Chapter 6: Meeting the evil cousin
"I fucked up yesterday." Daiki muttered to himself. After yesterday's dinner incident, Akiko was really mad at him because he didn't support her.
He should've supported her, but he felt completely tongue-tied when Narumi stared at him. Her eyes were so intimidating, and it sent shivers through his spine.
"I should try to make it up to Akiko," he thought. The only way to do that was by talking to his boss about the idea of hosting the party, but what could he say to convince her?
"Daiki!" Narumi yelled. "Why do you seem so lost?"
"Oh, my gosh, I'm so sorry, ma'am," he apologized instantly and bowed down to her. "I was thinking about what happened during dinner. Akiko seemed really upset."
"There's no need to think about that." Narumi said before looking at her computer. She knew her sister was a bit of an airhead, throwing a tantrum over nothing.
"Miss Narumi, I think your sister has an amazing suggestion." Daiki muttered. His hands were wringing in nervousness.
"I'm not going to have the same discussion with you right now; just focus on your work." Narumi warned, her eyes glued to the screen. Her tone seemed more harsh than usual, which made Daiki scared, but he tried to hold his courage.
"You have achieved something really big, ma'am, and I'm sure everyone is expecting you to throw a party to celebrate it. I know you are still scared after what happened to your dad, but I promise to ensure that I will taste every meal before it gets to you."
Narumi's eyes left the screen of her laptop and looked directly into Daiki's. He swore to himself that she saw straight into his soul.
"How do you know what happened to my dad?" She asked.
"Oh, Akiko told me yesterday. She wanted me to assist her when she raises the topic during dinner." He explained.
Narumi frowned and crossed her arms. She didn't say anything for a while, but Daiki knew that she was angry.
"Okay, ma'am, let's not think about celebrating for enjoyment. There's a new fragrance we are working on, right?"
"Yes."
"So why don't you host a party and launch our new product? Akiko will be satisfied, and we will have a huge advertisement from the media."
"Oh, that's a smart idea." Narumi said, her gaze still locked on him.
"Yeah," he replied quietly. "And we can invite a few people, including our top investors and designers—"
"Alright. We'll organize a party and launch the fragrance." Narumi cut off. "Call my mom and tell her about my decision. Then I want you to tell Haruki that he should schedule a day for me to visit the factory and ask him for the list of every top investor in our company so that invitations can be sent to them."
"Of course, ma'am."
"After that, get me an iced coffee when you are coming back, and also don't go on a lunch break until you have done what I have ordered you to do. Once you are done, you can go on your lunch break."
"Understood ma'am."
"Now leave." She waved dismissively at him. Daiki bowed again before leaving her office. When he had closed the door, Narumi sank into her chair and groaned loudly. She buried her face in her hands and rubbed her temples to ease the growing headache.
"At least Akiko will be happy once she hears that I agreed to host a party." She said it aloud. A lot of thoughts went through her mind, but something Daiki said was stuck in there. He wanted to taste the food before they served it to her. Why would he think of such a thing?
The sound of someone knocking interrupted her train of thought.
"Come in." She said, but her head was buried in her hands.
"Hello cousin." A woman said, and immediately Narumi recognized the voice. She raised her head and glared at her.
"What are you doing here, Aoi?" She gritted her teeth and crossed her arms.
"I never expected that you would welcome me with a question, Narumi. It's been so long." Aoi said before sitting down. Her blonde hair was pulled tightly back into a ponytail. She was wearing a tight black dress that hugged her body perfectly. Her brown eyes glinted dangerously under the light of the sun.
"We stopped being cousins seven years ago. After your father killed my father," Narumi spat it out.
"Come on, dear, you still remember that." Aoi chuckled. "It's a past event."
"Aoi, I don't have time to waste on people who are not important. Why are you here?" Narumi inquired and leaned forward, making sure that her words hit their mark.
"I have missed you..."
"Aoi, enough. Please get to the point." Narumi sighed tiredly, feeling like she had wasted all her energy. How did this woman always manage to piss her off?
Aoi smiled. "I came to congratulate you on being a billionaire and to share some good news. I'm three months pregnant. Minato and I will be having our first baby."
"Congratulations, but I do pity the child because he will be getting parents who are incredible cunning, manipulative, and horrible." Narumi responded sarcastically.
Aoi felt her anger rise up. She never wanted to speak with Narumi, but for the sake of her husband, she had to.
"Very funny, Narumi." Aoi chuckled. "Apparently my..."
"I got your ice coffee, and every document related to..." Daiki trailed off when he saw Aoi. "I'm so sorry, Miss Narumi; it seems you have a guest. I will come back."
"It's alright. She's an unwanted guest, anyway." Narumi waved her hand at Aoi and smiled at her.
"You must be Daiki." Aoi said. She remembered his name and description vividly. Her husband told her about him, and she knew that he deserved to be dealt with after speaking to her husband rudely.
"How did you know my name?" Daiki asked warily before dropping the documents and coffee on Narumi's desk.
"Daiki, do you remember that we had a meeting with Tanaka Minato yesterday?" Narumi asked before taking the coffee and drinking slowly.
Daiki nodded hesitantly.
"That's his wife, my so-called cousin. Tanaka Aoi." Narumi rolled her eyes.
"Nice to meet you." Aoi smirked.
"Same here, ma'am." He said.
Narumi took another sip out of her coffee, then looked at Aoi. "I know why you are here, and since I don't want to listen to anything stupid, let me just tell my decision. No."
"But Narumi, it's an excellent offer. You can focus on your personal life and maybe get married."
"Shut up," Narumi growled. "You don't have to bother about my personal life. I'm not selling my company to you."
"But.."
"Leave my office. Go and work on your own life." Narumi chuckled as her fingers gripped her mug tighter.
Aoi's face turned red out of anger. She took her purse that was on the desk and stormed out.
Narumi took another sip of her coffee and exhaled deeply. "You can go for your lunch break, Daiki."
"Yes, ma'am." Daiki bowed and quickly exited the room. He was seriously shocked by what he just heard.
'Tanaka Minato and Miss Narumi are related?'