Sorry guys! I've been away and just super busy but here's the new chapter!
Chapter 28: Matchmaker
The weekend eventually ended and Misaki's family left. Misaki sent them off with a smile but ignored Takumi.
"You still mad?" Takumi asked, tagging along behind her back to the living room.
Misaki didn't respond.
"I'm sorry, Misa Chan…" Takumi pleaded with her. "Please forgive me…"
Misaki just crossed her arms and glared at him. Takumi on the other hand rested his chin on her shoulder trying to comfort her- despite the fact it was him who made her mad in the first place.
"I'll do anything," Takumi offered. "I promise to make it up to you somehow."
Misaki smirked. "How are you going to do that?" she asked, curious.
"So she finally speaks," Takumi said, hugging her from behind. "I will surprise you so much that you'll be speechless," Takumi offered.
Misaki rolled her eyes. "You're hopeless," she muttered.
"So am I forgiven?"
"No, now drive me to work," Misaki ordered, walking away.
"Yes, my lady," Takumi said, jogging after her.
"Bye," Misaki said, when Takumi pulled up to the front of the building.
"I love you," Takumi said.
Misaki smirked and gave Takumi a peck on the cheek before getting out of the car. Takumi lightly touched his cheek and smiled. His eyes followed Misaki's silhouette as she hurried into the large building and disappeared.
Misaki was typing away on her computer like any other day. Mira came into her office wearing a crisp freshly ironed dress with a blazer.
"Good morning," Mira said, smiling. "Coffee?" she offered.
"No thank you," Misaki said. "I'm avoiding caffeine."
"Right," Mira said. "The baby!"
Misaki smiled. "What can I help you with?" she asked.
"I have some paperwork to turn in and then a couple business proposals you have to look through and then run to Mr. Gee," Mira explained.
Misaki nodded. "I'll get right on it," she said.
"Okay, cool! See you at lunch!"
"Bye," Misaki said, waving.
Misaki rubbed her tiny bump. Mira was such a cheerful person. Misaki couldn't believe someone wouldn't like a girl like Mira. Bubbly, pretty, hard working...
Misaki just shook her head and returned back to work. After a couple hours, her intercom buzzed.
"Mrs. Walker, you have a visitor," her secretary informed her. "Mrs. Igarashi is here for a last minute appointment. Shall I send her up?"
"Ruri was here?" Misaki thought to herself. "Yes, send her up," Misaki replied, wondering what Ruri was doing at the law firm.
Within seconds, Misaki heard the brisk knock on her door.
"Come in!" she called, getting up.
"Misaki!" Ruri greeted. "How are you?"
"I'm good," Misaki said, giving her friend a hug. "What are you doing here?" she asked, gesturing for Ruri to sit.
"Nothing exactly," Ruri said. "Work has just been way too slow for me. I need something with more action," she sighed.
"Business can be slow sometimes," Misaki agreed. "You could always go work with Tora or Takumi," she teased. "Then you'd never be bored. Those corporations never have a slow day."
Ruri laughed. "Sadly, you're right," she replied. "I just came by to look around. Maybe, I could find something interesting here."
"I'll show you around," Misaki offered.
"Great," Ruri said. "After you then..."
Misaki showed Ruri around the firm and introduced her to the few people that still talked to her.
"Mira, great to see you again," Ruri said, hugging her.
Mira was a little surprised. "Wonderful to see you too, Ruri," she said a little nervous.
"That's a cute blazer," Ruri added. "I love the heels too. I might have something like that too."
"Thanks," Mira said, giving a warm smile. "You're well dressed as always too."
"So who are you trying to impress?" Ruri asked.
"No one," Mira said, biting her lower lip.
"Oh, come on," Ruri whispered. "I love secrets."
"It's really no one," Mira said, blushing.
Ruri dropped it but Misaki could tell she wasn't buying it. They all went back to work and Ruri looked around Misaki's office. There was a knock on Misaki's door.
"Come in!" Misaki called. "Hey Julian," she greeted when he walked in.
"Hey," Julian said. "Hi to you too, Ruri."
"I almost forgot you worked here," Ruri laughed. "How's it going?"
"Good," Julian replied. "And yourself?"
"Bored," Ruri sighed. "You got anything interesting going on?" she asked, Julian.
"Uh... Not exactly," Julian replied. "Just working."
"What about going out?" Ruri asked. "You're so young! I loved going out- I still love going out just no more drinking because of the baby-"
"I don't mean to interrupt," Misaki said. "But I have to get work done," she said, pointing to her papers. "You guys can chat outside..."
"It's okay," Julian said. "I just needed to drop of something for you to sign," he said, handing her a sheet of paper.
"Okay, I'll give it to you during lunch-"
"How about she'll run it over to you. Just wait by the stairs," Ruri interrupted.
"What-"
"Just do it," Ruri ordered, shooing Julian out of the office.
"By the stairs...?" Misaki asked. "What are you talking about?"
"Trust me," Ruri said, resting a hand on Misaki's arm. "I got this all figured out. Just sign the paper and I need to borrow your office phone."
Misaki slowly signed her name and watched Ruri call someone on the office phone.
"I'm rarely wrong," Ruri said, putting her hands on her hips. "But I like to double check."
"What are you talking about?" Misaki asked.
Was Ruri speaking French or something because Misaki didn't understand a word she was saying.
"Give me the paper. Julian is probably waiting by the stairs-"
"But I shouldn't have to run it over to him-"
"Of course," Ruri said. "But that is why we have..."
As if just on cue, Mira walked in through the door. Misaki and Ruri both stared at Mira.
"What?" Mira asked, wondering why both women were looking at her.
"Misaki needs you to run this file to an employee personally," Ruri explained. "Go by the stairs right now."
"Okay..." Mira said, taking the paper.
"Wait," Ruri said.
She walked over and touched up Mira's hair and straightened her blazer.
"Okay go," Ruri said, smiling.
Mira headed out throwing weird glances behind her shoulder.
"What was that all about?" Misaki asked, once the door was closed.
"You still haven't figured it out...?" Ruri asked. "Come on," she said, grabbing Misaki's wrist.
"Wait wait wait," Misaki exclaimed as Ruri pulled her down the hall. "I have to do work-"
"Shh!" Ruri said, tiptoeing down the hall dragging Misaki with her.
"Why are we sneaking around the firm like this?!" Misaki hissed. "People are looking at us!"
"No, they aren't," Ruri whispered back. "This wing is pretty much empty, which is why I picked it," Ruri said with a glint in her eye.
Misaki and Ruri peeked around and corner and Misaki almost gasped except Ruri clamped her hand over her mouth. Mira was holding out the paper to Julian except she looked like she was going to faint.
"Mira likes Julian...?" Misaki mouthed.
Ruri smiled and nodded.
"How could you tell?" Misaki asked, as they quickly walked away.
Ruri giggled. "I'm a secret matchmaker," she said, rubbing her hands together.
"Are you going to set them up?!" Misaki hissed.
Ruri shrugged. "I'm sure your husband would thank me."
"Why?"
"Oh Misa," Ruri said, patting her shoulder. "Don't worry about it."
"I am worrying," Misaki replied. "Because this where I work. You can't make a mess."
"Don't worry," Ruri said. "I'm a pro. They won't know what hit them... Alright darling, I'm heading back to work. Bye!"
"Bye..." Misaki said, watching Ruri leave.
She sat down at her desk and started where she left off. Her pen scratched against the paper after paper. Two whole hours of work was only interrupted by a phone call.
"Hello Misaki Walker speaking," Misaki said into her office phone.
"Hello Mrs. Walker. This is the front desk. You... Um... Have an appointment..."
"Do I?" Misaki asked, flipping through her schedule. No she didn't...
"Well, I can't really say no..." the lady whispered. "I'm afraid to offend him. It's your husband, Mr. Walker."
"Oh," Misaki said, laughing. That was her alien...making life difficult for everyone else. "Send him up."
"Yes ma'am."
Misaki was curious to why Takumi stopped by today. He had never visited him at work before. There was a knock on Misaki's door.
"Come in!" Misaki called.
Takumi opened the door and came in.
"Hey," he said.
"Hi," Misaki said, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear.
Her first response was to throw her arms around him. Takumi gently hugged her back.
"I missed you," Takumi whispered. "I realized I never looked around your office before so I stopped by. You okay?"
"Yeah," Misaki sighed. "I don't like it when we fight."
Takumi chuckled. "Were we fighting?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I don't know…" Misaki mumbled.
"You're not crying are you?" Takumi asked.
"No!"
"So," Takumi said, sitting on the edge of her desk. "What's new?"
Misaki rested her chin on her palms. "Everyone is visiting me today," she told him. "Ruri stopped by earlier too."
"Really?" Takumi asked, standing up. "What for?"
"I don't know," Misaki said. "She just wanted to look around... Looking for excitement..." Misaki said, watching Takumi inspect her bookshelf.
"Law seems rather boring… Not much excitement" Takumi mused, flipping through a thick volume.
"It is not!" Misaki said, defensively. "It's perfectly logical and fascinating."
"You're fascinating."
"Be quiet!"
Misaki rolled her eyes. "Okay," she said. "Have you seen enough?" she asked. "I still have work to do."
"I'll do it for you," Takumi said, sitting in her seat.
"No!" Misaki exclaimed. "Go away!" she ordered.
"But Misa Chan..."
"Mr. Walker," Misaki said with her hands on her hips. "Your appointment is over."
Takumi smirked. "Alright Mrs. Walker," he said, kissing her on the forehead. "I'll see you at home."
"Yeah..." Misaki said, walking him to the door. "See you."
"I love you," Takumi said, leaning against the door frame. "Hormones and all,"
Takumi dodged a punch and left with a smile on his face.
Misaki sometimes wondered why Ruri didn't just go off and be a legit match maker because her friend was playing match maker in her office at the moment.
"Okay, so you have to assign this assignment to a good financial manager as well as a suitable lawyer," Ruri said. "Which will be Mira and Julian…" she whispered.
Misaki rolled her eyes. "This is so unprofessional…" she muttered.
"Why?" Ruri asked. "Who would you have sent?"
"I don't know," Misaki said. "I didn't even get to read the project yet," she said, holding out her hand for the paper.
Ruri gave a sheepish smile and handed it over. Misaki unfolded it. Her eyes scanned the heading and she face palmed.
"YOU TOLD TAKUMI?!"
Ruri innocently batted her eyelashes. "It may have slipped out…" she said.
"Uh huh…" Misaki said, holding out the paper. "And just coincidentally Walker Corporations needs Tokyo Law firm to send out two people for this very specific assignment and just coincidentally I'm in charge of selecting the team?"
"I guess. Its your husband's corporation...not mine," Ruri said, studying her nails.
"Ruri!"
"Okay okay," Ruri said. "But think of it, Misaki, you're helping your friend Mira out. Don't you want her to be happy? Think of everything she's done for you! She still treats you the same even when you revealed yourself as Misaki Walker."
Misaki rubbed her temples trying to soothe her headache. "Okay fine, I'll think about it," she said with a sigh. "But I have to check their credentials first before I give them this project-"
"Yay!" Ruri squealed, clapping her hands together. "Oh I love helping people fall in love…"
Misaki just sighed and gently smoothed her shirt over her baby bump. "Does this mean you'll leave me alone to do my work now?" she asked.
Ruri pouted. "You're so grumpy, Misa," she observed. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Misaki said, shutting her laptop. "I'm just tired and moody," she admitted. "Like a few days ago, I was mad at Takumi. Then as I was working I started to feel really bad. He visited and I was really happy then his annoying personality became too much…" Misaki said, clenching her fist.
"Where's Takumi?"
"Probably hiding," Misaki said.
"I think you two need a little personal time," Ruri observed. "Like very personal," she said, laughing. "Its guaranteed to put you in a cuddly fuzzy mood."
"Whatever," Misaki said, blushing.
The first thing that struck Misaki as odd was how the house was completely dark when she came home from work- even all the curtains were down. Misaki dropped her purse on the couch, wondering what was going on. Then the candles caught her eye. There was a path lit up by candles and scattered with rose petals. Misaki hung up her jacket and followed the trail of rose petals upstairs to their bedroom.
"Takumi?" she called, pushing open the door. "Wow..." she breathed, looking at how Takumi transformed the bedroom.
The table by the wall was pulled out onto the center with a tier tray of food in the center. The top layer had chocolate, second layer held fruit and the bottom layer carried tiny pastries. Dim lights and candles gave the room a glowing hue and the soft music and rose petals made it even more romantic.
"What is this for?" Misaki asked, smelling the bouquet on the table and licking frosting off a tiny cake.
Takumi took her hand. "I just wanted to do something nice and romantic for you," he explained, gently placing a strawberry in her mouth.
"This certainly is romantic," Misaki agreed still in awe. "Was the surprise you promised?" she asked.
"Just enjoy yourself," Takumi encouraged, popping open a bottle of sparkling juice. "We'll talk about that later."
He then handed Misaki her silk robe. "Get comfortable," he told her. "I think you'll like this."
Misaki blushed and headed toward the bathroom. Her mouth almost dropped open when she went into the steamy room though. There were two scented candles on the counter giving the air a spicy scent and Takumi had drawn a rose petal bath. Misaki inhaled the sweet scent of the bath oil and touched the handful of petals that was scattered on the surface of the water.
"Impressed?" Takumi asked, handing Misaki the flute of juice.
"Yeah..." Misaki said, still trying to process everything.
She barely even reacted when Takumi unbuttoned her shirt and slid it off her shoulders.
"Water's still warm," Takumi whispered, stepping into their large tub and tossing his clothes into the hamper.
Misaki hung her robe on the rack and got in too. The water felt heavenly on her sore muscles.
"Welcome to the Walker Spa," Takumi said, winking. "My name is Takumi and I'll be taking care of you today."
Misaki blushed but it was hard to tell in the dim lighting.
"You're weird..." she said, crossing her arms over her chest.
Takumi just smiled. "Turn around," he said, reaching over for a jar.
Misaki shifted in the spacious tub so her back was to him. She rested her head on the towel which was draped on the tub platform. Takumi poured something warm on her back and slid his hands over her shoulders.
"Just listen to the music and relax," Takumi said, rubbing her sore back.
Misaki felt herself immediately relax. All tension faded. Takumi's hands rubbed in slow circular motions while loosening the knots in her neck.
"You are the best husband in the world," Misaki sighed as Takumi massaged her shoulders. "How did you think of this?"
"I'd do anything for you," Takumi told her. "I just know carrying our baby hasn't been easy for you and I just wanted to do a little something special because I just love you so much."
Misaki placed her hand on his and turned her head.
"I love you too," she said, placing his hand on her small baby bump. "I'm just really happy to have you and our baby."
Takumi smiled and kissed her forehead. "You're so cute, Misaki," he said, sticking a wet rose petal to her cheek.
Misaki raked through Takumi's damp hair with her fingers.
"Did you have anything else planned?" she asked.
"It's all flexible," Takumi said. "We'll do anything you want."
"I want you-"
Misaki clapped her hand over her mouth. What did she just say?! Damn you hormones!
"Do you?" Takumi asked, amused.
Misaki blushed. "That's not what I meant!"
"Water will be warm for a while," Takumi said, winking. "Besides it's okay to want your husband."
Misaki sighed and wrapped her arms around his neck so their bodies touched, bare skin on bare skin.
"Make me your's," she said, slightly embarrassed.
Takumi hugged her tightly and pulled her to him which was awkward to do in a bathtub because Misaki had to straddle his lap. Takumi didn't seem to mind at all and kissed her softly on the lips.
"Tonight there's only you and me," he promised.
Misaki felt like she woke up from a strange dream except it hasn't been a dream. Last night actually had happened. It seemed like a cliche movie scene except Misaki lived it. She could kind of now see why girls always fantasized about the candles and roses. It was actually pretty romantic when done correctly.
Their bed still had the sweet scent of roses on it but the candles were burnt to their stumps. Misaki reached out and touched a soft rose petal. Even their bed had a handful of the velvety petals tossed on it. A bunch of petals had stuck to Misaki's wet hair last night and then dried there.
"You look like a goddess," Takumi said in a low voice.
Misaki jumped a little, not knowing Takumi was awake.
"How...?" she asked.
Takumi smiled. "You have the long wavy hair with rose petals in it. Gorgeous skin with the white bed sheet... Beautiful," he said, watching her.
Misaki ran her fingers through her hair.
"Yeah... lots of petals," she agreed.
"So on a scale from 1 to 10, how great was last night?" Takumi asked, hugging a pillow.
"Um...good," Misaki said.
"Good's not a number, baby," he said, grinning.
Misaki looked away. "...ten..." she mumbled under her voice.
"What was that?" Takumi asked, leaning in closer.
"Ten..." Misaki mumbled.
"Louder,"
"Ten!" Misaki said, blushing.
"Why thank you, honey," Takumi said, smugly.
"Be quiet," Misaki said, laying back down. "I-I just can't control myself sometimes," she stammered.
"Good," Takumi said, cupping her cheek. "I like it that way."