Part 3: Recruitment

It had been days since I had first met Tomoyo Daidouji, but I could not rid my mind of the image of her waitress friend. Her every move made that day was etched into my memory, haunting me like a vision I could not hope to touch. Every swish of her hair, every breath she breathed, every smile she cast over at Tomoyo, but not me.

She seemed nervous of me, despite her original friendly smile at me as she served me my drink, she seemed very eager to avoid my gaze. Perhaps she knew I was watching her. Maybe I looked like a hungry beast and she was scared in case she suggested an interest that was not there, but whatever the case was, she only smiled at Tomoyo and not at me. I didn’t see why I was so bothered. She would offer me nothing but free drinks and a few casual nights… it was unrealistic of me to believe a stunning angel such as herself would be interested in a long term relationship with me when she was beautiful enough to ensnare several perhaps richer men. She would use me to escape her waitressing job, and then when I’d given her money and fine things she would leave me cruelly. Like others had done before.

Something inside me laughed at my pessimism. Especially when a part of me was giving me the all clear, saying how sweet and innocent she looked. It would be complicated, with her being the friend of my cousin’s fiancée. Any unease we felt between us after our relationship would be passed on to our relationships with Tomoyo and Eriol.

There I was thinking over in my head at work, all the reasons why and why we should not date, when really I knew only that she was called Sakura and that she was the gorgeous waitress friend of a work associate who happened to be my cousin’s fiancée. I knew nothing of her age, her likes, dislikes, whether she was already taken, or even if she liked me. I assumed it didn’t matter, because I was so attracted to her.

Once I realised that, it dawned on me why my relationships were doomed to failure.

I was so selfish.

Then, the more I thought about it, the more I figured out.

My problem was that I waited for women to come to me. They made the first move, and I was so self-absorbed that I did not bother to ask questions as to why they chose me. I showered them with gifts and artificial love while they pleasured me, until the day they grew bored with my selfish love-buying and left me. It made sense that I was so arrogant that I assumed all women loved me, when really they loved the image of me, which is what I had become; an attractive, rich man.

Perhaps, I thought after signing a few forms, perhaps I should make a fresh start. Forget about being a solitary man, and try a new approach. I decided to visit Sakura in her little café, and talk to her myself. I would make the first move for once, and I would watch out, making sure that if she liked me, it was for me and not my money.

Lunchtime came, and it took a while for me to raise the courage to open the café door.

It was as quaint as the last time I had set foot in there, only when I opened the door and heard the soft tinkle of the bell; it was a faint sound against a quiet murmur of voices. There were many tables filled with people on their lunch breaks. Mostly female office workers, some dating couples and some chattering old women. It made it seem… cosier somehow.

I found a solitary seat in the far corner of the café and scanned the plastic-glazed menu for some lunch and a nice sounding coffee, all the while looking around to find a familiar trace of Sakura.

“May I take your order?”

I turned quickly, my hopes high. Unfortunately, it was not my angel. I mumbled an order of a plain coffee and a ham sandwich.

The brunette waitress was pretty, but not Sakura. I scolded myself for hoping too much and acting so disappointed when the woman turned out to be a different waitress. It seemed silly of me to hope Sakura was the only girl working at the café.

I would be lying if I didn’t say the whole situation made me grumpy that afternoon. I didn’t realise how much I had wanted to see Sakura until I didn’t actually see her. It left me feeling slightly empty inside.

Unfortunately for me, I had more work to do that afternoon.

It so happened that there was a new vacancy in my company, as I’d had to dismiss my personal assistant for her inappropriate behaviour towards myself. Her constant pleas for a date and her gossiping amongst other employees about my personal affairs were too much for me to forgive her for and so I had been left assistant-less for almost three weeks.

Today happened to be the day that my secretary had scheduled the interviews. She had done most of the work, sorting out the application forms and leaving me with the best possible choices for the job.

I was in two minds as to whether I should be sexist and refuse to hire female assistants, since that would save me the hassle, the likes of which had happened before. Then I thought twice. I would choose whoever had the best qualifications.

I flicked through the application forms that had been placed on my desk. Some were very qualified. Mostly women, to my dismay, but highly qualified women who would be good assets to the company.
I was about to place the pile of papers down on the table when my eyes caught a word that surprised me.

“Sakura?” I read aloud, thoughts of the waitress rushing back to me. I shook my head to rid myself of them but the application form piqued my curiousity. I separated it from the rest and began to read it.

“Sakura Kinomoto, aged twenty six, born April 1st. Marital status is single.”

My heart skipped a beat. No way could it be her though. The Sakura I knew worked in a little café as a waitress. There was no way she was qualified enough to be my assistant. She could not have made it through my secretary’s filtering of candidates. I continued to read hoping for more information.

Then I noticed something that made my brain freeze.

Tsubasa Designs.

It said that she’d had a lot of experience working at Tsubasa Designs, even helping start up the company and she’d been a secretary for the company president, Tomoyo Daidouji for a few years.

Then I knew it was Sakura.

It read that she had been working in a small café, learning how to run a small business as it is her dream to own her own café one day.

I was stunned. Then realisation hit me. I would be interviewing her today. She was applying to be my assistant, to work with me every day.

It would be fair to say that I’d made up my mind to hire her. Or rather, my heart made up my mind for me, no matter how I tried to seem impartial and sensible about it all. I knew it was wrong to think so, but I was not giving my full attention to the other candidates when they arrived for interviewing. Each time the door opened I had hoped to see Sakura walking through the double doors into my office, but was disheartened when each time it was someone else, someone less heavenly.

It was getting towards six o’clock and I was worried in case she had dropped out, when I got a message over the intercom.

“Miss Kinomoto is here for her interview now, Mr Li. Shall I send her in?”

I swiftly said yes and straightened myself up to meet her once more, my heart pounding wildly.

There was a tiny knock on the door, to which I answered “Come in”. The door slowly opened and a frightened looking Sakura peered around the door.

“Sorry for intruding.” She said quietly, shyly even.

“There’s no intrusion, you are here for an interview aren’t you?”

She nodded, the door now closed behind her as she stood there with her hands crossed on her lap.

“I’m sorry for being so late though – there was a problem at my current place of employment and I was needed to fix it.” She bowed politely, and I offered her a seat, quite taken in by her sweet and shy nature. She was as beautiful as I had seen her before, only dressed more formally in a grey pencil skirt and a fitted light green shirt. Green was my favourite colour.

I shook my head away from thoughts of her shirt, as I was sure I was staring, and I didn’t want to scare her away and give such a bad impression.

“Now, Miss Kinomoto,” I began, trying to regain my professional demeanour, “may I ask why you have applied for the position? You did seem to be enjoying your job at the café, last I saw you.”

She blinked, as if trying to remember when she’d seen me. My heart sank with the thought I had not made the impression on her as she had on me.

“Well, Mr. Li, Sir, it is my ambition to own my own small business eventually, and I see this job position as an opportunity to see and learn how big businesses work and to refine skills I have not had to use for a few years. I’m eager to see the company go far, especially since my best friend’s company is working closely with you now.”

I liked how she made sure to show enthusiasm for the company. I think that with any other girl I would have scoffed at the over-use of praise and the use of name-dropping almost in mentioning her friend, but with Sakura it sounded cute and naïve. I completely forgave her. I knew then that it didn’t matter what she did during the interview, I would have her as my assistant. It was as though I was powerless to stop myself for making that decision.

I was boldly examining her features; the delicate nose, the perfectly pouted lips, and those angelic eyes of the most beautiful green I had ever seen. She noticed the attention I paid to her and her face flushed a bright shade of pink. It was so endearing I could hardly stop myself from giving her a hug. Luckily I remained professional and took my eyes away from her beauty enough to continue the interview.

“Miss Kinomoto, could you please describe to me a situation in which you have had to use problem-solving skills recently?”

She nodded and an adorable look of concentration formed on her face. She looked deep in thought for a moment and then began to form her answer.

“As I currently work in a cafe, I have had many opportunities to solve problems. I am often charged with training new staff and today I was urgently needed to help a trainee who was having problems with a coffee machine.” She paused, to take a breath.

I decided to interact with her.

“Is this why you were late?”

“Yes Sir.” She nodded, her hair bouncing, glistening in the brightness of the overhanging lights. She continued.

“I then took charge and examined the machine. In realising it was in need of professional repair, I showed the trainee how to make coffee without the machine and I lowered the coffee prices slightly to apologise to customers. I then called a repair company and arranged an out-of-hours time for the repairs to be made.”

“All this, and you managed to make it to this interview near enough on time.” I commented, “I am very impressed- especially with how you thought about your answer first. Many people just jump straight in without thinking and lose fluency and detail. You, however, Miss Kinomoto, spoke well, showed impressive problem solving skills and proved that you think rationally before acting.”

Sakura tensed. She seemed confused and unsure of where this praise was leading. She had a good right to expect this to be a ‘compliment sandwich’; however I had no such thing in mind. All I could see was the positives.

“Miss Kinomoto,” I began, hesitating a moment. I was unsure of how to tell her, without frightening her. “Miss Kinomoto, I hope I am not being too forward in saying so, but... well... out of all the candidates so far, you have impressed me the most. I can guarantee you the position. If you want it still, that is.”

Sakura’s look of confusion soon became a look of realisation.

“You mean... you are giving me the job?” She said in an almost-whisper, as if she were too frightened to ask aloud.

I nodded, smiling as warmly as I could. It had been a while.

Sakura jumped up from her seat and clapped her hands together joyfully.

“Oh! Thank you Mr Li!” She beamed, “I was so nervous about meeting you a few days ago, and when Tomoyo brought you into the cafe I was so shy I could hardly speak, and now you have hired me! Oh my gosh! Thank you!”

Sakura’s enthusiastic outburst would have irritated me if it were any other person, but my opinions on this angel had already been so positively formed, it seemed impossible that anything could make me think less of her.

I found her joyous mood quite contagious and as we settled details and paperwork, I started to feel as happy as I was last time I was in love.

The melancholy all forgotten in her presence, I had at last rid my mind of those old affairs that had plagued my heart.

She was able to start in one week’s time after giving her cafe employer notice of her change in career. I had never wished a week away as fervently as I did in that time. I could hardly concentrate on my work, as every thought I had led to the reminder that in just seven days heavenly Sakura would be sitting at a nearby desk, talking to me and assisting me.

What thrilled me more was the thought of being close to her and discovering more about her. I was not going to make the same mistakes as I had done in previous relationships. I wanted this one to be the one. The only one, for the rest of my life.