(01) Chapter One: SAKU

Chapter One:

It Will Never Be The Same

Author:

SAKU

She wasn’t fond of the idea at all. Nope. Sakura wasn’t going to let the directors have it their way. Sakura didn’t want to argue any longer. Either the discussion will be done her way or she would have cancelled everything they’ve done. That was if the discussion didn’t go so well. She massaged her forehead as a wave of pain started.

“I don’t see why we would want to merge the two divisions. The chart clearly shows how profitable it was last year without the merging,” Sakura listened intently as one of the directors spoke. He was quite young for his age and bright but inexperience as he just entered the company six months ago.

“Yes, indeed. But if you realized combining the two divisions doesn’t really give much profit though the sales has showed this. You are all mistaken. Namie, if you could please switch off the lights,” Sakura stood up, heading out for the podium which was infront of the room across where she was sitting. There were some murmurs among the directors but she didn’t get to hear them very clearly.

As she reached upon the podium, she started with a smile, “This here is a projection of the sales that Nakamura-san just showed. You could see clearly, it looked very favourable seeing the two divisions merge. But—” She paused, for a breather.

“As you can see here in the next slide, it also shows us that we had to put in a secure deposit for the merger which was much more than the profit itself. Seeing this, wouldn’t it have been better off if the two divisions didn’t merge?” Some of the directors nodded in agreement which showed that she had proven her point but she had to convince them more.

“So, I have another proposal which indeed will be more favourable than this,” Sakura said confidently, seeking the directors’ attentions.

“And what of this proposal, Furukawa-san?” asked Ichinose Tokiya, one of the many talented directors that were present and one of the reasonable ones. He was a year older than her and very quiet but tactful.

She only smiled briefly, “Glad you ask, Ichinose-san. I have already had a head start in the proposal but I would like to need your confirmation. I’ve secured a deal with Takumi-san’s company and he was more than delighted to agree this proposal.”

The directors were mostly surprised by this. One of them said, “I thought it was impossible to make a deal out of the Takumi Co.!”

“Yes, but I’ve already done it,” Sakura couldn’t contained her smile. The directors started to clap at this and she was pleased with the respond though she knew that one of them wasn’t.

XOXO

“That was amazing, Furukawa-san!” Daisuke Namie beamed, impressed by what her boss had done earlier. “I wouldn’t have thought it myself!”

“Namie, we did this together. So, I should be thanking you too,” Sakura smiled, walking ahead from her. Namie then closed the door behind her and went to the coffee table, placing the hot mug on it. Sakura was already sitting down on the sofa, stretching her legs apart.

“B-but, I didn’t do that much, Furukawa-san!” disagreed Namie.

“Namie.”

“Yes?”

“You don’t have to call my family name, you know.”

“Well, yes. But I’m not really that comfortable yet.”

Sakura sighed. She didn’t want to argue further more. She closed her eyes slowly, leaning her back further into the sofa. She kept her head facing the ceiling with her arms sideways. She relaxed for a moment and knew that her secretary was watching.

“Namie.”

“Yes?”

“Stop staring at me.”

“But, you look so peaceful. OK, I’ll just leave then. Have a nice rest, Furukawa-san,” Namie began to scurry.

“Thanks, Namie. I appreciate that. Just bring the next file in when it’s finished.”

She heard the door closed once again and continued to lie down for a few minutes before going back to do her papers. She knew there was still a lot of signing and checking to do but that could wait, she thought. She needed time to rest as well or she would have collapsed from overworking and she wouldn’t have likened that.

She thought of her job. Though the company wasn’t fully hers but everything that her father put in was in here. This very office she was using was originally his. She wouldn’t have thought that working for his company would bring her this much excitement and thrill and the best part was that it pushed her limits sometimes.

Sakura, a hardworking person and she loved to challenge herself no big or small matter was hard for her to handle. She never knew why her father once enjoyed working for the company but now, she understood it but it was too late for him to know. She knew that her father was always watching out for her and was very proud of her now. She was almost sure of it.  She didn’t have a lot of memories with him together but that didn’t stop her from loving him. He was such a great father though; she was beginning to forget his face. Was it a sin to forget her loved ones’ faces?

Her train of thoughts was interrupted by Namie from outside, “Furukawa-san!”

“Yeah?” Sakura sat up.

“You have a call from Huang-san from Taiwan. He’s on line 3 at the mo,” Namie informed.

Her heels clicked each step she had taken as she crossed her office to get hold of the phone on the desk. She cleared her throat before picking up the phone and pressed a certain button.

“Hello. Furukawa speaking,” she addressed to the caller as per usual.

“Hello there, Sakura.”

Sakura nearly dropped the phone to the floor as her hands began trembling hearing the woman’s voice. Her brows furrowed as she cleared her throat once more. She needed to calm down. It was never wise to let her emotions into this kind of situation.

“What do you want?” Sakura asked in a careful tone.

“I just wanted to say hi, that is all.” She knew she was smirking at the end of the line. Her fist formed turning her knuckles white. How much longer did she have to hear her?

“I don’t believe such things. So what do you want? Get straight to the point.”

“Ah, still with that attitude, are you?”

No reply from Sakura.

“I’m here to let you know that I’ll be going down to Tokyo in just a few weeks. I’m sure, I’ll be delighted to see you again and those brats of yours,” the caller started to laugh.

Sakura felt chills behind her neck, “You never know when to quit, do you? After all you’ve done? Just leave us alone.”

The caller laughed once again and spoke in a low voice, “I quite enjoy it of course. Seeing you so intimidated by me, it never bores me out.”

“And I am still your sister, Hateful,” she continued more.

“Sister?” Sakura nearly laughed. “When was the last time you acted like one? Get over it.”

“Yes, Sakura. You are still despicable to me. I will never let you have everything your way even that company of yours that father gave.”

“And here we are again. Talk about history repeating itself again. You never get it do you?” reasoned Sakura. She was now sitting onto her office chair and spinning it to the direction of the large window.

“Well, history will be repeating itself again, of course. Those brats of yours, I simply would like to meet them someday,” there was a hint of mockery in the caller’s voice.

Sakura snapped, “Leave ‘em alone, Aihara. After everything you’ve done, have you not had enough already?”

“No. I don’t plan to until you have given me the company and the inheritance though. But until then, your life would never be the same. Good bye, Hateful.” The line was cut off leaving Sakura wide eyes and breathless.

It would never be the same after all.

XOXO

SAKU: Yes, another chapter from me. I hope you all enjoy it!


SAKU: Proof read as well. :) (3/1/2012)