Chapter 3:
It took all of her willpower and a lot of praying to the heavens above for Tenten not to bolt right then and there.
This man is so insufferable, Tenten thought with a scowl.
He had his chin resting on his fisted knuckles and both his elbows on the table, leaning forward. The smirk on his face was ever-present and gleaming with something suspicious that she couldn't help the goosebumps that rose on her skin when she saw his eyes dart towards her mouth.
Tenten licked her lips subconsciously and his eyes immediately locked with hers in a second. She cursed the warmth that settled on her lower abdomen as the intensity between them flickered and crackled like a growing fire.
"I see you guys have met already!"
Heart pounding, Tenten leaned her back on the chair and crossed her arms, head automatically swiveling towards Lee, and grimacing.
From the corner of her eye, she could see Mr. Long Hair lean back on his chair as well, blinking rapidly in succession before pinching the bridge of his nose and crossing one arm over his torso.
The sound of clinking plates alerted her attention back to Lee, who was distributing the food and beverages amongst the three of them before setting aside the tray on a vacant chair and sitting himself on another one as well.
"We have met before, yes. But I haven't had the pleasure of knowing her name yet."
Her eyes drifted back to the man across from her yet his eyes were no longer at her, but instead at the cup of tea he was stirring.
With his back straight and surprisingly blank face, Tenten would have accused him to be a different person altogether if it weren't for the small upturn at the corner of his lips as he placed the teaspoon back on the saucer.
And as Lee once again interrupted her train of thought as he gave introductions, Tenten should really stop staring at Mr. Long Hair, or as Lee called him, Hyuga fucking Neji.
It seems her cursing habit hadn't faded after all.
On any normal day, Hyuga Neji's body clock would wake himself up by six o'clock, give or take a few minutes. It was ingrained to him by his extremely strict father who expected him to be at the dining table by six-thirty on the dot.
It was a good habit to have, and one he brought with him to college and even now to his late twenties despite living independently.
This also meant that alarm clocks, and the resounding annoyance that came with it, were absolutely unnecessary.
Which explains Neji's irritation at the incessant ringing of his phone at four-thirty in the goddamned morning.
"What?" Neji snarled at the person on the receiving line.
"A fantastic morning Neji!"
Letting out a shaky, controlled breath, Neji struggled not to just end the call right then and there, because if anything, it would only prompt Lee to call again and god forbid, fetch him at his condo himself.
"What do you want Lee? The sun isn't even up yet," he said, voice low in a muttered threat.
"Well, I just finished with my warm-up routine and I thought I'd call to check up on you," Lee exclaimed.
Neji groaned and fell back on his bed.
"You're getting you're goddamned car at seven o'clock sharp later this morning. So help me, I will crash land it to the river if you don't hang up in thirty seconds."
"Right! Yosh! I'm sorry Neji, I'm just so excited to drive my new baby and I admittedly feel a bit jealous that you got to ride it first. But don't worry, I'll–"
Neji promptly hit the end button and placed his phone back on the side table and curled himself in the warmth of his comforters.
"What do you mean you can't make it? I'm just beside your building!" Neji hissed against his phone, forcefully turning off the ignition of Lee's new car and almost wanting to slam his head against the steering wheel. Despite his frustrations with its owner though, the way the engine sang and hummed to a stop as he turned the ignition was a melody in his ears and he certainly appreciated the fine tune of the expensive car.
It wasn't enough to appease him however. Especially after that four-thirty wake up call, it wasn't a stretch to say that he was feeling cranky.
"I'm really sorry Neji. I was asked to work at our site downtown for the morning but I'll be back for lunch. How's that sound?"
With gritted teeth, Neji responded, "I have a lunch meeting with a potential client today." Which he needed to prepare for right now, he added in his head tersely.
"After work then! You pick the place. My treat. For your troubles. You can order anything you want. Please don't hurt my car." Click.
The last part was said ridiculously fast and was almost humorous if Neji wasn't so annoyed.
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Neji moved to turn on the ignition when he spied the café he was supposed to meet Lee in, as well as the time on the dashboard.
It was still too damn early for work.
Releasing a sharp breath from his nose, he pocketed the keys and left the car. Once the tell-tale beep of the car locking was heard, he proceeded to the coffee giant for some much needed breakfast and tea.
"What's gotten you in such a good mood?"
"What?" It was not uncommon for Neji to be told that he was too cranky, that he should be more personable, or that he should be downright more pleasant, considering the big promotion he just had last week. But Neji never equated likability to efficiency so unfortunately for the people around him, the hard edged exterior and the unforgiving meticulousness gets the work done and would thus remain until it fails to do so.
Which was why, Neji was indeed taken a bit surprised when someone commented on his quote, 'good mood.'
"You were smiling, and dare I say it, almost bopping your head like you were listening to some pop song."
Neji frowned, unaware of his shoulders stiffening in response.
"Was I?" He tried to play it off nonchalantly, but in reality, he really was in a good mood. God forbid he actually told them why.
A person wheeled away from a cubicle and decided to join their conversation whilst not leaving their chair.
"Yeah you were and I know whyyyy," the person sang.
Neji narrowed his eyes, "What are you on, Uzumaki?"
If said Uzumaki felt the underlying threat then he chose to disregard it, since, as always, he failed to shut his trap.
"I saw youuu," the grin was unmistakable and Neji could see it was no bluff.
"In that café, you were flirting!"
Neji cringed at the word used, flirting was another thing not associated with him much, and he could see the Nara raise his eyebrows in response at the news.
"No wonder," Shikamaru remarked, "She must be something else if Mr. Boss Man is actually openly flirting with her."
He wanted to sigh at the nickname, but ever since his promotion it has been a common occurrence yet he has not gotten used to it.
Naruto nodded his head vigorously. "Something else entirely! Mr. Boss Man over here looked as if he was being rejected too!" Naruto snickered.
If possible given his often bored disposition, Shikamaru looked even more surprised. Rejection wasn't an all too common word associated with him either, but Neji digressed. He wouldn't call it a rejection on his part. But admittedly, he did come off as a douche.
"Was she pweetty?" Shikamaru commented. Earning a snicker and a fist bump from Naruto at the Hyuga's disgruntled expression, the tips of his ears turning a light shade of red.
"Hn."
"Come to think of it," the blonde started, "She actually looked kinda familiar. I think we've seen her somewhere before."
Before Naruto could say anything else, Neji decided to cut in, "If you two gentlemen are done with your gossiping, let's get started with work shall we?"
Shikamaru waved him off nonchalantly, whilst giving his own version of a smirk and headed towards his own office.
"Kill joy," muttered Naruto as he wheeled back his chair towards his own cubicle and Neji was left to pinch the bridge of his nose in annoyance before heading towards his own office space.
Never was he really a personable guy but he did get the job done. The thought ran through his head as he shook their new client's hand and gave them a shallow bow, his facial muscles finally relaxing after straining them with all the polite smiling he's been doing.
The client didn't seem to notice as he gave a boisterous laugh and a pat on his lower back, commending him for a good first impression of the company and his blatant sales talk.
To which Neji waved off, "It was no sales talk, Onoki-sama. Just facts."
The stout man gave another cookie laugh. "Well, I'm expecting a lot from this partnership boy, you better make good on that contract."
"You have my word," said Neji, giving again a shallow bow as Onoki put on his top hat and moved to leave the table.
Their other company, a woman with short raven hair, Kurotsuchi, Onoki's secretary as she was introduced, moved to follow the stout old man, but not before she left behind her congratulations.
"You're really good if Onoki-sama complimented you. He's never too keen on young people. Congrats," Kurotsuchi smiled at him, showing off her pearly whites, eyes a deep onyx.
Neji just gave a polite, shallow bow.
"We try our best," he said.
Slightly taken aback by the curt response, Kurotsuchi fished for her wallet and handed him her business card.
"For any concerns, or should you wish for some insider's input regarding the contract, feel free to contact me."
Neji accepted the card gracefully, and merely said a polite "Thank you." He opened his briefcase and inserted the business card in a small pocket, and offered a shallow bow again.
A bit disappointed at the lack of response, Kurotsuchi mirrored the gesture and bid him farewell.
Once they were out the restaurant, Neji returned to his seat and loosened his tie, taking a deep breath.
Onoki was nefarious for being conservative, closed-minded, and difficult to deal with, and he felt that he had barely came out of the meeting unscathed. He might even take up the secretary's offer for a few concerns and send her an email.
Downing the rest of his, expensive and company-paid, wine, Neji was about to fix his tie again when his phone lit up with a text message.
'Curry of Life at Karashi's after work?'
Without so much as a grimace at the suggestion, Neji sent a quick two-letter reply.
'No.'
Not even two seconds later, his phone lit up again.
':( '
Neji resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
"You're not going overtime today, are you? You should be wrapping up your work by now!"
Neji was about ready to turn off his phone. Lee was incessant with his texts after his lunch meeting and would not stop asking about his new convertible.
"Is it as smooth as it was advertised?"
"Have you tried going over a hundred kilometers per hour on the freeway?"
"Ohhhh Neji, I'm so excited! I'm also bringing a friend over so expect some company. You still haven't told me the meetup place. What if we need to make a reservation?"
Neji allowed a sharp exhale to escape him, the only physical indication that he was getting annoyed at Lee's pestering.
He was about to construct Lee a scathing reply but his Messenger app suddenly took over the screen.
His cousin was calling.
Odd, Neji thought. Hinata knows to call him only after work hours.
Figuring that it must be an emergency that it couldn't wait for thirty minutes, Neji quickly swiped to answer, his face visible in the video call.
"What happe-"
"We had to learn about your promotion through LinkedIn?! That's a low blow, even for you Nii-san."
Neji sighed.
Not even two words past his lips, his other cousin had cut him off.
"Hanabi!" someone admonished off screen. There were a few scuffles and camera shifting before he was faced with the name bearer of the account.
"Hi Nii-san, congratulations on your promotion!" greeted Hinata, a warm smile on her face. But the smile was quickly replaced with a frown and a knotted brows. He could feel a sermon coming up.
"But we were really disappointed that we had to find out through LinkedIn. Why didn't you tell us?"
"Yeah! We could have had an excuse to party in this boring house!" Neji heard from Hanabi off-screen.
He saw Hinata merely raise an eyebrow at her sister's suggestion but focused again on him.
"Well?"
Hinata is such a mom, Neji couldn't help but think. But the call was inevitable as he had neglected to inform him of his recent change in job title.
"No particular reason," he answered. "It's not that big of a deal."
The response was instantaneous. The phone was snatched from Hinata's hand and the camera refocused on Hanabi's pointed look.
"Getting promoted to Regional Director on your second year is not a big deal? I didn't know you were capable of humble-bragging, Nii-san. It ain't cute."
God, he wanted to hang up now.
"I just didn't want to make a big deal out if it, is what I meant."
"Well, yeah we know you don't like the attention but we could have went out and celebrated. You know, just you, me and Hinata-nee-chan, and even Father!"
At the mention of the Hyuga Patriarch, Neji's mood turned sour.
Hanabi seemed to have noticed as she had quickly passed the phone to her sister. The only thing he could see and hear was the ceiling and a few whispers and hissing, and then he was face-to-face with Hinata again.
"Nii-san, we haven't seen you since Christmas. You didn't even go with us to the temple on New Year's. We miss you."
Ah yes, he had chosen to celebrate the incoming year at the privacy of his condo, alone with a book and his peace of mind.
He had been avoiding family functions for a while, New Years was no exception, though he made the effort to show himself at the clan's Annual Holiday Family Reunion.
At his lack of response, Hinata shifted on screen.
"He's already sorry, Neji. You know he can't express himself very well but we can see how this has also been affecting him."
"Tch." He could not have prevented the sound to escape his lips as he glared at the floor, not looking at the screen but he could see from the corner of his eye that Hinata was frowning at him.
"You're being unfair Nii-san. You said some hurtful things as well."
He was saved from the courtesy of responding by a sharp three knocks on the door. Thanking the stars for Naruto's bright blonde head, he quickly dismissed Hinata's admonishments.
"Let's talk about this some other time Hinata. Something came up."
Hinata gave a sigh of defeat and nodded at him through the camera. Neji just gave her a consolation upturn of lips.
"Alright. We're glad for your promotion Nii-san. You know you're welcome here anytime."
Neji nodded in the affirmative, "You too."
He moved to drop the call but without giving a few jibes of his own, "And tell Hanabi that the slang she's trying to adopt from her university crowd is uncouth and tasteless."
He quickly tapped the drop call button but not without hearing the adamant "Hey!" from Hanabi.
Neji dropped the phone on his desk drawer and motioned Naruto from the glass door to come in before he could knock again.
"Hey, Mr. Boss Man."
Neji's eyebrow twitched at the nickname.
"Reception was trying to get you but your line was on DND. He said a guy named Lee was asking about you guys' date and to not be late."
This time, Neji actually groaned and covered his face with a hand.
Confused by his response, Naruto sounded out some suggestions.
"Is this guy a stalker? Should we have him blocked? Or..?" Yes, please.
"No, that won't be needed. I'll call the reception. Thanks."
"Ayt! If you say so. Some of the guys and I will be going out for barbeque after six. Shoot me a text if you wanna join Boss Man!"
Neji just nodded in response and waved him off. Naruto simply shrugged his shoulders and left the room.
Checking his accursed phone again, he saw another five unread text messages from Lee, the latest one asking for the meetup place.
Without even reading the other unread messages, he replied.
'Akimichi's in twenty. Late for one minute, you'll be picking it up in the river. '
The response was instantaneous.
'Yosh! I will collect my friend now and be on our way!'
Annoyed, Neji pocketed his phone, closed his laptop and cleared his desk.
This has become a most tiresome day.
A/N: Lol. I have no excuse. But I hope you liked the third chapter! I've taken more liberty in writing Neji's personality in this story so I hope it reflected well.
See you on the next one!
