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"So you're in charge of it all, Haruno."

I nodded and turned to march out of his office. Things were strained between us; we hadn't spoken since I'd walked in on Karin's little striptease. I was still a bit jumpy around him, he still had that aura that made me oh-so-aware of him, but I was SO angry with him that I maintained a cold exterior around the raven-haired hottie. Or tried to, atleast.

A feeling that had been tugging at me since I saw his interest in Karin's fugly tat, was to rip open my blouse and flash him my ink. That would show him! The REAL sexy tattoo! As I sat in my little bubble, I zoned out and was brought back to conciousness by a grunting Uchiha. Make that a throat-clearing Uchiha.

"Do you need something?" I asked, blankly. I was sure I was drooling a teensy bit.

"Ahem. Here's a cheque. You have to look suitable for the gala, so accept this from the office." He handed me a cheque and I smiled at the squiggly writing.

"I'll consider it as the bonus you mentioned earlier, sir!" I bowed as I received it. "I don't want to mooch off the company, thank you very much. Anything else?" I added, a bit snarkily.

"Er, no. You can continue checking those names for the guest list." He turned to go but paused for a moment, "You're the first secretary out of the nine I've had, to take it out of your bonus."

"...I'm sorry?" What did he want me to say? Was it even a good thing? Did he not like the independant types?

...Take it OUT of the bonus? Did that mean that the sum mentioned in the check was PART of my bonus?

His confused expression and eye-rolling did not give me much help with figuring that out.

"The ball has to be held in one week, be sure you buy your clothes and make all the arrangement quickly." He paused and turned around. "To clarify: Yes, it is a formal event."

I laughed, "I'm not that stupid! I knew that!"

"Hn. Could you bring me some coff-" he stopped short. I blushed. "Scratch that,"

"It's alright! It will be ready in 10 mins!" I sang and trotted off to the kitchen, aware of his piercing gaze on my back; unaware that his thoughts at the moment were far from innocent.

"Which idiot fucked with my kitchen arrangement?" I was scowling. The tea, coffee and sugar were all together on the middle shelf - that was MY arrangement. But now, the coffee was on the topmost shelf and the sugar had disappeared. Sure I was tall, but not seven bloody feet tall!

I stood on tiptoe and tottered as my waving hands kept knocking me off balance. I would have grabbed a stool, but they all had plush cushioning and I had tacky stilletoes. I felt my shirt untuck itself as I stretched higher, pulling my skirt up with me. I refused to stack up magazines and books even though I was sorely tempted to, because Hinata had instilled a respect for books in me.

Then it hit me. Climb onto the counter!

Kicking off my heels, I hitched up my skirt really high and scrambled onto the marble counter. Reaching up while kneeling, I could feel a soft draft on my back, and triumphantly I felt my fingers graze the coffee jar ever so slightly. Hope renewed, I stretched again and a sudden, unexpected wave of heat hit me.

Immediately, I knew who was the cause of it. A certain raven-haired man's hand slid over mine, easily grabbed the accursed jar and slid his arm back down, trailing it over the thin cotton of my shirt. Sasuke was close...so close...I could feel his hard chest pressing against my back lightly, the heat radiating from both of us making me breathe heavily. The scent of aftershave filled my nose as I tilted my face to the right and slowly closed my eyes.

He wasn't moving. He'd set the pot down on the table but remained in the same position. I was getting damn...hot.

Resolving to put an end to my inner torture, I turned quickly. Too quickly, I discovered, because since the counter was not that wide, it resulted in me slipping. Did I regret falling into his arms and having his lips softly graze my cheek? I wasn't sure. All I knew was that the moment lasted forever. The marble tableteop bit into my back, but I didn't care. One of my leps was loosely wrapped around his hips and the other was stuck in a funny angle somewhere. My eyes were still shut and my fists had tightened around his shoulders. My "humble bosom" was heaving, bumping into his chest every now and then.

I was aware of my surroundings; unaware of my bearings.

"Haruno..." he whispered. I tried to reply but couldn't bring myself to speak. He was looking down at me and I peered back through heavy-lidded eyes. Slowly I licked my lips, and then it was all over. Before setting me down properly, I could have SWORN I felt his fingers brush over my lips softly. They tingled, but I couldn't be certain it had even happened.

"...Could you hurry up with the damned coffee?"

Why did she have the power to do that to him? She was a bespectacled, rod-thin secretary with no sense of style and no special attributes to speak of! She was the most plain woman he'd ever had the misfortune of being troubled with. Why did she enter his thoughts so often?

It was the damned coffee's fault! It always made him lose control around the rosette, which muddled up his mind and irritated him. He'd been patiently waiting for his coffee while the minutes ticked by and all he could hear were muffled cusses from the kitchen, he decided to investigate. He expected his clutzy secretary to be having trouble. What he didn't expect was finding her squatting, shoeless, on his office kitchen-counter. It was the first time he'd seen her letting loose; apart from the time in the club. Her pink bun was missing it's usual sleekness and her shirt was crumpled and untucked. Her back, he'd discovered, was extremely sexy, and had a mark on it. He wasn't sure what it was, her shirt moved and covered it from his view. Of course she couldn't leave it at that - she had hitched her skirt almost to her hips and gave the impression of her straddling something...a thought he found awfully arousing.

Without thinking he'd stalked over silently and grabbed the jar himself, planning to scold her mockingly. Things didn't always go according to plan when Sakura was concerned. He'd mistakenly smelt her hair and lost his train of thought when she had gasped. Touching her like he had would probably be considered molestation in the workplace, but he was too far gone to consider such a thing. He set down the coffee mix before he (or she) foolishly dropped it. Then she'd leaned back unconciously into his front and made him nervous - lower down, there was a painful(ly obvious) problem. She didn't seem so oblivious to sexual tension anymore.

Sakura had then halted his train of thought by whipping around in a second and losing her balance. He didn't complain, because she'd fallen face-first into his face. Her cheeks were so soft...like...like plump, firm tomatoes, yeah! Sakura's arms flew around his shoulders and held on tight; one leg wrapping around his waist, unconciously drawing them closer. The blood rushed to his head and to his...*ahem* and he leaned in. Her tongue trailed tauntingly over her lush lips, and he wanted to take her, right then and there in the tiny office kitchenette. Realizing that his thoughts concerning his secretary were WRONG - like he would be taking advantage of her - he let her go. It was PURELY ACCIDENTAL that his fingers felt compelled to touch what his lips had almost captured...not.

Quietly reprimanding her for her delay, he had rushed back to his office. His pants were too tight. If it wasn't smashing his only chance at propagating future mini-Uchiha, he would have gladly punched himself in the hala-hala to relieve himself of his very, very straining problem.

Stupid, arrogant jerk! I was still fuming. If there was one thing I absolutely couldn't stand about him, it was how he drove me to the edge and stranded me on a cliff. His touch and motions were all incomplete! He turned me on, but didn't DO anything else. Stupid, overprotective, gorgeous BOSS!

WHY DOESN'T HE LIKE ME?

Oh...

I found out the answer to that almost immediately. Next to the coffee, was where the office kept a small stack of newspapers. On top of the pile, a newspaper with the page opened to the gossip columns - Fate's minions at work - I discovered a picture of him with his girlfriend

...Sasuke's girlfriend.

Karin wasn't lying. The man I love is dating a gorgeous socialite. She's shorter, bustier, cuter and way more fashionable than me. Why am I not surprised?

I quite liked the random horniness in this chapter, but the ending was...meh. I'm such a drama queen. I just HAVE to add all these unneccessary elements that are SO used and worn out and...so loved. Come on, you know you love the Old School Romance, minus the crappy endearments (I mean seriously, I would choke on my own saliva if a guy called me 'darling' - not only because the word is so UGH, but also because A GUY IS CALLING ME "DARLING" WTF?)

Aaaahh, this chapter made me sooo excited! In a romantic way! .