Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Too Close for Comfort ❯ Control ( Chapter 8 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: lovesreina 
Anime/Manga: Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Sci-fi / Romance / Psychological / Hentai / Drama / Suspense | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 11.29.2011 | Updated On: 11.29.2011 | Pages: 5 | Words: 5.2K | Visits: 388 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Sci-fi / Romance / Psychological / Hentai / Drama / Suspense | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 11.29.2011 | Updated On: 11.29.2011 | Pages: 5 | Words: 5.2K | Visits: 388 | Status: Work In Progress
Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ.
A/N: FINALLY! No, I haven't given up on this story. I've been thinking about it lately and I've been intimidated by my own ideas and how to write them well enough to do justice to the story I have in my mind, but I've figured that there's really no harm in trying, right?
I also want to thank preciousjade for her support. She sent me an e-mail a couple weeks ago asking me about the story and wondering if I'd ever update it. That made me think, wow, there are actually people waiting for me to update, so I decided to go back, revise the whole thing, and add some chapters that I've had written for a while but never posted. So, thank you for motivating me to get this done!
Enjoy!
Too Close For Comfort
Chapter 8 - Control
The view from Vegeta's office was really quite spectacular. His office was lined with impressive floor-length windows showing a perfect panoramic of West City. Seiya Corp was situated in the heart of downtown in the financial district, and while they had an awesome view, being on the 26th floor hampered one of Bulma's favorite things to do, people-watch. From this high, people were not quite like little ants just yet, but still too small to do much observing. She wondered how he kept from just standing and looking out all day long, but since she had been working for a whopping hour and a half, for all she knew that was exactly what he did.
He had ordered her in his office in the first place, but she barely had time to sit down before his phone started ringing. He had given the phone a look, as if willing it to stop, and when she had smiled a bit in spite of herself he shot her a glare and picked up the phone after a few rings, keeping eye contact with her until she felt compelled to look away. Vegeta hadn't necessarily wanted to pick up the phone, he knew who it was and what they were calling about, but it'd be a lie to say he wasn't secretly looking forward to the call just to tie up a loose end in his mind. One less thing to worry about was good news for him.
“Speak.” Bulma kept a snort to herself as she heard his gruff greeting.
“You heard about the meeting, right?” A voice growled out, exactly who he expected.
“Yes, Nappa, I was told.” She watched him as he picked up a pen and began carefully twirling it around his thumb.
“You know how she is sometimes...” The voice continued on.
His face lit up with a smirk as he continued listening. Bulma assumed that it wouldn't be a long call otherwise he would have asked her to leave, as that was what would be considered polite, but yet again she could never be sure. She had a lot to learn about Vegeta, and it was a bad start to already be making assumptions.
“Friday night, then. Fine.” She watched him rub his forehead for a moment and listen for about ten more seconds before hanging up abruptly, or it seemed so to her. He cleared his throat and returned his gaze to her.
She noticed that he had relaxed a little bit, yet it seemed that he permanently had a frown fixed to his face, varying in intensity depending upon the situation. She liked to think that she always had a smile fixed on her face and a cheery disposition, but smiles wouldn't help her now. Some people say that when you smile at someone it naturally compels them to smile back, yet it seemed that Vegeta was an exception. The familiar nervousness from before returned, giving her that sinking feeling yet again. It was nice being able to just sit with him in silence for a while, but she figured she had to work up to it and then it would become comfortable again. Her smile wilted a bit under his continuous attention, looking her right in the eyes without breaking, but she was determined to keep on smiling, deciding that she wouldn't let him control her in any way. Yet another sign of a bad start... Saying that you wouldn't let your boss control you seemed counterproductive even to her.
Bulma's smile, however pretty, did nothing but confuse Vegeta more. He wasn't convinced. Beautiful (yet probably fake) smile or not, this was supposed to be Bulma Breifs, daughter of one of the most intelligent and innovative scientists of their time! How many college degrees did this woman have, five? Well, maybe not five, he wasn't sure, but probably two or more, and here she was sitting primly and properly in his office looking for a job so she could sit on her ass and shuffle through what any intelligent person would consider to be mere busywork. His mind was still a little bit fuzzy regarding the details of why she was looking for a job when she had all the money in the world and everything she could ever want. Just wait until this broke to the press, 'Capsule Corporation heiress does menial labor for mid-range salary!' It was the perfect caption for a candid photo of the Breifs woman doing what, with her money, she could hire 1,000 people to do – making copies. It sounded so damn good in his mind, he made note to file that one away to use as a threat against her later, and he wasn't sure if he'd be joking or not.
Why work in an office when you had such a sure thing going? Her answer from before was that she didn't want to rely on anyone anymore, and as much as he hated to be able to relate to that himself with his own life experiences, with such technical genius he would have thought she would come up with a better answer than that. What was he supposed to do, feel bad for her? Trapped like a princess in a world that didn't understand her, itching to break out of the mold and make her own way, blah blah blah, he had heard a thousand iterations of it all before in some Disney movie somewhere. He knew innately that there was another reason, but he couldn't be too proud of that revelation when anyone with half a brain could see it. Frankly, he didn't know why he cared so much on a surface level, but he knew it would become very relevant later, and if he didn't try to flesh it out now it could come back and bite him in the ass. He knew he was looking at his new assistant, over-qualified as she was in pure business experience yet lacking in pure office skill. Who was he kidding, like you even needed office experience to make coffee, but apparently that was a problem for some people since Nancy couldn't seem to make a decent cup.
Nancy... What a joke. His new assistant would for sure confuse his little underlings, but he wasn't ready to throw her out to the dogs just yet. There were a few things he still needed to know before he started jumping for joy at how perfect she was for his current plans. She had just fallen into his lap, thanks to the ever-annoying Chichi, who, he reminded himself, he needed to schedule a very important meeting with, and not just about the blue-haired woman in front of him.
Bulma finally broke the silence, the sinking feeling in her stomach turning into that of one on a rollercoaster ride. “Thank you for asking Goku to take me along and show me around. It was helpful.” She hated when she couldn't tell what other people were thinking, and Vegeta was one of the most difficult to read she had ever encountered.
Vegeta made an impatient sound and Bulma couldn't help but narrow her eyes a bit. “You can stop it with the small talk, it's hardly necessary.”
She was a bit taken aback, as she could tell she had interrupted him mid-thought and he was visibly annoyed, but was there really a need to be so snippy? It was still morning, after all... Her smile returned with full-force. “Isn't it? This is a workplace. If people are going to be around each other for a good chunk of their day I would think it makes sense for them to try and be pleasant with one another.” She only dimly regretted that she did not have the self control to bite back her reply once she saw the mildly surprised look on his face.
Bulma was beginning to feel like she was being interrogated as she was subjected to yet another long look. From that, she could finally gather with certainty that he was definitely trying to make her uncomfortable. This knowledge only fueled her desire for a challenge. He would not play silly games with her. Those tactics might work on foolish interns, but not on Ms. Bulma Breifs! Let him try... She steeled her stomach and willed the discomfort away, which seemed to work.
After a pause that seemed much longer than it actually was, he spoke. “Maybe others feel that way, but my first priority is business, and I very much have business with you.”
Ignoring his slightly threatening tone, Bulma continued on the track to a normal conversation. “Wonderful. You told me before that you would inform me as to what exactly I would be doing in the office?” She said with genuine curiosity.
“I did.” Vegeta leaned back in his chair, undoing one of the buttons on his suit jacket, surveying her.
Being the seasonally appropriate fashionista that she was, Bulma couldn't help but wonder if his suit wasn't a little hot for summertime. Usually men wore suits with a lighter fabric, and even took off their suit jackets once they arrived in the comfort of their own office, but she had never seen him take it off. She yet again chided herself for jumping to conclusions. She tried to reply with as much interest as possible, “And?”
Vegeta interpreted her interest as being a little too eager and paused for effect. She was getting a little sick of his games. “A position has just recently opened up that many would consider to be highly favorable.” He let slip the smallest of sneers. “I am in need of an assistant.”
Bulma suddenly felt like she had been punched in the stomach. Of all things, why his assistant!? After she had already signed and agreed to everything... Vegeta was a tricky bastard indeed, Chichi wasn't kidding! Bulma knew she was smarter than that. She had read through everything, but her mistake was she assumed that she would be doing what Chichi was doing, since most people in an office did the same thing, right? Her lack of friends working in an actual office to tell her otherwise suddenly became very apparent to her. No way did she want to spend the majority of her days during the week waiting on the hand and foot of the ridiculous bastard in front of her. You must really think you're the shit, don't you? What made him think that she was so above running out the door right in that second?
Unfortunately, the fact was, he had guessed correctly. Too prideful to show her surprise, Bulma kept her face stoic as her mind raced.
Would she be able to find another job in time to be able to pay for her apartment without assistance from her parents? Unlikely, as Bulma had no savings to speak of. Before, any time she ever needed something, she'd just ask mom or dad and they'd buy it. They gave her spending money, credit cards, everything, and she had never even had the thought to save what she knew was limitless, which still was, but she had no desire to take advantage of it any longer. Would she go back home and give up? Hardly. She had yet to tell her parents that she was moving out, and she realized that talk was long overdue. She greatly enjoyed her new freedom, yet it was times like this when she was really starting to feel hopeless and stuck, as the last question plagued her mind...
Would she be able to put up with this guy for a regular paycheck?
She looked him over. He was just a man. He was petty, yet he oozed power and control. How could that be? What does he do, oversee an office? Some bigshot. She could control a man. She would have to make clear to him that she was aware of his silly antics and she was above his efforts to try and intimidate her, successful as they may be. She would also have to make clear that she did not intend to do anything ridiculous or demeaning. No house-calls. Bulma would demand respect and fairness. She knew what she deserved, and if she couldn't get it, she would tell him to forget it. Truth was she was hardly in a position to be turning down anything, but that wouldn't stop her from getting what she wanted.
Bulma had a strong desire to figure Vegeta out. Why was he being so rude to her? It seemed all he ever did was play games with people and try and exert his control over them. She felt compelled to confront him about it, but felt that not only would that threaten the security of her position, but he probably wouldn't give her a straight answer. Maybe Chichi knew. She would have to hope that once he got to know her better, he would maybe even start to like her and be a little nicer to her, since she didn't know how much longer she'd be able to put up with his dismissive behavior. He said he wanted to hire her, but she couldn't see any indication that he wanted her around except for him putting up with her filling out paperwork on his desk earlier that morning and just straight-out telling her he wanted her for the job. She hadn't intended for her actions to be annoying, and it mustn't have come off that way to Vegeta, either, since he had tolerated it, but what did that really mean?
She looked absolutely pensive. Vegeta could tell she was thinking it over by the way her lips were pursed, weighing the pros and cons in her mind. He'd have to be pretty sickeningly arrogant in order to not only ask her to be his assistant when she wasn't fawning over him like the last six dolts he contracted, but to do it after he had treated her like she was a plaything that he took pleasure in making as uncomfortable as possible... He wouldn't even try to deny it.
“You really weren't kidding when you said you wanted to scare me off.” She said with a challenging smirk. Not how he expected her to reply, but he was somehow pleased.
Vegeta leaned forward in his chair. She had his attention. “Do I scare you?”
“Not as much as you'd like to think that you do.”
“Oh really?” He smirked at her right on back.
“Let's be serious for a moment, and---”
“Aren't we being serious?” He relished in her obvious irritation at being interrupted by him.
“I only mean that we should get to the point. Not to sound over-confident, but for a person as smart as you know I must be, due to how impressed you were by my work credentials, don't you think that you're under-utilizing my abilities by just having me answer calls for you and run errands?” Bulma tried her best to speak objectively and not seem too much like... herself. Pushy Bulma was good, but she needed to tone it down in order for the difficult man sitting across from her to really listen to her.
“No.” He replied quickly, unfazed. “If anything I think you're more qualified to be working for me directly when I could hire anyone else to just write reports.”
Bulma couldn't hide her surprise. In his own strange way, the man in front of her was complimenting her.
Vegeta weighed his words carefully. “There have been many before you who have failed to do exactly what I ask them to. If you think you're so intelligent, you'll be able to comprehend my instructions and correctly infer what I want.”
Bulma didn't know what to think. Was he challenging her? It wouldn't be the first time, but she couldn't judge much by his tone or his facial expression. Might as well go all out. “I doubt I will fail to do so. ”
“I won't ask of you anything more than what I think you're capable of.” It tortured her how ambiguous he was being.
“Which is?”
“Anything I ask you to do.” The look on his face was starting to drive her a little nuts. God, he was really asking for it. She really must be stupid for even considering this, but what were her options...?
“In a professional, reasonable fashion?”
“Is this not a professional, reasonable environment?”
“It would be if you weren't trying your hardest to intimidate everyone who walks through this door.” She said. His resulting dark chuckle was not what she was expecting, just as much as she wasn't expecting those words to come out of her own mouth.
“That's not a wise thing to say to someone you don't know very well.” Vegeta couldn't help the sharp retort. He could tell that his comment disquieted her as she sat back a bit, letting slip a short look that did not contribute to her own desired effect of looking so self assured. She was beginning to try his patience, yet he had gotten into this knowing that such a conversation might occur. He couldn't allow her to realize how much he wanted her to be his assistant, especially after everything she had said to him, yet he could tell he was losing her, and he couldn't let that happen. They were closer in personality than either of them wanted to admit, and he could tell that between the two of them, he was the only one who had caught on to it. His plans for her were starting to become even more apparent the more they spoke to each other.
Bulma had been completely caught off guard. She had really done it now. What should she say? “I-- ”
“Perhaps you will feel better knowing that my assistant not only conducts interviews, but acts as head of the office in the event I am not present?” 'Didn't before, but does now...' He thought to himself.
“She does?”
He only nodded.
She had no idea what to make of it. One second he was biting her head off and the next he was telling her how much more responsibility he was giving her. Her only conclusion was that in her accepting his challenge he had decided to give her more to do, but why?
“Is that good enough for Bulma Breifs?” He smirked. She looked at him with wide, bright blue eyes.
“Few things are.” She said with an air of false haughtiness, sitting up pin-straight for a moment. His smirk disappeared, but Bulma smiled. Vegeta was looking at Bulma's first genuine smile since she had met him. As he watched her slowly break into an undeniably cute grin he could feel it get him right in the chest, and try as he might he couldn't shake it off, and he couldn't break eye contact with her. Damn that woman! Who did she think she was smiling at him like that?
He got up out of his chair and walked up to her until he was standing right in front of her. She opened her mouth in surprise, an unspoken question on her lips. He reached out his hand, waiting for her to shake it in agreement. She wasn't sure how much pride it took for him to do that, but she willingly attempted to crush it with delight as she pushed his hand down, in mimicry of her foiled attempt to shake his hand the day before. His brow furrowed deeper for a moment before he adjusted his jacket, as if ruffled.
“First rule.” He started, watching as she looked up at him with a look of barely contained mirth that, for some reason, didn't irritate him. “Only I'm allowed to do that.”
Bulma smoothed out her skirt and stood up gracefully in front of him. She was shorter today, he noticed. The miracles of platform shoes. She reached out her hand, took Vegeta's and shook it. The perfect, businesslike firm handshake. She looked him right in the eye and smiled again, and he smirked back at her. Yet another handshake that almost hurt, and she knew her hand would feel tingly after. In that moment with Vegeta looking right at her, even with a haughty smirk on his face, she took in his features and noticed for the first time that he wasn't a bad looking guy.
Not bad at all.
Her fingers were so delicate encased in his hand that he could easily have crushed them. He hadn't ever had a thought like that before, and he thought it to be quite strange. He could crush her, but she wouldn't go down without a fight. There was a slight flicker in her smile and while confused for a moment he figured out what she must be thinking. Why are his hands rough and calloused? He thought about the potential conversation were she to ever ask him that, and he knew she had too much decorum to even go down that road.
Vegeta was not pleased when he turned to see half his employees crowded around the office window.
-
“Oh God, Vegeta must have had an absolute fit!”
“Something like that. Once he looked out half of them just ran away, and the other half were scared off when he stuck his head out the door and yelled something about paid days off for injury in the workplace and wondering if any of them wanted to take their chances with it...”
“Ouch. I've heard that one before.”
Bulma giggled. Nothing was better than girl talk over ice cream. In person would have been better, but Bulma didn't get back until late and they thought it would be more convenient to dish over the phone. For all she knew Chichi wasn't even eating ice cream. Bulma knew she shouldn't be eating it either but after a first day that was decidedly not bad she thought she'd treat herself.
“And you know what? He came right back in, leaned against his desk and started asking me about school.”
“School? What about school?”
Bulma spooned down her ice cream and started stirring it around absentmindedly. “Like, what I studied, where I went. He was pretty surprised when I told him I had my first college degree at sixteen and it didn't take me much longer to get my next one.”
“That's odd that he'd want to even ask you about it, isn't it on your resume?”
“Yeah, but I think he was interested in knowing what in particular I studied with my majors. Really I think my aeronautical engineering degree was just for fun, but he wanted to know like what theories, everything! Then he asked about my work at Capsule Corp and I told him as much as I could without revealing company secrets, just general outlines of what I did every day... I'm not sure he understood it but I'm sure as a result of all of his questioning, he's gathered that he is seriously underpaying me for how much of a genius I am.”
“Weird... Vegeta's not one for talking too much, I'm surprised he was even curious.” Chichi said a bit anxiously.
“I know he isn't, he made sure to tell me that very early on, like I'd make the mistake of thinking that he wanted to hear what I have to say.” She rolled her eyes. “When it came to the specifics of my studies I think he accidentally let himself sound a little too interested. Here I thought he was an impenetrable wall of stone who didn't care about any personal details. Maybe you've misrepresented him, Chichi.” Bulma added teasingly.
“Perhaps I have...” Chichi's tone was a little too resigned for Bulma's taste.
“Chichi, are you sure you're okay? I know you said earlier that everything is fine and Vegeta's even supposed to be promoting you for some odd reason but it doesn't sound like everything's fine. He really rattled you, huh?”
Bulma's heart clenched hearing Chichi's sigh on the other end. She felt like her friend worried far more than what was healthy. “You could say that. He has yet to tell me when he's meeting with me, I'm guessing it will be first thing tomorrow.” Starting to feel uncomfortable thinking about it, Chichi was glad when Bulma quickly changed the subject.
“Anyway, after that super fun interrogation, he left it to Goku to teach me the phone system and how to transfer and hold and all of that. You know Goku, right?”
“Of course I do. We've worked together for a while, now. I don't remember when he first started or if I started first. He's a nice guy I guess. Kind of quiet.”
“Goku, quiet? Oh gosh, you must not have talked much with him. He never shuts up! He's hilarious.” Bulma couldn't believe that her friend could even think of putting the words “Goku” and “quiet” in the same sentence.
“Really? Wow, I never would have expected that. He shuts up like a clam around me. Maybe he likes you, Bulma, you are the cute new girl in the office.” Chichi giggled.
“Pff, oh, stop. That wouldn't ever happen, he's too fun as an office friend I can make fun of Vegeta with.”
“Oh yeah, they're related, right?”
Bulma just about spat out her ice cream all over her new couch. “What?! He never said that. Who told you that? That's wild! Wow, listen to me, I sound like the office gossip already.” Bulma was in a state of shock. There was no way her new office friend was anything like Vegeta, let alone related to him. Except, now that she thought about it, their hair was similar in color, as were their eyes, but that normally wasn't an obvious indication of relation.
“Oh believe me, you wouldn't even be among the worst of those gossip hounds, you haven't heard anything yet. Yeah, I heard that a long time ago. I haven't ever confirmed it with either of them but I don't find it too hard to believe. They're supposed to be cousins or something, from what I've heard.”
“That's so crazy. It kind of makes sense if you look at them but... Wow. I never expected that. Their attitudes are so different!”
“Are they? Indulge me, I don't know Goku very well.”
“Well, you know how Vegeta stares so hard right at you? Sometimes his glares are outright... Disdainful. Like he wants you to die.” Bulma shivered a bit thinking about it.
“Like he's willing it to happen?”
“Totally! Goku never looks at you like that. He's always happy and just the complete opposite of Vegeta.”
“Bulma, you know that two people can be related yet at the same time completely different, right? That's how it is. Cousins aren't super close. Brothers and it would be much harder to believe, but it's not like two brothers can't be polar opposites or anything.”
“Well, that's true...”
“Yeah, see? I didn't get two degrees in science stuff but I'm smart too!” Chichi said playfully.
“I know, smart girl. Listen, I'm going to get to bed pretty soon here. I'll see you bright and early tomorrow morning in the lair of the demon, ok?”
“Sounds good, good night!”
“Nite.” Bulma quickly snapped her phone shut, slowly reopening it again realizing she had one more important call to make tonight, and it couldn't wait any longer.
Time to finally let her parents know that she wasn't coming back as soon as they thought...
---
A/N: Thanks for reading, and sorry again for the long wait! Please review, I want to hear what you guys think. The next few chapters are full of explanations, and they're worth the wait. It's been suspenseful so far, but I understand if it's turned off a few of you since I haven't updated in so long, but I do know where I'm going with this and things will be made clear. The next chapter should be popping up sometime soon!
A/N: FINALLY! No, I haven't given up on this story. I've been thinking about it lately and I've been intimidated by my own ideas and how to write them well enough to do justice to the story I have in my mind, but I've figured that there's really no harm in trying, right?
I also want to thank preciousjade for her support. She sent me an e-mail a couple weeks ago asking me about the story and wondering if I'd ever update it. That made me think, wow, there are actually people waiting for me to update, so I decided to go back, revise the whole thing, and add some chapters that I've had written for a while but never posted. So, thank you for motivating me to get this done!
Enjoy!
Too Close For Comfort
Chapter 8 - Control
The view from Vegeta's office was really quite spectacular. His office was lined with impressive floor-length windows showing a perfect panoramic of West City. Seiya Corp was situated in the heart of downtown in the financial district, and while they had an awesome view, being on the 26th floor hampered one of Bulma's favorite things to do, people-watch. From this high, people were not quite like little ants just yet, but still too small to do much observing. She wondered how he kept from just standing and looking out all day long, but since she had been working for a whopping hour and a half, for all she knew that was exactly what he did.
He had ordered her in his office in the first place, but she barely had time to sit down before his phone started ringing. He had given the phone a look, as if willing it to stop, and when she had smiled a bit in spite of herself he shot her a glare and picked up the phone after a few rings, keeping eye contact with her until she felt compelled to look away. Vegeta hadn't necessarily wanted to pick up the phone, he knew who it was and what they were calling about, but it'd be a lie to say he wasn't secretly looking forward to the call just to tie up a loose end in his mind. One less thing to worry about was good news for him.
“Speak.” Bulma kept a snort to herself as she heard his gruff greeting.
“You heard about the meeting, right?” A voice growled out, exactly who he expected.
“Yes, Nappa, I was told.” She watched him as he picked up a pen and began carefully twirling it around his thumb.
“You know how she is sometimes...” The voice continued on.
His face lit up with a smirk as he continued listening. Bulma assumed that it wouldn't be a long call otherwise he would have asked her to leave, as that was what would be considered polite, but yet again she could never be sure. She had a lot to learn about Vegeta, and it was a bad start to already be making assumptions.
“Friday night, then. Fine.” She watched him rub his forehead for a moment and listen for about ten more seconds before hanging up abruptly, or it seemed so to her. He cleared his throat and returned his gaze to her.
She noticed that he had relaxed a little bit, yet it seemed that he permanently had a frown fixed to his face, varying in intensity depending upon the situation. She liked to think that she always had a smile fixed on her face and a cheery disposition, but smiles wouldn't help her now. Some people say that when you smile at someone it naturally compels them to smile back, yet it seemed that Vegeta was an exception. The familiar nervousness from before returned, giving her that sinking feeling yet again. It was nice being able to just sit with him in silence for a while, but she figured she had to work up to it and then it would become comfortable again. Her smile wilted a bit under his continuous attention, looking her right in the eyes without breaking, but she was determined to keep on smiling, deciding that she wouldn't let him control her in any way. Yet another sign of a bad start... Saying that you wouldn't let your boss control you seemed counterproductive even to her.
Bulma's smile, however pretty, did nothing but confuse Vegeta more. He wasn't convinced. Beautiful (yet probably fake) smile or not, this was supposed to be Bulma Breifs, daughter of one of the most intelligent and innovative scientists of their time! How many college degrees did this woman have, five? Well, maybe not five, he wasn't sure, but probably two or more, and here she was sitting primly and properly in his office looking for a job so she could sit on her ass and shuffle through what any intelligent person would consider to be mere busywork. His mind was still a little bit fuzzy regarding the details of why she was looking for a job when she had all the money in the world and everything she could ever want. Just wait until this broke to the press, 'Capsule Corporation heiress does menial labor for mid-range salary!' It was the perfect caption for a candid photo of the Breifs woman doing what, with her money, she could hire 1,000 people to do – making copies. It sounded so damn good in his mind, he made note to file that one away to use as a threat against her later, and he wasn't sure if he'd be joking or not.
Why work in an office when you had such a sure thing going? Her answer from before was that she didn't want to rely on anyone anymore, and as much as he hated to be able to relate to that himself with his own life experiences, with such technical genius he would have thought she would come up with a better answer than that. What was he supposed to do, feel bad for her? Trapped like a princess in a world that didn't understand her, itching to break out of the mold and make her own way, blah blah blah, he had heard a thousand iterations of it all before in some Disney movie somewhere. He knew innately that there was another reason, but he couldn't be too proud of that revelation when anyone with half a brain could see it. Frankly, he didn't know why he cared so much on a surface level, but he knew it would become very relevant later, and if he didn't try to flesh it out now it could come back and bite him in the ass. He knew he was looking at his new assistant, over-qualified as she was in pure business experience yet lacking in pure office skill. Who was he kidding, like you even needed office experience to make coffee, but apparently that was a problem for some people since Nancy couldn't seem to make a decent cup.
Nancy... What a joke. His new assistant would for sure confuse his little underlings, but he wasn't ready to throw her out to the dogs just yet. There were a few things he still needed to know before he started jumping for joy at how perfect she was for his current plans. She had just fallen into his lap, thanks to the ever-annoying Chichi, who, he reminded himself, he needed to schedule a very important meeting with, and not just about the blue-haired woman in front of him.
Bulma finally broke the silence, the sinking feeling in her stomach turning into that of one on a rollercoaster ride. “Thank you for asking Goku to take me along and show me around. It was helpful.” She hated when she couldn't tell what other people were thinking, and Vegeta was one of the most difficult to read she had ever encountered.
Vegeta made an impatient sound and Bulma couldn't help but narrow her eyes a bit. “You can stop it with the small talk, it's hardly necessary.”
She was a bit taken aback, as she could tell she had interrupted him mid-thought and he was visibly annoyed, but was there really a need to be so snippy? It was still morning, after all... Her smile returned with full-force. “Isn't it? This is a workplace. If people are going to be around each other for a good chunk of their day I would think it makes sense for them to try and be pleasant with one another.” She only dimly regretted that she did not have the self control to bite back her reply once she saw the mildly surprised look on his face.
Bulma was beginning to feel like she was being interrogated as she was subjected to yet another long look. From that, she could finally gather with certainty that he was definitely trying to make her uncomfortable. This knowledge only fueled her desire for a challenge. He would not play silly games with her. Those tactics might work on foolish interns, but not on Ms. Bulma Breifs! Let him try... She steeled her stomach and willed the discomfort away, which seemed to work.
After a pause that seemed much longer than it actually was, he spoke. “Maybe others feel that way, but my first priority is business, and I very much have business with you.”
Ignoring his slightly threatening tone, Bulma continued on the track to a normal conversation. “Wonderful. You told me before that you would inform me as to what exactly I would be doing in the office?” She said with genuine curiosity.
“I did.” Vegeta leaned back in his chair, undoing one of the buttons on his suit jacket, surveying her.
Being the seasonally appropriate fashionista that she was, Bulma couldn't help but wonder if his suit wasn't a little hot for summertime. Usually men wore suits with a lighter fabric, and even took off their suit jackets once they arrived in the comfort of their own office, but she had never seen him take it off. She yet again chided herself for jumping to conclusions. She tried to reply with as much interest as possible, “And?”
Vegeta interpreted her interest as being a little too eager and paused for effect. She was getting a little sick of his games. “A position has just recently opened up that many would consider to be highly favorable.” He let slip the smallest of sneers. “I am in need of an assistant.”
Bulma suddenly felt like she had been punched in the stomach. Of all things, why his assistant!? After she had already signed and agreed to everything... Vegeta was a tricky bastard indeed, Chichi wasn't kidding! Bulma knew she was smarter than that. She had read through everything, but her mistake was she assumed that she would be doing what Chichi was doing, since most people in an office did the same thing, right? Her lack of friends working in an actual office to tell her otherwise suddenly became very apparent to her. No way did she want to spend the majority of her days during the week waiting on the hand and foot of the ridiculous bastard in front of her. You must really think you're the shit, don't you? What made him think that she was so above running out the door right in that second?
Unfortunately, the fact was, he had guessed correctly. Too prideful to show her surprise, Bulma kept her face stoic as her mind raced.
Would she be able to find another job in time to be able to pay for her apartment without assistance from her parents? Unlikely, as Bulma had no savings to speak of. Before, any time she ever needed something, she'd just ask mom or dad and they'd buy it. They gave her spending money, credit cards, everything, and she had never even had the thought to save what she knew was limitless, which still was, but she had no desire to take advantage of it any longer. Would she go back home and give up? Hardly. She had yet to tell her parents that she was moving out, and she realized that talk was long overdue. She greatly enjoyed her new freedom, yet it was times like this when she was really starting to feel hopeless and stuck, as the last question plagued her mind...
Would she be able to put up with this guy for a regular paycheck?
She looked him over. He was just a man. He was petty, yet he oozed power and control. How could that be? What does he do, oversee an office? Some bigshot. She could control a man. She would have to make clear to him that she was aware of his silly antics and she was above his efforts to try and intimidate her, successful as they may be. She would also have to make clear that she did not intend to do anything ridiculous or demeaning. No house-calls. Bulma would demand respect and fairness. She knew what she deserved, and if she couldn't get it, she would tell him to forget it. Truth was she was hardly in a position to be turning down anything, but that wouldn't stop her from getting what she wanted.
Bulma had a strong desire to figure Vegeta out. Why was he being so rude to her? It seemed all he ever did was play games with people and try and exert his control over them. She felt compelled to confront him about it, but felt that not only would that threaten the security of her position, but he probably wouldn't give her a straight answer. Maybe Chichi knew. She would have to hope that once he got to know her better, he would maybe even start to like her and be a little nicer to her, since she didn't know how much longer she'd be able to put up with his dismissive behavior. He said he wanted to hire her, but she couldn't see any indication that he wanted her around except for him putting up with her filling out paperwork on his desk earlier that morning and just straight-out telling her he wanted her for the job. She hadn't intended for her actions to be annoying, and it mustn't have come off that way to Vegeta, either, since he had tolerated it, but what did that really mean?
She looked absolutely pensive. Vegeta could tell she was thinking it over by the way her lips were pursed, weighing the pros and cons in her mind. He'd have to be pretty sickeningly arrogant in order to not only ask her to be his assistant when she wasn't fawning over him like the last six dolts he contracted, but to do it after he had treated her like she was a plaything that he took pleasure in making as uncomfortable as possible... He wouldn't even try to deny it.
“You really weren't kidding when you said you wanted to scare me off.” She said with a challenging smirk. Not how he expected her to reply, but he was somehow pleased.
Vegeta leaned forward in his chair. She had his attention. “Do I scare you?”
“Not as much as you'd like to think that you do.”
“Oh really?” He smirked at her right on back.
“Let's be serious for a moment, and---”
“Aren't we being serious?” He relished in her obvious irritation at being interrupted by him.
“I only mean that we should get to the point. Not to sound over-confident, but for a person as smart as you know I must be, due to how impressed you were by my work credentials, don't you think that you're under-utilizing my abilities by just having me answer calls for you and run errands?” Bulma tried her best to speak objectively and not seem too much like... herself. Pushy Bulma was good, but she needed to tone it down in order for the difficult man sitting across from her to really listen to her.
“No.” He replied quickly, unfazed. “If anything I think you're more qualified to be working for me directly when I could hire anyone else to just write reports.”
Bulma couldn't hide her surprise. In his own strange way, the man in front of her was complimenting her.
Vegeta weighed his words carefully. “There have been many before you who have failed to do exactly what I ask them to. If you think you're so intelligent, you'll be able to comprehend my instructions and correctly infer what I want.”
Bulma didn't know what to think. Was he challenging her? It wouldn't be the first time, but she couldn't judge much by his tone or his facial expression. Might as well go all out. “I doubt I will fail to do so. ”
“I won't ask of you anything more than what I think you're capable of.” It tortured her how ambiguous he was being.
“Which is?”
“Anything I ask you to do.” The look on his face was starting to drive her a little nuts. God, he was really asking for it. She really must be stupid for even considering this, but what were her options...?
“In a professional, reasonable fashion?”
“Is this not a professional, reasonable environment?”
“It would be if you weren't trying your hardest to intimidate everyone who walks through this door.” She said. His resulting dark chuckle was not what she was expecting, just as much as she wasn't expecting those words to come out of her own mouth.
“That's not a wise thing to say to someone you don't know very well.” Vegeta couldn't help the sharp retort. He could tell that his comment disquieted her as she sat back a bit, letting slip a short look that did not contribute to her own desired effect of looking so self assured. She was beginning to try his patience, yet he had gotten into this knowing that such a conversation might occur. He couldn't allow her to realize how much he wanted her to be his assistant, especially after everything she had said to him, yet he could tell he was losing her, and he couldn't let that happen. They were closer in personality than either of them wanted to admit, and he could tell that between the two of them, he was the only one who had caught on to it. His plans for her were starting to become even more apparent the more they spoke to each other.
Bulma had been completely caught off guard. She had really done it now. What should she say? “I-- ”
“Perhaps you will feel better knowing that my assistant not only conducts interviews, but acts as head of the office in the event I am not present?” 'Didn't before, but does now...' He thought to himself.
“She does?”
He only nodded.
She had no idea what to make of it. One second he was biting her head off and the next he was telling her how much more responsibility he was giving her. Her only conclusion was that in her accepting his challenge he had decided to give her more to do, but why?
“Is that good enough for Bulma Breifs?” He smirked. She looked at him with wide, bright blue eyes.
“Few things are.” She said with an air of false haughtiness, sitting up pin-straight for a moment. His smirk disappeared, but Bulma smiled. Vegeta was looking at Bulma's first genuine smile since she had met him. As he watched her slowly break into an undeniably cute grin he could feel it get him right in the chest, and try as he might he couldn't shake it off, and he couldn't break eye contact with her. Damn that woman! Who did she think she was smiling at him like that?
He got up out of his chair and walked up to her until he was standing right in front of her. She opened her mouth in surprise, an unspoken question on her lips. He reached out his hand, waiting for her to shake it in agreement. She wasn't sure how much pride it took for him to do that, but she willingly attempted to crush it with delight as she pushed his hand down, in mimicry of her foiled attempt to shake his hand the day before. His brow furrowed deeper for a moment before he adjusted his jacket, as if ruffled.
“First rule.” He started, watching as she looked up at him with a look of barely contained mirth that, for some reason, didn't irritate him. “Only I'm allowed to do that.”
Bulma smoothed out her skirt and stood up gracefully in front of him. She was shorter today, he noticed. The miracles of platform shoes. She reached out her hand, took Vegeta's and shook it. The perfect, businesslike firm handshake. She looked him right in the eye and smiled again, and he smirked back at her. Yet another handshake that almost hurt, and she knew her hand would feel tingly after. In that moment with Vegeta looking right at her, even with a haughty smirk on his face, she took in his features and noticed for the first time that he wasn't a bad looking guy.
Not bad at all.
Her fingers were so delicate encased in his hand that he could easily have crushed them. He hadn't ever had a thought like that before, and he thought it to be quite strange. He could crush her, but she wouldn't go down without a fight. There was a slight flicker in her smile and while confused for a moment he figured out what she must be thinking. Why are his hands rough and calloused? He thought about the potential conversation were she to ever ask him that, and he knew she had too much decorum to even go down that road.
Vegeta was not pleased when he turned to see half his employees crowded around the office window.
-
“Oh God, Vegeta must have had an absolute fit!”
“Something like that. Once he looked out half of them just ran away, and the other half were scared off when he stuck his head out the door and yelled something about paid days off for injury in the workplace and wondering if any of them wanted to take their chances with it...”
“Ouch. I've heard that one before.”
Bulma giggled. Nothing was better than girl talk over ice cream. In person would have been better, but Bulma didn't get back until late and they thought it would be more convenient to dish over the phone. For all she knew Chichi wasn't even eating ice cream. Bulma knew she shouldn't be eating it either but after a first day that was decidedly not bad she thought she'd treat herself.
“And you know what? He came right back in, leaned against his desk and started asking me about school.”
“School? What about school?”
Bulma spooned down her ice cream and started stirring it around absentmindedly. “Like, what I studied, where I went. He was pretty surprised when I told him I had my first college degree at sixteen and it didn't take me much longer to get my next one.”
“That's odd that he'd want to even ask you about it, isn't it on your resume?”
“Yeah, but I think he was interested in knowing what in particular I studied with my majors. Really I think my aeronautical engineering degree was just for fun, but he wanted to know like what theories, everything! Then he asked about my work at Capsule Corp and I told him as much as I could without revealing company secrets, just general outlines of what I did every day... I'm not sure he understood it but I'm sure as a result of all of his questioning, he's gathered that he is seriously underpaying me for how much of a genius I am.”
“Weird... Vegeta's not one for talking too much, I'm surprised he was even curious.” Chichi said a bit anxiously.
“I know he isn't, he made sure to tell me that very early on, like I'd make the mistake of thinking that he wanted to hear what I have to say.” She rolled her eyes. “When it came to the specifics of my studies I think he accidentally let himself sound a little too interested. Here I thought he was an impenetrable wall of stone who didn't care about any personal details. Maybe you've misrepresented him, Chichi.” Bulma added teasingly.
“Perhaps I have...” Chichi's tone was a little too resigned for Bulma's taste.
“Chichi, are you sure you're okay? I know you said earlier that everything is fine and Vegeta's even supposed to be promoting you for some odd reason but it doesn't sound like everything's fine. He really rattled you, huh?”
Bulma's heart clenched hearing Chichi's sigh on the other end. She felt like her friend worried far more than what was healthy. “You could say that. He has yet to tell me when he's meeting with me, I'm guessing it will be first thing tomorrow.” Starting to feel uncomfortable thinking about it, Chichi was glad when Bulma quickly changed the subject.
“Anyway, after that super fun interrogation, he left it to Goku to teach me the phone system and how to transfer and hold and all of that. You know Goku, right?”
“Of course I do. We've worked together for a while, now. I don't remember when he first started or if I started first. He's a nice guy I guess. Kind of quiet.”
“Goku, quiet? Oh gosh, you must not have talked much with him. He never shuts up! He's hilarious.” Bulma couldn't believe that her friend could even think of putting the words “Goku” and “quiet” in the same sentence.
“Really? Wow, I never would have expected that. He shuts up like a clam around me. Maybe he likes you, Bulma, you are the cute new girl in the office.” Chichi giggled.
“Pff, oh, stop. That wouldn't ever happen, he's too fun as an office friend I can make fun of Vegeta with.”
“Oh yeah, they're related, right?”
Bulma just about spat out her ice cream all over her new couch. “What?! He never said that. Who told you that? That's wild! Wow, listen to me, I sound like the office gossip already.” Bulma was in a state of shock. There was no way her new office friend was anything like Vegeta, let alone related to him. Except, now that she thought about it, their hair was similar in color, as were their eyes, but that normally wasn't an obvious indication of relation.
“Oh believe me, you wouldn't even be among the worst of those gossip hounds, you haven't heard anything yet. Yeah, I heard that a long time ago. I haven't ever confirmed it with either of them but I don't find it too hard to believe. They're supposed to be cousins or something, from what I've heard.”
“That's so crazy. It kind of makes sense if you look at them but... Wow. I never expected that. Their attitudes are so different!”
“Are they? Indulge me, I don't know Goku very well.”
“Well, you know how Vegeta stares so hard right at you? Sometimes his glares are outright... Disdainful. Like he wants you to die.” Bulma shivered a bit thinking about it.
“Like he's willing it to happen?”
“Totally! Goku never looks at you like that. He's always happy and just the complete opposite of Vegeta.”
“Bulma, you know that two people can be related yet at the same time completely different, right? That's how it is. Cousins aren't super close. Brothers and it would be much harder to believe, but it's not like two brothers can't be polar opposites or anything.”
“Well, that's true...”
“Yeah, see? I didn't get two degrees in science stuff but I'm smart too!” Chichi said playfully.
“I know, smart girl. Listen, I'm going to get to bed pretty soon here. I'll see you bright and early tomorrow morning in the lair of the demon, ok?”
“Sounds good, good night!”
“Nite.” Bulma quickly snapped her phone shut, slowly reopening it again realizing she had one more important call to make tonight, and it couldn't wait any longer.
Time to finally let her parents know that she wasn't coming back as soon as they thought...
---
A/N: Thanks for reading, and sorry again for the long wait! Please review, I want to hear what you guys think. The next few chapters are full of explanations, and they're worth the wait. It's been suspenseful so far, but I understand if it's turned off a few of you since I haven't updated in so long, but I do know where I'm going with this and things will be made clear. The next chapter should be popping up sometime soon!