CHAPTER 1


*RIIIIIIIING*

The sound of the alarm clock echoed throughout the whole house, so loud that felt like it was coming from inside the head rather than the side of the bed. An arm of a sleepy young lady reached for the table lazily and started slamming blindly on it, hoping to find the annoying mechanism without opening her eyes. The table had to be batted a few times before the annoying mechanism was found and got slammed, silencing it immediately. Once again, the house is filled with peaceful silence, but not for long. She was disturbed by yet another annoying voice.

“Hey, hey! Wake up! Wake up! Today’s the day! We’re going to be late!” An excited girl’s voice roared into the sleepy girl’s ears as her body was nudged continuously.

“Mmmm........” That’s the only grumbling voice she could make for now.

“Hey, are you listening? Wake up!” 

“Mmmm.........” Once again, the same grumbling voice.

“Come on! Wake up!” The hyperactive girl pulled the sleepy girl up to a sitting position and started nudging her again.

“...........” No reactions from the sleepy girl. Her head remained tilted downwards as if she had no spine at all.

As soon as the girl let go of her grip, the tired girl fell right back onto her comfortable mattress and continued snoring.

She sighed. “You made me do this... Don’t blame me for any injuries.”

“Haiya!!!” The active girl literally flipped the whole mattress over.  

“Kyaa!!” A shriek was heard as the sleepy girl got flipped over to the floor along with her mattress. The next second, the mattress was already laying on top of the helpless girl.

The girl on the ground mumbled to herself. “That.......hurts......”

“Oh, now you’re awake? Get up! We’re going to be late for the interview!”

“Mmmmmm............ Hmmm?” The girl laying under the mattress still seemed a little fuzzy.

“Did you not hear me? Get up, Rena! It’s 10am now!” The hyperactive girl shouted.

“What!? That late already!?” Rena lifted the mattress away and finally took a glance at her friend. She then let out a flirty whistle at her friend as she shifted her eyes from top to bottom. “Wow... Looking good, Mayu...”

Rena had never seen Mayu in formal clothing before other than during university presentations. Now that she finally got to see it for the first time outside the presentation, Rena seemed really impressed by it.

“I’m flattered, Rena. Now go take your bath.” Mayu instructed.

After glancing a few more times at Mayu, she flew across the room and into the bathroom to take her usual morning shower.

“You better make it fast, Rena.. We’re going to be late.” The girl kept on pointing on her own watch, emphasizing the time.

Rena’s head popped out of the bathroom door. “Oh don’t worry, Mayu.. I’ll just take ten minutes max for my shower.” 

Mayu squinted her eyes at the bathroom. “Somehow I have a very bad feeling about this...”

30 minutes later.........

“Damn it, I knew you would take this long for your shower! You always have! At this rate, we won’t even get to reach on time for the interview!” Mayu groaned again and again.

“Ok, I’m done.” Rena hopped out of the bathroom and ran towards the dressing table. “Hmm... What make up should I wear? Hey, any suggestions?”

“Forget about make up. We’re late. Let’s go!” Mayu seemed really frustrated.

“How can you say that? Everybody needs to look good for job interviews, right?” Rena shot a playful wink at Mayu.

“Oh, don’t you start shooting your deadly winks all over the place, Rena. If you wanted a good make up then you should have woke up earlier and do these things rather than continue to sleep like a pig..”

“Whatever you say, I still need at least some make up. I can’t go for a job interview looking like a monkey.” Rena insisted.

“Well now you confess that you look like a monkey..” Mayu laughed out loud.

Rena sarcastically faked a laugh. “HA! HA! HA! Not funny, Mayu!” She then proceeded with her make up.

“Alright, fine.. I have no time to argue with you. And make it fast. Just a light one will do.” Mayu said in a hurried tone.

After some ‘light’ make up......

“Ok, now your face looks like a baboon’s .” Mayu laughed once again.

“Hey, it’s not that bad...or red..” Rena rolled her eyes.

“Sure sure..... Whatever...” Mayu giggled for one last time before they finally moved on towards the shoe rack.

“Now for shoes.... Hey, Mayu.. Should I wear high heels or flats?” Rena smiled and blinked her eyes innocently at Mayu.

Mayu simply looked back at Rena and sighed loudly. “Girl, just choose whatever you feel like. Don’t ask me for fashion advice at times like this.”

“Oh, come on Mayu... Give me some ideas..” Rena insisted on getting some fashion tips at this time.

Mayu pressed her thumb and index finger on her own forehead as a sign of frustration and closed her eyes. “I don’t know about you, Rena.. But I am so tempted to wear those spike shoes right now and kick the crap out of you if you don’t hurry up and choose them yourself.”

“Ok ok.. Jeez... You’re like a lecturing mother.” Rena chose the pair of red heels.

“Oh, you better wish I do not turn into a lecturing grandmother instead.. The interview is at 11am and yet, now at 10.45am, we’re still at home!”

“Alright, alright... Let’s go!” Rena finally wore her heels and exited the house together with Mayu.

“Lucky the hotel’s just few blocks away, huh?” They started running along the sidewalk and towards a tall building which they could see from their house already.

As they were running along the streets, Rena suddenly stopped in her tracks and looked into a pastry store. Mayu who noticed this, stopped in her tracks as well and turned back. “What now, Rena?”

Rena smiled back at Mayu innocently. “Do you want something to eat?”

“Darn it, Rena. Eating can wait. Our interview can’t! Now let’s go!” Mayu told in a panic tone.

Rena took another glance at the pastry store and then back towards Mayu. Then another glance at the pastry store, then back at Mayu. All Mayu could do right now is just to squint her eyes back at Rena and act dumb. “What? Stop standing there and let’s get going!”

“I’ll be fast.. Promise!” Rena immediately ran into the pastry store.

“Really!? Damn it, if we’re late for the interview, I’m going to strangle you, Rena.” Mayu cursed.

Well at least Rena made it out of the store fast. She came running out of the store with a melon pan stuck in while holding onto a bottle of mineral water. “Ok ok.. Now let’s go.. The hotel’s just in front.”

Didn’t take them long to reach the hotel as well since the hotel was just few blocks away. As they reached the hotel, they stopped in their tracks and looked up at the tall building in awe. “This is it. AKB Hotel.. One of the top hotels in the world.”

Rena who had just swallowed her melon pan, looked at Mayu with a look of confidence. “Ready to chase after our dreams, partner?”

Mayu replied with a smirk. “You bet.. Let’s go..”

They made their way into the hotel lobby and they were surprised by the perfection of the interior design. All the way from the marble coated walls, beams and columns to the finely carved furnitures. The view was simply magnificent with a huge chandelier shining beautifully in gold throughout the whole lobby from the ceiling and the floor tiles are made out of the finest quality of marbles.

“Daaaaaaaaaamn......” Mayu’s eyes and mouth were pried open in awe from the beautiful designs that she didn’t even realize she spoke out loud.

“One of the best hotels in the world indeed..” Rena nodded her head. “Beautiful..”

Most of the hotel guests are dressed up in elegant formal attire.

“This place really is full of rich people..” Mayu whispered into Rena’s ear.

“Expected. It’s one of the top hotels after all...” Rena whispered as well because they didn’t want to look ‘poor’ in front of all the rich people.

“This is the first time I ever stepped into this hotel despite staying so close.. All I have ever seen in my life was just the exterior of the hotel.” Mayu was still in awe.

“Hey, come on. Our sight seeing can come later once we get ourselves a job in this hotel.” Rena patted Mayu’s back.

“Right... Let’s find where is the office block..” Both Rena and Mayu walked towards a signboard pinned up on a huge column and looked for directions to the office block.

“Office block is on the first floor...” Mayu looked around and found a flight of stairs. “Oh, that must be the stairs to the office block. Let’s go! Let’s go!”

Mayu started dashing towards the stairs as they were already 10 minutes late. Rena who followed Mayu from behind opened the cap from her water bottle and drank some water from it while scurrying towards the stairs as well. As she was pacing a little too fast, Rena accidentally tripped on her own foot and watched slowly as the bottle of water escaped from her grasp and spilled onto a young lady nearby.

“Oh my god!” Rena covered in shock. The young lady was drenched.

“My $1000 formal attire!!” The lady was shocked. Her hands were literally shaking from the scene of her expensive clothing getting ruined in just a few seconds. She then shot an angry glare at Rena and pointed her finger right at her face. Even her finger was trembling from anger. “You!!!! This is my best clothing! I wore this attire solely for my important meeting today!”

Rena apologized and attempted to leave right away. “I’m really sorry, ma’am.. It was an accident.. We have some important business to attend to right now. I’ll pay you back later on.. I promise..”

“Oh, no you’re not going anywhere! Not until you pay me back for my clothes!” The lady grabbed onto Rena’s wrist.

“Hey, let go!” Rena tried to pry the lady off her.

Mayu pointed behind the young lady with a shocked expression. “Oh!! Isn’t that the superstar, Maeda Atsuko!?!?”

“Where!?” The lady turned back. “I don’t see her anywhere.”

As soon as she turned back, both Mayu and Rena were gone.

“Damn it, I got tricked!” The lady screamed and cursed in frustration. “The both of you will get it the next time I meet you two!”

In no time, both Mayu and Rena reached the office block. Rena seemed a little troubled. “I feel a little guilty, Mayu... Her clothes cost $1000...”

“You feel guilty, so what? You’re going to pay her back? And where exactly do you find this $1000 to pay her back?”

“Well.......” Rena gave it some thought and ended up shrugging her shoulders.

“See what I mean? You don’t even have the money for it. You should be happy that I saved you just now.” Mayu said in a sarcastic tone.

“What if she finds us again?” Rena asked in a worried tone.

“Pfft.. Unlikely. Japan is so big. There will not be any chance of us meeting that lady again.” Mayu brushed Rena off immediately.

“Hmm.. Maybe you’re right..” Rena nodded.

“Well, luckily the interview has not started yet.. Let’s get our attendance marked with the secretary first.” Both Rena and Mayu walked towards the secretary standing just outside the CEO’s room.

“Watanabe Mayu and Matsui Rena here.” Rena told the secretary.

The secretary started flipping over some papers she was holding onto, searching for their names. “Watanabe Mayu..... Matsui Rena...... Watanabe Mayu....... Matsui Rena...... Oh there you go.”

The secretary ticked their names and smiled back at them. “Alright. With this, it seems like everyone is present already. Take a seat on the couch over there and I’ll be with you guys shortly.”

She then went back into the CEO’s room.

“So let’s see what do we have here...” Mayu looked around and see that there are about 20 people sitting around, waiting for the interview as well. She started analyzing the whole area, looking left and right at all the candidates and whispered at Rena’s ear. “They look well prepared for this...”

Rena whispered back. “Of course they are well prepared for this. I mean, who would want to screw up such a good job opportunity? Why do you think I slept late last night, huh?”

Mayu gave Rena an annoyed look. “You were playing Dance Dance Revolution in your room, Rena..”

“Erm...” Rena shifted her eyes awkwardly from left to right and looked back at Mayu with a straight face. “No..........”

“Yes you were, Rena. My room and your room is just one wall apart. The volume was so loud, I thought my eardrums were about to burst. I couldn’t even sleep. You were even singing along to it. I had to literally plug wet tissues into my ears to sleep.”

“That bad, huh?” Rena innocently scratched the back of her head.

“What do you think?” Mayu seemed annoyed.

“Hey, but at least I did some research about it later on, right?”

“Right...........” Mayu said in a sarcastic tone.

At this time, the secretary opened the CEO’s door and made an announcement. “To all the interviewees, thank you for coming here for the job interview. Our CEO, Miss Kashiwagi Yuki will be personally interviewing everyone here. She is already waiting for everyone in her room. As I said before, two people will be interviewed at the same time. First two, Miss A and Mister B, come in, please.” 

Mayu whispered into Rena’s ears. “Apparently, they really are telling the truth about interviewing in pairs..”

“They’re not doing this to make us rivals, aren’t they? You know, like playing with both our psychologies and making us think that ‘I am better than you, you’re better than me’ kind of thing?” Rena seemed very worried now.

“Don’t worry... We’re not like the others. At least we’re close to one another. I’ll cover your back, you’ll cover mine. Deal?” Mayu pointed out her pinky finger at Rena to make a deal.

Rena started laughing. “You’ll cover my back and I’ll cover yours? Why are you talking as if we’re in a war zone?”

“Hey.. This is more than a war zone. This is a job interview to work for one of the best hotels in the world. Everyone other than ourselves are enemies.”

“Alright. Deal.” Rena interlocked her pinky with Mayu’s pinky as a sign of making a deal.

Time passes by pretty quickly as both Mayu and Rena watch the candidates entering and exiting the CEO’s room two by two. Finally all that’s left is just the both of them. Strangely, all who went into the CEO’s room, man or lady, came out saying the same thing. About how hot or how y the CEO looks.

“Oh my gosh, the CEO is just so hot! Her legs.... Those long legs..” A candidate mumbled to herself.

Seemingly, Mayu overheard the other candidate’s chat. “Jeez... Are they here to interview or are they here to look at the CEO?” Mayu rolled her eyes in annoyance.

“How do you know you won’t be entranced by her beauty as well?” Rena shot a smirk at Mayu.

“Trust me, Rena. I am not easily attracted to anyone.”

“And what if you are?” Rena insisted.

“I’ll buy you lunch then.” Mayu accepted the challenge. “What about you? What if you’re the one who was hypnotized by her beauty instead?”

“What are you trying to say? If I am hypnotized, then I’ll just be hypnotized. I don’t understand your question.” Despite knowing that Mayu actually wants her to make a bet as well, she acted dumb.

“Hey, bet something too...” Mayu poked Rena’s shoulder.

“And why should I bet something again?” Rena asked in a tone.

“Because I made a bet with you.”

“It’s not my fault that you wanted to buy me lunch.. You’re the one who made that deal yourself.”

“Then I take back my words!”

“Too late, Mayu.. Too late for that..” Rena laughed at the regretful Mayu.

“Then buy me lunch!”

“I don’t think so..” Rena smirked and shook her head.

“Buy me dinner, then..”

“No!”

“Buy me a car.”

“You’re out of your mind, Mayu. Where the hell do I get the money to buy you a car? I don’t even have the money to buy myself a car.”

The secretary opened the door once again. “Watanabe Mayu and Matsui Rena.”

“Well, enough talking crap. Finally the time for us to lock a job in this famous hotel has come! Let’s do this together!” Mayu high-fived Rena as they stood up from the couch and entered the room confidently.



Chapter 1
END