8th March. 10:29am.
"Kanzaki Architects, how may I help yo—" Tokiha Mai immediately regretted her decision to take this call. Leaning away from the phone receiver, she winced as an angry voice erupted from the speaker.
"This stupid tea house you sold me is haunted!"
Ah… Mai sighed, slouching against her cubicle's desk. "Miss Suzushiro, was it?"
"Yeah, that's me! Where the hell is your boss?! Send me through to him!"
Restraining herself from releasing another exhale, Mai covered the receiver with her palm. "Sir! Mr. Kanzaki?" On the other side of her cubicle wall, her boss appeared. "It's Miss Suzushiro, what should we—"
"Oh, her again?" Kanzaki Reito held a mug of black tea, casually leaning over the wall. "Get rid of her. It isn't our fault she didn't read the terms and conditions." After all, if she had read that, she would know the tea house is indeed haunted. Receiving an odd look from his secretary, he only smiled in response. "Chop chop. Just get rid of her." He chuckles, shrugging afterwards. "By the way, would you go on a date with me—"
"No, Sir." Mai droned, removing her hand from the receiver. "I'm sorry, Miss Suzushiro. We clearly stated on the terms and conditions that the tea house could possibly be—" Interrupted again, Mai's thoughts started wandering. What should she have to eat when she gets home? Today was so slow, she still had five hours left… A sigh released from her lips, Reito throwing her an examining look before sitting down.
At that moment in Reito's cubicle, his phone started ringing. The CEO picked it up without a single thought, his expression quickly hardening. "No, Mikoto. I won't be home soon." Reito immediately ended the call, having interrupted his sister. He couldn't care less she missed him, frankly.
My-Office Misfortunes
Chapter 01: Kanzaki Architects
By Twisted Eternal Wolvetta
Timelined with Hildebrant & Creed
Dragging herself out from her cubicle, Mai lumbered towards the water cooler. It was several hours after her phone call with Suzushiro Haruka. That customer would forever exhaust her. She honestly didn't have the energy to deal with her anymore. Mai still hadn't recovered from that ordeal.
Water coolers naturally attracted a social gathering inside office spaces. Theirs was no exception. Before the crystalline tank, were three of her friends: Yuuichi, Natsuki and Nao. The latter paid the others no heed, glued to her smartphone. Natsuki and Yuuichi meanwhile, disgruntledly fiddled with the water cooler.
"Is it broken again?" Mai groaned, desperate to experience respite from dehydration. Her lament made Natsuki pause who was about to kick the thing into submission.
"It was working a second ago." Natsuki shrugged a shoulder at Yuuichi who peered into his plastic cup. "The stupid tap's broken." It had been finicky for the past month or so now.
"Here." Yuuichi offered his cup to Mai. "I can't stay and chat, I need to get the invoices done." Without another word, he left, brushing past an unresponsive Nao.
In response, Mai also peered into the cup's contents. The water inside was crystal clear.
"You do realise that's an indirect kiss, right?" Nao suddenly asked matter-of-factly, cocking an eyebrow at her. This caused the secretary to splutter water—Nao dodging it mutely, eyes again focused upon her phone.
"How is i—"
"Yeah, thinking about it, it is." Natsuki nudged her against the ribs playfully, smirking when Mai blushed.
"Excuse me." An impassive voice imparted behind Mai, causing her to whirl around. Miyu had a stack of boxes and was wishing to get past. Mai allowed her; gaze chasing after her towards the storage room.
"I still don't get what she even does here." Nao snarked, finally putting her phone away. "Well, whatever. Ciao." Wafting a hand in Mai's general direction, she sauntered off back to her own cubicle.
Left to her own devices, Mai gazed into her plastic cup.
Today was a long day.
8th March. 4:58pm.
Eagerly, Yuuichi and Mai approached the clocking-in terminal by the office exit. Total had been a total drag, and they were looking forward to getting home.
"So what are you doing when you get home?" Yuuichi asked as he dipped into his bag to retrieve his ID.
"A nice bath. My back is killing me." Mai mumbled, twisting her torso gently. All of this sitting down was destroying her spine. "What about you?"
"Oh, huh. Don't know y—"
"—Tate. Will you do overtime this weekend?" Reito appeared from out of nowhere, making them jump. This was hardly a question; it was a command. The CEO observed as Yuuichi looked visibly deflated. "Well?"
"Sure thing." Yuuichi muttered, managing to find his ID finally. As he was about to slide it through the clocking-in machine, Reito continued.
"You as well, Tokiha. There are numerous tasks I require sorting out."
It was Mai's turn to feel depressed.
9th March. 9:32am.
"Still though. What does she do?" Nao asked an incredibly stressed Akane in her cubicle.
"I don't know." Frankly, Akane did not care. Miyu was nice enough. She was far too busy typing out this sales report. Or, 'least she was trying. Halting her fingers against her keyboard, she shot Nao a pointed look.
"I only ever see her moving boxes around." Yet she did not remove her gaze from her phone. On the other end of the office, Miyu exited the storage room. As if foretold, she was handling several boxes with ease.
"And you like to talk and use your phone." Akane pointed out, shaking her head in response. When she received an arched brow, she merely sighed.
"I enjoy what I do. You need to relax more."
They're at work. Akane stared at Nao speechlessly for a moment. Suddenly, a notification announced itself on her computer. Veering her gaze towards it, a depressed exhale released from her this time. More sales! Now her report was going to be even longer! "Don't you need to hand out more leaflets?"
"I already got us ten sales this week—"
"—You seduced those guys!" Including trying to make a move on her Kazuya!
"Hey, what can I say. Sex sells." Nao shrugged and started turning on her heel to leave. Unfortunately, Reito appeared at the cubicle entrance, blocking her way.
"Ah, Higurashi. For some reason these reports didn't come through the system." He offered over a plastic folder heaving with sales. "They're from that company we recently bought out. I'll have Woods speak with you tomorrow—"
"—But tomorrow's my day off." Akane tried telling him, but the CEO wasn't having it. Instead, Reito flopped the filed sales in her general direction. Instantly she gave up, taking them with a sigh.
She hated this job.
9th March 3:19pm.
"I'm not letting you out, you pervert!" Mai accused the CEO through the locked door. She was so done with this asshole! She couldn't care less if this got her fired. In fact, she'd appreciate it!
"Tokiha!" Reito's voice boomed from inside the resting room. She seriously hadn't just locked him inside here?! How had she even found its key?! "Let me out, or I swear I'll—"
"—What?! Gonna fire me?! I dare you!"
The rest of the office, excluding Akane and Miyu, peered from above their cubicle walls. What's happening now?
"Hm." Akane appeared by Mai's side, making the secretary jump. "...You should probably let him out." Within her hand was a lighter. As Mai's eyes gazed upon it, the fire alarm started blaring.
"You didn't—"
"—I did. I hate this place." Akane's voice was unemotional as she lumbered towards the office exit. At this point, the entire office erupted into chaos. Employees were grabbing their belongings—some were even stealing… stationery?
Forgetting all about the CEO, Mai went onto autodrive. She leapt for the exit, the door having been shoved open with an old fax machine. Her workmates sure knew how to abandon a location they despised.
Behind her, Reito's desk was engulfed in flames. Akane had seriously set fire to his desk?! Sure, she had been at snapping point for months, but this? With this, Mai fled the building.
10th March 8:29pm.
"I still can't believe Higurashi got bailed out of jail by my mother." Natsuki released a sigh at the bar. From nowhere, Kuga Saeko had declared her existence to Natsuki. Not just this, but the entire office was hired by her. On the spot. No questions asked or interviews required.
They will start work tomorrow.
"Miyu was also stealing blueprints from us this entire time." Yuuichi muttered, staring into his beer glass. "Do you think it'll be alright there?" Their pay was slightly better, at least?
"No idea…" At this point, who knew?
A/N: I now have a Facebook Page! You can find me by searching TwistedEternalWolvetta over on Facebook. The direct URL is:
https (: / /) www . facebook . com (/) TwistedEternalWolvetta
