Disclaimer: If only I really did own Sesshoumaru, Sango, Miroku, Kagome and most of all Inuyasha… wouldn't that be fun?
Summary: When Kagome Higurashi spills all of her secrets to a silver haired stranger in a bar, she has no idea that come Monday he is her new boss. How will she deal with the fact that the person who can make or break her career knows every embarrassing detail of her life? And what if she is attracted to him? inu/kag
A/N: Well here we go kids, I've decided to write a Inuyasha fic. I've been wanting to start one for a while, since I love the show so damn much, and knew I would enjoy writing it. So I hope you like the first chapter. Make sure to review!
This story is LOOSLY BASED ON 'CAN YOU KEEP A SECRET?' By Sophia Kinsella
So I present to you…
Our Little Secret
Chapter 1 – The Silver Haired Stranger
"You wanted to see me?" Kagome asked, trying her hardest to sound professional. The only problem was that she was not feeling professional at all, she was in fact feeling very, very nervous. She pulled out the chair, took a seat, and placed her slightly shaky hands on her lap.
"Yes, please take a seat Ms. Higurashi." Said her boss, Sesshoumaru sternly. Kagome always got a bit jumpy around authoritative figures, but this man was beyond authoritative. He was the grand high boss, the owner of Taka. Sesshoumaru Takahashi was the great, great grandson of Kariudo Takahashi, the founder of the Taka, a brand of cars known for their speed and artistry. Taka had been passed down from Kariudo to Sesshoumaru's father and eventually down to Sesshoumaru, the current owner of Taka and manager of the Tokyo branch. Very rarely did Sesshoumaru meet with workers of Kagome's caliber, Junior Editor, in fact Kagome had never spoken a word to to him, and for him to call her up to his office was more than a big deal.
'This could only make or break your career,' she told herself silently. 'No pressure or anything.'
"Ms. Higurashi, Jakan here," he indicated to his assistant, a short bald man with a rather big nose often seen tagging along next to Shesshoumaru. "Informs me that you were given the responsibility of approving and sending off shipments of print ads, am I correct? You are to read them over, search for mistakes, and then give the big 'okay'?"
"Yes." Kagome answered wide eyed.
"And can you recite our slogan for the Tetsuiga advertisement?"
"One ride makes you come alive!" She said almost instinctively, after all she must have typed this up 100 times. The Tetsuiga, being the newest and most advanced model of the taka was just about to be launched, and her branch, Printing and Advertising, had been working on little else.
"You seem to know that very well Ms. Higurashi." He said, his eyes bearing into her.
She looked away uncomfortably. "Yes…yes! Of course…"
"Well then would you mind explaining to me why you approved 10,000 of these?" He asked, tossing a ripped out page from a magazine towards her on the desk.
Kagome picked it up hesitantly. She read it over. One ride makes blah blah blah same old phrase she had read a million times before. What was wrong with it? "It looks okay to m– oh no." She said softly, re-reading the words once more and hoping her eyes deceived her. "Oh no no no…" She was frozen.
"My reaction exactly Ms. Higurashi." Sesshoumaru said, clenching his jaw. "It seems like you would have noticed a mistake as big as 'One ride makes you come alive'… minus the alive."
So her eyes didn't deceive her. She could feel her stomach doing flips and her leg was now shaking uncontrollably. There it was, in big, bold, black letters:
One ride makes you come.
One ride makes you come! What the hell was she thinking? She wanted nothing more than to slam her head down repeatedly on Sesshoumaru's expensive looking metal desk.
"You know Mr. Takahashi m-maybe this will actually help the Tetsuiga!" She said in the most convincing jolly tone she could muster. She couldn't make it any worse. "I mean who wouldn't want a car that could make them co-"
"Enough! No excuse could possibly make up for this!" He sighed and drew circles with his fingers on his temple slowly. Jakan hurried over and began massaging his shoulders until Sesshoumaru shoed him away. When he spoke again it was in an eerily calm tone. "Ms. Higurashi, we have shipped 10,000 of these embarrassing and misguiding ads. They are going to be in magazines all across Japan!"
"Don't you think we could try to… get them back?" She added hopefully.
He shot her a look of annoyance and pity mixed together. "If you would like to try and go out and track 10,000 slips of paper that could be anywhere then please, be my guest."
She didn't say anything. In fact she couldn't say anything even if she wanted to, for if she opened her mouth she was afraid she would throw up rather than explain herself. Her first shot at a promotion, and look! She would probably be fired! She would most defiantly be fired! If she were in Sesshoumaru's position, she would fire herself!
"Ms. Higurashi," He said for the hundredth time. "I think you know what I have to do."
She thought she might cry. She was going to cry in front of the owner of Taka.
"I'm going to have to put you on 2 weeks unpaid leave."
"Y-you aren't going to fire me?" She asked in shock. She already had her whole speech of why she should not be fired prepared in her head. She wanted to jump for joy! She wanted to hug Sesshoumaru but felt he might not appreciate that very much.
"Fire you?" He asked, looking uninterested. "No. But one more slip up and-"
"No, I promise! You won't regret this!"
He nodded, now seeming impatient. "See you in two weeks."
She nodded hurriedly and practically ran out of his room. Thank god that was over. As she walked toward the elevator and pressed the button she still couldn't believe she had written "One ride will make you come." How did she miss a mistake like that? She must have approved that one sentence a million times and yet she had gone and screwed everything up when it counted. Typical.
Ding!
Kagome was stirred from her thoughts by the sound of the elevator and the green down arrow lighting up. The doors slid open and she was face to face with-
"Kagome!" Hojo said happily, embracing her and pulling her by the hand into the elevator. "I had no idea I would be running into you up on the ninth floor. What are you doing up here?" He said in his usual up beat voice. Kagome had been dating Hojo for nearly six months, and he was virtually the perfect boyfriend. With his neat brown hair, warm eyes, amazing body, and tall stature he was not only extremely handsome but also kind and smart.
"Oh hey Hojo." Kagome said, giving him a half hearted smile.
His face fell. "Kagome what's wrong?" He asked worriedly.
"Well… you see… I accidentally gave approval to the printing of 10,000 ads with 'One ride makes you come alive' minus the alive… ha… funny mistake…"
"You what!" He asked in shock his face a shade paler than usual. "Oh my god!"
"Yeah…" She said. Why did he always have to be so loyal to the company? She was the one being wronged here.
"Well what happened?" He asked staring into her eyes with uttermost importance.
"Mr. Takahashi called me up to his office and told me that I have to go on two weeks unpaid leave."
"Thank god you're not fired!" He said placing his hand over his heart. "What are they going to do about the 10,000 ads?"
"They can't really do anything…" She said, feeling as if salt had been poured into her open wounds.
"This is going to be devastating to the company!" He said shaking his head sadly.
"Okay, okay I know… you don't have to rub it in." She snapped.
Hojo looked taken aback. "Kagome! I didn't mean that at all! I'm just worried… that's all…"
She sighed. "I'm sorry Hojo… I just haven't been having a very good day."
"No problem at all. Why don't you just go back to your apartment, take a nice, hot bath and I'll come over later and maybe we can have dinner or something, okay? Why don't you use some of that lavender bath oil I sent you?"
She smiled weekly. "That sounds nice Hojo. Thanks."
"Anytime!" He said kissing her on the forehead and getting out at floor 7.
A bath really did sound nice. She would go home and take a warm bath. But she wouldn't use the lavender bath oil… she didn't really care for it all that much. Not that she would ever tell Hojo that.
The elevator slowed to a stop and she got out, walking towards her desk to grab her purse before leaving but bumped into someone along the way.
"Oh! Kagura! Sorry…" Kagome said. Just when she thought her day couldn't get any worse…
"Watch where you are going, Kagome, I almost spilled hot coffee down my shirt!"
Kagome fought back the urge to say 'Well you didn't spill it, did you, you ugly, rude, bitch' and simply smiled forcefully. "My bad!"
Kagura rolled her eyes and tut-tut-ed herself back to her desk.
Kagura's desk happened to sit directly behind Kagome's, and she enjoyed nothing more than to scold Hermione for what ever she was doing wrong.
"'Kagome! Put down that Cosmo magazine… this is work! Honestly, I feel like I'm Babysitting.'"
"'Kagome, do you really think you should be painting your toenails at a time like this?'"
"'Oh, so I'm guessing if you have time to talk on the phone then you have finished your research on top selling car colors'"
Just because Kagura had a higher status than Kagome didn't mean that Kagome wasn't a good worker.
And she could paint her toenails at whatever damn time she wanted!
Even if it was during a lecture, it's not like Sesshoumaru was looking…
Okay fine maybe not during a lecture. But whatever other time she wanted! Kagura should just stay out of her business.
Kagura also seemed to be in the habit of calling Kagome her 'assistant' and telling Kagome to bring her Coffee. All in all, Kagome despised Kagura.
She hurried over to her desk, grabbed her purse, and tried to pretend she couldn't hear Kagura's questions as she walked out.
"Kagome where are you going? Kagome? I know you can hear me!"
By the time Kagome was out of the office and on the bus back home she was fairly sure that two weeks unpaid leave weren't going to be so bad. No Kagura, no work, no waking up early… but also no money. She couldn't really afford two whole weeks with no check. She was having a hard enough time as it was, what with her everlasting appetite for spending and expensive tastes.
She hoped that her bath would calm her down, but when she got out she felt as worried as ever.
No, there was only one thing that would calm her now.
Alcohol.
She changed out of her work clothes and set off to Ace, her favorite little pub just two blocks up from her house.
When she got there it was a busy as ever and there was only room for her at the bar. She sat down in between a fat man with a dirty white T-shirt and a handsome silver haired man with amber eyes and a strong jaw line.
"Well hello Kagome!" Michael, the pub owner said to her warmly. "Will it be your usual, Chirly temple extra cherries with a kick of brandy?"
She shook her head. "Vodka, straight."
His eyes widened. "Hard day at work?" he asked as he pulled out a shot glass and poured the clear liquid into it.
"I guess you could say that."
"Well let me know if I can get you anything else." He said, sliding the shot her way which she downed immediately, shuddering at the taste and smell that reminded her immensely of nail polish remover. She threw several bills on the table.
"Let me get three more."
Michael nodded hesitantly and went to work on her drinks.
After her third shot she was feeling much happier, and could barely feel the sting of the fourth. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the silver haired man staring at her. "Can I help you?" She asked in annoyance.
"I don't think so, but maybe I can help you." He said. His eyes really were amber… like honey. Honey sure did sound good right now.
She began to chuckle but let out a hiccup instead. "And how is that?"
"Anything you feel like getting off your chest? Seems like you had a bad day."
"What makes you think that?" She asked in annoyance. "Maybe I just like going out and drinking. And even if I did have something bothering me I wouldn't tell it to some creepy drunk guy." She said proudly.
He smirked. "Okay then."
She waited for a few minutes, half wanting him to ask again, but he didn't, he just sipped his drink smoothly and glanced up at the football game playing on the television.
"My life pretty much sucks." She said to him, as if admitting her defeat. "I almost got myself fired today, I have the worst girl I have to work with, and now I'm on two weeks unpaid leave."
The man turned his head and looked at her, but still said nothing, so she went on.
"I am a hopeless loser and I haven't had sex in a week." Did she really just say that? Oh god. The man was now looking sort of amused. "Haven't had good sex in a month. I don't even think I have a G-spot. Don't get me wrong, my boyfriend is great, but just for once I wish he wouldn't try to be so romantic and would just give it to me rough!" She clapped her hand over her mouth. Why was she telling this stranger all these things? But now it was like someone had turned on a faucet and the water was coming out full blast… except the water was her secrets and the faucet was her big, fat, stupid mouth.
"...I mean scented candles are nice and everything, but do we really have to have 500 around when we are trying to have sex? Or as Hojo would say, 'Make love'…."
"…Never even been in love and I'm 26 years old…"
"…Of course I love Hojo I just forgot for a brief second, he really is amazing and…"
"…Gave me this lavender bath oil which is even too girlish for me…"
"… Really horrible bitch named Kagura who calls me her assistant…"
"…When she asks me to fetch her coffee I sometimes spit in it…"
"…Walked around the entire day with a period stain on my new white pants and she didn't even tell me…"
It seemed like for every shot she had drunken there were 100 secrets that she was rattling off one by one, and the man with the silver hair was doing nothing to stop her.
"…Always wear push up bras because I really have nothing. Sometimes I even put two padded bras on top of each other because then…"
"…Is already married and didn't even ask me to be a bridesmaid. I mean it might be the only wedding I am ever in…"
"…Really big bug that flew up my nose just when I was trying to do the toast…"
"…The biggest zit right in the middle of my forehead for graduation…"
"…Didn't even loose my virginity until I was 21…"
"…Spilled Orange juice in the lap of the woman at my very first job interview…"
"…Tell Hojo that I only weigh 110 pounds when I really weigh 125 and that I am a C cup…"
"…Bought me this really amazing matching bra and underwear set of a size small thong and a 36 C bra which of course I couldn't fit into…"
"…For my birthday he set up this really elaborate scented candle display all around the room and rose petals and it was absolutely too cliché and corny but I could say was "Wow, Hojo, this is absolutely amazing."…"
"…Took me to the opera which was really long and they closed the doors and I had to go to the bathroom so badly I peed my pants…"
"…Pretended I had spilled my lemonade…"
"Kagome?" Michael said, completely shattering her from her thoughts. "It's time to close up now."
"W-what?" She asked confusedly, looking around to a barren pub. "Oh sorry."
"Uhh… Do you need some help home?" Asked the man with the silver hair.
And that's when it struck her. She had just told almost every single one of her most embarrassing, private, secrets to a perfect stranger. What had she done? Now he was looking at her in a pitying way, as if she were half crazy.
"No!" She said squeakily, taking a deep breath. "I think I can manage, thanks!" She leapt up and hurried out of the pub, and all the way home.
XXX
Kagome groaned and rolled over. Her head pounded and the light hurt her eyes. What had she done last night? She knew one thing for sure, and that was that she had a killer hangover. And then it all came flooding back, the advertising screw up, her two weeks unpaid leave, the bar, the silver haired man, all of her secrets…
"Shit!" She exclaimed, sitting up quickly.
"What was that?" said an upbeat voice from the hallway which was quickly followed by a tall, slim girl with very dark brown hair entering Kagome's room.
"Oh… nothing Sango." Kagome said. Sango was Kagome's roommate and best friend. "Just talking to myself."
"Alright. Anything wrong? You look like shit twice over."
Just like Sango to be brutally honest. "Thanks," Hermione said flatly. "I feel like shit twice over."
"…Anything you want to talk about?"
"Not really. Work problems. I'll tell you about it later… when it doesn't feel like a jack hammer is drilling into my brain." Kagome said holding her head.
"Oookay well I'll only be a wall away… so don't hesitate…"
"Thanks," Kagome said gratefully, and with that rolled over and went back to sleep.
XXX
Kagome's two weeks went by very slowly, and she found herself visiting Ace the pub quite a few times for condolence. Not only was she bored but she also had virtually no money to spend. Two weeks unpaid really took a chunk out of her spending budget… She found it pretty damn ironic that the only time she actually liked work was when she was suspended from it.
She found herself wallowing in self pity and only felt better when she woke up Monday morning and knew she was going back. On this particular Monday, although not any different from any other day of work, she scavenged through her closet for something nice to wear and took an extra few minutes to get her makeup just right.
When she headed through the doors of the Taka building she strode to the elevator feeling more like she had just earned a promotion than she was coming back from two weeks suspension.
Other than the few nosey questions asked to her by Kagura, no one treated her any differently than usual. By three she felt as if nothing could dampen her spirits, and when Shijin, head of printing and advertising, called her over, she wasn't nervous at all.
"Kagome, would you mind taking these up to Mr. Takahashi? They are the new slogans for the Tetsuiga he wanted to see." He said handing a manila envelope to her.
"Sure!" She said cheerfully, grateful for the chance to redeem herself with Sesshoumaru. After all, their first chat hadn't exactly been the most pleasant.
"Thanks, you're a big help." He said sighing in relief and walking away.
After riding the elevator up to floor nine she got out, whistling as she walked towards the door with Mr. Takahashi printed neatly upon it. She knocked on it, then opened the door and-
Quickly rushed right back out. She leaned against the door clutching the envelope to her chest.
'Oh my god.' She thought over and over again in her whirring brain.
It was him. Same silver hair, same golden eyes, same strong jaw line.
It was the man from the bar.
A/N: So that should give you a pretty good introduction to my story :) 8 pages on word… which makes it a lot longer than what I usually write. Yes, I'm proud haha. So do you like it? Do you hate it? Do you feel ANYTING about it? If so PLEASE send me some feedback in the form of that button at the bottom of the screen that reads 'Review'. I will love you forever… plus a day. AND the more feedback I get the quicker I'll write another chapter…
By the way, I know right now it seems like a Hojo/Kagome pairing… but trust me, it's destined to be Inuyasha/Kagome. I wouldn't have it any other way.
Well thanks for reading! xoxo Miranda