A/N: Hey guys this is chapter nine. Enjoy!


Chapter 9 {Confront Someone In Need}

In the city as it was crowdedwith people walking on the streets. A young man can out the building looking disappointed. It was Jesse Anderson as he looked upset and walked around the city. He needed a break as he was hungry. He spotted a hot dog cart at the park. Jesse walked towards the hot dog cart and ordered it. The man gave a hot dog and bottle of water as Jesse pay it. He grabbed his food and drink as he looked around to find an empty bench. He walked towards it and sat down. He ponder himself as he didn't expect his life to end up like this.

"*sigh* No luck again. It's the fifth time this day that I got rejected by a duel agency." Jesse said as he sat on the bench eating a hot dog.

"I never thought it would this difficult." Jesse said remembering what happened last week.


Flashback To Two Weeks Ago

Jesse was heading his manager's office as it was urgent business. He way by the door and knock the door.

"Come in!" His manager said as Jesse opened the door.

"You want to see me sir." Jesse said

"Ah Jesse. Yes need to talk to you. It's about your contract." His manager said.

"Ok what about it." Jesse asked.

"You see Jesse, the company has trouble with business for the past six months. Things are going right now we won't stay for long." The manager said.

"What are saying? Jesse asked in confusion.

"The company is going bankrupt. I'm sorry Jesse but we terminated your contract." The manager said.

"You're letting me go?" Jesse asked with concerned.

"Yes, I'm sorry Jesse." The manager said.

"I see." Jesse said in disappointment.

"Here these are the others agencies you should apply. They might sponsor you." The manager said taking the paper applications out from his desk and gave it to Jesse.

"Thank you sir. I'll be going now." Jesse said grabbing the papers and stood up from his seat.

"Good luck and let your dueling career be a success." The manager said as Jesse left.

End of the Flashback


"I wish I could have done better. I need some advice." Jesse said as he took his phone out to call someone.

He waited until someone picked up the phone.

"Hello?" The voice sounded familiar.

"Hey Jay." Jesse said.

"Jesse, how's it going?" Jaden asked happily.

"Not so great Jay. I been applying agencies for almost two weeks and still haven't been sponsor." Jesse said in disappointment.

"I see, tell you what. Remember the maid cafe we went the other day?" Jaden asked.

"Yeah?" Jesse said in confusion.

"Let's go tonight, just you and me. We can talk to me about it. Plus, I'll pay." Jaden suggested.

"Sure, thanks Jay." Jesse said with a smile.


Time Skip to Afternoon

The office was busy as ever as the coworkers still are behind schedule with the paperwork. They were rushing it as it needed to be done by tomorrow.

"Crap! Where is that folder?" A male coworker said in a panic looking the disorganizing the finished paper on the desk.

"Damn we're not done with it and tomorrow is Wednesday." Other male coworker said typing the laptop as fast as he could.

"We're probably staying overtime again." Another male coworker said.

"Yeah, we need to finish it now before Boss finds out." A male coworker said as Mindy walked up to them.

"You guys better hurry because he's coming." Mindy said as Aster and Sartorius walked towards them.

"Hello sir!" They all said as they bow.

"So, is the paperwork done?" Aster asked with a serious expression.

"Umm... about that sir. We need more time to fin..." One of the male coworkers said but was interrupt by Aster.

"Gentlemen, when I said the paperwork needs to be done by today I want it done today. Is it done?" Aster asked giving a cold stare to his coworkers.

"Well it's working inpro..." Another coworker said as Aster interrupted him again.

"It's a yes or no question?!" Aster angrily yelled at them.

"*gulp* Nnn...no." A male coworker answer nervously.

"You're tell me it's not done!" Aster said furiously.

"But sir it's alot of paperwork for all of us." Other male coworker said giving excuses as the others nodded.

"You're telling me that four coworkers couldn't finish this week's paperwork but one secretary can finish this less than a week. Do you all hear yourselves?!" Aster yelled at them as his anger grew.

"Well Akemi usually does this and we didn't know that she'll be gone when we can back." A male coworker said trying to shift the blame to her.

"Are you blame me for not telling you and told Akemi to take a vacation?!" Aster yelled at them believe that they're blaming at him.

"Nnnnn... no sir!" They all said in unison.

"This is why I needed Akemi. At least she gets the job done." Aster angrily said as he tried to calm down.

"Sorry sir!" They said in unison as the bow to him.

"Since we're behind, I have to stay here for tonight until all the paperwork is done. Sartorius and Mindy do you mind helping me with these idiots?" Aster asked.

"Of course, Aster." Sartorius said.

"Yes sir." Mindy said as they each grab a stack of paperwork and went to their desks.

"Next time when I give all of you a due date the paperwork needs to be finished, do it before when it's due. Got or I'll personally kick you out of the office." Aster said grabbing the last stack of paperwork and walk towards his office.

"Yes, sir! Sorry, sir!" They all said in unison as Aster slammed the door closed.

Aster put the stack of paperwork on the desk. He sigh as he sat on his chair and turned on his laptop. A couple of hours passed as he's working and typing his laptop. By looking at the paperwork he won't be able to see Akemi tonight.

'Great, I'm force to stay here to finish all the paperwork by tonight. I had plans to see Bella today but I'll have to wait for tomorrow.' He ponder himself as he turned on his phone looking at his wallpaper to see a picture of him with Akemi smiling together.


Time-Skip to Tonight

Jaden waited outside for Jesse as they going to meet up at the cafe. He waited until Jesse arrived and run towards Jaden.

"Sorry I'm late Jay, traffic was heavy." Jesse said taking couple of breaths.

"It's ok, no biggy." Jaden said as they entered the cafe.

They headed to the private area from their last visit and rang the bell. They sat down on a table waiting for a maid. Akemi came out as she was expecting to see Aster but surprised to see Jaden with Jesse. She looked around but no luck to find Aster. Curious she walked towards them to serve them.

"Hello, masters. How may I serve you?" Akemi asked.

"Hi, I'll get the kitty rice balls with water please." Jaden said as Akemi typing her pad.

"And you master?" Akemi asked turning to Jesse.

"I'll get a burger bear with fries and lemonade." Jesse awkwardly said.

"Your order will be up soon." Akemi said as she left.

"So talk to me. You had issues finding a job?" Jaden asked.

"Yeah, it's hard to find a sponsorship for the dueling agencies but I keep getting rejected." Jesse said feeling upset.

"Geez that's awful man. How many agencies did you applied?" Jaden asked with concerned.

"I have to be honest over fi..." Jesse was interrupt as Jaden's phone went off.

"Sorry I'm getting a call from my manager." Jaden said as he picked up a phone.

"Hello." Jaden said.

"Hey Jaden, I need to see you right now. You remember that you're going to be interviewed next week." His manager said.

"Huh, why?" Jaden said in confusion.

"Well they just call me saying that the person they orginally be interviewed tonight won't make it. They decided to move your schedule tonight." His manager explained.

"Wait it's tonight!?" Jaden said in surprised.

"Yes, we have less than hour. I'm sorry for the last minute interview, I'll make it up to you later." His manager apologize.

"It's ok, I'm on my way." Jaden said as he hung up and stood up from his seat.

"What's wrong?" Jesse asked.

"Sorry Jesse but my manager just call me to be in a last minute interview." Jaden said.

"Oh ok." Jesse said making a frown.

"You can tell me tomorrow, I promise. See you tomorrow. " Jaden said as he walked away.

"Yay see ya tomorrow Jay." Jesse said as Jaden left the cafe.

'*sigh* Great, now Jaden is gone. I should leave.' Jesse ponder himself.

Akemi came back with the order but she only sees Jesse and Jaden is nowhere to be found. She walked towards Jesse who was on his phone.

"Umm, what happened to your friend?" Akemi asked giving Jesse's order.

"Oh he left. He had a last minute interview." Jesse said looking up at Akemi.

'He's upset. I should tried to talk to him.' Akemi ponder herself feeling bad for Jesse.

"Is everything ok master, you look upset." Akemi asked which surprised Jesse as he was about to leave.

"Oh, yeah." Jesse said lying to Akemi.

"You sure? You're expression says otherwise. If you need someone to talk to, I'm here." Akemi said putting the tray down on the table.

"I don't know. I rather not bothering you besides you have other customers that are waiting for you." Jesse said

"No, not at all. It slow day and I don't mind helping you. Our priority as maids is to give our customers a pleasant experience in the cafe. Especially if it's a VIP customer as they pay alot more money then regular customers. They have more benefits and it would be a waste if we tried not making our customers happy." Akemi said trying to convincing Jesse to stay.

"Umm... well I don..." Jesse was interrupt by Akemi.

"I'll stay and listen to your problems." Akemi said with a smile as she sat down facing him.

"Well... if you insist. Two weeks ago, I was let go by a dueling agency because of bankruptcy. I applied many agencies but I keep getting rejected. I don't know what to do." Jesse explained

"It's fine to feel this was as it happened so suddenly and recently. I understand the feeling of getting rejected by companies either by your background, criteria, finding a better person or think that you wouldn't be good enough. You get frustrated and upset to yourself wishing you could have done better."

"Yeah that's how I feel. I wish I could have done more to help the agency to prevent from bankruptcy. At times I feel l fail them and disappointed of myself because I could have save the company but it was too late and let it happen." Jesse said being upset.

'Ouch! He really thinks it's his fault and believing that he's a failure.' Akemi ponder herself feeling sorry for him.

"I feel like my life is crumbling apart. I should have notice the signs and help them but I didn't." Jesse said feeling stress out talking about it.

"Don't blame yourself. If they really want to save the company, they should have told you ahead of time but they didn't." Akemi said try to cheer him up.

"Thanks but still feel like I could have help them" Jesse said feeling guilty.

"I may not know what happend to the agency you work with but I know you shouldn't blame yourself. Don't think that you failed the company because of bankruptcy. Life happens unexpectedly whenever we like it or not and we need to learn to move on even if it hurts us. Thing may not be good right now but if you keep trying and stay strong, something good will happened." Akemi said with a soft smile being positive towards Jesse.

"Yeah now thinking about it maybe I shouldn't blame myself about all of this and stay stuck in the pass. I should move on like what you said and keep find agencies until I get hired." Jesse said feeling better with Akemi's advice.

"Right. Just look at it in a positive light." Akemi said.

"It's just I'm nervous about my life now since I won't know what will happen." Jesse said with concerned.

"Think of it as a new chapter in your life and you can start over to find something new. I know you'll have something that will make life change for the better." Akemi said happily.

"Right." Jesse said giving Akemi a soft smile.

It was awkward between them as they both stay silent after their conversation. They avoided eye contact as they tried to think of new topic.

'I got to start a conversation because it's getting really awkward here.' Akemi ponder herself trying to think something to talk about.

Jesse on the other hand looked at her as he was thankful for her help. He didn't expect someone like her to push her job aside just to listen to their customers problems. He check her out as she looked at the other direction.

'It's nice of her to talk about my issues for someone who works as a maid. She probably doesn't have serious conversations to customers. Probably because of she had experience with creepy customers. I can see why since she is beautiful to look at... wait what am I say! Ahhh! I shouldn't thinking like that!' Jesse ponder himself blushing to look away as he didn't want Akemi to notice.

"Hey, if I don't mind asking." Akemi saidturned her attention towards him.

"Oh, Umm... sure what is it?" Jesse asked as he turned back at her.

"Are you still planning to be a Pro-Duelist?" Akemi asked.

"Yes, I love dueling and entertaining people to make enjoy dueling. When I'm on the arena and dueling my opponents, I feel fired up and having fun. This feeling is one of main reason why I want people to get into dueling as it's about having a blast and making people happy." Jesse explained which made Akemi smiled.

"That's sweet of you. It's rare to see celebrities nowadays who are passionate about their job and want to make people happy. It's shows that you're kind hearted, fun, and loving person." Akemi said happily as Jesse blushed.

"*awkwardly laughes* Hehe... thanks." Jesse said making him smile.

"Have you ever contacted with your fans? They must be worried about you for not being on the media for a while." Akemi asked.

"No, I haven't. I was too busy finding agencies and applying them that I forgot about them." Jesse replied.

"I think it's time that you tell your fans about this." Akemi said.

"Why would I do that?" Jesse asked in confusion.

"They should know about this as they will keep supporting you. I think interacting your fans and be honest with them would actually help you as they would want you to be back in the pro-circuit. Knowing them, they would try to help you while you look for an agency or find something that will find you financially. In a way, you still have your fans as long as you talk to them on any social media platform." Akemi explained.

"Well, it's been a long time since I interacted with them and they should what going on since my absence." Jesse said as he started eating.


Meanwhile in the kitchen

Atticus, Blair, and Jasmine was spying on Akemi as she was talking to Jesse. They were noisy as they never seen those two talk to each other before.

"I never expected her stay and the first to talk to a customer." Blair said.

"Yeah it's weird like if they were friends. I never seem both of them talking to each other before." Jasmine said.

"Maybe because Aster isn't here and needs a replacement for today." Atticus jokingly said.

"What are you three looking at?" Cinder said walking towards them as they turn to her.

"Oh nothing much but Akemi is talking to another guy." Atticus said.

"Wait what? You mean she not with Aster!?" Cinder said surprised to hear this.

"No, here take a look for yourself." Blair said as they moved aside to let Cinder see.

"Oh my, who that handsome young man?" Cinder asked as she saw Akemi and Jesse.

"That's Jesse one of Jaden's close friends." Atticus replied.

"Why is Akemi talking to Jesse?" Cinder asked.

"Probably because Jaden left early and Jesse was alone. Since Akemi was lonely because of Aster maybe she decided to talk to him instead." Jasmine said.

"Whatever it may be at least she made a customer happy." Cinder said.

"What makes you say that Cinder?" Blair asked in confusion.

"Well, when I saw both Jaden and Jesse, I did look at him and he looked upset and wanted to talk to Jaden. But when Jaden left he looked very upset and was about to leave until Akemi stop him. Now she made him smile as it's our job to our customers have a good experience in this cafe." Cinder explained as the others looked at her.

"You're right. We should let them be for now." Blair said as Cinder and Jasmine nodded with agreement.

"Should we tell Aster about this?" Atticus asked.

"No!" The women yelled in unison.

"*laughs* I'm just kidding." Atticus said smiling.


Back At The Private Dining Room

Akemi and Jesse continued to talk for a couple of hours as the both smiled and getting along. It was about to be ten as the cafe is about to close.

"*giggles* You were late on a dueling tournament." Akemi said giggling one of Jesse's stories.

"Yeah, I thought I was going north but I ended up going the opposite direction. It took a hour to get there but luckily I made it when they called my name. I was late for a couple of minutes I would have been kick out of the tournament." Jesse said smiling.

"*giggles* I think you have a bad sense of direction." Akemi jokingly said.

"Trust me, I'm the last person you should trust to be in charge of taking someone somewhere." Jesse said making Akemi giggled.

"*giggles* What you need is a gps in case you do get lost." Akemi said as Jesse laugh at her jokes.

"*laughs* I have been working on it. That's why I always bring my phone to use the gps. Without it I would have been in another city." Jesse said.

"*giggles* You would have." Akemi said as they heard a bell ringing loudly for everyone to hear.

"What's that?" Jesse asked as Akemi stood up from her seat.

"Oh, that's the bell for letting us know that we should tell the customers to leave as we're closing the cafe at ten." Akemi explained.

"Oh really, that fast. I guess time flies if I'm having a good time." Jesse said as he also stood up.

"Yeah." Akemi said as she escorted Jesse to the exit door.

"Thanks for listening to me and giving me advice. I really need to let it out to someone." Jesse said as they were by the door.

"It's no problem. I thought you just needed someone to destress yourself that's all" Akemi said.

"I didn't get to know your name." Jesse asked which made Akemi nervous.

'I should I tell him my name. No that's too risky because I remember that last time Jesse was here he was with Jaden and Aster. He's probably friends with Aster.' Akemi ponder herself as Jesse waited for her answer.

"Umm... miss." Jesse said which made Akemi came back from her mind.

"Oh sorry, I'm Bella Rhodes and you must be Jesse Anderson. Jaden talks a lot about you." Akemi said.

"Yeah how do know?" Jesse asked.

"I know him since he's dating my cousin." Akemi said.

"Oh right, he's going out with Alexis. It's make sense since you have the same last name as her." Jesse said.

"Yup." Akemi said opening the door.

"I better getting going. Thank you again Bella for helping me." Jesse said stepping out of the cafe.

"Your welcome, if you need someone to talk to again feel free to drop by but I'm only here at night from six to ten p.m." Akemi said.

"Ok, thanks for the info. Goodnight Bella." Jesse said as he waved her goodbye and walked away.

"You too, Jesse." Akemi said closing the door.

Akemi went back to the table and picked up the dishes and put it on the tray. She grab the tray and went to the kitchen but was greeted by Cinder, Atticus, Blair and Jasmine.

"Umm... Why are you guys waiting for me?" Akemi asked raising her eyebrow.

"We just want to know how was it talking to Jesse?" Jasmine asked as the others nodded.

"It was great. I thought he needed someone to talk to since he was down and Jaden left. I decided stayed with him to cheer him up." Akemi said putting the dishes in the sink.

"That's good to hear. That's how all our maids should do. To give customers a pleasant experience in the cafe." Cinder said.

"Are you sure you did that or is it because Aster wasn't here today?" Atticus asked teasing his cousin.

"Shut it! Aster probably had someone important to do." Akemi annoyingly said turning to Atticus.

"I bet you were lonely without him." Atticus jokingly said as Akemi went up to him with a tray and him on the head.

"Keep at it and we'll see if you can move that mouth of yours." Akemi said as Atticus rubbed his head.

"Ouch! I'm just saying. Besides aren't you going to tell Aster about this." Atticus said.

"You're crazy if I'm going to tell him." Akemi said crossing her arms.

"Why not Akemi?" Atticus jokingly asked.

"It's not his business to know besides if I told him, he'll probably get jealous of Jesse since he's hot temper. I think they're friends so, I'm not burning that bridge." Akemi explained as the others stay silent.

"I don't blame you." Blair said.

"Enough talking, we should start cleaning the cafe." Akemi said as the others nodded and went to work.


Meanwhile In A Car

It was a traffic night as their was an accident. Jesse was driving in his navy blue Dodge Challenger STR Hellcat car as he was stuck in traffic. As he was listening to music, he kept thinking about Akemi as listen to his problems, giving him advice, and is very understanding towards him.

"Damn, I should have asked her number before I left. Maybe next when I see her. For now I should focus on my dueling career and if I need help, I'll visit Bella to destress myself. She's probably the only few people I could trust talking about it." Jesse said while driving to home.


A/N: That's the end of chapter nine. What do you think about this chapter and tell me the comments down below. Thank you for reading and I hope you have a great day. Bye!