Chapter 14

Riding the elevator was not something Lucy hated or made her nervous. But for that moment, she was not definite for the reason why she was suddenly feeling anxious about heading towards the President's office. She even finds it ridiculous that she met the President early that morning and she didn't feel any nervousness while walking next to him. But at that moment, she couldn't understand why her heart had to beat too fast.

"You seem nervous," a voice suddenly snaps Lucy out of her thoughts as she turns her head sharply while her eyes widens in surprise
"What?" Lucy questions as she leans closer to the brunette girl
"Oh, I noticed that you were fumbling with her your fingers so I assumed you were nervous," the young employee then smiles softly, which made Lucy return the smile
"Ah," Lucy then crosses her arms over her chest to avoid her fingers from trembling, "I'm just excited about starting to plan for the event..." Lucy lied
"Of course," the receptionist then grins at the blonde who mentally thank the heavens for not being overly obvious about her lie, "We're here," the receptionist then adds when she noticed the number of the floor

Ding!

"Follow me, Ms. Hart," the receptionist then walks ahead and was followed after by the blonde

The 58th floor looked like an executive floor, wherein everything was clean and modernly decorated. The walls were a golden color with diamond pattern designs while the floor was covered in golden brown carpet. The hallway was adorned with different artworks which were made by different masters of the art. The floor also had its own small museum, wherein different art pieces created by the Dragneel family were on display.

"Is this floor for the executive officers only?" Lucy asks as she glances at the paintings hung on the walls of the corridor
"Yes, the offices of the Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and the president are located on this floor. And each has their own secretary. Mr. Natsu Dragneel's secretary is Daichi Yamato," the receptionist then turns to face the art scout before looking back, "he is a very nice man...a gentleman," the receptionist then blushes as she thought of the secretary of the president. However, the blonde scout didn't notice this as her attention was captured by a painting.

Stopping in her tracks, Lucy fully faces the painting as she looked up at the frame. She then said, "I can't believe I'm seeing this..."

With that comment, it has snapped the receptionist out of her daydream, making her turn and see the art scout observing one of the well-known paintings kept by the Dragneel Art Corporation. Smiling to herself, Coco proudly walked back to stand next to the blonde.

"That painting is created by one of the first well-known artists of Dragneel Art Corp., it's just sad that she has passed away along with her husband. Layla and Jude Heartfilia were one of the pioneer artists of DAC," Coco then sighs as she felt sad about the tragic story of the Heartfilia

"The golden dandelion of the east," Lucy utters as she stared at the single flower bloomed in a desert. The receptionist then looks at the art scout in surprise, fully astound with the knowledge of the blonde.
"How?" Coco trails off and then Lucy looks back at the brunette before she smiles back at her
"Research," Lucy says before she gently pushes the brunette to continue walking, "Come on Coco, lead me to Daichi," and then she winks at the brunette who turned red

Soon enough, Coco handed Lucy to Daichi who was enormously engrossed to his paperwork when they arrived. When the two ladies came, the secretary almost jumped in his seat but quickly gathers his composure and showed professionalism.

When Coco left, Daichi immediately welcomed the blonde for being part of DAC. He asked Lucy to take a seat first on the couch while he checks on the president if he was already available. Soon, enough, the secretary came back and asked the blonde to enter the office already.

Now, Lucy found herself standing before a mahogany double door. She thought, while she was walking the corridor towards the office of Natsu, she didn't feel any nervousness. But now that she was standing before it and knowing Natsu was inside waiting, she couldn't help but feel this tingling feeling in her chest that Mrs. Hyoka once told her.

"No Luciya, this is pure professionalism only..." Lucy scolds herself as she closes her eyes, "There is no reason for me to feel this weird thing in my chest. I'm just excited to work...yes, that's it, I'm just excited," Lucy then swallows hard as she ignores the growing butterflies in her stomach. Lucy then knocks on the door and immediately hears Natsu allowing her to come in.

When Lucy softly turns the knob of the door, she silently enters and observes the neat office. Lucy stood inside just looking around the office and noticed how full his bookshelves were. When she was fully inside, Natsu neither looks up nor acknowledges her presence. But it was good enough for her because she thought she had time to compose herself. She was beginning to feel her hands shake, her knees get weak, and her heartbeat goes faster. It even worsens when she noticed how Natsu looked while working.

Natsu was wearing a black pair of reading glasses while a pen was stuck between his ear and scalp. Then earlier that morning, his hair was gelled into a neat manner, but this time, his hair was disheveled as if he intended to mess his hair and free it from its stiff form. He was no longer wearing his jacket and instead it was hung behind his chair. So, Lucy could see how his dress shirt was being strained by his fit body. Without realizing, Lucy had stared at him long enough for her to feel guilty once she notices her act. So shaking her thoughts away, she reminded herself to keep her composure and her façade of professionalism.

Having enough of being unnoticed, Lucy clears her throat and snaps Natsu out of his focus to his work. The moment Natsu looked up, his eyes widens in surprise to see the woman who has become his interest since he first met her. Unknown to his self, he started smiling widely at her and felt the happiness inside his chest. If he was to be asked why he was feeling such thing, he couldn't explain.

"Lucy," Natsu suddenly utters in his sudden happiness in seeing her. With the name Natsu has called her, Lucy couldn't help but widen her eyes as she felt defensive and quickly corrects the president.
"It's Luciya…L-Luciya Hart, Mr. Dragneel," Lucy trembles backward but quickly relaxes when she hears him chuckle
"Sorry! I must have sounded rude…" Natsu then stands and steps away from his chair to pull his coat and immediately slips into it
"Huh? No, um…it's fine…Just not used to being called by that name by people I work with," Lucy then looks back at Natsu and returns the smile he had
"Is that so? Well, then I guess this is just pure professional work," Natsu teases but his expression quickly fades after hearing her reply
"Of course, this is just business," Lucy then bows her head to the president, making her not see the sudden disappointment in his face. When she lifts her head up, Natsu has already shifted his expression into a contented look
"Well then, I'm looking forward to a great partnership between DAC and MAI," Natsu then extends his hand to the blonde who just stares at it back.
"...So do we," Lucy finally answers as she grips the hand of the man and gently shakes it. The instant their palms connected, Lucy quickly remembers how warm his hands were, having the desire the grip his hand more. But she was taken aback when she felt Natsu tightens his grip on her hand, a grip that would tell her that he was like assuring himself that he was holding her hand.

With that thought in mind, Lucy didn't stop herself from looking up to his face. When she did, Lucy saw the gentlest expression she has ever seen with Natsu by far. Until the doors to the office opens loud enough to startle the two.

"Sorry!" A brunette woman with a canteen bottle in her hand loudly exclaims as she swayed a bit entering the room. When she caught herself before falling, she stood up straight, fixed her skirt and looked around the place. It didn't take long to realize that her friend and new head supervisor was in front of her. And so she stepped next to the blonde and drapes an arm around her shoulder before she grinned at the baffled woman.

When Lucy was about to scold the newly arrived drunk scout, the brunette immediately looks away and grinned at the pinkette, then salutes to him, "Cana Alberona, sir! Reporting!"

Natsu just widens his eyes at Cana, not believing what he was seeing. So, turning his gaze to the blonde, he mentally asks her what was happening. But then Lucy just had a grimaced look, telling him that she had no idea why Cana was drunk.

"M-Miss...Alberona, are you drunk?" Natsu questions

Chuckling at the question, Cana almost tumbled but Lucy catches her and helps her stand up again. Scolding the brunette, she was quickly silenced by Cana when she was tapped by the cheek. And soon, Cana stood up straight and had a serious expression when she answered the question of the president.
"Mr. Dragneel, I don't think going to work drunk is allowed. So, I would like to clarify that I am just sobered and not drunk," Cana then smiles before she bowed her head firmly
"But still!" Lucy then slaps the arm of the brunette who quickly winces in pain and glared at the blonde
"Blondie!" Cana calls but Lucy widens her eyes to the brunette as if to threaten her. It didn't scare her but Cana knew better than ignoring those wide brown eyes that mean harm.
"It's fine..." Natsu suddenly utters, slowly getting out of his disbelief, "She's got a point anyway...but I hope you'd keep yourself in check,"
And with that, Natsu steps away from the two to open the door to his office and start introducing the two new affiliated employees to the whole team.
"Shall we?" Natsu courteously asks as he opens his arm to let the two women pass
"Yes, sir," Lucy firmly replies before she hauls the brunette to walk properly

Saying everything was casual was an understatement, especially during the elevator ride. Cana Alberona, a woman who is frank and unbashful could easily notice the difference between a real confident employee and a pretentious confident worker. And if she may take note, Luciya Hart was the latter one. She didn't make any remarks to Luciya yet because, in all honesty, she was enjoying the scene playing before her. If she is not wrong, it is her first time to see the blonde act the way she was acting now. And she loves how she is seeing a different side of her friend. Luciya has always been the confident one, the secretive girl, and the isolated one. So, seeing her like this was new for her and it was entertaining.

When they finally reached the floor of the Arts Department, Cana couldn't contain her amusement anymore, so she discreetly leaned close to the blonde and whispered.
"Do you want to pinch that ass or not?" Cana smirks as she pulls away and glances at the stunned expression of the blonde. Gawking at the brunette, Lucy began to open and close her mouth, speechless of what she heard. Instead of words coming out, she just pinched the brunette who immediately winced but still kept her grin on her face.
"Oh my god, Cana, would you stop?" Lucy baffling hissed
"What? You had your eyes on his ass," Cana whispered back and this made Lucy even more embarrassed
"Am not!" Lucy whisperingly denies despite her embarrass look
"Oh really? Okay...but you're checking him out," Cana then brought a finger to stop the blonde from denying, "I saw you blondie, your eyes were skimming his sexy back,"
"Well as if I could skim his front view" Lucy answers furiously but quickly realizes what she said when she saw the glint in the eyes of her friend, "That is not what I meant..." Lucy firmly rebuffs as she looked at the glowing eyes of her friend
"Oh, you just said it..." Cana teased
"Y-you misunderstood me...You're just drunk and your mind is hazy right now," Lucy firmly nods to the brunette as if to close the case but the brunette is strongly sure of what she saw
"I'm not drunk, sissy, just sobered but sobered enough to understand what you just said," Cana replies and grins widely at the blonde.

Right when Lucy was about to retort back, a resounding clap was heard in front and they quickly shifted their attention to the president, "Okay, guys! Good morning!" Natsu loudly exclaims, successfully getting the attention of all the employees present
"Good morning Sir Natsu!" All the employees greet back
"Sir Natsu?" Cana and Lucy whispered back before they looked at one another, "Isn't that too informal or something?" Lucy asks Cana but then she shrugs and returns her attention back to the pinkette
"As you all know, DAC and MAI will be collaborating for the International Art Exhibit. So, we will be closely working with the employees from MAI and two of their best scouts will be holding office here. Let's all welcome, Ms. Hart and Ms. Alberona," Natsu slightly turns as he gives way to the two ladies to step up. Warm applause was heard as the two women stepped forward and bowed before the whole team.

"I am grateful for your warm welcome. I'm looking forward to our great teamwork and camaraderie," Lucy said as soon as she lifts her head, then she was followed by Cana, "Great to meet you all, looking forward to having an awesome team!" Everyone then claps as they chuckle at the statement of the brunette, all acknowledging their hopeful wish of great companionship towards success.

"Alright!" Natsu then claps his hands once, catching the attention of all once again, "I'll be leaving Ms. Hart and Ms. Alberona to the hands of my team leaders, Ms. Strauss and Ms. Connell," and with that, Natsu turns around to head back where they came from while the two team leaders stepped up and shook hands with the two MAI employees.

When Lucy noticed that Natsu has turned to leave, she quickly tries to catch up with him, leaving Lissana in a confused state. Pulling the man to stop, Lucy tightly grasps the wrist of the president, making him look back. Natsu was surprised to see Lucy stop him from walking away, so tilting his head, he asked, "What's wrong Ms. Hart?"
"Aren't you supposed to be staying here with us, as we begin the planning?" Lucy then let goes the wrist of the man who has fully turned to face her
"Well, I should. But unfortunately, there is a matter I need to attend to," Natsu said casually and somehow this irked the blonde art scout
"More important than planning for the International Art Exhibit? Mr. Dragneel, let me just remind you, we have only three months to pull this thing off and without your supervision for your team, we might not meet our goal," Lucy sternly looked at the president, like she has forgotten whom she was talking to. Standing up straight and brushing off the invisible dirt from her skirt, Lucy confidently spoke again, "I am not here just as an art scout for MAI. I am here as a direct representative for MAI and I take my responsibilities seriously. So I hope you're doing the same,"

Natsu couldn't believe the strong personality of the woman before him. He knew that Luciya was going to be the dedicated type of employee, but he never knew how scary she could be if she wanted to. The moment Luciya started lecturing him he was speechless as if he was afraid that he'd be messing up again if he spoke. The last time he was like this when Erza really got mad at him, lecturing him about how wrong of him to accept the fixed marriage.

Slightly looking away at the mad blonde, Natsu firmly calls for the silver-haired scout, "Ms. Strauss,"
Lissana then turns to look at the president and quickly walks up to him. When she was near, Natsu continued, "Would you please assist Ms. Hart with the meeting...I have to go,"

"Yes, Sir," Lissana nods and Natsu quickly turns to walk away

Seeing the pink-haired president leave after her short lecture, Lucy couldn't help but feel furious about how Natsu was not getting her point. Huffing in annoyance, Lucy kept her glare at the back of the man until her attention was caught by Lissana, "Can I call you Ms. Luciya?" Lissana asked. Turning her head to glance at the silver-haired woman, Lucy studied Lissana's face before sighing in defeat. Lucy thought it was pointless to get mad at a person who was not actually present, so she smiled and answered, "Luciya is good,"
"Alright then, shall we begin our planning, Luciya?" Lissana sweetly smiled, which Lucy returned, "Of course"

"Come on Luciya, it's just the first day of planning. You don't have to start doing overtime immediately," Cana reasons out as she sat at the edge of Lucy's table, "And besides, the first thing we need to do now that we are under DAC for the meantime, is to get to know our workmates...so come on, you better join us in the bar,"

Lucy sighs as she puts down her pen and looks up at the brunette. Lucy was not the party goer, if she may say, she hates it because she didn't like meeting people who might recognize her, "Cana, I'd love to know our workmates but getting drunk with them is something I'm not fond of. It's your thing, not mine...so, no thanks," Lucy quickly smiles before she picks up her pen again and began to work.

Hearing Cana scoff, Lucy gave a short glance at the brunette, who had her hands on her hips as she stood up from her seat and paced before her.

"You know Luciya, I don't get why you avoid people...I mean, your nice, social, enthusiastic...but why push people away?" Cana then stops in front of the blonde with her brows raised. Slowly looking back at the brunette, Lucy had to swallow first before she answers, "I'm not pushing people away nor avoiding them...it's just that, I don't think meeting people in the bar would be the best thing,"
"Yeah, says who met Dragneel at a bar too," Cana replies sarcastically, "Luciya, come on, just one last time before you say no forever to me..."

Sighing once again, Lucy leans back to her chair as she crosses her arms over her chest while a smile appears on her face, "How about this...I'll join you with the others some other time...I promise, I won't decline again, just not this week..."
"Huh?! This week? That's unfair," Cana then crosses her arms over her chest too
"Nope, it's fair enough...now go on," Lucy then stood up and took Cana's bag from the couch and gently hands it to the brunette. She then pushes Cana to the door to make her leave, "The others are waiting for you,"
"But-!" Cana exclaims but was cut off when Lucy closes the door of the office, "Gaah! That woman, always secluding herself..." Cana then huffs before she turns to head to the elevator while mumbling about getting Luciya back for not joining her.

When Lucy didn't hear Cana anymore, she gently opens the door and sneaks a peek to see if Cana was still on the Arts department floor. Feeling relieve about not seeing any familiar brunette around, Lucy finally stood up straight and exhaled. Fixing her blouse and skirt, she turns around and approached her table to retrieve a folder and quickly exits the door.

The reason she wanted to overtime was because she wanted to explore the whole building. She could have done it earlier that day, but since she didn't want to have many people around, she decided to wait for the time off of the employees.

"Alright, accounting department first," Lucy mumbles to herself after she has pressed the up button of the elevator. Soon enough, an elevator came and Lucy quickly slips inside and presses the 20th floor.

Lucy spent almost two hours exploring the whole building. She met few artists that she has tried recruiting, then some art masters that she has read about in books and research. She also saw some employee officials that paid no attention to her as she explored the department floor. The moment she stood before the elevator, she realized that the only floor that she hasn't tried to roam around is the executive floor. As Lucy was contemplating about it, she was suddenly startled when the doors to the elevators opened and an elderly employee was standing inside.

"Going down miss?" The elder asked as Lucy slowly enters the elevator
"Oh, uh, yes...13th floor..." Lucy then leans towards the buttons to press the 13th button when she was beaten by the elder
"Oh, you must be the employee from MAI," the elder stated after pressing the 13 button
"Yes, I'm Luciya Hart," Lucy then extends her hand to the elderly woman who gladly grasps and shook it
"Mrs. Dolly Muzake," the woman replies
"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Muzake...you're from the business department?" Lucy questions as she sweetly smiled at the woman. Mrs. Dolly then shook her head as she replies, "No, I'm from the executive department...I'm the secretary of Mr. Kaito Dragneel,"
"Oh, the chairman..." Lucy then trails off as she swallowed hard, suddenly feeling nervous
"Don't worry dear, I don't bite...nor my boss," the elder say in between her giggles as she taps the arm of the blonde who sheepishly chuckles
"I-I see..." Lucy then straightens her stand before she spoke, "It must be hard to be the secretary of the Chairman,"
"Not really, unlike Daichi, you know him?" Mrs. Muzake then glances the blonde who nodded in response, "Well, that young man runs all around the building, carrying out the orders of the young president. My task is not much just have to keep that old man in check for his schedules such as medical check-ups, meeting with his business affiliates, and children...not much about work because he leaves it to his son, Igneel"

Lucy then nods in understanding about how the big officers in the building work, "So, why are you still here this late?"
"I just dropped by to take some papers Mr. Kaito left in his office. Tomorrow, I have to hand it to him in the airport, before he travels to Crocus for an event,"
"Ah, I see..." Lucy then looks down at the elder, "The executive floor must be deserted when you came up,"
"Oh no-"
Ding!
"Oh it's my floor now," Lucy quickly states after hearing the ring of the elevator when they arrived. Slightly turning to face the elder, Lucy bows down to her and bid her goodbye, "It was nice meeting you Mrs. Muzake...hope to see you more often,"
"oh please do visit me on the 58th floor, a woman like you can change the aura on that floor..." Lucy then turns to question the woman when suddenly the doors to the elevator closed. The last thing Lucy saw was a waving elder.

Soon enough, Lucy was back to her office and finished printing all the documents she needed the next day. It was the plan they have for the event, and she was hoping to see the president by tomorrow so that they could fully discuss the matter. She didn't want to admit but she felt disappointed that she had no real interaction with the pinkette all day. But then again, she thought, it was better like that than be continuously cautious around him.

It was nearly 9 in the evening when Lucy decided to go home. She was heading towards the exit of the building when suddenly a man's voice greeted her goodbye, "Good night Ms. Hart!"

Lucy spins to face the person who has called her and there she saw a small man with a big stomach, sitting behind a front desk for the security. He was smiling brightly at her despite the late hour, and he stepped out of his seat to walk closely with her.

"Sorry Ms. Hart if I startled you," the security guard said. Lucy then smiles at the man as she shook her head, "No, it's fine...I guess I was just zoning out while I was walking," Lucy and the guard then chuckles as they thought about it, "I'm sorry, I didn't get the chance to get your name,"
"I'm Joniju Hyato but you can call me Joe, ma'am..." The man then bows before the blonde who genuinely smiles back and bows too
"Well, you can call me Luciya,"
"Ah such a beautiful name...reminds me of someone," Mr. Joe then began to look down at the floor as if it had the answers he was looking for, "I can't remember what name that sounds familiar to your name, but if I remember I'll tell you,"
"Alright Mr. Joe," Lucy then chuckles before she gives a short glance at the exit, "I better go," she said when she looked back at the security
"Oh yes, It's getting late...You should be careful, though, you're a beautiful lady, many stalkers and creeps could be walking the streets," The guard then places a hand on his waist as he leans on one leg
"Well, it's not my first time to go home this late. I usually overtime in MAI, so not a big deal," Lucy smirks at the guard who only chuckled at her face
"Ah your no different to the president...always on overtime," the security then nods to himself as he thought of the times he had to force the president to go home so that he doesn't have to worry about him dying in exhaustion. Before Lucy could question, the radio of the security suddenly stutters making the guard turn his attention to his radio. With that sign, Lucy thought she would just ask next time, and just head home. So soon, she bid Mr. Joe goodbye and went her way home.

To be continued...

Hey, Readers!

I know it's been a long time since I updated this story and all I gave you was a short update. Sorry about it, it's just that I wanted to cut short this chapter so that the next chapter I make would be longer. I wanted to update sooner. The original plan was that this chapter should be longer, but since I'm taking forever to finish it, I decided to shorten it and just make the next one instantly.

So...expect the next chapter for this story while my other stories would be delayed for a bit... (as if I was ever on time of posting my chapters...)

Anyways, what else...um, Review? leave one and tell me what you think about the chapter and how you feel about the whole story coming up...then...follow and make it your favorite story if you haven't...(PS. if you only want to...)

Well, that's it!

Thanks for dropping by and reading this chapter!

Love,

FairyTailxNaLu