Chocolates and Charcoal
Chapter 2: Their Story begins
"Sorry sweetheart, I was bound to get it, although I admire your determination. After all, you're just a woman."
Sub-consciously her feminine hand clenched tightly around her pen as the words of the cocky victor rang clear through her head. Leaning back in her leather chair with the sun rays hitting through her glass window from behind her, she quietly observed her team through the glass window ahead of her even though the blinds brought limitations to her view. As she watched her co-workers working obliviously, she wondered with a blank expression of just how many of them were completely and whole heartedly satisfied with her as their leader.
Funnily for some reason, she honestly didn't want to know.
The raven haired beauty recalled the moment she was introduced to her team as the 'Captain'. She didn't know whether to laugh or dread her upcoming days of working in an environment where she was certain she had to earn her already given title. A quick glance at her co-workers and she understood immediately what their stunned expression revealed. Surely they had not expected to see someone in a Versace skirt as their leader.
The blue ink pen fell soundlessly onto the carpeted floor as Lulu was brought back to reality after a few gentle knocks on her oak wood door.
Through her stoic composure, her voice held a sense of independence and importance, "Come in."
After her voice of approval, the door gradually opened to allow an attractive mid thirty old woman to walk into her 5 by 4 meter office, "Still hung up over losing to that asshole?"
Margaret, beautiful with wavy chest length brown hair and cold exotic light brown eyes to match, was smart and respected, or in shorter terms, Lulu's mentor for the past eight months. Lulu smiled coolly in reply, "I'm not that easily affected by him, but I will agree with you on the asshole statement."
With as much poise and dignity anyone could muster, Margaret sat herself down onto the leather sofa across from Lulu's desk as she easily made herself comfortable. "I was almost certain I'd be working with you, but whoever said life was fair? And where the hell is my Brandy?"
Smiling slightly, Lulu got off from her seat and walked towards the wine cabinet and pulled out two glasses and a bottle of red wine. Tilting the glass at an angle, Lulu poured the crimson red substance into the wine glasses before handing one to her mentor.
"Honestly Lulu, there is no need for the long face. In fact, you've already gotten off easy. Now I'm the one left to deal with Steven. Yevon knows what a prick he is to work with." Lulu was almost a replica of Margaret with the coolness of their personalities and the calmness of the way they spoke.
Lulu had to laugh inwardly at that reminder. Now that Steven had gotten the project to design the advertisement, he had to work with Margaret who was in the business management department to work on the advertisement to see what sold. Swirling the liquid substance in the clear glass, Margaret continued with her eyes glued to the wine glass, "If I were you, I'd be happy I didn't get this client."
"And why do you say that?" Lulu asked, leaning back on her table as she folded her arms across her chest with the glass still in her hands.
"Simple." She replied nonchalantly still not looking at Lulu, "This client that we speak of, Rosswell, is what we call a frequent customer, and not a big customer. He works only with us, but never settles to bring in the big cash for us. However, on the contrary, we cannot lose him as he brings in a continuous and steady line of work for our company. He on the other hand, can always leave this company for a better alternative IF he finds one." Finally, her eyes landed on the figure before her with a knowing look.
Lulu understood her implications at once. To make a first impression in order to gain respect from her team and opposing workers, she must ignore and give up on the little ones and aim for the big fish in the ocean. Why had that not come in mind before? Lulu smiled, "So why are you working with the little fish?"
Taking a last sip at her Brandy, Margaret stood up on her white stilettos, showing that she was a whole inch taller than Lulu. "What you must understand Lulu, is that I take in all the clients, big or small. To put it simply, this company needs me, just as I need them. Our department deals with aspects that are a lot less time consuming than yours, hence I have no competitors against me fighting for projects, they work for me, I assign the projects. Workload's a bitch, but the money is good."
Confident, arrogant and capable, three things that Lulu admired about this woman.
There were two soft knocks on the door before Lulu asked the person to enter.
"Sorry to interrupt, but may I have a word with you Lulu?." The petite blonde spoke with an air of confidence but at the same time, respect.
"Well," placing the glass on the shelf, "I should be getting back to my level now." And with that, Margaret left as the blonde closed the door.
Lulu slowly moved back behind her desk and sat down on her leather chair, "Yes Sarah?"
"Um, forgive my rudeness, but I am going to be blunt." Lulu gave a slight nod indicating to the girl that she may continue. "Well, this is the second project that we have lost within the eight months that you have arrived, and well, a few members of the team have either lost or are losing their confidence in you." She paused to see that Lulu looked unfazed and continued, "Two have already jumped to Steven's team and we cannot afford to lose any more."
Pausing for a brief moment, Lulu looked up at Sarah realizing at once, that this was the beginning of her way of gaining respect. She needed her own people, people that she would hire and not already hired for her. She smiled, "Bring in the stack of job applications."
With a trusting smile and a brief nod, Sarah, her secretary, left to retrieve the resumes.
"Hi, what would you like sir?"
"Um," the bald headed man tapped his stubby chin as he looked behind Yuna at the menu chalk board. "I'll have a… blueberry muffin with a… custard tart… a Danish and a cappuccino with a bottle of Coke." He finished with a bright smile on his face.
Yuna couldn't' help but let out a little giggle at the sight of an old man being proud that he was able to order his meal. "Right, eat here or take away?"
"Um." And suddenly the old man was at a lost. "I'm not sure, the young man just said he was hungry, he didn't tell me if he was eating here or not." Truly, this man was one of the sweetest and most generous old people Yuna had ever met.
Leaning over the counter, Yuna whispered politely yet playfully to the old man, "Well why don't you go outside and ask that young man while I grab your stuff for you, how does that sound?"
He smiled cheerfully once again as he nodded like a child. Yuna smiled as he made his was out of the modern yet cozy café. Quickly she asked for the next customer as she tried to keep the line moving before people got frustrated at the rate she was working at. Just ten more minutes before five and she would be off work. She smiled to herself in relief after the long day. She had started working since seven in the morning today and was even gladder to remember that the next day; she wouldn't start work until three.
Looking up after her third customer, she took notice that the old generous man was once again making his way towards her, only this time, he stood in line again. Yuna smiled before getting another worker to take her place. She walked out from behind the counter and walked up towards the old man. Bending slightly to match his height, Yuna asked in her black apron, "So, has your friend decided yet?"
He looked at Yuna with a smile and replied, "He said he would prefer to stay outside."
Nodding her understanding, Yuna quickly grabbed the things he ordered and placed them in a paper bag before walking back to the man and handing it to him, "That will be $10.50 thanks."
With the clueless look on his face, Yuna knew instantly that the poor guy either didn't have money or most likely, getting too old for this society. Well she had already gathered the things for him, so with a sigh, Yuna whispered, "Don't worry, this will be on me." And with that, the old man thanked her and left.
She shook her head and thought with an inward groan, 'There goes ten dollars. I'm even struggling with my bills and rent. How am I ever going to get rid of all my debt?'
"Hey Yuna, what are you standing there for? Do you want to take my shift as well?" A tall teenager boy, who was obviously suffering from a bad case of acne, asked her teasingly.
"I don't think so Sam." She replied just as playfully as she walked back to the mini staff room to grab her gear.
Standing in front of her locker, she took off her apron and replaced it with a thick beige coat and a blue scarf over her white t-shirt and blue jeans. As bad as the pay was, she loved working here. She liked the people she worked with and absolutely adored the environment. On one side of the café was a 'beauty and hair salon', and on the other side was a large park where most of the high school teens hung out after school since it was only down the road. Coincidentally, that was also the school Rikku attended which meant that every time she worked late, she would get frequent visits from her cousin.
Yuna constantly had an inner battle with herself as she wanted and didn't want to stay. By staying, that would mean that she would not or had not been accepted into her desired work place hence the low income, however, she simply loved this place too much to leave that easily. However, considering the lack of income, it was seriously beginning to present a big problem for Yuna therefore leading her to the concluding decision to search for a better earning job.
Grabbing her bag and closing her locker, she made her way out through the entrance of the Café, bidding her workers goodbye on her way.
She begged to Yevon that she would find a letter of reply in her letter box or a message on her answering machine regarding her work applications. It's been THREE whole weeks and counting. How long do they take to read those things anyway?
But for some reason, she knew that today would be no different. Maybe tomorrow she'll get something, but definitely not today.
The old man stared in awe as the young man drank the remaining droplets from the bottle of Coke.
"Wow lad. You sure weren't kidding when you said you were hungry."
Letting out a tremendous burp, the blonde quickly slapped a hand over his mouth and muttered an apology.
The old man only chuckled in reply.
"Uh, look, I'm not one of those street punks aight? So I am grateful that you bought me this meal." It was obvious the blonde was having difficulty in expressing his gratitude as he was nervously scratching the back of his head. "So if I ever get the chance to pay you back, I will… but don't count on it old man."
His companion only waved his hand in the air dismissing him, "Don't thank me lad, I didn't pay for it."
Quickly, the blonde gave him a quizzical look, "Uh then how did you get all that shi- um food?"
"Oh there she is!" the old man exclaimed and started pointing as he saw the girl who had served him before. "She paid for it. The waitress did." He continued as he remained pointing so that the young man was able to see who saved him from starvation.
Though the girl had her back towards him, he was able to tell that she had short brown chestnut hair with a slim build. 'I'll have to remember her. So she works in the café huh?"
"Well, I have to lash now. Thanks anyway old man." And he started walking out of the alley way.
"Wait!" he heard him cry, "If you're going to pay me back, I need to know your name don't I?"
"Didn't I say don't count on it?"
"Don't beat yourself kid. Remember, you are in debt to an old man. How pathetic is that? Work for that at least. I'll be waiting for my muffin and coke back."
He paused as he slowly allowed a genuine smirk grace his features, "The name's Gippal. I'll remember you old man, you can count on that."
"Look! Just take a look at this. 'Tidus Farren, drunk driving or drug driving?' oh and take a look at this, 'Tidus breaks a leg. Will he be able to play again?' Shit! This is what you give me after I just come back from my vacation!"
Magazines and newspapers were randomly flung around the flower and balloon decorated hospital room as the middle aged man continued loudly ranting on about giving him a break. "Honestly Tidus, what the hell was going in that sex crazed mind of yours when you were drink and drug driving huh? For fucking yevon's sake, this was right after the game as well. You should know by now that those blood sucking reporters would be up your ass if they had to be. Shit!"
The culprit of his frustrations merely sat on the bed, flipping uninterestedly through the many magazines with his face on the cover. He had learned long ago how to drown out his manager's voice when he went on for too long, "You obviously did not get laid on your vacation." Tidus commented apathetically as he was now occupied with a magazine containing a picture of himself and in large font saying, 'Tidus Farren, sexiest man alive.'
"Cut the shit Tidus." At that, Tidus rolled his eyes and carelessly threw the magazine out of his view and made himself comfortable on the bed.
"They're blowing everything out of proportion. I don't know where they got the idea that I broke a leg. Besides these minor scratches, I'm fine." The blonde glanced up at the unexpected silence only to meet an unbelieving 'Don't give me that kinda shit' look.
"So you think three gigantic gashes on your arm, side and back are minor? Do you remember how much blood you lost? Damn, when I got back after your crash, nurses told me you were still out cold! Minor my ass." He paused briefly to see Tidus shrug lazily before he spoke again, this time, calmly, "So what exactly happened?"
"We beat the Auroch's ass. They were easier than I gave them credit for. You should've seen."
"Well Tidus, I didn't see because I was on my shitting vacation!" Jarvis interrupted. "And now my wife is gonna kick my ass 'cause I had to cut the vacation short!"
"Oh yeah, how is Caitlin doing?" Tidus asked casually.
"CONTINUE WITH THE STORY!"
"Geez, okay. So we went to this new club and Yevon you should've seen the chicks there, they had massive ti-,"
"The important details please?" any minute now and his veins were going to pop.
"Yeah, I'm getting there, if you would just listen." Tidus smirked inwardly however remaining to keep his cool calm collected façade on like usual.
"And settle down there or you might end up in the room next to mine from a severe heart attack or something. Anyway, where was I? Right. So we were celebrating and shit and I guess I sorta got carried away. Got a little drunk, popped a few here and there and yeah, you join the dots yourself." And after finishing, he rolled onto his side in hopes that Jarvis would leave him alone.
Jarvis tiredly ran his right hand down his face as he closed his eyes. "Tidus, this will totally ruin your image if it gets out."
"So we'll keep it to ourselves. Not that hard now is it Jarvis?"
"Well, shit for brains, if you knew the press as well as I do, you'd know that they're gonna be riding your ass just to get the details. They have their ways and connections, they'll find out."
"So what do you suggest we do?" He asked in reply whilst yawning at the same time, quite frankly not really caring.
"Well the only thing I can think of doing right now is to… I suppose distract them from this. Find something else for them to talk about."
"Yeah? And how exactly are you going to do that?" Tidus asked, taking out his phone for his own little amusement.
"Well-,"
Just as he was about to explain, the hospital door slammed open and a leggy blonde ran into the room as she flung herself on top of Tidus. Slightly taken aback, Tidus' defense mechanism immediately came into play as he quickly pushed her off of him.
"Who the hell-," before he could finish, he realized that the girl in front of him was his girlfriend for the week and quickly helped her back up.
"Oh sorry babe, didn't know it was you."
The girl dressed in a mini skirt and a t-shirt covering only her breasts merely giggled and sat in his lap with her arms wrapped around his neck, "I was so worried about you when I saw the news I just had to come."
"Oh sorry 'bout that babe." He said as he pulled her in for a heated kiss.
Several minutes later as they were pulling apart for air, Tidus looked over to the side of the room to see that his manager was still there sporting a very bored look.
"Mind giving us some privacy here?"
Jarvis simply rolled his eyes, coming to the conclusion that Tidus had already forgotten about their plan whilst making his was out of the room, desperately remembering to close the door behind him. He hurriedly made his way out of the hospital through the back as he knew the mob of fans would be waiting in the front entrance and quickly pulled out his cell phone and dialed.
After several rings, he was finally connected. Without waiting for an acknowledgment on the other line, he immediately spoke with impatience to his assistant.
"Danielle, I need you to listen carefully because I will not repeat myself. Go into my office and on my desk is that address and phone number spinning shit, now go look for a woman going by the name of Margaret from Zanarkand's advertis- Yes that's the one. Now give me her office number and cell phone number."
An: Well here ya go, this is the second installment for "Chocolates and Charcoal'. Not too fond of the way I played out this chapter, but after a few adjustments, I realized I couldn't exactly change it without changing the plot. Sorry. I assure you the next chapter will improve.
Anyway, thank you SO SO SO much for the reviews. You guys are the best!
Side note.
For the readers who are interested in being notified when I update a week or few days before hand, please leave a review WITH an email and I'd be more than happy to email the people who have requested for advance notification. Thank-you.
Luv ya'll
Skyelight
