"Ayuzawa", came the smooth, flawless voice she loved.
"What baka Usui?! Shouldn't you be sleeping right now? What time is it anyway?" Misaki shouted at him playfully as her heart fluttered.
"Misaki", his tone now cold and intimidating.
"We need to talk, Misaki"
Misaki was snapped out of her thoughts as she heard his stone cold voice.
"WH-What happened Usui?! Stop scaring me like that! What do you want to talk about?"
"Let's break up. I'm sorry." there was silence at the other end.
"Usui?"
"Hello?"
"I seem to be having a bad connection"
"U...sui?"
Misaki went pale. She cut off the call to find that the call ended seconds ago, she called back again, her system filled to the brim with fear and panic.
He did not pick up.
Her fingers shivered. Her fingers were not working normally, she bit her lip and tried to type him a message as quickly as she could
"If this is a sick twisted prank of yours baka I will kick you so hard you'll land on planet pheromones!"
No reply was received.
"Usui Takumi! YOU BETTER NOT BE FUCKING WITH ME"
No reply.
"Usui?"
No reply.
Misaki bit back a sob as she sent him one last text.
"...Takumi?"
No reply.
She saw Takumi standing in front of her, his arms wide open as he gave her his genuine smile. She extended her hand towards him. She saw herself trying to reach out to him but before she could, he turned around and walked away. She kept on calling his name, but he walked off regardless. She kept screaming his name over and over, but he just wouldn't stop. She kept running but the distance between them kept increasing.
Misaki woke up with sweat on her body and tears in her eyes, it looked like she had fallen asleep after a long cry. Her heart was beating so fast. She tried to calm her breath which was short. Another nightmare, she sighed as she wiped her face with the back of her hand and went inside, her face was all damp and sweaty. She took off the towel she had been donning since night and placed it in her cabinet and went to the bathroom where she stood under the shower as if convincing herself that the water will take her tears and the pain away.
After coming out of the cold shower, she dried up her hair and looked in the mirror as she thought to herself.
What must be Usui doing right now?
Did he ever think about her?
Did he ever miss her? Hell, did he even love her?
At that time, she knew that he didn't have eyes for anyone other than her. But now when she thought about it, did he really love her? Or was he just bored? She had trusted him too much. Her tears were flooding back along with the memories of her first love. Every kiss, every touch. Every second spent in each other's embrace, it was all coming back to her.
She looked at her reflection, she knew she wasn't the prettiest girl on the planet, but why did Usui leave her? If he never liked her, why did he do so much for her? Was she not good enough for him? Did he really find someone else in England? She had entertained the possibility that the photograph which she saw on the magazine cover was a hoax. She didn't know what to think anymore. Is that why he left her? Because he found someone better than her? Was he currently sleeping soundly with someone else in his arms as she wept for him?
She had so many questions in her mind. She wanted to know so much. She craved to see him so badly, but she knew that it would kill her-both literally and emotionally, if she saw him with someone else. She didn't want to cross paths with him. That was the reason why she never left Japan, and when her boss told her they were moving her to England, she was speechless. The last thing she wanted to do was to cross paths with Usui Takumi. She didn't want to look at him being happy with someone else. It would kill her. She decided then and there, she was going to refuse going to England.
And that was it.
She knew that if she set foot in England, their paths were sure to cross. His family was a big name in England and Usui, being the heir, was bound to be royalty. So she had decided to say no. She would wish Usui all the happiness in the world from a distance. She will ask god to give him everything he desires and she will go on with her own life.
With pain replaced by determination, she wiped her tears and got in her bed with sleep far, far away from her mind.
Ayuzawa Misaki woke up disoriented with an empty stomach. Thanks to the eventful day yesterday, she barely ate. Sighing, she removed the covers and got out of her bed. She rubbed her eyes, and went to the bathroom.
After taking a bath and changing into her formal clothing, which consisted of a navy blue palazzo and a matching shirt with a thin blazer, she looked into the mirror. She looked pale, really pale. So, she decided to fix her appearance up with some foundation; she pinched her cheeks, in hopes of getting a little color on her face. She flipped her hair and twisted them into a loose bun. Satisfied with her semi-normal face, she headed into the kitchen to find something to eat.
She found some garlic bread. Putting on some ketchup, cheese and oregano onto the bread, she put it into the microwave oven. She had learnt to make it from the Maid latte cooks once. She had been so happy to be able to make it without burning the whole cafe up.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
She took the bread out without burning her fingers and with a victorious grin, as if she had won a Nobel Prize, she dug in.
She reached the office on time. She had to take the train again, not that she minded. It was nice to have some change.
The rest of the day was uneventful, everything went fine. She drowned herself in paperwork. She remembered to text the bastard the restaurant for their "meeting". She didn't know what he was up to, but she agreed to meet anyway. How much harm could it be anyway? It was just lunch after all.
At lunch time, she got out of her office to go to the restaurant. It wasn't far. Just a five minute walk from her office, she decided to walk. Walking felt good. It wasn't too sunny, a warm breeze had replaced the harsh sun. She walked peacefully.
She reached the restaurant in five minutes. She stood in front of the restaurant for a moment as she waited for her breath to calm down, her heart was beating too fast and she felt strange. She rarely had the time to exercise, but it was still weird how her heart was beating so fast, she had only walked! Shrugging her thoughts away, she made a mental note to get checked up when she got the time.
After entering inside, she asked the waiter for a table for two, to which he obliged and showed her the table.
She sat patiently after drinking a glass of water. She checked her phone to find if he had texted her.
Misaki~ I am here at Gusto's.
After a two minutes, the reply came.
~ Look up.
A tall figure approached her.
He wore a simple blue shirt and denim jeans. His blond hair had been pushed back and he wore the same cocky smile he did since the first day she met him.
"Well, well, isn't this too casual for the CEO of Igarashi Corporation", Misaki smirked as he came to their table.
She got up and shook hands with him.
"My, My, still coy as ever eh Kaichou. As expected from you, how observant", Tora Igarashi smiled as he took her hand. Misaki pulled her hand back and they both sat.
"So how are you doing?" Misaki said, trying to be friendly.
"Quite well, I must say. How about you, Misaki?" He said, without a hint of mischief while always coated his voice.
"I am fine too", Misaki looked at him, He had gotten taller, and more handsome.
She wondered if he was still the womanizer he had been in high school. Although they had gone to the same university, Misaki had barely talked with him. They had different departments and honestly, even if they did, Misaki doubted they would ever become "friends", they had such a history after all.
Small talk was made, they talked about trivial things such as work and routine. Both made sure not to get too personal. They ordered lunch, and ate in silence.
In the middle of having lunch, Misaki finally said, "So what "Business" did you want to talk about? And where the hell did you get my number?"
Tora stopped eating, and looked at her.
"Geez, it was just a trick to get you to go on a date with me Misaki-Chan", he gave her a toothy grin.
"You conceited bastard", Misaki gaped at him.
"Just Kidding. The reason I called you up was to give you an offer. As for your number, I got it from your boss. He has been our acquaintance for a long time."
"What offer?" Misaki looked at him. She stopped eating altogether.
"Well, I heard that you got the offer to manage the Britain branch of Azalea. The news has spread all over the corporate market. So I wanted to make you an offer."
Eh? Was it really that big of a deal? Misaki thought, well, too bad.
"Although, I know you are going to join England because of your boyfriend", Tora smirked, "But still"
If Misaki had been drinking or eating something, she was positive that she would have landed on Tora's face.
She sighed as she put a hand over her chest. Tora didn't know of their breakup, nobody did. Except her family and friends at Maid Latte. They were shocked for a very long time, telling Misa to quit joking. But when they had seen the negative changes in her demeanor, they knew.
Misaki shook her head and looked at Tora, "So what is your offer anyway? Might as well hear it."
"I want you to join Igarashi Corp. as my business advisor. Basically, you'll get to boss me around on what's best and what's not, and things like managing international affairs too."
"Why me?"
"Well, for one, you are an important asset. If the word leaks that you are quitting, every company would love to get their hands on you", he looked at her, "How can I sit back and watch? And second, we've known each other; If not closely, at least to some extent. In our world, we can't just take anyone for the job and expose confidential information, you know that's too risky."
"Why all of a sudden? What happened to your PA and friend Maki?" Misaki shot him a glare. She wanted to make sure he wasn't playing games with her.
"He's no longer assisting me. He's moving to the European branch and I need someone in Japan", he talked in a serious tone, his voice giving nothing away.
Just Business. He didn't show any signs of lying. As a professional, Misaki was trained in reading people's faces.
"I'll think about it."
"If you're worried about the pay, Igarashi Corps is ready to pay you double of what you're getting right now. We're ready to negotiate if you want more."
"I-It not about money, there are", she stopped for a moment. After finding the right words to say, she said, "I have... Some things I need to sort out. I'll let you know."
"Take all the time that you need, Misaki."
Misaki merely smiled. As if on cue, Tora's serious face changed to a devious one.
"At least I got one date with Ayuzawa. You made my day", he smirked.
"Bastard", Misaki grinned.
His smile was contagious, Misaki felt that Tora's attitude had changed. He was a better person now. She felt good about her decision of meeting him. They continued lunch in silence, talking about small things about his life. When the cheque was presented, Tora urged to pay. Being the proud lady that she was, she didn't let him. Both of their egos clashed which ended in sarcastic bickering. The waiter suggesting splitting up the bill after witnessing their trash talks and like kids, they did.
Misaki looked at her wrist watch and told Tora that her time was up. They both got up to leave and Tora asked her where she had parked her car. She told him how some kid smashed his bike in her car and they both laughed. Tora told her that he would be happy to drop her to her office but she refused, saying that it was a five minute walk. To which Tora snickered and told her, "Just get in the car woman!" and Misaki smacked his shoulder playfully.
Tora opened the door of the car like the gentleman that he wasn't before, and she hopped in. He dropped her off and went to his own office. Telling her that he'll be waiting for her reply.
Misaki went back and resumed her work. She had a board meeting to attend to.
The meeting went smooth and it was almost eight pm. She felt quite well after lunch. She got the feeling that Tora had changed. Misaki took her things and decided to head home.
As she found an empty seat in the train, she sat down and took out her iPhone. She had missed calls from home. She had forgotten to call them back. It had been a week since she had conversed with them. She missed her mom, so she decided to call her as soon as she reached home.
The rest of her journey passed peacefully as she gazed out of the window and looked at the stars, she was resisting the urge to fall asleep. She was tired.
She managed to reach her apartment without falling asleep on the road. Thankfully, the elevator had been repaired and she didn't have to climb ten floors.
Rest of the night was normal. She had called her mom, who was worried sick. Everyone was fine there. Her mom had been constantly nagging about eating well, Misaki rubbed her temples. She had remembered how her mom said in a creepy tone, "Misaki-Chi! Eat well okay?! If you pass out from dehydration or starvation, you won't even have anybody to take care of you. I did tell you to move here dear, so that I can take care of Misa". Misaki sighed as she told her mom she was doing "fine" and she didn't have to worry about her. Dinner had been boring, instant noodles that is. She soon fell in deep slumber.