Author's Note: Please read and review! Thanks a lot! :D
Chapter 12: Status: It's Complicated
As the days go by, Ryo and Alice were starting to feel unusual friendship towards another. Alice had finally broken her tough wall because of her new job and at the same time, Ryo's efforts to get through her once again.
I guess he wasn't that bad after all! Alice thought as well. I'm just only affected with what he did to me years ago.
One day, as Alice was writing in her desk about her proposed changes in the plans in her life, she saw Ryo who was looking at her behind her back. It was because she felt that she was being watched so she turned her head around and saw herself looking at Ryo's blue sparkling eyes.
Oh my goodness… Alice thought as she felt her heart beating in anticipation as he saw him. I hate to admit it that I'm really falling for him once again. I can't stop thinking about him… and I can't stop my heart from beating for him.
"So, are you happy here with me?" Ryo asked the blonde with a smile.
Alice's eyes widened as plates. Happy with him?
Noticing that the girl had released a strange reaction, he decided to clear everything.
"I mean, being my personal assistant and all…" Ryo answered. "You sounded like you're almost ready to leave this position before."
Alice remembered her conversation with Ryo three days ago. She blushed at the thought of her flying to America with an expired visa.
"I'm just planning things, Ryo. Like I said, I'm only in search of a stable job and money temporarily," Alice answered. "Once I got an independent job, I think I'm good to go."
With this, Ryo threw his arms around the young lady. Alice was surprised with this gesture.
"Uhm… Why are you hugging me?" Alice asked as she realized that she was already blushing.
"Thank you for being patient with me, for being right beside me and for making me happy even if you don't know it," Ryo explained. "Your being here in front of me is already enough."
Alice was surprised and felt her heart race already. She did not know that she already made Ryo happy by being with him.
"Yeah… Sure!" Alice answered as she tried her best not to stammer. Oh my gosh. I hope it's not a dream because I'm not gonna wake up from it.
Two weeks had passed since their last conversation. Ryo had been always looking at Alice whenever they were in the studio and he could not help but feel excited when he saw her. Ryo and Alice were now a semi-formal couple with an odd relationship.
On the other hand, Alice could not get mad at Ryo any longer. It was as if he was making the move on being friends with her again. She had finally gotten used to him and Genji's company and she only had her heart loving Ryo already. However, she only got one more week until she finalized her trip to America. During the process of her work, she only renewed her visa for the sake of it being renewed. Now, she was reluctant for leaving Ryo because of her feelings for him and she had grown attached to him already and she could not stop thinking about him.
I realized that I couldn't leave for America, Alice thought as she saw her passport with a stamp called "renewed". He is getting into me already and I… I just don't know…
Meanwhile that night, Ryo was in a bar drinking with his friends and he just got out of a late photoshoot so he was still wearing his white long-sleeved buttoned shirt and a pair of black slacks. He saw Tamiko coming towards him already and he could she that she was dressed in a very short red tube dress and black high heels.
Oh no… Ryo thought as he saw her.
"Hey, Ryo baby!" Tamiko greeted flirtatiously.
"Uh…" Ryo stammered and finally managed to say hi as well.
"Why aren't you answering my calls?" Tamiko asked.
Because I know it's you calling, Ryo thought as he realized the gravity of the situation once again. "I'm really busy…"
"Busy? And now you're hanging out with your friends," Tamiko answered, somehow surprised. "But never mind… At least, I finally saw you here."
Ryo was at loss for words. He could not do anything but wish for something that could stop Tamiko from bugging him.
"Let's dance, Ryo!" Tamiko requested coquettishly.
Just as Tamiko could pull him, another handsome young man with spiky hair appeared. It was actually Daichi Matsuka, another co-worker of Ryo who happened to rank second to him in terms of popularity.
"Can I dance with you, Miss Tamiko?" he asked while his left eye winked at Ryo. He also knew that Ryo actually could not stand with Tamiko.
Ryo seemed to get the message and shrugged for Tamiko as she was apparently on the verge of being taken by his friend. Tamiko's eyes lit up as she saw the other young man and smiled flirtatiously.
"Sure!" Tamiko replied and looked at Ryo once again flirtatiously. "I'll be dancing with you later, Ryo baby!"
Ryo let out a sigh of relief as Tamiko was taken away. He realized that he could really count on his friends after all. But just as he could stand up, a woman showed up in front of him. The woman looked at Ryo oddly and showed a sign that she recognized him.
"Ryo?" the woman asked. "It's me, Kara!"
Ryo cleaned his eyes for the woman in front of him. The woman had black waist-length hair, a fair complexion and was clad in a blue sleeveless dress and a pair of white pumps.
"Kara?" Ryo recognized the woman as his first crush before Alice. "Is that really you?"
"Yeah!" Kara answered with a smile. "Long time no see!"
"I agree…" Ryo answered.
"How's things?" Kara asked.
"Good. Insanely good!" Ryo answered with confidence. "How about you?"
"Well, I'm still single and ready to mingle," Kara replied as she made motions with her hands.
Ryo could not believe what she just said. Kara was still single? Right, before he could even make a move on her, she refused him already.
"Wow," Ryo answered in amazement. "And you're still beautiful."
"I know and thanks," Kara answered proudly.
The next thing was something he did not expect. Kara began to lean towards him and gave him a kiss in the lips. He was taken aback with this. Of course a part of his heart still pumped for Kara but it was never the same. His heart already was taken by someone else.
What the heck's going on? Ryo thought.
Unfortunately, he could not do anything because at that moment, Kara's tongue already licked Ryo's lips, begging for entrance. Ryo found himself enjoying the kiss and deepened it as well already.
When they broke apart, Kara looked at him deviously.
"Let's take this to bed, Honey," she said seductively. "I know you've been waiting for this already."
Since he somehow missed much of his first love, he began to obey but reluctantly. He did not want to end up being red-handed with another girl especially inside his house and with Alice and Genji inside it. They walked outside of the bar and spotted his car so they could go to his house.
At that moment, Alice was busy in the dining room while Genji was trying his best to reach Ryo through his phone but he got no replies.
"Goddamnit, Ryo!" Genji cursed because his employer did not act like this before. "Why aren't you answering your phone?!"
Alice was trying to think positive thoughts. Ryo told her that he changed already from a womanizer to a model with a nice heart. That was what she believed now.
Think happy thoughts, Alice… There's no way that he's going to cut corners with your friendship! Alice thought.
Genji noticed that the blonde was restless. He insisted in letting her sleep already.
"Alice, why don't you sleep now? I'll be waiting for Ryo to come home," Genji suggested.
Alice only shook her head. "A slave should wait for her master, you know?" she asked.
"But for Ryo, you're not just a slave… You're something else to him," Genji answered with a smile.
Alice shrugged because she was not inclined to believe Genji's statement.
"Alright… Since you're a very much insistent girl, I'll entrust you the responsibility of waiting for Ryo," Genji answered since he could not persuade the blonde into sleeping early.
Alice nodded as Genji made his way upstairs. She was worried somehow for her boss. What if he ended up in an accident? Surely, the media would blame her and Genji for not guarding Ryo anyway.
However, she yawned and realized that she could not be up for a very long time so she decided to close the door since Ryo always brought his personal keys with him.
Good luck in going home, Ryo… Alice thought. I wish you all with your safety.
Meanwhile, Ryo had been driving from the bar with Kara. The woman was clinging to him as his hands were in the steering wheel.
I wish they're still awake, especially Alice! Ryo thought. I wanted her to meet the girl who was the cause of everything in the past!
"Ryo," Kara began. "Since when did you enter the modeling business?"
Ryo smiled at the information. "I entered modeling around three years ago… when I was twenty-two."
"Even if you're already twenty-six, you're still the hottest guy I know. Maybe I guess I was wrong for turning you down." Kara smirked.
At that remark, Ryo felt himself nervous. He was completely in love with Alice and then another girl came along. Most importantly, it was from his past.
Alice, I love you very much, Ryo thought. I just don't have the balls to tell you this.
Not long after their speedy but careful driving, Ryo and Kara had finally got home. The model first alighted so he could help the young woman get down.
At the same moment, Alice was in her room and was counting the money that she earned for the past weeks. It was already enough for her to start anew but she felt that it was not yet enough. She got startled by the sound of an engine dying so she came to see it.
Ryo? Is he home now? Alice thought as she got down from the bed quietly. The sound of her foot thumping might wake Genji since she and Genji shared the same hallway.
Then, she went near the door so she could investigate the sound.
Ryo was already in the front door with Kara when he tried to open the door with his personal keys. After several attempts, Ryo had finally unlocked the door and opened it.
They must be asleep already, Ryo thought.
Eventually, Kara dragged him and began to kiss him again. This time, it was a fierce and passionate one with Ryo kissing her back. They did it as they made their way upstairs so they could go to his room.
Alice's ears perked up as she heard some banging on the stairway. When she opened her personal door, she did not expect what she just saw. It was actually Ryo and another woman making out as they continued their way in the stairs. Unfortunately as she looked further, Alice recognized Ryo's companion as Kara Matsui, Ryo's crush way back and became very shocked as she saw the fiery moment of passion going on in front of her eyes. Now Ryo's dream had finally come true: being with the girl he loved the most.
Oh my god… Alice thought as she felt her eyes getting dewy already.
This crushed Alice once again because she realized that she had assumed too much and that Ryo's sweetness towards her was only fake and he was really just doing it because he was only guilty. Now, Alice had a battle plan to make as well.
Meanwhile, Ryo was in the middle of his heated make-out session with Kara. He was not drunk and his mind was telling him that this was wrong. He only wanted Alice already and nothing more. He promised as well that he would never look at any other girl after the Tamiko event but he fell into another woman's arms. This time, it was in the arms of his first crush.
I hope this doesn't turn out wrong, Ryo thought as the girl kept kissing him roughly.
At that moment, Alice returned to her room and closed the door. As she placed her back on the wall, she felt herself sinking down in pain. She realized that everything was a joke with him.
He's really a liar! Alice thought in vain as she felt odd tears falling from her eyes. I thought he'd changed during the past weeks but he's still the same and I hate him so much!
With that, she went back to her bed and decided to sleep through the night with all the pain. Now, she was even more determined to leave for America and leave all the bad memories behind. After all, she told that she was going to leave after she finished all the dirty work that Ryo had piled upon her.
For now, it was time for revenge.
The next day at nine in the morning, Ryo woke up and saw Kara sleeping beside him. When he examined himself, fortunately he was not naked. Apparently, both of them had fallen asleep in the middle of their kissing.
Thank goodness, Ryo thought.
His thoughts were ruined when he heard Kara's voice.
"Hey, Ryo!" Kara said flirtatiously. "Good morning!"
"Good morning too!" Ryo answered.
"Thanks for last night," Kara said seductively.
"Uh… We didn't do that, Kara," Ryo answered back as she noticed the seductive tone in her voice.
"I know… But I still enjoyed…" Kara continued. "You're such a damn good kisser!"
"Heheh! Thanks," Ryo answered sheepishly. Oh no… I wonder what Genji will say if she finds out I'm with another girl… Or Alice!
As he walked towards his doorway and opened the door, he saw that Genji was already standing in front of him.
"Good morning, Genji!" Ryo greeted cheerily.
"Good morning, Ryo," Genji answered back. "Actually, I'm waking you up because apparently, you seemed to have overslept with someone again!"
"How did you know?" Ryo asked, feeling embarrassed.
"My senses tell me so," Genji answered. He actually had the feeling that Ryo partied until dawn and took a woman as well. "Now get up you lazybone!"
"Where's Alice?" Ryo asked after the blonde became the first in his mind.
"She went out," Genji answered. "On her own!"
At that very moment, Kara was lying on the bed and saw something in Ryo's phone. He saw the photo of a blonde as a wallpaper.
She looked familiar, Kara thought but became agape as she saw the name Alice imprinted on the photo.
FLASHBACK:
While they were kissing yesterday night, Kara heard an unusual mumble coming from Ryo's lips.
"Alice… Alice McCoy," Ryo mumbled.
END OF FLASHBACK
No way, Kara thought.
Meanwhile, Alice had recovered from her depression and jealousy last night. Right now, she was in the mall and looking for something that would distract her from the scene that she just saw. She told Genji that she would go out since it was a Friday and she did not have to work because Ryo was not having any photoshoots either so she wore her signature black long-sleeved shirt and white flat shoes. She was busy walking in the road when she bumped into someone. When she looked up, it was actually Jun Kazama.
"Hi, Alice! Long time no see, huh?" Jun greeted.
"I know!" Alice answered with a smile. "I can't believe it!"
"Gosh… I wish that we can go out on a date soon," Jun replied wistfully.
Alice suddenly had an idea. "Hmm… Why not now? I'm free!" she added.
Jun's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree and smiled.
"Really?" he asked. "So, let's go then! After I buy my presents for my sister's wedding, I'll treat you to dinner."
Then, they went inside the mall. Alice was surprised since Jun was going to shop something for his mother and sister. She decided to help him since she was an expert regarding those kinds of stuff.
"Thanks for this help, Alice!" Jun smiled.
"No problem! I shop here because Genji always drags me into it… and in the end, he is the one who always loses money!" Alice remarked. "Genji's always drags me into spending and into these kinds of messes…"
"Yeah… You're nothing if not thrifty!" Jun smirked.
Alice gave him a weak grin and walked to and fro so they could find a present for Jun's relatives. Jun laughed at the thought that Alice could be a housewife someday.
"Excuse me, where can we find a present for a wedding?" Alice asked the lady standing in front of her.
"Follow me!" the lady said to both Jun and Alice.
Alice and Jun followed the attendant and they found a place where wedding gifts are commonly sold.
"Jun, you can choose what you want for your sister while I'll go on the other side." Rika answered.
"Got it, Ma'am!" he said in a mock salute.
Alice saw something that caught her fancy. She saw a couple of glass swans since it reminded her that the recipients will be a married couple.
I wonder when I shall have my happy ending… But the real thing is: who would be the right one for me? Alice thought as she picked one swan carefully. The guy I loved is actually a womanizer so we can't be together.
Meanwhile, Jun was looking for something that his sister will truly like. He stumbled to see a vase and he remembered that his sister loved vases when he was still living in Shinjuku. He laughed at the memory of his cousin breaking one from her collection.
"Are you going to get it, Sir?" the lady attendant asked Jun.
Jun's eyes were still focused on the vase and stuck back to reality. "Yes… I'll take it." He said.
Alice was still holding the swan when the attendant also asked her. "Are you going to get it, Ma'am?" she said.
"Yeah!" Alice replied as she gave the two swans carefully so that it could be wrapped.
Afterwards, she found Jun in deep thought standing near the door.
"You have got your sister?" Alice asked him.
"Yeah…" Jun said. "I suppose you already got something for her…"
Alice just nodded. "Would you want something for Mrs. Kazama?" she offered.
"You gave me an idea, Alice." Jun smiled at her. "After this, show me the place where can we get those."
After their items were wrapped, they got out of the store. Alice eventually led Jun to a store where pearl items could be found. She remembered that because this was where she and Eya had been when the latter was shopping for her stepmother.
"Wow… You sure memorize the entire shopping mall because of Eya who likes shopping spree!" Jun teased.
"Don't push it, Kazama!" Alice laughed. "Why don't you look around? I won't leave you here even if you get lost. But you can't get lost because it's not as large as SP!"
"Sure…" Jun chuckled and with that, he went around like Alice told him to.
Eventually, after shopping for many items, the two settled down and were now ready to go home. Since it was raining and Jun did not have any car or umbrella, Alice decided to let him stay since she just lived nearby the mall.
"Jun! Why don't you stay at my new home?" Alice said. "Besides, my boss won't mind…"
"Gee thanks, Alice!" Jun said in gratefulness.
"Anytime!" Alice smiled as she hailed a taxi that would take them to her home. After all, her boss was not at home according to Genji.
At that moment, Ryo was outside with Genji while shopping for equipments at home. The manager was still furious at Ryo's actions yesterday night.
"Uh… Genji? Where's Alice?" Ryo asked.
"Why should I tell you?" Genji asked. "I don't know where she went. And, you failed us, Ryo. You told us that you're not going to womanize again. But what did you do? You did it again! You're putting shame to your name!"
Ryo felt as if a pail of water was splashed onto him. He decided to apologize to them.
"Genji, I…" Ryo stammered. I'm sorry.
"Save your sorry to those who need it," Genji answered monotonously as he lazily took a pair of garden scissors. "Let's go home."
The blonde and the young man eventually made it to the Akiyama residence early in the evening. But because of tiredness, the two of them lazily went towards Alice's room so they could sleep. Alice was more exhausted due to her anger, depression and fury rolled into one. Jun could see that his friend was tired from all the things that were happening to her lately.
"Sleep well, Alice," Jun said. "Sleep well."
"Thanks, Jun!" Alice answered as she and Jun laid on the bed and slept already.
"You're welcome," Jun answered.
Just as the two had fallen asleep, the owner of the house had returned already with his manager. Unfortunately, he and Genji were also not in speaking terms.
Oh god, I wish that everything would turn out normal already, Ryo thought as he climbed the stairs so he could sleep.
The next day, Ryo woke up with a smile on his face. He decided to wake Alice up so they could have breakfast together and say sorry to her.
He made his way towards the blonde's room and knocked on her door.
"Alice?" he asked. "Wake up already! It's a Saturday."
Inside the room, Alice was actually awake as well as Jun. But with what they heard, the blonde had an ingenious plan.
"Hey, Jun!" Alice whispered deviously.
"Yes?" Jun whispered.
"Why don't we have fun today?" she countered. "Our own fun, that is!"
Jun's forehead wrinkled. "What do you mean?"
"Use your suggestive behavior…" Alice smirked. "If you know what I mean!"
"I know what you mean but why do you want us to do that?" Jun asked trying to figure out the literal meaning behind it.
"My boss told me that he wanted to get me once again… You know, wanting to date me… But I guessed that he forgot his promise that he kept on bringing ladies in this house," Alice explained in a throaty yet soft voice. "I wanted to get back at him because of that deal. If he can womanize in front of me, what about me doing the same?"
Jun realized that Ryo must have been fooling her all this time in his house because of Alice's story. And after several moments, the young man seemed to understand what the blonde meant by her plans. Then, they proceeded with the plan.
Outside Alice's room stood Ryo wearing his white shirt and black boxers. He wondered what caused the blonde to oversleep since she was the one who would always wake up even if they had duties regarding the modeling business. But what he heard next was the unexpected.
Inside the room, Alice eventually heard her own boss calling her. It was obvious that it was him. With this, she gave the go-signal to start the plan.
"Ready?" Alice asked deviously. "Get set!"
"Go!" Jun said.
"Oh, Jun!" the voice was Alice and it made Ryo's eyes widen. Worse, he also heard her moan someone's name!
"Alice!" the voice of Jun was heard as well. "You're so tight!"
"I know right!" Alice said and she groaned and moaned as well.
Ryo became pale with what he had just heard. Not only Alice became taken, they were doing the unthinkable in her room!
Alice and that Jun Kazama? Ryo thought in panic. They doing that? What the fuck is happening right now?
He placed his ear right next to the wooden door but the loud yelling was actually obvious already. He became pale after realizing the severity of the situation inside Alice's room.
No! This can't be happening! Ryo thought as he continued to listen right next to the door.
"Give it to me, baby!" Alice exclaimed, while following it with more moans. She made it even louder so she could get back at Ryo for playing a mean trick to her once again.
"I'm doing the best I can, Alice! What the hell do you want?" Jun replied.
"Fuck me until I bleed!" Alice exclaimed. "As in right now!"
But inside, the two were clothed while lying on the bed with their feet on the headboard and were banging it with their feet while laughing their heads off.
"Alright! You asked for it!" Jun replied teasingly. "Uhhhhhh!"
Then Alice groaned the loudest for the last time, hoping to get revenge from her busybody boss. If Ryo could break the deal, why could not she?
At this point, the model and his jaw almost dropped to the floor because his love was in bed with another man, wishing that she and him had been together at least. He felt depressed because he realized that he met his karma already for cutting corners with his newfound friendship with Alice.
Inside, Alice and Jun hopped out of the bed with laughs on their faces.
"That was so enjoyable, Jun!" Alice said, still continuing the ploy. "We should do that again sometime!"
Jun also smiled deviously. "Of course!" he added. "Same time and place?"
"Aha!" Alice answered flirtatiously and decided to open the door.
When the door flung open, the blonde and her companion saw Ryo who was standing in front of the doorway.
"Hi, Ryo!" Alice greeted playfully.
Ryo was still speechless because of what he heard, what happened and who was with her.
"Hey, buddy!" Jun said with a grin. "How's it going?"
Alice observed Ryo for reactions. She decided that her plan worked if Ryo showed a bit of disappointment.
"I-I'm fine! Yeah! I'm fine!" Ryo replied, trying not to imply Alice that he lost his composure because of the mature scene that just occurred in her room.
"Want to have some breakfast, Jun?" Alice suggested.
"I'd love to," Jun answered in reply humorously. "Anyway can I use the bathroom? If you won't mind?"
"Sure!" Alice answered as she pointed towards the door located at the end of the hallway. "That's the bathroom!"
"Thanks!" Jun answered as he walked towards the bathroom.
When the young man was totally gone, Ryo went towards Alice and asked what was going on.
"What did just happen?" Ryo asked.
"SECRET!" Alice answered deviously.
Later that day, when Jun left, Ryo decided to keep his calm. But he wanted to ask Alice what was really happening right now.
"So, I heard that you're doing that in your room. How could you?" Ryo insisted.
Alice let out a huffed breath after Ryo began prodding her about the thing she just did.
"How could I what? Do that? It's easy! Get a guy and do it with matching moans!" Alice smirked. "Besides who were you to tell me what I would do?"
Ryo was taken aback when Alice said those words. She was right. Who was he to tell her what to do?
"It's inappropriate, you know? For a personal assistant like you, that's inappropriate!" Ryo pointed out as he tried to find an argument so he could reason with Alice very much.
However, the blonde did not want to get defeated with just his accusations.
"Oh! Look who's talking now! You end up having sex with every girl in the block in your room while I can't? Oh come on, Mr. Akiyama… Don't be such a janitor! Everybody knows of your dirty limelight romances with all of the models out there!" Alice yelled trying her best to get rid of the stinging accusation from her.
"Those are just flings, Alice!" Ryo objected. "They're never relationships, anyway."
Alice could not accept this reasoning of her employer. For a business graduate, she had a good patch in the field of logic. For her, Ryo was having the time of life while she could not. What kind of life did she end up in anyway?
"But those are still sex, Ryo Akiyama!" Alice pointed out, trying her best to win against him. "And since when did you start caring with what I do with Jun? You're just my employer! I could still do what I wanted to do."
Ryo felt that the blood rushed to his head with her remarks. Besides, the blonde was right. She had her own life and he had his. He could not do anything with the gravity of the situation now that Alice was mad at him because of what he was doing. He was desperately and madly in love with Alice which was why he was pale when he heard the odd sounds coming from Alice's room and the thought of Alice with another man really pinched his heart so badly.
"Alright… Sorry… If I made everything a big deal…" Ryo said with a small sigh since Alice finally had won her case against him.
He started this and now he wanted to mend things again. Unfortunately, he lost because he was the one who forgot about what they talked about in the first place. And now, Alice was already hurt again because of his womanizing. He felt stupid for letting herself down.
"I just don't want you to get hurt by a guy," Ryo answered again, trying to find a verbal reasoning for Alice.
Alice snorted in disgust as she heard that. "Me? Hurt? What do you think of what I'm feeling right now? Am I happy?" she asked with the tone of her voice getting higher already. "And besides, we made it clear that I'm just your assistant and you're my employer. Nothing more, nothing less!"
