Back in Time [WMatsui fanfic]

CHAPTER 1

Rena discovered Akane was right about the new candidate. In fact, Rena couldn't believe how impressive her résumé was for someone of her age. At the age of 24, and after graduating from one of the most prestigious universities in the country, the girl who shared the same surname as her had already worked in big corporations in Japan. When she checked her résumé for the first time, Rena was having a hard time matching the drenched girl who was patiently waiting for her turn in the hallway with the person who had accomplished all those things on the paper.

Could looks be so deceiving?

She hired her. It was the most logical decision, albeit the fact she couldn't say the new candidate had made a first good impression on her. In the end, this brief, awkward moment in the elevator was all-forgotten. What mattered the most to Rena, was what Jurina Matsui could bring to the team. Rena had been looking for someone with the necessary skills to build the time machine, and it seemed the younger girl was in capacity to help them.

Jurina Matsui didn't disappoint her. In only one month, Rena was amazed by the amount of progress they had accomplished with the latest addition to the team. Of course, she didn't fool herself into believing it would be an easy task. They were progressing much faster thanks to her new assistant, but there were too many unknown parameters to know if they would ever manage to reach their objective.

Rena was more than grateful for her help, but she couldn't say that she had truly bonded with her new assistant. When it came to work, the other girl was always polite and on time, and anything but dedicated and professional. However, there was one personality trait she had difficulty adjusting to. Indeed, it didn't take her long to discover that Jurina Matsui was a total flirt.

She was almost sure that she had flirted with everyone on floor 22, men excluded. It didn't escape Rena's keen sense of observation that Jurina's conversations with her male co-workers always remained strictly professional. Why that? The head of Matsui Corporation found this difference in treatment between both sexes more than curious, but she kept her thoughts carefully to herself.

There was one realization that disturbed her even more than Jurina's flirty nature and obvious disinterest in men. Being her assistant, they interacted a lot during the day. There was one pattern her assistant followed with every other woman of the floor, except with her. She never tried to flirt with her. Not even once.

Jurina would smile to her here and then. Her kindness showed on many occasions, such as when she would bring her everyday her coffee inside her office at the 4 p.m. break. It wasn't something Rena had ever requested her to do, but that her assistant had taken the liberty to do on her own initiative. However, it never went any further than that. Rena could tell her assistant chose her words carefully each time they spoke. In fact, there was a form of shyness in her eyes that only seemed to appear when they interacted.

Was it because Rena was her superior, and as such her assistant feared she would be overstepping boundaries if she acted too carefree with her? Rena had not a clue, but was more than once taken aback by this difference of treatment towards her. She should be glad that her assistant was respectful and hardworking, so why was Jurina's attitude towards her troubling her so much?

Today again, Rena was witnessing her assistant's flirty behavior right in front of her nose. Because of the time machine project, the 24-year-old girl worked in close collaboration with Akane, and it seemed she had taken a particular liking in her. She flirted with her best friend way more often than with the other women of the floor. And, unfortunately for Rena, Akane's office was located right in her field of vision, making it impossible for her to ignore Jurina's actions.

This morning, Rena had plenty of work to do, but had a hard time focusing. A few minutes ago, her assistant had arrived at Akane's office, and was leaning over her shoulder to show her something on the touch screen monitor. They were too far for Rena to distinguish what they were saying, but she couldn't detach her eyes from the scene. Jurina had casually placed her hand on Akane's shoulder, an amused smile plastering her best friend's lips as Jurina was evidently saying something funny to her.