Winds of Destiny: Falling ~ {Hawks x OC}

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Birthday Surprise

Misaki hummed to herself as she made the President's morning tea, a pleasant smile gracing her lips and a faint blush coloring the apples of her cheeks. She wasn't wearing any makeup, she was just happy. Starting that evening, she would be taking a three-day trip down to Fukuoka for the weekend. It had been almost three months since she'd been able to take any time off, and it couldn't have come at a better time. Her smile never left her face as she walked in and placed the teacup on the President's desk.

Without looking up from the report in her hand, the President casually told her, "Happy birthday, Misaki."

Startled at the sudden congratulations, she blinked a couple of times before her expression softened and she warmly replied, "Thank you, Madam President."

The woman lowered the report she'd been reading and turned toward her from behind the desk before inquiring, "Do you have any plans for your long weekend?"

A shy smile worked its way across Misaki's face, and she turned her eyes downcast as she demurely replied, "Actually, my boyfriend is taking me to dinner."

The President's eyes widened a bit at her admission. "A boyfriend? How come I've never heard you speak of him?"

Misaki's eyes widened and she cringed slightly as she realized her mistake a moment too late.

"We try to keep things private. He's kind of a public figure, I guess you could say," she hesitantly replied, hoping that the woman wouldn't try to pry too much into her reasons for being so vague.

"Is it serious?" The President's intrigued tone asked as she raised her teacup to take a sip, staring at her inquisitively over the rim.

Misaki reached up to coyly tuck her long bangs behind her ear, unable to keep the warm smile from her face as she considered the prospect. "I like to think so."

The President cast her a knowing, sidelong glance before picking the report back up as she told her, "In that case, you may want to find a subtle way to show the single men around the office that you're off the market for the time being. You're a bit of a celebrity yourself around here."

Misaki gasped softly, bringing the tray she was holding up against her chest and crossing her arms over it. "Oh, I don't want to presume—"

"Just a suggestion," the President drawled.

She ducked her head sheepishly before bowing toward the woman and replying, "Thank you for your consideration, Madam President."

She quickly turned and hurried out of the office, tossing the tray on top of her desk and flopping down into her chair as she hung her head in her hands with a low groan.

Stupid! How could you slip up like that?

While he hadn't expressly told her not to inform the President about their relationship, she wasn't deaf. She'd been able to hear the apprehension in his tone when he'd asked her before the Kamino Incident if she'd told the woman about them. She didn't know why he didn't want her to know, but it didn't really matter that much to her one way or the other. If he wanted to keep their relationship out of the office, she didn't have a problem with that. She just hoped she'd been able to successfully dissuade the President from asking her any more questions until she felt more comfortable answering them.

Her phone started ringing on top of her desk and she picked it up to answer it without looking at the caller ID. "Hello?"

"Happy birthday," Hawks's voice told her from the other end of the line.

"Keigo!" She gasped, her smile returning full force at the sound of his familiar lilt. She turned away from the door to the President's office and lowered her voice before saying, "Thank you."