I sighed and rested my chin in my hands as I watched the rain fall and allowed a soft sigh to escape.

It had been a rather boring week at the office with Naru out most of the time. He was still trying to recover from the last time, and Lin was pretty much sitting on top of him about his health. And in all honesty, there was no reason for me to even be here at the office, but Naru wanted somebody to keep it open, ''just in case'.

And of course, when he said that, Martin and Luella had a say in the matter- which is also another reason why Naru wasn't back in the office. His parents got upset when he wanted to return to work straight away, but they managed to talk him out of it.

I think they threatened him, but I don't really want to jump to conclusions.

I let out another sigh again.

"Oh my, I guess it's bad if you feel bad that you don't have to make tea for anyone." I muttered to myself before I got up from the chair next to the window and returned to my desk. "No papers to organize. No case to take on." I muttered as I organized my desk for the fifteenth time that day. "What a shame. Not even homework to do!" By now, I was already graduated from high school, and taking college courses online. I figured it would be the best way to go since I was promoted to full time at S.P.R. I could get my education and do what I love. I chose my major to be psychology in hopes that it would help us understand the spirits a lot better. Naru even made me take extra English classes so I could be even more helpful. Now, English is my second language.

Then the sound of salvation rang and broke the miserable silence. Someone had walked through the door.

"Hello?" A baritone voice asked.

I jumped up from my desk, ecstatic that there was a potential customer to save me from boredom. I regained my composure and approached the front room to greet the customer. As I rounded the corner I stopped short.

The man looked very unfriendly and actually hostile. He was dressed business like, and even held a briefcase tight in his hand. From the taint of his skin, I could automatically tell he was not from Japan, but America or England. A heavy trench coat protected him from the rain and his face was as hard as a rock. I took a step back, surprised at the icy look he shot me. I quickly recomposed myself and offered him a small smile.

"Welcome to Shibuya Psychic Research. Unfortunately, my boss is out for the time being, but I can make an appointment for you to meet with him."

"You work with Davis, eh?"

"Yes sir. Can I help you?"

He looked around the office and scoffed.

"A rich kid like that, and he boards himself in a pit like this?"

"He likes a low profile sir." I will admit, my kindness level did drop several levels. I mean, who does he think he is, coming in like this, insulting Naru and my workplace?

His icy glare turned back on to me and he studied my small figure. I instantly felt exposed to his hard stare, but stood my ground.

"And you must be his assistant, Mai Taniyama, right? The one who fought off that spirit in your latest case?"

"If that's what you want to call it, yes, I did. But can I help you with something? If you're here to insult Dr. Davis, I must ask you to leave." I bit my lip, but did not regret my choice of words.

And of course, his hard face grew a bit harder.

"I sincerely hope you do not take that kind of attitude to your customers." He grumbled before he pulled out something from his coat pocket and held it out to me. There was an envelope with Naru's English name on it. "This is for Dr. Davis. Make sure he gets it and remind him that he's only got three days before he contacts. After that, we'll come knocking again."

I took the envelope from his hand cautiously and watched him.

"And what if you do come knocking again?" I asked.

A wicked grin replaced his disgruntled look.

"You'll need to be rethinking your line of work if we come knocking again."

"And who is 'we'?"

The smile only widened.

"Just give him this and he'll know."

I was handed a card with English written on it. When I looked up to say something again, the stranger was already out the door and heading down the steps. Rushing to the kitchen window, I watched as he took on the heavy rain to his ride and I really wished he had missed the curb and busted his butt. However, he managed to get into the waiting cab without a problem. He even glanced back at the office with a smug look.

Narrowing my eyes, I glared in response and watched as the cab sped away. I looked back down to the card in my hand and read it aloud.

"Gregory Renaldo, Associate Board Director of Paranormal and Psychic Occurrences, London England."

And then I had a bad feeling set inside my stomach. I heard the door open and an order called out to me.

"Mai, tea."

I looked down at the little slip of paper in one hand and the envelope in the other.

'What did he mean when he said he'd call again? What could he possibly do?'

"Mai?"

"In the kitchen!" I answered back and looked back out of the window to watch the rain fall.

"Did you not hear me call for tea?"

I jumped and turned to face Naru.

"I think we have bigger problems then you missing your tea."

His beautiful face scrunched up a little confused and spotted the envelope and card in my hand.

"What are those? Did a customer come in?"

I shook my head and held the documents out to him quickly, like they were plagued. He slowly retrieved the papers from me and read the name on the card. His expression remained emotionless and he quickly turned to interrogate me.

"When did he come in?"

"Just now. Business suit, insulting, and he told me to tell you that you had three days to get back with them or they would come knocking."

He sighed and rubbed his forehead before he turned to go to his office.

"Mai, make me some tea, please. Then you can have the rest of the day to yourself."

And just like that, he tried to shut me out by making a quick exit to his office. But I was not going to let him get away from me that fast.

"Naru." I called after him and followed him out into the greeting room. He pushed past Lin and ignored my calling. Lin gave me a quick glance and in three strides, he was in front of me.

"What was that about?"

I shrugged.

"A guy had come in to the office and asked me to give Naru a letter. When Naru read it, he instantly shut himself out from me. He even gave me the day off." I answered quickly.

Lin searched my face again and his frown grew even more.

"Did he leave a name?"

I struggled to remember the English name on the card.

"He left a card. His name was on it. I think it was Gregory Renaldo?" The name felt weird on my tongue and I started to wonder if I said it right.

But apparently I did as Lin's eyes flashed with recognition and he slowly nodded his head.

"Did he say anything else?"

"Besides insulting Naru and the office, nothing much really. But he mentioned that he had knowledge from our previous cases."

Lin nodded his head again before he turned to approach Naru.

"Is there anything I can do for him?" I called out to Lin.

"Make him the Earl Grey."

Oh yes, the Earl Grey was brought out in time of desperation, pleading, begging or for sympathy. Today was that day. Not to mention, it was also time to call Luella or Madoka to get more on the scoop and see if they knew anything.

I didn't even wait for Naru's answer when I silently knocked on the door. I slipped in and put the tea cups on his desk as Naru was busy on the phone, presumably talking to Martin. Or at least, that was who I believed he was talking to. Anyways, I decided it wouldn't be best for me to be on the receiving end. From what I could understand in English, the word choice was not beautiful at all and Naru's face was very dark.

"…not ready yet. It's way too soon after everything that's happened." He leaned on his elbows on his desk and looked up at me. He tried to wave me away, but I ignored it as I took a comfortable seat across from him. Glaring at me, Ii knew I was pushing my luck, but I wasn't about to ignore whatever was happening.

He needed me.

Weather he accepted that fact or not was a completely different story.

"You know what? I'll just call back when we have more time to discuss prior arrangements, Dad. Yeah. I'll call back really soon, I promise."

He put the phone back down on the receiver and glared at me.

"Mai, it wouldn't kill you to leave me to my own privacy, would it?"

Glaring hard at him, I did my best to not snap.

"I would like to hear it from you, yourself Naru. I hate being kept out of the loop."

"And since when have I left you out of the loop Mai?"

"Since you hired me."

We both sat in silence and I instantly regretted my words, but they had to be said or I wouldn't have been taken seriously.

Naru let out a great long sigh and rubbed his temples. I knew a head ache was coming on.

"And I do suppose that is my fault, isn't it?" And I was surprised to find that the remark was not sarcastic at all.

"I just want you to know something, Naru," I didn't wait for him to reply. "Whatever it is, I think it would be best to let someone know what's going on through your mind. It makes it easier on the rest of us anyways."

His eyes traveled down to the cup of tea I had made for him and picked it up.

"I'm not going to leave you out of anything Mai. Not anymore. But I need to wait a bit more and get more information before I tell you everything, okay? So for today, the office is closed until I figure out what's supposed to happen."

"Anything else?"

Naru took a sip from his cup and smirked.

"Give me a sentence in English."

"What?"

I will admit, it was the last thing I expected from him.

"I didn't stutter. Give me a sentence in English."

I racked my memory to try and think of something clever to say in English.

"I hate my boss. He can be such a jerk sometimes."

Naru frowned and crossed his arms. I bit the bottom of my lip and tried to contain a giggle.

"That's not very nice, Mai. Try it again." He instructed sternly, just like a teacher.

"Okay… I like England. The country is very pretty and different from Japan." But that came out more as a question than a statement.

Naru nodded his head.

"Good. Keep practicing though, Mai. Now you are dismissed. I'll call you if anything comes up, I promise."

I gave him a small smile then stood up to leave.

A/N: Hello everybody! I missed you all and with the super rough month that I've had, I've been a bit out of it, but I decided it was time to come back and write again. I miss what I did and it's hard to come up with a decent plot with a writer's block, but this time, I think I've got it in the bag! I know it seems a bit rushed with Mai's life proceeding on soooo quickly, but, it had to be done. I wouldn't have been able to come up with anything relating to a graduation or another case, but this time, it seems perfect. I mean, she does still have classes to worry about, but it'll be easier this time. I'll make it work! I promise! But back to my absence, now that marching band season is coming to a close, which means graduation is getting closer and closer. Which also means that I'll be a bit busy getting ready to go to college! But I won't forget to update, I promise! Thanks for everything and everyone who is STILL favoriting all of my stories and such not's! I'll try to not disappoint! Also, my internet service is down, so I'll be only able to update once a week as I'm going into work! Thank you again everyone! I love you all!

Love,

Jazzy