked."
Hinata nodded quietly.
He poured her some wine. She took it, sipping it carefully. Her hands were still weak and shaking.
"Your mother never blamed me, but he did." He explained. "I was the heir of Uchiha. I couldn't be tanking my name on sketchy business deals before I had even started working for my family business."
Hinata nodded, understanding.
"He went on to try to smear me by telling my father I had used company funds when I went into business with him. My father had never been so angry with me." Fugaku poured himself another more as he drained his glass. "Didn't matter if it was true or not."
"I hired you because I recognized you. You look just like your mother." Fugaku admitted. "But I thought it was impossible for you to escape your father's personality. I thought you had tried to weasel your way in to cause more damage, or well, I don't know what I thought you were trying to do."
Her eyes changed, looking confused, but her eyebrows furrowed together as she put the signs together herself.
"I apologize. You're nothing like your father." He bowed his head.
Hinata started to laugh. Small and quiet. She set down the glass of wine and covered her mouth as the laugh grew.
"What?" He asked in a huff.
"I applied by accident." Hinata managed to say between giggles.
"What?" He asked.
"I applied for a low-level assistant job that was open in the production department," Hinata explained, waving her hands. "I realized I applied wrong when I got the call for the interview. I came in to get experience in getting rejected. I didn't think I would get the job." She giggled.
Fugaku sat back in his chair and stared at her. She had interviewed well, he remembered, her voice shook, and she fidgeted, but her answers were well thought out. He remembered his assistant at the time had also mentioned she had taken the time to bow to his turned chair even though he had rudely ended the interview.
Fugaku closed his eyes. He could see a lot of their interaction differently now.
"Am I fired?" Hinata asked, giggling residing.
His eyes snapped open. "You will know if I fire you."
Hinata sighed, her mother's smile still ghosting on her face. "I don't know what I am going to do about my father." She mumbled into her glass of wine.
"If he doesn't want you as his daughter, then you are more than welcome as mine." He said.
She froze, staring at him in surprise.
He finished his glass of wine and sat up with conviction. "Your mother would be appalled at his actions today."
She shrank. "I wouldn't know."
"I do. Your mother wanted nothing more than a good life for her children. It was all she talked about." He snapped. "You live well. I have done her a disservice by thinking you were like him."
Hinata sighed, undecided. She slouched as the alcohol started to kick in. She nudged her phone on the table. "I hope he lets me see my sister. I still haven't given her the coat I got with Itachi-sama." She whimpered. "This job was allowing me to put away a lot of money for her university."
Fugaku watched her deflate, tired, rejected, and miserable.
Hinata smiled. "She's going to be a doctor like her mother wanted to be."
That one hurt his heart more than she realized.
She sighed and tipped back the last of her glass of wine. "Can I order a dessert?"
Fugaku smiled, just like her mother.