Nice to Meet You Again

Disclaimer: I do not own anything in this story. All respective characters, situations, etc. belong to Bisco Hatori. I am not profiting from this in any way, shape or form. I am merely borrowing the characters for my own amusement.

Chapter One

Crap, I thought. I was going to be late. I hate being late. It was all my roommate's fault. Aya invited some friends over from school "to relax," and as usual, they got me to join in the antics. Things are a little hazy, but I remember wine that later turned into liquor, lots of dancing, and even more of the room spinning. Ugh, peer pressure. You would think at 28 I'd know my drinking limit and when to say no, but apparently not.

The subway was more crowded than usual this morning, much to my annoyance. People were crushing me on all sides, ensuring that my suit was going to be wrinkled long before 8:30 am. Yeah, okay. Becoming an associate affords me enough money to take a taxi, but habits learned in childhood are hard to shake. It's always better to have some money stashed away in case of an emergency.

Aside from the obnoxious commute, and the long hours that come with working at a prestigious law firm, I can't complain about my life. I've achieved my dream. I am finally a lawyer, just like my mother. The work is honest and good and I go home at night knowing that I help others.

Okay, so I'm not seeing anybody at the moment, but that's not anything I'm concerned about. Like I said, I work long hours. It's hard to start a meaningful relationship when the earliest you can meet for a date is ten.

I've dated guys on and off, but the most serious relationship I've ever had was with Tamaki Suoh. That turned out just great in the end. It was my fault, too. I broke his heart, and destroyed six precious friendships in the process. Only Honey-sempai still talks to me, and even that is infrequent.

We dated for nearly six years before I destroyed his heart. That's a long time for any couple, but it's eternity when you're in high school. Everyone thought we would marry, but everyone was young and stupid. Tamaki and me especially. We had dreams of marrying and running away, marrying and becoming Tokyo's golden couple, marrying and growing old together, marrying and raising stupid goofy children. But, it just didn't work out that way.

I don't blame the club for taking his side, though. They were friends with him longer than they were with me, and I think deep down they knew I'd be okay. Tamaki was the one to worry about. I just needed some time to pick up the pieces of my own broken heart and to keep working.

I wish I could say there was one reason why it didn't work out between him and I, but instead, there were a dozen little reasons that when added up, meant I wasn't supposed to live the Suoh life. Sure we had dreams of running away, but they were just children's dreams. Both of us knew deep down I'd have to become to perfect Suoh trophy wife. He didn't want it for me, but his company would have pushed it on us. Japan may be a first world nation, but my country can be pretty old-fashioned when it comes to power and wealth.

Tamaki goes into life head first. He leaps before he thinks and wears his heart on his sleeve. I'm pretty sure within us dating for a month, he knew that he wanted to marry me. Within a month of dating Tamaki, I wasn't even sure I still wanted to date him. How someone can make a decision like that at 16 baffles me. I couldn't make any decision at 16. There were days when I wasn't even sure what shoes I wanted to wear in the morning, and I only owned two pairs of shoes!

He was much more comfortable with the fame than I was at the time. He had grown up in that world, and I was always the visitor. His family had gotten used to me by the third year of our dating, but it didn't matter. I felt like an outsider anyways. I never knew which fork to use, when to stand up or sit down, and when it was appropriate to introduce myself to a new person, and when it wasn't.

In the end, it was all just too much. Too many reasons to leave stacked on top of one another, and not enough reasons to stay. The hardest day of my life was the day I realized that even though I loved Tamaki Suoh, I couldn't be with him.

My thoughts are interrupted with the announcement that my stop is next. Pushing my way through the crowd, I'm able to get off the subway without too many battle scars. I quickly check my watch. 8:25. If I hurry, I'll only be ten minutes late. And if I'm really lucky, no one will notice I'm ten minutes late.

The Work Gods are with me today because I am able to sneak into the office without anyone noticing. Or, at least no one who matters. George, the receptionist notices, but he just winks, puts his finger to his lips and waves me in. I knew there was a reason I liked George. Besides a constant stream of office gossip, that is.

I'm barely seated at my desk before Saki, my assistant, comes in. "Haruhi-san, Nakamura-sacho has asked for your help at 10:00 am." I nod. Nakamura is one of the nicer senior partners. He's always treated me with respect, and even though he's never said anything, George swears he had a hand in getting me promoted.

"Do you know what with?"

Saki shrugs. "I just heard it's a big client, and an unusual case." Hm. That could describe just about anyone, and anything. There haven't been any big crimes in the news recently, and I haven't heard of any corporate scandals, so I have no idea what kind of case to expect. I smile at Saki, grateful for the little information she has.

"Thanks Saki-san." She smiles back and says she'll bring me some coffee in a few minutes, to which I'm grateful. She can always tell when I'm a little hungover.

Once the coffee arrives, I'm able to concentrate on long overdue e-mails, memos and bills. The work keeps me busy until Saki knocks on my door again to tell me of the imminent meeting. She walks with me to Nakamura's office. We have to navigate around the hustle and bustle of the Monday morning rush. No one seems to ever get enough work done on Friday, so people busily try to make up for it Monday morning.

"George was able to give me a little more information," she whispers conspiratorially. "He heard the client is a female, and an old friend of Nakamura-sacho's. It seems like Sacho specifically asked for y-o-u." She pokes me in the shoulder, like a friend would.

"Any idea why?" I ask, confused. I know I'm good at my job, but there are five other associates who are just as good at their job as I am.

"No clue. Maybe you know the client?" Saki wonders out-loud.

"Ha! I don't know anybody." I mutter mostly to myself. Well, that's not entirely true. I don't know anybody now. Which is entirely my fault. If I had chosen a different path, I'd probably know everyone.

Before Saki can interrogate me, I quickly ask, "did you get a name from George?"

Saki blushes. "He did say a name, but I've completely forgotten. I'm sorry. You'll just have to go in surprised."

"Don't worry about it. George usually exaggerates these things anyways." We reach Nakamura's office, Saki hands me my files, and wishes me luck with a cute "fighting" motion of her arms.

Nakamura's assistant buzzes into the office, and I'm immediately let in. The client is seated with her back towards me, and is in the midst of conversation with Nakamura. I give her the once over.

Hm...natural black hair, modest, yet chic clothing, in her forties. As I've grown up, there's something I've noticed about wealthy people. The people who like to show off their wealth aren't the richest. The flashier the person is, the more jewelry they wear, the more expensive car they drive, the less rich they are, comparatively. By the way this woman was tastefully dressed, she was extremely wealthy.

I cough to let Nakamura know I'm here, and he looks up from their intense conversation. "Ah, Fujioka-san. Come sit, and let me introduce you." He gestures to our client. She turns around to greet me, and that's when I see who it is.

Fuyumi Ootori.

Shit.

Author's Note: Hi everyone! I'm new around these parts, but not new to Ouran. However, it wasn't until the live action started airing that I realized how amaaaaazzzzzinnngggggg (with sparkles and hearts and rainbows) Kyoya is, and I jumped ship. I've only written the first two chapters of this story, but I've got a complete outline, so I hope I can update regularly. In the meantime, I'd love any sort of feedback, even if it's just spazzing about how handsome Daito Shunsuke is (because omg, I can't even stand it, and yeah, I will spazz with you over it).

And as a last note, just so people don't get upset,...we won't actually see Kyoya until chapter 3 or 4...