Take a deep breath. No, take several. Don't forget to cross your legs at the ankles. Make sure there are no stray hairs - speak professionally. Make eye contact. Take quiet breaths. You know how women should act to be respected, stereotype or not, do it.

I pretty much repeated the above in my head over and over again while I fiddled with the pinstripe-skirt I wore. I had spent all night worrying about this moment, and now that it was here, I was even more worried. I had figured it would be pretty much just a one-on-one interview. You know, like I would be the only one here. But I wasn't. There were at least ten or so other women here, most a little older and more developed than I was.

To my right sat a blonde-dyed young woman wearing a skirt shorter than I had ever seen before. Her stomach was slightly exposed, and so was her thong. I couldn't stop looking at the bright yellow strings hanging out from her skirt hem, and eventually she noticed me looking. She grinned, "You gotta do what you gotta do for a job, sweetheart. I've seen this guy. You might as well go home - I'll have it wrapped up in ten seconds."

"Tomo Kawashi?" He called from behind his door, another woman walking out of his office disappointingly. The woman winked at me and then stood up, unbuttoning her shirt a little to show more cleavage. She practically skipped into the office, the eager little whore.

The woman who had been on the other side of her moved into the now-abandoned seat and smiled warmly at me. This woman had dark brown hair and a warm smile. "I wouldn't worry too much about her. I don't know that he would be... interested."

My eyebrows crinkled together, trying to understand the meaning she was trying convey. "I don't understand, ma'am..."

She laughed lightly, lifted her hand to her mouth and whispered two words as the door slammed opened. Tomo Kawashi stormed out, her shirt unbuttoned all the way, and a deep blush on her face. She yelled some long string of curses as she stomped through the door angrily.

My face was probably as red as Tomo Kawashi's was when she rushed out. He leaned against the door to his office, an amused grin on his face. Shaking his head, his green eyes scanned the paper he held in his hand, looking for the next name to call.

"Sakana Ran?"

My cheeks burned as I stood up, but not because of Minamino Shuichi's good looks or smooth voice, but more because of the two words the woman had whispered to me before:

"He's gay!"

Okay, so don't even think of flirting with him, I thought to myself as I pulled at the sleeves of my blouse. Gay men probably aren't interested in being flirted with by women - even ones with a flat chest like mine.

"So, it says on your resume that you've never had a job before," Minamino said, writing something down on a paper I couldn't quite see. "Honestly, I'm looking for an experienced secretary. Is there any particular reason that you decided to apply?"

"I needed a job," the truth was out of my mouth before I could think of something with more tact. He looked at me, his eyes telling me to continue, "A, And I felt that this would be, at least, a great start to a stable career in the future." Yes, the career of being a secretary. Smooth, Ran, smooth.

"I see, I see," he nodded, not seeming displeased (or pleased,) with my answer. He shuffled some papers and then his cell phone rang. "Please excuse me for a second," Minamino stood, answering his phone, "hello?"

I followed him with my eyes as he moved to stand by the window. I had never seen him before now, but I had heard a lot about him. He was the step-son of Kazuya Hatanaka, and when he had passed away Minamino inherited the company instead of his real son. The reason being that his real son was too young to inherit the company, and that Minamino had proven that he would be an asset to the company.

Which was true. I mean, everyone knows about the Hatanaka corporation now-a-days. They started as some kind of retail business, but now their name is on a LOT of household products. In fact, my television, computer, and even the plastic cups I use instead of real ones (I am that lazy, yes) are all branded with the Hatanaka logo. They hadn't gotten so much reception until after Minamino took over - though, I find myself surprised that he hadn't changed the name of the company yet to Minamino. Respect for the dead, maybe?

A shrill ringing stopped my train of thought completely. The phone on his desk rang loudly, and out of instinct, I picked it up. The look on my face was obviously one of panic, because when Minamino looked back to see what was going on, he chuckled lightly. He did have a bit of a concerned look, a look that said "I'm expecting an important phone call, and that's probably it. God hates you, Sakana Ran."

"Hello?" a voice called from the phone. I had to respond. I didn't have a choice.

"Hello, Minamino's office," My voice was audibly shaky, but there was still a look of approval on Minamino's face ( at least, I liked to think so. At least a little bit.) "How may I help you this evening?"

A surprisingly young voice answered, "Yes, this is Kaitou Yuu. I was calling to talk to Minamino about -" And here he said a long string of business-related dribble that I really didn't understand at all. Something about merging. I'm not sure, " - I was hoping I could set up an appointment sometime within this week."

I looked at the phone and then to Minamino, who was still talking, and then back to the phone. I tried to get Minamino's attention, but he was looking the other way. The way my hand was clawing at the air for his attention made me feel like a cat - and also kind of ridiculous. If someone walked in and saw me, they'd probably burst out laughing.

"Y,yes, Kaitou-san, please hold for a moment," The name must have rang some bell in Minamino's flame red head, because he turned to look at me with a semi-urgent stare. He was still chattering away on the phone, but seemed to be trying to communicate with me via long stares and occasional blinking.

I broke eye contact with him and started carefully shuffling around on the desk. Planner, planner, a calender, something...After a short time, thankfully, I found a little black book and held it up, showing it to Minamino. Is this your planner? I mouthed, and he nodded, so I hurried and opened it, flipping pages as fast as I could, barely stopping to gasp when I got a paper cut.

Okay, okay, okay. This week looked supremely booked. Wow, this guy was busy. How did he have the time? Okay, okay, okay, think about that some other time. When can I shove Kaitou Yuu in without completely overloading... Ah. Tuesday, 3:00PM. That space was open for about two hours... If I got him to push his lunch a bit... Hmm.

I grabbed a pen and took out some paper from his printer. I etched "TUESDAY, 3:00PM?" into it, as big as I could with it still being marginally readable, and held it up for Minamino to see. Still talking on his cell phone, he shook his head and held up his hand, with four fingers raised.

Four? I looked down at his planner, and 4:00PM was taken! I read it again, and the name had a red check mark by it. What did that mean? I flipped a page and looked at it. Several other times had red check marks by it.

It must mean that those people aren't that important and can be re-scheduled. Still, better make sure. I crossed out 3 and inserted 4:00PM and held it back up. He nodded, smiled, and then turned around. Yes!

"How does Tuesday at four sound for you, Kaitou-san?" I said, my voice more cheerful than it was before.

"Hmm... Tuesday isn't good for me."

ARE YOU KIDDING ME.

I flipped through the pages, biting my lip, "Might I ask what day would be good for you, Kaitou-san?" Minamino looked back, understanding the situation. He looked away again instead of helping me this time. Oh, screw you. This is the wrong time for a test.

"Thursday is pretty clear for me," he said, an amused tone to his voice. Something told me I wouldn't like this Kaitou Yuu.

"Thursday, Thursday," I mumbled, turning the page twice. No clear spaces, but two with red check marks. Now to decide which one was worth keeping, and which one would be replaced. I recognized the name of one of the people listed - It was a company that I knew was in close competition with Hatanaka Corp., so I figured that if they had to talk it was important. So the other one would have to be the one to go...

"How does about noon sound?"

"Perfect." Click. Beep, beep, beep. Well, he doesn't waste time.

I looked up at Minamino, who nodded and smiled at me. I had to admit, I could get used to that smile. Within two minutes, he hung up his cell phone and sat back down.

"Well, I can surely say you're resourceful." He shrugged, "I don't want to waste your time, so you can go now. I'll give you a call later and tell you the outcome."

I stood, he stood, and he placed his had on my back and led me to the door. He gave me an encouraging smile and then called the next girl in. I could feel the stares of the others as I walked - stumbled, really - out of the office.

It wasn't until I was walking down the side of the street that I realized I still had his pen. I clenched it in my hands, feeling my warm face and smiling.

Being a secretary might actually be fun - surely that brief encounter was pretty exciting!

Now, if only Minamino wasn't gay...

AN: As of 5/8/17 I've decided to remove the Author Notes on most of these chapters, unless it's important to the story. This is mostly to cover some personal information and hide some six-year old cringe! Thanks for understanding, and for starting Work For It :)

I started Work For It in 2011, and it's been an amazing adventure for me. I do, however, realize the first few chapters can be a bit of a pain to get through. I'll be trying to retouch some chapters as the year progresses, so if re-readers notice some different phrasing, you're not crazy!