As promised, Tsubaki baked a hummingbird cake according to her husband's request before heading to Fuse Corporation. She even brought a box of Portuguese egg tarts with her. Hibiki came to pick her up. It was almost 5 in the evening when she arrived. Most of the employees had already packing their things before knocking off work.
"Master is having a video conference in his office, Madam," Matsuzaki informed her. They met in front of Ren's office.
Tsubaki nodded. She passed the box containing the egg tarts to him. "Share them with the others who work overtime. I'll bring the cake to him myself."
Matsuzaki gratefully accepted the offer. He had understood his Madam who loved giving food to others. She somehow reminded him to his grandmother. The old lady always made food for him. He chuckled, feeling like he should give the old lady a visit some time soon.
"Oh ya!" Tsubaki turned to Matsuzaki. "Where's the pantry? I think I shouldn't disturb Ren when he's having a conference. I could use the office pantry instead of his."
"This way, Madam." Matsuzaki gestured to his left.
"Okay! Thank you, Matsuzaki!"
Tsubaki didn't wait any longer, she quickly went to the pantry. The pantry was huge. There was a long cabinet with various kinds of coffee beans and tea leaves, a coffee machine, an electronic water dispenser and a microwave. A part of the cabinet was filled with snacks and biscuits. A 'L'-shaped table with chairs was placed in the center of the pantry. A fridge was prepared too for the employees to store their food.
Tsubaki opened the upper cabinet, trying to find clean plates. She brought out two plates before she started preparing coffee for Ren and tea for her. After cutting the cake into slices, she put the cups and plates on a tray. She had just began to carry the tray before she heard two female employees conversing outside the pantry.
"...seriously she's our President's wife?" The first voice asked in awed. From Tsubaki's point of view behind the blinds covering the glass wall of the pantry, she saw the ponytail girl was asking another short haired girl.
"Assistant Matsuzaki called her Madam, right? I even heard Assistant Hibiki called that woman Madam too."
"But, I never heard of our President getting married? Have you seen her? I heard she's quite beautiful. Is she an heiress?"
"An heiress?" The second voice scoffed. "The first time she came here, I could tell that the clothes she wore were cheap. Beautiful? Well, I guess she's quite a looker. If not, how could somebody like her got our President's attention?"
"How could you say that? It's obvious that our President isn't promiscuous. Isn't it kind of romantic for him to fall for a commoner like us?" The ponytail girl smiled. Her expression didn't look as unkind as the second girl.
"Are you seriously thinking that she's our President's wife? How could she be compared to Miss Esumi?" The short haired girl crossed her arms. She looked at her colleague in disdain.
"You mean... the daughter of President Esumi?"
"Yes, who else? Isn't she supposed to be engaged to our President?"
"But..."
"Excuse me."
The two women startled. They turned around and saw a woman in white dress standing before them. She was carrying a tray of cakes and drinks. They gasped in shock, realising who was the lady in front of them. They saw her near the President's office earlier but they didn't expect she would be in their pantry!
"You know, it's not nice talking about people behind their backs." Tsubaki smiled, looking at their faces calmly. Her voice sounded serene. As if she didn't hear them talking bad about her. "More so when you don't know the facts."
"Ma... madam..." They stuttered. What a bad luck!
Her smiled didn't leave her face. "Excuse me, my husband is waiting for me."
Tsubaki nodded gracefully before leaving the pantry with the tray in her hands. The two women looked at each other, horror was written on their face. They turned to stare at the lady's back. She was walking towards the President's office. Her movements were poised and elegant, as if she wasn't a commoner like them.
"Do... you think she would tell the President?" The ponytail girl trembled.
"I..."
"Madam isn't one to tell on others."
Hibiki's voice came behind them. The two women froze before they slowly turning around to see the tall man was eyeing them with contempt. It was the first time they saw him eyeing them with such eyes.
"Mr. Hibiki, we..." The short haired girl wanted to give excuses, but Hibiki's sharp gaze cut her short.
"Before I do anything to you, just go."
The two employees quickly ran from the pantry. Hibiki frowned. He shook his head in disbelief. Some people really didn't know how to keep their mouth shut. If his Master heard that, for sure they would be tortured with extra hours at work.
Tsubaki knocked at the door twice before she entered Ren's office. Her man was sitting at his work table, he looked up from the laptop in front of him when he heard her entering the office. A slight smile formed on his face, melting his cold face. Tsubaki returned his smile. She quietly walked towards the coffee table, she didn't want to disturb him.
As the conference had already reached its end, Ren quickly concluded it. He stood up and stretched his body for a bit before he went to sit beside his wife. Tsubaki had already laid all the plates on the table. She handed the coffee cup to him.
"Thank you," Ren took the cup from her, their fingers came in contact. He sipped the coffee, feeling refreshed after hours of dealing with his subordinates during the conference. Placing the cup back on its saucer, he leaned against the couch.
"A hard day at work?" Tsubaki cut the cake to a small piece using a dessert fork before brought it to Ren's lips. He opened his mouth, tasting the sweetness of the cake.
"It's just a small matter, but they sure love to see me working hard," Ren complained. He lowered his head to rest on Tsubaki's shoulder.
"You said you want to earn money for me," Tsubaki chuckled. She fed him another piece of cake.
"Do you mind if we just escape this city and settle down in countryside? You could bake while I could attract the customers with my handsome face?" Ren came out with a silly idea. He looked at his wife's face, who's frowning by now.
"No way. I don't want them to gawk when seeing your face," Tsubaki refused.
"Okay, I'll save my face exclusively for you to look at," Ren replied shamelessly. He closed his eyes, enjoying the sound of her heart beating.
Tsubaki laughed, she shook her head. She adjusted her position to help Ren felt cosy. Kicking off her heels, she bent her legs and sat comfortably on the couch. Ren immediately wrapped his hands around her waist, bringing her closer to him. He snuggled before he finally settled in the crook of her neck.
This was nice.
Tsubaki put one arm over Ren's. Seeing him so full at ease with her beside him, the nasty conversation from earlier didn't matter anymore. Others' opinions on them didn't matter.
But, who was Ms. Esumi? Seemed like she needed to ask him about her.