Smile (Mulan, Mulan/Shang, Theme #3)
Title: Smile
Author: lightbird
Theme and Number: #3, Put Your Happy Face On or Smile
Fandom: Mulan
Pairing: Mulan/Shang
Rating: T
Summary: Alternate universe that puts Mulan in modern times and a completely different life
Disclaimer: Disney owns the characters from the animated movie and the legend belongs to the Chinese people. I just have them to manipulate and play with for these 10 challenges.
Note: Any of the specifics of the legal profession, law firms and cases in these AU vignettes are based on the American system, as I know nothing about the Chinese legal system or law firms.
(link here for first parts of fic)
oooOooo
Her stomach clenched and fluttered nervously all morning. Staying at her desk, she remained quiet and turned to easy paperwork that didn’t require thought. She was too distracted and upset to concentrate.
The fact that Shang knew about her and Liu Chen had occupied her mind ever since the party, deeply saddening her. Now the events that occurred that very morning had just made everything worse.
New Year’s week was spent with family and friends; she saw no one from the office, including Liu Chen, who spent the holiday with his own family. But the words that Wei had said to her at the party rang in her ears even still.
Liu Chen let the hint slip in front of the guys.
He’d called her into his office early that morning already to give her more work to do on her first day back from the holiday. As he pushed a stack of papers toward her she noticed that there was a card for a restaurant lying on top. She stared at it for a moment then picked it up and gave him a quizzical look.
“What’s this?”
“The address of the restaurant for tonight. Eight o’clock. Wear something dressy.”
It was then that she confronted him defiantly, unable to hold her tongue.
“Why? You already let it slip to the guys in the office about me. Everyone knows. So why the ruse? We might as well leave together.”
His jaw dropped and for a moment his face was a mask of shock. Then his expression contorted into disgust.
“I don’t need to deal with this,” he replied with disdain. “I can go home and be nagged by my wife.”
He might as well have slapped her.
“You can do whatever you want,” she retorted, keeping her voice even and refusing to succumb to tears in front of him.
He’s not worth it, she repeated to herself in her head, her new mantra.
Somehow she’d managed to escape from his office after a further exchange of hostile words, knowing that she’d crossed a line this time and that the repercussions were yet to appear. Later that afternoon, they did.
Liu Chen called a team meeting at five-thirty. She stepped into the conference room and found him there already, along with Li Shang and several other associates. Despite her apprehension she put a smile on and greeted the group pleasantly. Things went downhill from there.
Every time she was asked to speak and update the group about something Liu Chen cut her off abruptly and antagonized her. Even worse he invalidated her at every turn.
“Mulan has put together a proposal, listing all the vendors we can use to get our electronic brief done,” the lead associate Yongzheng began.
“Have you spoken to Mengyao? He did an excellent e-brief for me last year. Find out who he used.”
No one spoke. Mengyao wasn’t even on the case. There was no reason why anyone would have asked him about it.
Liu Chen didn’t look at her when he addressed her. “Mulan, ask him after the meeting.”
She knew what he was doing. He didn’t even try to be subtle about it. Knowing where it was coming from she shouldn’t have let it get to her, but it did.
Why does everything have to happen in front of Li Shang?
That was the thought that kept ringing in her head and it took every effort for her to keep it together and not break down in front of the group.
“Did you hear me?” he demanded when she didn’t respond.
“Yes. I didn’t think you were expecting an answer.”
His eyes were daggers as he glared at her.
“If I remember correctly,” Li Shang interjected, “the vendor that did the job has changed their policy about confidentiality agreements.”
“In what way?”
“They refuse to sign them.”
“Oh, that’s no good,” Yongzheng spoke up again. “There’s no reason for them not to. They’re dealing with a lot of sensitive documents.”
Liu Chen waved them off. “Fine, fine. There’s no need to have a discussion about it then.”
He finally turned his attention to splitting up the assignments among the attorneys and treated her as if she didn’t exist.
“Li Shang, I believe you have another case that will be occupying your time for the upcoming months.”
“Yes. I’ll be out of town if that case does go to trial, which is very likely according to Mr. Huang. And so will Mulan…”
“Not Mulan. Someone else will go to Singapore.”
Shang looked flabbergasted. Mulan stood up.
“That’s something you can talk over with Mr. Huang,” she told Liu Chen pointedly, meeting his eyes.
He glowered at her then went back to speaking to the attorneys and acting as if she wasn’t there. Grabbing her things she swiftly moved to the door, stepping out of the room and shutting it before anyone could stop her.
But she wasn’t afraid anymore. At least she knew where she stood now that she’d spoken up. The team in Singapore would need someone whose English was proficient. Hers was the best in the firm and unless they wanted to screw their client over there wasn’t someone else for them to send. They would have to hire someone new and train them very quickly; that’s if they could find an English-speaker with all the right qualifications. For once she was thankful that Uncle Zhang had the foresight to insist that she learn English when she was growing up. He’d never studied it at all, but he’d been vehement about her doing so as soon as he discovered that a school had opened. She’d hated spending those afternoons in class while her friends were out playing. But now she was starting to appreciate it. At least for now it gave her job security. And even if it didn’t, Liu Chen would be making a fool out of himself in his determination to spite her. That would give her just a little bit of satisfaction.
She put on her new red coat after dropping her papers off at her desk and headed out for the day, despite the ‘early’ hour.
“It looks like I’m working on leaving a lot of things behind,” she mused softly to herself.
A sharp chill was in the air and they had predicted snow on the news. She didn’t care, making her way back to the riverside park. Aunt Zhi-lan and Uncle Zhang would both be out playing mah-jongg tonight, and they were used to her eating dinner at work. They wouldn’t be expecting her at home, and she was in no hurry to return to an empty apartment so early.
“May I join you?”
Mulan started at Li Shang’s voice coming from beside her so suddenly.
“Or are you going to run away and hide from me again like you did in the market?”
Her heart skipped a beat.
“Excuse me?”
He smirked at her. “You thought I didn’t see you the other day, didn’t you?”
She turned away from him and stared at the ground as she continued walking. He strolled alongside of her.
“Are you going to rat me out to my other bosses?” she muttered finally.
“No,” he answered. She thought she could hear a trace of tenderness in his voice. “I wouldn’t do something like that. Especially not to you. Besides, it wasn’t busy those two days you were out.”
“Thanks.” Her own voice was raspy and rough as she answered him.
“But you could have come and talked to me.”
“We were busy picking out our own plum tree. Besides, you were with someone,” she answered with a shrug, hoping that she came across nonchalant enough.
“Just my sister. I would have introduced you.”
Relief flooded her. The pretty young woman with him was his sister. She knew that in a million years Shang wasn’t a match for her, but the idea of him with someone else cut her to the quick. It meant that there wasn’t even a ghost of chance.
“Oh. Well…next time…”
“Was that your father that you were with?”
She shook her head. “My uncle. My parents died when I was young.”
“Oh…I’m sorry.”
“My aunt and uncle have been raising me since I was six.”
They walked to the park in silence and as they approached a bench she indicated that she wanted to sit down. He joined her, wrapping his coat tighter around himself.
“Wouldn’t you rather go and sit in a tea shop on a night like this?” he asked with a chuckle.
“I like the park. Even if it is a little nippy.”
He laughed pleasantly. “I do too. Oh, congratulations, by the way.”
She looked at him in confusion.
“Mr. Huang sent out an announcement to all the attorneys about your case in Beijing. Our side won.”
After everything else that had happened that day she’d forgotten about it already.
“Oh. Yeah,” she answered with a nod. “He told us about it in a meeting earlier today. I didn’t realize he made an announcement.”
“And he had very good things to say about you,” Shang continued. “How you organized everything from beginning to end and did a great job.”
“That was very kind of him,” she answered shyly.
“He was just telling the truth. You’re one of the most valuable legal assistants in the firm.”
She turned and peeked at him warily, wondering if he was teasing her. He was staring at her intently, his expression serious and sincere. Perhaps she was being unfair to him; he had never been cruel to her or to anyone else there. In fact, he’d always been generous in his compliments of her, and always in earnest.
“We can’t talk about details in public, but our case is almost definitely going to trial at this point. Anything can happen of course, but Mr. Huang doesn’t believe there will be a settlement. So be prepared. You’re going to be in charge of getting the whole team to Singapore and running the case. As well as doing all the other jobs that you do for us.”
“I don’t know about that. It seems that Mr. Liu wants someone else to go,” she replied sadly.
Shang lowered his voice and leaned in to speak confidentially to her. “Mr. Huang is going to trump him on that. We need a good English speaker for this case. And you’ve been working on it for months. The team needs you.”
“Mr. Liu is the head partner.”
“He’s one of the head partners. They’ll argue about it behind the scenes and then Mr. Liu will have to concede. We don’t have another legal assistant who speaks English well, yet alone one who’s familiar with the case. The other partners aren’t going to allow Mr. Liu to sacrifice what’s best for our client because of his own personal issue.”
Mulan’s face began to flame and she hung her head, feeling mortified.
“He had no right to treat you the way he did in the meeting.”
“You don’t have to feel sorry for me,” she retorted, glancing at him again.
She instantly regretted her words as he frowned at her, apparently insulted that she would even suggest such a thing. “This has nothing to do with that.”
Hanging her head again and staring at her toes, she sighed. “It doesn’t matter. He’s going to do whatever he’s going to do.”
“Well, I can’t speak for anyone else in that meeting today,” he began quietly. “But as far as I’m concerned Liu Chen didn’t make you look bad today. He made himself look bad.”
Profound sadness weighed heavily on her heart as she looked up into his handsome face again and thought of her predicament. She feared that she’d ruined everything for herself, not just at this firm but beyond. What if Liu Chen knew people at the law schools and at other firms? What if he blackballed her in those places?
She turned her face from him as tears pricked at her eyes and blinked them away before they could fall.
“Mulan, you do such a great job for me. You’re a hard worker, you’re dedicated and I’ve never seen anyone with as much enthusiasm as you. You’re very bright…I don’t know why you sell yourself so short. Liu Chen certainly isn’t worth it, whatever his position…”
He’d pressed the wrong button and it irked her that he seemed so annoyed with her. Instantly on the defensive she raised her head abruptly and cut him off.
“Listen,” she snapped. “It’s none of your business! I know better than anyone that I was stupid to get myself into such a situation. But I’m not a whore.”
If he was surprised at her outburst he didn’t show it.
“I never said you were,” he replied impassively, without missing a beat. “I simply…”
“It’s okay,” she interrupted him, gesturing with a brisk wave of her hand. Her voice rose in pitch and she began to feel as if she was on the verge of hysterics. Seized with a sudden unfathomable need to explain herself to him, she began to sputter as the tears that she’d avoided earlier formed in her eyes once more. “I know what you must think of me…what everyone thinks of me. But it just happened…I don’t really know how, but it’s my mistake that I have to live with. You don’t know what it’s like…”
“Mulan.”
His voice was sharp as he said her name, making her stop in her tracks. She stared at him, stunned.
“What?”
“When I said that you sell yourself short what I meant is that you’re so professional and so good at your job, yet you settle for being pushed around and abused by people who you think are better than you. They’re not.” His eyes were intense and serious as he spoke, his voice filled with conviction. “Do they have more power than you at work? Yes, maybe they do. And you wouldn’t be the first girl that a partner took advantage of, in this firm or any firm, or in any place in the world for that matter. But…I mean…you’re so intelligent, Mulan, and you really have great instincts for this profession. You have the potential to be a far better attorney than at least half of the associates there. Don’t let any of them make you feel bad about yourself.”
Confusion clouded her mind and she sat in stunned silence for awhile, flooded with a jumble of emotions. Where did he come off presuming to speak to her about such things that really weren’t any of his business? In the midst of her anger she was unable to understand why he was even talking to her, yet alone praising her to such an extent. She had been so sure that after learning the truth about her and Liu Chen, he would view her as the disgusting creature that she felt like. She tried unsuccessfully to choke back the sobs that started to come as she realized that just the opposite was true. He didn’t seem to care what she did in her personal life. He respected her. And not in terms of her gender, but as a person and a colleague.
She turned her face away from him, attempting to gain control over her emotions; she hadn’t wanted him to see her like this again and she felt foolish. Out of the corner of her eye she saw him begin to reach out to her. Thinking better of it, he withdrew his hand and just sat quietly, remaining beside her but giving her space.
“I’m sorry,” she murmured through sniffles.
“It’s okay. Besides, I’m the one who should be sorry. I…I shouldn’t have spoken about this. You’re right, it wasn’t my place. Please forgive me.”
She peered at him through damp eyes, bringing a gloved hand up to wipe away the tears that lingered.
“You’re my boss. You can say whatever you want…”
“No, that’s not true. There are boundaries that a boss shouldn’t cross.”
There was such intensity in his dark eyes as he gazed at her that she wondered with a spark of hope if there was a deeper meaning behind his words. But that was just wishful thinking and foolish at that. Even if he did have feelings for her, he clearly knew better than to act on them with someone who worked for him. And by now she ought to have learned her lesson about getting involved with a boss.
“I suppose I should go back to the office,” she murmured. “This is early for me to be leaving. That is, if I still have a job.”
“Well, there isn’t anything you need to be doing for me tonight. I think you should go home and get rest. And don’t worry. You’re well liked at this firm. They’re not going to let you go so easily.”
She opened her purse and pulled out her Blackberry.
“No emails. Yeah, I guess I can pick things up in the morning. There’s nothing due tomorrow.”
“I’m going to catch a cab home. Can I drop you off anywhere?”
Her mood was already lighter and she smiled broadly at him.
“Thanks. It’s pretty chilly out. A cab to my door sounds nice.”
(link here to continue)