Torn
Chapter Two: Job Troubles
"Hey, what does it take to get another drink around here?!"
"I'll be right there, sir!" Kaoru shouted behind her, balancing a tray full of empty beer mugs against her hip while holding an empty pitcher in her free hand. Her hair was beginning to come out of place in the bun that she kept it in, raven strands sticking out above her head. She blew a few bangs out of her blue eyes and made her way to the bar, where the stools were filled with drunk, middle-aged men and perverse college boys.
It was without a doubt another busy night at the Akabeko.
Rambunctious chatter and dirty jokes filled her ears as she made her way to the bar, where her manager Tae Sekihara was refilling drinks and taking orders at the same time at the speed of light.
"Excuse me, Tae," she shouted above all the noise. "I need to get some more drinks!"
The older woman nodded and without acknowledging the college girl moved out of the way. Kaoru quickly grabbed some more glass mugs and refilled her pitcher and placed them on her tray. Wasting no time, she maneuvered around the customers and distributed the drinks onto the tables where the guests were impatiently waiting.
"About damn time..." one of them muttered, earning an irritated glare from Kaoru. She hastily left before she would've done something that she would regret and busied herself taking more orders for food and drinks.
Usually, Kaoru was able to deal with these hectic nights at the Akabeko. She would tell herself that college tuition, groceries, and bills weren't going to pay themselves. She would think of her house and Yahiko, and she would instantly wipe away all of her doubts. Besides, Sano, despite his tendencies to gamble, was working day and night as a construction worker to pay the family's expenses. Kaoru reminded herself that she was doing her part to help.
However, her good intentions were not enough to stop her from ensuing the chaos that happened that night...
"Hey cutie!" She heard a husky voice drunkenly call out. She whirled around to see a wasted customer beckoning to one of the waitresses. Kaoru remembered that she was a sophomore in college and that Tae had recently hired her.
'She looks so frightened...' She thought sympathetically, sapphire eyes observing the timid nature of the waitress.
Sympathy was then replaced by anger when she saw the customer snake an arm around the woman's waist.
"So how 'bout it?" Kaoru caught the wriggling of the waitress' nose from his breath, heavy with alcohol. "Why don't you and me go somewhere a little more private?"
The woman smiled uneasily and tried to push herself away. "Um, sorry. I'm really busy and I already have a boyfriend—"
"Aw c'mon...we can really have some fun..." he insisted, his arm wrapping tighter around the waitress's waist. The other men at the table were enthusiastically cheering the customer on, increasing Kaoru's revulsion.
"Sorry, I just can't!" The waitress stated more assertively, but the fear on her face was still present.
The stupid grin on the man's face distorted to an annoyed frown, and his arm gripped tighter around the waitress, causing her to let out a little squeal of pain.
"Why are you playing so hard to get?" He asked her, his voice escalating. "You think you're too good for me?"
"Please sir, let go of me..." The waitress pleaded. Her eyes were on the verge of tears.
The customer did no such thing. He grabbed her by her arms, his hands like vice grips on each one. The woman was struggling to escape, fresh bruises forming from the force of the man's unyielding grip.
"Let me go!" She cried frantically, her voice ignored by the drunken mass.
The man grinned sadistically and one of his hands roamed the area of her back, lowering itself inch by inch...
Out of nowhere, a tray slammed against the man's face and sent him flying backwards into the table behind him with a loud crash. His friends watched in shock as their beverages spilled onto the fallen customer, their table broken in half from the impact of his body. Their wide eyes then traveled to his attacker, which happened to be a furious young girl with a tray clutched tightly in her little hands.
The man sat up from the splintered wood and rubbed his face with his hands. Blood was running from his nostrils, and his bottom lip was split from the assault. He caught sight of the girl and his eyes glared dangerously at her.
"You little bitch!" His voice boomed, slowly rising to his feet.
"You deserved it you disgusting pig!" Kaoru cried defiantly, the other waitress standing behind her in surprise.
"What did you call me?!" He roared, stumbling on his feet in his drunken state.
"And you!" Kaoru addressed his friends. "You all ought to be ashamed of yourselves! Allowing him to do that to a helpless person!"
"Hey, he was just having fun," one of them lamely replied in an attempt to defend his friend.
"Oh, and I suppose it's 'fun' whenever someone gets hurt?!" She accused them.
"It's none of your damn business!" The customer yelled, wiping off the blood from his face with his sleeve of his business suit.
Kaoru paid no more attention to him or his accomplices. Feeling that she had already wasted enough time on them, she turned back to the shocked waitress.
"Are you okay?" She asked in concern, her anger slowly leaving her.
The waitress didn't even nod; her hand just nursed the red bruises on her arm.
Satisfied with her silence, Kaoru took her gently by the arm and began to pull her away from the mess, her tray tucked against her side. "Come on, there's some ice in the kitchen—"
A masculine hand reached from behind her and gripped Kaoru's thick hair. Sapphire eyes widened in pain, the tray she was carrying falling out of her grasp and onto the floor. Her other hand released the waitress' arm as her whole body was pulled backwards.
"I'm not finished with you yet, little girl!" The customer shouted, his intoxicated voice cutting through the noisy atmosphere in the bar.
Her eyes narrowed and she turned around, smashing her fist into the man's homely face. The customer flew back, involuntarily letting go of the girl's hair. He landed in the remains of the broken table, now the proud owner of a nearly fractured jaw in addition to a bleeding nose.
All conversation and laughter in the restaurant was silenced. Curious and bewildered eyes concentrated on the badly injured man, and then to the young waitress that attacked him. Kaoru stood over her victim and his friends that cowered beside him, the adrenaline slowly disappearing from her veins.
A strong hand placed itself on her small shoulder, causing her to spin around with her fists clenched. To her surprise, the unusually serious brown eyes of her older brother greeted her. Behind him were uniformed policeman, handcuffs and pistols hanging from their belts. Speechless, her hands fell limply against her sides.
"S-Sano?"
"Tae called me, and I came as soon as I got her message," his eyes softened a bit at the sight of his sister. Her hair had fallen in a messy heap from the tight bun she wore it in. Her white tank top and black skirt were wrinkled, and her apron was stained with alcohol and blood.
"Damn, you're a mess."
She smiled, comforted that her brother wasn't angry with her for what she had done. Well, at least not yet.
"Miss, we want to ask you a few questions," the stern voice of an officer caught her attention.
She looked at him and reluctantly nodded.
"Wait!"
The shy voice of the other waitress called out. Kaoru stared at her, eyeing pitifully at the bruises on both of her arms.
"She didn't do anything wrong," the waitress explained. "She was just trying to help me..."
The officer hesitated a bit, but the seriousness in his face returned. "Nonetheless, I still need to question her. The same goes for you, too."
The waitress squirmed underneath the graveness in his voice, but nodded. Kaoru's eyes left her and went to the businessman. He was being carried away in handcuffs by two other policemen, while at the same time his friends were undergoing an interrogation.
She suddenly had the feeling that she was going to need to look for another job.
* * * *
"Kaoru!"
Her sapphire eyes were welcomed by a frantic Yahiko. He nearly sprinted to her after she closed the door to Sano's ancient car.
"Yahiko, what are you doing up?" She asked. "You're supposed to be in bed."
"Why are you home so late...?" His voice trailed off as his auburn eyes scanned the untidy state of Kaoru's hair and clothes. "What happened to you?"
"A guy was causing some trouble at the Akabeko," Sano answered for her. "Now let's go in, I'm starving—"
"A guy?!" Yahiko ignored Sano and focused on his other cousin, now noticing the drops of blood that stained her uniform. "What did he do?! Did he hurt you?!"
"No, no," Kaoru tried to reassure her cousin. "He was bothering a new waitress and getting a little too close for her comfort. So I stepped in."
"Tch, I'll say," Sano chimed in. "You practically knocked every tooth out of his mouth."
For some diabolical reason, Kaoru felt proud of Sano's comment.
"So...he didn't do anything to you?" The boy repeated, worried. "'cause I'll go other there and kick his ass if he did—"
"He's nothing that the police can't handle, and I'm fine," Kaoru insisted, deciding not to mention that the man had pulled her hair, or Yahiko would keep true to his threat.
"Well...still, you should've called me!" Yahiko exclaimed, turning away from both of his cousins. "Or you could've at least left me something better to eat than that crap you left in the fridge."
Her temper returning, Kaoru gritted her teeth. "Why don't you try cooking for yourself, then?!"
Sano grinned as his little sister and cousin engaged in another argument. For someone who lost her job and was interrogated by the police in the same night, Kaoru wasn't one to let it get to her.
* * * *
"You were fired?!"
Kaoru winced at the question. "Not exactly. But I guess that doesn't change the fact that I'm unemployed now, does it?"
Megumi Takani sighed, examining the bridge of Kaoru's knuckles. "You wouldn't be unemployed if you hadn't assaulted that man—"
"He assaulted that waitress first!" Kaoru argued.
The doctor took a look at the college girl's palm. "Still, you shouldn't have gotten involved like that. It isn't very ladylike to hit someone with a serving tray and break their jaw afterwards."
Kaoru rolled her eyes. "Are you listening to me? I had a good reason!"
Raising an eyebrow, Megumi continued to question her. "How is it that that businessman isn't suing you?"
"The waitress that I stuck up for told the police everything, and the few customers that weren't drunk that night said that I was protecting myself when he grabbed my hair."
"But then why were you fired?"
"I told you, I wasn't exactly fired. I kind of quit because I didn't want to give the Akabeko a bad image. It wouldn't be good for business, and it wouldn't be fair to Tae either."
Megumi let go of Kaoru's hand. "It's fine."
The girl tucked back a lock of raven behind her ear. "Of course it's fine. You and Sano worry way too much, you know?"
Megumi's mature face remained somber. "Seriously Kaoru, you should be more careful. Don't be meddling with other people's affairs. You might get injured."
A smile lit up her features. "See what I mean? You worry too much. I'm eighteen, remember? I could take care of myself."
Seeing how it was hopeless, the doctor threw her hands up in defeat. "I've done all I can. So, do you plan to get another job?"
Kaoru crossed her arms in deep thought. "Yeah, but I don't know how I'm going to get one. It's really hard to get hired nowadays."
The girl really had given a lot of thought to her dire situation. She needed a job, and she needed it fast. How else would she be able to keep up with the bills and her tuition fees?
"Well, if you're through dealing with drunken men and serving alcohol, I might have a job for you."
A light of hope danced in Kaoru's sapphire eyes. "Really?"
Megumi nodded. "Not at the clinic, though. About a week ago, a former colleague of mine said that he needed another secretary."
'Another...?' Kaoru asked herself, but she was still eager at the possibility of being employed again. "What does he do?"
The doctor took out some files and began to organize them. "He's a psychologist. He told me that he needed another secretary because his last one recently quit."
Megumi's comment didn't dampen her enthusiasm. "Do you think he still needs one?"
"I don't know. But I'd be happy to give him a call for you and try to schedule an interview if he does—"
Megumi was cut off with a lung-crushing hug from the younger woman. "Thank you so much!"
She tried to pry her arms off of her. "Calm down, Kaoru! You're not hired yet."
She pulled back and sheepishly smiled. "O-oh yeah...so, can you call me after you talk to him?"
* * * *
"This is a disgrace," Enishi growled, throwing the newspaper against the marble surface of his desk. Plastered on the front page was a black and white picture of a man in a sloppy business suit being led in handcuffs to a police car.
"I-I know, Yukishiro-sama," the pitiful man replied. However, his regrets did nothing to calm his employer's anger.
"Not only did you grope a waitress, but you had to attack another one by pulling her by the hair like some sort of barbarian. And in public, might I add."
"Y-yes, but she attacked me first—"
"That doesn't matter!" Enishi interjected coldly, his voice laden with disgust. "The point is that you've dishonored the name of my corporation! Thanks to you, the business world undoubtedly sees us as a bunch of pathetic fools who do nothing but drink ourselves to a stupor and molest women in our free time!"
The man said nothing. He was much too paralyzed with fear to do or say anything that might worsen his boss's temper. Yukishiro Enishi was a man whose name struck fear into the hearts of the bravest souls. Everyone who worked for him knew it.
"You truly make me sick," he stated, turning away from the sniveling man so that the back of his leather office chair. "It doesn't matter to me whether or not you disgrace your own name. But bringing shame to my corporation, my family's hard work, is an entirely different affair."
The office was silent, save the soft hum of the high-tech computer on Enishi's desk. The man was contemplating what he could say that would put him in his employer's favor, until the indifferent voice sounded.
"You're fired," he said evenly. "I want you to clear your desk and be out of my building in the next hour."
The man gulped, and was about to say something until Enishi interrupted.
"If you are not out by then, I will remove you myself."
And with that, the man stumbled to the exit and shut the door behind him, not wanting to spend another minute in that office.
"Maggot," Enishi scoffed, taking the newspaper into his hands. He scanned the report over again, each word like a slap to the face to him. However, he knew that something else would happen that would shift the public's attention away from his corporation. There was always some other story that the media would waste no time into devouring like the ravenous sharks they were.
The cold orbs of his eyes suddenly latched onto the paper. Somewhere towards the end of the page was a smaller picture. Within it, he saw a girl accompanied with a taller man walking out of the same place that his former employee had been arrested. Although the picture was printed in morose and sullen ink, her eyes seemed to glow from that lovely face of hers.
'I...know her...'
His mind retreated to that cloudless day where he had been waiting at an intersection. He remembered the vivacious voice breaking the peace of the spring day, calling out a name that he could vaguely recall. In his annoyance, he stared in the direction of the voice and after that, he was stunned.
She had been there. Her ivory hands tightened into fists and slammed against the car window. Her silken hair was flying around her as she was trying to get her young passenger out of the vehicle. He had studied every motion of her slender body, every word that her pink lips had formed.
That girl had caused his whole world to stop that day, and he was so frightened that he sped off into the city to get away from her.
And yet, even in the security of his office, she managed to haunt him nonetheless...
Frustrated, he threw the paper into the wastebasket he positioned next to his desk. He stood up and paced, a habit of his since he was young whenever he was nervous. He yanked at his white hair, his glasses falling astray from the bridge of his nose.
After twenty minutes of this, he sat back down into his chair. His turquoise eyes tried to concentrate on the stack of papers that required his signature. His restlessness soon tired of this, and he began to type a business report on his computer. His fingers struck the countless keys, but his mind didn't register exactly what he was typing. A few more minutes was all it took for him to turn away from the machine. His eyes then roamed back to the thick newspaper lying noiselessly in the trash. His hand hesitated, but then retrieved it back. He unfolded it and scanned over the text again.
'Kamiya Kaoru...' he meditated in his mind. For some reason, the name had sounded so familiar. But the fact that he could not fully remember it wracked his head with aggravation.
So, he did the next best thing. He grabbed a pair of scissors and cut out her picture, disposing of the newspaper afterward.
* * * *
Kaoru got out of her car and walked out of the parking lot. Her attire was slightly different today. Her hair was worn in the usual high ponytail, but her clothes were slightly altered. Against Megumi's judgment, she wore black dress pants and a plain, long-sleeved blouse. Kaoru was never comfortable in business suits, so she wanted to dress comfortably but as professionally as possible for the interview.
"So, this is where he works..." She said in awe, staring at the sheer height of the tall building before her.
She nervously bit her lip and ascended the stairs, her knees shaking slightly. Kaoru couldn't lie to herself that she wasn't uneasy; this was her first official interview in three years. Before she worked at the Akabeko, Kaoru would make money by working in a grocery store. When she graduated from high school, Tae immediately allowed her to work at her restaurant after Sano talked to her. The woman was an old friend of her parents, so when they passed away, she was always offering to help the children out with their expenses.
Of course, being Kamiyas, Sano and his sister couldn't accept her money. Instead, Tae hired Kaoru as a waitress so that she would be able to get a decent paycheck.
Kaoru stepped into the elevator and shifted a bit when it began to ascend. Her sapphire eyes watched as the floor numbers began to light up one by one as she passed them by. She made sure that her hair was in place and that her outfit was tidy. The elevator stopped suddenly and the metal doors opened automatically. Kaoru stepped onto the white tile of the polished floor, mesmerized by how spacious the area was. Couches were arranged in an orderly fashion on front of a large desk. Sunlight poured in from the large windowpanes, but other than that, the room looked quite plain and dreary. Swallowing back her anxiety, Kaoru's heels clicked on the floor as she approached a door. On its wooden surface was a black sign in which a name was engraved on.
The white letters spelled Shinomori Aoshi, Ph.D.
'This is his office, like Megumi said...' Kaoru nervously checked her watch. 'I'm a little early. I hope that he's here.'
Kaoru knocked on the door gently. After a few seconds, a deep voice beckoned her to come in. Figuring that she had no choice but to obey, she opened the door and stepped into the office.
A man clad in an expensive gray suit and black tie was there to meet her. His black hair was parted from his cold blue-grey eyes, his posture upright against his chair. Kaoru was surprised by how young he looked, but at the same time she was a bit tense under his scrutinizing glare.
"Miss Kamiya, I presume?"
She bowed politely. "Yes. I'm the—"
"Girl that Megumi has told me about. I know."
She was a bit offended by his straightforwardness, but she suddenly had the feeling that Aoshi wasn't one for formal introductions.
His hand gestured toward the chair in front of his desk. "Have a seat."
She sat herself in the chair and quickly examined his room. The blinds over the windows were closed, refusing the light of the afternoon sun. Beside the oak desk, a leather sofa was placed against one wall while another chair was arranged in the center. An expensive portrait of a rather gothic nature hung on another wall, and a bookshelf stood alone in one corner.
To Kaoru, the room looked more like a funeral home than a psychologist's office.
"So, Megumi has informed me that you are in need of a job. May I ask why?"
Kaoru found the confidence to make eye contact with him. "I quit my last one."
"Where did you used to work, Miss Kamiya?"
"I was a waitress at the Akabeko restaurant and bar."
His expression remained blank. "Why did you quit?"
She paused, but then decided she might as well be honest. "I didn't want to cause any trouble for my manager."
"After what happened last night, it seemed you did exactly that."
A hint of surprise crossed her features. Aoshi had known.
"A college student of eighteen years old beating up a businessman of one of the most thriving companies in Tokyo," the psychologist mused. "I found that quite hard to believe that a young woman would go to such violent measures."
Kaoru felt her cheeks grow hot. "I didn't want to, but he left me no choice, Shinomori-sama."
"You couldn't simply ask him to leave the waitress alone?"
"She was begging him to stop," Kaoru insisted. "She was almost crying, but he still didn't listen. I wouldn't have been able to persuade him if she wasn't able to, and I couldn't just stand there and do nothing."
"So you attacked him with a serving tray and punched him in the jaw? That isn't any way to treat a respected businessman."
Kaoru suddenly felt that she was arguing with Megumi all over again. "I don't mean to sound cruel, but that man didn't deserve any respect. He treated that woman horribly."
Aoshi studied her, quite surprised at her nerve. Usually, only a few people were able to look him in the eye like the girl was doing now. "You are not sorry for your actions?"
She wanted to bite her tongue, but her pride didn't allow it. Kaoru didn't care if her answer would cost her this job. It wasn't worth lying for. "No, I'm not."
Silence pervaded through the cool, ventilated air of the office. It was so difficult to read Aoshi's face. His eyes didn't express approval or disapproval. They were concentrated on her only.
Kaoru was sure that she had lost the opportunity of being employed again.
"Tell me, Miss Kamiya," he said suddenly. "Do you have any family?"
A bit thrown off guard by the question, Kaoru regained her confidence. "Yes. I have an older brother, and our younger cousin lives with us in our house."
"What about your parents?"
Her sapphire eyes looked down from his face, hiding underneath her bangs. "They passed away."
Another moment of silence passed, neither the college girl nor the psychologist exchanging a word. Kaoru was a bit confused about why Aoshi suddenly questioned her about her family. She didn't know what Sano or Yahiko had to do with her interview.
"I am aware that you are a college student. What time do you get out of your last class?"
Startled, she quickly answered, "At 2:30."
"If you can make it to this building before three o' clock, then I can hire you as a secretary."
Her heart was swelling with joy, but then her doubt returned. "But what about mornings?"
"It's nothing to worry about. Most of my patients can only attend appointments in the late afternoon or evening."
Kaoru's face was evident of her puzzlement.
"I guess Megumi didn't tell you. Most of my patients are adolescents."
The realization dawned on her. "So you help teenagers then?"
He grimaced for a second. "If you can call it 'helping'."
Before she could even respond to his last comment, Aoshi stood up from his chair. "You will be here from three to eight o'clock every weekday and three to seven on Saturday after your classes."
"Do you have any dress requirements?" Kaoru asked out of curiosity.
"I only require that you dress professionally. No casual clothing whatsoever."
A grateful smile beamed on Kaoru's lips. "I'll do just that. Thank you, Shinomori-sama."
She bowed and was about to leave the sunlight-deprived office, until she stopped at the door.
"Shinomri-sama?"
Aoshi's blue-grey eyes focused on her once more. "What is it?"
"Is it okay if I decorate the waiting room outside? It's kind of dull."
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Wow...sorry if it was a bit long there, but I do want to develop the plot and the characters. Thanks for all the reviews for the first chapter: I'm really happy! Hope you enjoyed this one as well.
Chapter Two: Job Troubles
"Hey, what does it take to get another drink around here?!"
"I'll be right there, sir!" Kaoru shouted behind her, balancing a tray full of empty beer mugs against her hip while holding an empty pitcher in her free hand. Her hair was beginning to come out of place in the bun that she kept it in, raven strands sticking out above her head. She blew a few bangs out of her blue eyes and made her way to the bar, where the stools were filled with drunk, middle-aged men and perverse college boys.
It was without a doubt another busy night at the Akabeko.
Rambunctious chatter and dirty jokes filled her ears as she made her way to the bar, where her manager Tae Sekihara was refilling drinks and taking orders at the same time at the speed of light.
"Excuse me, Tae," she shouted above all the noise. "I need to get some more drinks!"
The older woman nodded and without acknowledging the college girl moved out of the way. Kaoru quickly grabbed some more glass mugs and refilled her pitcher and placed them on her tray. Wasting no time, she maneuvered around the customers and distributed the drinks onto the tables where the guests were impatiently waiting.
"About damn time..." one of them muttered, earning an irritated glare from Kaoru. She hastily left before she would've done something that she would regret and busied herself taking more orders for food and drinks.
Usually, Kaoru was able to deal with these hectic nights at the Akabeko. She would tell herself that college tuition, groceries, and bills weren't going to pay themselves. She would think of her house and Yahiko, and she would instantly wipe away all of her doubts. Besides, Sano, despite his tendencies to gamble, was working day and night as a construction worker to pay the family's expenses. Kaoru reminded herself that she was doing her part to help.
However, her good intentions were not enough to stop her from ensuing the chaos that happened that night...
"Hey cutie!" She heard a husky voice drunkenly call out. She whirled around to see a wasted customer beckoning to one of the waitresses. Kaoru remembered that she was a sophomore in college and that Tae had recently hired her.
'She looks so frightened...' She thought sympathetically, sapphire eyes observing the timid nature of the waitress.
Sympathy was then replaced by anger when she saw the customer snake an arm around the woman's waist.
"So how 'bout it?" Kaoru caught the wriggling of the waitress' nose from his breath, heavy with alcohol. "Why don't you and me go somewhere a little more private?"
The woman smiled uneasily and tried to push herself away. "Um, sorry. I'm really busy and I already have a boyfriend—"
"Aw c'mon...we can really have some fun..." he insisted, his arm wrapping tighter around the waitress's waist. The other men at the table were enthusiastically cheering the customer on, increasing Kaoru's revulsion.
"Sorry, I just can't!" The waitress stated more assertively, but the fear on her face was still present.
The stupid grin on the man's face distorted to an annoyed frown, and his arm gripped tighter around the waitress, causing her to let out a little squeal of pain.
"Why are you playing so hard to get?" He asked her, his voice escalating. "You think you're too good for me?"
"Please sir, let go of me..." The waitress pleaded. Her eyes were on the verge of tears.
The customer did no such thing. He grabbed her by her arms, his hands like vice grips on each one. The woman was struggling to escape, fresh bruises forming from the force of the man's unyielding grip.
"Let me go!" She cried frantically, her voice ignored by the drunken mass.
The man grinned sadistically and one of his hands roamed the area of her back, lowering itself inch by inch...
Out of nowhere, a tray slammed against the man's face and sent him flying backwards into the table behind him with a loud crash. His friends watched in shock as their beverages spilled onto the fallen customer, their table broken in half from the impact of his body. Their wide eyes then traveled to his attacker, which happened to be a furious young girl with a tray clutched tightly in her little hands.
The man sat up from the splintered wood and rubbed his face with his hands. Blood was running from his nostrils, and his bottom lip was split from the assault. He caught sight of the girl and his eyes glared dangerously at her.
"You little bitch!" His voice boomed, slowly rising to his feet.
"You deserved it you disgusting pig!" Kaoru cried defiantly, the other waitress standing behind her in surprise.
"What did you call me?!" He roared, stumbling on his feet in his drunken state.
"And you!" Kaoru addressed his friends. "You all ought to be ashamed of yourselves! Allowing him to do that to a helpless person!"
"Hey, he was just having fun," one of them lamely replied in an attempt to defend his friend.
"Oh, and I suppose it's 'fun' whenever someone gets hurt?!" She accused them.
"It's none of your damn business!" The customer yelled, wiping off the blood from his face with his sleeve of his business suit.
Kaoru paid no more attention to him or his accomplices. Feeling that she had already wasted enough time on them, she turned back to the shocked waitress.
"Are you okay?" She asked in concern, her anger slowly leaving her.
The waitress didn't even nod; her hand just nursed the red bruises on her arm.
Satisfied with her silence, Kaoru took her gently by the arm and began to pull her away from the mess, her tray tucked against her side. "Come on, there's some ice in the kitchen—"
A masculine hand reached from behind her and gripped Kaoru's thick hair. Sapphire eyes widened in pain, the tray she was carrying falling out of her grasp and onto the floor. Her other hand released the waitress' arm as her whole body was pulled backwards.
"I'm not finished with you yet, little girl!" The customer shouted, his intoxicated voice cutting through the noisy atmosphere in the bar.
Her eyes narrowed and she turned around, smashing her fist into the man's homely face. The customer flew back, involuntarily letting go of the girl's hair. He landed in the remains of the broken table, now the proud owner of a nearly fractured jaw in addition to a bleeding nose.
All conversation and laughter in the restaurant was silenced. Curious and bewildered eyes concentrated on the badly injured man, and then to the young waitress that attacked him. Kaoru stood over her victim and his friends that cowered beside him, the adrenaline slowly disappearing from her veins.
A strong hand placed itself on her small shoulder, causing her to spin around with her fists clenched. To her surprise, the unusually serious brown eyes of her older brother greeted her. Behind him were uniformed policeman, handcuffs and pistols hanging from their belts. Speechless, her hands fell limply against her sides.
"S-Sano?"
"Tae called me, and I came as soon as I got her message," his eyes softened a bit at the sight of his sister. Her hair had fallen in a messy heap from the tight bun she wore it in. Her white tank top and black skirt were wrinkled, and her apron was stained with alcohol and blood.
"Damn, you're a mess."
She smiled, comforted that her brother wasn't angry with her for what she had done. Well, at least not yet.
"Miss, we want to ask you a few questions," the stern voice of an officer caught her attention.
She looked at him and reluctantly nodded.
"Wait!"
The shy voice of the other waitress called out. Kaoru stared at her, eyeing pitifully at the bruises on both of her arms.
"She didn't do anything wrong," the waitress explained. "She was just trying to help me..."
The officer hesitated a bit, but the seriousness in his face returned. "Nonetheless, I still need to question her. The same goes for you, too."
The waitress squirmed underneath the graveness in his voice, but nodded. Kaoru's eyes left her and went to the businessman. He was being carried away in handcuffs by two other policemen, while at the same time his friends were undergoing an interrogation.
She suddenly had the feeling that she was going to need to look for another job.
* * * *
"Kaoru!"
Her sapphire eyes were welcomed by a frantic Yahiko. He nearly sprinted to her after she closed the door to Sano's ancient car.
"Yahiko, what are you doing up?" She asked. "You're supposed to be in bed."
"Why are you home so late...?" His voice trailed off as his auburn eyes scanned the untidy state of Kaoru's hair and clothes. "What happened to you?"
"A guy was causing some trouble at the Akabeko," Sano answered for her. "Now let's go in, I'm starving—"
"A guy?!" Yahiko ignored Sano and focused on his other cousin, now noticing the drops of blood that stained her uniform. "What did he do?! Did he hurt you?!"
"No, no," Kaoru tried to reassure her cousin. "He was bothering a new waitress and getting a little too close for her comfort. So I stepped in."
"Tch, I'll say," Sano chimed in. "You practically knocked every tooth out of his mouth."
For some diabolical reason, Kaoru felt proud of Sano's comment.
"So...he didn't do anything to you?" The boy repeated, worried. "'cause I'll go other there and kick his ass if he did—"
"He's nothing that the police can't handle, and I'm fine," Kaoru insisted, deciding not to mention that the man had pulled her hair, or Yahiko would keep true to his threat.
"Well...still, you should've called me!" Yahiko exclaimed, turning away from both of his cousins. "Or you could've at least left me something better to eat than that crap you left in the fridge."
Her temper returning, Kaoru gritted her teeth. "Why don't you try cooking for yourself, then?!"
Sano grinned as his little sister and cousin engaged in another argument. For someone who lost her job and was interrogated by the police in the same night, Kaoru wasn't one to let it get to her.
* * * *
"You were fired?!"
Kaoru winced at the question. "Not exactly. But I guess that doesn't change the fact that I'm unemployed now, does it?"
Megumi Takani sighed, examining the bridge of Kaoru's knuckles. "You wouldn't be unemployed if you hadn't assaulted that man—"
"He assaulted that waitress first!" Kaoru argued.
The doctor took a look at the college girl's palm. "Still, you shouldn't have gotten involved like that. It isn't very ladylike to hit someone with a serving tray and break their jaw afterwards."
Kaoru rolled her eyes. "Are you listening to me? I had a good reason!"
Raising an eyebrow, Megumi continued to question her. "How is it that that businessman isn't suing you?"
"The waitress that I stuck up for told the police everything, and the few customers that weren't drunk that night said that I was protecting myself when he grabbed my hair."
"But then why were you fired?"
"I told you, I wasn't exactly fired. I kind of quit because I didn't want to give the Akabeko a bad image. It wouldn't be good for business, and it wouldn't be fair to Tae either."
Megumi let go of Kaoru's hand. "It's fine."
The girl tucked back a lock of raven behind her ear. "Of course it's fine. You and Sano worry way too much, you know?"
Megumi's mature face remained somber. "Seriously Kaoru, you should be more careful. Don't be meddling with other people's affairs. You might get injured."
A smile lit up her features. "See what I mean? You worry too much. I'm eighteen, remember? I could take care of myself."
Seeing how it was hopeless, the doctor threw her hands up in defeat. "I've done all I can. So, do you plan to get another job?"
Kaoru crossed her arms in deep thought. "Yeah, but I don't know how I'm going to get one. It's really hard to get hired nowadays."
The girl really had given a lot of thought to her dire situation. She needed a job, and she needed it fast. How else would she be able to keep up with the bills and her tuition fees?
"Well, if you're through dealing with drunken men and serving alcohol, I might have a job for you."
A light of hope danced in Kaoru's sapphire eyes. "Really?"
Megumi nodded. "Not at the clinic, though. About a week ago, a former colleague of mine said that he needed another secretary."
'Another...?' Kaoru asked herself, but she was still eager at the possibility of being employed again. "What does he do?"
The doctor took out some files and began to organize them. "He's a psychologist. He told me that he needed another secretary because his last one recently quit."
Megumi's comment didn't dampen her enthusiasm. "Do you think he still needs one?"
"I don't know. But I'd be happy to give him a call for you and try to schedule an interview if he does—"
Megumi was cut off with a lung-crushing hug from the younger woman. "Thank you so much!"
She tried to pry her arms off of her. "Calm down, Kaoru! You're not hired yet."
She pulled back and sheepishly smiled. "O-oh yeah...so, can you call me after you talk to him?"
* * * *
"This is a disgrace," Enishi growled, throwing the newspaper against the marble surface of his desk. Plastered on the front page was a black and white picture of a man in a sloppy business suit being led in handcuffs to a police car.
"I-I know, Yukishiro-sama," the pitiful man replied. However, his regrets did nothing to calm his employer's anger.
"Not only did you grope a waitress, but you had to attack another one by pulling her by the hair like some sort of barbarian. And in public, might I add."
"Y-yes, but she attacked me first—"
"That doesn't matter!" Enishi interjected coldly, his voice laden with disgust. "The point is that you've dishonored the name of my corporation! Thanks to you, the business world undoubtedly sees us as a bunch of pathetic fools who do nothing but drink ourselves to a stupor and molest women in our free time!"
The man said nothing. He was much too paralyzed with fear to do or say anything that might worsen his boss's temper. Yukishiro Enishi was a man whose name struck fear into the hearts of the bravest souls. Everyone who worked for him knew it.
"You truly make me sick," he stated, turning away from the sniveling man so that the back of his leather office chair. "It doesn't matter to me whether or not you disgrace your own name. But bringing shame to my corporation, my family's hard work, is an entirely different affair."
The office was silent, save the soft hum of the high-tech computer on Enishi's desk. The man was contemplating what he could say that would put him in his employer's favor, until the indifferent voice sounded.
"You're fired," he said evenly. "I want you to clear your desk and be out of my building in the next hour."
The man gulped, and was about to say something until Enishi interrupted.
"If you are not out by then, I will remove you myself."
And with that, the man stumbled to the exit and shut the door behind him, not wanting to spend another minute in that office.
"Maggot," Enishi scoffed, taking the newspaper into his hands. He scanned the report over again, each word like a slap to the face to him. However, he knew that something else would happen that would shift the public's attention away from his corporation. There was always some other story that the media would waste no time into devouring like the ravenous sharks they were.
The cold orbs of his eyes suddenly latched onto the paper. Somewhere towards the end of the page was a smaller picture. Within it, he saw a girl accompanied with a taller man walking out of the same place that his former employee had been arrested. Although the picture was printed in morose and sullen ink, her eyes seemed to glow from that lovely face of hers.
'I...know her...'
His mind retreated to that cloudless day where he had been waiting at an intersection. He remembered the vivacious voice breaking the peace of the spring day, calling out a name that he could vaguely recall. In his annoyance, he stared in the direction of the voice and after that, he was stunned.
She had been there. Her ivory hands tightened into fists and slammed against the car window. Her silken hair was flying around her as she was trying to get her young passenger out of the vehicle. He had studied every motion of her slender body, every word that her pink lips had formed.
That girl had caused his whole world to stop that day, and he was so frightened that he sped off into the city to get away from her.
And yet, even in the security of his office, she managed to haunt him nonetheless...
Frustrated, he threw the paper into the wastebasket he positioned next to his desk. He stood up and paced, a habit of his since he was young whenever he was nervous. He yanked at his white hair, his glasses falling astray from the bridge of his nose.
After twenty minutes of this, he sat back down into his chair. His turquoise eyes tried to concentrate on the stack of papers that required his signature. His restlessness soon tired of this, and he began to type a business report on his computer. His fingers struck the countless keys, but his mind didn't register exactly what he was typing. A few more minutes was all it took for him to turn away from the machine. His eyes then roamed back to the thick newspaper lying noiselessly in the trash. His hand hesitated, but then retrieved it back. He unfolded it and scanned over the text again.
'Kamiya Kaoru...' he meditated in his mind. For some reason, the name had sounded so familiar. But the fact that he could not fully remember it wracked his head with aggravation.
So, he did the next best thing. He grabbed a pair of scissors and cut out her picture, disposing of the newspaper afterward.
* * * *
Kaoru got out of her car and walked out of the parking lot. Her attire was slightly different today. Her hair was worn in the usual high ponytail, but her clothes were slightly altered. Against Megumi's judgment, she wore black dress pants and a plain, long-sleeved blouse. Kaoru was never comfortable in business suits, so she wanted to dress comfortably but as professionally as possible for the interview.
"So, this is where he works..." She said in awe, staring at the sheer height of the tall building before her.
She nervously bit her lip and ascended the stairs, her knees shaking slightly. Kaoru couldn't lie to herself that she wasn't uneasy; this was her first official interview in three years. Before she worked at the Akabeko, Kaoru would make money by working in a grocery store. When she graduated from high school, Tae immediately allowed her to work at her restaurant after Sano talked to her. The woman was an old friend of her parents, so when they passed away, she was always offering to help the children out with their expenses.
Of course, being Kamiyas, Sano and his sister couldn't accept her money. Instead, Tae hired Kaoru as a waitress so that she would be able to get a decent paycheck.
Kaoru stepped into the elevator and shifted a bit when it began to ascend. Her sapphire eyes watched as the floor numbers began to light up one by one as she passed them by. She made sure that her hair was in place and that her outfit was tidy. The elevator stopped suddenly and the metal doors opened automatically. Kaoru stepped onto the white tile of the polished floor, mesmerized by how spacious the area was. Couches were arranged in an orderly fashion on front of a large desk. Sunlight poured in from the large windowpanes, but other than that, the room looked quite plain and dreary. Swallowing back her anxiety, Kaoru's heels clicked on the floor as she approached a door. On its wooden surface was a black sign in which a name was engraved on.
The white letters spelled Shinomori Aoshi, Ph.D.
'This is his office, like Megumi said...' Kaoru nervously checked her watch. 'I'm a little early. I hope that he's here.'
Kaoru knocked on the door gently. After a few seconds, a deep voice beckoned her to come in. Figuring that she had no choice but to obey, she opened the door and stepped into the office.
A man clad in an expensive gray suit and black tie was there to meet her. His black hair was parted from his cold blue-grey eyes, his posture upright against his chair. Kaoru was surprised by how young he looked, but at the same time she was a bit tense under his scrutinizing glare.
"Miss Kamiya, I presume?"
She bowed politely. "Yes. I'm the—"
"Girl that Megumi has told me about. I know."
She was a bit offended by his straightforwardness, but she suddenly had the feeling that Aoshi wasn't one for formal introductions.
His hand gestured toward the chair in front of his desk. "Have a seat."
She sat herself in the chair and quickly examined his room. The blinds over the windows were closed, refusing the light of the afternoon sun. Beside the oak desk, a leather sofa was placed against one wall while another chair was arranged in the center. An expensive portrait of a rather gothic nature hung on another wall, and a bookshelf stood alone in one corner.
To Kaoru, the room looked more like a funeral home than a psychologist's office.
"So, Megumi has informed me that you are in need of a job. May I ask why?"
Kaoru found the confidence to make eye contact with him. "I quit my last one."
"Where did you used to work, Miss Kamiya?"
"I was a waitress at the Akabeko restaurant and bar."
His expression remained blank. "Why did you quit?"
She paused, but then decided she might as well be honest. "I didn't want to cause any trouble for my manager."
"After what happened last night, it seemed you did exactly that."
A hint of surprise crossed her features. Aoshi had known.
"A college student of eighteen years old beating up a businessman of one of the most thriving companies in Tokyo," the psychologist mused. "I found that quite hard to believe that a young woman would go to such violent measures."
Kaoru felt her cheeks grow hot. "I didn't want to, but he left me no choice, Shinomori-sama."
"You couldn't simply ask him to leave the waitress alone?"
"She was begging him to stop," Kaoru insisted. "She was almost crying, but he still didn't listen. I wouldn't have been able to persuade him if she wasn't able to, and I couldn't just stand there and do nothing."
"So you attacked him with a serving tray and punched him in the jaw? That isn't any way to treat a respected businessman."
Kaoru suddenly felt that she was arguing with Megumi all over again. "I don't mean to sound cruel, but that man didn't deserve any respect. He treated that woman horribly."
Aoshi studied her, quite surprised at her nerve. Usually, only a few people were able to look him in the eye like the girl was doing now. "You are not sorry for your actions?"
She wanted to bite her tongue, but her pride didn't allow it. Kaoru didn't care if her answer would cost her this job. It wasn't worth lying for. "No, I'm not."
Silence pervaded through the cool, ventilated air of the office. It was so difficult to read Aoshi's face. His eyes didn't express approval or disapproval. They were concentrated on her only.
Kaoru was sure that she had lost the opportunity of being employed again.
"Tell me, Miss Kamiya," he said suddenly. "Do you have any family?"
A bit thrown off guard by the question, Kaoru regained her confidence. "Yes. I have an older brother, and our younger cousin lives with us in our house."
"What about your parents?"
Her sapphire eyes looked down from his face, hiding underneath her bangs. "They passed away."
Another moment of silence passed, neither the college girl nor the psychologist exchanging a word. Kaoru was a bit confused about why Aoshi suddenly questioned her about her family. She didn't know what Sano or Yahiko had to do with her interview.
"I am aware that you are a college student. What time do you get out of your last class?"
Startled, she quickly answered, "At 2:30."
"If you can make it to this building before three o' clock, then I can hire you as a secretary."
Her heart was swelling with joy, but then her doubt returned. "But what about mornings?"
"It's nothing to worry about. Most of my patients can only attend appointments in the late afternoon or evening."
Kaoru's face was evident of her puzzlement.
"I guess Megumi didn't tell you. Most of my patients are adolescents."
The realization dawned on her. "So you help teenagers then?"
He grimaced for a second. "If you can call it 'helping'."
Before she could even respond to his last comment, Aoshi stood up from his chair. "You will be here from three to eight o'clock every weekday and three to seven on Saturday after your classes."
"Do you have any dress requirements?" Kaoru asked out of curiosity.
"I only require that you dress professionally. No casual clothing whatsoever."
A grateful smile beamed on Kaoru's lips. "I'll do just that. Thank you, Shinomori-sama."
She bowed and was about to leave the sunlight-deprived office, until she stopped at the door.
"Shinomri-sama?"
Aoshi's blue-grey eyes focused on her once more. "What is it?"
"Is it okay if I decorate the waiting room outside? It's kind of dull."
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Wow...sorry if it was a bit long there, but I do want to develop the plot and the characters. Thanks for all the reviews for the first chapter: I'm really happy! Hope you enjoyed this one as well.
