Chapter 9: Preparation

"Narumi, stop thinking about work." Akiko grumbled. "We are here to pick a dress for the party. besides Daiki and Haruki are going to be at the factory. Nothing will go wrong."

"Akiko, you and mom could have picked the dress for me. I don't like all this." Naruto complained.

"No way, my dear. This party is being hosted because of you, so that means your presence is important in the planning process." Yuki said.

"I picked a design yesterday isn't that enough?"

"Not at all." Akiko said firmly. "Stop complaining, sis."

"Welcome." A woman's voice said from inside the boutique. "My name is Iwaizumi Sakura and I am the helper for today's fitting." She smiled warmly at the trio.

"Hello Sakura." Akiko said. "We are here to pick dress, your boss came to our house and showed us a few designs and now we are here to select."

"The Hinode family, right?" Sakura asked.

"Yes." She replied. "Start with my elder sister Narumi."

"No problem!" Sakura said enthusiastically. She took Narumi to the dressing room and showed her three gowns. "Is any of these ok with you?"

Narumi examined the three dresses in front of her. One was very simple, almost nothing except a red bodice with black accents. It was plain and unadorned. The only thing it really had was an embroidered red sash. Another one was just as simple, but the color was a deep purple and the fabric was a dark blue. The last one was a bit more extravagant. It was a black dress with a slit up the side that ended below the knee, and a thin layer of tulle.

"I think this black one would look better on me." Narumi said.

"Excellent choice." Sakura said enthusiastically and handed her the dress. "Try it on and show your mom and sister."

Narumi slipped into the dress slowly and walked back into the main area.

"Oh, my gosh!" Akiko yelled, her eyes were bugging out of her head.

Yuki chuckled slightly. "Very pretty."

"You look beautiful!" She exclaimed.

"Thank you." Narumi said. "Now can I go?"

Yuki looked thoughtful for a moment before smiling mischievously.

"Well, we do have to go for a cake testing, so no."

"Mom." Narumi whined and crossed her arms.

"Stop making a fuss. Change and wait for us outside." Yuki instructed.

With a sigh, Narumi went back behind the curtain to change and waited for her mother and sister to finish picking their dress.

"If I can't go there, I could call Daiki or Haruki." Narumi mumbled. She picked up her phone and called Daiki's number. There was a pause, then he answered the phone.

"Good afternoon ma'am." Daiki greeted.

"Listen, I hope the perfumes are ready?" She asked. "I hope those mistakes have been corrected already."

"Sure they have." He laughed.

"I'm not tying to crack a joke here." She snapped irritatedly. "I want those products to be ready before this evening."

"Sorry." He apologized, still laughing. "They will be ready."

"That's good. I may be there later because I'm pretty busy over here." She paused and let out another heavy sigh.

"Take your time ma'am." Daiki said.

"Okay." She hung up the phone and turned around to see her sister waving at her.

"Let's get going." Akiko yelled.

'This will take forever.' Narumi thought irritably as she followed her sister and mother through the building and towards the waiting car where their chauffeur was sitting idly by the driver's window. They got into the car and went to a restaurant located not far away. When they walked in, a middle-aged blonde haired woman greeted them with a friendly smile. "Hello Mrs Yuki."

"Mrs Kyouko." Yuki said politely. "We are here for the cake testing."

"I know that. Come sit down, we're going to start in a minute." Kyouko grinned. She turned and gestured at a table. "Please have a seat."

Narumi watched silently as both mother and sister made themselves comfortable in front of the table. All she wanted to do was go to the factory and supervise things by herself.

"Here are the cake. Please taste each flavor and tell me what you think." Kyouko said, setting a tray in front of each of them. The tray consisted of a strawberry cake covered in white frosting, chocolate cake and a light brown cake covered in a soft buttercream topping. They also each took a small fork and ate from each sample. Yuki looked pleased while Akiko tried to finish everything.

"Which one did you enjoy most?" Kyouko inquired, with a twinkle in her eyes.

Narumi shrugged nonchalantly. "I enjoyed everything."

"Me too." Akiko said.

"Same here." Yuki smiled. "Can we have a three layer cake with all the flavors?"

"Of course." Kyouko nodded.

"I sent you a copy of the menu, right?" Yuki asked.

"Yes, you did." Kyouko replied.

"I expect an amazing job." Yuki told her, and she nodded in agreement.

"Are we done?" Narumi asked.

"Yes, my dear." Her mother answered. "You can go to the factory now. I will call another chauffeur to come and pick Akiko and I."

"Fine." With that, Narumi left the building, got into the car and ordered her chauffeur to take her to the factory. Once she arrived, she headed inside to check on everything.

"Welcome ma'am." Daiki said immediately he sighted her.

"Is everything complete?" Narumi asked him.

"Yep." He nodded. "We packed everything up and it is ready to be displayed in public tomorrow."

"Where is Haruki?" Narumi questioned.

"I'm right here, ma'am." Haruki appeared from one of the doorways. His hair was disheveled and sweat dripped off his brow.

"Did you test the samples before packaging it?" She asked.

"Yes, ma'am." Haruki said. "We tested all the samples twice."

"That's great." Narumi sighed in relief.

"Take ten boxes and keep it in my car. We will showcase it tomorrow."

Haruki and Daiki nodded. "Understood."

They did as instructed and put the boxes in the car while Narumi supervised.

"Done." Daiki announced, and Narumi nodded in satisfaction.

"Great. Daiki, let's be heading home now." She said. "Haruki, can you manage?"

"Yes, I can ma'am." He replied.

"Okay." Narumi said. "See you tomorrow."