Chapter 2 – Meeting You Again

For two weeks, Syaoran worked in the corporation building for 10 hours at least, going to the hotel late at night. As much as his sisters wanted him to relax and ease on working and maybe spend 4 hours in the job, Syaoran couldn't follow their requests. There was nothing to do for the whole day if he didn't do his job. He didn't try visiting any restaurants or mall. He didn't bother asking women out for dates despite some very frontal ladies looking to go out with him.

On a Saturday afternoon after his 15-minute break, Syaoran entered the 13-floor building and rode the elevator to the 8th floor to talk to one particular man who he'd gotten to know well since he arrived. Takashi Yamazaki grinned as he saw his chestnut-haired friend. The men stood at over 6 feet tall, yet Syaoran topped his 6'0 height by 2 inches for the very wild, uncombed hair.

It was a wonder for Takashi that women still found Syaoran very handsome and brooding despite that. "What are you doing here again, Li?" Takashi teased, hugging him when Syaoran neared.

He chuckled. "Told you already, Yamazaki. Can't stand the hotel…and there's nothing to do."

"It's been two weeks since you got here and you already worked the time your sisters wanted for the whole 3 months!" Takashi exaggerated.

Syaoran scoffed. "I'm not doing anything my sisters wanted."

"Why don't you go out, man? Find some women, date around," his friend replied.

"I could try that," he shrugged.

"Tell you what, let's go out tonight to a local bar/club I always go to when I want some company," he suggested.

"Uh…" Syaoran wanted to back out but found no reason to excuse himself. "Uh…sure. Why not?"

"Great," Takashi grinned. "Want to get some lunch? It's almost 2 now, anyway."

Syaoran shook his head. "I just took a 15-minute break."

Takashi waved that off. "You should take 2-hour breaks with all that work you do. Come on. My treat," he dropped his things and signaled for someone to fill him in for an hour.

"All right," Syaoran nodded and followed him. "Where we going?"

"There's a place miles from here. All the restaurants and nice-looking food places here are so far from the building," Takashi complained.

"I always wondered why my parents did that," Syaoran agreed. "It's a damn trouble to go through traffic just to get some decent food."

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Sakura entered the quaint little restaurant 30-40 minutes away from Tomoeda. For the weekend, Sakura spent her time helping her girlfriends out in that restaurant because they were usually short of cooks. She spent about 5 hours on Saturdays helping out and 6 ½ hours on Sundays doing extra work. She was paid $18.00 an hour, which was really good. Sometimes, Sakura wished she worked as a waitress with its high-paying job rather than a teacher, where the payment was less. But then again, she loved to teach more than to wait on people.

"Hi," Sakura greeted and went through the opening of the long counter. The restaurant wasn't as busy as usual, but there were men and women and children in some tables.

"Hey, you're early today," Chiharu Mihara, one of Sakura's friends, appeared from the kitchen balancing two plates in her hands.

Sakura moved out of the way and Chiharu went to the customers by the corner of the place. She waited until Chiharu came back. "It was boring at home. I wanted to do something, so I decided to come by. Is it ok?"

"Oh of course, it's not problem at all!" Chiharu grinned and took Sakura's arm. "The place isn't as busy, but we desperately need some cook. Our "chef" left a few minutes ago and I doubt he's coming back anytime soon."

"You guys really need to get organized," Sakura shook her head and entered the very hot kitchen. The place was messy.

She grabbed an apron from the hook and tied it behind her. The dishwasher was filled up and another waitress began to start it. The grill and stove were sticky with grease and oil. The freshly clean plates and glasses were on the table counter in the middle of the kitchen. Three waitresses, including Chiharu, worked around, obviously not being very in sync. Sakura saw the raw food to be cooked and the orders plastered on a machine that turned with clipped papers.

"No need to worry, girls, because I'll take up the cooking now," Sakura smiled and began to set up the beef, chicken, and several vegetables on sticks to make shishkebobs.

"Sakura, you're an angel," the oldest woman there, going at 45 years old, smiled back, obviously very relieved.

"Just helping out," she said in modesty, already throwing in pepper, salt, soy sauce, and everything else for more zest and juiciness in the roasted beef and barbecued ribs.

"Ok, we got two more new orders," the other woman, about 3 years younger than Sakura, placing them on the clip that turned. "Japanese-style barbecues, deep fried tofu, and plain rice. The other order: roast chicken, fried rice, and steamed dumplings."

Sakura looked up at the last order. That sounded very familiar. She remembered having to cook that meal once, but of course, after cooking how many meals in her life, it was hard to pinpoint who wanted her to cook that.

"Got that, Sakura?" The girl interrupted her train of thoughts.

She blinked. "Uh, yes, I've got them." She hurried to the fridge and grabbed one of the small-sized chickens, quickly defrosted it and stuffed it. She then stuck already-marinated barbecue pieces on sticks and began to grill them. The middle-aged woman came and began helping her with the preparations. "How do you do this everyday of your life? It seems a little stressful with the heat and the pressure going at you like a bullet." Sakura said.

Nozomi chuckled. "I've been doing this for over 15 years, honey. I love to cook, clean, and everything there is to it. You're right, though. It does get stressful once in a while."

Sakura nodded and got two of the orders ready. "Kioko!" She called. "Orders from Table 3 are ready!"

"Ok!" Kioko called back, and a minute later, entered the kitchen and grabbed the plates.

Once she got the last orders ready, she placed them on the table. Nozomi went to the dishwasher, took out the rinsed plates, and placed the old ones in. Chiharu was nowhere to be seen, probably taking her break. Kioko was nowhere to be seen as well, but Sakura knew that that girl was working. She called out Kioko's name but got no response.

"I'm guessing she's talking to some customers," Nozomi chuckled. "Probably with men."

Sakura laughed. "I bet. A pretty thing like her, men must be falling on her shoes all the time."

"I see it happening everyday," Nozomi grinned.

"So should I take these out or continue cooking?"

"If you want. You can always wait until Kioko comes back."

"Ok," Sakura looked at the steaming food in front of her. She really wanted to test being a waitress and carrying plates like a frenzied person to waiting customers.

Nozomi must have noticed her longing, because she laughed. "You can take them out yourself, dear."

Sakura looked up at her in surprise. "Really?"

"Sure, go ahead. There haven't been any orders for a while. Go on."

"Thanks, Nozomi. I promise, this will be the only time," Sakura grinned and grabbed the plates carefully, balancing them with ease.

She looked for Table 7 and found it just beside the window on the left side. Sakura twisted her hips and got out of the counter. She noticed some men staring at her and her butt. She bit back her disgust and continued on for the table. She only saw one man sitting there, his head turned to the window, looking out at the people walking by. Sakura placed the plates on the table as soon as she got there, trying her best to cover her backside.

"Here's your order," she managed a smile through her discomfort.

The man turned and looked at her with surprise. "Thanks," he broke out in a grin, the corner of his blue eyes wrinkling. "Man, this looks great."

Sakura smiled and began to walk away when the man stopped her.

"Wait, I don't normally see you here. You new?" He inquired.

"No, I just work on the weekends. Probably not when you're around," she answered. "Um…anyway, enjoy the food. You must be really hungry to be eating five dinner plates."

He burst out laughing. "No, there's somebody else eating this stuff. He's in the washroom. But uh, I wanted to ask you, is Chiharu here?"

"She is, but I haven't seen her for a while now. I think she's taking a break."

He nodded. "Can you tell her that Takashi's looking for her?"

"Takashi? Is that your friend?" Sakura asked.

"No, that's me," he grinned.

"Ok," she began to head back.

"Wait," he called.

She stopped, a little bit getting annoyed. "Yes? Would you like something else?"

"Uh," he started, but stopped and shook his head. "Never mind. My friend's here," he replied. "Sorry."

"No problem," she smiled again and looked to the washrooms. She only saw brown hair heading towards them. Sakura headed to the table counter; finally glad the conversation was over. She was afraid he'd ask her out.

Man, was she glad she wasn't a waitress. Having to deal with men ogling her from every direction and asking her anything just to get her to stay seemed so completely uncomfortable and definitely not something she would ever be up for. Sakura was glad she'd taken cooking classes in high school and furthered her skills in college. She went back in the kitchen with Nozomi outwardly laughing at her. Sakura frowned.

"What is it?" She asked.

Nozomi shook her head, still laughing. "Nothing."

"I'm serious. Do I have something on my back or what?" Sakura turned to look at her backside.

"Nothing like that, believe me," Nozomi laughed and slightly sobered up. "You were just too cute!"

"Why?" She asked cautiously.

"Looking at Yamazaki and the rest of the men like they'd just pounce on you any chance they could get! You should trust that poor boy. He's Chiharu's boyfriend!"

"Really??" Sakura was surprised, but very relieved. "I thought he was going to ask me for a date, and I was freaking out!"

"Why? Didn't he just ask questions?"

She nodded.

"He's very curious, that boy," Nozomi chuckled.

"No, it's not just that. He was…he was going to ask me something, but his friend came and then he didn't continue whatever he was going to say."

"Really? His friend?" Nozomi began to head to the door. "Takashi rarely comes here with a fried. It's either he's waiting for Chiharu or he wants to eat lunch or dinner. What does his friend look like?"

"I-I didn't really see. He has brown hair, though," Sakura answered. "Does it matter?"

"No…just curious to see this new young man," Nozomi went out of the door. "Aren't you?"

"Nozomi! Isn't that a little…unprofessional?" Sakura questioned, actually wanting to see this man now.

"Psh," she scoffed. "Come on. Let's just take a peek. No one will know."

"Well…" Sakura looked around. "Um…"

"Come on!" Nozomi got out of the kitchen, taking Sakura with her.

They began to walk out of the counter when Sakura stopped her. "What are you doing, Nozomi??" She hissed.

"Just taking a peek," Nozomi replied innocently. "We'll just pass by and start talking. Then we'll get a real good look at the guy."

"No…no, I'm not going to do that," Sakura shook her head and tried to get out of Nozomi's grip.

"Come on, sweetheart. You know you're just as curious as everybody is in this town. It won't hurt one bit. We'll just talk to Takashi," Nozomi continued on walking.

Sakura took a deep breath and readied herself for something highly embarrassing to happen. "Fine. Fine, we'll just talk to…to that guy." Damn it. She already forgot his name.

Nozomi sauntered over to Table 7 with the men facing each other, sideways to the window. Sakura, very glad that Nozomi was taller than her by a couple of inches, hid behind her, wishing she wasn't in this position. Men were looking at her again, some whistling low. She resisted giving them the finger, because it would make the place lose customers, and that was bad. Nozomi stopped, which meant that they had arrived. Sakura stiffened her spine, trying hard to resist Nozomi's insistent pushing.

"Hi, Takashi," Nozomi smiled.

"Hey Nozomi. What's up?" Takashi grinned back. "I want you to meet a good friend of mine. Syaoran Li."

"Hey, how are you," the man smiled at Nozomi, but she'd heard a big gasp from behind that interrupted him.

Sakura's hands shook as Nozomi freed her. Her heart pounded in its cage, dropping on the floor at the intense shock she'd just gotten.

"Sakura? You okay?" Nozomi asked.

A loud clatter of a utensil fell on a plate. Nozomi stared in front of her and saw Syaoran trying to look behind her. "What did you just say?" He asked, his voice dangerously abrupt. Takashi and Nozomi noticed his chest rise faster.

"Syaoran?" A small voice from behind Nozomi asked. It was breaking.

That tore at his heart. With fearful, cautious eyes, Syaoran stood up. He knew that voice, even if the voice wasn't clear. He pushed Nozomi aside and saw an auburn-haired woman, a head shorter than him, looking up with fierce, yet trembling emerald eyes. "Sakura??" He asked, pained.

"Oh my god…" she whispered, repeating it over and over. "Oh my god…"

"Sakura-" he began.

"Why are you back?" She asked, standing her guard, not allowing him any closer. Her whole body was shaking at the sight of him, but she fought hard to keep her legs still. She began thinking she'd faint any minute now. Her jelly legs would give in, she knew it.

"You know each other??" Nozomi broke in.

"Why?" She ignored the woman, this time covering the immense happiness she'd just felt by biting her fingernails into her palms.

"Oh my god, you're beautiful," he muttered, staring at her up and down.

Sakura reddened heavily, but didn't make his genuine compliment try to break down her wall. "What are you doing back here?" She asked, her voice unsteady, yet surprisingly even to them. "You-you said you'd never come back."

He tried to talk, but all he could do was stare. His mouth opened a little, but nothing came out. Sakura stared at him hard, her eyes focusing difficultly at his lips, but slowly reaching his gaze. Their gazes met, and electricity flashed between them. Anybody who was alive would've seen it. Fearing for the emotions and feelings revealing in her eyes, she turned around and stalked off to the kitchen, leaving Nozomi, Takashi, and a very shocked, handsome Syaoran staring after her.

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To be continued...