"Where is she?" Ayumi Reiner asks as soon as she sits down. The Manager look at the other workers and notice that someone is not there. He takes a deep gulp before turning back at Ayumi.
"Who? Oh, you mean Hitomi-san? I'm sorry chief, but she doesn't come in today." he said.
Upon hearing that, Ayumi immediately stands up. Her face seems furious.
"What do you mean she didn't come? Where is she?" she said, slightly annoyed.
The manager nervously scratches his cheeks. "At home, I think. She called in earlier to inform that she had caught a fever last night. It's quite unfortunate, really. But she said she'll come tomorrow once she feels a little better." the Manager added.
Ayumi does not look too pleased with that answer. 'I know something like this would happen after she kick me out yesterday.' she whispered to herself.
Yesterday interaction with Hitomi begin to enter her mind.
"Are you sure you don't want me to come in? I can help you get to bed..." Ayumi offers. Hitomi shakes her head and tries to close the door.
"Hold on..." Ayumi protest. Hitomi stopped.
"Please let me inside. I'm worried about you." she says softly. Hitomi only looks at her but didn't say a word. When Ayumi shows no sign of leaving from her doorstep, Hitomi step back outside and try to closed the door behind her again.
"Thank you, but you have done enough. I...I'll be fine on my own." she says nervously. Ayumi look a little angry. Without a warning, she tries to barge into Hitomi's apartment.
"Liar! You don't look well to me at all." she said and touches Hitomi forehead. Hitomi quickly moves away from her.
"Ayumi-san... please leave." she said a finally closes the door for good. Ayumi couldn't help but think that its probably bad to leave Hitomi alone last night. 'If only I have been persistent, perhaps I can...'
"Ayumi-san.... Ayumi-san?" ask The Manager. He been calling out Ayumi for a while now. Ayumi lifted up her chin and look at him.
"Yes? What is it?"
"Would that be all? See, I need to get back to my work."
"Yes. We're done here." she said. As soon as the Manager is gone, Ayumi walk out from the store and get inside of her car.
"Take me to her." she instructed her driver. The driver quickly restart the engine. In no time, the car have enter the main road again.
*****
Twenty-minutes later, Ayumi Reiner arrives at Hitomi's old apartment. Ayumi feel instantly uncomfortable just by standing there, especially after what happened last night. Still, she pull a brave face and begin to climb the stairs.
but she pull a brave face and walk towards the stairs. There's about five level to the apartment and Hitomi's apartment is at level 3. Since the elevator is broken, Ayumi have no choice but to start climbing the stairs. If it wasn't for her well-made shoes, Ayumi almost regret wearing a 10 inches heels that day.
After an infinite struggles with the stairs, she finally arrives in front of Hitomi doorstep. She give the door a couple of knocks, but no one answers. Unsure what to do, she tries to turn the knob. Surprisingly, the door is unlocked.
This is strange... Did Hitomi-san forget to lock her door yesterday? Ayumi thinks quietly to herself.
The door make a slight creaking sound as Ayumi enters the apartment. As expected, the inside looks even smaller than the outside. Still, despite of its size, the apartment looks quite tidy and well-organized. There's only two door in that apartment, with the one on her left being the bathroom. Ayumi eyes quickly darted towards another door.
'So, that must be the door to her bathroom, then.' Ayumi thinks to herself.
"Hitomi-san?" Ayumi slowly call out from outside. No answer. Ayumi silently begin to knock on the door. Still no answer. This time, she tries to turn the knob. With one turn, the door is unlocked. Ayumi couldn't help but frown.
Not only did she forget to lock the front door earlier, and now this? What if a pervert breaks in? Hitomi could get herself in a lot of trouble. 'Sheesh... someone ought to teach this girl some lesson about danger and safety.' Ayumi murmur under her breath.
As soon as the bedroom door is open, Ayumi notice that Hitomi is fast asleep on a futon and covered only by a thin blanket. There's one pillow underneath her head. Ayumi wasn't sure why, but her heart breaks at the sight of Hitomi's sleeping condition. She leaned on and touches Hitomi forehead silently.
"Her fever has gotten worse..." she said solemnly. Hitomi is still fast asleep, completely unaware of what is happening around her. Ayumi's traces her fingers softly across Hitomi's cheek.
Hitomi groans a little before opening her mouth.
"Who's there?" Hitomi ask. Her voice sounds weak and tired. Ayumi stopped. She leaned in so she could get a bit closer to Hitomi ear.
"Don't worry... It's just me." she said gently. Hitomi slowly opens her eyes.
"Ayumi-san?" she asks. Ayumi nodded her head.
"You have a fever. Have you taken a medicine?" she asks.
Hitomi shakes her head.
"That's bad... Wait here. I go out and grab some." she says. Hitomi look at Ayumi momentarily before turning her face towards the wall. Before leaving, Ayumi notice a bunch of keys hanging on the hook. She thinks it's the spare key to Hitomi's apartment.
"I probably should take this." she said to herself. She get down the stairs and tap her driver shoulder.
"Let's go. We got a little shopping to do." she said. The driver swiftly put out his cigarette and opens the door for her. She enters and the door closes again
While sitting on the back, Ayumi crossed her legs. At that moment, she didn't feel like smoking. Her head is filled thinking about the girl she just left at the apartment, and how she can quickly get back to help her.
*****
"Excuse me, is this good for a patient?" Ayumi asks the worker at the convenience store. He looks at her with a question all over his face.
"Err... I guess so?" he replied. Ayumi stopped putting things inside of her basket. She's look at him.
"Can be you be more precise when I ask? Do you even work here?" she ask sternly.
The worker immediately stiffen his body.
"Y... y... yes maam."
"Good. Then, help me out. Well, what about this? Is it any good?" she asks. The worker still have a puzzle look on his face. Ayumi left out a heavy sigh before putting down the basket.
"If you can't help me, I'm going to another store..." she threatens and pretends to walk away. The worker immediately stop her.
"Hold on, miss... I think I know what you want." he says. Ayumi stop walking and turned at him.
"Well, do you now?" she asks in a sarcastic tone. He immediately nods.
"Of course... I think what you need is a care package, right? Is someone you know sick?" he added.
Ayumi didn't answer him and only crossed her arms. The worker smiles at her sheepishly.
"Right?"
"Yes. Someone that I care about is sick. Will you help?"
"Yes. But, you don't need all of this things. Just keep it simple. Do you know her favorite food?" the worker ask. Ayumi looks dumbfounded. She just meet Hitomi a couple of days ago. How can she know that?
Still, she wouldn't want this worker to know anything about her personal life, so she quickly say the first thing in her head.
"Do you have any gummy bears back there?"
"Gummy bears?"
"Yes. It's my older sister favorite snack." she added. The worker immediately nodded. He grabbed a couple of gummy bear a few racks away from him. Then, he put it into a new basket.
"Done. Now let's move on to the next one. What about a fever patch?"
"Sure. What else do got here?"
A couple of minutes later, Ayumi went out of store with two bags full of fever patches, cold medicine, snacks and sports drinks. Turns out, the worker at that convenience store is more helpful than he looks. Ayumi is pleased with her purchase. The driver help her carries the bag while she go to smoke nearby to calm herself down.
"We're we going next miss?" the driver ask as soon she's re-enters the car. Ayumi crossed her arms again before looking at him.
"Let's go back to her apartment." she said, short and simple. The driver silently nodded.
*****
Ayumi head begin to slumped on the table as she's looks at Hitomi. It's been a few hours since she return to Hitomi's apartment. All those time she been taking care of her, but Hitomi fever still hasn't come down. Ayumi couldn't help but worried.
'How odd... I have done everything I could to help her out. Why isn't her fever coming down? What did I do wrong?' she thinks to herself.
Her eyes started to look all around her.
Is it because of this place? Is this the reason why she only gets sicker?
Ayumi pulled out her phone and press #1. A few seconds later, her driver answered.
"Yes, maam?" he asked.
"I'm gonna need you to come upstairs. Apartment 3B. The apartment number is 301."
"Of course. Right away, maam. " he replied. It took her driver only a couples of minutes to reach Hitomi's apartment. As soon as he arrives, Ayumi quickly instructed him to carry Hitomi back to the car.
"But, is this okay, maam? Can we remove this person from her apartment without consent?" he asked back.
Ayumi look at him with one raised eyebrow, "Of course. She is my employee and I feel responsible for her." she replied. Her driver is still not convinced.
"But..."
"What's with all the questioning? Can't you see that she's sick? Just bring her downstairs, Kei. Carefully..." she added.
Kei didn't dare to question any further. He can see Ayumi's reasoning behind taking this person away, but he remain unconvinced. All because of what he had witness a couple of days ago. As Ayumi's personal driver, its very hard not to take notice about the two interactions.
Kei hate doing things like this but, because this is Ayumi Reiner, his employer - he had no say in it. His job is at stake here. He knows better than to say anything in order to keep his job.
"Is this okay?" the driver ask again after positioning Hitomi's leg.
Ayumi nods,"It's fine. Now close the door." she reply. Kei silently close the door. He enter the car and readjusted the review mirror. Through the mirror, he sees Ayumi concerned face looking down at Hitomi. Why does she look so worry over some stranger? He wonder.
Could it be.... because she looks like her late sister?
"Kei, aren't you going to move? What are you waiting for?" Ayumi voice quickly snap the driver from his reverie. Startled, he quickly start the engine. Silently, he begin to drive them back to Ayumi's mansion at the outskirts of city.
- End of Chapter 3 -