บท 4: Chapter Four: A Second First Impression
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Is she not going to scold him for ignoring her? Any sane person would be pissed off right now. Well, she is angry. Sasuke expected Miss Haruno to offer at least a sarcastic remark. He can't tell if he's pleasantly surprised at her restraint or disappointed he doesn't get to witness her fire again.
Sasuke can't help but glance at the woman in question as Miss Uzumaki assists her in bandaging her scuffed knees and palms.
Kankuro seems to pick up on this. "Bet you're feeling like an ass and a half right about now, huh?"
The Uchiha man turns his glare onto him instead of the two nearby women, "I'm still your boss. Should I write you up for not ensuring everyone has a hardhat, including yourself? My assistant wouldn't have concerned herself to the degree of becoming injured if you'd had one."
Rather than apologize, Kankuro simply chuckles, "I've got a date after work today. That damn hat makes my hair crazy. A guy like you can understand that, right?"
What does he mean by "a guy like him"?
His irritated expression must properly portray his confusion because the Subaku man adds, "Fuck, man. Don't tell me you're not taking advantage of that face." He seemed disgusted at the thought of such wasteful behavior.
Sasuke rolls his eyes but is interrupted by a middle-aged man rushing into the massive room, calling to the site supervisor, "I'm here! What's the big problem?" It's evident by his tousled clothing and sleepy expression that he took a nap on his lunch and didn't wake up when he was supposed to.
Everyone turns to look at the oblivious man. Sasuke speaks before Kankuro can, "You're the team leader, I presume?"
"Uh, yeah. What of it?" Another clueless employee fails to recognize one of the higher-ups. Undoubtedly, he's thinking, "Who is this pretty boy and what's he doing at a worksite like this?"
Unlike before, when he lost his cool with Miss Haruno, Sasuke takes a calming breath before speaking evenly, "An extended lunch break was never approved, and our company doesn't provide you with a phone so you can ignore your supervisor's calls."
The man opens his mouth, obviously to talk back, but Kankuro shoots him a warning glare to shut him up.
Sasuke misses none of this but doesn't comment on it, "I'll let you off with a warning since this is your first offense, but if you step a toe out of line between now and this project's completion, I'll have you demoted. Am I understood?"
Soon, he and the two assistants are back in his car and on their way to the office once more. They don't speak amongst themselves as they did the first time around. The entire ride is quiet and borderline tense. Why did he yell at her like that? Sure, she's been causing trouble today, but that's no reason to make a fool out of her and himself in front of an entire worksite.
The throbbing in Sasuke's temples only becomes more prominent as the day progresses.
When the trio arrives at the main office, and the vehicle is parked in the employee garage, Miss Uzumaki clears her throat to garner his attention. He offers it more patiently than he might've earlier in the day, given his slip-up with the quiet pink-haired woman at his side, "Hn?"
She bows with a professional smile, "Going forward, I intend to work longer days, but I have a prior engagement to attend to this afternoon. Thank you again for this opportunity. I'll see you on Monday morning, Sir." With one last nod at her other co-worker, the redhead excuses herself toward the vehicles, likely to find her own.
That leaves the remaining duo to walk awkwardly at one another's side. Sasuke's mind races because he wants to apologize for yelling at her but can't imagine doing so without coming off as a pushover. What if she thinks she can get away with whatever she wants because he admitted to being wrong on her very first day? Worse, what if she thinks he has a soft spot for her? It's not true, and he doesn't want to have to bluntly clarify that. It'd make things even more uncomfortable than they already are.
What if she gets mouthy with him, like during the interview, and he loses his temper, too, and they argue? He'll have no choice but to fire her, and then his mother will try to force him to marry someone. It's a lose-lose situation.
He looks at the woman plaguing his thoughts. Her green eyes are focused straight ahead, still pointedly avoiding him, and her expression is as blank as a white sheet of paper. She's been easy to read all day, but now he can't tell what she's thinking.
Is she angry?
…Who's he kidding? She definitely is. Miss Haruno is a firecracker if nothing else. Sasuke's only known the woman for two days and can already say so with confidence.
Before they can enter the building, Sasuke's body acts independently of his thoughts and grabs her upper arm. The woman stops, turns to face him, looks at her arm, back up at him, and then wrenches it out of his grasp with a step backward, "Sir?"
It's immediately evident she does not enjoy being touched without consent. He inwardly cringes because he hadn't meant to grab her like that at all. His body just moved on its own. It's too late to go back now, though, so he tries to verbalize his regret, "About earlier, I…. I wasn't aware of what you were trying to say."
Smooth. Real smooth.
Miss Haruno responds precisely as he imagines, "Maybe you should wait to bite someone's head off before hearing them out first next time." Though her words aren't overly professional, her delivery is.
Without giving the man a chance to respond, she bows, "I think I'll call it a day, as well," she bows politely, sharp green gaze never leaving him, "I'll be sure not to disappoint you going forward. Have a great evening, Sir."
With that, Sakura Haruno takes her leave.
Sasuke watches her flag down a cab and leave the premises without glancing back in his direction, inwardly stunned and outwardly irritated.
Just who is this woman?
He's never been talked to like that by a woman other than his mother and very much dislikes it. At twenty-three, he's had his fair share of girlfriends and hookups, especially when he was in college. Even today, all the women in this office either ogle him like a piece of meat or treat him with utmost professionalism.
Shaking his head, the Uchiha man scoffs and goes inside. There's too much work to be done to stand around contemplating his new assistant's unfamiliar behavior.
Sai arrives soon after he sits down to check the many calls and emails that have come in in his absence. That annoying smile seems more smug than usual as he holds a few fingers to his earpiece and pretends to be listening to something on it.
"...Spit it out. What the hell do you need?" Sasuke's nerves are shot, and the liaison's dry sarcasm irritates him on a good day.
"I heard what happened with Miss Haruno at the site. Rest assured, I've already sent a care package to her home. Let's hope she doesn't file a complaint. I'd hate to hear what the Vice President will say."
The C.O.O.'s stare becomes blank for a long, silent moment before Sasuke sighs and nods, "Yes. Thank you. Anything else?"
"Actually, yes. The C.E.O. and the madam have selected a date for this year's banquet. The information should be in your email," Sai muses, black eyes flickering up to meet Sasuke's glaring ones, "I only bring this up because of last year's incident. Your attendance is mandatory."
Once alone again, Sasuke holds his shaking head in his hands, elbows on the desk, and takes slow, calming breaths. It's not one thing clawing at his mental stability-it's everything.
He recognizes that his body is at its limits and leaves at nine o'clock, whereas he would've stayed later if he didn't feel unwell. The drive to his condo is silent. He doesn't even have the energy to turn on the radio. As he enters his room, loosening his tie, his phone rings. Squeezing his eyes closed, he pulls it from his pocket and sits heavily on the edge of the bed. When he sees the name on the screen, he has no choice but to accept.
"Hello, Mother."
"Sasu-Honey, how are you? Your father tells me you're doing well. You're not overworking, are you? I know how you can be."
Though the woman can be overbearing sometimes, Sasuke suddenly wants to burst into tears when he hears his mother's voice. He badly wants to tell her all the troubles plaguing his mind because he knows he'll feel better afterward, but he can't do it. All it'll do is cause trouble because she'll go to the C.E.O. No matter how good her intentions are, nothing good will come of it.
Sasuke also doesn't want to concern the sweet woman. Her spirit is easily dampened compared to the men in the Uchiha family. So, he swallows his stress and makes his voice sound casual, "I'm fine. Stop worrying so much."
Mikoto sighs dramatically, "Oh, you are so much like your father I could curse." There is a pause in the conversation before she says more calmly, "Anyway, I need your help. I found the perfect young lady for your brother, but he refuses to meet her. Since I gave him a break, I thought he'd be more open."
"Mom, we both know he's not marrying some millionaire's spoiled daughter; no matter how perfect you say she is."
"But, Honey, this one's different! Just this once, can you try to work your magic? I'll make Grandma's tomato soup; a whole pot, just for you!"
That catches the man's attention.
Despite knowing it's futile, Sasuke groans, "Send me the date and time, and I'll make sure he's there."
"Oh, you're an angel! Thank you, Sweetheart." After a few more doting pleasantries from his mother, the call ends.
Sasuke showers and immediately falls into bed, mentally and physically exhausted. Of course, sleep will never come quickly at a time like this, right?
Naturally.
Sakura curses under her breath as she climbs the steps to her apartment with tears in her eyes. Today was the worst from start to finish. Her boss made it clear that he does not view her as capable after ignoring her multiple attempts to warn that his friend's head was about to be clobbered by a metal pulley. That asshole didn't even apologize!
Once she makes it upstairs, she showers, musters a small dinner, and throws herself in bed with her new phone in hand. On instinct, she opens the AC application, only to recall what happened yesterday morning when it arrives on the login screen instead of her account. She deleted it after that last incident.
The woman bites her lip, mentally sorting through the pros and cons. Should she reactivate her account and give it another try? It truly does help to have someone to vent to after days like this, but she can't completely relax these days when using the app because the fear of them discovering her sex always lingers.
An idea pops into her head, and her thumbs move across the screen at lightning speed. If she puts that she is a man in her self-description, the question will never arise because whoever she ends up speaking with will already think they know. No matter how close she thinks she's gotten with someone, Sakura can't admit the truth this time. It's only ended badly over and over again.
So, the woman created a new account.
When the profile picture part arrives, she looks around her room for something to use. Before, she used a photo of a cherry blossom, but that seems to be one reason her match-ups raise the question of whether she's female. This time, she gets up and snaps a photo of a painting hanging nearby on the wall.
It's a skyline during sunset. Her great-grandmother painted it freehand, and it's been passed down to each woman of the Haruno family. When Sakura has a daughter, she'll inherit it, too.
A tiny, satisfied grin met her lips as she finished creating her new profile. Once complete, she clicks her phone off and calls it a night rather than stay up and wait to be linked with someone. These irritated emotions probably won't disappear overnight, so she can still get them out in the morning.
At some point in the middle of the night, she wakes to the sound of her phone beeping. Groaning sleepily, she gets up to relieve her bladder and retrieve a glass of water before climbing under the covers again. She responds to a few texts from her friends before noticing AC's logo on the notifications bar.
No way. Is she already paired with someone? Usually, it takes twelve hours or more to make a match! Sakura should sleep and deal with it tomorrow, but she doesn't. No, she turns onto her side and opens the app.
"...S. Really?" She whispers to herself.
The person she's paired with only used the one letter as their name. Hers is Haruki. She chose that because it means "Spring Child". It's not exact, but it's the closest she could find to matching the meaning of her real name.
What surprises Sakura is that S hasn't sent a message yet. For her to receive a notification, the other person has to accept the application's decision to pair up. If she had accepted it first, S would've received a notice instead. There isn't even the little icon at the bottom of the screen indicating that they're typing, so what's the deal? Figuring they accepted it and chose to wait until morning, Sakura decides to send a message. They'll probably see it when they wake up.
'Nice to meet you. Do I just call you S?'
Her heart races as she hits send. Although she's used the app many times, it never gets easier to break the ice with someone new, especially when she doesn't know their character or anything about them.
Sighing, Sakura clicks the screen off to go back to bed, but she freezes when it beeps to signal she's received a reply. She's too curious to wait. She unlocks the screen and clicks the AC icon, reading the short response her new partner offers.
'That's fine.'
The typing icon is glowing near the keyboard, so she waits for another message. After a few minutes, it still doesn't, so she cautiously sends, 'It's kinda awkward, huh?'
The tiny icon disappears for a moment before reappearing. Then, a message arrives, 'This is my first time doing something like this. I'm not sure what to say.'
Sakura feels relieved. She tries to empathize with them, 'I totally get it. No worries.' After that, she sends another message because it feels like her new partner might not continue responding if she doesn't take the lead, 'I had an awful day today. That's why I'm on here. What about you?'
'An awful month, but today was particularly exhausting.'
'What happened?'
The typing symbol appeared for a long time before they replied, 'It's kind of a long story. I received the promotion I wanted, and I don't regret it. It's just a lot more than I expected. I'd need to make at least three clones of myself to get the job done well.'
'That's rough. Is there any way to ask your boss for help? Are you thinking about quitting?' Apparently, everyone's having trouble at their jobs. Knowing she's not the only one suffering is reassuring in a bittersweet way.
'No. I can't. It's not an option.'
'My bad.'
" I'm sorry. That was rude. I can't quit because my family's reputation is on the line. If I don't succeed, I'll lose more than just money."
Sheesh. This guy's got it bad. Sakura frowns and types, 'No need to apologize. That sounds stressful.'
'I do have some help, also. I made a huge mistake with one of my coworkers today. I'm worried they'll quit because I was an asshole.'
For some reason, the Haruno woman feels a stronger urge than usual to cheer up this overworked person. 'Hey, you can't be that much of an ass if you can admit that you were wrong. I'm sure if you talk to them about it, everything will be fine.'
A long pause occurred before a response came, 'How can you say that when you know almost nothing about the situation?' Rather than come off as insulting, the person seems genuinely confused about the concept of positive affirmations.
'Because sitting there focusing on all the awful things that could happen won't help anyone. You'll just stress yourself out. Even if your coworker does quit, it won't be the end of the world. Sure, it might suck at work until they're replaced, but life goes on, right?'
'I guess.' The person quickly sends another message, changing the subject, 'We've just been talking about me.'
'It's alright. I just made a fool of myself today. I'm so embarrassed, but I'm also pissed off because no one tried to be understanding,' Sakura responds. It's true, too.
If the threat of having to move back into her parents' house wasn't looming heavily over her, Sakura would email Matsuri with Human Resources to let her know she's no longer interested in being an Uchiha Corp employee. How will she face Mr. Uchiha on Monday after snapping at him like she did?
'I'm trying to think of something encouraging to say, but I'm not very good with words.'
Sakura smiles, hugging a pillow to her stomach. Whoever this person is, they're incredibly honest. It's a breath of fresh air. 'Thanks. It's the thought that counts.' She also says, 'Let's change the subject. Dwelling on the awful day will only piss me off again. How old are you? You don't have to answer if you're uncomfortable.'
She waits for a minute, then five, then ten. Eventually, the woman falls asleep without receiving a response. Upon waking the following day, Sakura frowns. Did she unintentionally scare them away by asking a personal question? It's not like they disconnected their chat, though. She decides to give it a couple of days. Maybe they're shy or nervous.
While cooking breakfast, a knock comes at her door. When she answers it, a man in an expensive-looking suit stands there with a sleek, black giftbag in his hands. Sakura frantically smooths her apron with her hands, "Um, hello. How can I help you?"
The man smiles kindly, the corners of his eyes crinkling, "Good morning, Ma'am. This is a gift from Director Uchiha."
The woman's face warms as she accepts the item. "From Mr. Uchiha? He sent this?" She thought he hated her! A tiny smile meets her lips. Maybe she should give him another chance. It's possible she misunderstood something, or he was in a bad mood yesterday.
The middle-aged man bowed politely, "He wishes to apologize. If you deem this gift insufficient, please speak with him on Monday."
After thanking him, Sakura goes back inside. An excited squeal passes her lips as she flits into the tiny kitchenette to open the gift bag. A few bath bombs, a gift card to the coffee shop closest to the office, some high-quality hand cream, and finally, a small envelope. She appreciates the thoughtful gesture but is sad that she only has a stand-up shower in her apartment. The bath bombs are useless.
As she opens the little envelope, Sakura feels giddy, pulling out a greeting card with elegant cobalt writing inside. Her grin drops into a scowl as she reads it. 'Please accept these gifts as a token of my appreciation. I've included a company credit card. Feel free to use it to upgrade your wardrobe or attend etiquette lessons.' Though it's not legible, Mr. Uchiha's signature lay below the condescending note.
A new wardrobe?
Etiquette lessons?
Just what is this asshole trying to say?
The woman glares as she picks up the black credit card from the envelope. Her irritation has been reignited, bringing a strong sense of pettiness. He wants her to use this card for those things? Fine. She'll do exactly that.
Just wait, Mr. Uchiha. You'll regret treating me so poorly.
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