Umi stared out the window of Eli's office, peering into buildings taller than Promise, looking over the buildings shorter. She tapped her foot in impatience, the beige heel clacking onto the marble floor over and over. She liked beige, it went well with blue and black, all of which her current outfit contained. Her beige trench coat had been left on her chair, leaving her in a white button-up shirt, a blue underbust vest, and black pants.
She listened intently at the buzzing noise on the other end of her phone, before the same message played: "Hiii~ This is Kotori Minami, leave a message at the beep~!"
"I'm sorry, Nozomi, I know we've been postponing your shoot a lot, but we can't locate Minami," Eli explained.
No one, or at least no one that Umi knew of, had heard from Kotori for days. The last any of the models had seen her was last week, and Nozomi had a shoot scheduled at the beginning of the week with Kotori. Victorian dresses, to advertise a gallery, something like that; she couldn't remember what Maki had said specifically. It was Thursday now, and Kotori hadn't shown up for work all week.
Umi sighed and hit call again, holding the phone back up to her ear. The line wasn't busy.
"I was actually excited about this shoot, Eli. But I get here on Monday and I wait for two hours on set 11-C!" Nozomi was a feisty girl for Eli, Umi knew that much.
"I know, Nozomi, I know."
"Eli-"
"And I know what you're going to say next, so don't say it. Kotori hasn't been here to receive her consequences, nor can anyone get ahold of her."
"Just… stop assigning me the shoot and wasting my time, assign it again when Kotori gets back."
"Hiii~ This is Kotori Minami, leave a message at the beep~!"
Umi hung up, gripping her phone tightly, "Just make it to your afternoon shoot, Tojo."
"Of course..." With that, Nozomi left, angry mumbling coming from her mouth.
The two CEOs were completely silent for several minutes, the only sounds filling the air being the tapping of Umi's foot and Eli's nails. Umi hit call again; no busy signal.
"How many times have you called her in the past 24 hours?" Eli asked. Umi could see the blonde's expression without looking; it was one of blank boredom, a relaxed expression that could almost be considered lustful, her blue eyes burning with a passion for anything other than the actual conversation. It couldn't be said that Eli was heartless, or selfish, she was the most loyal of the three of them. Kotori was simply a distraction at the moment, when they had better things to discuss.
Umi hung up the phone prematurely, "Have a good lunch, Eli."
"…You, too, Umi."
Briskly walking out of the senior CEO's office, Umi brushed past Maki, ignoring her frustrated, tsundere comment. Maki was always nice to others, always commenting on the cuteness of this or that, but, around Umi and Eli, she was honest, doing things out of care, then acting like she put no effort into it, no thought for the people it was meant for. Of course she was this way, though, acting that way in front of other people would be unprofessional, and Maki had expectations to live up to, like Umi, unlike Eli.
Umi got on the elevator, as the stairs always took long to actually be realistic. She was soon completely out of Promise, abandoning the building. Even though she'd left her coat in Eli's office, Umi was unphased by the slight chill outside, enjoying the blooming and budding trees that randomly littered the city.
Stumbling upon a jumbotron attached to a building, she marveled at its size. The music video for CYaRon's newest song, Kinmirai Happy End, began. It was energetic, the trio's smiles wide and happy as they danced. Umi dialed her phone again, watching the almost hyperactive dancing.
"Hiii~ This is Kotori Minami, leave a message at the beep~!"
Umi hung up and began walking again. After walking a block or so, she walked into a noodle shop, ordering chicken ramen and vegetable tempura. While she waited for her order, Umi dialed Kotori's number again.
"Hiii~ This is Kotori Minami, leave a message at the beep~!"
"Order for Sonoda!"
Umi grabbed the bag of food and dialed once again, holding her phone up to her ear as she walked back to Promise. After a couple of rings, the call was rejected by the other end. Kotori, at least, was alive. Or, that was what Umi optimistically assumed.
Stepping through the glass doors, Umi walked down the hall, distracted. She nearly ran into Rin, who came out of the bathroom, a blood-soaked piece of single-ply toilet paper at her nose. The pair stopped in their tracks, Rin removing the toilet paper from her nose and hiding it behind her back. She was almost completely naked, only wearing a dark blue pair of panties covered in stars and a yellow sports bra.
"U-Umi, good afternoon..."
Blood started running out of Rin's nose again, Umi instinctively stepping forward to wipe it away. She glared at the blood on her thumb, looking up at Rin through her eyelashes. She grabbed Rin's face, smearing blood on the girl's cheek, and tipped her head up. Rin's yellow eyes darted all over, finally looking into Umi's similarly colored eyes.
"I thought I made myself clear," Umi stated, her voice laced with a threatening tone.
"It's not what you think, Umi… I quit, I swear, I quit!"
"You've quit several times, Rin, then you go right back." Blood was beginning to run down onto Umi's palm.
"I quit, I promise."
Umi let go of Rin, "Go clean yourself up and put some clothes on. Now." Rin averted Umi's stern gaze, running back into the bathroom, holding her nose.
Exhaling deeply, Umi continued on, getting into the elevator again. Almost all of the employees ran out of the elevator, leaving only a single one behind Umi. It was Nico, who appeared to be watching a music video on her phone, or a live performance, Umi couldn't tell.
"What are you watching?" Umi asked, her voice piercing through Nico's bubblegum pink earbuds. After pulling one out, the small girl showed Umi the video. It was of a very beautiful woman at a piano, her light pink dress and magenta hair catching the lights above.
"Her name's Riko Sakurauchi, she sings and plays piano, isn't it amazing?!"
Umi stared at the pianist, unable to hear the song very well, "How famous is she?"
"U-Um… moderately?"
Umi said nothing in return, hearing the elevator ding for the 12th floor. Nico took a step forward, heading out, before Umi grabbed her arm. She squeaked in surprise, cut off by Umi kissing her, before the older woman pulled away.
"I'm clearly not the first to get to you," she observed, then shooed Nico out, "Go on."
As the doors were closing, Umi noticed that she'd left blood on Nico's jacket, noting to herself that she'd have to buy a newer, better one for her new pet. Finally, she strode into her office, setting down her food. Grabbing her laptop, she absentmindedly slurped up noodles and munched on tempura, searching for a suitable replacement for Nico's bloodstained jacket.
"Ohoho, so the modest Umi still slurps her noodles!" Maki exclaimed.
Umi looked up, seeing Maki and Eli at the door, their lunches in hand. They sat down with Umi, Maki opening up an order of spaghetti, Eli pulling a chocolate, banana, and strawberry crepe out of her bag. The three ate in silence and peace for a few minutes, before Eli started staring at Umi.
"What's with the blood?"
Umi froze, glancing at the dried blood on her palm, then glanced over at Maki, "It's nothing."
Eli looked between the two, noticing the exchanged glances, "What is it?"
"N-Nothing," Maki muttered.
"Uh… huh..." Eli mumbled, taking a small bite out of her crepe, glaring at the two.
"Oh, have you heard of that pianist?" Umi asked, trying to steer away from the current topic.
"There's many pianists in the world, Umi," Eli commented.
"I think she's talking about Riko Sakurauchi," Maki mentioned.
"Do you listen to her music? Got a crush?" Umi asked. She stared at the blood on her hand, getting up and walking over to her desk.
"N-No, of course not, don't get in over your head, Umi."
"Maki, you're not convincing anyone. Now, Umi, why do you bring her up?"
Umi got out a moist towelette, wiping her hand clean of blood. With one final glance at the wet cloth, she threw it in the trash, turning to Eli, "I saw a video earlier, she seemed interesting."
"She sings beautifully," Maki added, "Not that I've heard a lot of her music, of course."
Maki's fellow CEOs ignored the last part, the three finishing their lunch in silence. Umi was still shopping for a better jacket, Maki was trying to think of her favorite song of Riko's, and Eli was deep in thought. Umi dialed her phone again, listening to it ring. Once again, the call was rejected.
"We could get a leg up on the competition," Eli mused, tapping her chin in thought.
"I think I have a few calls to make," Maki answered.
"Just let me know how it goes," Umi replied, giving her generic answer to a conversation that she wasn't paying attention to. She'd found the perfect jacket for Nico; it was fuzzy, light pink with cream polka dots and trim, and had bunny ears on the hood and a floofy bunny tail. Umi pressed ORDER, ignoring the price.
"Ooh, it has matching boots..." Umi mumbled, Maki and Eli walking out with a shrug of their shoulders.
One last time, Umi picked up her phone, dialing the same number. She waited.
"Hiii~ This is Kotori Minami, leave a message after the beep~!"
Suspenseful filler. Not much more.
Thank you for reading Promise.
