Kitten: Wow! I got this chappy up pretty quick. Don't get used to it! And remember, their personality is for a reason.
Watch the Clock
Chapter 4: The Drunken Truth
By: Kitten at Heart
Listening to: My sister sing…horribly
Summary: Syaoran was just hired at a new company. Everyone fears his new boss, who seems like an emotionless dictator. What happens when he meets her outside of the office?
Disclaimer: I, Kitten at Heart, do not own or possess any part of the CLAMP company. Do not sue me for I am using all of my money for college.
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Previously: … "You will not get fired. You are a very good worker and that will not be wasted…. I am offering a transfer. I hear that both you and Li Syaoran are from China. I have just opened a Hong Kong building…"
…"By the end of this day, you will tell me [what is wrong]. Or you will suffer serious consequences."
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They sat there in silence, only hearing the engine roar and the tire squeals. Syaoran lowered his head suddenly finding his hands very interesting. Sakura sat up properly and then started to take off her shoes. Ug. Those shoes are simply uncomfortable for work or leisure. She stretched out her toes for all the world to see. She unbuttoned a few buttons on her blouse for some extra air. "That feels nice." She commented to herself, forgetting that Syaoran was right next to her. She glanced at the young man, more rather the handsome man of 23. If he wasn't an employee of hers, she would be in 22-year-old heaven. She was turning 23 next month and was pretty ecstatic about it. Her daddy and brother were going to be visiting for the first time in two years!
"Syaoran. Once we enter, you will wait in the lobby while I change. I cannot wait until I change into normal clothes." She sighed greatly.
"Might I ask," said Syaoran, "where exactly we are going?"
"My house silly!" Sakura chirped. The man's deep brown eyes enlarged. Her house? A deep red spread across his face. He had never been inside a girl's house before, much less an employer's house. He has dated plenty of women before but not once has he been inside their house, not even Meiling's! "Are you o.k., Li-kun? Are you catching a cold?" Sakura commented on his flushed face.
"Uh…must be Kinomoto-san." He squeaked, forgetting that he was supposed to be furious. He felt unusually warm when she stuck her face into his private 'bubble' and rested her hand on his forehead. He tried to loosen his collar to get some air, but no prevail.
"You do not feel warm…but you are sweating like a pig." She leaned back from Syaoran and smiled. I will have someone fix you some soup."
"No! T-that is not necessary. I am sure I am fine." He confirmed. Yet, the young woman's eyes did not look convinced. She quirked an eyebrow up and crossed her arms playfully.
"If I remember right…you told me that it must be a cold. And now you are telling me it is not a cold. Make up your mind." Sakura laughed. She glanced out of the tinted windows and smiled. "Here we are! Tomoyo-chan and Eriol-kun may be waiting for me there. They can entertain you I guess," then Sakura narrowed her eyes and in a deep voice, "do not believe anything they tell you. They have learned much from my competitor, Yamazaki. He was one of my friends in school, you know. He still is, with his lies and all. That is how he makes it big. A big boat load of lies." Instead of waiting for a person to open the door, she shoved the door open and smiled. "Sorry Joi." She muttered to a man on the ground, right behind the door. She told Syaoran that she did that every day, but Joi never learned.
"Let's go!" Sakura grabbed is shirt collar and dragged him into the sunlight. She ran into the house…not quite a mansion. Sakura didn't like to spend her money on big houses to make her look rich. She seemed cruel at work, but every major holiday she donated a major portion to a children foundation. She loved kids and hopefully someday she would have one of her own. Her home had only the necessities. A few bathrooms, a master bedroom, a few guest bedrooms (mostly for Tomoyo and any cute drunk she finds on the road), a kitchen, a lobby, and a leisure room. Sakura opened to doors to reveal a replica, only a little larger, of her childhood home. She sat Syaoran down on a nearby couch in the lobby. Syaoran watched the young woman skip upstairs.
Syaoran looked around the room. Everything was so…simple. He imagined a woman, especially a rich woman, would have elegant rooms with only the finest items. Like, a gold poodle, a large mirror with fine framing, or many other items that would cost a bucket load of money. He did notice that there were a ton of pictures of two men and older pictures of a young woman, perhaps Sakura's age. The young woman was beautiful. She was so happy and bright. The men, one assumed to be her father, were always in separate frames. Syaoran stood up to take a closer look when he heard a lot of noise from upstairs.
"TOMOYO!" he heard his boss scream. "Get your butt and your boyfriend downstairs! Ah! I can never sleep in my room again!" It sounded like she was screaming bloody murder.
"Sorry!" He heard his other boss peep. He saw Tomoyo come down the stairs with a guilty look on her face. Her hair was tossed and turned all over the place and her shirt buttons were in all the wrong places. She smiled at Syaoran and blushed. Syaoran saw a young man come down the stairs in a matter of seconds. He was tall and blushing like crazy. Syaoran glanced at one of the pictures. It was the same man! He had to be at least five years older than Tomoyo. He had dark spiky hair and once he saw Syaoran, his eyebrows furrowed together. (I apologize ET fans. I am one, this won't be for long!)
"Why are you here, brat?" He gruffed. Syaoran smirked and stood up to the man. They were about equal height. Blue (?) eyes met brown.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Syaoran shot back. Who was this guy? Sakura's 'ex' or something? Why would Sakura have so many pictures of him though? The man growled and they began a glaring contest. Tomoyo, on the other hand, was taping every minute of it.
"Wait until I finish my new masterpiece! I will call it… 'When Sakura's Future Husband Meets the Brother-in-Law'. It will be perfect!" Tomoyo squealed. Syaoran and the older man's eyes bugged out. "What?" they both said. They stopped glaring at each other and looked at Tomoyo for a second then simultaneously looked back at the other to yell 'ha!'
"No, you looked away first!" they said together, "No, you! I would never!"
"Boys! Stop it!" Sakura yelled, appearing out of nowhere. She split them apart and growled. "Touya! You cannot behave like that to a guest of mine!" Syaoran grinned. "Li, meet my older –not wiser- brother, Touya." She growled again. 'Now I know where she gets her stubborn attitude' Syaoran thought. "And Touya, meet my new employee, Li Syaoran."
Touya got a sly look on his face then his eyes brightened a bit, as if he remembered something. "Hey, aren't you the-" Touya started to say but was quickly cut off by Syaoran's hand over his mouth.
"Yes, Kinomoto, I am the new marketing head for Ms. Kinomoto. Thank you for asking." He said through his teeth and took off his hand before Touya could bite it. Touya glared at Syaoran while Syaoran put on a cheesy smile. Sakura invited all of them to sit down for a chat, sitting herself and Syaoran on the only couch in the room so the two 'lovebirds' had to sit in separate chairs…on the opposite side of the room…away from each other. 'Mwahaha.' Sakura thought inwardly. Tea was sent in for all of them, because of course, Sakura could burn the house down with her cooking.
"So…Touya. What happened to Yuki? Why a sudden change of preference?" Sakura tried to say nicely, not able to get the image of her own brother making out with her best friend in her bedroom. Touya looked surprised.
"He moved to China. We haven't seen each other for at least three years." He said casually. 'Is Yuki…a past girlfriend? What is with this preference stuff?' Syaoran thought. "What about you…Li? Why was Tomoyo yakking about this 'Sakura's Future Husband' crap?" Once Touya said that, both Sakura and Syaoran choked on their tea.
"What?" Sakura asked. "Li?" She giggled. "That is preposterous! No offence to you, Li."
"None taken." Syaoran replied, somehow…a little hurt. Though he does not know why.
"Come on Sakura! Lighten up!" Tomoyo cheered. She walked behind the couch and hugged them both closely to her face. "You guys would be adorable!" She began to form tiny stars in her eyes. "Just think, a real office relationship! You could marry and raise successful children and I could design your dress and I could videotape your honeymoon and…" she continued on and on, but Syaoran could not ignore the hole burning in his head from Touya.
"Remember Li. Do not believe her." Sakura whispered while Syaoran nodded. "Tomoyo and Touya. Syaoran and I wish to discuss important matters." Both nodded and headed upstairs. "None of that foul business inside my house." Sakura added in monotone. The couple walked back downstairs and exited the house.
Just before they exited, Touya asked, "What happened to the joyful Sakura I knew before I left?" just loudly enough for Syaoran and Sakura to hear. Sakura's eyes saddened and her shoulders slouched. She muttered something that was hard to hear. Syaoran thought it was something like, "That is what happened." Sakura tried to look her best and faced her employee.
"How about we get down to it? Let's pretend that we are just friends! Forget that I employ you for a while." She gave out a radiant smile and made herself comfortable on the couch. "Tell me what is bugging you." She looked at Syaoran for any response but all failed. He turned away and stayed silent. "O.k.…Tell me about your family." Still no response or movement. "Tell me about yourself." Failure once again. "Say anything!"
"Anything." Syaoran replied glumly. Sakura smiled seeing she got some progress. She was never good at this, she admits it too, but to succeed one must try. Yet, after that question, there was no luck.
"Kami! [1] What do I have to do? Make you drunk?"
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Sakura sat in the dimly lit bar with a slight sweat drop. "O.k. I guess I had to make you drunk." She looked over at her companion who was a bit…happy. "You are very lucky that tomorrow you have off. You are going to have a major hangover." Her chestnut haired friend smiled at her warily and took another big swig of alcohol. "Your body reacts to alcohol very quickly, doesn't it Li?"
"Yerp. What is 'dis stuff? It is very good!" Syaoran laughed. Sakura literally dragged Syaoran there after a maid reminded her that most drunks would tell the truth. "You are…very pretty." Syaoran leaned over and sniffed his boss. "You smell too."
"Your kind words touch me so." Sakura commented in monotone. "Tell me Li, how is your family?"
Syaoran frowned…or as much as a frown as he could get. "I dun wanna tell you." His boss glared at him.
"Why not?"
"B'cuz. You are my boss." He slurred.
"No I am not." She replied innocently.
"Really?"
"Don't you remember…sweetie? I am your girlfriend." She lied.
"K. I have an idiot family." His eyes drifted everywhere. They couldn't stay in a certain spot. "They…say I am coming to a certain age to…to…to…" He felt very sleepy. A nap would be nice. Very nice in fact.
"To what…sweetie?" Sakura struggled to say.
"To…carry on…. The family…b-" Syaoran then collapsed. Thankfully, Sakura caught him in time but fell down because of his weight. To carry on the family? What was he about to say? Maybe one should question a drunk when he hasn't consumed enough to pass out. Sakura looked over at the bar table. Two and a half beers. Then again, he did drink them in three minutes flat.
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Syaoran's eyes fluttered open to see a room in which he has never seen before. He had a major headache and he couldn't focus on anything. "Where am I?" He managed to croak out. He saw a beautiful woman. She had a kind smile. Wait, there were two! Twins!
"You woke up!" cheered a familiar voice. "I have never seen anyone get that drunk with two and a half drinks before. You should stay in bed and get some rest." Oh, it was his boss. He saw 'them' rinse out a washcloth in a wash bin and place it on his head.
"Why aren't you having a servant do this?" He wondered out loud. Sakura laughed as she fidgeted for some aspirin.
"Are you kidding? When I was a teenager, my brother came home drunk, injured, or something. My dad was always out of town so I had to take care of him. I don't need a servant to do something that I already can do. Cooking…I can't cook. That is why I have one of those." She giggled. She has a beautiful laugh, Syaoran thought. 'Wait! I cannot think of her that way!' He mentally yelled at himself but the pain in his head became worse. "Don't think too much. That was something Touya was always good at." She giggled again.
"Drivers, why do you have drivers?" Syaoran half laughed, trying to keep the mood light.
"When I was 19, I got into a major car wreck. Six months later, another one. By the time I turned 22, I had been in six wrecks. I decided that the world would be safer without me on the roads. I still drive on my private property though…last week I damaged my bird bath!" She laughed again. "Enough about me, it is your turn." Darn it. He knew this was coming.
"What about?"
"I don't know…" She got a sly look on her face. "Family."
"Damn. Fine, I don't need a bigger headache by you yelling in my ear." Sakura smiled, getting him drink was a good idea after all. "I have a…old fashioned family parse. They expect me to take on the family business by my 24th birthday." He growled. "That is four months away."
"So…you are quitting then? So soon?" Sakura frowned.
"No…I don't want this damn job…but I do. It is very important to my family." He admitted. Yet, Sakura was not convinced, all the way at least. He wasn't telling her something.
"Why were you suddenly upset yesterday then?" Sakura asked while handing him some aspirin and a glass of water.
"I can't tell. It is between my family and me." He growled. Sakura understood but couldn't accept it. What was he hiding? Sakura stood up to leave the room.
"Get some sleep, sweetie" She teased just before exiting.
"Sweetie?" What in the world was this woman talking about?
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Thanks reviewers! I decided that you all will be awarded with Kero's one of a kind… invisible pudding!
RiNeko: Mwahaha…I like that. Sarcastic monster. You will find the catch soon, maybe two…three chapters ahead? I dreamed the romantic moments in a dream….it is kawaii!
Destiny: Poor Eriol wasn't prepared! I like torturing my Eriol-kun! (Hugs him)
Dragonstar03: …tis soon?
AnonymousT: It was short! (cries) This one is longer!!!!! Yeah, I never even heard of the ACT's until I moved to Minnesnowta. (Texas pride baby!)
Katt: Thanx! I am honored!!!
Tracy-kin: First off, beautiful name…spelled wrong! (Grin) Yeah!
Onigiri Momoko: Hopefully that is spelled right. OOC rocks! There is a reason for Saku's behavior. That will be revealed soon…actually I gave a clue in chapter one or two.
Sunny pig: Oink! I like that U thing…how do you do it? Oh no! Bad internet!
Dangerously sweet: K! Thanks!
Kawaiitenshisakura: thanks cute angel sakura!
Don't forget to review! Love yall!