Office Diaries - Chapter 93

“Boss, isn’t it more convenient to travel by taxi? I remember finding a parking space is such a pain here in Kyoto,” Yanee Lee asked as she looked out the window of the car.

“Boss?” the handsome man behind the wheel asked with a frown on his face.

“We’re on the job,” Yanee retorted and Tohru James was not able to do anything but sigh.

“There’s a big parking area here that can fit more than five hundred cars,” he answered. It’s just that it charged around five dollars per hour or five hundred yen, a bit expensive than other areas but he didn’t care.

The two of them were driving around Sakyou-ku area of Kyoto, where one of the most famous cultural structures of the country was located. As they drove, the beautiful red buildings of the huge Shinto shrine with its green roofs were visible.

“Oh, I remember this place,” Yanee said excitedly as she leaned closer to the glass window. “This is Heian Jingu Temple, right? I came here with Chummy and Ami two years ago.”

“Do you like temples?” Tohru asked fondly as he maneuvered the car towards the parking area nearby.

“Hmmmnnn… I like them,” she said honestly.

In fact, among the temples in Japan, Heian Jingu was her second favorite after the Fushimi Inari Shrine. It was because the place was huge like a palace and the gardens were very beautiful. When she came here last time with her sister and friend, they were even able to witness a wedding ceremony and it looked so dreamy.

“After we finish work, we can go visit some before we return to Tokyo,” he said indulgently as he parked the car.

He quickly got out, grabbed his briefcase, and went around to open the door for her, and she thanked him as she got out. Truthfully, she’s still not comfortable with the potato doing many sweet things for her, but she had to acknowledge his deeds. As far as being a prospective partner for her went, she had to admit that Tohru James had already done much better than her ex.

Yanee might be slow, mostly because she refused to believe that people would like her honestly in a romantic sense. But she’s really not that stupid. Now that she knew how her boss felt about her, the weird things that had been happening in her life were slowly being clarified one by one.

For one, the reason why Tohru James was suddenly in her publishing house.

He was too big of a name in the publishing industry that was confusing to see him suddenly transferred to their small office. Well, actually, one could reason that maybe the mother company wanted Tohru to lift the dying department of their publication it’s why he was transferred. But even if Niji wanted to do just save the department, they didn’t have to send their best man for it. After all, they had other capable editors in the company. It didn’t have to be their ace.

In short…

She might sound shameless or overconfident when she said this but her radar told her that the potato came to their office for her. That’s an effort to the max. Wasn’t it?

Also…

Didn’t she already meet his family? How could she still doubt his sincerity when he even got scolded by his own parents and sibling for failing to secure her as his girlfriend? After Yanee’s very bad experience with her ex when he was so ashamed of her “poor” background so he didn’t want to bring her home to his family, this gesture of Tohru was very touching for her.

Even if suddenly meeting the James Family shocked her— at least she knew and was comforted by the fact that they liked her.

“Okay,” she agreed.

They would be in Kyoto for a week anyway. If Ria and Michael would arrive today and she would have the interview also later, she’d have plenty of spare time to go around.

And date….

At the thought, Yanee blushed. Tohru James saw her red face but refrained from teasing her which made her feel relieved. It was one thing for him to tease her when they’re not working, but on the job, she really preferred it if he didn’t bully her.

“The restaurant is there. We have to walk a little,” he said as he took her hand and started walking.

NOOOOO! KYAAAAAA!

The sudden move made her too nervous she almost froze on her feet. But as she still tried her best to walk, she moved robotically and awkwardly.

“Are you okay?” he asked worriedly.

Yanee nodded. “Just my legs fell asleep a bit in the car. I’ll be fine,” she said as she secretly pulled her hand back.

Tohru gave her a knowing look but didn’t comment. Instead, he slowed down and stepped in next to her instead of ahead of her. They trudged down the street walking close but not touching. Still, Yanee realized it could still be intimate like that but with a touch of comfort.

“This is where the authors are staying,” he pointed at an establishment that read Kyoto Traveler’s Inn that they passed by.

“Are we going to wait for them here?” she asked and Tohru shook his head.

“We will meet them over there,” he pointed at the direction ahead. “Across the street, there’s a traditional Japanese restaurant.”

Oh…

A few more minutes of walking, the two of them reached their destination and were ushered to a small traditional elevated booth by a server.

“The authors won’t be coming for another thirty minutes so we can have drinks first,” he said and the two of them ordered tea.

The cool oolong felt wonderful in their throat. It was a great drink for the hot weather. Afterwards, the potato opened his briefcase to take out some documents. He handed one to Yanee and she quickly scanned its contents.

The files were about the authors’ works. Yanee scanned through the pages checking out what they were about. She didn’t like reading novels much, but since this was work, it’s only natural for her to read about what the authors were working on.

“Normally, other people will be doing this. But the authors are currently having a burnout and didn’t want to see their usual editors,” Tohru said with a helpless smile, and Yanee couldn’t help but smile too.

Well, it was understandable. If they were running away from work because it’s stressing them out then seeing their usual editors would remind them of what they ran away from.

“It’s fine. In a sense I’m a writer for romance now too. I can use this opportunity to learn something from them as well,” Yanee confessed.

She’s a writer of magazine articles and never wrote a book in her life. She had to at least get some ideas on how people work on a book project from an author’s point of view.

“That’s the spirit,” Tohru said fondly.

He studied her face for a while as she read the documents and although Yanee was aware of it, she pretended she didn’t.

“Yanee,” he called softly and she looked up at him with a questioning gaze.

“Hmmmn?”

“Are you angry at me for introducing you to my family without telling you?” he asked softly, but his serious eyes were trained on her.

Yanee sighed and shook her head. “I was shocked. But isn’t that my fault?”

“Your fault?” he asked, looking confused. “Why?”

“Because I was too stupid not to realize that myself. I mean Marian’s name when she was single was James. If I was doing my job well I’d have put two and two together earlier.” Yanee looked woeful but she’s not angry.

“Well, she’s a Kang now,” Tohru said as he rubbed his nose and Yanee smiled.

She had to admit he looked cute trying to find an excuse for her stupidity.

“But her data was in my hands. Her maiden name was there,” Yanee said. She was confident with this because she read Marian James Kang. “Also she told me her story. She mentioned her maiden name.”

“Hmmnnn…” Tohru murmured as he nodded.

“We came here to work. I’m ashamed I haven’t done any other research on our interviewees’ background other than the files you gave me. That’ was unprofessional,” she said mournfully. “When we finish talking with the authors I plan to research more.”

Tohru James smiled at her before clearing his throat.

“Well… What do you think about my family?” he asked uncertainly.

Yanee looked at him in surprise before looking down at the glass of oolong tea in her hand. “I think they’re nice. You seem to be from a very rich family, but even with that your family feels warm.”

“That’s good.”Tohru looked relieved. “I mean I was scared you’d get angry because your ex was also rich. I mean you’re also a young miss of a rich family, but I thought you dislike—”

“Rich guys?”Yanee snorted as she found him totally hilarious. “I don’t care about wealth. I care about personality more. That jerk’s not even that rich to be so snotty like that.”

Yanee’s family and her ex’s family were about the same level.

“Then I’m glad,” Tohru said as he reached out to hold her hand on the table, but Yanee retracted hers as she looked at him with a serious expression.

“But Mister, aren’t there other things you should confessing to me?” Yanee demanded, making Tohru freeze.

“Other things?”

“Yes,” Yanee murmured as she sipped on her glass then placing it back down. “Like the sudden takeover of Niji of my company?”