CITRUS ~ A Long Way From Home / Trust

Chapter 11

DAY 1

<<Speaking English>>

Mei and Yuzu woke up early to get ready for their first work day at the investment firm. It was a different feeling compared to getting ready for school. This time they wouldn't be with girls their own ages. There will be different business representatives from around the country, and the world, that they would be meeting with. And that made Yuzu a little nervous.

Mei, however, wasn't concerned. She believes that this would be no different then meeting with the board members at the academy. So she mentally prepared herself for the day ahead.

But Yuzu was very concerned about Mei. Last night showed her that Mei may not be completely ready to handle everything that could happen today. And there was no way to prepare for everything since things were somewhat different then back home. All she could do was offer her support and a shoulder to lean on if Mei needed it.

As they were getting ready, Mei still couldn't help but notice how beautiful Yuzu looked in another business suit, very similar to what she wore the night before. She would blush as she looked away from Yuzu, thinking that now wasn't the time to fantasize about such things.

- - - - - - - - - - -

It was a busy morning outside Southern California. So much traffic on the roads that it can look overwhelming to those who've never seen it for the first time.

As Tim drove them towards the firm, both young ladies were each speaking on their phones while the glass partition gave them privacy.

<<... and they'll be delivered to the hotel lobby by 6:00 this evening?>> asked Yuzu on the phone. <<That's great! Thank you so much. Goodbye.>>

Yuzu looked over at Mei, who was on her own phone.

"...and I'm glad to hear that he's doing better" said Mei. "...Alright then. I'll need verification of the names by tonight so I can report my findings tomorrow morning. Any help you can offer would be appreciated. Thank you."

"Who was that?" asked Yuzu as Mei hung up.

"That was Miss Asuna back home" said Mei. "Her father is doing a little better, so she'll be at the office in the morning to look into something for me."

"That's good to hear about her dad" said Yuzu. "But I'm sorry it's nothing I can do to help you. Guess I can only do so much."

"It's not like that" said Mei. "The information I'm looking for can only be found in certain places. We don't have access to any of that here.

"Did you speak with the printer?"

"Yeah" said Yuzu. "They'll drop off everything at the hotel tonight. We'll just need to go to the lobby to pick them up."

"Good" said Mei. "Then let's hope everything else works out in our favor this week."

"Well after last night, things should be okay. The people there were really impressed with you" said Yuzu, referring to last night's reception.

"It still wasn't the way I wanted to bring attention to myself" said Mei, thinking of some of the people's behavior. "I'm beginning to think that Americans need to be amused before taking notice of someone or something."

"Well" said Yuzu, "like mama said, 'What happened is what happened. There's nothing you can do about it except learn from the experience and make the best with what you have'."

Mei looked over at Yuzu, thinking that the reasoning was too simple, yet accurate. She had no choice but to deal with the circumstances, no matter the outcome. It was a thought she pondered as she reached for the intercom. <<Tim? We're all done here. Thank you.>>