Mai's P.O.V
Our flight had landed in Japan around 9am, and surprisingly, Monk and Father John had come to pick us up.
"Maiii!" Monk yelled as he picked me up in a hug, fake sobbing, "I missed you so much kid. You're so light- have you been eating?" He asked all worried. I gasped and pat his shoulder to be sat down.
"Please don't squeeze me like that right now…" I said and smiled a bit.
"Sorry Sorry, i'm just excited to see you, finally home, safe and sound." He said and hugged me again, gently this time.
"I missed you too…" I said and hugged back.
"Mai, welcome home…how are you feeling?" John asked.
"Hi, John. I'm much better, thank you." I smiled and hugged him. Naru came over at that point with Lin and the rest of the team.
"Naru." Monk said, a little bitter.
"Hey hey, don't…please?" I asked. He blinked but sighed and pet my head.
"I'll be nice." He said.
"Good. Thank you." I said, smiling and taking Narus' arm gently. That's when he blinked and looked at us.
"Wait. Waaaaiiit wait wait a damn minute here." Monk started. I laid my head on Narus' shoulder. "You two are together?!"
"Takigawa" Naru said, "You're being too loud." He continued. Walking forward with me and Lin. I motioned Monk to follow and we went to the office. He stuttered a bit before following. John didn't look at all surprised, but smiled.
As we walked through the doors of the familiar office, i breathed in, choking on the air and coughing.
"Idiot." Naru said and shook his head. My eye twitched but i ignored it, i was more focused on the scent, an overpowering perfume that i couldn't pinpoint.
"I guess Marie and Ryan are already here." Lin said. Naru groaned quietly to himself, rubbing his eyes as Marie came out of the kitchen.
"Oliver, i made you some tea for your arrival." She said and smiled.
"Mai." He said, walking to his office, "Tea." Closing the door as i smiled.
"Coming, Naru!" I said, walking past Marie, into the kitchen. Monk was completely at a loss for words.
"Mai…Kiddo, come on. Surely this is a joke…right? You're just messing with us." He said, a little panicked.
"Not a joke at all, Monk." I smiled at him. "We're together…almost a year now…" I said as the tea steeped. The look in his eyes was so worth waiting to tell him.
"But…your heart…when he left…"
"Water under the bridge. We've talked things out, it's fine now. You don't have to worry about me so much,you have a baby now. Oh! We brought you and Ayako a gift~ I'll get it in a moment." I finished Narus tea and went to his office to give it to him. Marie was glaring at me from behind the desk that was once mine.
"Mai, what did you want us to start on?" Ryan asked as I walked back into the room and sat on the couch where we did the interviews.
"Right now we just need to clean the place and stock the fridge. Basic stuff like that. We don't have any pending cases because of the holidays so it'll be a bit slow to start. That's normal at this office. Ryan, if you check the closet there should be some cleaning supplies, can you tell me if we're out of anything?" I asked, already writing out a list of things i needed for the kitchen.
"And why are you ordering us around?" Marie asked. I looked at her and put the pen to my chin.
"Because, i'm your superior." I said, "and let me make something clear. When i walk into this office, i'm in work mode. I'm fairly lenient when it comes to stuff because i'm quite a child myself. But don't make me regret not asking Miss Luella to keep you in England." I said. Ryan snickered next to her and her jaw dropped.
"...Aw My little girl's all grown up!" Monk said and tackled me.
"Gah! Monk!" I yelled, swatting at him and laughing. "Get off meee, you're heavy!" I screamed. John walked over and pat my shoulder.
"He's right, you used to just get angry at the drop of a hat. But you sounded like an adult there." He said.
"Oh…well, i am annoyed, but i'm not unprofessional," I said, looking at him.
"Are you kidding? You kicked at Naru even in a skirt when he used to call you stupid." Monk said. I blushed and swat at him again with the clipboard.
"You all seem like a lively bunch." Marie said, smiling softly at John. He squirmed a bit.
"We yea, we're a family after all." I said, eyes soft as i looked at her. I may not like her, but she is a colleague. Even though i still plan to make her life hell, i couldn't just outright come off hateful. I rubbed my eyes a bit.
"A family?" Ryan asked.
"I was orphaned at a young age. When i started working here i found a family in my job and colleagues. Sooo that's how we act." I said, "Oh, are we missing anything?"
"Ah, just some wood cleaner and air freshener." He said. I nodded and wrote it down before standing.
"I'll head to the store and get some then. Go ahead and start dusting and cleaning what you can, i'll be back soon." I said, going into Narus' office to get the company card and grabbing my jacket.
"I'll go with you" John said from the couch and walked over. "You may need help carrying it." I smiled and nodded.
"Monk, don't bite my boyfriend's head off, please." I said and smiled sweetly at him. He waved his hand.
"I wooon't…especially now that i know you're dating." He said. I giggled and bit and left to get what we needed.
Naru's P.O.V
I went straight to my office as usual and started looking at cases my father sent to my email. I smiled to myself as i heard her talking. Mai was always so sweet, i'm sure she's gonna try and do this with a "kill them with kindness" mindset. If that didn't work, she'd just end up going off.
"Naru, i need the card…" she said, walking in. I grabbed my wallet and gave it to her.
"I'll get you another company card this week." I said. She nodded and pecked my lips. I rubbed her hand gently before she left and looked back at the emails. As much as i adore her, she can be a very unneeded distraction, as well as a much needed one. Clicking through the emails i sent a few, that i thought important, to the printer for when she got back. I decided to do my research on the areas in the meantime.
"Oliver?" I heard Marie say as she peeked in. I glanced up, letting her come in. "I organized the papers for you from the printer." She said, setting them down.
Monotone, i turned back to my computer, "That isn't your job. Mai will handle it when she returns." I said.
She scoffed, "Why're you showing her favoritism? I get it, she's your girlfriend. Whatever, but i'm your employee too, ya know."
"I'm not showing favoritism. She knows the filing of this office like the back of her hand. She organizes them differently, and frankly, easier to flip through quickly. Just because she's my girlfriend doesn't mean our work will be affected." I said, typing on my computer.
"I'm apart of your team, am i not?" She i asked.
"Reluctantly, yes. You are, but you're also new to the Japan Office. Things work differently here than back home. If you don't like it, you can go back." I said bluntly. She just sighed and left my office. I leaned back in my chair and rubbed my face.
I heard Mai return after some time and my body relaxed finally. Hearing Yasuhara with her as well. They must've run into him.
"Yo, Big Boss!" Yasuhara yelled as he poked his head in. "Welcome back" He said and smiled. I nodded and stood, walking out into the main room.
"Ms. Hara and Ms. Matsusaki?" I asked.
"Masako won't be coming, she's away for filming or something…Ayako is on her way though." Mai said, handing me the card back and going to put everything away.
"When she arrives i'll go over how everything is going to work now that we have two new joinees." I said, sitting in my chair. Mai sat in her usual seat with Yasuhara and Takigawa, John on the arm of the couch. Marie and Ryan sat on the other couch and sipped their tea. Lin stayed in his office, he'd come out when everyone was here…The loud noise that was this office returned, and i smiled inwardly as Mai smiled brightly again.