InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Favorite Mistake ❯ A truce ( Chapter 10 )

Chapter 10: A truce

“Spill the beans - how did it go?” Sango said, her voice coming from the kitchen. She appeared in front of Kagome a minute later, holding a big bowl of popcorn on one hand and paper towels on the other. Placing the bowl carefully on the bed, she sprawled right in front of her best friend, all her attention focused on the upcoming story.

Kagome smiled at her with fond exasperation. “Sis, when will you stop treating my life as if it resembles some soap opera on TV?” After a nerve-racking first day at her new office, Kagome walked out of the building's foyer to see Sango waiting to ambush her outside. Her long-time friend automatically dragged her into her apartment, with a bribe of free dinner and dessert, so Kagome went along with her. Now she was sitting on Sango's bed, trying to find the right combination of words to describe her first day at Takahashi Corporation.

At her rhetorical question, Sango gave her a dry look, and Kagome reluctantly admitted her defeat with a laugh. “Okay, okay. Maybe it is. Still, I'm not your primetime show, you know.” Because she couldn't possibly get off the hook with Sango, Kagome did a quick recap of her day. She was in the middle of telling her how nervous she felt at having to spend lunch with Inuyasha in addition to all the hours that they were already together, when her best friend voiced her thoughts.

“Hmmm, so he asked you for lunch, huh?” Sango mused, sounding like an investor surveying a property. “Interesting.”

“What do you mean?”

Sango rolled her eyes. “I mean, perhaps things might get more interesting from now on.”

“Please don't say that,” Kagome implored, feeling herself blush again for the nth time that day. “That's exactly why I immediately regretted accepting his invitation when we were already sitting across from each other. It was embarrassing and -”

“Oh come on, Kags,” Sango replied nonchalantly, digging into the bowl once again. “Don't you remember that when you guys first met you did a lot more than just sit across from each other?”

Kagome choked on her popcorn.

Sango continued after handing Kagome a can of cola. “The point is, you should be a little bit at ease with him by now. If you're really not comfortable with anything outside the office stuff, it's fine. But make sure that you show him that you're always efficient and confident.

“Efficient, confident,” Kagome echoed.

“He expects nothing less from the girl he's hired. After all, despite you're rather colorful first meeting, you are his new executive assistant, aren't you?”

Kagome nodded. “That's right, I am.” For the first time, she was beginning to see things clearly. In the middle of her nervousness and encouragement, she supposed that she forgot what her main role to Inuyasha was. His secretary. She would have to work really hard to live up to her job description. And she was just probably giving unnecessary meaning into her boss's invitation to her. For all she knew, he was just being nice. `It doesn't mean anything,' she thought, trying to convince herself. One lunch invitation doesn't spell out he would want to have lunch with her whenever possible, right? Right?

*****

Fortunately for Kagome, her logical hypothesis wasn't immediately put to the test. During her second day at work, and for several days after that, the director's schedule was so booked that she constantly had to insert business meetings even at lunch, to accommodate his associates and colleagues. When her third week rolled by, she was almost willing to bet that her boss wouldn't ask her to lunch ever again, so she began to lose her nervousness around him and began to treat him with casual warmth. She greeted him pleasantly the minute he arrived, made sure he had his schedule with him before he even finished his morning coffee, and retrieved files for him in the different departments in the building. She would converse with him briefly when she was in his office, handing a report or correspondence. She also let herself smile and laugh a lot with him. As long as they wouldn't spend time outside the office on personal matters, she was more than willing to work with him as well as possible. It was like a truce of sorts between them.

But Kagome was thrown into confusion when one morning Inuyasha invited her to have lunch again. She was in the company for more than a month then.

“Hey, Kagome, how about we grab a bite later?” he asked with a grin, stopping in front of her desk.

Kagome's fingers froze in the middle of typing an email, vaguely recalling that he had his lunch free that day, before she attempted to give Inuyasha a weak smile. “I-I'm sorry. I don't -”

“You don't want to have lunch with me?” he asked in a carefully guarded tone.

“N-no, it's not that. It's just -”

“What?” Inuyasha interrupted, holding on to a semblance of his remaining patience. He was not only irked; he was almost pissed off, and he was definitely itching to wring Miroku's neck. It was his best friend's brilliant idea for him to wait, saying patience was a virtue, and that Inuyasha should let Kagome be a bit more comfortable with him first before inviting her again. `Screw patience. Fuck Miroku,' he thought.

When Kagome failed to reply fast enough for him, he continued. “What's the difference between chewing sandwiches with me in the board room and having lunch with me in a restaurant?”

He looked childishly sullen, like a third grader whose mom refused to give in to his demand, that Kagome couldn't help but be amused a little. She had a fleeting thought of Sota, her younger brother, and how he used to make outrageous requests on her. He was already in college now, but still, she'd always regard him as a kid. She supposed she couldn't help it - a younger sibling was a younger sibling, no matter what age. “Well,” Kagome said, playing for time. “In the first situation, we talk about business matters, and that's all right. But in the second situation, we discuss, uhm, things that are not work related - and that's not okay.”

“You want to talk about freakin' spreadsheets even while having lunch?” Inuyasha asked incredulously.

“No, of course not!” she replied, just as bewildered. “That's why it's called lunch break, because for a specific time I'm allowed to actually think of things outside of work.”

“So why won't you have lunch with me?”

“Because you're my boss,” she stated, as though it was the most obvious thing.

“That's stupid!” Inuyasha looked at her slyly. “Or maybe the real reason behind that is because we slept together before.”

The only other time Kagome was more mortified than in that moment was when she asked Inuyasha to spend the night with her. She felt her cheeks burn up so much that she thought her face was going on fire. It was one thing to acknowledge it to herself; it was a totally different matter to have him say it in front of her. And in the office!

She looked at the door, terrified that someone might actually have heard it.

“Relax,” he said, seeing her expression. “This room is sound-proof.”

“But it's still improper for you to mention it!” Kagome retorted indignantly.

“Is that what really bothers you? Look, if it makes you feel better, we won't talk about that night ever again. Now, will you accept my invitation for lunch?”

Kagome looked torn.

“Come on, scout's honor, I won't even broach any subject that doesn't fall under the general category.” He looked at her through his lashes. Inuyasha was using every trick he knew, and he was surprised at his own persistence. But it didn't matter, as long as he could get Kagome to say yes to him.