Mr. Uchiha's dark, calculating eyes look as stunned as Sakura feels as he examines her appearance. Carefully, he releases the woman and steps back as though fearing she may get the wrong idea if he lingers. Either that or he truly doesn't like her. Maybe both.
Never in her life has Sakura been this severely embarrassed. Her face feels hot as she bows, speaking desperately, "I-I am so sorry! I swear it wasn't on purpose!"
The man clears his throat. He sounds as professional as during their interview, if not a little tenser, "Stop bowing. Come with me." He steps around the woman and into the elevator.
Too mortified to come up with a response, Sakura nods and silently follows her new boss.
He comments coldly when the elevator doors close, "Care to explain why you're late on your first day?" He glances at her momentarily before glaring straight ahead again, "Or why you look so disorganized?"
Sakura speaks as calmly as possible, though she's still incredibly flustered. "There was traffic, and I got caught in the rain. I promise it won't happen again."
"All employees should plan ahead so these things don't affect their punctuality, especially new ones," Mr. Uchiha says as though reading from a handbook. His eyes close, then, and he pinches the space between his eyebrows.
Though she notices and is mildly curious if he's nursing a headache, her irritation is more powerful. Unlike during their last encounter, the woman tries to remain composed as she replies, "I agree. It's just that I was given less than an hour's notice to arrive, and I don't live in the city."
The man spares her another glance but says nothing.
She firmly repeats, effectively ending the conversation, "It won't happen again."
When he doesn't say anything further, the aura becomes awkward. Sakura anxiously looks around, anywhere but at the handsome man by her side. Her gaze lands on her forgotten hair tie. Gasping, she swiftly grabs it and begins putting her wavy locks into a loose braid. The silence makes her nervous, and she babbles when nervous, "It's only like this when it rains, I swear."
Mr. Uchiha immediately says, "I don't need to know that."
Jeez. Talk about grumpy. "...Right. Sorry." Asshole.
A few others enter the elevator on the way to the third floor, causing Sakura to step closer to her boss. It's so uncomfortable, but at least he smells like a dream. If he wasn't so cold-natured, things wouldn't be so awkward.
When it's time for them to leave, the man walks quickly through the halls. Well, it's likely his usual gait, but Sakura's much shorter than him, so she's moving briskly to keep up. The duo soon arrives in a small office.
A petite, cute woman with a brown bob and fringe bangs smiles from behind a cluttered yet still somehow organized desk, "Good morning, Sir! Everything is ready to go."
That's when Sakura notices another person present, someone familiar. When their eyes meet, Karin looks just as surprised and annoyed as the pink-haired woman probably does. Obviously, both women want to ask what's happening but hold their tongues to avoid appearing unprofessional.
"Sit, Miss Haruno," Mr. Uchiha curtly orders.
She quickly obliges, sitting beside Karin with a frown.
The last thing she wants to do is upset the man further, especially after leaving such poor first impressions on him. Honestly, she wonders why she was given a job offer at all. It's clear even to her that she's the least qualified of the four they interviewed. Applying was a sort of "Hail Mary" because the employment prospects were too good to not at least try.
"As you've noticed, both of you will be working as my assistants," the attractive businessman explains. His voice suddenly seems strained, at least to Sakura. His gaze isn't quite as sharp as yesterday, too.
Is he tired? Perhaps he didn't sleep well last night.
"You're expected to report to me no later than six a.m. Monday through Wednesday. On Thursday and Friday, you'll report at three p.m. You'll work for a minimum of three hours daily but are welcome to work more. As many as you'd like. Seeing as you're paid by the hour, you'll be almost entirely in control of your earnings."
The sign on the front door says the building is open from seven in the morning to six in the evening. Does that mean he works a minimum of twelve hours a day? Sakura shudders at the thought. If he does that, how does he make time for anything else? Personally, she'd be too exhausted to do much else but sleep. She supposes that's what it takes to make it big like he has.
The woman looks at her new boss with fresh, impressed eyes. Most, including her, assume he was handed his role because his father is the CEO. Clearly, that's not the truth.
Mr. Uchiha continues, sounding uninterested at best. He isn't even looking at his two new employees. Instead, he glares at the file cabinet across the room. "Most days, one or both of you will travel with me as I leave the office often. I'll leave that decision up to you so long as the job is done properly."
Sakura could fall back asleep with how boring all the business talk is. The man's uninterested tone doesn't help. She blinks sleepily but remains as focused as possible.
"You'll be given new mobile devices. They already have the necessary apps and contact information stored. Unless we're given reason to suspect policy has been broken, such as sharing information with Uchiha Corp's competitors or speaking with the press about things you might see or hear while working, the phones won't be monitored, so use them as you normally would. In the event either of you is terminated, the device will need to be surrendered."
The woman behind the desk, whom Sakura realizes is the bubbly Matsuri who called her this morning, promptly hands over two phones with a cheerful grin, "Please try not to break the screens. If you do so more than once, the repair cost will be deducted from your pay."
Her personality is almost funny compared to Mr. Uchiha's, like night and day. They also seem immune to one another. Maybe they've worked together for a long time. "Very well. That about covers it. You'll shadow Sai for today and next week. Then, I expect you to hold your own. Are there any questions?"
…..
Sasuke compares the two women before him, albeit unintentionally. Miss Haruno accepts the smartphone with stars in her eyes as though she's never seen one in her life. Miss Uzumaki's face remains passive and calm. They're opposites but also seem similar, somehow. Hopefully, that means they'll get along. Cattiness greatly pisses him off.
Then, his mind drifts to the one that nearly tackled him to the ground upstairs. Miss Haruno's appearance had been genuinely unprofessional. Her long, wavy hair was loose and unstyled around her shoulders, and her eyes were wide with confusion and surprise. The thing that struck him most was her scent.
Whatever perfume she wears is lovely.
He thinks that. Then, he immediately shoves the woman from his mind because he has other things to worry about.
Sai meets the trio soon after they leave the Human Resources office, and the day carries on in its usual, hectic way. Put out fires here. Start a fire there. Send backhanded replies to emails from employees who should already know their questions' answers.
While Sai trains the pair of assistants how to filter calls and requests on the company tablets, Sasuke sits at his computer, fingers moving like lightning as he tries to work efficiently.
Today has not been his day. At the meeting with his father and brother this morning, he'd been given yet another task to add to his already overpowering workload. Once his new employees are trained, things should become more manageable, but the next week will be hell for the Uchiha man.
Around two in the afternoon, Sasuke notices neither of the aides has left. Inwardly, he's impressed. Finding help that isn't primed and ready to go home with the minimum amount of work done is rare. His phone vibrates, and he sighs defeatedly when he looks at the screen. Regardless, he answers, "What do you want, Kankuro?"
"Hey, man, sorry, but I need you to come out here. The workers are seriously fucking up the interior and won't listen to anyone but their team leader."
"And where is he?"
"He's been on a lunch break for going on two hours now. He's not answering his phone."
Sasuke almost groans. Almost. "Alright. I'm on my way. Keep trying to get ahold of him."
So, the Uchiha man slides his suit jacket back on and nods toward the door when the other three look at him expectantly, "We're visiting a worksite. Let's go."
Sai pipes up, "I'm needed for a meeting with the Vice President. I cannot come along."
"Whatever. It's fine. You two, follow me," the man grumbles while walking out of the room.
The pair of women obey wordlessly. Once outside, they get into Sasuke's car, and he begins driving across town to Northeastern Konoha, where a new mall is starting to be constructed. His knuckles are white on the steering wheel; his teeth gritting as he tries to remain composed. The two in the backseat converse softly. He can eavesdrop if he wants, but he doesn't because what they talk about is the least of his worries.
Upon arriving, he takes a deep, calming breath and begins maneuvering through the worksite, only to freeze when Miss Uzumaki asks, "Should we follow you, Sir? Our footwear isn't appropriate."
He looks over his shoulder irritably and says, "I don't care. Wait by the car if you want." Both follow him anyway.
They make it inside the bones of the building and promptly run into Kankuro, who's yelling at someone on the phone, "-here before I fire your ass!" When the worker notices Sasuke, he clicks the call to an end and grins sheepishly, "I got ahold of him. He's on his way back now."
Naturally.
"Show me the mistakes anyway. I'm already here, so I might as well-" "Um, excuse me, Sir…."
Sasuke turns his neck to see Miss Haruno eagerly trying to catch his gaze, "I think you should know-" "Do not interrupt when I'm speaking with someone. Stand with Miss Uzumaki and wait for me to finish." Sasuke doesn't wait to see her response, facing Kankuro again. Sai was right. Maybe hiring her was a huge mistake. Now, he has to work around a problematic employee because if she gets fired, Itachi will tell his mom to start contacting matchmakers.
"See that wood there? It's not the type you selected. If they continue using this material, the building will be more likely to take damage in the event of an earthquake," Kankuro expertly avoids acknowledging the awkward interaction between his boss and the pretty pink-haired woman.
"Sir, please! I really think-" He's had it.
The C.O.O. turns on his heel to glare angrily down at his petite assistant, speaking as calmly as possible despite wanting to scream with irritation, "If you interrupt me one more time, I'll rescind your job offer. It is your first day, and you've done nothing but cause trouble."
He'd hoped Miss Haruno's aggressive personality would prove advantageous, but it seems she only grates at his nerves with it.
Emerald-colored eyes widen, and delicate pink eyebrows raise in disbelief, but she closes her mouth anyway. He can tell she's trying very hard not to lose her temper. The tips of her ears are bright red.
Sighing, Sasuke runs a stressed hand through his hair before facing Kankuro a third time, "My apologies. So, you're saying this wood isn't as flexible?"
"Correct. They've already used enough of it that we'll be at least one day behind schedule tearing it down again, if not more."
"I see, and-!" The quieter assistant, Miss Uzumaki, suddenly makes a shocked sound. One of the men working on the scaffolding above also yells something unintelligible. When Sasuke turns to see what all the fuss is about, he's distracted by Sakura's scent filling his senses. A flash of pink crosses his vision, too.
It all happens so fast.
In a blink, the woman is on top of a fallen Kankuro, having tackled him to the ground. Where the supervisor had previously been standing lay a cast iron pulley and a long, ripped rope. It'd fallen.
Fuck.
That's what she tried to warn him of, that it looked like something terrible was about to happen.
Before he can adequately comprehend what an asshole he'd been, Sakura climbs off of a stunned Kankuro. She crouches by his side with a pale face, "Are you alright? You didn't hit your head, did you?"
The Subaku man sits up and looks at the fallen pulley, the white-faced man atop the scaffolding, and then at her. He dusts his hands on his pants and gets to his feet, helping her politely, "Thanks, um…."
"Sakura," the woman shakes his hand with a tiny smile.
It's clear the pinkette is making a point not to look at her boss. He can't blame her, but it still gets on his last damn nerve. It has to be that and not how Kankuro's hand lingered around hers for just a moment too long, right?
Sasuke notices something more important than his confusion and steps forward to interrupt, "Your clothes." It's like the woman was unaware until he said something. One of her shoes had fallen off, and the knees are ripped in her dress pants. Both of them and her palms had suffered mild scuffs from the encounter.
She almost comically hops over to her abandoned heel on one foot and slides it back on, "Rather some clothes than a person's head, right?"
Why does she have to be so fiery?
Smart ass.