Chapter 5: Wrong Timing
This morning, no doubt, was remarkably strange for Cagalli Yula Athha. Not only was the person she least expected to see exactly the one standing right in front of her but also he, of all people, had just pronounced the three most prized words she thought she'd die not hearing.
You are hired.
Cagalli remained still by the door, her eyes never leaving a pair of blue ones. 'Has he gone mad? Or have I grown deaf?'
"Ms. Cagalli Yula Athha!! You are hired!!" Yzak announced for the nth time, grim was written all over his face. He glared at her then to his watch. She was obviously wasting his time—his precious time which should have been more productive had he gone to his office and did his piles of paperwork. Yet as much as his mind urged him to go the other way he still found himself standing in this flat and even hiring the person he had just rejected rather shamefully for the position.
"Are you sure? I am hired as in h-i-r-e-d?" Cagalli spelled carefully.
"Yes Cagalli, you've got it right—hired as my assistant personnel manager at Zaft Enterprises. So you want it or not?"
"Of course! Of course I want! But you sure? Assistant manager? But… why? How? Oh… no… don't… tell… me—" And Cagalli's face lit up when she remembered what Athrun told her. "Wahaha!! Oh why did it not occurred to me at once? It must be Athrun right!? He asked you to hire me! Of course he told me about it but I didn't think he was serious. Or much more I'm certain as hell that someone like you won't actually buy whatever he'll say! But now look you're here! Thank God Athrun didn't asked me for a bet or else I would have lost a fortune!" Cagalli choked out laughing at her intended light tease.
But unexpected to her, it didn't turn out that light for Yzak.
"Are you, by any chance, implying that someone as pathetic as that bastard can order around someone like me who in the first place have the expertise for the job?!" He spoke stressing out every word. "You don't know me, Cagalli. No one and I'll say it again no one has the nerve to tell me what and not to do! Whatever the reason why I'm hiring you now is my decision—ALONE! Do you understand?!"
"Yes." But in truth Cagalli did not and she was certain Yzak was lying. 'Quite too defensive… My friend must be the one behind this.' But on how her so-called friend did it, Cagalli hadn't had the slightest idea.
If she only knew…
XXX
"Yzak, I need you to do me a favor." Athrun said one day when he paid Yzak a 'friendly' visit at his office.
"You know I don't take favors especially if they're from you, Athrun." Yzak stated like it was the most normal thing to say—his attention not leaving the piles of paperwork on his table.
"I doubt if you could still stick to that once you hear the consequence." And with that being said, Yzak didn't have to see Athrun's triumphant smirked to have him snapped from what he was doing.
"Are you blackmailing me?!" He groaned, slamming both hands on the table which made some papers to slip on the floor.
"Well, you said that…" Athrun retorted back coolly, focusing his attention on his fingernails.
"You can not threaten me! You know no one can!" Yzak said, fuming.
Athrun rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "Hmm… Yzak, don't you thinking Shiho will find it interesting why a Suma cum Laude graduate of the prestigious University of Plants applied for a lousy personnel manager job when he had lots of presidential position offerings on other companies?"
"You're despicable, Athrun!" He glared even more intensely at the blue-haired man across him, despite knowing it was useless. "Now tell me what you want!"
"That's better Yzak. You're really a friend. Anyway what I want is just simple… since we all know that no one stands being your assistant personnel manager why don't we try Cagalli Yula Athha for the position?"
"Cagalli… Yula… Athha," the name rang a bell and then it hit him. "NO!! Over my dead body, Athrun!!"
"I see…" With that Athrun stood up and prepared to leave, "you want me to tell Shiho then—"
"NOO! I mean yes I'll have Cagalli here as soon as possible!"
XXX
Cagalli could feel her stomach churn as she sat beside Yzak at the car's passenger seat. Yzak was too in a hurry so she didn't manage to have breakfast with Miriallia and Shinn. According to him, they have to leave at once because he still had to finish briefing her with her new job before office hour starts at 8:00 am. It was 7:30 when they left; Cagalli wondered how they would finish the briefing before 8 considering that trip to Z.E. Building would take thirty minutes.
'It's impossible!' Cagalli thought.
But like what Yzak told her—she still didn't know him.
So the first thirty minutes of her job had been hell. The moment Cagalli stepped inside Yzak Joule's car; she suddenly felt like she was being buried one hundred feet under the ground. And it was Yzak burying her, throwing loads of information like he was just loading files in a computer.
"Are you even remembering everything I've said?!" Yzak barked, pressing the brakes which made Cagalli lunged a bit forward.
"Yes… of course…" Cagalli said, hoping she really did.
"Good. Now let's see. I want you to repeat everything I've said." The traffic light turned green and they started moving.
"Everything?"Cagalli now thought if it would have been better if she told him the truth.
"Yes." Yzak said seriously which only meant she had no choice...
"In your department…" she gulped, as she began gathering all information she could remember, "lateness and absences are mortal sins. No one, especially me, is allowed to be late or absent without a valid reason. Also employees under HR department can only have a total of one late or absent, beyond that would lead to suspension or forced dismissal regardless of whatever reason the employee has. Overtimes are frequent and compulsory for managers, with no extra-payment of course. Meetings were to be held weekly and seminars monthly. And… and…" Cagalli mentally squeezed her brain for more, but in vain.
Luckily, Yzak interrupted her and said, "Let's go. We're here."
And they both got down the car without Yzak asking her to continue it.
XXX
From the day she went out of Zaft Enterprise building after her fateful interview with Yzak, Cagalli had no longer envisioned herself doing business inside this building once again. Most especially, she didn't even see herself, even in nightmares, walking alongside the person who was, in the first place, the reason why she never even wanted to go back in that very same place. But now it seemed that fate wanted her back. For what reason? Cagalli had yet to find out.
"We're taking the stairs," Yzak motioned to a stairs across the building's enormous hall. "Our department is located just at the second floor."
Cagalli nodded and followed him. She felt too nervous and at the same time too excited for her new job. She looked at her corporate attire. It was a yellow three-fourths blouse with ruffles adorning in front and a pair of cream slacks. She stared at the other employees passing their way and asked Yzak, "Don't I have a uniform?"
"Manager's don't wear one," was his brief answer.
They continued on their way until a voice across the hall called out shouting, "Cagalli!" The both of them turned towards the direction of the voice and saw a woman catching up with them.
"Shiho?" Cagalli said as the lady stopped in front her, panting.
"Cagalli, I'm glad to see you here again! By the way what brings you here? Tell me you'll now be working here too right?"
"Yes Shiho…" Cagalli beamed.
"I'm glad for you. What job?"
"Assistant personnel manager… you know…" Cagalli said as she secretly pointed Yzak with her eyes.
"You mean you'll be working with— " And Shiho made up a disgusted face which was answered by someone's loud clearing of throat.
"If you would excuse me please…" Yzak suddenly made his presence behind Cagalli known. "Cagalli, I presume you are, by now, well-informed that we still have so many things to do and I'm afraid that talking to a receptionist who knows nothing else but to chitchat is not one of them."
Sensing the rudeness in Yzak's voice, Cagalli worriedly turned to Shiho and noticed that the brunette's expression was now practically pissed.
"Cagalli!" Shiho said, pronouncing Cagalli's name louder than required, "Did you just say you'll be working with Mister Joule? Well Cagalli I guess I must warn you now… if you still care to preserve your youthfulness and not to become like the menopausal person you'll be working with… you better keep yourself distant from him now!"
"Cagalli!" Yzak countered. "I forgot to tell you that if you want to seek advice on goings-on here around the company, it's imperative you know who the credible persons are and who are not. But don't worry there are just a very few people here at Z.E. with nasty attitudes and I assure you it wouldn't be that hard to sort them out."
"Exactly! The person behind you hit it right, Cagalli! And also I must add, among those few people he was pertaining, there's only one who stands out! And I don't think I still have to name who the well-loved person is."
"You watch your tongue, Ms. Hahnenfuss!" Yzak snapped, striding towards Shiho and looking down at her as if intimidating her.
"Then watch yours as well, Mr. Joule." Shiho said indignantly, jutting her head up facing Yzak. With Cagalli at their middle, she felt like a priest who had just pronounced the groom to kiss the bride but instead ended up biting each other.
"Hey! Hey! You two! Calm down!" A playful voice sounded from behind, and a tanned skin man showed up. "Don't you even get tired of this?"
The two ignored the newcomer and continued with their glaring contest.
But Shiho, who got tired, broke off first and said, "I'm wasting my time. I better go now…"
"Wait Shiho. Won't you give each other a friendly hug first? Please!" The tan man said with puppy eyes.
"In your dreams, Dearka!" And Shiho turned to Cagalli, "Cagalli good luck with your job." She smiled at her and walked away.
"Shiho, you sure you're okay?" Dearka asked concernedly.
"You don't have to mind me Dearka when you can't even manage making a single girl answer you!"
"Oh that's so mean of her!" Dearka said as he scratched his head and smiled sheepishly at Cagalli.
"Let's go, Cagalli." Yzak started.
"Hey wait! Yzak, won't you even introduce the pretty blonde to me?"
"Cagalli Athha, my assistant personnel manager."
"Familiar… hmm… OH!" And suddenly, out of no reason at all, Dearka burst out laughing. "Must be Ath- haha latest toy!! At first I didn't believe he'll actually do it but now I see… our friend surely has taste!"
Cagalli who got confused as to what Dearka was saying, glared at him and asked, "Excuse me? Would you make that clear… A toy? Me?"
"Oh no! no! no! It's not you! Please I'm not referring to you, darling."
"Cagalli." She gritted her teeth.
"Nice name, darling." Dearka complimented with his laughter still as intense.
"I said Cagalli not darling." Cagalli began clenching and unclenching her fist.
"Oh hoho of course dar—eh Cagalli! By the way Dearka Elseman feel free to call me Dearka. Oh I got to go by the way good luck with your new job!" And Dearka went away, laughing even louder this time.
"Yzak, what's wrong with him?"
"Don't mind him. Let's go."
XXX
TING!
The elevator door opened and a cold air brushed Cagalli's face as she stepped out of the platform. She couldn't believe that in just a short time she was now standing at the topmost floor of one of Aprillius City's tallest buildings.
It was past twelve noon and time for her lunch break. Cagalli decided that it was the perfect time for her little adventure. That was why instead of heading to the cafeteria and feeding her complaining stomach, she found herself stepping inside an elevator. The ascent was nothing out of the ordinary and after like minutes of waiting inside, the electronic display finally showed '150th'—the last floor.
"Where am I?" Standing inside a modernized hall, Cagalli felt like she was transported in an utterly different place. On either side, elegant golden lights lined the walls like pillars. Beneath, the floor spread out like an untouched black glass. On one corner, an exquisite circular secretarial desk remained empty. And at the center, propped in a circular oak table, was a smaller version of the golden 'Z' symbol at the entrance. Looking at it, Cagalli deeply thought, 'If I only knew… the owner must be an avid fan of Zorro.'
'This couldn't get any better…' Cagalli grinned when she observed that no one was around. Similar to what she had expected and what some of her officemates had told her, the last floor was vacant. The CEO to whom the entire floor belonged had long been in absence. That thought gave her courage to go all the way up here in spite knowing that employees with no business whatsoever were strictly prohibited in that floor.
TING! But suddenly, out of nowhere, the familiar high-pitched sound of the elevator graced in the air…
Panicking, Cagalli instinctively ran towards the secretarial desk to hide. How she wanted to smack herself for coming all the way here. This was her first day of her first job and she knew to herself that finding a job better than this was impossible. She remembered what Yzak told her that morning: "Disobey any of the company's rules and I will personally recommend your termination." The message was clear as crystal.
She must not be caught.
With that Cagalli ran as fast as she could until suddenly on her way she found that she was already running extremely fast. She couldn't control herself. The floor suddenly got slippery which made her slipped a bit. She tried to regain her balance but was in vain. For Cagalli could feel the air rushing as she tightly closed her eyes, preparing for the impact. In a second, all she could feel was the searing pain and the cold floor against her cheeks. When she opened her eyes, all she saw was her reflection against the glass-like floor.
"Cagalli?" A deep voice resounded across the hall.
Cagalli wasn't sure if what she heard had resulted from hitting her head on the floor but it seemed the newcomer knew her name. Suddenly sounds of hurried footsteps began growing towards her. Embarrassed, Cagalli carefully tilted her head to see who the person was. At first the man wearing a black suit appeared to be a stranger but as she looked intently at his face, her face lit up as she realized who he was. "Athrun!"
"Cagalli, are you alright? And what do you think you're doing on the floor?" He got down and held her shoulders, assisting her to stand up.
Cagalli blushed. She slowly began to question what kind of fate she was born with. What's with her that every time she and Athrun meet, he always caught her up in a silly state?
"I'm really fine, Athrun." She said forcing a smile. "I-I just thought of seeing myself in the mirror-like floor here, sort of comparing which is better: this or my pocket mirror. But now I guess the latter's better and more convenient to use."
Athrun chuckled. Cagalli wasn't sure if it was for her silliness or for what she had said. "So may I now know what business do you have here?"
Cagalli realized how she had been preoccupied that she almost forgotten her real intention of coming up there. "Oh yeah… I was thinking of viewing Aprillius City from here but I can see—" Cagalli roamed her eyes and said, "no windows here. I suppose I should just have gone down another level…"
"No need. 'cause I think the place where I'm going has exactly the view you're looking for." Athrun said, smiling boyishly at her.
"And where else aside from here could you go? Oh don't tell me you're planning to go past that door—" Cagalli directed her eyes towards an enormous glass door just right beside the secretarial desk "—I highly doubt the CEO would like it, and I think breaking a rule of going up here without valid reason is enough. Besides I don't think we could simply use our id's to get inside…"
"Just come before someone caught as…" And without warning Athrun held Cagalli's hand as he dragged her along with him.
"Athrun, I told you we cannot—" And she was cut when Athrun pressed his thumb against the sensor at the right side of the door and much to her surprise the door opened.
Athrun turned to look at the surprised lady beside him and gave her an I-told-you smile.
"And you're actually permitted to get inside his office?" Cagalli asked disbelievingly.
He did not respond.
As they entered, Athrun switched on something and with that another spectacular view welcomed Cagalli. From the striking lights from the ceiling, the enormous desk at the center, brass chairs to the rich carpeting of the floor Cagalli considered it all absolutely breath taking. She began wondering how much it did cost just to furnish an opulent office room for a single person.
"Won't you even ask where the windows are?" Athrun said beaming at Cagalli.
Athrun was right not a single window can be spotted at the walls. "I presume you have a way of showing them up?" Cagalli gave her a challenging look.
"Precisely."
With that being said, the long wall behind the huge desk in front of Cagalli suddenly became clear like glass. And the bland wall had been replaced with the spectacular view of the urbanized city of Aprillius. Like a child about to receive her birthday present, Cagalli excitedly ran towards the glass wall.
"So what can you say?" He said as he slowly walked near her.
"Just like what I said before Athrun you always surprise me!" Cagalli turned her attention from the window to Athrun. Her heart skipped after realizing that he was now unfairly so close to her.
"Do I really?" Athrun narrowed his eyes and slowly bent down his head towards Cagalli's.
"Uhm… Ye-yes…" Cagalli stuttered, urging her frozen knees to back away from him and to give ample space between them. After moving a few paces, Cagalli found her voice once again and said, "Actually you've just made another one when Yzak oh Mr. Joule I mean turned out this morning in our flat hiring me for a job. Although he didn't tell me it was you behind it, I'm still sure it was you."
"What do you mean? I don't know what you're talking…" The look on his face almost made her believe but still Yzak's strong denial spoke more of the hidden truth.
"Yeah yeah right Athrun deny it as much as you want but still allow me to express my appreciation. Thank you for helping me out of my debt. Getting me in a job is a really great help." Cagalli offered her an appreciative smile before turning to look at the desk before her.
"Fine. Whatever it is you want to say, Cagalli." Athrun said, crossing his arms and leaning his back against the desk to face the glass window.
"Hmm… this must be the CEO, Patrick Zala!" Cagalli said looking intently at a small photo frame of the CEO's family. "His wife's so lovely. And his little son… he's so adorable! Wait. Athrun, look at him… Don't you think you two resemble each other?" Cagalli said as she snatched the frame and showed it to Athrun.
"Really? Let me see…" Athrun took the frame and examined the picture. "Hmm… I don't think so…"
"Oh yes… maybe it's because he's cuter!" Cagalli playfully teased him.
"So… does that mean I'm handsomer?" Athrun said as he placed the frame beneath Cagalli's chin and temptingly smirked at her.
"Um…yes." As soon as the word unconsciously slipped out her tongue, Cagalli immediately covered her mouth with both her hands. Her face furiously reddened, as she averted her eyes away from Athrun's gaze. 'Oh my god did I just say that?!'
Her question didn't have to be answered for the loud chuckling coming from the man opposite her was enough for Cagalli to blush even more. Athrun brought the frame away from Cagalli and placed it back on the desk, continuing with his laughing fits. "Cagalli, I didn't mean you to answer that!"
Cagalli frowned. Athrun would surely continue teasing her if she didn't think of any other thing to say. Suddenly out of the blue the name Athrun Zala got in her, "Do you know, Athrun Zala?"
Surprisingly Athrun stopped laughing and said alertly, "Why do you ask?"
"Oh nothing. I was just thinking if Patrick Zala and Athrun Zala are related since they both have the same surnames. Hmm… must be relatives." Cagalli smiled and said, "By the way, Athrun, what brought you here?"
"Me?" He said, sounding a bit shocked.
"Yes. Surely you didn't go up here just to show me around. So?"
Athrun uneasily met Cagalli's questioning look. Would it be appropriate to say: 'Uhm… I'm here to meet the CEO's secretary.' What if she wondered why the secretary would be there when her boss's not even there in the first place? 'Uhm… Cagalli you know I have this little affair with her and…' NO! Of course he can't say that! He cannot afford to stain his image to Cagalli. Not now that he was still enjoying his little game with her…
Suddenly, Athrun's musings were interrupted, when the glass doors opened and a young woman with short purplish pink hair entered.
"Oh Mr. Zalaaa, you're here! Did I keep you waiting?" The lady said, smiling seductively as she adjusted her pink miniskirt.
'Luna!! STOP!!' Athrun screamed inwardly and gulped as he turned to look at the still blonde beside him. 'Did she hear that? Does she already know the real me?' Athrun crossed his fingers, hoping she did not. To his surprise she was not showing any kind of reaction—'She didn't! She didn't!'—none until she closed her eyes and said with her teeth gritting,
"Athruuun, you're Zala? Athrun Zala?!"
--To be continued--
To: passer-by- love your review made me blush lol but I don't think the story is very descriptive or realistic haha anyway that's your opinion and we have different opinions. Don't you have an account? I would love to read your profile –smiles-
Aerielle- Thanks for even bothering reviewing the previous three chaps! Me happy! Lol and the inconsistency you've noticed let's just say the 3 mobs have their good sides hmm… like all persons do.
pinkberry ü