Sorry for taking so long to update, but this is a really long chapter.
On Friday morning, Aki woke up and got dressed. She had to go to Neo Domino General Hospital to introduce herself to the director of the hospital, Mr. Blake.
She decided to wear a grey pencil skirt and a plain white button-up blouse with half sleeves and a collar. She chose some black sling-back high heels with a peep toe.
Her parents had left to do their errands for the day so she caught a cab. On the long ride to the hospital, which was close to the edge of the city, she thought about what to do with the rest of her day.
'Maybe I'll look around for some apartments. I know my parents care, but I'm an adult now. I could check out the city, see how it's changed. Maybe I'll visit Yusei.'
Then the car stopped and Aki paid the driver.
When she entered the building, she saw a reception desk, a couple of chairs, a table, and a few plants.
"May I help you, miss?" The receptionist asked.
"Huh? Oh." She had surprised Aki, "Yes, I'm Aki Izayoi. I was hired by Mr. Blake. He told me to come see him when I get comfortable again in Neo Domino." Aki responded.
"Let me call him for you. You can sit if you like." The receptionist said cheerfully.
Aki sat down, but only for a brief moment before she was called up to the desk again.
"His office is on the top level. Keep walking forward and it should be the second room on your left. It's go a glass door." The receptionist told her.
"Thank you." Aki responded.
She steps into the elevator and pushes the button for the top floor. She'd been standing in the elevator for a while until it stopped and opened. There was a woman, probably around Aki's age, that had pale skin with curly, pure blonde hair and sky blue eyes wearing a nurse's uniform.
"Hi. My name's Gale. I haven't seen you here before" She said.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Aki. I'm new here; in fact, I'm going to see Mr. Blake now. He hired me as a doctor, though I haven't met him yet. That's where I'm going now." Aki responded.
"Wait, you're a female doctor? I haven't seen a female doctor her. I mean, like, ever." Gale said sounding surprised.
"Yes. You sound surprised. Why?" Aki asks.
"Well, it's just that I don't recall Mr. Blake hiring any female doctors." Gale says, "Oh. This is my stop. I look forward to working with you Aki. Bye."
Aki was only two levels from her destination, which gave her little time for last minute preparations, but plenty of time for panicking.
'What if he ends up not liking me? I mean it was way easier on the phone. I didn't have to talk face to face then. Wait, why am I freaking out? He already hired me. This is like a meet & greet. Sure he interviewed my over the phone, but he hasn't really met me yet.'
The elevator beeped, ending Aki's thoughts. She made her way to Mr. Blake's office.
The receptionist was right; it did have a glass door. In fact, the whole front wall was made of glass.
Aki didn't know whether to knock or just wait till she was spotted. She decided to knock.
"Come in." He said not looking up from his work.
"Hi, I'm Aki Izayoi. You had a phone interview with me a few weeks ago." Aki explained shyly.
"Oh. Dr. Izayoi, come in.: He responded as he was cleaning up his documents.
He stood up to shake Aki's hand. "It is a pleasure to meet you in person."
Mr. Blake was a handsome man. He was much taller than Aki; he had shaggy orange-red hair and brown eyes, a little darker than Aki's.
"The pleasure is all mine." Aki says.
"Have a seat, Dr. Izayoi." He gestured to the other side of his desk.
"I know I already interviewed you, but tell me about your medical career, in your perspective, thus far." He said.
"Well, um, I don't know how to tell this in perspective. I studied ant Dian Keto Medical College, and I worked at a hospital in Munich for a few months as an MD before I was hired here." She tells him.
"That's interesting. Dian Keto is an excellent medical college. That makes you a pretty good doctor just by graduating." He responds.
"Thank you." She says plainly.
"To be honest, I don't think I've hired a female doctor before. Mainly because they don't seem," He paused, "for lack of a better word, serious enough. They see this as a job, not a career."
"Well, I can assure you I am serious, or else I wouldn't have spent the last eight years away from home in one of the best medical colleges in the world to become a doctor. A person's health is a serious thing." She responds with and unwavering expression.
"I like that about you. You have a certain ambition about you." He says. "Well then, let's see, can you start on Monday?"
"If you really need me to, I can, but can I start Tuesday? I'd like to use a substantial amount of time shopping around for apartments." Aki declared.
"Of course, take your time to settle in. Oh, one last question." He said.
Aki turned to face him before she walked out the door.
"You said you lived in Neo Domino City before you left for school, correct?" Aki nodded. "Then you know about the many accidents from riding duels?"
"Yes." Aki replied simply.
"Good. And also, the project Fortune is an experimental energy source."
This caught Aki's attention.
"Do they have accidents there?" Aki asks sounding a little worried.
"Nothing fatal, that I've seen, just a few bad burns, a broken arm, at most a concussion. Like I said, it's experimental. It's bound to have a mild explosion every once in a blue moon." He responded.
"Oh. Of course." Aki says. "Has the head of project Fortune ever been hurt in such an accident?" She asked.
"Yusei Fudo? No, can't say we have." He answered. "Why, do you know him?"
"Uh, yes. Well, in a way I do. I mean he was, I mean, is my friend, I think." Aki rambled nervously.
"It's okay. Your personal life is vaguely my business. See you Tuesday, from 2-10, okay?" He responds.
"2-10pm?" She asks.
"Yeah, what's wrong?" He inquired.
"Nothing. I'll see you then Mr. Blake. Goodbye." She bids to him while waving.
'Wow, that's the latest I've ever worked. I'll have to get a good rest before then.'
After that, Aki was free to do what she wanted for the rest of the day. She thought about what to do with her time while she was in the elevator.
'I could take this time to look for an apartment. That way I could do something else on Monday rather than feeling rushed all day.'
The elevator had stopped and opened to reveal a familiar nurse.
"Oh, hi Aki. How did it go?" She asked her.
"Hmm. Oh, Gale, it went well, in fact, I was just leaving." Aki told her.
"Me, too." Gale responds.
"But you just got here." She says a little confused.
"That was to clock out. They should really change that. Hey, if you want, I can show you around the city." She adds.
"O, I've lived here before, but that was a whole eight years ago." Aki paused to think, and then continued. "Well, I already have a lot to do, but maybe you could help me." She said.
"Cool. What do you have to do?" She asked a little too enthusiastically.
"Well, first I have to change, into at least jeans or something. Then, I'm gonna go hunt for some apartments." Aki said
"Oh, well, I can totally help with that." Gale said half-heartedly.
"You know, I've never really had a friend who was a girl. Well, there was Petra, but that's pretty much it. When I was a teenager, I used to hang out with guys a lot. So if you planned to hang out and have fun, I don't think I can help much." Aki stated.
"I really don't have anything else to do. I don't mean to insult you or anything, but is there anything else you have to do?" Gale asked hopefully.
"I had thought about visiting an old friend." Aki said.
Gale noticed that Aki had a tiny amount of blush on her face, only visible if you were right next to her.
"An old friend or an old crush?" Gale hinted.
Aki blushed a bit more. "Kinda both."
As they exited the building, Gale was somewhat confused.
"Both?"
"It's a long story. I'll tell you later. Hey, since it would take a while for us to go to our homes and change, how about you just borrow some of my clothes; then we can get going faster." Aki suggested.
"Okay, that's really nice. I've only lived here for a month or two. You're the first friend I've met here." Gale admits.
"I'm glad I'm your friend." Aki says.
Instead of taking a cab, Gale offers to give Aki a ride in her car. They go to Aki's house and change.
"Which shirt?" Gale asked.
She held up a short sleeve navy polo and a white peasant blouse.
"The navy one. Which pants?"
She held up some light wash blue skinny jeans and black capris.
"Are you trying to impress this crush?" Gale asked.
"Maybe." Aki responded plainly.
"So, what's the story about this crush?" Gale questioned.
"Before I left to study, I went to tell him goodbye. And when I did, I said 'I've always loved-' changed my mind, and told him that I loved that I met him. To this day, I still love him, but he doesn't know. So he's still a friend." Aki told her.
"Oh." Gale said simply.
They both were finished a few minutes later. Aki was wearing a sleeveless red keyhole blouse with blue jeans, black kitten heel shoes, and a black cropped bomber jacket. Gale was wearing a navy polo and a white miniskirt with some black Keds.
"Look good?" Gale asked.
"Yeah, but put your hair in a ponytail. It'll bring out your eyes." Aki stated. "I didn't even know I had that skirt."
"What about me?" Aki asked also.
"Let your hair out. And won't your feet hurt from walking in those?" Gale questioned.
"Nah. I've walked in them before and they're quite comfortable." She said as she was taking her hair out of its bun.
"You have a lot of hair." Gale commented.
Aki's hair cascaded down to her waist. It reminded her of when she first became the Black Rose Witch, but that was behind her.
After spot checking each other, they left in Gale's car.
"So where are we going so you can see this crush?" Gale asked playfully.
"What? I was going to look for apartments." Aki said sounding surprised.
"Nope. Love conquers all. So where?" Gale stated.
"Fine. He works in the Science Department Center. It's the glass building in the center of the city." Aki said monotonously.
"Okay, let's go." Gale said enthusiastically.
And they sped off towards said building.