"Good morning, Ayase-san."

What day is it again? It's hard to remember anything properly whenever Nozomi is around. It's a little ironic, considering how the purple-haired girl is Eli's secretary.

"Good morning, Toujou-san."

It's only been a year since Nozomi started working for Eli Ayase, the young and capable CEO of the highly-influential trading company HRSH Group. In that span of time, Eli has proven how Nozomi is a responsible, efficient and trustworthy subordinate. It isn't easy to please the blonde with her high standards especially when it comes to the nitty-gritty of their work; but Nozomi just seems to know all the right buttons to keep Eli satisfied.

That, or Eli just can't seem to deny how she already turned gay for her very attractive secretary.

She's still hoping that Nozomi hasn't noticed her interest, though.

"I have gathered all the documents you asked for, Ayase-san. Should I inform Sonoda-san that you'll be on your way now?"

"Yes, please."

Today is just another one of those days for Eli. She has a meeting with one of the top business journalists in the country and, quite frankly, she is more nervous about this interview than all the other in-company meetings she had. Thankfully, Nozomi volunteered to accompany her today.

Her secretary's presence should be very helpful for the young president, except for the fact that Nozomi decided to sport an eye-catching braid and a figure-hugging corporate attire today.

"Is everything okay?" Nozomi asks. The two of them are standing just in front of the elevator but Eli can't seem to stop shaking already.

"Ah- Y-Yes. Yes. Just a little nervous," Eli gulps.

If only Nozomi knew that Eli is trying hard to resist staring at her cleavage.

"Elevator's here," the blonde quickly says as the sliding doors open. No one is inside the elevator so they just walk straight right in it and hit the button for the ground floor. Their office is at the tenth floor of the building.

A good three seconds pass with them just standing in short distance between each other when suddenly—

The elevator stops completely midway.

"What just happened?" Eli says nervously. She never had any experience getting stuck in an elevator and this— this moment right here where she's trapped with her person of interest alone inside a cramped box doesn't look too good.

"I think we're stuck," Nozomi pouts and walks to the side where the emergency phone is. "Hello? Can anyone hear me?" she says while pushing the red call button.

"Yes, this is the Maintenance Department. Is everything alright?"

"Um, no, we're stuck here in the elevator. My name is Nozomi Toujou and I'm with the CEO, Eli Ayase. I think we're just at the eighth floor."

"Okay, Ma'am, please stay put. We'll be sending a team to handle the situation."

"Thanks. Please make it quick."

Nozomi turns to Eli with a smile. "They'll be sending people now, Ayase-san. A-Are you okay?" she suddenly asks worriedly.

Eli's breathing is becoming uneven. Her face and entire body is stiff, and it's pretty much obvious that the blonde is just forcing herself to look calm with how her right eye is twitching a bit. Nozomi has seen quite a lot of different sides of her boss apart from the hardworking and goal-oriented company head that she normally is; but the Eli Ayase she's seeing right now sure is amusing.

And a little cute, too.

"I'm here with you, Ayase-san. Don't worry," Nozomi says. She goes back to Eli's side, this time a little closer to the blonde, hoping that the distance can let Eli calm down.

But wait, is this claustrophobia? Eli's not sure if she even has one. Actually, she's not entirely sure why she's feeling ridiculously nervous right now.

Talk, Elichika, she tells herself.

"T-Toujo—"

The elevator suddenly shakes a bit downward. Incidentally, the lights also go off.

"Ah!"

Something is soft. She can't see anything anymore, but Eli's face is leaning on something soft.

She's also holding on to something very warm.

"Ayase-san?"

The darkness in the elevator prevents Eli to open her eyes and she just hugs the soft and warm figure tighter. Screw my dignity, she thinks. I really can't handle the dark.

Eli feels a pair of arms wrapping around her but her mind is too fazed to process it. A hand is rubbing her back, too; but nope, Eli is not paying attention to it at all.

"It'll be okay, Ayase-san…"

Miraculously, the lights go back on after a short while and Eli opens her eyes just as fast. A sharp breath shoots inside her but it never found its way back out.

Blue eyes slowly look upward, both of it now twitching to death. Her blonde head follows, trembling just as bad as her body. Eli is greeted by a comforting smile from Nozomi which finally makes her realize something.

Nozomi's arms are still wrapped around her. Nozomi's voluptuous boobs are right in front of her gay-ass face.

Oh my god.

"I'm sorry!" Eli immediately shouts and runs to the other corner of the elevator. "I-I-I… I didn't— I-I'm so sorry…" she whispers with her eyes shut tight. Screw her dignity, alright. Eli just did that right in front of the very person she didn't want her image to be screwed.

Nozomi curbs a giggle before turning to her trembling boss. "It's alright, Ayase-san. I think anyone would be afraid of the dark while inside a stuck elevator."

With a light turn on her heels, Nozomi walks up beside Eli again. This is probably a good time to forget their boundaries as boss and subordinate, the spiritual girl thinks. Eli needs someone to comfort her right now.

"Would you like to hold my hand?"

Eli promptly opens her eyes, her forehead crumpled in wonder. Hold her hand? Is Nozomi, the secretary she's been daydreaming about more often than normal (and inappropriately, too), really asking her to hold her hand?

Is she dying?

"W-Why?" Eli mutters.

"I'm not sure what's causing your nervousness right now, but a friend once told me that holding someone's hand helps a lot in calming your spirit," Nozomi smiles sweetly and lifts her left hand halfway to Eli's side, palm facing up. "I don't really mind, Ayase-san. You can hold my hand if you want to~"

Eli stares at the offered hand. It looks so soft and attractive. Yes, even Nozomi's hand is attractive to her. She then tentatively shifts her eyes up to meet the pair of expectant aquamarine orbs staring at her.

"Go ahead, Ayase-san," the purple-haired girl chirps. She shoves her left hand closer to her boss, but Eli just squirms a bit at the action.

Nozomi sighs and finally decides to just grab the heck out of her stuck-up boss' hand. They're never gonna go anywhere with Eli being awkward like this.

"See? Warm, isn't it?" Nozomi says as she adjusts her hand on Eli's cold one. She squeezes it lightly for a while and notes how it feels like cotton.

Eli stays wordless and just lowers her head. Blood is probably rushing way too hard on her face right now that she might start bleeding through her nose any minute. She's holding Nozomi's hand, Nozomi is moving her thumb lightly up and down on her hand, Nozomi keeps moving closer to her, and oh lord I offer my soul to you.

"Feeling any better?"

"Y-Yes," Eli nods shyly.

The three minutes of silence that pass between them seem slower than the darn printer that Eli has in her office. It's also getting hotter inside the elevator and the blonde can feel her sweat trickling on her neck.

Eli finally decides to speak. "T-Toujou-san?"

"Yes?"

"Uhm… Are you okay?"

Nozomi sniffs in amusement and nods. "Yup, I'm fine."

"Ah," Eli says and smiles to herself, but her smile just makes her look like she's constipated. She's already holding Nozomi's hand and yet she still can't hold a conversation properly. Very nice, Elichika.

"You know, I've been wondering for a while now," Nozomi pouts in thought. "Why won't Ayase-san just talk to me when we're outside of work?"

The blonde turns her head quickly towards Nozomi with her mouth slightly open. Nozomi does the same, but instead the spiritual girl is wearing the nicest smile that she has to offer.

"I can see you, you know."

Eli goes stiff once again. "Wha- What do you mean?" she asks, trying to sound innocent.

Nozomi turns her smile into a knowing smirk. "I think you know exactly what I mean, Ayase-san."

Great. Just great, Eli curses herself silently. Not only did her lame social skills become more obvious, but Nozomi even knew all along about her stolen glances and minute-long stares when the purple-haired woman wasn't even supposed to be looking. How does Nozomi even know it, anyway? Eli remains puzzled.

"You can talk to me so formally everyday. I always wonder how it would be if we just talk casually~"

At this point, Nozomi is slowly intertwining their fingers but Eli doesn't notice. The blonde is still too confused to function.

Her fingers just automatically wrap on Nozomi's hand, though.

"We don't have anything scheduled after your meeting today, Ayase-san. You can make use of the time wisely."

Just then, the elevator suddenly moves and finally travels down in its normal speed. They are met by some workers from maintenance on the ground floor as the doors open.

"Ayase-san, we apologize for the inconvenience," one of the technicians says.

"Thank goodness it's finally fixed," Nozomi exclaims in relief as she subtly lets go of Eli's hand. "Ah, we'll be late for your meeting, Ayase-san. Let's go?"

Eli blinks rapidly and frowns. The boss is back to normal. Well, just a little. Her mind is still stuck on everything that happened for the past fifteen minutes inside the elevator.

"R-Right. Let's go."

As they make their way towards the exit doors of the building, Eli gathers enough guts to ask one question.

"W-What do you mean by wisely, Toujou-san?"

Nozomi just smiles and hands Eli her organizer, already opened on the page for her schedule today.

11:00 AM – Interview with Umi Sonoda-san of Business Week

3:00 PM – Take Nozomi Toujou on a date

So that's what the hair and outfit are for.

.

A/N: Well-played, Nozomi. Well-played.

Happy birthday Papachika! Thank you for rubbing off all your awkward and handsome genes to Umi lol