Chapter 8: First Day of the Rest of Your Life
-o-0-o-
I looked myself over in the mirror checking every detail. This was my first day as the new secretary of the biggest company in all of Japan. I was nervous already and needed to make sure that my first day went perfect. I went over a mental check list to be sure that what I was wearing met Mr. Shotai's requirements. I was covered where I should be. I wore all black, studs in my ears, and dress shoes. Yes, it seems everything is as it should be. He told me not to wear anything revealing but he didn't say anything about the fit. I was sure to have my suit hug every curve without suffocating me. I went out of my way to buy a whole new set of suits, none of them cheap. Why not? I was going to be racking in the dough in the next couple of weeks anyway. I heard a low whistle coming from the doorway. I turned to see Sango still in her PJ's and a tank top. She didn't start work until the evening.
"Do I look ok?" I asked turning back toward the mirror to fix my high ponytail.
"Yea you look great!" She said looking at me from head to toe. "New suit?" She asked. I nodded and went to grab my brand, new brief case off my bed. I stifled a yawn. I was so nervous and excited that I didn't get as much sleep as I would have liked last night. I gave Sango a peck on the cheek as I passed her out the door.
"Wish me luck!" I told her.
"Hmm what kind of luck? Good or bad?" She asked me. I looked over my shoulder and glared at her. She giggled. "Good luck, kiddo!"
-o-0-o-
When I stepped off the elevator and walked toward my new desk, I noticed a gold name plate that read, "Ms. K. Higurashi". I smiled because it was like the deal was sealed. This was for real. I noticed that there was also a small stack of papers in the corner and two files beside it. This is it? Ha! Piece of cake! I put my briefcase on my chair and knocked on my new boss' door, his black coffee in hand.
"Come in!" I heard a deep voice on the other side of the door. I opened the door and saw him sitting at his desk signing something and then stamping it. Then he gathered a bunch of other papers and stapled them together and tucked them into a folder before he looked at me with those piercing cool, honey-gold eyes. It's funny, I wouldn't describe that particular colour as a cool colour but somehow those eyes seemed… well, cold.
"Your coffee, sir." I said placing the cup on his desk. His gaze didn't budge. He didn't look at the cup. In fact, he didn't even blink for a moment. Then he glanced at the analogue clock above the door behind me and raised an eyebrow.
"You're early." He stated. Was that a bad thing? I didn't know what to say. "No matter, I'll have you fill these out now then." He said sliding the folder with the papers he stapled toward me. It was a contract. "Sign beside the X's." He said. I skimmed through each page and signed where I needed to. When I looked up, I was startled to see that he was staring at me. His gaze was intense. He didn't flinch or look away when I caught him either. Was he trying to intimidate me? Good luck with that… I slid the papers back to him and he got up and put them in the filing cabinet on the other side of the room. Then he walked back to his seat and resumed staring at me intensely.
"Will that be all Mr. Shotai?" I asked in a polite voice. He glared so fast I would've missed it if I had blinked. Yeah that's right I'm not afraid of you… bastard. He was too pretty for me to be afraid.
"Yes." And he waved me away as he opened a drawer and pulled more papers out. When I reached the door, I opened it and looked back at him. He was an ass, that I could tell but I couldn't deny that he was incredibly beautiful. Once at my desk, I spent the next 15 minutes on my phone checking out my social media feed. Then I punched in right at 9 and got to work. Looks like today is the start of the rest of my life.
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I hung up the phone with Kagura before I finished my lunch break. I wanted to check up on her, so I chatted with her five minutes before my break was over. She came over last night and told me that she had a fight with her husband. The man that was just one room away from me. The poor woman, how could she put up with him for so long? But she loves him a lot. It kind of hurt to hear her say that. Which is ridiculous, I knew that I was getting involved with a married woman. I just didn't think that I'd develop something past the friends with benefits zone. Especially without knowing if she may have felt the same or not.
The door to his office opened and he came around to my desk and dropped a giant stack of papers on it. I eyeballed the stack. Then he walked back into his office and dropped another smaller stack on my desk. "I haven't had a secretary in quite some time. I couldn't bother with hiring a temporary, so you have a lot of catching up to do." He said with a smirk on his face, but it disappeared not to long after. He didn't seem to like displaying his emotions for very long. It pissed me off that he was amused by this though. "I want these done by Thursday." He said tapping the larger pile. Then he pointed to the smaller pile. These are some of my clients. The last secretary already did all the booking. All you have to do now is log the appointments into my schedule he said as he showed me where to find the program on the computer with his calendar on it. "This I would like to be done by the end of the day. Understood?"
"Yes, sir." I replied with a smile so fake it almost hurt. What a jerk! Why didn't he give me all this earlier? I would've been partially done by now. Again, I couldn't help but feel sorry for Kagura. Yet somehow, I caught myself staring at that beautiful cupid bow mouth of his. If this guy wasn't already a CEO of a major company, he could've made millions as a super model with those androgynous features of his. With a face like that why not? Without another word he went back into the office slamming the door although I couldn't fathom why. This guy has serious issues. I wasted no time getting to work as I now had a lot to do.
Suddenly the elevator doors opened, and I looked up to see a guy with a gelled back mohak and another guy that had a short gray hair cut with a patch of black in the front. Behind them I saw a familiar tanned face and pale blue eyes. Kouga. The two guys smiled at me but they also looked a little nervous. "Heyyyyyy, new girl!" Kouga said. I smiled and waved.
"Hi… Is there something I could help you with?" I asked.
"Actually yea!" He started. "I was wondering what you were up to this weekend." I rolled my eyes and didn't say a thing. I don't have time for this. I turned my gaze back to my computer and kept working. "Nothing? Great because you and I are seeing a movie. I don't like chick-flicks so we're seeing…" He paused and started snapping his fingers. "Hey what was the name of the movie I wanted to see?" He asked one of the guys beside him. I didn't look up to see who.
" Cowboy's on Mars." I heard one say.
"Yeah! That's it!" He said slapping the edge of my desk. "So, we're seeing that one ok?" I finally looked up. Annoyance clear in my expression.
"I'm sorry did you say something?" I asked even though I heard every word. He opened his mouth to say something then closed it, then opened it again and closed it again. I shook my head and continued working. "If you don't have an appointment to see the big man himself then you might as well leave because I have no time for you at the moment." I heard him growl and slam both hands on my desk.
"First day and you think you have balls huh? That's ok I like my women hard to get. It just makes the chase that much more interesting." He walked around my desk and spun me in my chair away from my work and lifted my chin up so that I would meet his eyes. "Mark my words you will be mine." He winked at me. I glared at him and slapped his hand away. This is exactly why I hate men. They're all a bunch of entitled pricks!
"Look, I'm not even interested in men!" I shouted, just as Mr. Shotai's office door swung open and he walked out with a sheet of paper in his hand. He raised a brow after what I said. Then he scanned the scene before him and crossed his arms. Fuck! These guys are going to get me in trouble! Or at least that's what I thought when I saw him glare at the other men in the room.
"Why are you here?" He asked. Silence. "Get back to work!" He barked at them. The two men with Kouga, paled in the face and sprinted toward the elevators fighting over the button that would get them out of danger. Mr. Shotai turned his gaze toward Kouga.
"You. Is there any particular reason you're harassing my secretary?" His voice was calm but deadly. If the room didn't smell like pine and newspapers, I would've smelled shit, because I wouldn't blame Kouga for shitting himself right now. He did deserve the trouble he was getting in though. Serves him right!
"I-I'm on my break Mr. Shotai… sir." He said.
"That's no excuse for disrupting my secretary while she's working. Now if you value your job, you'd leave immediately and not come back up here unless you personally have some sort of business with me." He said, deadly voice still intact. The look in his eyes was that of a predator and Kouga was his prey. Kouga squared his shoulders facing Mr. Shotai. He wasn't a wimp like the other two and it seemed he did indeed value his job.
"Yes sir!" He replied behind gritted teeth He glanced at me before calmly retreating to the elevators. He skipped into a sprint when he saw that his two friends were already in the elevator, rapidly tapping the buttons hoping the doors would close as fast as possible but Kouga caught it anyway. Some friends they were.
I turned to Mr. Shotai and before I could thank him, he handed me the paper he had in his hand. "One last thing." He said clearly putting the previous event behind him. I blinked a few times and swallowed my appreciation to look at the paper in my hands. "Make copies and post one on each floor of this building buy the elevators." He left again as quickly as possible before I could say anything. I read the paper. It read 'Celebrating the 30th anniversary of Shotai Co." The rest of the flyer had details as to when and where the event was being held. It was a formal event. I'm so there.
-o-0-o-
By the end of the day, I was surprised that I had gotten a ton of work done. I already finished scheduling all his appointments and have done almost half of the work that was to be completed three days from now. I was able to get all that extra work done on my break. I ate my lunch as quickly as possible and went right back to work. It was just the first day and my butt was sore from sitting all day. I put the paperwork that I finished in a folder and put it in the top drawer of my desk. I stood and knocked on my boss' door, then walked in after he gave the ok. I walked straight up to his desk. "Your schedule is fully up to date, sir. I said pointing to his computer. He opened the program and went through it surprised that all the days for this month had been filled.
"Did you manage to get a decent amount of your other work done?" He asked raising an eyebrow. I watched his lips as he spoke.
"Yes, sir." I answered. He seemed impressed. Just what I was going for. Looks like I did pretty well for my first day.
"Alright. Well before you leave let me just get your schedule." He turned to his computer and started typing while I stood there almost awkwardly in silence. "Sent." He said hitting the 'Enter' button with one final tap before turning back to me with that piercing gaze. "You'll find it in your email every Sunday morning from here on out." I placed my brief case on the edge of his desk and unfastened it.
"Thank you, sir. Is there anything else before I go?" I asked as I pulled my keys and my phone out and snapped my brief case shut.
"No that is all, you may leave now." He said. I turned to leave but before I reached the door I turned back.
"Thanks for your help earlier. Have a good evening, Mr. Shotai." He just nodded and I was out the door. He wasn't so bad… when he wasn't being an asshole. I looked at my phone on the way to the elevator and checked my email for my schedule. I'm working all weekend. Never mind he's still an asshole!