Hey! I'm sooooooooo sorry. I realize I didn't keep true to the promise I made, but it took longer to update my other stories. I'll try to keep that in mind when I make future promises.
I won't waste any more of your time. Let's get to the chapter!
Chapter 21: Very Fond of the Japanese Woman
"So it is agreed," said the Japanese man who sat at the head of the table. He was the CEO of Sony. Across from him at the other head was Ulrich Stern. Mr. Kazuo Hirai could tell that this was possibly the biggest decision of the young man's life. But of course, it was an important day for him and Sony as well. "We shall create a new firm. Its sole purpose will be to distribute Stern Co. products and to also co-create products as well. Is this agreed by you all?" All of the other businessmen and women gave their approval. "Then tomorrow, we discuss the make-up of the new firm. We will need the contracts to be drawn up by Friday. If that is all, I see no reason for this meeting to continue. Do you, Stern-San?"
"No. I have no other business to discuss," Ulrich answered. Everyone stood up and began making their way out of the meeting room. Yumi and Sissi were waiting for Ulrich to join them, but he was stopped by Hirai's hand which had him by the shoulder.
"Stern-san, I'd like a word with you." He said. Ulrich gave a quick nod to the girls and turned to address him.
Sissi and Yumi decided to wait in the lobby. They took a seat on one of the many sofas in there. "I wonder what that was about," Yumi finally said.
"Probably some idea the President's got that he wanted to run by Ulrich," Sissi said.
"So it's finally happening." Yumi said as a smile broke out on her face. "Once this deal with Sony goes through, we'll be operating on every continent."
"We'll have all of Japan and then the rest of Asia with this deal. And all the contracts to peruse and argue over that go with them." Sissi said as she sighed. "I need some applesauce. Is there any here? I need it now."
"It can't be all that bad."
"Yumi do you like paperwork?"
"Tch, no." Yumi didn't need to think on that one.
"Contracts are your normal paper times ten. And I promise you only a couple of sheets are really necessary. Ulrich's giving me a bonus on this. Somehow he's making this up to me," Yumi laughed.
"Well there he is. Go tell him now."
Ulrich walked up to them as they stood up. "You two didn't have to wait for me." He said.
"You'd be whining like a little baby who lost his mommy if we didn't." Yumi teased.
"I don't need you two."
"Then you can go over the contracts yourself." Sissi said.
"I meant Yumi. I don't need Yumi." Ulrich said as he gave Sissi a big smile.
"I feel the love, Ulrich."
"Well I only need you to walk me through this city. I could get stranded in Tokyo." Ulrich said.
"So you do want your mommy." Yumi said. She then hugged Ulrich. "Don't worry. Mommy's here to make sure you don't get lost. But you have to stay close to mommy so she can keep an eye on you."
"Can mommy get me some applesauce? Please." Sissi cooed.
"Okay, okay. Why don't I take you two on a tour of my grand city, Tokyo?" Yumi offered.
"Yay! A tour! A tour! We're going on a tour!" Sissi and Ulrich chanted as the skipped around in a circle.
"Yumi!" a young Japanese male brunette yelled. The man was running towards the trio. They recognized him from the meeting. Ulrich and Sissi had no clue as to who he was, but Yumi slowly began to recognize him.
"Momo?"
"You do remember me!" the man called Momo said. He and Yumi hugged each other. Sissi looked over to Ulrich. Ulrich was felt her staring at him.
"What?" he snapped. Sissi smiled.
"You're jealous."
"No. I'm not jealous." Ulrich pouted.
"Yumi, I haven't seen you in years."
"I think the last time was when I came to visit my parents before I went off to college."
"So you're obviously doing well. I hear you're the secretary of the owner of Stern Co. himself."
"That's right. I am. And what about you. You must be high up the food chain if you're invited to important business meetings."
"I'm actually the Vice President of the Entertainment Dept. Seeing as Stern Co. sepecializes in entertainment, it was very important that I was there." Momo replied.
"We definitely should catch up. I got a lot to tell you. Oh! Why don't you meet my friends?" Yumi said, gesturing to Ulrich and Sissi.
"This is Ulrich Stern, the owner of Stern Co. And this Sissi Delmas. The lawyer who handles all legal actions for the company and for Ulrich. Ulrich, Sissi, this is Momotaro Ichikawa. He's been my best friend since we were little kids."
"It's nice to meet you, Momo. That's a cute nickname." Ulrich said.
"Hey, Taro. I like that better. Can I call you that instead?" Sissi asked.
"That is okay with me." He said to Sissi. "And if anyone deserves credit for Momo, it's Yumi."
"I wanna nickname too." Ulrich said. "Why don't you call me by a cute nickname?" Ulrich whined.
"Your name's Ulrich. What do you want me to call you, Rick?"
"No, that's lame. I want something like Momo."
"I dunno . . . Ul-chan?"
"Ul-chan. Ul-chan." Ulrich smiled. "I can get used to that." They all laughed.
"Just so you know, my real name's Elizabeth. Sissi is a nickname Ulrich came up for me." She said to Momo.
"Oh really? Well why don't I call you . . . Eliza-chan?"
"That's way better than Sissi! Now I finally have a cute nickname!" Sissi said in mock celebration.
"Hey!" Ulrich frowned.
"I see you three are very close friends." Momo acknowledge. "It's a true blessing to have such good terms in the business world."
"You're right about that." Ulrich said.
"You're very lucky to have Yumi as your secretary. I bet she's very reliable. She's always been such a neat freak."
"You're telling me." Ulrich said. "The Janitor never has anything to clean up."
"Aww, so she's maid and secretary. You two must have a lot of fun in the office alone." Momo joked.
"Momo! Stop doing that! You haven't changed." Yumi said as she slapped Momo's shoulder. He was laughing uncontrollably. "He's always pairing me up with the any guy who knows me."
"Well, I thought we did have fun in the office . . . alone." Ulrich joked.
"You two are the worst." Yumi said shaking her head. She was trying her hardest not to smile, and she was failing horribly.
"Well it was nice meeting you two. But I have business to attend—literally."
"See ya around, Taro."
"Yeah Momo. You should plan me and Yumi's wedding!" Ulrich said.
"Ulrich!" Yumi shouted. "Momo, before you say anything, bye!"
"Okay, Yumi. Bye Eliza-chan." Then in a girlish voice, he said, "Bye, Ul-chan!"
"Momo!" Yumi shouted. "You two are impossible." Yumi said as she walked off. Ulrich and Sissi ran after her.
"Wait, mommy! You're going too fast." Ulrich said.
"You're the one going too fast. Can I have a date first?" Yumi said.
"Sure. You should've asked earlier."
"Should I go? Because if you two want some privacy . . ." Sissi said.
"Oh, come on, Sissi." Ulrich said. "We're just fooling around."
"That's a very interesting choice of words."
"Ulrich, I'll hurt you." Yumi threatened.
"You've broken my heart once. If you do it again, I don't know if I can live through the pain." Ulrich said dramatically.
"Shut up. Mommy's leaving now." Yumi said as she started running through the streets.
"So this is a Japanese mall." Ulrich said as he and Sissi both surveyed the inside of the Tokyo Mall.
"It's huge. I could live here." Sissi said.
"Yep. We do have an impressive mall." Yumi said with a smug look on her face.
"And just what do you have to be so proud about?" Ulrich asked. "You didn't build this place."
"No, but I come from the same country that built this mall, and that's about to change the face of your company." She pointed out.
"She does have a point." Sissi admitted.
"Whatever." Ulrich said. He and the girls started exploring the different stores. They soon stumbled upon a store that was filled with nothing but girlish outfits of pink and black. It was a Lolita styled store. "So is this the Japanese Hot Topic?" Ulrich asked.
"I guess in a way. It's Rorricon." Yumi answered in a perfect Japanese accent.
"You've never spoken like that before. Why start now?" Sissi asked.
"It's cute. I like your accent." Ulrich said, giving her a smile. Yumi felt flustered.
"Yeah well the purpose of rorricon is to look like a cute little girl. Kinda like one of those dolls with the big frilly dresses. They've got other stuff too."
"Let's go in." Sissi said.
"I'll just wait out here." Ulrich said.
"You don't wanna come in?"
"No. My masculinity might dwindle away in there." Ulrich said.
"He gave the same excuse for not coming into Victoria's Secret." Sissi told Yumi.
"But the owner's a man! You do know that right?" Yumi asked.
"I don't care! It's a woman's store. And I-I just don't feel comfortable. I've had some strange occurrences in stores like that." Ulrich said as he scratched the back of his neck and looked away from the girls. Yumi raised an eyebrow. Sissi just laughed.
"He did. Let him go. He can sulk at the food court. It's right next to this place, anyways." Sissi said.
So Sissi and Yumi spent a good half hour dressing up and just looking at the different outfits.
"So tell me more about Momo." Sissi finally said to Yumi.
"What about him?"
"You and him ever been more than friends?"
"No." Yumi said with an embarrassed smile on her face. "I used to think about him and me, but I guess it faded away whenever I moved to America."
"That's a shame. Well I guess not. You do like Ulrich, after all." Sissi teased.
"So what. He's my boss. It'd be bad if we had something between us."
"You two are single people who just so happen to work together. Mere coincidence!"
"We only met because of the job in the first place."
"It's not like you did anything "dirty" to get the job—or to even keep it when you were closed to getting fired."
"True. But I mean, I highly doubt Ulrich would want to date me."
"Why do you think that?" Sissi asked.
Yumi sighed. She put the dress that she was looking at back and turned to Sissi. "There's something wrong with me. No guy ever stays around for long. The only one who did was just using me. Ulrich has his own relationship problems. I highly doubt he'd want to take a chance on me."
"Why not? Besides me, you're the only woman he trusts wholeheartedly. And doesn't want to date me. We're like brother and sister, really." Sissi replied.
"I just don't know." Yumi said.
"So you don't have any feelings for Momo?"
"No. But I am curious. I wonder how things would've gone if we did date. But he probably doesn't feel the same way. He might even have a sweetheart of his own right now."
"You have self-esteem issues." Sissi declared. "This is why you can't keep a man." Yumi scoffed.
"Oh and you're just the expert on these things, huh?"
"I've seen many a break up and get together. I am the number one gossiper."
"Point taken."
"So if Ulrich did feel the same way, would you go for it?" Sissi asked with a mischievous grin as she nudged the girl's arm.
Yumi looked her right in the eye. "I would. Because I don't think I'd have it in me to say no."
Sissi squealed. "You are totally in love! I knew it! You should tell him."
"Nani?" Yumi yelled. She almost went into a Japanese rant, but caught herself. "I can't do that." Yumi said.
"Well you should." Sissi said.
Upon exiting the store they saw a swarm of Japanese women surrounding a table. They were giggling and taking pictures with someone.
"What? Is there a celebrity here?" Sissi asked.
"Dunno." Yumi said. "Where's Ulrich though?"
"I don't see him at all. The crowd of girls isn't helping." They both slowly looked at each other.
"You don't think . . ." Sissi started.
"People do tend to flock around gaijin." They practically ran towards the crowd to confirm their suspicions.
The women were taking turns having their picture taken with the cute brunette gaijin man.
"Okay. Is that it?" Ulrich finally said.
"No. We want our picture too!" Yumi said in Japanese.
"Well then—Yumi! Sissi! Hey!"
"Hey yourself." Sissi said. "You work fast. You're quite the playboy in Japan."
"It's only because you're a foreigner." Yumi looked rather annoyed.
"Well they just came up to me, and started talking. I didn't really know what to do."
"You don't have to explain yourself to us. You go and have fun with your little harem."
"Oh come on. Don't be that way." Ulrich said as he grabbed Yumi's shoulder. "You know, we have to be together for Momo's sake." Yumi laughed.
"You'll disappoint your fans though."
" 'S okay. Ladies!" Ulrich addressed the girls. "I have to go now. Arigato and sayonara." The girls groaned and said their goodbyes.
"Aww, you made them sad." Sissi said.
"If you wanna date with one of them, I'll be happy to translate for you." Yumi teased.
"Naw, that's okay."
"You sure? I always thought you liked the Japanese woman." Sissi gave him a wink.
"Of course I do. Why do you think I made Yumi my secretary? Fantasy! It's all a part of my ultimate fantasy." Ulrich said he pulled Yumi next to him."
"I thought I told you to stop that." Yumi said through gritted teeth.
"Whatever. But I'm not the only who's fond of the Japanese woman."
"What do you mean."
"You remember when Mr. Hirai wanted to talk to me?" the girls nodded. "He wanted to talk to me about considering you for the role of overseeing the creation of the firm." Yumi's eyes grew twice their size.
"You're joking!" Yumi exclaimed.
"Nope. They're really taken by you. And why not? You're a Japanese woman who has been able to nab the second most powerful position in a billion-dollar company. You're a symbol of hope and inspiration to them. It also makes them trust me more. He's really pushing for it too."
"But I don't want to leave the U.S. or you and the others."
"If you took the job, it'd only be temporary. They want you want you to oversee it because you'll be able to easily communicate between the two companies. I think he wants you to eventually take the position as co-head of the firm once it's developed.
"Co-head?" Sissi repeated.
"Yeah, we've talked about it before. It'll probably be confirmed tomorrow as well. We think it'll be best if we have two heads over the firm. One from our company and one from theirs."
"That's a permanent position." Yumi said. She was staring off into the distance, lost in thought.
"You don't have to take it though." Sissi said. "You could just turn it down."
"Would that hurt our chances?" she asked looking over to Ulrich.
Ulrich had a slight frown on his face. "Everything's set. It'd be a huge waste of time and money to stop now. Things would definitely go over smoothly and quicker if you oversaw the creation. As far as being Co-President, you're definitely one of the few people I could choose. In fact there's only one other person I could send, and that's Ken."
"He's the President of the Video Gaming Dept." Yumi said.
"Mmhm. He's a Japanese native too. He would easily fit in. We wouldn't have to worry about language barriers or anything like that. That type of efficiency is greatly needed."
"If I took the overseeing position, how long would I be here?"
"It'd take a least a month. I could take up to a year though."
"A year?" Sissi exclaimed. "How?"
"It all depends on how well and quickly things get done. As long we keep agreeing on what's done, and Yumi manages things well, it could be done rather quickly. The idea is that you at least stay even after it's finished to make sure that everything's running smoothly. Of course that's assuming you take the position." Yumi was pondering over it.
"If I took it," she started, "there's a great chance that I might end up taking the other position. That's what they want. The longer it takes, the more likely I would. But it's for the best isn't it?"
"It would be for the best. As for the Co-President position, it has to be either you or Ken."
"Well she doesn't have to decide right now." Sissi said.
"No she doesn't. You can think it over, Yumes."
"The mood sure got gloomy." Sissi noted. "This isn't the end you know. I'm sure that know matter what happens, we'll see you again."
"It's not just that—" Ulrich and Yumi said together.
"Oh I get it." Sissi said, smirking. "It's a love thang." She cooed. They both blushed.
"I won't have my maid anymore." Ulrich justified.
"You know what? I'll take the position. Especially if it keeps me away from this baka." Yumi said as she punched Ulrich's arm.
"Hey! I can fire you! That'll make things a lot easier."
"You wouldn't even have this deal if it wasn't for me. You were in the hospital attending to your booboos while the adults were talking."
"Since when was a gunshot a booboo?" Ulrich exclaimed. "And if it wasn't for me, you'd have a "booboo" too!"
"Alright! Calm down you too! Who wants applesauce?"
"What is up with you and applesauce?" Yumi asked.
"It's always been there for her. Through thick and thin. When it was thick and thin. Ever since she was a baby being fed Gerber's applesauce." Ulrich said dramatically. "Sissi and applesauce forever!"
"You got that right. And don't you forget it. Now where can we get some?" she asked the Japanese girl. The trio laughed and walked off, spending the rest of the day goofing off, and just enjoying the possibly limited time they had.
Well that's it for me. I've got one more chapter in Japan, and then we go back to America. I think you'll love it too. I'll see if I can fit in a few scenes with others back in America. The next chapter deals with a nice business party, and a very funny scene and embarrassing scene with Yumi. There more of course.
Chapter 22: For Goodness Sake!
