A/n: R/R, enjoy!
Warning(s): AL
Disclaimer: don't own anything!
My Fair Woman
"We go in fifteen, Ouji"
"I know" Vegeta walked through the hallways of the company's big building accompanied by none other than his assistant, Kenshi Muyo, whose responsibility was to report to Vegeta if things were going right or if they were getting out of control. Muyo was also responsible for organizing Vegeta's schedule; reminding him where and when meetings were to be taking place twenty four hours in advance, making sure Vegeta got to places on time, among other things. Vegeta fastened the button on the collar of his white blouse extending his arms so the blouse would reach down to his wrists. He then fastened the buttons on the wrists of the blouse the pair walking down the hall as fast as they could directed to the conference room where a small presentation with the president from the company awaited the contents of the meeting related to the profits earned the past month
"How's the shirt?" Vegeta spoke tucking his white blouse in his olive green casual-chic pants. Muyo overlooked at his figure
"You look hot in it" he replied. Vegeta grunted looking at him
"Never mind!" he snapped angrily. Tenshi furrowed his brows
"I'm just saying-"
"Vegeta" the CEO from Tokyo greeted. He was taller-than-average in height with characteristics that resembled a regular laid back guy exempting some of his very strong Asian features like his eyes and his hair. He made it to the conference room at the exact same time they did
"Mr. Karamoto, sir" the businessmen shook hands
"I hear the company is holding up pretty good" Mr. Karamoto commented. Vegeta nod assertively
"Yes sir. We're at the top of America's technological economy" he pointed out. Mr. Karamoto smiled kindly
"Good. That's exactly what I wanted to hear" he said in a loud effusive tone embracing his arm around Vegeta "you know I'm getting rid of some of the units in the company" his voice became a whisper now as he leaned into his ear "this is in complete discretion here, Ouji. As the CEO of the US Karamoto Enterprises there's one thing you ought to know: we shut down unproductive divisions every three months. It's a waste of money. Technology is getting expensive. We'll have more money to spend on more technology and enough will be left over for your salary to increase. You deserve more money. You understand where I'm coming from?" he asked looking for conformity in his face. Vegeta nod once
"Yes sir" he said. Karamoto pat his back
"Good. Cut the meeting short. You will need the rest of the day to talk to your supervisors and close divisions not to mention fire people" he chuckled loudly. Vegeta cleared his throat smirking
"Sir" he said serious the gentlemen walking in the conference room right away…
Capsule Corporation
"…two seven zero one five is the last number on the list" Bulma spoke
"Ok" Xiao's voice could be heard through the speaker phone on her desk "then we're done with car capsule inventory" he said. Bulma breathed out happily
"Alright" she rest back on her chair "I'll re-check and make sure everything's good then fax you the final numbers so you can take a look at them" she spoke to the phone
"Don't hesitate to call if you need me" Xiao said sneezing. Bulma nodded
"Ok. Thank you. I really appreciate your effort. I know it's not the best of days" she said. The light for a different phone line came on signaling an incoming call from other port. Bulma sighed
"I have to go. We'll talk later" she said. Xiao agreed
"Ok" he said the pair hanging up right away. Bulma picked up the phone pressing the button for the incoming call line
"Yes?" she said
"Bulma?" a female voice called "Krillin Roshi is here. He says you requested a meeting with him earlier today"
"I did Sienna" Bulma replied "send him upstairs" she ordered
"Alrighty" Sienna responded in her sweet tone "Ms. Briefs is ready to see you now" she turned to the bald-headed short man. He nodded kindly
"Thank you" he said walking past the secretary's desk and hopped on the elevator. The elevator was soon on its way…
"Hey Krillin" Bulma greeted as the male walked in her office eyeing everything inside and all around him
"Well I'll be… this is a nice office Bulma" he said. Bulma smiled
"Thanks. I thought you had seen it already" she commented walking around her desk and taking a seat on top of it. Krillin shook his head
"No ma'am. Not since you remodeled it. I'm impressed. This is very cool" he said turning around to face the path where he came from in order to see the details he had missed on his way in. Bulma breathed profoundly
"Yep. It is pretty cool to walk in here everyday" she said. Krillin faced her now
"So what's up?" he asked never taking a seat. Bulma stood doubtful
"I wanted to know if you and 18 were gonna go to Chichi's thing" she asked. Krillin shrugged his shoulders careless
"For a little bit, 18 has to work the next day and so do I. We need to rest" he said. Bulma nodded
"I see. Would it help if I gave you the day after tomorrow off?" she asked. Krillin grunted some
"I don't know Bulma. Missing the fist day after inventory is not the greatest of ideas" he said
"I was thinking of giving everyone the day off silly" she giggled "inventory was hard this year. Everyone deserves it" she added. Krillin thought for a second
"Well if you put it that way, sure! I'll stay for a while" he said. Bulma smiled
"Good. I still don't know if I'm going" she said. Krillin furrowed his brows
"But why? Everyone's gonna be there-"
"I know" she said. Krillin sighed
"Isn't that the reason you're giving us a day off?" he asked sounding rational. Bulma seemed hesitant. She smiled
"I assume so" she said "I'll go but it better be worthwhile" she finally agreed
"Good. I'm glad you're going" said Krillin "you won't regret it. It'll be just like old times" he assured. Bulma sighed
"I'm sure. I didn't know Goku was friends with the CEO of Karamoto Enterprises" she commented among other things. Krillin nodded
"Yep he is. The guy's been in hundreds of magazines. Makes ridiculous amounts of money, he's one successful bachelor I must say" he mentioned. Bulma raised a brow
"Really? I'm surprised he's not married" she said "this city is full of women that can smell money a thousand miles away. I'm amazed one of them hasn't gotten a hold of him yet" she said sounding uninterested. Krillin cleared his throat
"Well he's a very smart guy. I'm sure he can tell"
"Right" Bulma said not convinced at all…
Chichi's Café
"Hey Goku" 18 greeted as she walked in the rather elegant coffee shop. She took a seat at the bar of the location placing her purse on top of the hardwood surface. Goku walked towards her swiping his hands off a white towel cloth
"Hey what's up?" he greet back. 18 breathed out
"Not much. I'm gonna get a cappuccino to go. I have to be at work in like half an hour" she said. Goku nodded reaching behind his ear and pulling out a pencil. He then took out little notebook from the front pocket of his white apron "a cappuccino to go" he wrote the order on the notebook "anything else?" he asked. 18 shook her head
"Nope. Thank you" she smiled watching him rip the page and clip it to a string behind and above him. He then pulled from the string the ticket making it all the way down to the kitchen compartment at the end of the bar where the orders were taken. He turned to her
"Everything ok?" he asked placing the pencil back behind his ear. 18 nod
"Yep, just stressed out. Work is killing me" she said with a tired look. Goku swiped his forehead with the back of his hand
"Talk about it. Chichi and I worked 'til late yesterday. We had long afternoon hours. A lot of people came in between four and six o'clock. By the time we got the place cleaned up it was already past closing" he said. 18 shook her head
"Can't imagine so many people drinking coffee that late. It's probably to stay awake at work you know" she said "where's Chichi by the way?" she changed the subject. Goku shrugged his shoulders
"Dunno. She left like an hour ago with coffee for Bulma" he responded. 18 smiled shaking her head in disbelief
"Goku. Not even marriage can change you can it?" she asked. Goku stared clueless
"What?" he asked gullibly. 18 tsked
"What do you mean what? You never fully listen when Chichi is talking" she said. Goku snapped
"Oh" he scratched the back of his head "yeah guess not" he chucked nervously. Chichi walked in the coffee shop now
"Morning, morning, morning" the energetic woman greeted stopping by 18's seat to give her a quick hug. She then turned to Goku the couple engaging in a short kiss
"The guy with the fruit shipment's here babe. You need to take the boxes out back" she informed. Goku nodded
"Alright" he turned walking towards the sliding doors behind him which gave way to the back of the coffee shop. Chichi sat on the seat aside 18's
"I'm glad you're here. I talked to Bulma about the party" she said
"You did? What did she say?" 18 asked excited
"She said she was going to think about it" Chichi said. 18's frame became serious
"She said she was going to think about it? That's it?" she asked. Chichi frowned
"At least she didn't say no" she said complacently
"I guess that's a good thing. I wanted her to say yes though" 18 insisted. Chichi tsked
"Don't expect Bulma to say yes right away. I swear the world has to come to an end for her to stay away from her job" she said. 18 rolled her eyes
"That's true" she sighed "well we're still on schedule going on to second phase now" she quickly moved on "I'll call Krillin a little past two and ask him how inventory is going. It'll be virtually impossible for Bulma to come to the party if inventory is going bad" she said. Chichi nod
"Right. I'm gonna go ahead and ask Goku about Vegeta just to be certain that he is coming" she said. 18 smiled
"Yes! Good. Chichi, it sounds like we have everything under control…"
Karamoto Enterprises
"…we will be shutting down six divisions from Karamoto Enterprises and yours is one of them so you're fired" Vegeta explained the situation to one of his employees. His employee almost choked on his own saliva
"Bu-but Mr. Ouji I-I have nowhere else to go-"
"Sorry about that-"
"You don't understand" the man sobbed seating on the chair across from Vegeta's desk "what am I going to tell my children? My wife-?"
"I'm sure you'll figure it out now get out!" he ordered angered. The man breathed profoundly standing from the chair and walking towards the door rather slowly and defeated. Vegeta frowned hard
"Walk faster. I have a lot of shit to get done and not enough time" he ordered again. The man fastened his steps disappearing out the door in a matter of seconds
"Firing people, I swear it gets harder every time" Vegeta commented irate speaking to his assistant as he arranged some papers on his desk. Kenshi shook his head
"It is a sad moment in most these people's lives, sir. I couldn't blame them-"
"I didn't ask for your opinion" Vegeta cut his words short pressing a button on his desk phone
"Yes?" the voice responded
"Next" Vegeta called signing the one of the papers on his desk and putting it on a pile on the floor. The pile held a big red sign on top with the word 'fired' in a bold red color. Kenshi sighed. If it wasn't for the many years as the assistant of such an arrogant man he wouldn't be able to understand his harsh almost cruel actions.
Vegeta was a brilliant and dedicated man; he demanded nothing but perfection from himself. It was for this reason that he often came off as a selfish, cold-hearted jerk; there weren't too many people he truly cared about beside himself. How critical he was of himself rubbed off on other people enough to make them work their hardest and give it their best so to please Vegeta and do good things for him and the company. Being the kind of perfectionist Vegeta was, however, had very tremendous downfalls. One of the downfalls was he wasn't too forgiving of his own mistakes let alone the mistakes that other people made. Another was he had very high expectations regarding everything he did therefore, to meet his expectations as an employee, you pretty much had to be inside his head to see and do how he exactly wanted. Lastly, because Vegeta demanded a lot from himself and because he was an egocentric individual he expected the people that worked for him to demand from themselves as much as he did from himself. It truly was no science to work for Karamoto. It was a mission to work for Vegeta and actually last more than a year
"M-Mr. Vegeta, sir?" a man walked inside Vegeta's office. He trembled at just the presence of the dark male hiding his shaky hands inside his pockets to keep the physical nervousness from his sight
"Yes?" Vegeta asked annoyed signing some papers on his desk
"S-Sir. I-I know you're firing people because of the division shut down" he held his silence. Vegeta looked up. They stared at each other in silence the man attempting to soften Vegeta's heart with a sad look on his face
"What? You plan to stand there the rest of the night with that pitiful look on your face?" Vegeta asked. The man swallowed hard
"N-No. I-I didn't mean-"
"Then get on with it!" Vegeta demanded with an angry tone. The man breathed profoundly
"Sir. I-I- I just want to know if I will be getting fired too" he said. Vegeta raised a brow
"What do you think?" he asked back. The man shrugged his shoulders unsure
"I don't know but I want you to know that I never applied for a job as a computer technician. My dream was to work in the Karamoto lab research and examination area. I just took this job hoping I would get moved there sooner or later" he said. Vegeta stared pensive. He rest his back against his black leather desk chair playing with his pen between his fingers
"There are millions of corporations with lab research and examination areas in the US. I'm sure you can get a job anywhere else now get out of my office" he requested. The man looked down sadly
"Yes sir" he turned and walked out. Vegeta signed the last of papers adding it to the pile on the floor that read 'fired'
"Nine o'clock" he sighed scratching his eyes tiredly "I'm getting the hell out of here…"
Capsule Corporation
"…we have worked hard enough and you have all earned it. Come back tomorrow to wrap up inventory week and we'll have Friday off. Thank you" Bulma finished announcing the day off to the CC personnel. The people applauded her as she stepped off the podium. She truly had the love and respect of everyone within the organization. They admired her deep concern and genuine care for each and every one of them. It was estimable. Very few bosses were as supportive as she was
"Ok" she looked at Sienna walking inside the building now "I'm officially ready for that party. Give me my phone…"
Chichi's Café
"Hello?" Goku answered the phone
"Goku? Hey! It's Bulma!" Bulma spoke. Goku's face brightened
"Oh! Hey Bulma! What's going on?" he said
"Not much. I wanted to let Chichi know that I will go to your get-together tomorrow" she informed. Goku smiled
"That's great! Everyone's gonna be here!" he said excited. Bulma smiled
"I know. So just let Chichi know will ya?" she requested. Goku nod
"Sure. Bye Bulma"
"See you later" they hung up…
Capsule Corporation
Bulma breathed profoundly thinking about her decision. It's not him; he isn't the reason I'm going. I'm just…curious she thought to herself. Her phone went off. She looked at the strange number flipping the artifact open
"Bulma" she greet
"Ms. Bulma Briefs" she heard a manly voice call. She furrowed her brows
"Who is this?" she asked
"This is Raditz Son calling to say that you're the best thing that ever happened to Capsule Corporation" he chuckled. Bulma rolled her eyes with a smile
"Raditz I told you guys you can only call this number in case of emergencies-"
"But it is an emergency" she heard a different manly voice interfere
"Krillin?" she asked. He chuckled
"That's right. Get down here! We're having a blast" he said. Bulma shook her head
"I'd love to really. But I have work to do-"
"Aw no" she heard them groan and complain. She sighed
"Listen, you guys, I have to get work done so I can go to that party. I can't waste any time-"
"Bullshit" they chuckled loud. Bulma cleared her throat
"I have to go. Catch up with you later-"
"We'll go to Chichi's later. How's that?" Krillin suggested. Bulma nod
"Sure. After I'm done" she insisted. The guys hung up agreeing Bulma closing her phone down and putting it in the front pocket of her black leather jacket
"Ms. Bulma?" Sienna walked in her office. Bulma raised her brows attentive
"Yes?"
"Ms. Bulma, I forgot, you have a message" she handed Bulma a small piece of paper. Bulma read the numbers written in black ink. She looked at Sienna
"Are you sure this was the number the guy gave you?" she asked. Sienna nodded
"I'm sure Ms. Briefs" she said. Bulma breathed profoundly looking down at the pocket with her cell phone in it
"Are you ok?" Sienna asked. Bulma smiled shaking her head
"Yeah. I'm fine" she assured looking away pensive…
Chichi's Café
"Goku honey!" Chichi called from the entrance of the place
"I'm coming" Goku yelled from the back of the shop. Chichi sighed tiredly
"Hurry up. It's past five. The gardener is coming to finish the front yard" she informed. Goku walked out the back his navy blue shirt too sweaty to absorb one more drop of his bodily fluids
"Whew! Those last ten boxes really took it out of me" he said. Chichi smiled unable to contain how cute he looked
"You can't wear that shirt in the car" she said. He raised a brow
"Why not?" he asked upset. Chichi frowned half-smiling
"Because. It'll make the seat wet and the car smell Goku" she explained clear enough. Goku shrugged his shoulders pulling his shirt up and above his shoulders
"Ahh. Much better. Is this good?" he asked. Chichi rolled her eyes
"That's fine" she turned on her heel "let's go" she ordered walking outside. He followed behind her
"Bulma said she was coming" Goku commented as he waited for her to lock the place up the couple standing outside the shop now. Chichi turned to him
"When? She didn't call me" she said
"She called the shop" Goku informed. She smiled
"I see. Good. What about Vegeta?" she asked next knowing he was the last guest she needed to check up on. Goku nodded
"He said he was coming" he assured
"We need to call him tomorrow and make sure he's coming-"
"Uh I'm not so sure that's a good idea Chi" Goku interrupted. Chichi frowned
"And why not?" she asked. Goku raised his brows unsure
"Uh…well…Vegeta did say he was going to kick the shit out of me if I dared to call to ask him again" he said. Chichi rolled her eyes
"Whatever" she leaned into Goku gently "you can take him I'm sure" she smiled. Goku chuckled nervously
"I guess I can" he chuckled some more. Chichi cupped his face in her hands
"You're the most adorable man I have ever" she kissed him "I love you" she added. He kissed her again
"I love you…"
End of Ch. 1. Coming up… THE PARTY of course!