Disguise
Blue Sonnet
Legend:
" " - dialogue
' ' - character thoughts
( ) - me
Oh, and the usual disclaimer: Since I forgot this teensy-weensy detail the past two chapters, I'm gonna make up for it right now: CARD CAPTOR SAKURA IS NOT MINE, AND UNFORTUNATELY, IT NEVER WILL BE. Anyway, you're not gonna see this disclaimer anymore in the later chapters. (It destroys the look. )
Lunch Meeting
Sakura was still fuming by the time she reached her office on the top floor. Though her anger was mostly directed at the arrogant man she had bumped into earlier, some of it was also aimed at herself. She never allowed herself the liberty of publicly showing her emotions, pleasant or otherwise, after that incident two years ago. It wasn't an excuse that he was exceptionally annoying; she had met her share of annoying men. It was because she was so awestruck with the man's eyes that she became momentarily off-guard, and the man's snide remark had her seething enough to retaliate in kind.
"What's the matter, Sakura?"
"Wha—?" Yelan had already made her way inside Sakura's office without her noticing. "Oh, it's nothing, Ms. Yelan." What the hell was the boss doing in the secretary's office?!
Yelan gave up, for now. Noting the unspoken question, she related the reason for her visit. "It's about Syaoran. He's here now and I came to pick you up. We're going to meet him downstairs for lunch."
"Oh, is it that time already?" She had completely forgotten about the lunch meeting on the way here, she was that angry. "I'm sorry for taking up so much of your time, and if you'll just go on ahead without me, I'll be downstairs in a minute."
"Very well then." With that, Yelan left the room.
By now, Sakura was in a fine state of nerves. It was bad enough that she didn't want to change bosses, but it was downright pitiful that she couldn't give her full attention to her new boss at the lunch meeting later. It wasn't a matter of trying; she knew she'd be thinking about that incident earlier. She sighed, tossed her bag over her shoulder, and dashed to the door. In her mind, Syaoran Li would just have to wait.
Unfortunately for her, that wasn't going to happen.
"YOU?!" Sakura stared open-mouthed at her new boss. 'Dammit!! Why didn't I see it earlier?!' she thought, disgusted with herself.
Truth be told, there was little similarity between Yelan and her son. Yelan had long, luxurious black hair tied in a ponytail, and blue eyes the color of the sky—a truly beautiful combination. Whilst Syaoran, who was also openly staring at her, was 6 feet of drop-dead gorgeous looks with his unruly auburn hair and deep amber eyes. But there were similarities, and she was a fool not to have noticed earlier: the tilt of the chin, the proud stance, even the stare was the same, only the color was different. And it was unfortunate too, that she didn't come out of her stupor quick enough. The said stares were now directed at her.
(I know Yelan has black hair in the first movie, but I didn't see her eyes much, so I made up the color. Does anyone know? Review, okay?)
Because of Sakura's stupor, Syaoran had time to make his own study of her. She was tall at what he estimated to be 5 feet and 6 inches. Her shoulder-length auburn hair, slightly lighter in color than his, framed her face and gave her a cute sort of look. She could pass for pretty, with her emerald eyes closed. With them open, she was damn beautiful. So this was his secretary. What rotten luck.
"Well, well," he said, and left it at that.
Sakura was polite enough to blush with embarrassment. The conceited buffoon was still staring, while she was racking her head for words to say. Luckily for her, Yelan saved them all from further embarrassment, and introduced them to each other, which was by now quite unnecessary.
"I have reasons to believe that you are both acquainted by now, but formalities should be seen to. Syaoran, this is Sakura Kinimoto. She'll be your secretary while you're working here," then turning to Sakura, "and likewise Sakura, this is my son, Syaoran Li. He will replace me in the near future as your boss. I trust that you both will enjoy working together." Said boss and secretary both blanched at the knowing tone, and quickly nodded.
Yelan accepted their agreement with a nod of her own and a smile. "Now that's done, we should go to that restaurant now, shouldn't we?"
Syaoran and Sakura both groaned inwardly. This is going to be a LONG day.
There were nails in her seat. At least that was how Sakura felt. Yelan had already left ten minutes ago with the pretense of going somewhere important and insisting that they both talk to each other more. And when Yelan Li insisted, everybody obeyed.
"Are you always daydreaming like this? Or is it only on mealtimes?"
The remark snapped her back to reality, and she wanted so badly to react. Ignore him. Ignore him.
"What, cat got your tongue?" The muscles on his jaw flexed, and before she could reply, he continued, "So you're the Japanese secretary."
"And I thought my Chinese was perfect." She gave him a steely smile.
Syaoran raised a brow. "Have you heard of that thing called friendly conversation? It's a new trend that's catching on everywhere. Or are you just out of fashion?"
"No, it's just that you don't qualify. We're not exactly friends. And I believe you disqualified yourself of that privilege earlier," she retorted, indicating their first meeting.
"So now your friendship is a privilege. What next, you're going to resign if I don't apologize?"
Sakura gave an audible snort. "And you call that friendly conversation? You could've fooled me."
Syaoran groaned inwardly and ran his fingers through his hair. He wasn't about to make an enemy of a secretary. There were so many ways they could take revenge. Like coffee, for example. And this one wasn't subject to firing, or his mother would have a fit. "Alright, I admit we started out on the wrong foot. Since we were both wrong, why don't we clean the slate and start over? I'm a pretty nice guy, you know," he drawled.
"Yeah, and I'm Miss Japan." She gave him an incredulous look that said in capital letters YEAH, RIGHT. "And who's saying we were both wrong? The way I remember it, it was you who first shouted at me."
Syaoran gritted his teeth. The woman was already giving him headaches, and she wasn't even his secretary yet! He wondered for a second if the peace and quiet he'd have if she was gone was worthy enough to face his mother's wrath, but thought better of it. Besides, he might enjoy this battle of wits with Sakura, once he got used to her blunt comments. When he turned his attention back to her, she was completely ignoring him, and doing one hell of a job at it.
Sakura's thoughts had gone on the same path as Syaoran's. She was wondering if her gratitude and respect for Ms. Yelan would be worth enough to risk working with this bumbling bighead. She really considered resigning, but thought better of it. Besides, it was fun goading him to irritation, and she hadn't had much fun in the past two years not to enjoy it now. She giggled inwardly, (again, 'cause they can't let the other see their emotions, ne?) and thought, 'Round one to me!'
Sakura got up. "Well, if you don't have anything more to say, I'd best be going back to the office," she said offhandedly. "My work is being delayed, you know." With that, she started walking to the restaurant doors, only to be stopped by Syaoran's hand on her arm. She gave him a let-go-of- me look, but he just stood up and walked to her side.
"Ever heard of leaving with who you came with?" he asked sardonically.
"You don't have to. This isn't a high school dance." She tried to shake her arm loose, but was disappointed to find it enclosed in a firm grip. "Let me go."
"I don't take orders from anyone, especially not from you." But he let go of her arm, and leaned in to whisper to her. "Do you want to walk to my car, or do I have to drag you?"
Sakura's eyes widened with surprise, and for now, she conceded defeat. She had developed a fear of public scenes after that public scene two years ago, and Syaoran was definitely prepared to give her one. Her expression blank, she glanced at him and nodded.
Syaoran didn't know what to make of that. She was spitting fire one moment and obedient as a lamb the next. He was already expecting that she'd fight him to the end, but was surprised when she just nodded her consent and started walking towards the door. Now there was a living, breathing mystery. And dammit, what rotten luck, he was a sucker for them.
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Sorry it took so long for me to update!! I had so much to do with start of classes and all. Anyway, Sakura's problem is coming to light! Hehe, just wanted to keep you on your toes. I want to thank these people for reviewing this story and keeping me on my toes:
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kimiko623
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DBZGirl202
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ChibiYuffie1
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That's it for now. Read and review, guys! Click that button below!!