Atushi looked up immediately on hearing the sound of rain drops. Rain? Why was there rain suddenly in the middle of summer? A heavy one at that. He had also checked the weather reports for the day, and he saw no sign or report of a coming rainfall…well then again, he guessed the weather reports couldn't always be accurate and today could be one of those days.
He checked the medium sized wall clock situated some distance from his office door and he wasn't surprised at all when he learned again that he had worked for yet into another day nonstop since the beginning of this week. He let out an unfazed small yawn and inwardly applauded himself for breaking yet another record of working late right into the morning with no sleep whatsoever.
There was still much work to do, and hopefully there was going to be more and more. And if there wasn't, it wasn't a problem. He was just going to have to create more…anything, anything at all. Anything that was going to stop him from going back to that house.
The house was filled with memories upon memories of 'her', memories of 'them'. Both the good ones and bad ones. Memories that threatened to swallow him up with grief and
everlasting guilt if he so much as stayed there even for one second, so he preferred staying here, in the sanctuary of his office, working himself to death, winning and earning praises from the world who only knew the handsome, hardworking and top eligible bachelor in
Japan.
He was a coward, that he knew. But he was too grieved to care. At least he got something out of it. He was the youngest and most eligible bachelor in Japan, and he was a subject of envy among his peers but he didn't care. Their opinions about him didn't really matter. The only opinion he cared about was 'Her's.' It was only her opinion that had actually mattered from the onset. Her's and his uncle. they were the only people whose opinion mattered to him more than anyone.
But now, she was gone. She has been gone for up to four years now and it was all because of his stupid, ungrateful and insensitive ass.
He had hurt her very badly and he has spent the past four years-and perhaps will continue to spend all his life paying penance for what he did and going back to that house- the house they both shared- going back there would only continue to remind him that he didn't deserve forgiveness. Not from her, and not from himself either.
A tired sigh left his lips as he gathered himself and stood up, to prepare to take a bath and prepare himself for another day at work. As he moved towards the en-suite in his office, Atushi thanked the heavens that he came from a long line ofworkaholics, because it wasn't everyday you see a work place or an office that had a built-in bathroom and changing room in the boss's floor but you would definitely find it at Hatake corps and it was like that in every branch they had around the world.
The place was a well-guarded secret that was passed down from CEO to CEO and now he
supposed it was his time to be part of this secret. He should be honored, he supposed, because it wasn't really everyday you could see this in an office. In fact, he could still
remember the day his uncle had let him on in this secret. The man had even made him swear to keep the secret guarded and very close to his heart…well that was until maybe when he had an heir-something that was never going to happen anyways- to pass the secret down to. It was funny and unimaginable or unexpected of a family of such high caliber and class, but it is
what it is and besides, he wasn't complaining.
Shaking off his amusement Atushi moved towards "the place" to freshen up only for his
attention to be brought back to the rain by a very heavy thunder that seemed to shake the
building. He looked at the rain with much animosity that was more than questionable and as he did, he couldn't help but wonder why.
Why was it that even now, in his office he couldn't have just a little bit of peace? He had
done enough running away from his house hasn't he, because of the suffocating memories that it was filled with, so why was it that even now, even now he was still reminded of her?
Why weren't the heavens letting him have peace for even a moment? Had he really messed up that badly? Who was he kidding, of course he messed up, he messed up and he didn't deserve forgiveness either. So maybe he shouldn't really have such animosity towards the rain.
It was weird, but the rain always reminded him of her. She had always liked the rain and she could stay in it for hours and hours and not get tired. She didn't even care that she was an adult who wasn't supposed to do such childish things or that she was always going to end up coming down with 'a big freaking cold' like she always said. She didn't care about any of that at all. Always so carefree, doing whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted, not giving
a shit…just like the rain…he mused inwardly as he looked longingly at the rain.
His phone beeped, shaking him out of his reverie, and he sighed. He had no time for 'this.'
Official working hours was just…he looked back at his wall clock and his eyes widened a
tiny fraction- that was enough to show his surprise-for someone as ice-cold as him- on seeing that working hours was no more than two hours away.
He moved towards the bathroom and changing room to freshen up quickly because he had no intention of being caught unfresh by his gossipy employees, thank you very much-the tabloids were doing more than enough of that already.
He had just finished with his 'activities' and was in the middle of knotting his tie when his
phone beeped a second time that morning, so he paused to take a look at the message that flashed across his screen. His curiosity, on seeing who the sender was, heightened further and prompted him to read the message quickly.
The text was from Shimura- a close friend of his apart from Lee, his loud and obnoxious self-proclaimed bestie. Atushi didn't have much people in his circle and he wasn't bothered at all.
Shimura and Lee were more than enough in his own opinion. They were all part of a friend
once, a group that along with him and his now two best friends, had consisted of thirteen others. Even 'her'. But some unfortunate things that he wasn't ready to talk about happened.
Hence, he, Shimura and Lee had completely withdrawn from the group.
As he placed the phone down and continued with knotting his tie, he pondered over the text, wondering what really was up that had made Shimura ask him out for some drinks.
Both Shimura and Lee knew that he wasn't a fan of alcohol, or drinking in general. But he
supposed going for a couple of drinks wasn't too bad. After all, he needed an excuse not to go home, and he suppose he could take a little break from work… just for today.
He replied the text with a 'sure no problem' before going back to the task he had at hand...knotting a tie. He hated it so much you couldn't even begin to fathom. If only she was here…he quickly shook that thought from his mind.
He honestly needed to stop this. It wasn't healthy. Either for him or the company. Regret
wasn't going to bring her back and the sooner he accepted this fact, the better.
He finished his grooming and checked his wall clock again, and saw it read '8:00o'clock on the dot. His secretary would be here with his coffee soon.
He sat back down to continue with where he had stopped and delved back into his world of numbers and paperwork once again.
True to his words, his secretary brought in and placed his coffee on his table and offered a respectful bow in greeting, a bow which was met with nothing but an absentminded and cold nod of thanks and acknowledgement from Atushi who didn't ever raise his head once as he
continued with his work.