A Second Chance

The Arrival

I was scanning through some designs, wondering which one to pick and what to improve as I heard Lexi call out to me in a loud voice.
“Akira-san! Good morning !” She said with a bright smile as she placed her set of files on her desk. I walked over to her cubicle as she sat down, stretching her arms to prepare for the day's work. 
“Good morning, Lexi Kanasaki.” I said, stressing on her last name to make sure she knew how angry I was.“Now, tell me; Why do you have so much pending work?” I asked indignantly, pointing at the file on her desk.
“I– I was partying for two days…”, her smile slowly slipping away as she saw my expression.“I'm sorry but I've completed it now, I swear.”She said sheepishly.

“Don't repeat this, Lexi. You know well just how many clients we have now. Meetings are going out of schedule and that man hasn't come to the office for three days.” I said as I checked for any missed calls from him. I scrolled through my recent calls. There weren't any. Of course there wasn't. 
“I'm sorry Akira-san, I'll get to them right away”, Lexi said. I nodded  and went back to my quarters.
Letting out a sigh, I kept my phone down and sat down to complete some designs. After one hour of scouring through my mails and  placating clients and finishing off the pending deadlines, there were so many tabs and folders open in my laptop I was worried it'll start puffing out black smoke from overload. I could feel my lost sleep from yesterday coming to haunt me so I switched off my laptop and rubbed my eyes.

The office had gotten more crowded in the one hour I was glued to the screen and I could hear chatters and raised voices from somewhere above. I decided to go to the balcony to get some fresh air and stood up. I saw Lexi staring off distantly into space and glared at her just for a second at which she hurriedly straightened her posture and got back to her work. Ah shucks, I thought as I walked to the refreshment area. I hope she doesn't end up thinking I'm a demon in disguise boss or anything by the end of this month.
                             *
I opened the sleek glass door and stepped out onto the balcony. It was a windy day and the current blew harshly, separating strands of my hair and blowing them away from my shoulders. I'd taken a cup of coffee to offer me strength to survive on 2 hours of fitful sleep. I took a few sips and inhaled deeply, closing my eyes. Maybe I'll fall asleep right here and nobody would mind. They'd just think I'm dead and be too busy with their work to call up the clean up crew or something. From the hectic schedule of these past few weeks, it's a mighty plausible scenario.  
I drank a bit more of the much needed caffeine. Finally, some peace—
 My phone rang loudly in my pocket. I sighed as I reached for my phone, preparing to yell at whoever it is who's so determined to fray my temper into bits. I opened my phone to a name I hadn't seen for a long time. 
Yaku Morisuke. One of my best friends at Nekoma and the one who had helped me go mom-mode on all the other idiots who kept on practicing till I had to drag them out of the gym by their collar, chastising them all the way.  I wonder what he wants now…

I picked up the phone and was greeted by the same old cheery voice from which I could hear him smiling.

Akira: Hey Morisuke. What's up?
Yaku: Aki-chan! How are you?
Akira: Honestly, I'm tired and I desperately need soba ASAP.
Yaku: Haha, sounds like you.  You haven't changed have you? 
Akira: Oh no, I changed into my work clothes this morning. If you want me to change then I'll need another set of clothes. 
Yaku: That was so bad I wanted to rip my head off. You still have the dumbest sense of humour, along with Mr.Rooster Head. Speaking of which, has he been contacting you?

That was it. Change of topics. I can't and won't talk or think about that shithead.  Why should I ruin a perfectly fine day with thoughts of him ? Well…perfect might be too much of a stretch but still.

Yaku: Hey? Akira? Are you there?
He said, a little concern peaking out. I cleared my throat and shook off my thoughts.
Akira: I, umm… no, he hasn't. He left on a pretty bad note that day and since then, no contact. I tried but that man's ego is limitless.
Thinking about him will just ruin me.