One in a Million
JoocieFruit
Chapter 3 Like a Fool
Hey guys! Thanks so much for all your reviews! They've inspired me to continue to write as much of this story as I can, as soon asI can. I'm surprised that so many of you actually like it! I'm on a roll so please keep up the support! As always, read and REVIEW!
Each Monday presented new possibilities for the week that would follow. And each week, Sakura found that her work load was steadily increasing. It was now the beginning of autumn, a time of year that brought with it a galore of red, brown, orange, and yellow. She had been with Li Corporations for almost a month and a half. It the prospect of a steady pay wasn't exciting enough, Sakura was also able to purchase a vehicle: a 1995 beige Toyota corolla. It was surprising that something that looked as obsolete and shabby was so reliable. At least now she wouldn't have to walk or pay for a cab to get around town.
Autumn, however, meant something different for Syaoran. It was time again for another annual dinner party hosted by his business partner, Eriol Hiiragizawa. The two of them had been best friends since their middle school days. Eriol had been Syaoran's assistant at Li Corp. and Syaoran had to give him credit for being one of the best damn assistants ever. However, many could see that Eriol's talent was overqualified for an assistant and therefore, it was no surprise when the young man quit Li Corps. to follow in the footsteps of his father. Now, Eriol was the vice president of Rising Sun Banks, a major financial provider of Li Corporations. It had been six years since Eriol's dispatch from the company but he and Syaoran maintained their bond with the occasional drink at some fancy bar and of course, the annual party.
Syaoran read the invitation to the Annual Autumn Ball. Each year, profits made from this eventful night went to a different charity. This time around, the profits would be going to the West Park Orphanage in downtown Tokyo. A great choice, though Syaoran.
His thoughts were interrupted by the pesky brrringgg of a telephone.
"Li speaking." he said lazily. It was Sakura.
"Mr. Li, I'm calling to remind you that tomorrow is the last day to RSVP for the Annual Autumn Ball hosted by Mr. Eriol Hiiragizawa. Have you made a decision as to whether or not you'll be attending?" Sakura asked.
"No not yet. I'll get back to you on that after lunch." said Syaoran.
"Yes Mr. Li."
He hung up.
His problem was not the fact that he didn't have time for such festivities but rather who would accompany him. The Annual Ball was the hotspot for top business leaders of the country and many of Japan's elite. Syaoran would no doubt run into many of his competitors, old college friends, and other successful business leaders, who would undoubtedly choke the atmosphere with arrogance and conceitedness. An undoubtedly, each would be sporting his greatest accessory; a gorgeous woman. Syaoran had attempted this trend in the past. The first year, Syaoran took his girlfriend of three months who ended up so wasted that she was in the hospital the next day for alcohol poisoning and then declared that she had only agreed to be with him for his money. The second year, Al had found him a gorgeous, young woman but he wouldn't say from where. There was no need however, because she made sure to let every eligible bachelor at the dinner aware of her talents with a pole and a tabletop. The third year was indeed a charm, and girl number three was a blossoming model fresh off of Japan's runway. She was Syaoran's favorite and he was hoping for a long term relationship until the night she revealed that she was a lesbian. Since then, Syaoran had gone solo, despite the millions of girls that would have died to accompany him. Perhaps it was his maturity that had grown, or perhaps the fact that his most-wanted-man status had failed to bring him the right one. He pondered the subject of women every now and then and he realized that one of his greatest fears was being alone in the world. The prospect of a family was something he found appealing and he could not deny that he would indeed find dating enjoyable. However, it had yet to occur to him that the right one might have been sitting just outside his door.
"Sir, I've come to bring you your lunch. Miss Kinomoto had some errands to run so she asked if I could deliver it to you instead." Al said, walking forward with a silver tray balanced on his right palm.
"Oh. Thanks Al."
"No problem sir. If you don't mind me asking, are you attending that Autumn Ball that Mr. Hiiragizawa is hosting?"
"I don't know yet. I don't want to attend it alone." replied Syaoran with a sigh.
"Well sir, you do have possibilities." offered Al. The old man placed the tray onto the desk.
"Al, no offense but the last girl you brought me turned out lesbian." Syaoran stated. Al cleared his throat.
"My apologies, sir. I had no idea that you were looking for a long term relationship."
"Well, I am. But it's pointless. My work schedule prevents me from having enough time for myself let alone a girlfriend."
"Perhaps you should try the one night thing again. Might I remind you sir that you are Japan's most eligible bachelors? Why, you could walk out on the street and ask any woman and she would say yes."
"Al. I don't want any girl off the street. I want someone with – I don't know. Someone smart? Talented? Beautiful? With personality?"
"You mean like Miss Kinomoto?" Al suggested.
Syaoran's eyes suddenly shifted to a whole new light. Al took advantage of this moment.
"She is educated and talented and quite gorgeous if I do say so myself. And I'd say her personality is…bearable. She can be quite the doll."
"What makes you think that I like her?" asked Syaoran.
"Well those eyes of yours light up whenever she's around."
"That doesn't mean anything." said Syaoran a little too quickly. Al chuckled.
"Well, you're the boss." he said. Syaoran handed him a piece of paper.
"Thank you Al. Now please leave and tell Miss Kinomoto to make copies of this employee notice and deliver it to the managers."
"Very well, sir."
"Mr. Li? Mr. Li? Wake up sir."
Syaoran felt a hand gently shaking his shoulder. He moaned slightly and slowly opened his eyes. Sakura's cheerful face greeted them. Syaoran jerked upward immediately.
"What happened?" he said groggily as he rubbed his temple with his right hand.
"You fell asleep sir." Sakura answered simply.
It didn't take Syaoran long to notice that it was almost eight p.m. The sky outside was as black as a panther except for the crescent moon. The only light in the office was his desk lamp.
"What are you still doing here?" Syaoran asked her as he still tried to gather himself.
"I had some stuff to finish up. Would you like me to get you something? You look terrible." Sakura said as she tried to organize some of the clutter on his desk. As she did, Syaoran caught a glimpse of his reflection off of the glass window.
"Only terrible?" he asked impishly. Sakura laughed.
"Okay you look like hell." she concluded as she stacked the papers into a neat pile. Sakura stood back to admire her work and it was then that she saw the weariness in her boss' eyes. His hair was disheveled into a brown nest and the bags under his eyes seemed like great big weights. In the dim lighting, his skin looked sickeningly pale. Pity tugged at her heart.
"Hey," she began softly, "You wanna go grab a bite to eat or something? It's late and I'm sure you slept through dinner."
"I don't eat dinner." replied Syaoran, "But yeah. That doesn't sound too bad." He cast her a hopeful look. She returned it with a smile.
"'Kay. I know this great place. You'll love it".
Coco's Tea House was a small café in downtown Tokyo, about 20 miles from the Li Corporations building. Syaoran had insisted upon driving them there but Sakura protested using the fact that she now had her own car to her defense.
As soon as they entered, Sakura was swarmed by a group of waitresses. She was able to tear away from them after numerous hugs and one of them led her and Syaoran to a table in the back. Syaoran was sure that he heard the girl whisper, "He's cute" into Sakura's ear before leaving them with menus and an order for two hot chocolates.
"So uhm, I'm assuming you know these people?" Syaoran asked her sarcastically.
"No kidding. I use to work here. Before I was your secretary." replied Sakura, taking a sip of her drink in between.
"Wow. That's great." said Syaoran as he glanced around. The café was brightly lit with a neutral color scheme. Its walls were cream colored with caramel swirls and the tables were round with black colored stools. The aroma of cinnamon and coffee drifted throughout the café, completing its cozy atmosphere.
Despite the décor of the café, Syaoran was beginning to notice a few things that he hadn't before. This was the first time he and his secretary had been outside of the office and he wasn't sure whether he was still disoriented from his nap or perhaps it was the lighting of the café, but there was definitely something different about Sakura. She still donned her newly purchased, gray Armani suit (after the embarrassing confrontation two weeks ago) but had unbuttoned her collared shirt to reveal a teasing amount of cleavage. Her hair had been unraveled from its usual tight bun and she had wiped off most of her makeup. For some reason, Syaoran thought she never looked more beautiful. Shaking his head, he dismissed this sensation.
"So how long did you work here?" he asked her, trying to take his mind off the previous subject.
"About a year. After my first secretarial job." Sakura replied.
"Being a secretary was your dream job eh?"
"Nah. I wouldn't say that." Sakura said. Syaoran raised an eyebrow.
"Oh really? Then what?"
"I really wanted to be a doctor. I know its like the 'asian' thing but I always had a passion for it and well…" her voice trailed off. Syaoran could tell she was uncomfortable but yet, she continued.
"A bunch of family problems came up when I was in my junior year at Tokyo University, right when I was about to travel to the States to study at a prestigious medical school."
"Oh." was all Syaoran could manage without fear of hurting her anymore.
"Well you still can…" he began. She shook her head.
"I don't have the money. My mother died when I was three and my father walked out on my brother and me when I was in college. Up until then my father had been providing the tuition fees and general income for our family and then one day, he just…stopped. My brother eventually left a few months later and I haven't spoken to either since." She explained.
"Oh." was once again, all Syaoran could manage.
"Well at least you had the chance to do something you liked." he said to her. Sakura immediately turned her attention back to him.
"What do you mean?"
"I never wanted to become a business leader. I was kind of forced into it by my dad. My sisters and I grew up in China and we lived deep in the suburbs, a whiles away from any big city. Our mom took care of us and my dad was never around much until I turned six. All of a sudden, he came back and it turned out that he had built a business empire manufacturing computers in Japan and from then on, we never returned to the suburbs." said Syaoran.
"Its kind of ironic isn't it? How most people never get to truly do the things they love in life?" said Sakura.
"Yeah. I guess so." replied Syaoran. Sakura smiled.
"Anyways, enough about that. But yeah, Mr. Li, you've really got to try the dumplings here."
"Please, call me Syaoran. Mr. Li sounds too business-like." Syaoran said, chuckling. Sakura laughed.
"But you're my boss." she stated.
"Then as your boss I'm ordering you to call me Syaoran, okay Miss Kinomoto?"
"Alright then. On one condition." Sakura said, smiling slyly. Syaoran knew almost instantly what that condition would be but he asked anyways.
"And what might that be?"
"You have to call me Sakura."
"It's a deal then, Sakura."
"You were right, those dumplings were really good." said Syaoran, as he shuffled through his pockets for the keys to his Mercedes convertible.
"I told you so." replied Sakura, cheerfully as she dug for the keys to her less than mediocre mode of transportation.
"So I guess I'll be seeing you tomorrow then?" said Syaoran, brandishing the keys from his pocket.
"Guess so."
"By the way, thanks. I don't think I've been out for fast food in the longest time." said Syaoran.
"No problem. Your work schedule is so busy and you looked as though you needed to get out. Haven't you ever considered having some fun?"
"Hah. If you think of business meetings and conference calls as big parties, then yeah sure."
Sakura rolled her eyes.
"What about that Autumn Ball thing?" she asked opening the car door. "That might be a way to release stress."
"I haven't thought of it that way. As far as I see it, being in a room with egotistical maniacs creates more stress than it relieves."
Sakura laughed. For some reason, Syaoran felt a funny feeling in his stomach each time she did that. It was time that his heart decided to act before his brain could think.
The words "Would you like to go with me?" stumbled out of his mouth. Sakura cocked her head as if she couldn't understand what he was trying to say.
"Like…to the ball?"
"Yeah. I mean if you busy I totally understand-" began Syaoran.
"No, I'm not busy." she said. Sakura tried to suppress the exhilaration that was coursing through her veins. Her boss…a hot, gorgeous, businessman had just asked her out. Okay Sakura, calm down and think, she told herself.
"Well then would you like to come with me?" Syaoran asked again. Sakura swallowed and her lips curled into a smile.
"I can't think of a good excuse as to why not. So yeah…sure. I'll go with you." she replied, flashing him a grin.
"Okay. Great… I'll see you tomorrow then." His voice came out in short breaths. Sakura could see how nervous he was. It was sort of cute. In a weird kind of way. Regardless she buckled her seat belt and shut the car door. Syaoran unlocked the doors to his car.
"Syaoran?" she called to him. Syaoran turned around.
"Yes Sakura?"
"Thank you," she said, "for inviting me."
Before he could reply, she had backed out and sped off into the night traffic. From where Syaoran was standing, he couldn't see how happy Sakura was that he had offered to take her. But he did see how he felt around her- nervous, self conscious, unsure…like a fool. In a way, it kind of scared him. From where Sakura was sitting, she couldn't see how happy Syaoran was that she had said yes. But it was obvious to her how she felt around him- nervous, uncertain, unsure… just like a fool.
So there it is. I'll be thickening the plot…soon. Butthis is a romance story so S and S have to get together sometime. Right? Okay so you know what to do. REVIEW. Pleeeassseee? And thank you so much to all of you who have!-JoocieFruit