How to deal with a runaway girl

Chapter 9

The girl hid her hot face in her hands. There was a silly smile on her lips. She couldn't deny it any longer, every time she was with Takano she felt a pleasant warmth inside. She felt as comfortable with him as she had ever felt before. (These escape plans... Maybe I don't have to rush them so much...) she thought, looking somewhere to the side. But after a while, the aroused emotions slowly began to calm down. The girl patted her cheeks to sober herself up.

"I can't get too attached, because the more I get attached to him, the harder it will be to leave him" She said to herself, getting up from the bed.

She tiptoed to the door, trying to hear if anyone was there. After several dozen seconds of complete silence, she decided to leave, concluding that the way was clear. However, she was corrected almost immediately. On the right side of the door stood Midari, extremely serious, even more serious than usual. Aki, thinking back to the situation in which the tall Japanese found her and Takano, blushed, made an embarrassed face and looked away.

"Need something?" He asked, his right eyebrow raising questioningly.

(Think! Think! Think!) her brain screamed.

"Here's the thing..." She started very slowly, thinking hard about an excuse. "If I'm going to stay here... I'd need to buy a few things... But I don't have much money for it..." Embarrassment made her say the first thing that came to her tongue.

"If these are preparations for an escape, remember that as long as I am here, no plans have a chance of success" He said coldly.

"I'm not going to run away (at least not yet), so please... Can you take me to the store?" She asked, realizing that it actually wasn't a bad idea. (Since I'm staying here for now...) she began to convince herself.

Apparently Midari also thought it was a good idea, because a few minutes after squinting and frowning and saying dispassionately, "Let's go," they were both in the car, leaving for the city. A few kilometers later, they pulled into the parking lot of one of the shopping centers, and after a while they were walking down the corridor and looking around the stores. Aki almost immediately caught the eye of a store that suited her tastes, so she pulled her reluctant companion inside by the hand, and then, with skillful movements, she began to look through the clothes on the hangers. In a few moments, she chose a pair of T-shirts and two pairs of pants. She just looked into the changing room to check if the clothes would fit and went to the cash register, where a bored Midari was waiting. On the way, Aki stopped at a lingerie store. Just before leaving, her eyes fell on a very provocative and sexy set. She immediately thought of Takano's reaction if he saw her in something like that and blushed bright red. On the way to the parking lot, she didn't dare look at Midari, afraid that the man would notice her embarrassment.

In the end, she was glad that she could buy some new clothes... She had been wearing the ones she had now for over two days and she didn't feel comfortable with it. They returned to the car and headed back. This time, Aki decided to ask the tall Japanese man about some details that interested her. However, she couldn't get down to it and just squirmed in her chair.

"Why was Takano attacked in the park?" She managed to break through and asked Midari, tilting her head slightly. Trying to look as innocent as possible. Guys always fall for innocence. Always.

"There are many people who do not want him in this position. They think that the previous boss let him take over too quickly" Midari replied without even giving Aki a glance.

"What does he do?" The girl did not give up, she leaned towards the Japanese, simultaneously grabbing the edge of her chair with her hands and emphasizing her breasts with her arms.

"You don't need to know that" (Okay, maybe it doesn't work for everyone...) she thought when she heard the answer given in a dispassionate tone. Asking about work was forbidden, that much was obvious.

"How old is Takano anyway?" She asked, raising one leg and clasping her hands on her knee.

"Twenty nine" (Oh, so you can ask about that.)

"Er? He doesn't look like his age" She said in surprise, throwing her head back on the headrest.  "What about you?" She added, tilting her head towards him.

"Thirty eight"

Aki choked and couldn't regain her composure for a moment.

"Seriously?" She widened her teary eyes at him. "You don't look like it!"

Midari sighed.

"You reacted as if I said I was a dinosaur" It was impossible to read his emotions, so Aki didn't know whether the man was angry at her or just joking. "Is it really that much...?"

Aki shook her head so firmly that her hair ruffled.

"N-no! Come on!" She assured eagerly.

(Change the subject! Quickly!) she urged herself mentally.

"A... So... Mmm... Yyyy... O-have you been working together for a long time?" She finally managed to choke out.

"You could say that I was the right hand of the previous boss. When he handed over power to the current one, he told me to stay with him. So I did"

"So what do you do?" Aki asked again before she could bite her tongue. The man looked with visible irritation. He didn't break eye contact even for a moment. The girl began to cast nervous glances at the windshield, and after a while she nervously pointed ahead.

"R-road... L-look at the r-road... please..."

"We are already there" When he leaned his back against the chair again, the tone of his voice was unreadable.

They got out of the car, took their shopping with them, and went straight to Takano's room. Aki immediately picked out a few things and headed towards the bathroom.

"I'm going to take a bath, so you don't have to wait here. And no, I'm not going to run away again today" She wanted to calm the tall Japanese man down a bit, but she couldn't tell if it had any effect.

Midari left the room without a word. Aki breathed a sigh of relief, she could use the bathroom in peace. She took a long relaxing bath, felt very sleepy, even dozed off, but woke up as soon as her nose was immersed in the bubbled water. After getting out of the bathtub, she dried herself thoroughly with a soft towel and changed into new clothes, then went to the room, rubbing her eyes from tiredness. But she didn't want to go to bed hungry. She sat on the bed, wondering what to do. 

(There's no way Midari actually went away and left me unattended...) she thought very rationally. (Let's try...)

"Erm... M-midari?" She raised her voice uncertainly. The summoned man entered the room. "Is it possible for me to get something to eat? Because I'm hungry" She said, looking at the ground, afraid to look at the Japanese.

"The boss should be back soon, and the group dinner will be in an hour. Can you wait?"

"And eat with everyone again...? Come on...! Please..." She added, stealing a glance at Midari. "Can't you bring me something?" Her voice trembled pleadingly. "An ordinary sandwich will be enough" She insisted.

The man sighed and left. A few minutes later he was back, with a plate of sandwiches and drinking water in his hands. The girl jumped at the sight. She ran to him, took the food and sat it down at the table next to the bed. Eagerly eating, every now and then carefully looking at the Japanese with a satisfied face. "You see, I could have run away, but I stayed, so don't be mad at me for earlier!" – these words radiated from her.

"Thank you, you are divine! May your boss reward you with bigger salary!" She said, smiling brightly, her cheeks stuffed like a hamster's. Midari shook his head in disbelief and left the room. The girl began to chew even more furiously. When she finished, she felt her eyes watering. She clumsily climbed onto the bed, hugged the pillow filled with Takano's scent, and fell asleep.