I do not own beyblade, and I really wish the spell check would stop trying to correct the word beyblade into be blade!! I added it but it just goes back to normal!!
Dedicated to Ari dark princess.
Cutbacks.
Every company has cutbacks at some point but it angered Kai that the cutbacks here were going to be employees. He hated firing people it was one of the few times that he actually thought about the welfare of other people. He hated to see someone's face fall as they realise they are being let go.
You see what Kai hated was people who didn't try to work, he assumed that people that begged or depended on charity or the government didn't bother to try (ok it's true in some cases). He respected people that worked, even people that were the lowest of the low on the career ladder deserved respect in his eyes because they were working. In his eyes to take away their work was to take away respect due to them.
He found it hard to believe that they really needed to fire over fifty people.
Looking through the papers he realised that the budget before him did make sense. Of course it was seven in the morning and he'd only slept about five hours. At this point in time almost anything could make sense.
"Damn it" he muttered throwing down his pen "I wish I could work out a way around this"
He was about to bury himself back into his work when there was a knock at his door
"Come in"
"Hello" Kai's head snapped up
"You again"
"Yeah" she smiled at him, that dazzling smile that made him smile with an unfamiliar ease.
There was a short silence as Kai stared at her appreciating her presence, finally he realised that he ought to say something "What are you doing here?"
"I'm here to give you a hand with your work…unless you don't want one?"
"No! No…. I need help" Kai admitted disconsolately "but I don't see any way around all this"
"Well what's the problem?" she pulled up a chair and sat opposite him smiling kindly from across the desk.
Appreciating her simple readiness to help Kai was willing to pass over the papers. He watched as she started to look through the figures. Once more she wore a simple outfit that suited the office work he assumed she was doing but as usual there was a vibrancy and perfection to her outfit that would make her stand out. Her suit was a matching black jacket and skirt but her shirt underneath was a bright pink, her hair twisted up perfectly as though it had been professionally done just moments before and flowery pink jewellery matched everything perfectly. He had begun to enjoy seeing her outfits, they always matched perfectly from her hair right down to her feet… suddenly curious he leant to the side to get a look at her shoes they were heels, flowered in black and pink…
"Mr Hiwatari?"
He sat up straight again blushing lightly, from the look on her face it was obvious she assumed he had been looking at her legs not her shoes…of course as a straight male he was more than willing to allow her to think that. Telling her he was looking at her shoes was even more embarrassing, letting her think he liked her legs…well he did like her legs. Damn he was losing his concentration again!
"Sorry did you say something?" he gave her a weak smile
"Yes… I was pointing out one of your expenses" Hilary pointed down the sheet of paper "here you're spending money when it is clearly not necessary and I hate to point it out but your board of executives are all getting a raise. If you kept their pay at the current level you could afford to keep on the workers your considering firing. Here you're operating one of your organisations at a slight loss, if you were to consider… sorry I'm going off on one here" she giggled trailing off
"No" Kai shook his head feeling amused "keep going"
"OK, well see this department, the one in charge of your merchandising…shop etc."
"Yeah"
"Well it's suffering losses at the moment because people are spending less. Your shops are more upmarket and expensive. If you were to consider remerchandising or remarketing you could change that."
"Ok" Kai nodded understandingly "but that's not the only problem, they're refusing to issue overtime but are insisting on making people work longer hours."
"Well that's actually against the employees contracts. If you look at section thirteen of the contracts they are entitled to only the stated amount of hours, anything else is overtime. And it's against the law to work a certain amount of hours a week, it's unhealthy, people can get around it but if your company want to stay within the confines of the law, and if anyone on the board says they don't then they'll be in trouble"
Kai laughed "yeah that's one way of putting it, how come you manage to make everything seem so simple? I've been looking at this for hours"
"It's just logic, don't look at everything at once look at it all one bit at a time."
The continued to talk along this vein for sometime, the stirrings outside the door indicated that other people were arriving but Kai knew that he still had plenty of time on his hands and he didn't really want his time with Hilary, God only knew when she'd show up again.
"Yo KAI!" Tala poked his head through the door not bothering to knock before intruding on his friend "Oh I had no idea you'd be busy. Hi I'm Tala… Kai didn't tell me he had a new girlfriend"
"Tala" Kai ground out the name through gritted teeth, Hilary on the other hand laughed and turned to face the redhead.
"Don't worry I ought to get going now anyway"
"No! No!" Tala gave a leering grin as he looked Hilary up and down "I'd hate to interrupt anything important!"
"What are we interrupting?" Mariah asked following her boyfriend through the door, she gave Kai and large smile and on spotting Hilary her smile widened. Somehow she immediately recognised Hilary as the girl Tala thought Kai 'liked' "Oh! Hi! My names Mariah"
"Hilary" the brunette walked forward and shook hands with the pink haired girl "nice to meet you"
"Nice to meet you too" Mariah gave the girl a smile that made Hilary feel more than a little nervous
"Right…." Hilary could feel a lot of tension in the air and decided to get out of the room "well I ought to go… good luck at your meeting today sir." With a small bow Hilary swiftly made her way to the door and left before anyone could stop her.
Mariah and Tala watched the brunette leave and then turned back to face Kai…. Well to put it nicely he looked furious.
"Kai?" Tala felt nervous and ducked behind his girlfriend "um…. I guess we did interrupt something"
"Big baby" Mariah muttered "What's the big deal? Just find her later"
"I can't find her later… I have meetings pretty much all day, and they're not going to be good ones given the decisions I've just made… with her help actually… and I have no idea who she is or what department she's working in."
"Just ask" Mariah told him annoyed at his stupidity
"Who… her? She doesn't tell me anything straight out, if I ask around the office then people will talk and if it gets back to my father that I'm having an office romance he'll be on my case so badly I won't have any chance to see her at all"
"Wow you really do like her" Tala muttered poking his head out from behind his own girl
Both Mariah and Kai glared at the redhead before simultaneously hissing "Shut up Tala"
Mariah grinned before looking back at Kai and taking Hilary's recently vacated seat "Look we're just here because Tala says he has bad news for you"
"Bad news?" Kai looked over at his friend curiously
"My mother's been in touch with yours and apparently your mother is coming to visit…"
"Well thanks for the heads up but I already knew that she was coming"
"Yeah but did you know she's bringing your aunt Svetlana?"
"What?" Kai walked around his desk and took hold of his friends shirt collar and held him up threateningly "Tell me you are kidding."
"'fraid not" Tala told him cheerfully not feeling at all worried about Kai's threatening behaviour, it was when Kai sat doing nothing that you needed to be really afraid. That meant he was planning something, when he lost his temper and did something impulsive he was pretty easy to calm down.
"Oh God" dropping his friend Kai walked back to his desk and sitting at it proceeded to bang his head down onto the table "Damn, damn, damn, damn"
"Ok Tala wouldn't explain to me who Svetlana was and why this is a bad thing" a concerned Mariah said looking at Kai "do you wanna explain it to me?"
"Svetlana is my aunt" Kai told her still banging his head down
"Yeah I got that bit… what's the big problem? And please stop doing that, you're killing brain cells."
"That's not been proven" grunting Kai sat up properly and faced his friends girlfriend "When my mum and dad got married my aunt told my mother that it wouldn't last, that my father couldn't be trusted, that he wouldn't be faithful, that he was a cruel, soulless, egomaniacal, jerk... She was right but it just didn't make a good wedding toast."
"Oh" Mariah nodded "I'm beginning to get it"
"Well the thing is dad is insisting mum and I stay with him in the family home and I'm willing to guess that means aunt Svetlana will be staying with us too. She and my dad hate each other."
"Hang on your dads gonna be around too? I guess we better start digging the trenches now." Tala shook his head "how you gonna cope man?"
"I'll be working a lot, I'm definitely coming to anything you two want to invite me too and remember anytime you want to call me up and pretend there's an emergency it will be gladly welcomed"
"I can only break my leg so many times before they get suspicious" Tala laughed.
"So you'll definitely come to the opera with us?" Mariah asked with a sly grin
With only a small sigh to demonstrate his displeasure at the suggestion Kai nodded "But I won't be bringing anyone, you'll have to give your spare ticket to someone else."
--
Tala walked with Kai to his meeting to discuss 'something' which Mariah left hanging around the office for a while. She was waiting just outside Kai's secretary's office when she heard the argument
"Look I'm just saying that what your wearing isn't exactly proper office attire"
"And again I apologise but I wasn't going to be here all day and…"
"I do not care, I don't know why you were in Mr Hiwatari's office before I was even in this morning but I must insist that you try to keep a professional demeanour around the office"
"Very well" Mariah rounded the corner to discover Hilary standing with Ms. Heyer "Next time I'm in the office I shall wear something more suitable"
"See that you do" Ms Heyer then turned and walked past Mariah nodding politely
"Mariah" Hilary bowed politely and was about to walk off when Mariah grabbed her arm
"Wait…I want to talk to you" Mariah smiled "want to come for coffee? Or do you have to work?"
"Um… no, not really, how about you?"
"Nope!"
"Um…" for a second it looked as though Hilary was about to say 'no' then something flashed in her eyes a look of intense loneliness that surprised Mariah she didn't like seeing someone look that unhappy. Quickly returning to her usual smiling appearance Hilary nodded "You know what… yeah… that would be nice, but don't you need to wait for Tala?"
"No" Mariah shook her head happily, "I was just gonna walk with him to work, I'll say goodbye to him and then you and I can get going!"
--
Sitting with Mariah sipping at a cup of tea Hilary felt more content than she had done in a long time. She didn't have many friends she could just sit with and it was fun to just chat about everyday things. Her conversations with Kai had usually been quite serious or based on specifically businesslike subjects, it was nice to chat about girly things.
"So… what do you think of Kai?" Mariah asked, she had decided not to be subtle about this, subtlety could sometimes make a situation more drawn out than it needed to be.
"I think he's a good business man, his views are a little skewed and I've heard some rumours about him that are a little suspicious but…asides from all that he seems to be a good man"
"I meant do you think he's hot?"
"Oh" Hilary blushed, she hadn't been expecting Mariah to be so blunt, she was hoping to avoid answering properly "Sorry I didn't understand"
There was a period of long silence during which Hilary concentrated on her mug of tea, finally Mariah got bored of waiting and leant forward resting her elbows on the table "So….?" she prompted "what do you think of Kai?"
"He's attractive" Hilary admitted with a shrug
"Well that's a start" Mariah groaned leaning back in her chair "He's an OK guy you know, there are a lot of rumours about him but you never know…"
"Stop right there" Hilary held up her hands "Look, Kai and I are too different for this to ever be a possibility. There's stuff you don't know about me."
"Like what?"
"Like… well… I'm not from around here…, I could never move here…, not really and Kai could never come to be with me…"
"If it's just a question of distance and living space…"
"No, it's not just that… I can't really explain, can we talk about something else?"
"Like what?" Mariah asked grinning
"I don't know, anything that doesn't revolve around Kai and I dating."
"Ok… hey do you like opera?"
"Um… yeah, I love opera, I'm a huge Angela Gheorghiu fan"
"Oh me too" Mariah squealed "hasn't she got the most amazing voice?"
"To say nothing of her stage presence" Hilary agreed nodding "I have to say whenever I see her perform I just get lost in the moment"
"So would you like to come with me next week? I have a ticket that no one is using" Mariah gave her new friend a sly smile as her quick mind started to make a plan.
--
After bidding farewell to Mariah Hilary walked through the streets wandering aimlessly, eventually she came to a small deserted alleyway and ducking inside she pressed her hands together. Muttering a few words she felt the world around her swirling and her stomach seemed to jump inside her.
Eventually all went calm and she found herself at home again, she was in her bedroom a tidy room filled with white and blue furniture and decorated with light yellow walls. Happy to be home where she no longer had to make any pretence about who she was she sat on her bed, as she stared at the ceiling she felt a certain sense of satisfaction. It had been a long time she had sat with a friend and just discussed things pointlessly, it was fun. Looking around her she realised someone had been in her room, her hairbrush had been moved…
"Who moved my hairbrush?!?" She yelled leaving her room and walking down the stairs to find a family member
"Hilary you're back!" her mother sat at the table mixing something in a small bowl, she smiled at her daughter "You were gone for ages. How many has it been now?"
"Three" Hilary responded calmly making her way to one of the cupboards and grabbing a glass. She sighed as she looked at the glass surface, no spots from improper cleaning, no slight cracks from general wear and tear. This may as well be made from diamond so unused did it look. By earth standards it would be hard to believe that this glass had been part of a set gifted to her mother over three centuries ago.
"Seven more to go then… how come it's taking so long this time? You spend so much time in that world and yet you've only granted three wishes"
Hilary inwardly groaned, she had been waiting for this to be mentioned "I like the people, they're friendly"
"Friendly?" Hilary smiled as her mothers voice took on an edge "You have a male owner this time don't you? What's he like?"
"Mother just leave it, he's an alright guy but there's nothing going on. Today I went for coffee with his friends girlfriend, that's all." she filled her glass with water and took a small sip
A sigh escaped the older woman and she gave her daughter a pitying look "You shouldn't make friends… I know it's hard…"
"I just want to know who moved my hairbrush?" Hilary quickly changed the subject
"Louisa was visiting, she may have entered your room today"
"I don't believe it" Hilary moaned as she stared at her mother "I thought once she was married she'd stay home and use her own hairbrushes, I even gave her a hairbrush set as a wedding gift. Older sisters are more trouble than they're worth!"
"Hilary! It is just a hairbrush, in the grand scheme of things…"
"I know, in the grand scheme of things it doesn't matter. No one has been hurt by my sisters actions." Sighing Hilary dropped a kiss on her mothers head "Sorry, I didn't mean to cause you worry or distress."
"You don't but you're so different, we have an ideal, perfect life and yet you want something more."
"Not more mother… just different."
"But everything is perfect, why would you want different?" There was no reply and Hilary's mother shook her head a little sadly, she didn't understand her young daughter, never had and probably never would. "I sometimes wonder if it was wise allowing you to become a qualified genie so young, the human world is a confusing place."
"Mother I was confused before I ever met a human, don't worry I can look after myself."
Sipping her drink Hilary looked out the kitchen window where a permanent sun emblazoned the sky creating a riot of colour. She smiled to herself it was a beautiful sight but as she thought of the beauty of sunsets and sunrises she felt saddened. Sure the permanent sun ensured that people could live to their own time, no one was ever controlled by night and those that wished to live in darkness could make their way to the mountains and many lived peacefully there but it felt too controlling, she was looking forward to her next visit to earth whether it be to grant Kai his next wish or join Mariah at the opera she didn't mind.
Ok too weird?? Ari Dark Princess if you have any problems please pm me or review, if you really hate it I can make alterations or send you then next chapter for approval when it's finished.
Please R&R!!