Zodiac Sigh!
Author's Note: ---
Chapter 4 – Mortified Answers; Dreamy State
Shizuru went inside the spacious and air-conditioned room with her hands shaking and sweating. Walking through it requires a lot of mental and physical inflation as her body began to feel it's ambiance. The door behind her closed completely. She sees him sitting behind the luxurious mahogany table with sparkling chandeliers hanging above from the ceiling. As she steps in, she could not hear any footsteps echoing in her ears. Why is it so? It is because of fine Persian rug lays flatly onto the floor as she assumes that it cost an employee's salary for four years. He was so handsome and neat that strangers will instantly recognizes that he is the CEO, indeed! He was wearing a black-colored Armani suit that she estimates that it costs $3,000. His head flexed, studying her resume as she finally reaches the table and adjusts her voice.
"Good morning, sir." She said as if her voice faded from the air.
"Good morning! Have a seat, please," he suggested.
She sat at the chair feeling like a queen. The chair, she thought, must be expensive from thousand to ten thousand dollars as she can feel the fine leather and cushion. His office was bright with blazing sunshine as she can clearly see the Tokyo skylines in panoramic view. It left her with a big visual glow, as it was the view that makes her believe that she was in heaven.
Sakyo lift up his head as he observes a female applicant who had just seated. His gaze penetrated the very depths of her heart. She was presentable and neat. Her brown eyes sparkle with the morning light as he smiles at her. He began to ask questions.
"What makes you an important employee?"
Shizuru was surprised but recovered quickly. She thought that he was going to ask about her previous experiences. She was caught off-guard with an unconventional question as she calmly gave him her answer.
"My assets make me an important employee such as hard work and prompt submissions of paper works."
"Do those make you stand out from the rest?"
"In my opinion and experience, yes I am."
"You were previously employed by the Goliath DBC. Tell me, why did you resign from them? As far as I know, it was a good company."
Shizuru needs to tell the truth about the overtime and underpaid conditions that she underwent through but she must be careful. She analyzes that her answers will determine if she can make a suitable employee or not. Things may be out of hand and it might jeopardize her chance to be hire.
"I left the company to pursue new heights in my career."
"What are those 'new heights'? I believed that Goliath DBC employees do not need it since they are working under the supreme leadership of Mr. Butajiri. His company is in number one spot for ten years in terms of company performance." He notifies her.
Shizuru quickly knew that he based his questions on her answers given. He must be probing her work personality and she thought he was smart in handling the interviews upfront. She became silent for a while thinking for the right response.
He was waiting for an answer.
He was decompounding at every angle of her.
She finally spoke with a stern voice…
"Those were my ambitions to be a top secretary in a top company like yours. One of my ambitions too, is to work closely with the fastest rising CEO, and that is you."
That answer gave Shizuru a winning moment as if she was in the beauty contest. Moreover, she imagines herself winning the crown and placing it in her head with its brilliant luster of diamonds and pearls.
Sakyo smiled as if there is a malevolency tucked under his sleeves. He was deeply impressed with all of her answers. He knew this employee is a must-hire. He stood up from his chair and extended his hand to her.
"Congratulations! You got your job." He acknowledged her.
I'm hired?
Shizuru screamed with delight as she quickly shuts her mouth with both of her hands. She was so embarrassed that she timidly took his hand and shake in response. Her spirits were definitely in the heavens right now as he asked her when she would start.
"This coming Monday will be great!" she replied.
She was so happy that she easily gets the job done.
Walking out from the building is like strolling in midair as Shizuru steps out with a big smile in her face. I got the job, she thought, as she promises herself that she will never resign from the company because of him. She will make this occupational opportunity worth keeping. Now that she got it, she decided to treat herself a lunch….a hearty lunch if her budget allows it.
She visually examines every small and medium-scaled restaurant in every corner of Tokyo as her eye caught something…it called Rai Rai Ken. It sounds good as she hopes that the food does, too. A window displays fake food to that, it gave her an idea to what she was going to eat. Prices are reasonable enough in her pocket. She enters the noisy restaurant, which was filled with employees and executives who busily eating their lunches.
The waiter approached her and asked how many seats do she wants. She told him that she is eating alone as the waiter accommodates the customer. He led her in a single seat table that is far from the entrance and is a few distance away from the washroom.
She orders herself a nice meal of tempura kosu, which consists of larger assortment of tempura pieces, usually with rice, miso soup, pickles and dessert. Additionally, she also asks a cup of green tea. The waiter jotted down her meal in a chit as he signals the chef to cook it. He informs her that the tea will be serving in a hot kettle ceramic pot. She smiles as she waited patiently for her food, ripping off the paper covering the fine wooden chopsticks.
A number of customers started to whisper closely to their colleagues about their appreciation to this delectable food. The waiter carefully carries and places it in front of her with sweet and tempting scents of freshly fried tempura and steaming hot rice. The bowls were lacquer beautifully with it's cultural sense of identity. She feasts her meal with delight, celebrating her new success to the new employer. He seems to be nice and fair.
Nevertheless, she needs to be sure.
An internet is her best of friends as if it was a cosmetic tool for her. Navigating her way through millions of websites is a daunting task. However, search engines these days make it easier that requires a minimal work from her fingers. Typing is her fingers' life and punching the soft plastic-covered keys from the computer makes it ergonomic.
Her eyes ceaselessly explore every website that she has been to. She wants to understand the new administrator about the complexity of his personality. She got a clue based from his questions that she recalled early this morning. Dealing him requires a lot of intellectual pursuit from a man who was idolize around the world. She needs to prove herself that she is every worth of employee that she is to be.
Finally, she found his short but concise biography. His life and achievements are amusing as well as perplexing for she knew she could not find more of it.
His biography goes this way.
Sakyo Valdez is a Japanese, and born in Fukushima prefecture on August 11. The Valdez home was a two-bedroom apartment in neighborhood, populated mostly with lower middle class people. He remembers, Ai, his mother as warm and loving, in contrast to his austere, unsupportive, and often distant father, Hideki was a modest government employee who had made a small fortune in real estate, only to lose it during the financial crisis. Sakyo was a bright but inattentive student as he was a top notcher in math and physics for only two years from his school. He left the state university at the end of his second year, after not taking his final exams because his mother had just died.
His career started in Tokyo where he read an article regarding databases that inspires the lad to create his own version. He named it "Purple Eye" in reference to a royal color and a visual organ of the body. His initial investment of barely $2,000 (he had a difficult time borrowing that money from a bank, which he has no credit history.) three years ago as their first office came from his rented pad along with his colleague.
Today, business analysts voted him as the youngest CEO of the year. The company rival, Goliath, takes extreme measures in order not to be overthrow of this neophyte chairman.
The article makes her appraise as this lacks something. The missing piece of this puzzle is impalpable as the investigator herself frustrates over this succinct writing. However, an interesting fact occupies her.
Shizuru noticed that his birth date is on the eleventh day of August. So, his zodiac sign is a Leo, she thought dreamily as she instantly types and searches regarding zodiac matches. A Leo male and a Virgo female, which is Shizuru's sign, by the way, has it's own fanciful desires of imaginary mating. An article from a zodiac-matching website appears in the monitor. It goes like this…
The effectiveness of this Leo-Virgo couple, metaphorically and literally, commands attention and respect by showing people what they are made of socially, and following through on new ideas motivated only by fun and excitement. Virgo works hard behind the scenes, scheduling appointments and following up on details Leo has lost interest in. Their personalities, opposite in so many ways, makes theirs a highly complementary love match.
She loved the way this piece ended in a dulcet annotation of highly complementary love match. She is compatible with a leonine business prince of hers who would die rather than being defeated. She apprehends that his ambitions are unrelenting as it matches his personality that she inquest him minutes ago.
This must be heaven, she thought with an illusory state.
Sakyo went home to his highly amenitized apartment that cost him a whopping 200 million yen. For him, it was only a trinket of his vast fortune as he lost counting when he bought this exorbitant pad for the bachelor. With all the hardships that he experienced, it was a perfect time for him to taste what life is all about…living in an unlimited indulgence.
Imagine this; he lived in an exclusive penthouse with a ballroom-like capacity. Bedrooms were zoned, individually controlled heating and air conditioning for year-round efficiency and personal comfort; hardwood floors in foyer, hallway, living, dining rooms; bathroom was design as a Zen-like state; generous walk-in closets; state-of-the-art telecommunications systems with high-speed Internet access, multiple phone lines, cable and satellite TV access and oversized operable windows.
What more can he asked for?
His living room is well equipped, imported from Italy, with couches and furniture with it's baroque designs. A renaissance era is the central theme behind it's depiction. A brass pole that, at first glance, covered with gold supports the heavy curtains. A suede texture makes your fingers feel that this was once belonged to a royal household.
Of course, he has a keen eye for a perfect view of Tokyo overlooking the city's central park with its lush green scenery. It makes his eyes soothing as if two slices of cucumbers were place above it.
He smirked with a sudden thought of Shizuru flashing before his mind as he remembers her excitement beams in her eyes. It was fascinating as if it looked like a tiger's eye. He never expects that she will be the one who will fulfill the thrill of his employee interrogation.
A slim but well-poised man, who was standing behind him, offered his service to the billionaire bachelor to remove his custom-made tailored suit.
"Very well," he said politely as Louie, his butler, undrapes his suit as he tucks in over the hanger for dry cleaning.
He dugs his hand unto his pocket, searching for his intoxicating oral gratification, as he took one stick from the cigarette pack. He sparked it with the lighter as he steadily set it on fire. He abruptly turns it off. The light glowed continuously on one end as he inhaled deeply to aggravate his aerial pleasure. As he blows the smoke from his mouth, the white haze forms a sort of a cumulus cloud that disperse quickly into the thin air.
His fondness towards Shizuru never ceases to amaze him with her natural beauty. Wealthy, cunning and even vile women at her age, chases him like a magical duck that hatches golden eggs upon command. He knew women hunted him for fortune, fame and power, not to mention the prestige of being the feminine half of the dashing debonair.
However, he does not want it.
Neither all of the people who seek annexation of his financial gains, can get a piece of him, and all means, they will never succeed.
Never
-To be continued-