Poisoned Love

Tigress typed as much as she could before glancing at Po's door. The panda holed himself up for the entire week after seeing the new receptionist. The feline understood why Shen made the mistake. Po kept most of his ex's identity a secret. There was no way for him to know who Po's ex was until she was hired. Technically, companies didn't have to find their 'perfect matches'. Close enough during a time of crisis was acceptable, and Zainan Inc. was definitely in a crisis. And honestly, what's one more problematic internal affair?

But given that Shen had no more malice towards Po, the peacock could be forgiven for this mistake. Tigress didn't know if Po forgave him, but that wasn't her present concern.

The tiger stopped her tapping and clenched her teeth.

"I shouldn't," She muttered to herself. Wrestling with her plan of action, Tigress finally grumbled and stood up from her desk. She walked to the elevator and rode down to the lobby. The panda receptionist had a new blouse on. A bright purple one matching her nails. Tigress lifted a small eyebrow, feeling her stomach churn.

The panda held her normal bored look, half-lidded eyes staring into her nails with a frown. Her makeup was on point, though Tigress could see she was hiding something. Some sort of feeling. She looked around the same size as Po, slimmer around her face, though her waist was wider and her height shorter.

Tigress made an awkward cough. "Umm. Hello, are you the new receptionist?"

The panda lifted her head, visually surprised by the tiger's presence. "I am. And you are..."

"Tigress. I work near the top floor."

"Oh," The panda put on a small smile. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Tigress. Can I... help you with something?"

"Are you busy?"

"A little bit, yes," The panda replied in a measured tone.

Tigress glanced at the empty lobby. She spied the name tag on the panda's blouse. Du Ai. The feline held in a snort. "Is something wrong with my clothing? You're staring at it." The panda glared.

"No, no, I'm sorry. I was just... thinking," Tigress recovered. While Ai can mean love or affection, Du means poison. Then again, Zainan literally means disaster so who was Tigress to judge?* "I work closely with... Quality Improvement. I know you've been here for only a brief time-"

"Exactly a week."

"But I was wondering how you're liking your new position... for a survey," Tigress lied.

Du Ai lifted her eyebrow. A slight hint of annoyance creased her face but she quickly formulated a polite smile. "I don't expect much from a job I got from Mei Mei."

"Mei Mei," Tigress echoed. "But you don't like this job?"

"It puts food on the table. But I guess I deserve it."

"Why"

"It's a long story. One I... don't really like telling," The panda's polite smile dipped for a moment. "And what exactly do you do, Ms. Tigress?"

"I'm the executive assistant for the CEO."

The panda's eyes widened. "You... work directly under P... Mr. Ping?"

"Yes?"

Du Ai scanned the tiger so much that Tigress felt naked for a second. "And how do you... see Mr. Ping?"

Though her body stayed the same, Tigress folded her hands behind her back. Her hands clenched out the rage welling up in her body. "We're simply co-workers, Ms. Du Ai. I don't know much about his personal life."

The panda held her suspicious stare. "I see."

"Well, thank you for your feedback. If you'll excuse me, I have to return to my project. Have a nice day, Ms. Du Ai."

"You too, Ms. Tigress," Du Ai replied with the same edge in her voice that she greeted Tigress with. The tiger walked back into the elevator and let the doors close before growling to herself.

"Little fake gossip," She grumbled. This panda irked her much more than anyone else, but she didn't know why. She reached her floor and made her way straight to HR. Mei Mei stared at a computer screen when she came in.

"Oh, hey Tigress. What's up?"

"I... need to talk with you privately. It's... not work-related," The feline muttered.

Mei Mei squinted one eye. "You... always have something work-related."

"Well, this time it isn't."

"Hmm, hang on," Mei Mei looked to the corner office behind her. "Hey, Crane, I'm going to take a small break. I should be back in five."

"Alright, say hi to Vip-" He stopped when he saw Tigress with her. "Oh! Uhh never mind then."

"Yeah, I'm confused too."

Tigress rolled her eyes. "I get it. I don't visit much."

"At all, you mean," Mei Mei corrected. The tiger mumbled grumbles under her breath as the two ambled around the sea of cubicles to the work lounge. "So... what's up?"

Tigress took a deep breath, leaning her back against the wall. "What do you know about our new receptionist?"

Mei Mei's eyes shot open only to narrow back down. "Why do you want to know?"

"She... doesn't seem like the friendliest person I've talked with."

"Why did you talk with her?"

"It's hard to not face her when I come into the building."

"That lie would work if the elevators didn't go straight to the garage."

"Just... tell me what you know about her," Tigress grunted, slightly exasperated.

The big panda sighed, slinking into a chair. "Well... I know that Du Ai and Po used to date. I'm guessing that's why you're-"

"He was very very upset when he found out." Tigress narrowed her eyes. "And... if you knew this, why hire her?"

"She was desperate when she asked me for a job. After Po and Du Ai broke up, she was treated roughly by her last boyfriend. She said she wanted to change... And Shen really wanted a new receptionist pronto. I figured that since she was a receptionist and Po was the CEO, there wouldn't be such an issue. It's not like Po goes to the lobby every day."

Tigress nodded. "You said she was trying to change? What was she like?"

Mei Mei groaned, "Always made up things in her head that weren't true."

"She would lie?"

"No, just tell herself stories that didn't match reality. She acts too much on her assumptions about people."

"Why?" Mei Mei shrugged. Tigress rubbed her chin, looking at the white hard floor of the work lounge. "You said used to."

"I think she's honestly trying to change now. Kind of hard to tell," the panda muttered.

"Aren't you worried that she'll say something to Po that might tip him over the edge?"

Mei Mei shook her head. "Not while you're there."

"Why me?"

"I think you'll be able to set him straight if he starts to do something he shouldn't. AND you'll keep her in line too," Mei Mei smirked.

The frown on Tigress's lips widened as she took a seat. "How did I miss all of this?"

"Hm?"

"How do you know this much about Po?"

Mei Mei shrugged. "When Po became Cultural Exchange Coordinator, he was the center of attention on the floor. Viper, me, Song, we all talked with him. He's a great talker, though he was kind of a goofy nerd. When the break up happened, we noticed. Even Oogway talked to him more after that."

"Oogway and Po used to talk a lot?" the tiger asked.

"All the time. Nearly everyone did. It's because we talked with Po that... uh... Tai Lung and Crane are here."

"He... knew you liked each other?"

"Not like that," Mei Mei sighed, "Just before he became the CEO, Tai Lung and Crane were looking for entry roles. I asked Viper to do the interviews with me and... Tai Lung and I hit it off. Viper felt the same. But I didn't know if I should hire them because of our crushes. Originally, Tai Lung was supposed to work in HR and Crane in Sales. And they didn't really seem good for those positions. So I... would've decided against it-"

"If Po didn't tell you to hire them."

"He joined in on the process and gave us a more... balanced approach. He's the one who saw Tai Lung's confidence was good for Sales and Crane's introversion good for HR's paperwork... And... it helps that they're... in different departments from us."

Tigress remembered what Po said when Tai Lung and Crane first came."Because conflicts of interest only apply WITHIN departments here."

The tiger sighed and leaned back in her chair. "How come I'm only learning about him now?"

Mei Mei shrugged, "You were focused. Song said that you were so busy trying to get his job that you barely had time to notice what was going on with other people. It's not bad, but tunnel vision is a real thing. Besides, we're not really supposed to be delving into personal business like that but... Po makes it easy for us to be ourselves."

"Hmm," Tigress hummed. "Thank you. I appreciate it."

Mei Mei was about to go before she stopped midway. "Want my advice? Try your best to stay away from Du Ai. She has this funny way of making enemies everywhere she goes."

"Intentionally?"

"I don't know but I don't care," Mei Mei muttered and left. Tigress pensively stared into nothingness. She sighed and thoughtfully walked back to her desk.

She rubbed the side of her head, thinking about Mei Mei's words. Was it really tunnel vision or did she simply not care about anything else except a position that she no longer wanted?

Then what did she want?

"Tigress?"

"Hm?" The tiger awoke from her reflective trance. "Yes, Mr. Ping?"

"Could you come in?"

She walked into Po's office. The panda sat at his desk and offered her a seat. There were no words for a while. Tigress had her hands folded neatly on her black pencil skirt.

The tiger's head turned up when she heard Po sigh. "So... what do you know about Du Ai?"

The feline sharpened her eyes. "You followed me?"

"I just know what you're like."

"You think I'm nosy."

"No. I just know that... you'll do anything to figure out what's wrong with someone," Po said.

Tigress sighed in defeat, "I... did talk with her. As little as possible." Po's eyebrow rose. "I don't... She doesn't seem like a... qualified person for the receptionist position."

"That's woman for, 'She's shallow, fake, and honestly gets on my nerves with how nosy and suspicious she can be.'"

"I... yes," Tigress grumbled though she was glad that Po verbalized what she was having a hard time describing. "I didn't know Mei Mei knew her."

"Du Ai mentioned knowing Mei Mei, but it wasn't until this job that I really got to know her. And I wasn't expecting Mei Mei to be so... different."

"Different?"

"I've only been used to Du Ai's personality. Other than family, I didn't think women could be anything else until I got this job. And Du Ai didn't mention much about Mei Mei other than the negative. She'd accuse me of cheating on her or some of the women here."

"How are Mei Mei and Du Ai friends?" Tigress asked. Po shrugged. The feline shook her head and recomposed herself, sitting up in her seat. "What can I do to help you through this?"

"Just... help me be calm."

"I don't think I'm the right person for that," Tigress smiled, "But I do think you need stress management."

"That's free, right?"

"Wonders of the Internet."

"Heh, yeah. Anyway, I'm sorry my personal life has been such a drama bag for you. I promise I'm not trying to invade your privacy."

"You haven't. Not intentionally anyway," Tigress smiled. "And I asked, remember?"

"Oh yeah, this is your fault," Po joked lightly.

"But I am sorry for how I acted towards you when you first got this position. Since you've been so... open and honest with what's going on in the company, I can see a lot of what Oogway went through."

"Like what?"

Tigress sighed, "Oogway would often leave his desk at random times of the day. Usually, he would say it was a meeting, but... I think it was just to get some space from the environment."

"Huh. That explains why he kept coming to my office."

"What?"

"Yeah, he would come to my office a lot and ask me some... 'theoretical scenarios.' I never knew why."

Tigress's eyes widened. "He was training you to take this position."

"Yeah, well I still don't know why he chose me."

"Because you do the right thing, Po. And you don't get tunnel vision as easily," Tigress softly said, looking down at her feet.

Po's lips creased fretfully. "Are you okay?"

"Hm? Yes, I'm fine. Just... need to spend more time with people that are important to me."

"Like your... boyfriend?"

Tigress's eyes popped open. "Oh right! I was supposed to text him! Sorry, I need to go."

"That's fine," Po chuckled. Tigress ran out of the panda's door, leaving Po alone with his thoughts as he turned to the big wide window behind him. "Spending more time with the people important to you. Hm... Maybe I should do that more."

As the month went on, however, people unimportant to Tigress started to make their presence known.

"You know, recently, I've noticed that you frown around 11:25 am," Viper once said. Tigress knew exactly why. For a few weeks, every day around that time, someone would come through those silver elevator doors and annoy her with a plethora of questions.

Almost on cue, the doors opened at 11:25 am. In walked a female panda that was supposed to be at the receptionist's desk. But she got promoted to mail duty.

And her mail always got her right to Tigress's desk.

"Good morning, Tigress," Du Ai smiled widely.

The feline sighed, "Good morning."

"I have mail. Do you know what Po's doing at the moment?"

"He's working. Just like he always is." Thankfully, Po learned Du Ai's normal habits and avoided her as much as he could.

"And... how is he doing?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"He is my boss, too."

"Not directly."

"I'm just... curious," Du Ai smiled.

Tigress leaned her elbows on her desk, lacing her fingers together with a sigh. This was getting old. She looked at the panda with a plastic smile of her own. "Du Ai, why are you here? You come here almost every day with a question about Po that quite frankly I cannot answer."

"Because you don't know or because you won't say?"

"Because regardless of my knowledge, those are questions that only Po can answer," Tigress responded firmly. "Now, why are you really here?"

The panda matched the tiger's gaze. She sighed sharply, "Po and I used to date."

"I see."

"And... things between us ended... badly."

Tigress's eyebrow rose. "Are you feeling guilty?"

"...Yes."

"But why are you asking me?"

"Well, you're the closest to him."

"Because I work next to his office?" Tigress hid a smirk.

Du Ai's 'smile' vanished. "Don't be coy with me. Everyone in the office has told me that you're much closer to Po than a secretary should be."

That did it.

Tigress slammed her hands to her desk and stood up, punctuating each word. "Then listen to me very carefully. I do not have any relationship with Po. I have my own relationship outside of this office. And if you talk like that to me again, I will personally talk with your supervisor about your behavior! Do you understand me?!"

"Are you threatening me?"

"No, I'm giving you a promise. What happened between you and Po is none of my business. I'm not responsible for your guilt."

"Oh, so you do know," Du Ai smirked.

The tiger snarled, "What I know is that you're being highly unprofessional and quite honestly a huge fake gossip. But given that behavior, a 'pencil pushing' receptionist suits you well."

"Why you-"

"Enough!" The arguing panda and tiger flinched. They hadn't expected that voice to shout at them. Po stepped out of his office, glaring at the two. Tigress gulped. She hadn't realized how fierce Po's jade eyes were when he was angry. "Both of you have work to do. And I don't need more gossip on the office grapevine about some silly rivalry between co-workers." Po turned to Du Ai and smiled warmly. "It's good to see you, Du Ai."

"It is?" Both Tigress and Du Ai asked.

"Yes, in some way it is," Po replied cooly. "But I think you've done your job of delivering the mail. We wouldn't want your supervisor thinking... ill of your work ethic."

"Uh... yeah," Du Ai stuttered a little shame-faced. She put the mail down on Tigress's desk and scurried away. While she disappeared from both of their sights, Tigress glowered at Po. The panda motioned her to come into his office. She stormed up from her seat and slammed his door behind her.

"What the heck was that?!"

"Some of my best acting, if I do say myself," Po sighed as he sat back in his chair.

"That's not what I'm talking about. You seem... interested in her."

"Ha! Then I'm a better actor than I thought. Trust me, I'm not doing that ever again."

"Hm," Tigress growled, crossing her arms.

"Did you really need to bring up old news?" Po glared.

"What do you mean?"

"The 'pencil pushing job' comment?"

"She was out of line."

"Why does it bother you so much?"

"I'm not bothered. I'm just... a little upset with her behavior."

"Return evil with kindness."

"That's not the case here, and you know it."

"Well, she doesn't need your claw marks on her skin, and I don't need Mei Mei calling you in for harassment."

"She stepped out of line!"

"I know," Po spoke softly. "I know."

The feline sighed, sitting down in a chair, "Sorry, I-"

"It's okay. Du Ai can get on anyone's nerves. Trust me on that," Po rubbed his chin. "She is right, though. These rumors are starting to become a problem."

"I don't mind the rumors. I was just-"

"Wait, why not?"

Tigress waved a dismissive hand. "People always think that secretaries are doing something under their boss's desk."

Po's eyes sharpened while his head jerked back. "You weren't like that before. Wait, what about Oogway?"

Tigress smirked with a shrug. "I think people know my... standards."

"Ah, of course," Po chuckled nervously.

"But how do you know what I was like before?"

"I... worked here?"

"Apart from that. I didn't know much about you until you became CEO."

"I heard from others."

Tigress grimaced, "What did you hear?"

"Nothing bad, really. And I know how brave, courageous, caring, kind, fierce and... I'm rambling," Po grinned anxiously as he scratched the side of his cheek.

She raised both her eyebrows with a smirk. "I'm pretty sure none of my friends would say that about me."

"I may be exaggerating a bit," Po smiled nervously.

Tigress glanced at the clock on the left wall, sighing, "I think I should get some food and go back to work. I have to finish early for my date."

"Oh, do you... need a babysitter for Lei Lei?"

"No, and while I appreciate your help, in light of what just happened, I think you and I both know that-"

"We should put some boundaries on some things?" Po smiled softly. Tigress smiled back. "Yeah, I figured."

"Besides, my father stepped in for the night."

"Okay, that'll be all," Po sighed. Tigress stood up and headed for the door. "Actually one more thing. Why were you so upset with Du Ai?"

Tigress spun around and crossed her arms. "What makes you think I was-"

"Tigress Claw," Po said with the full authority of a parent. "Do not lie to me about your anger. It is the one thing that is very obvious on you. Besides, it seems like this was just the straw that broke the camel's back."

"Hmm. She keeps asking about you like I know what goes on in your personal life. And if I'm being honest, I don't like her... facade."

"Like the facade you had when you first met me?" Po teased. Tigress growled quietly. "Heh, heh, Just kidding."

She sighed, "No, you're right. I'm sorry about that."

"It's just... I guess I'm surprised. Why do you care?"

"Because she put you through a lot."

"But... I don't know. It's just... it's not in your job description to care about that."

"I care about people, regardless if it's in my job description," Tigress smiled and left the panda's office.

Continued...

*A/N: To those who actually speak Chinese, I am trying my best, okay? XD I'm not perfect and yes while I can easily just google it, Google is a mess of information that is often controversial, contradicting, or just plain wrong. So I'm trying my best.

You might be saying, 'Why not just take a little longer to research this?' Well, here's the thing. Research takes a LOT OF TIME! Unlike other writers, I actually want to finish my story before I grow old. I don't want to fall into the research trap, so I dip my hand in, grab as much as I can or the specific thing I want, find as many versions of it as possible within an hour and write. I'm sorry. I'd rather be a little incorrect and you guys tell me than never finish the story.