A/N: Hey guys this is chapter eleven. Enjoy!
Chapter 11 {Destress Conversation}
It was night as the city was bright as ever. Aster was driving in his silver Corvette Car as he thinking about what Mindy and Sartorius said.
Flashback
"If you keep mistreating Akemi, sooner and later she's going to get fed up. You will going to lose her and find someone that will give her the proper respect she deserves. Let that sink in for the moment." Mindy said as she walked away.
"She has a point Aster. I would take her advice. I don't know why you have a grudge against Akemi but try to be a bit more respectful towards her." Sartorius said as he left.
End of Flashback
The thought made him gripped the steering wheel. He's upset as he felt that he disappointed his best friend. Eventhough he refuses to be respectful towards Akemi, he doesn't want to disappoint Sartorius again. He drove by parking lot by the shopping center. He park his car and got out of his car. He headed to the cafe and opened the door. Aster headed to the private dining area and sat on one of the booth tables. He wait for twenty minutes as it was strange as Akemi should have come out and talked to him.
'That's weird, Bella usually comes out the minute I came in.' Aster ponder himself as Cinder came out from the kitchen and walked towards him.
"Hello Aster." Aunt Cinder said
"Hello Cinder. How are you?" Aster asked looking at her.
"I'm fine, thank you. You're waiting for my niece are you?" Cinder asked as he nodded.
"Yeah, usually Bella would come in. Where is she?" Aster asked made Cinder change her expression.
"Well, to tell you the truth. Bella couldn't make it to work today." Cinder replied as Aster looked disappointed.
"Oh I see. Is she sick?" Aster asked.
"No, her morning shift wanted her to stay overtime. She tried to get out of it but her boss refuses. She sounded unhappy about it as she wanted to be here." Cinder explained knowing what happened.
"Damn, I was hoping that she came since I needed her right now." Aster said.
"Oh, by your expression you don't look good and you want my niece to listen your problems." Cinder said.
"Yeah, I'm not having the best day." Aster said rubbing his forehead.
"Maybe, I can help you? I'm not Bella but I'm willing to help you especially you did for my niece." Cinder said.
"Well you're the owner of this cafe. Did you ever dislike a coworker before?" Aster asked.
"Mmm, well I had a couple of coworkers in the past." Cinder replied.
"How did you deal with them?" Aster asked.
"There's nothing much to do but be respectful towards them. I may not like some coworkers and I avoid them but I have to work with them to get the job done." Cinder answered.
"I guess." Aster said.
"Did something happen between you and a coworker?" Cinder asked.
"Yes, I can't get along with my secretary." Aster replied.
"Your secretary?" Cinder said as she raised her eyebrow.
"Yeah, I don't like my secretary eventhough she's the best coworker in the company. I purposely gave her a load of paperwork and never take her advice unless my close friend agrees with her. I more harsh towards her if she makes mistakes or doesn't do her work quickly. Lately, I hired my best friend as a manager and push his work on her. Today, I didn't let my secretary go as I want her to stay overtime and take care all the paperwork that was meant for my friend. One of my coworkers noticed this and told me off in front of my best friend. He was disappointed in me and when I was about to leave, I saw him helping my secretary in her office. I was frustrated not only he was helping her and she smiled happily towards him as they talked. I wanted to say something but I'll just make it worse. So, I left." Aster explained.
'Ah, it is Akemi. Well I can't let these two have each other's throats. They'll destroy their relationship that they share here.' Cinder ponder herself thinking the best way to answer.
"I know I can't get along with her but I don't want to disappoint my best friend." Aster said.
"The best way to make the situation less difficult is to get to know them and be understanding." Cinder said.
"I tired that when I hired her as my secretary two years ago. I actually like her and want to get to know her." Aster said which surprised Cinder.
'Well, Akemi never told me about this.' Cinder ponder herself curious to know more.
"What did she she do to make you dislike her?" Cinder asked.
"There were some things that shouldn't be said or act on others." Aster replied vaguely as he didn't want to talk about it.
"Oh." Cinder said noticed by his tone of voice and didn't want to push it.
"Thinking about her frustrates me. I can't stand sitting next to her for a minute. Two years later and I'm still angry about what she did to me." Aster said.
"Well it's been long enough. I think you should try to be nice and patient towards her. Sure it would be hard at first but slowly she'll be interested in you and opened up. You'll be able to have a decent conversation towards her without feeling forced or annoyed." Cinder said which made Aster unsure about her advice.
"I doubt it will work." Aster said.
"Just try again and be patient. She'll be more opened and easier to work with." Cinder said as Aster nodded.
"Right, I better be going, I don't know if I come tomorrow because I have a duel." Aster said stood up from his seat.
"Alright, I'll let Bella know. Bye Aster." Cinder said happily.
"You too Cinder." Aster said as he walked out the cafe.
"Things are not as it seems what Akemi has been telling me the whole time." Cinder said to herself confused about their past relationship as coworkers.
Time-Skip to Next Morning
Akemi was making copies of the paperwork she finished yesterday with Sartorius. She had a piled of folders on her desk ready for the papers to be printed out. As she was focused on the printer, the bottom handle that holds the door open broke and closed the clear door.
While she was waiting, Mindy and Sartorius were having a conversation. Aster came as he saw them talking and then he turned to his left to see Akemi put the copies in the folder. He thought about what Cinder said to tried to be nice to Akemi. His secretary grab the piled of folders and walked towards the closed door.
"Damn it, again. *sigh*" Akemi said as she tried to open the door but it's opened.
Akemi looked up to see her boss holding the door for her. She was surprise to see him helping her as she's holding the piled folders with both hands.
'Ok, this is weird. He's holding the door for me. Mindy and Sartorius must have said something to him but hey I'm not complaining.' Akemi ponder herself as it made her happy.
"Thank you." Akemi said as Aster nodded.
Unfortunately, the nice moment was ruined as Akemi tripped by Aster's left foot and fell on the floor. The folders knock her glasses off from her face and fell on the floor. The folders were scattered on the floor as some of the papers fell out form some of the folders. The others coworkers witnessed it as some of them laughed.
"Looks like our secretary is clumsy." Derek said as Akemi saw her glasses on the floor.
"Yeah what a klutz." Eddie said as the others laughed.
'S*t! My glasses!' Akemi ponder herself panicking that her secret will be be revealed too soon.
"You ok?" Aster asked as he tried to look at Akemi but she turned away.
"I'm fine." Akemi said staring at the floor which it annoys Aster.
Akemi was about to grab her glasses but Aster pick it up. Akemi was panicking as she didn't want him to see her without her glasses.
"Here." Aster said giving her glasses as Akemi.
Akemi snatched it quickly still avoiding eye contact with her boss. This angered Aster as he didn't like the way she's acting towards him. Sartorius and Mindy noticed this as they quickly walked towards them. Akemi quickly put on her glasses and picked up the papers and folders.
"Akemi are you ok?" Mindy asked as Sartorius helps to pick up some of the folders from the floor.
"Yeah I'm ok." Akemi said grabbing the folders and stood up.
"You sure because I could have sworn that Mr. Phoenix purposely make you fell on the floor." Mindy said as they looked at Aster.
"What?! I did not!" Aster yelled.
"Really? Then why didn't you move your foot if Akemi can't see because she's carrying a stack of folders." Mindy said painting him as the bad guy.
"How should I know that she'll tripped?!" Aster asked as started to get irritated.
"Mindy, it was an accident. He didn't mean it. It's my fault for not looking or asking for help." Akemi said defending her boss.
"Akemi are you saying that because you're afraid that Mr. Phoenix will lash it out on you later?" Mindy asked concerning for her friend.
"No, I'm not." Akemi answer.
"Ok then, but he should at least apologize." Mindy said giving him a cold stare.
"*sigh* I'm sorry that I made you fell on the floor." Aster said as Akemi smiled for a quick second.
"It's ok. It was an accident Mr. Phoenix." Akemi said looking at him.
"I'll take these folders to your office Akemi." Sartorius said.
"Thank you Sartorius." Akemi said as they walked together to her office.
Mindy turned to Aster as she's still piss as she crossed her arms.
"I wasn't being an asshole. Agr! Whatever." Aster said irritated as he walked towards his office.
"Huh, sure you weren't." Mindy said.
Time-Skip to Tonight at the Cafe
Akemi was in the kitchen still thinking about Aster. She was glad that Sartorius didn't like the special treatment that Aster give him and is willing to help Akemi. Telling Aster her issues as Bella wouldn't help as he is the problem. She keep it to herself having no one to turn to and tell her problems.
Akemi heard the bell and went to the private dining area. She was expecting Aster to come but it wasn't him this time. It was Jesse sitting on one of the table booths. She smiled and walk towards him.
"Hey Bella." Jesse said looking up at her.
"Hello Jesse, what brings you here today?" Akemi asked.
"I just need someone to talk to." Jesse said.
"Have a rough day?" Akemi asked.
"More like three weeks." Jesse said.
"*giggles* That makes it two of us." Akemi said.
"You too?" Jesse asked.
"Yup, I'll tell you later. For now, what do you like to order?" Akemi asked.
"I guess the same order as last time." Jesse replied as Akemi tap on her pad.
"Ok, you're order will come soon." Akemi said as Jesse nodded.
She headed back the kitchen as waiting for the order for ten minutes. After the order done, she grab the order and left the kitchen. She set his order on the table.
"Here's your order." Akemi said.
"Thanks." Jesse said as Akemi sat down.
"So tell me, what happened these passed weeks?" Akemi asked as Jesse took a bite from his burger.
"Well I tried to find work as always until I found an agency." Jesse said as he remembered the agency.
Flashback
Jesse was in his appartment as he was in his bedroom. He laid on his bed as he has bills on his nightstand. Sure he still has money but sooner or later he'll have to find some way to earn money.
"*sigh* I really need to find a job and fast." Jesse said as his phone rings.
He grabbed his phone as the call is from an unknown number.
"Hello." Jesse said answering the call.
"Hello, is this Jesse Anderson?" The caller asked.
"Yes." Jesse said.
"Good I'm the owner of one of the agencies as I'm surprised that you applied my company and I'm interested in you." The caller said.
"Really?" Jesse said surprising to hear.
"Yes, I haven't seen you in the media for a while." The caller said.
"About that, I was let go from my previous agency." Jesse said.
" I see, don't worry about it. With my help you'll be back in the pro leagues in no time." The caller said.
"Ok then I'll come in tomorrow morning at nine. How's that sound to you?" Jesse asked.
"Great I'll send you the address and you might want to bring your bag." The caller said.
"Sure thank you." Jesse said as he hung up and sighed in relief. Thinking that his search is finally over.
The next day, Jesse drove to the address they gave him as he arrived his location. He park his car and got out. It was odd as the area was secluded from the busy streets. He brush it off and headed inside as someone was waiting for him.
"Hello Jesse, I'm the owner of the agency." He said as they shake hands.
"It's nice to meet you." Jesse said.
"Come on, I'll show you around." The owner said as they started walking.
As the owner show Jesse around the building, he tells him about their agency and the rules they have which doesn't bother him until they mention their training. They were kinda vague about it as they usually have the newcomers to training three weeks before dueling in front of the audience. He brush it off believe that they need time to prepare themselves. They went into an isolated room as it was big. There was nothing much except a robot.
"This is where you'll be training your duel for the next three weeks." Owner said as Jesse looked around.
"There nothing much except a robot. Why is it here?" Jesse asked turning to the owner.
"This robot will be your dueling partner. We test our duelists to their fullest potential. We should test your abilities right now." The owner said as he gave him a dueling disk.
"Ok." Jesse said as he grab it and took his deck out, ready to duel.
During the duel, Jesse was having a hard time as the monster's attacks felt real. He actually felt more pain unlike his duels in the pro circuit. He dealt with it as he wanted to duel with his friends again. He kept on playing until the owner yelled at him.
"Jesse don't hold back. Give everything you got." The owner said as Jesse didn't want to ruin it.
"Umm you sure? I might destroy the robot." Jesse asked with concerned.
"Yes, just destroy it. I have plenty of more robots in the storage." The owner said.
"All right then." Jesse said as he order Sapphire Pegasus to attack it.
The robot was destroyed into pieces as it lost the duel. Jesse took a couple of the deep breaths. He could still feel the pain from the holograms.
"Great job, Jesse." The owner said as he walked up to him.
"I could have sworn that the holograms attacks actually felt a lot more pain and real." Jesse said.
"Don't worry you'll get use to it." The owner said.
For the next three weeks, Jesse was training as he duel against robots and was order to destroy every single one of them. Everytime he gets hit, he feels that the holograms are actually hitting him physically depending how each monster attack. He wasn't fond about it as he always comes home tired, sore, and stress from his training. Jesse was starting to get suspicious as he notice that the owner purposely have duelists avoiding contact with each other and have them isolated in a room for training. The owner reassure Jesse that there nothing to worry about and promise him that he'll be back in the pro circuit.
"Since you're three weeks of training is done. I setting you up a dueling schedule for tomorrow." The owner said as they walked around the building.
"Great! So where will the duel take place." Jesse said.
"You'll be dueling right here." The owner said as he show him the arena.
It was a big crowd of audience as they cheered on the duel. The two duelists were on the arena as they in a n electric cage. Each of them had wore shock collar ever time they lose their life points. One of the duelists order his monster attack the duelist as it knock him to the cage and electrocute him. Jesse was paralyzed to witness this as the crowd was cheering on. He couldn't believe that they allowed this and the audience was enjoying it.
"This is..." Jesse was interrupt by the owner.
"Great, right! Look at the audience, they're cheering on as both duelist are fighting for their lives." The owner said grinning which disgusted Jesse.
"No! How this entertainment?!" Jesse yelled angrily.
"Wait, what do you mean?!" The owner asked in confusion.
"This is wrong! They're hurting each other!" Jesse yelled as they heard a scream and turned to the arena.
One of the duelists scream as he getting electrocute and collapse. The fans are cheering on yelling him to get up and fight back. The duel was over as the duelist laid on the ground. Two guards grab him and took him away. Jesse hated this as he wanted to duel again but not like this. He walked towards the locker room as his owner quickly followed him.
"Wait where are you going Jesse?" The owner said as he opened the door.
"I'm leaving and I don't want to be part of this." Jesse said.
"But Jesse I promise you that it will get you back to the pro circuit." The owner said as Jesse grab his bag.
"No, I'm not interested. If this is way to get me back in the pro leagues then I'm out. Don't ever call me again." Jesse said as he left the locker room.
End of Flashback
As Jesse told his story, Akemi was in disbelief as she never heard of these types of duels.
"After I left, he called me many times to rethink my decision but I block the number." Jesse said.
"Woah this is a lot to take in. Sorry that you had to go through all that training for nothing." Akemi said.
"It's ok, it's for the best. If I stayed, I wouldn't enjoy the duels." Jesse said.
"At least you stood up for yourself and walked away." Akemi said cheering him up.
"Yeah, that's my story. What about yours?" Jesse asked.
"Well I have another job besides this one as it's my morning shift. I work as a secretary of a company. Three weeks ago my boss hired his best friend to work alongside with him. Because of this my boss is giving him special treatment, listen to him, allowing him longer lunch break, and giving him less work. All the work was shift in into me on purpose by my boss. It was stressful as I had to it by myself for three weeks. Yesterday, he wanted me to stay overtime but I needed to be here. I told him if I could come tomorrow morning but he flat out refuses and I got scolded." Akemi explained as Jesse listens to her story.
"Wow, that's harsh." Jesse said feeling sorry for her.
"My friend had enough of this and went to complain my boss in front of his friend. His friend wasn't happy to my boss." Akemi said.
"Wow that's good to hear. What happened next?" Jesse asked.
"His friend felt bad and went to my office to help me with the paperwork." Akemi replied which made Jesse smiled.
"That's nice to hear. At least he and your friend did the right thing." Jesse said.
"I'm not use to having people to help me more less defended me." Akemi said.
"I'm guessing that you're not treated much respect compared to the rest your coworkers." Jesse said.
"Yes, they don't like me especially my boss. He doesn't appreciate how much work I put into compared to the others." Akemi said.
"Ouch you got it rough, so why you boss doesn't like you?" Jesse asked.
"To be honest I don't know. He doesn't care about me and let's the others make fun of me. At times, he joins in to mock me." Akemi said.
"Well do you ever talking to him about it?" Jesse asked.
"No. If I do, he scolded me and would say if I don't like work here then quit." Akemi said which annoyed Jesse.
"Geez this guy is an asshole. I would have knock some sense into him. He shouldn't treat a lady like that." Jesse said as it made Akemi worried.
'I wouldn't do that especially the guy I'm talking about is Aster, your friend.' Akemi ponder herself as she didn't want him know.
"Don't you don't want to quit? Your boss is mistreating you." Jesse asked worried for Akemi.
"I can't. I need the money and that's the only job that pays more that minimum wage." Akemi said.
"Wow, you work two jobs. That must be stressful." Jesse said.
"Well not really when I'm here unlike my other job." Akemi said.
"I hope this isn't personal but do you have financial issues? It's odd for a secretary to work two jobs as it's more than enough to make a living." Jesse said finding her story odd.
"Yeah I do but I'm not doing for myself. It's my dad." Akemi said which surprised him.
"Your dad?" Jesse said in confusion.
"Two years ago my dad became ill and end up in the hospital for five months." Akemi said which made the man sympathetic towards her.
'Damn, she really has it hard.' Jesse ponder himself learning more about Akemi and her struggles through life.
"Is he ok?" Jesse asked as Akemi nodded.
"Yeah, my dad is staying home for medication to recover. The doctor said that he had lay off of work due to the illness. Even though he has disability check every month it wasn't enough for the hospital bills that are piled up. So, I ended up taking over to pay everything." Akemi explained as her expression changed to sadness.
"Sorry you had to got through that. Didn't you asked for help? Jaden could have helped you to pay your dad's medical bills." Jesse asked as Akemi didn't like his suggestion.
"It's fine. Jaden did wanted to help by giving me money but I refused. I didn't want to rely on him to fix my problems and I never liked when people give me money." Akemi replied.
"Oh I see. You feel like your taking advantage of the situation and you don't want to beg for money. " Jesse said as Akemi sighed.
"Yup and here I am working two jobs to help my ill father." Akemi said as Jesse finished his meal.
"You're a tough cookie. I wouldn't survive a week." Jesse said as Akemi giggled.
"*giggles* Thanks, I tried my best." Akemi said feeling better.
"I should get going but before I forget like last time I came in. Can you tell me your number? I thought if we can't see each often. We could call or text if you're comfortable." Jesse said rubbing behind his head and stood up his seat.
'Usually, I would say no but since we're helping each other and he's nice I will give it to him.' Akemi ponder herself.
"Sure, I'll give it to you." Akemi said grabbing a notebook and pen.
"Cool." Jesse said walking towards the door as Akemi wrote her number down and rip it.
"Here's my number." Akemi said walking towards him and giving him a piece of paper.
"Thanks, I'll be leaving. See you later Bella." Jesse said grabbing the piece of paper and opens the door.
"You too Jesse." Akemi said as he went outside and closed the door.
As Jesse came out of the cafe, Aster was driving as he parked his car. He saw Jesse leaving from the cafe.
"Wait, is that Jesse?" Aster said as Jesse walked towards his car.
He was surprised to see Jesse coming out of the cafe alone as he wouldn't be the type to stay there. Something was off as Jesse smiled like if he meant someone new.
"Why would he be here?" Aster asked as Jesse went in his car and drove off.
A/N: That's the end of chapter eleven. What do you think about this chapter and comment down below. Thank you for reading and I hope you have a great day. Bye!
