A/N: - I'm back with a new chapter, after 2 years.
Nitant, if you're reading this, I want to dedicate this chapter to you. Thank you for kissing my tiny little hands and reminding me what they're capable of.
Chapter 1: Rolling With It
She saw tumbleweeds rolling, standing in front of Akashi's company. The building was a skyscraper, packed with glass windows throughout. Why she was asked to come here, that she did not know. She was hoping it wouldn't be something related to her gaffe from before.
"I'm Itou Nishina, Akashi-sama's PA," the middle-aged woman stated as Kae entered the room, "Thank you for coming, Miyazono-san."
She noticed the flowers on the window, and a smile broke out on her lips. A fellow plant-lover.
"Your bromeliads look lovely," Kae said.
The woman, Nishina, gave her a solid look, full of attention.
"Are you perhaps a botanist yourself?" the middle-aged woman asked.
"My parents own a flower shop. I know all there is to know about plants and flowers," Kae was smiling.
"We're kindred spirits then," Nishina smiled back, "age is truly just a number."
Kae said, "Right."
Getting to the actual point, Kae asked, "I hope this meeting is not regarding the alteration I made into Dongxiang's statue. I am truly apologetic for it."
"Did you know Akashi-san fired the manager who was in-charge of the Dongxiang project?" Nishina put her words forward.
"He got fired?!" Kae was bewildered.
"It was bound to happen," the middle-aged woman stated.
She said it as though she was implying that the previous manager was a cocky person. Probably got on his high horse, being Akashi-san's sole manager and all.
She'd guessed it from the get go, that this woman was his secretary. She'd thought that someone like Akashi Seijuuro would have employed someone younger. Although he was considerably young, it was rare for a businessman to have an older secretary. But then again, anyone younger than him wouldn't have the proper experience of serving someone of his stature.
"So I take it the queue on the second floor is-"
"Hiring process. New manager," Itou said, taking a few papers out of the desk drawer and studying them.
Wait a moment, if the secretary was over here, who was handling the hiring process?
As if she'd already read her mind, Itou started, "He's doing it himself. Being Akashi-san's manager requires a lot of…" Itou pondered for a word, "calibre. He'll only hire someone according to his preferences."
"That makes sense to me."
It didn't. How could a person be so picky?
Kae gulped as she recalled the experience of being in the same room as him, all alone. She could only feel sorry for all the people who were going through the same torture.
Itou hummed and handed the documents to her. Right as Kae's hands clasped the papers, Itou's hold tightened, rendering her stationary as they made eye contact.
"Please do not divulge from the instructions provided," the woman intoned.
It was a miracle how she'd been given another project.
"Of course. I won't repeat the same mistake again," Kae said solemnly, "Akashi-san is a really generous person for letting me work again."
Without breaking eye contact, Itou started, "Thank your supervisor. He's the one who convinced him. Akashi-san is no pushover."
"I didn't mean it that way!"
Itou stopped her before she could continue.
"Kaidou-san has vouched for your skill. You shouldn't disappoint him." Itou got up from her seat and walked towards the glass door, heels clacking throughout the way. She held the door open and gave her a firm look.
"Of course," Kae followed after her and bowed, "Thank you for your time."
The older woman gave her a curt smile and closed the door after her.
She looked at the queue of people on the second floor. Most of the candidates consisted of young women, all dressed up and professional.
Her eyes darted towards the big office's door that opened as a male candidate came out of the room.
A shining yellow eye met her gaze as the door blocked the rest of his face, making every hair on the back of her neck stand up. The shadows around him gave him an ominous look because of the window right behind him. She felt a pang of something indescribable right as their eyes met in that split second.
Akashi Seijuuro.
The door closed as another candidate entered the office, leaving her glued where she stood. She finally let out the breath she'd been holding and decided to leave as soon as the door closed.
.
"You're going to die of liver failure." Kae sighed in disbelief.
"Shwut up," Hina turned to the bartender, "More soju, pleaseee."
Kae looked at the bartender and signalled him from behind.
"I'm sorry, ma'am, but we're closing soon. Have a safe trip home." The bartender plastered an uncomfortable smile on his face.
"Awww, killjoys. I'm nevaahhh coming back here," Hina snivelled into Kae's shoulder.
"Sure, it's not like this is the 35th time you've said this in the past three months," Kae giggled and supported her friend up.
"Right," Hina exchanged a fond glance with the bartender and nodded, "This is probably the 36th or 37th time."
Kae passed a few bills to the bartender as gratitude for his 'closing soon' service and bid him goodbye while supporting Hina.
"Why are you the one getting black out drunk anyway? I am the one who should be winding down!" Kae shook her friend as they got into the cab.
"Hahahaha," Hina laughed in drunken stupor, "You're dead. He's going to kill you. He has ties with the mafia."
The cab driver came to a screeching halt and turned around, concerned.
Kae quickly interjected, "I'm sorry, don't mind her. She's drunk, she doesn't know what she's saying."
"I see," the driver laughed nervously, "Long day, huh?"
"Yea, kinda." Kae tried to smile.
Hina leaned in closer to her, and whispered, "I'm telling you, Akashi Seijuuro has ties with the mafia. All bwig businessmen do."
"Alright, that's enough. I'm going to make you barf if you don't shut up."
She took the intoxicated woman back to her apartment, arm around her shoulder, straggling and straying off from the path.
"Go to sleep, Hina-chan," Kae sighed, "We've both got work tomorrow."
.
On her way to Akashi's new building, she decided to stop at her usual florist. Itou Nishina seemed like a good woman. She knew exactly the kind of thing she would like, so it wasn't a problem getting it.
When she reached the new Akashi building that was under wraps, she found it dull. It didn't invoke anything in her. The walls were unpainted, there were only painters and workers around. No trinkets, no jazz, she was the one in-charge of it all. Truth be told, her knees went a little weak every time she was reminded that she was in-charge of the paintings and sculptures to be put in the building.
This was the first time she was given such a huge project, that too from a client as reputed as Akashi Corp. This would look amazing on her C.V. as well as portfolio. Needless to say, there was a lot of excitement.
She knew there was no point in getting nervous. When you were uncertain about things, it was best to just roll with it. She'd gotten the hang of a lot of things that way.
She'd received the blueprints of the building and had already laid out a plan for the building's main statue that would be placed at the entrance. She would herself make sure it would be up to the mark, and invoke something in anyone who entered.
She saw a black Mercedes pull up at the parking lot, and immediately knew who was arriving.
Reminding herself to breathe, she looked up at the entrance with an emboldened will, surprised to see only Nishina walk inside.
They both acknowledged each other, as soon as their eyes met.
"Miyazono-san," Nishina iterated her name with familiarity.
"Didn't think you'd be visiting the new building, Itou-san," Kae said.
"Our entire comms department is situated on the upper floors. The upper floors have been fixed up to the mark, so it is habitable," Nishina explained.
"I see," Kae then remembered about the gift she'd bought, "I got you some peony seeds from my florist. They're of great quality, and look amazing with bromeliads."
Nishina looked at the envelope in front of her, as if surprised. She met her eyes with Kae and then back to the envelope again.
"Why, thank you, Miyazono-san. That is such a kind gesture."
"No worries, just thought you'd like some seeds for that empty pot in your office."
"Itou." The tall red-head intoned, staring at the envelope in Nishina's hands.
Kae failed to notice when he got there in her conversation with Nishina.
"Akashi-sama," she acknowledged, "this is-"
Akashi cut her off, "Miyazono Kae."
Her feet were turning into jelly. Did all businessmen carry such an aura, or was he something special?
"Ah, you remember her, that's great."
"H-hello, Akashi-san," Kae greeted, earning an almost unnoticeable nod from him.
Kae couldn't help but notice how his gaze kept going back to the envelope she'd given to Nishina. She was clenching her jaw, there was definitely some kind of tension between Akashi and her.
"Shall we go, Itou?" Akashi asked, turning to Nishina.
"Hai, Akashi-sama, everyone is waiting."
Nishina bid her a good day and walked into the building with Akashi.
.
It was tiring, meeting so many people throughout the day for Akashi.
Most of the women were too full of themselves, most of the men lacked proper experience. He didn't know who to choose, they were all mostly the same.
The last time he'd let the Human Resource manager take care of the hiring process, it had been a total disaster. Nothing matched up, and then there was the Dongxiang disaster. This time, he would make sure he hired someone actually suitable for the role.
Other roles could do with even a slightly adept person, but the managerial and secretarial roles had to be perfect. Otherwise, he would keep getting angry too often.
Amongst the new candidates for the managerial role, he was in no way going to hire a woman. But obviously, they couldn't write that into the job post, because that would be sexist.
Itou, as a secretary, didn't lack anything. She had the years of experience, was out of his age group, and sometimes was a friend to confide in. She was happily married with two children in their late teens, which took a lot of load off Akashi's shoulders, in a way.
It wasn't sexist per se, Akashi had had too many instances where women around his age would forget what they were hired for and have different goals instead of their professional ones. It was infuriating.
To top it off, these women knew he was hard to latch onto, yet they would try their luck to no avail.
"May I enter, Akashi-san?" The male candidate opened the door slightly.
Akashi intoned a yes, and something in him churned for a moment as he met his eyes with the woman in the far distance.
'Miyazono Kae.'
He was good with names. Never forgot any once he was familiarized with people.
He didn't know what to make of the woman. Something in her had put him into a dilemma, of sorts. One, she didn't listen to the orders given to her by his company. Two, her not listening to the orders saved the company's face.
Most of the people he'd meet were nervous around him, he already knew the effect his presence had on people. He always had a stance against a person, be it judge of their character, like an annoying person, a person too full of themselves, a morally grey person, and so on.
For Miyazono Kae though, he couldn't put a finger on what he thought of her. And that was disturbing. Was he supposed to look at her with contempt because of what she did, or was he supposed to look at her with general respect because of what happened?
If you knew Akashi Seijuuro, you'd know he didn't like being confused, from the get-go.
He decided to shrug it off - for the time being - as the door closed. There was something else at hand right then.
.
When he'd got to the entrance of the building after Itou, he'd spotted her again.
His eyes immediately darted to the envelope she was handing to Itou.
When did this woman get on good terms with Itou?
Was she trying to befriend her to get to him?
What was in the envelope? Definitely not cash.
Did she put herself on a high horse because her actions helped the company?
Did she think she was morally sound in some way?
Who was this woman?
There were a lot of questions spurring in his mind. And that was hardly a case for Akashi Seijuuro.
There was never anything to put a finger onto, in Miyazono Kae's case. And, it was getting infuriating every second.
Akashi usually wouldn't spare a second thought on someone he didn't actually know. Yet another thing he didn't understand was, why was he giving so much thought into being confused, when he could just shrug it off?
"Itou," he called for Itou's attention.
Itou acknowledged him and said, "Akashi-sama, this is-"
He didn't need to be reminded who the woman was.
"Miyazono Kae."
"Ah, you remember her, that's great."
"H-hello, Akashi-san," Kae greeted, earning an almost unnoticeable nod from him.
The woman was obviously nervous in his presence.
His eyes never left the envelope, he wanted to know, know what was in it.
Frustrated, he knew he couldn't show interest in something as trivial as that.
"Shall we go, Itou?" he asked, turning to Itou.
"Hai, Akashi-sama, everyone is waiting," Itou replied.
He walked away as Itou bid a good day to Miyazono Kae.
He hadn't unmarked the woman from his peripheral vision. Somehow, all his attention stayed on the woman from afar as he walked into the building.
He decided to put her case aside, for now.
Word Count: 2,336