krystalkatzficz | Break-ups and New meetings part 26

Nino decided that enough was enough around ten minutes after he had seen his boss leave. The gossip mill had started as soon as Jun had stepped into the elevator and Nino knew that it was impossible for him to even think about the account with all of the murmurs plus he knew that Jun would be waiting for him in the café. Sticking his paperwork in the brown leather bag that he had all but stolen from Masaki he closed down his computer and headed out of the office. There wouldn’t be as much speculation about him as there had been Jun Most people would just think the same thing that they always did. That he was a lazy good for nothing that liked to get away with as little work as possible. None of them could believe that he had been given the project, in fact Nino himself still couldn’t believe it but it was nice that Jun had faith in him even if it was a little misplaced.

The elevator was overloaded with people so he walked down the five flights of stairs to the exit feeling sweaty and out of breath when he arrived on the ground floor but much less so than he would have been in one of his cheap nylon/polyester suits and he couldn’t believe have comfortable he felt in the shoes. For new shoes made out of leather he had been expecting blisters and uncomfortable soles but of course money screamed comfort and as such it felt as if he was walking in nothing at all. The walk to the café was tedious with so many people milling around outside of the building it felt as though he was walking through a circus but thankfully few people were stopping for a coffee so he was able to get inside and find Jun without bumping into anyone that might recognise them.

Jun was sitting like a prince on a little table for two drinking a crisp looking coffee without displaying any outward emotions on his face but Nino didn’t get the same feeling of coldness that he would have a few days ago and he managed to smile saying politely;

“Thanks for your hard work…”

“And you, I thought I would be waiting longer though…Your head was still down when I left…Have you already got some ideas?” Jun asked motioning for him to sit down opposite him and beckoning over a waitress that had been happily lurking in the background watching him. Nino frowned sliding into the comfortable chair and tapping his fingernails on the polished surface.

“…There isn’t much of a budget…” He mumbled and Jun rolled his shoulders in a delicate shrug sipping his coffee again before saying;

“There never is, it’s a family run place…”

“…I would like to taste the beer…” Nino mumbled trying to stay professional when two spots of colour appeared in his face and Jun gave a smirk lifting an eyebrow as he cocked his head;

“I bet you would, but why?”

“I need to see what…Who…Who it might appeal to…I know that it states that it’s a woody mix of old and new…Or whatever but that doesn’t give me a real idea of what it tastes like…”

“Are you a beer expert then?”

“No…But I thought if I got a sample group of ten people of various ages…”

“That could work…But then it would simply be personal preference…” Jun said and Nino clumped feeling lost. There was so little to go on with how to market the brand and it seemed that Jun decided to take pity on him as he hummed “Why don’t you ask Sho?”

“Sho?”

“He runs a nightclub, the patrons are normally heavy drinkers you could set up your test there…”

“But I would still have to pay for it out of the budget?” Nino asked knowing that the sample group would be a lot larger but it could easily backfire in his face.

“Of course…But I’m not against you pulling in a personal favour…If you asked your friend Masaki to ask him I’m pretty sure Sho would make sure there was a beer fountain right in the middle of his dancefloor...” Jun chuckled and Nino nodded accepting his own coffee from the smiling waitress and sipping it slowly “But the idea is a good one...Knowing your target audience will go a long way in packaging it…I’m just glad you haven’t said the easy option of getting idols to advertise it…”

“They don’t have the budget…” Nino laughed rolling his eyes and Jun nodded again draining his drink and waiting patiently for Nino to do the same.

“So are you ready to see your new apartment?”

TBC
A/N: Things are a little awkward between them ne >.<