This Chance Event

Sitting down to eat breakfast, which was one of her personal favorites this morning, egg on toast, she faced the tv and turned it on to watch the news. The seven day forecast showed on the screen. The cute weather man was pointing and making circles, talking about clouds and precipitation, or something like that. She let her mind wander. She took her last bite and stood up to bring her dirty plate to the sink.

The weather ended and switched to business news. 'Well, there's a name everyone has heard of nowadays, Shawn Yui' she thought, as they started speaking about Shawn Yui and the latest about his consulting firm, Yui &Company. Yui &Company was founded one and a half years ago, and it's success was instantaneous. They were already international and thought very highly of by the public, but to her it always seemed, since the day she heard of them, that there was something fishy going on. Grabbing her keys off the counter on the way, Usagi ran out the door.

"Oh geez! I'm not going to make it on time! Please don't let Duo get too mad!" she cried in frustration and banged her left hand on the steering wheel. Looking at her watch again only increased her anxiety. She had been late yesterday, and if it happened again, she knew she wouldn't get the job for real anytime soon. She was caught in traffic jams more than seemed fair; because here she was, in the same mess she'd been in the day before.

Usagi believes that life has no ordinary chances. Everything happens for a reason. The balance of life is affected by many things like death, happiness, and sadness; jams of traffic weren't free from the rule. This must be happening for a reason also. But she couldn't see how.

Looking at the reflection in her rear view mirror made her feel confident she could make the slide into the next lane. She did so perfectly. 'Maybe this lane will move quicker.' Just as she applied more pressure on the gas petal, a black limo swerved to squeeze between her and the truck ahead of her. It's coming to a sudden stop caused her to come to a halt right on it's tail. Literally. Hitting her forehead with her hand, she groaned, "I just had my first accident."

Leaning her head back against the headrest, she took a deep breath with closed eyes. Just because she believes in no chance event, doesn't mean she has to like it. 'There is no way I'm going to make it on time. This is just what I need. Daaaaaaaaaamn...'

Tap. Tap. Usagi opened her eyes. Through her window she could see a man wearing a driver's hat. 'He must be the limo driver.' An inaudible sigh accompanied her thought. She rolled down the window. "Yes?"

"I'm sorry, Miss, but you seemed to have crashed into the bumper of Mr. Yui's limousine." The voice sounded old. It went with his slightly grey hair, and though the hat covered his hairline, she had a strong feeling it was receding.

'Nah really,' she thought, fighting the strong urge to roll her eyes at him. Her first impression of this man wasn't a good one. Already she wanted nothing more to do with him. "Yes, I did. And you seemed to have turned in front of me when it wasn't safe. Sorry, I haven't yet figured out how to pass through solid matter. But I'll keep trying."

"I beg your pardon. It was safe. That is why I didn't crash." The man looked old fashioned. He acted like it too, with the words he used and the way he chose to enunciate them. "Now, since you don't want to cooperate, I'll just call the police. And believe me, they'll come to the decision it's your fault." The old man smirked at her and pulled a cell phone from his suit pocket. She blinked. Guess he wasn't so old fashioned.

Flipping out a cell phone of her own, she called Duo, her mentor. Usagi didn't have a clue whether the conversation would be positive or negative, since this is the second consecutive day meeting him late. "Hey Duo, this is Usagi. I know, I know. I don't know when I'll be in. You see, there has been an accident. No, I don't think I'll be free of it any time soon, because... you see... I'm part of it. Yeah. Yell at me if you must. What? You're not mad? Really? Cool! But I am sorry. I'll get there as soon as I can. And yes, I know that being a mechanic doesn't mean I create work by causing accidents. Now quit teasing me! I've got to get this taken care of. And Duo? Please don't tell Old Dan about it! Great! Thanks! Bye!" She hung up.

Until she exhaled, she had been unaware of the air held captive in her lungs by the laces of anxiety. 'First major thing gone wrong that affected him and this is how he reacts? I love easy going, down to earth people! And despite the fact that he teases me constantly, he never does it in a cruel way.' She smiled to herself. Duo always says exactly what her ears need to hear. How, she was clueless. Maybe a higher power? But she takes comfort in the fact that he can always manage to erase her anxiety. And if she wore a frown, he'd flop it up into a radiant smile. The positive words Duo speaks, counteracts the negative side of the Balance in her life. On her Scale, Duo was always first in line to step on the Good side to out weigh the Bad, wether she needed it a little or a lot.

Pushing her car door open, she stepped onto the hot asphalt, immediately feeling the sun's warm energy on her back. Extracting a pen and gum wrapper from her pocket, she set out to write down the guy's license plate number. But before she could finish the second character, a solid metal sheet slid down, blocking the plate and the numbers on it she desperately needed. She stomped her foot into the ground and walked over to the driver.

"Excuse me. What's going on here?" Usagi demanded tersely.

He clasped his hands together in triumph. "I just finished my conversation with the head of the police department. They'll arrive shortly."

'The head of the police department?' she thought, taken aback, but she didn't let her outer composure shift. She growled, "Not that. I was writing down your licence plate number when it was suddenly covered."

"That would be the doing of Mr. Yui. Talk to him about the matter." The old man wore the smirk of a twenty-year old, and she got the eerie feeling that she was a baby rabbit being dropped into a lion's den.

She turned away, but not without struggling down the urge to grace the guy with the birdie and tell him to stick it. Then deciding on a better action, she faced him again and sweetly smiled, "Thank you, handsome." She topped it with a wink.

His face spaced like a dummy, then he turned away with a blush and scowl. She'd won that battle of wit and more, and they both knew it.

Giggling, she tapped on the tinted window. She got no answer. Was the driver trying to prove she was as stupid as he already judged her to be? Was there no one in there? Looking over the top of the limo, she saw the drivers back. He wasn't watching her. So there was someone inside. Encasing her hands around her face, she lowered it against the window to peer inside. 'No luck,' she growled. Not caring at this point about being rude, she pulled the handle. It was unlocked. Fully opening the door, she looked inside and saw the eyes of the man who must be Mr. Yui.

Lowering her head inside, she demanded, with gum wrapper and pen in hand, "What's your license plate number?"

He just looked at her flatly. "What are you doing?"

"Asking what-"

"No. What are you doing opening the door? Your car is back there. This limo is mine. You'd never be able to afford it."

She glared. "You purposefully covered your licence plate while I was writing it down. Then had the nerve to ignore me when I knocked, so I had no other choice. Tell me the number and I'll do you a favor and save you from having to deal with one more person looking at your ugly face."

He pulled down a mirror from the ceiling and looked into in. "It looks fine to me. Maybe you're seeing me as you remember seeing yourself when you last gazed into a mirror." He looked at her. "You look awful."

Stepping inside the limo, she sat and closed the door. "Well, at least I don't pay to make myself ugly."

"And what was that supposed to be?" He grinned.

"An insult," she said with crossed arms and an evil glare showing in her eyes.

"Playing off what?"

"Your face and money. A little of your attitude."

"Say it again." He commanded.

She partially lowered her lids with suspicion, but couldn't foresee where he was going with this. She repeated it slowly, "Well, at least I don't pay to make myself ugly."

He laughed. "Just as I thought. It's a joke!" He continued laughing. "You get it naturally, and you think the only way I could be ugly would be if I paid for it surgically. You're right, I would have to pay to be ugly!"

She looked down at the burgundy velvet seat until he brought his hyena laughter to satisfaction. She saw a stain, and smelled old wine in the air along with it's companion sour. This could provide her with a comeback. "So, did you get this by getting too frisky with your girlfriend? Or can't you stomach your alcohol?"

"A bit of both. Last night I was frisky at a club. I couldn't handle the alcohol when we started driving. It went everywhere. But she wasn't here to see it," he smirked. "She was back at the club."

"Oh, poor little rich boy. You can hurt yourself by doing that." She changed her voice to one she would use if she were talking to a little child. If she were closer, she would have been severely tempted to pinch his cheek as a rarely seen grandmother would.

Tap. Tap. She looked through the window. It was the driver. Deja vu. From the corner of her vision she saw Mr. Yui roll down the window on her side from his. "Mr. Yui, the police are here," the driver said. His response was a single nod.

Opening the door, Mr. Yui stepped out into the sun and the waiting eyes of the police. Usagi stepped out as well, using her hand to protect her eyes from the blazing sun. The police were murmuring with eyes set on Mr. Yui. Her ears only seized, "Mr. Yui's hair." 'That doesn't seem right. Maybe it was heir? Oh my God! Please don't tell me this is Mr. Yui's heir? He's the son of Shawn Yui, owner and founder of Yui &Company?!'