Chapter 3: Apologizing
As soon as Haruka had left, the house was dead silent – until Michiru spoke up. "Hotaru? Did I say something wrong now?" she asked, sounding worried. Hotaru looked at her and nodded. "But you couldn't know. You see, my mommy died two weeks ago." Michirus hand flew up to cover her mouth. "Oh God, I'm so sorry!" she called out, shocked. "Don't be, you really couldn't know." Hotaru replied, patting her new nanny's shoulder for emphasis. "And I'm sure that Daddy realizes this too as soon as she cooled off a little." Michiru gave her a small smile and asked: "It really hurt your Daddy, huh?" Hotaru nodded, all serious. Michiru let out a small sigh and looked over to the kitchen. "Well Hotaru…what do you think about breakfast?" she then asked.
Haruka sat in her huge office, leaning back in the comfy leather chair she used, and stared at her empty computer screen. She nearly jumped out of her chair when all of a sudden her phone rang. As soon as she had regained her senses, she answered it. "Yeah?" "Tenoh-san, it's me, Yukkio." Her secretary chirped on the other end of the line. "Can I come to you and have a talk for a second?" "Yeah, just come here." The blonde replied before hanging up. One minute later, the door opened and Yukkio entered the room. "Tenoh-san." She spoke, bowing respectfully. Haruka waved her hand around and motioned for her secretary to sit down. "I guess you are here to inform me about what happened during I was away, ha?" Yukkio nodded and pulled out her trusty calendar. She told Haruka about the meetings that the blonde had attend today, about the general situation of Tenoh Sports TV Inc., which was great as always, and about the fact that the broadcaster had managed to acquire the license for sending the Olympic games of the next year. "Great." The blonde mumbled as soon as Yukkio had quieted down again. She looked at the secretary, frowning. "Anything else you need…?" Harukas eyes went wide when Yukkio suddenly stood up, walked around the desk and sat down on her lap. "What are you doing?" the blonde finally managed to press out. Yukkio smiled and laid both hands on Harukas chest. "Oh, Tenoh-san, I just want to make you a little better…you must be so lonely, now that your wife died." She whispered into the shocked blondes ear. Haruka just couldn't react, and thus more or less allowed Yukkio to caress her, but when the secretary tried to kiss her, she snapped out of her state. "Stop it. Get off." Haruka commanded, fire in her eyes. Yukkio got scared and quickly climbed off her boss' lap. Haruka jumped up, angered to no-end. "What do you think you are doing?" the blonde yelled, her fury clearly showing through her voice. "You think that you can make a move on me, now that my wife is dead, and maybe gain some advantages from it? Well, I tell you one thing, forget it! I wasn't interested in you, I am not interested you, and I never will be. So get out of my face before I decide to fire you." Yukkio quickly hurried out of the office, and Haruka let herself fall back on her chair, closing her eyes. All of a sudden, hot tears burned behind her lids, and she slumped forward, leaning her head on her hands. She tried to bite the tears back, but finally, she failed.
When Haruka returned home later that day, she felt terrible. Her head ached as if somebody would drive nails through it, she felt as if she would throw up any second, and her hands were shaking. The blonde was just about to unlock the front door when it suddenly opened, exposing Michiru and Hotaru. "Hi Daddy!" Hotaru cried out happily, while Michiru noticed how pale Haruka was. "Tenoh-san? Are you alright?" the aqua haired girl asked worried. Haruka nodded, the movement sending another tremendous wave of pain through her head. Michiru simply ignored her and walked over to her, placing one hand against the blondes forehead. "No, you're not. You have a fever, better get in bed." The aqua haired girl then spoke. Haruka just glared at her. "I have a TV broadcaster to run, I can't fall sick now. I was away long enough." She then shot back. Michiru just sighed. "I know that you own TST, but you're ill. You shouldn't be up at all." Haruka shrugged and looked down at Hotaru. "How was your day, hun?" "Great!" Hotaru cried out. Haruka gave her a weak smile and nodded towards the bathroom. "Go and get ready for bed, I'll be there in a minute." Hotaru nodded and dashed off, leaving Haruka and Michiru behind alone. "Tenoh-san…I wanted to apologize for what I said today morning." Michiru suddenly spoke, gaining Harukas attention. The blonde shrugged Michirus apology off. "It's okay…you didn't know." She replied. Michiru gave her a small smile, but the blonde didn't smile back. "Anyway…" Haruka started, "if Hotaru was satisfied with you today, you'll have the job. If not, you can leave again." Michiru bowed again, nodding. "Fine, Tenoh-san." Haruka nodded and walked away, over to the bathroom where Hotaru was brushing her teeth.
