She was sitting in a dark room, her hair falling down her face, her knees against her chest.
"I need to tell you something." His voice came as a deep whisper that made her shiver. She tried to localize him when she felt his hand on her shoulder, his breath caressing her ear. She closed her eyes, enjoying the warmth he was radiating. He hugged her from behind and she sighed, content with their position. She loved his deep smoothing voice, his hard chest, his powerful arms...
"Tell me." She whispered back and he hugged her tighter and tighter until she felt a little pain. The darkness grew even more. She tried to free herself from his arms to no avail.
"You're hurting me." She protested.
"Not as much as you did." He responded. The pain grew even more. Her hands, her hands were hurting her. She tried to shout, she tried to move but she felt herself drifting deeper and deeper and deeper.
Kagome shot from her bed, her face and body covered with sweat. She touched her hands but felt no pain. Her blue eyes suddenly grew wild. It was a dream, again. Why was she having those dreams, why did they have to be so real, so tangible? She touched her shoulder. She could even feel his warmth on it. She closed her eyes and exhaled. Her dreams were becoming more and more agitated, more detailed. They enticed her, caused her to fantasize about this man, the hunter of her nights.
She looked at her clock. It was nearly ten in the evening. She needed some fresh air but she couldn't get out from her room. Naraku told her not to. She pouted in her bed before getting up. She would tell him that she needed some water. She smiled with satisfaction. That was a perfect excuse. She made her way into the large apartment but suddenly stopped when she heard noise coming from the office of Naraku. She tried to simply pass by it but she just couldn't: something in her mind told her to listen. She leaned on the closed door, practically hearing Naraku's voice and that of one of his employees. Chris she would guess.
"I told you that everything will be fine Chris. I will not let him destroy me."
She placed a hand on her mouth. Someone was trying to hurt him? Chris answer came quickly and heatedly.
"You know that Inuyasha Taisho will not stop until he destroys you. He's taking all your deals; he's making you beg for anything that would keep your company alive. After all what you did to him, he repays you by stealing everything from you!"
Kagome frowned. Apparently, someone was trying to break Naraku.
"Chris, I don't want anyone to know about this. I don't want to burden the ones I care about with this, especially Mercedes."
"But Taisho is breaking you down! You must react! You cannot simply watch him while he destroys you!"
"I cannot do anything to prevent him."
"You must send one of your employees in their company in order to retrieve your work, your ideas."
"No, I can't do that, it is immoral." Naraku replied but was interrupted when Kagome opened the door, revealing herself. Naraku's eyes softened.
"Mercedes, I am sorry that you heard this."
"Is this the reason of your agitation earlier?" she asked, worry in her voice and on her face. He simply nodded.
"But Mercedes, I want you to forget everything you heard. I don't want you to be in the middle of this."
Kagome took a few steps in the office.
"I want to be a part of this!" she exclaimed. "Naraku, I want to be a part of your life. I want you to trust me, to tell me what bothers you!"
He shook his head negatively and repeatedly.
"No, Merecdes, Taisho is a very dangerous man. He has no heart, no pity, and no feelings. He hates me and I fear for you, I fear for you from this monster."
"Please, I want to help." She insisted, coming closer from him.
"He will hurt you without any hesitation. He has hurt lot of people before you and he will not hesitate."
Kagome's eyes hardened.
"Send me to his office. I swear that I will retrieve what is rightfully yours."
Naraku looked at her as if she was crazy but she didn't let him speak.
"I can deal with him. If he is as cruel and insensitive as to hurt people who helped him, then I will know how to treat him."
"He's very strong." Chris interrupted from his corner, getting her attention. "He's intelligent. He will know that you're fooling around. He stole the European deal from us and he's doing the impossible to steal other deals. If only you could get into the system and communicate what's happening with us."
"I can do it!" she cried, looking back at Naraku who was heading towards the door.
"This conversation is over. I will not hand you to this monster. I will not let him destroy you. I have heard things about him that your innocent mind could not even stand. I will try to get back on my feet by myself."
"No!" she yelled, grabbing him by the arm. He looked down at her and caressed her cheek lovingly with his hand. She closed her eyes and leaned into his touch.
"I don't want to lose you Mercedes." He whispered, just like her dream. That made her smile slightly.
"You won't." she replied with the same tone then opened her eyes and stared directly in his. "I am not as innocent as he is. Please, if I mean anything to you, don't refuse what I ask."
"Mercedes…"
"Please Naraku. You know I can do anything just for you. Let me help you. I can handle him. I will make him a ring in my finger."
"Don't underestimate him." Chris replied from behind.
"I won't, please…" she repeated. Naraku finally broke his gaze from hers as a sign of defeat.
"Fine." He mumbled making her face lighten up. "But promise to remain careful. Anytime you feel that you are not comfortable don't hesitate to come back, do you hear me?"
She nodded, smiling victoriously.
"I promise. Now, what should I do?"
Chris stepped closer to them, making them look at him.
"We must be quick. Taisho is looking for a personal assistant in his European deal. The last day for auditioning is tomorrow. If Mercedes is capable of impressing the jury that he has created for the choice of his personal employees, she will have the job. Personally, I am a member of this jury and I will try my best to make you the perfect candidate in their eyes. We don't have much time to waste so we will start preparing you from now."
Kagome smiled.
"Okay, just wait a minute. I will fetch a cup of coffee. The night will be long."
As soon as the two men made sure that she left, they smiled.
"You're a genius Naraku. How did you know that she will overhear our conversation?"
Naraku chuckled as he poured a glass of wine to himself.
"That's why I am the best. With Mercedes in the company, Inuyasha will lose all his focus. He will fail to assume his responsibilities and he will earn a valuable lesson. Not to mess with the big ones."
Chris laughed for the last comment.
Rin entered the big hall that was used for the auditioning in Taisho's company. She took a seat next to Sesshumaru and smiled at Chris who was sitting in his chair, reading papers about the candidates. He smiled back and looked at the three other juries who were the heads of the foreign business in Taisho's corporation. They were old and very intelligent. He frowned a little. He hoped that Mercedes will be able to impress them.
Sesshumaru took a deep breath before motioning to the security guard who was standing by the door. The man nodded and after a few seconds one of the candidates took place in front of them. She was a young girl with average looks, clever eyes and a warm smile. She folded her hands in her lap and waited for their questions. Chris bit his lip. She was the typical kind of persons this jury liked. They have seen in the last few days hundreds of applications and he knew that this girl was one of the favorites.
Sesshumaru who knew that the girl had a probability of 99% to take the job smiled at her and started with his questions.
"So Miss Jasmine, I see that your CV is quite impressive."
The girl smiled and thanked him.
"I also see that you have outstanding college grades, an involvement in cultural activities, a few master degrees and you can talk three different European languages. In addition, you have mentioned in your application that you would travel when needed. The jury must confess that we are impressed."
The girl smiled again and Chris felt more anxious. Sesshumaru was practically welcoming her in the company.
"So tell me, what do you expect to achieve in our company?" Rin asked and Chris almost suffocated when he heard the girl's clever response about how this experience will strengthen her knowledge and will be a good application of all her theoretical studies while the members of the jury nodded their heads in approval.
After she left, Sesshumaru leaned into his chair.
"I believe that this was our last candidate in the list and may I say the best?"
Rin immediately agreed followed by the three others but Chris interrupted their discussion.
"There is still one more girl."
"Come on Chris." Rin said. "That girl is the best."
"Perhaps." He replied. "But it doesn't mean that you don't have to meet the other candidates. There is one last candidate and she deserves an equal chance, doesn't she?"
Sesshumaru nodded.
"Fine, send her in."
Kagome entered the big hall. She looked at the jury members one by one without trading on any one of them while walking with a steady step in her aqua blue dress and her blonde hair that was curled until her shoulders. She smiled warmly at them and took place on the seat. Sesshumaru looked at her as she made her way towards them but winced when he felt Rin kick his leg under the large table. He tried hard to suppress a grin. Rin was the jealous type and that girl was definitely a supermodel. Now he understood why Chris insisted on presenting her to this job. She was probably one of his night companions.
He cleared his throat when he felt the silence and smiled at her.
"So, tell me about you." He asked half smiling but his grin disappeared when her startling blue eyes settled on him. She titled her head up and spoke with a steady but calm voice having a light French accent.
"My name is Mercedes. I have a master degree in economy and international affairs. I have followed my studies in one of the most prestigious universities of France as mentioned in my file. I have an experience in global economy as I worked with the most remarkable professors while following my studies, helping them in the writing of difficult negotiating cases and deals. I graduated earlier than normal because of my ability to quickly assimilate. I have twenty letters of recommendation from the most famous tutoring economists that I had the privilege to work with while staying in France."
Kagome shifted slightly in her seat, satisfied by the shocked expression on the jury's face so she decided to finish them.
"I master two European languages, as well as my origin language. My expectation from your company is that it will be able to give me a great preview of the economical clashes between companies, individuals and even countries."
She stopped talking while silence filled the air. She smiled slightly before giving them the final blow.
"I guess that your company could use of a person like me since I dispose of a high IQ that you could feel free to test at any moment. In conclusion, I am the best candidate between all the applicants. That's all."
Rin was the first one to recover from the shock. Who would have thought that such a beautiful woman could have as many hidden skills as all the candidates that she had interviewed?
"Chris, are all these information documented?"
"Yes, I received her full file this morning with all the sufficient and relevant information."
He passed copies to the whole jury. Rin smiled then looked at her.
"If you may please wait outside for a moment."
Kagome looked at her before getting up and heading towards the door. Once outside, Rin looked at the older men.
"So, what do you think?"
The oldest one of them who was still checking her files smiled.
"If we let this girl escape from our hands, other companies will have her."
He then looked at Sesshumaru who seemed to be in a deep thinking.
"I have never seen all these qualities in only one person before. She is a treasure and Taisho's company always exploits treasures. I vote for her and I am sure that everyone in this room will agree with me. She is beyond natural."
Sesshumaru took another look on the files then at Chris.
"What do you think Chris?"
"I think that we have the chance to have her amongst us. I go with the others' opinions. She will launch this company furthermore."
"And what do you think Rin?"
Rin simply nodded her head. Sesshumaru looked at the papers again before speaking.
"Where did I see her before?"
His question remained suspended but silence was cut when he got up from his chair.
"Mercedes it will be and this is final."
Chris smiled to himself. It was easier than he ever thought it would be. But he had to confess that Kagome was the best indeed.
Kagome was pacing in front of the elevator, awaiting the results. She had acted naturally, exposed her skills and now, all she had to do was hope that she had affected them. Although they were intimidating her at first, she strangely felt at ease while talking to them.
After a few minutes, she decided to go to the cafeteria in order to fill her empty stomach. She entered the elevator and pressed the corresponding button. As the elevator continued to descend, it stopped in front of a floor and a man with a black suit and long hair tied into a high ponytail stepped in and pushed the same button while she had her back to the door, searching inside her purse for her mirror. A song started in the elevator and she heard the man in front of her, whom she didn't notice before, growl irritably. She looked at his back before returning to her mirror.
The song was sung nicely. She didn't recognize the singer but his voice was deep and angelic. She soon left her mirror and focused on the words. They were so romantic, so touching. She felt as if she was floating in heaven. The elevator continued to go down until the man in front of her pushed the button of the nearest floor making the elevator stop.
"I am not listening to the song of this asshole." He mumbled as the door opened and he stepped out of the elevator. "This fucking jerk." He continued but before he could leave he heard a sneeze behind him. He remembered that there was someone when he first walked into the elevator. He looked at the source of the sound, his dark glasses hiding all his expressions. He felt his heart stop when he saw her in a blue dress, her eyes more sparkling then ever while she got a tissue out of her purse. She looked at the source of the stare but was unable to identify it as the elevator closed its door and continued his downward path.
"I think this man's perfume made me sneeze." She remarked silently before smiling. "But it is somehow familiar."
Inuyasha stood in front of the elevator, his face as cold as ever but his hands were slightly shaking. His cell phone suddenly rang and he picked it up without eve looking at it.
"Taisho speaking." He answered coldly, not removing his eyes from that spot where his gaze met hers.
"Taisho, this is your last chance."
"Naraku." Inuyasha replied, smirking a little. "I see that you are not the quitter type. How could I even make it any clearer? The deal is mine. I worked day and night to have it and I will not let you have it simply because you feel that you are the one who deserve it and for no reason at all."
He heard a sudden chuckle on the other line.
"I think that you are making a terrible mistake Inuyasha. Maybe a mistake similar to the one you made a few years ago."
"What do you know anyway?" Inuyasha asked sarcasm in his voice. "You will not get the deal and this is final. Your days are over Naraku, just embrace this fact and you'll be happier."
There was silence for a few seconds before Naraku replied.
"I have warned you Taisho. For the last time I will ask you: would you give me the deal, yes or no?"
Inuyasha laughed ironically.
"Well, this is a hard question Naraku. Let me think about it. Oh wait, I already have: NO!" he was not able to continue as the line went dead. He humphed and his smirk disappeared to a frown again. Why was he seeing her everywhere? Was he crazy or something?
His thoughts were interrupted again when he received a message from his brother.
'We found you the best employee'
Inuyasha shrugged. Would he even care less?