@KirikomoriHime: oh I'll give you one-sided TanaGaki!
@xyukie56: I hope I got the same reaction for ch. 8...
@rndmnwierd: hey YOU, my friend, are my tanagaki inspiration! all the angst that will follow in this story is UR fault!
@arisa03: lolol for now though... just continue watchign over reina?
@Eleos: lol really??? i nvr rly noticed too much... meh but i live under a rock
ugh i do NOT blame you about math...
@Tian_Yuan: sfaksjf;w did you get an email this time???
@risa_ai: lol patience~
@kimino-me: aaahhhhh drama
@nora_nora: hehehe...
@Haruka: haha sorry for being away! reasons are mentioned below...
@Kikk4r: actually, I already revealed that Reina is Paris
don't forget, this isn't just Cinderella. Juliet's story is also weaved in!
okokok yes just go ahead and kill me for all the wait i put you guys through...
If you want an excuse, i was busy the first week, i was away from home and in a different state...
and then i got sick...
and then i got bedridden for like, another week...
and then inspiration left me...
and then it came back...
and now i'm back
So yeah, most of it has to do with the fact that i was sick in bed with multiple medications which put me to sleep basically 24/7..
(I must seem like one of those sickly manga characters to you guys, i get sick too often
)
But i'm back now!
And i hope you enjoy this next chapter... i did my best!
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Chapter 8 – “The love reunited yet their troubles were far from over” Ai pressed her mop into the large container of muddy water, making sure it soaked up as much water as it could, and slapped it back down on the tiled floor and began to push it back and forth. Everything was silent, other than the sound of the mop sloshing on the floor and some incoherent tune that Ai was humming while she worked. The girl had been cleaning like this for the past hour or so, making sure every corner of the Bijou Company lobby was clean whilst constantly changing the song she was mumbling incorrect lyrics to.
After working in Tresor during what was another long day, Ai had made her way straight to her second part-time job where she was to mop down the lobby as the janitor. She could not say the work was easy, considering the fact that the lobby alone was probably bigger than her own home, but the thought of earning more money in exchange for some extra labor perked Ai up right away.
Deciding to take a quick breather, the short woman straightened her back and let out a long sigh of exhaustion. She pressed her cap onto her head more, so that it would not fall off while she worked. The hat was the same dark blue as the rest of her uniform, which Ai was required to wear during her shift. She had the leisure to wear her own old jeans that she would not mind getting dirty, but she had to wear a dark blue button-down shirt with a name tag that was clipped over her left chest. Along with the matching hat on which the Bijou Company logo was printed on and a pair of working gloves, Ai looked just like any other old janitor. Except for her age-defying youth and beauty of course, if one looked close enough to notice.
Feeling her eyelids getting heavier, Ai quickly pinched her own arm and jumped from the pain, attempting to keep herself awake. She found herself questioning again, why the hell was she still working in the building at this time when nobody, not even her own boss, was running a shift? Well, her boss, meaning the head janitor, a certain Tajima-san who was in his 40s. He was the closest thing Ai knew as her boss. Her real boss, the young female president of Bijou Company, was supposedly someone too busy and too high up to spare some time to come meet a new employee. Ai didn’t have too many complaints about that, actually. She didn’t expect some big shot businesswoman to personally come to visit a lowly janitor, even if she was technically the one who did the hiring.
As she pondered over her own question regarding her extensive work schedule, Ai ended up coming back to the same answer that she had told herself repeatedly throughout the evening: she had chosen this. Although she was offered a day shift, which would’ve been much easier on her stamina, Ai insisted on taking the night shift so she could continue working at Tresor. She needed the money, and therefore took on the tougher job. So she was really in no position to complain.
As she leaned her chin against the mop handle, Ai’s eyes casted down to the small pocket on her chest. She placed her hand over it, feeling the slight bump of her earring inside. She smiled to herself, reminiscing back once more to the night she met a certain lady at a club, and immediately felt some unexplainable energy surge through her muscles.
Think happy thoughts, Ai, the janitor told herself, grinning.
You can get through the night… Clicking her tongue before starting another random tune, Ai sloshed her mop around the bucket of water again and continued cleaning. But amidst her humming and the wet sound of the mop on the floor, Ai detected another sound being mixed in. Along with the clacking of heels, the echoing voice of a young woman resounded in the lobby. Ai looked up towards the direction of the stairs to see a brown-haired woman emerge from the doors. She was talking on the phone in the quietest voice she could manage. Little did she realize that the humongous lobby had the capacity to quadruple the volume of everything from the drop of a pin to the roar of a tiger. So in reality, Ai was able to pick up pretty much everything the woman was murmuring.
“Don’t worry, I’m on my way home now,” the woman spoke into the phone. “No, everybody else is gone… I had to stay later because they forgot to assign me a locker… Well, it’s a big company. Things take time—yes, I’ll pick up milk on the way…”
Huh. Must be new like me, Ai thought to herself, noting the part about being assigned a locker.
Shrugging, the janitor went back to mopping down the tiled floor. The woman was coming towards her direction now, still preoccupied with whatever conversation she was having on her phone.
“Mou, stop apologizing already, Aika!” the woman laughed. “Really, I appreciate you trying. It’s okay if you didn’t find—no, don’t feel guilty! It’s okay, really. We’ll talk when I get home, okay? … Alright, then. I’ll see you soon.”
By the time she hung up, the woman was passing right by Ai, who had her entire body leaned forward while mopping. Suddenly, the woman’s heels made a loud screeching noise against the wet floor and Ai caught sight of a body, falling right beside her. Dropping the mop, she dashed forward to the woman and wrapped her arms around her waist, trying to hold her up. The woman quickly regained balance with Ai’s help and prevented the worst fall, now instead cradled safely in the janitor’s embrace. Silence ensued for a while as the two women recovered from the avoided accident.
“Hey, are you okay?” Ai asked. “That was a close one.”
“Yes, I’m fine,” the woman exhaled, fright obvious on her face. “Thank you so much. I should’ve been more careful…”
As the woman turned her eyes towards the janitor, Ai let out a soft gasp. Short brown hair, small face, deep eyes… There was much less makeup than she remembered but Ai could never mistake that face anywhere.
Niigaki Risa.
** ** **
Risa felt her two feet stably touching the ground again, and the arms that had held her disappeared. The unknown figure quickly turned away to the side, making it impossible for the bean to make eye contact. She tried to get one more look at her savior but she couldn’t make out the janitor’s features clearly. The dull blue cap on her head was pushed down so far that it hid half of her face. In fact, if it wasn’t for her high-pitched voice, Risa would’ve mistaken the person to be a man because of the short hair and the loose get-up.
“You’re not hurt anywhere?” the woman asked, clearing her throat.
“I’m fine, thanks to you,” Risa answered, still tilting her head this way and that to get a better angle towards the janitor. “It would’ve been bad if I had fallen… How can I repay you?”
“Don’t worry about it,” the janitor replied snappily, taking Risa aback a little. “I, uh… I’m still on my shift so if you’ll excuse me…”
The woman quickly picked up her mop and started to roll the container of dirty water away, as though she was in a rush. Risa raised an eyebrow before something caught her eyes on the floor. She leaned down to take a closer look and picked up the item. It was a small earring with a tiny chain, connected to a crystal charm. The light bounced off of its many facets in a way that Risa had seen before…
“Wait!” The janitor froze in her spot a couple feet away from the bean, stopped by the suddenly frantic voice calling out to her. “Please… please stop!”
Knowing that she had caught her attention, Risa quickly stood back up and marched towards her savior. As she walked, she reached into her pocket and took out a small piece of jewelry that she had kept safe throughout the entire day. She walked around the janitor to meet her face to face and held up the two earrings in front of her. Risa gasped softly, looking back and forth from the matching pieces of jewelry to the woman in front of her.
“You… you dropped this…” she mumbled.
The janitor didn’t say anything. After a long silence, however, she smiled and slowly removed her cap. Risa’s face brightened at the revelation, happy to see the familiar face she had longed so much for in front of her.
“That’s the second time I dropped my earring,” the janitor chuckled. “I really do need to be more careful…”
“It is you!” Risa exclaimed. “It’s you, it’s really you!”
“It’s me,” Ai laughed, a hint of sadness in her voice. “I suppose… it’s too late to run now?”
“…Why would you want to run?” Risa asked slowly, unsure of where this was going. “Did you… not want to see me again?”
Please… don’t say yes… “Of course that’s not why!” the woman denied firmly. “I really wanted to see you again, I really did… but…”
“But… what?”
The older woman sighed, biting down on her lips. “I just… didn’t want you to see me like this…”
Risa raised an eyebrow in confusion. “See you… like what?”
“You know… like me, the janitor,” the woman mumbled. “Look, I’m normally not the flashy person you met at the club. In reality, I’m just another human who is just trying to get by. I’m nothing impressive.”
“And I am?” Risa scoffed, stretching out her arms to her side. “I mean, look at me!”
“Yes, and you’re even more beautiful than I remember…” the older woman sighed, allowing the words to roll of her tongue subconsciously. When the bean’s eyes widened at the unintentional confession, the janitor quickly shut her mouth in realization and pressed her cap back on in an attempt to conceal her red face.
After a moment of silence, Risa broke into a small laughter which only made the older woman lower her head down further in embarrassment. But the bean found this reaction rather endearing and could not help but continue to smile.
“… I don’t have a job here,” the younger woman confessed, encouraging the janitor to lift her head a little. “Well, at least not a full-time job. I’m only an intern. I just started today. Before this, I worked at a small nail salon in Harajuku. Minimum wage. Before that, I was a college student with a pipe dream of making it big as a professional fashion consultant. It didn’t happen.” At this point, Risa had managed to get the older woman to completely look up and make eye contact with her. Swiftly yet cautiously, the bean reached over and removed her companion’s hat in order to see her complete face again. “So you see… I’m nothing impressive in reality either. Just trying to get by. Like you.”
The janitor slowly smiled at the comparison and took back the hat that Risa was holding out to her. She didn’t put it back on, however, but instead attached it to her belt where it hung loosely. She would no longer hide herself. “I’m a night janitor here. I started today, too. During the day, I work downtown at a small clothing boutique called Tresor. My friend owns the place. I’m just the salesclerk but I have a personal interest in fashion, too. Before now, I used to sketch clothing designs on the margins of my textbooks, ever since middle school. I would imagine what it would be like, creating my own clothing line. It didn’t happen. But I’m still dreaming.”
“You forgot something!” Risa pointed out, snapping her fingers.
“What’s that?”
“Your name!” the bean laughed. “You know mine. I never got yours.”
The janitor smiled. “It’s Ai. Takahashi Ai.”
“Takahashi Ai-san…” Risa murmured. “Well, I’ll just say mine again, too: Niigaki Risa, at your service.” She held out her hand as a greeting and the older woman willingly took it.
“You don’t have to be so formal,” Ai grinned. “Just my given name is fine.”
“Then… Ai-san?” the bean suggested. “You can call me Gaki-san. That’s what everyone calls me.”
“Gaki-san?” Ai giggled. “That’s a cute nickname.”
“It’s just something that stuck since grade school,” Risa rolled her eyes. “Oh, and… I guess I should give these back to you.”
She held out the two crystal earrings that she had been holding in her hands. Ai received them and dropped it into her shirt pocket. She turned back to the younger woman in front of her and, as if she had made a decision, opened her mouth.
“You know,” she started, “if you’re ever in the neighborhood… you should come visit me in Tresor.”
“Visit… you?” Risa repeated.
“I mean, visit the store,” Ai quickly rephrased, afraid that she may have said the wrong thing. “You know, come take a look. There’s a lot of cute stuff. We just got a new collection for the season and... and…” She paused for a moment and swallowed hard. “Well, my friend and I usually have coffee in the morning, right before we open. You can drop by and… maybe we can have breakfast together… or something?”
“You… and me…”
“Yeah…”
“With your friend…?”
“Yeah—wait, no,” Ai stuttered, “I mean, yes—well, whichever you’d like, you know, I just thought—”
“It’s okay, calm down,” Risa laughed. “I’m only teasing.”
Ai’s face immediately flustered but she couldn’t help but smile back at the girl in front of her. Her laughter was absolutely irresistible. “I just… thought that I’d like to see you again. And maybe… Gaki-san wouldn’t mind seeing me again either…?”
“… I’d really like that.” The bean nodded in approval, flashing the same old grin that made Ai’s heartbeat double in speed.
“So…” the older woman mumbled in joy, “tomorrow morning… Coffee?”
“Coffee sounds good.”
“Coffee it is, then.”
“Right. Coffee.”
The two women held each other’s gaze for a while before they broke into smiles together. They had finally found each other after the aggravating game of hide-and-seek, and they decided that they would stay together, at least for now. Hopefully, this development would lead into further happiness in the future. There was nothing else to stop them now…
** ** **
Tanaka Reina tapped her foot in a steady rhythm as she watched each floor flicker by on the elevator. It was irritating to have to go all the way down to the ground floor from her home at the very top floor, but she had no choice. After all, she was the one who told Junjun to go home since the day’s work was over. The secretary was more than willing to stay and share the leftover paper work with her boss but Reina would have none of it. She knew the panda deserved an early dismissal of sort after a long day of giving a company building tour to the newbie interns. But because Junjun was gone for the night, Reina was now on her own when it came to the petty chores that she usually did not personally attend to. Tonight, one of these chores included personally picking up a document that the kitten had left at the front desk that morning, requiring her to actually get up and walk. Alas, Reina had drudgingly managed to haul herself into the elevator as she silently acknowledged the fact that her secretary was a valuable asset to both her business and herself, personally.
The elevator finally reached the ground floor and a soft ding alerted the president. She stepped through the sliding doors and continued walking in a brisk and confident manner towards the front desk. But as she neared the lobby area, she saw two figures, standing together in the otherwise empty space, talking together. Reina raised an eyebrow: what employee of hers from which department would stay this late in the building? Although she herself was a workaholic, the kitten had a personal policy that all workers should be able to leave their office by 8 o’clock so they can have a good balance between business life and social life. And it was most definitely well over 8 o’clock.
By squinting her eyes, Reina recognized the janitor’s uniform that one of the women was wearing. She decided that the woman must be the new night janitor that was hired recently. She vaguely remembered Junjun mentioning it at one point, just so she could be aware of it. Reina had meant to visit the woman personally at some point, to welcome her to the Bijou company building and to thank her in advance for the hard work she was going to do. After all, her philosophy was that every employee, no matter what their job, is precious to her and the company. Well, there wasn’t a better coincidence. She might as well go speak to her now.
Then, the kitten stopped short in her steps as she identified the other brunette that was standing beside the janitor. The same hair, the same outfit, even the same voice that echoed in the spacious lobby. As Reina faltered for a moment, she heard Niigaki Risa’s laughter that was triggered by whatever the other woman had said. Why was she laughing like that? She had never laughed like that in her presence. This was the first time seeing her smile so happily like that…
Before she could completely think everything through in her head, like she usually did, Reina made a tight fist and marched forward towards the two women. Something about those two being together bothered the kitten, as though she had been robbed of something. And Tanaka Reina was not someone who would stand by idly and let something of hers be taken away.
“Niigaki!”
Both women turned towards the president at the voice. Risa made a surprised expression before she quickly gathered herself and stood up straight to appear proper. The janitor, on the other hand, showed something more of an entertained look, as though she had recognized someone from a newspaper or a magazine.
“Tanaka Shachou!” Risa made a small bow as the kitten simply nodded in reply. “What are you doing here so late?”
“That’s what I should be asking you,” Reina remarked, smiling a little. “My home is at the top floor of this building. Yours obviously isn’t. So what, may I ask, are you still doing in my house at this hour, Niigaki?”
“S-sumimasen!” Risa quickly apologized, casting her gaze downward. “That was rude of me to ask…”
“No, it’s fine. I’m only teasing,” Reina chuckled, allowing the bean to relax a little. She turned to the other woman beside her and held out her hand. “You must be the new night janitor I’ve been told about. I’ve been meaning to visit you but my schedule has just been so packed lately, I wasn’t able to get a chance. If you’ll just remind me what your name is…?”
“Takahashi desu,” the janitor answered, shaking the president’s hand. “Takahashi Ai.”
“That’s right, Takahashi,” Reina nodded. “Well, you must know my name already. I know that night shift is tough but I hope that you’ll give it your all, nevertheless. Yoroshiku.”
“Yoroshiku onegaishimasu,” Ai replied, bowing a little.
“Now then,” Reina sighed, turning towards the intern again, “I assume you’ll be heading home soon? All other employees have returned to their families for the night.”
“Ah, um, yes,” Risa mumbled. “I was just about to leave, actually.”
“It’s dangerous for you to go back alone at this hour though,” the young president pointed out. She took out her car keys from her blouse pocket and held it up. “I’ll drive you home.”
“Oh, no, no, no, no, no,” Risa refused vehemently shaking her head and hands. “I… I couldn’t impose on Shachou like that. I’ll take a bus back. It’s really okay.”
“It’s no big deal,” Reina smiled. “I was going to go for a drive to get some air anyway.” The kitten felt something inside her wince at the white lie she made up, but she took special care in not showing it on the surface. “It’s not safe for a young woman to be out alone at night.”
“No, Shachou, really, I could never,” the bean continued, shaking her head. “Thank you for your concern but I’ll be fine.”
“Ano… Maybe it’s better if Gaki-san does go with Tanaka Shachou…” Ai softly suggested to the younger woman. “It is getting late after all…”
“But…” Risa hesitated a little as she eyed her boss while whispering back to the janitor, “How are you going to get home?”
“I have to stay here a bit longer,” Ai shrugged. “I’ll take a cab back later. You should go now though, just to be safe.”
“… Well… okay.” Risa turned towards the president again. “Then please allow me to impose on you, Shachou.”
“It’s no bother at all,” Reina said coolly, the tips of her lips curving up into a tight smile. If there was anything that bothered her at the moment, it was just that she was unable to convince the bean to be driven by her while that janitor woman was able to. Obviously, she lacked influence on Risa compared to Ai. “Shall we go, then?”
“Hai!” Risa nodded. She quickly faced her companion and spoke softly, “I guess… I’ll see you around?”
“Yes, you’ll see me,” Ai grinned.
The two exchanged a knowing look and a smile together as Reina watched over them. The kitten’s expression hardened for a split second before she relaxed into her natural business self again.
“Please continue to work hard then, Takahashi,” she said kindly. “I’m counting on you.”
“Hai. Please leave it to me, Tanaka Shachou,” the older woman replied.
With that, Reina turned around and started to briskly walk towards the exit. She heard the quick footsteps of her intern, trying to catch up to her, but she did not slow down. If she stopped now, she knew she would not be able to hide the displeasure that was clearly written all over her face. It wasn’t everyday Tanaka Reina lost her composure so easily but for some reason, every action that Risa took could do so. Reina herself had so little influence over the bean yet the latter had unknowingly claimed so much control over the president. Why was this?
Whatever the reason was, things definitely had to change. For Reina’s sake. But was that even possible?
Yes, things will change.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MEHEHE
Again, sorry for the wait!
Topic: Juliet and Cinderella ~ [UPDATE - Chapter 22 - (10/28)] (Read 83256 times)