Hello everyone! I am naruto'sramengirl! And I have a new fanfic for you! I am on a roll! I just made a new fanfic (Xavier Alexander Nathaniel Anderson) not too long ago. I do plan on updating my other current fanfics, but the new ideas that I have are so much fresher, and they've been on my mind for a while. I really like this idea. Just so you know this isn't going to be some steamy, sexy romance thing. The idea is for it to be as innocent as it can be. So don't go looking for Ulrich wiping everything off his desk and putting Yumi on top of it (that is so cliché). I intend for this to be romantic, funny, and a little bit dramatic. I have future ideas for what will happen, but in the end, I don't really know where this fanfic will take us. So just enjoy the ride, and I'll figure out as I keep typing it. So here we go! How to Mix Business with Pleasure!

It was official. The most agonizingly boring thing anyone could ever do was waiting in an incredibly long line at the Unemployment Office. It was just as bad as waiting in an interview line, but at least you have a chance of at least getting a job. Here, it's just an excuse to tell your parents and your friends that you're at least looking for work.

"Next!" the clerk yelled.

"Finally!" responded the bored Japanese woman. She stood up faster than a rocket taking off, and proceeded towards the clerk's office.

"Back again, Miss Ishiyama?" the middle-aged woman said in a dull tone as she looked above the frame of her glasses. Why do people do that?

"Yes, I'm back." Yumi mumbled.

"Why?" Yumi could hear the irritation in her voice.

"Well this being an unemployment office," Yumi said, "I guess I'm here because I'm unemployed."

"And it's that kind of sarcasm as to why you're unemployed."

"But look at the places you gave me to apply at, Mrs. Thompson!" Yumi exclaimed. "Who would want to work as the Assistant to the Junior Assistant Manager? And why the heck is that title so freaking long? It's longer than the actual company's name!"

"Look, you can't start at the top, Miss, Ishiyama; we've been through this before!" Mrs. Thompson said, her voice rising. "Besides, what about the position as the Assistant Manager to Johnson's Inc.? I was sure that would whet your ambitious appetite."

"First of all, it's only incorporated because the owner split the shares between his mother and his brother. Second of all, his office is his living room! I drive to the address you gave me, and you were right, it was a four story building. Rather, it was inside of a four story apartment building! If had've taken a job there, I risk losing the job because he has to close it down and file for bankruptcy the next day! I need something more secure!" the Asian woman yelled.

"Well what are you expecting? Some high profile job as the secretary to an established corporation? If you think that's happening anytime soon with the résumé you have, especially considering the fact that you've only graduated from college a year ago, then you're obviously living in a fantasy world!" Yumi sighed as she frowned at the woman. Mrs. Thompson also took a deep breath as tried to calm her nerves. "Look, Miss Ishiyama, I know you're eager to get out there and take the world by storm and so and so forth, but you have to be more realistic. It takes time to get those high-positioned jobs. You have to start off at the bottom and work your way up."

Yumi smirked. It's not every day that an unemployment clerk talks to you as if you were her daughter. "Yes, Mrs. Thompson."

"Now here's another interview as an Assistant Data Clerk—it's not fancy, but it's better than coming here every day." The clerk said, cutting Yumi off before she could even complain. "Good luck." she said, signaling for Yumi to leave. "Oh! And please don't call the interviewer a jackass!"

Yumi laughed. "Sorry, but that idiot had it coming. I may have to humble myself, but that doesn't mean I should be some sniveling sycophant with no self-respect." With that, Yumi left the office.

He thought he was going to puke from just the thought of it. After all, an entire business empire rested at his feet, and one wrong move could send the corporation spiraling down in a never-ending abyss of failure. The brunette stared at his father. He admired his father. He had the wisdom and the courage to start a business from his crowded garage, and turned it into the multi-billion dollar enterprise that it was today. He always knew that his dad was a man of impulsive and sometimes crazy decisions, but this one was far from crazy. It was rather border-line insane from any viewpoint that you could've taken. Ulrich just kept asking himself, "How high do you have to be to call your son whose only job has only ever been as a mailroom technician and give him your multi-billion dollar company?"

He stared at his father for a long while. A silence was settling in—not an awkward or uncomfortable one. It was the kind of silence that could only occur when something completely takes you by surprise, and you don't know how to react to it. He opened his father, but closed it. He still didn't know what to say. His father looked at him as if they were have a pleasant father-son chat. He was even smiling. Yes, he was actually smiling! What the heck was wrong with this man? Does he not realize that he just signed the death warrant of his business? Why would anyone smiling when they just made the biggest mistake of their life?

Ulrich could take the silence anymore. "W-why are you doing this?" as if he didn't know. He obviously did it because he could.

"Because," his father started, his smile actually got bigger, "I can." Knew it.

"Dad, that doesn't make any sense." Ulrich said as he closed his eyes and shook his head.

His father frowned in confusion. "What do you mean? It makes sense to me."

"How?"

"Simple. When the father is ready to stop managing his business he normally lets one of his offspring inherits it." Yes, that made perfect sense. It honestly is how the businesses are passed down, but that's only after the offspring has had considerable experience at running a business.

"But I don't know a thing about running a business!" Ulrich exclaimed.

"See, that's the exciting part, son. No one actually does." Ulrich gave him a confused look. Mr. Stern chuckled. "Ulrich, I started this business on a whim. I had no prospects in this world. I was nineteen, a newly wed, and not to mention an immigrant to this fine country we call America. I left my rich and generous parents, to try to make something of myself. The only thing that I knew how to do was come up with different little games and gadgets to occupy myself when I was bored out of my mind. Your mother knew I could make money if I advertised those toys and games, and I did just that. I sold those hand-made toys from my garage, while I searched for a more reasonable source of income. The next thing I know, I started to create all kinds of games. Board games, card games, solitary games, family games—any kind of game that could be made, I made it. Then I started to expand into other routes of entertainment. I wrote books for people of all ages for all genres. Now I pay other to come up with games and stories that I will endorse. I have people creating TV shows and movies about these stories and these games. I've expanded into electronics. I've built Stern Enterprises based on one thing and one thing only. I built it off of the human imagination—my mind. And my mind tells me that now it's time to turn this business over to my son. You have a wild imagination yourself. And I know you have good business instincts. You can do this, son, I know you can."

Ulrich was speechless. He appreciated his dad's kind words, but he just couldn't believe that his father would do something so outrageous. "Dad, with all due respect, the only thing I've ever done is buy coffee and doughnuts for everyone, and hand them their mail. I may have potential to be a good business man, but I don't think I'm ready yet."

"The only way to unlock that potential is to actually manage a business. Like I said, no one truly knows how to make a business boom. It takes a certain kind of knowledge that can only be gained through experience. Besides, it's because you've been at the bottom for so long, that you actually know what this business needs to do in order to lead this business into the next generation. You know what makes people entertained. Besides, your mother's pining for me to keep my promises of vacationing around the world."

"You're not changing your mind are you?" Ulrich said frankly.

"Nope. If you don't take the business, I'll have to sell it to some stranger."

"But no one cherishes this company like you do. This company thrives off of your good ideas!" Ulrich insisted.

"Then let it thrive off of this good idea." Mr. Stern replied. "It's time for this company to seek direction from a passionate businessman like yourself. You'll do fine. And even if you don't, the worse that could happen is that you cause sales to plummet, and we downsize. If that happens I'll just sell it while it's still valuable. And then you can go back to buying coffee and doughnuts for everyone." Mr. Stern said nonchalantly.

Ulrich stared at his father in defeat. "Fine. But I warned you." Ulrich said as his father laughed in victory. Ulrich gave him an uneasy smile. Just what had he gotten himself into?

"And if you think for a second I would ever hire a smart-mouthed maniac like you, then you must truly take me for a fool!" a man shouted from his office.

"It just so happens, that I do!" yelled the young woman.

No one, knew what started the argument, all that they knew was there was no way that crazy Asian woman was getting hired. With that, the remaining interviewees smiled. One down, ten more to go.

"That's it!" Shouted Mr. Johnson. "Get out!" The Asian woman stormed out of the office as the man stood by the door glaring daggers at her. "I've never been so insulted in my life!" he exclaimed, his voice gaining decibels.

"Well it's about time someone did it!" she yelled behind her back before she slammed the door shut. Yumi stood outside of the door for a long minute. "Stupid, stupid, girl. What did you just do?" she said to herself as she made her way to her car. She looked at it for a while. She just may have to sell it in order to make rent.

She entered her apartment and was greeted to the sound of talking and laughter coming from the TV room. She walked in and smiled at everyone. "Hey, guys" she said as she feigned a smile.

Sitting on the couch were her two roommates, Aelita and Sam, and their boyfriends, Jeremie and Odd. "Wassup!" Odd yelled obnoxiously, making Sam and Aelita laugh while Jeremie rolled his eyes.

"So, how did the interview go?" Aelita asked, eager for some good news.

Yumi gave her a sorrowful smile. "To say the least, it was probably the loudest interview in history."

"That bad?" Sam said, frowning.

"Yumes," Aelita started, "You've got to lighten up. Not everyone enjoys your sarcasm the way we do."

"That's because everyone else doesn't have a sense of humor. And that's not my fault some people can't take a joke." Yumi said as she opened the fridge and took out a coke.

"Well, normally you tend to insult people when you're sarcastic." Jeremie interjected.

"Whatever." Yumi scowled.

"Hey," Odd yelled, "I think Yumi's right. It's not her fault that everyone else in the world are stiff scumbags. I think your sense of humor is wonderful."

"Aww, how sweet, Odd." Yumi smiled. "Thanks."

"It just takes some getting used to. I mean you have to be a freaking zombie for it not to get to you." Odd joked. Yumi frowned.

"Am I really that bad?" she asked.

"Of course not." Sam said as she consoled her friend. "You're actually much worse most of the time. I think you could make a zombie cry if you tried hard enough." Everyone laughed except for Yumi of course.

Yumi took a seat on the floor, next to the couch. Resting her arms horizontally on her knees, he laid her head on top of her arms and sighed. "I really need to get a job, or I won't be able to make my part of the rent." She whined.

"Don't worry, Yumes." Aelita said as she leaned over and shook the girl's shoulder. "Sam and I would be happy to cover your part. You can pay us back later, right Sam?" the pink-haired girl said as she looked at her. Sam stared at the TV screen, showing no apparent signs of hearing what the girl had just said. "Right, Sam?" Aelita growled rather menacingly.

"Right!" Sam said out of fear as she feigned a smile.

"Thanks guys, but I don't want to impose on you."

"It's not imposing, we've known since middle school. You're like a sister to us." Aelita replied.

"She's right, Yumes. It's not really imposing. Not this time anyways." Sam said. "But just this once, you won't be freeloading off of me, no thank you."

Yumi chuckled. "I know, Sam the Miser."

"And don't you forget it." Sam smirked.

"What kind of a job are you looking for, anyways?" Jeremie inquired.

"Any kind of work dealing with information and schedules." Yumi answered.

"You mean like a data clerk or a secretary?" Odd asked.

"Yeah." Odd and Jeremie looked at each for a good minute. Then both slowly smiled at each other.

"What are you two thinking?" a confused Yumi asked as she exchanged glances with the other girls.

"Yumi we know the perfect job for you." Jeremie said.

"And it just so happens, that this person could definitely handle your sarcasm." Odd said in a matter of fact tone.

"You mean you guys know a zombie in need of a data clerk or a secretary?" Aelita asked.

"No, he's no zombie." Odd responded.

"Rather, he's knows where Yumi's coming from because he's sarcastic in his own right." Jeremie said.

"Who?" Sam asked.

"Me and Jeremie met him in our economics class in college." Odd said.

"Really?" Yumi asked, flabbergasted.

"Yeah." Odd said slowly, unsure as why the surprised look was on the girls' faces.

"You took college-level economics?" Yumi asked.

Odd frowned. "I'm not stupid, you know."

"Could've fooled me." Sam mumbled. Odd gave her a hurt look. "Oh, you know I love you!" Sam said reassuringly.

"It was the only class available." Jeremie explained, followed a chorus of "Oh!" from the girls.

"Well, who is he?" Sam asked.

"Why as of today, he's the new owner of Stern Enterprises." Jeremie answered. The girls were speechless. Then they burst out laughing.

"What? What's so funny?" Jeremie asked.

"You had us going there." Yumi said. "Like you two would even know let alone be friends with the owner of a multi-billion dollar corporation."

"But we are!" Odd said defiantly. "Best friends, in fact." He said as he folded his arms and stuck his nose in the air giving a perfect stance of a high-society person.

"Prove it." Yumi said.

"Already ahead of you." Jeremie smirked as he took out his cell phone and called him.

"Hey, what do you mean the 'new owner'?" asked Aelita.

"Oh, he told us before we came over here." Odd said. "He said that his father just up and quit, and he gave him the business."

"Wait, his father?" Sam asked with a dumbfounded look on her face. "When you say father, do you mean father as in the owner of Stern Enterprises?"

"Former owner." Odd corrected her.

"You guys know Ulrich Stern, son of the rich and powerful Tobias Stern?" the girls said in one synchronized voice.

"Weird, how you just did that." Odd said, amazed. "But yeah, we know him. We even met the great Mr. Stern himself. He's a real funny guy."

Before anyone could say anything, Jeremie's cell phone gave a loud and clear, "Hello?"

"Oh, good, it's on speaker." Odd said.

"Hey, Ulrich." Jeremie replied.

"What's up Jeremie?"

"You know, how you said you were going to need a secretary to help you run your business?"

"Yeah."

"Well we know just the right person for you!" Odd said loudly for him to hear.

"Well, if you're recommending them, I don't know how right they could be, considering how you're not right in the head, Odd." Ulrich said. The others laughed.

"I hear laughter. Girlish laughter. Are you trying to show off?" Ulrich said accusingly. "I told you guys not to go around using me to impress girls!"

"It's not like that, Ulrich. We're with our girlfriends-,"

"Oh! That makes sense! I mean, it's not like your girlfriends would be impressed if you knew the son of Tobias Stern. I'm sorry, what a fool of me." Ulrich said in a fake understanding tone.

"We're also here with the person who we want you to consider for the position." Jeremie said.

"So?"

Jeremie rolled his eyes, "So, give her an interview!" Jeremie said frustrated.

"Let me speak to her." Ulrich said. Yumi's smile quickly faded.

"Huh?" Jeremie said.

"I said let me speak to her, Jeremie."

"Why?"

"Because, we can do the interview over the phone." Ulrich said.

"Without seeing her?" Jeremie said.

"Well I didn't know the way she looked mattered Jeremie. I don't need some cliché sexy woman being my secretary. It's not like I'm hiring her to be some romantic interest of mine."

"I-I know that! But she may not have the look of a secretary." Yumi glared at Jeremie.

"What's that supposed to mean!" she whispered.

Jeremie mouthed "Sorry." to her.

"Oh, so there's a specific way a secretary's supposed to look now?" Ulrich said.

"No, it's just that you need to see the person in order to make sure they look like they're professional.

"It's not like she's a crack head or something, right?" Ulrich said.

"No!"

"Then give her the phone! I'll make my own decisions." Ulrich said.

"Okay." Jeremie mumbled as he handed Yumi the phone.

"H-hello." Yumi asked.

"Hi there, I'm Ulrich Stern. What's your name?"

"Y-Yumi Ishiyama." Yumi answered.

"Well, Y-Yumi Ishiyama," Ulrich said, mocking Yumi's stuttering, making the girls laugh and Yumi frown. "Why should I hire you to be my secretary?"

"Because, I don't think that many people can handle your harsh tone to people." Yumi said angrily. Sam and Aelita instantly stopped laughing and tried signing to Yumi to stop before she made matters worse.

To their surprise Ulrich laughed. "I'm sorry. I normally wait to get to know someone before I tease them. Actually, that's not true; I'm just being polite because no one's ever mixed words with me before. I can't tell you how annoying it is to hear people always complimenting you just because your dad's rich."

"Well don't expect that from me. Honestly, I can't stand spoiled, rich kids like yourself."

"Hey, how do you know if I'm spoiled? You're not spying on me, are you?"

"Don't confuse me with one of your fan girls." Yumi replied.

"Never! Fan girls are smart enough to know not to insult me, Ulrich Stern, the handsome bachelor and now owner of a multi-billion dollar company that he got from his dad." Everyone laughed. "You know, I guess it doesn't take a genius to figure out that I'm spoiled, huh?"

"No, and fan girls may be smart enough not to insult you, but they are dumb enough to think that you're actually interested in them."

"As if you know what I'm interested in."

"I know your kind. You like brutal honesty."

"And you're definitely brutally honest." Ulrich commented. "I like your attitude, and you're right. I'll need someone who can handle my sarcasm. Someone who matches my own sarcasm, and more importantly someone who I can trust to tell me the truth." Ulrich stated. "Just one more question."

"What?" Yumi asked.

"Do you have any experience at being a secretary?" Yumi hung her head. It was the question that always got her rejected.

"No, but—"

"You're hired."

Yumi looked at the phone as if it just turned into banana. "What?"

"You're hired."

"Didn't you hear me? I don't have any experience!"

"I heard you. You didn't stutter that time." Ulrich joked. "Believe it or not, I'm hiring you for that reason.

"That makes no sense." Yumi said.

"Yeah, and it makes no sense for a successful self-made billionaire to hand over his company to a mailroom technician, but that happened less than two hours ago." Ulrich retorted. "Yumi, I'm hiring you to be my personal secretary. You're not just the secretary to a manager of a local store; you're the secretary to the owner of a multi-billion dollar company. You're at the top—the highest you can get."

"But why?" Yumi exclaimed. Ulrich laughed.

"You sound like me only an hour ago. Because, Yumi, I can." Ulrich said, mocking his father. "You know, if I've ever gotten anything from my father, it's his impulsiveness and his ability to make illogical decisions. He takes risks, and if he didn't, we wouldn't be having this conversation. The bottom line is that, we're both inexperienced at our jobs, but I think that common feeling is what is going to make us very close. We'll figure this out together, and make it work." Ulrich laughed. "Listen to me, I sound like I'm asking you to marry me."

Yumi blushed and Sam and Aelita laughed. "Hey now, I thought you said you weren't looking for a cliché romance with your secretary!" Yumi teased.

"I'm not! Just making an observation. So will you do it?"

Yumi smiled. "Ulrich you're one crazy guy. I accept."

"Great! You start tomorrow. Arrive at my office by 9 a.m. sharp." With that, Ulrich hung up.

Yumi handed the phone to Jeremie, and took a seat in a chair. The others looked at her. Then Yumi gave a shout of joy as she jumped for joy, yelling, "I got a job!" The others laughed as they celebrated along with her.