Saotome-san can’t escape

 

That call came in when I was organising the mail which had taken over my room.

『Matsumoto, I will give you some pocket money for doing odd jobs. I will even give you 1/30th1 of your salary that you used to get, so can you help us…..』

「Hey, you didn’t get it in the end!」

Tsuchiya!

Just as you would expect, I was aggravated thinking about the name of the former colleague and complained in my head. After all, he was the one who acted all cool and told me “That much even Bald cuckoo will be able to understand”.

I suddenly burst out with elicited bewilderment at my former boss’s voice, one that I didn’t hear for a long time.

『Didn’t get it? What are you talking about it?』

「No, it’s something that happened over here. Please don’t mind it」

『I,Is that so. When will you be able to come here? If you are fine with it, how about today and right now?』

「I am sorry I would like to refuse」

Why is that birdbrain talking under the assumption that I will agree.

『Eh? Why?』

「How should I put it? Don’t you think that it is too little? At least offer the standard one day salary of 1/25th of the monthly salary, considering 25 working days a month」

『Und, understood. I will pay you that much. So get here as soon as you can. This should be enough right?』

How the hell is it enough. That Bald cuckoo, I wonder what sort of an abacus he has in his head to calculate things like this. Even if he had one, the natto abacus does a better job.2

I seriously don’t have any intention to go, but I also feel partly relieved because the section chief called. I should be able to learn some details about the troublesome deal that Tsuchiya was talking about.

「Not really, it is quite appealing but should I take it……」

『How greedy! To be ungrateful like this after quitting your job all of a sudden. Don’t you have any sense of responsibility?!』

He shouted at me.

Still, how convenient for him. Inside his head I have already become someone who quit the job voluntarily and without any notice. Though he is bald, his brain is twisted and contorted like natto 3.

「In the first place, why do you need my help? Tsuchiya is capable enough and by now Murasaki should also be able to take up more work. There should be enough manpower」

『Well that is……』

He is wavering. I should be able to get it out of him if I give it a little push.

「Are you implying that I am the type of person to just frivolously agree to whatever you are saying without understanding the situation that the company is in and what would my own role in it be first?」

『No, not at all. Matsumoto4, you know about the big deal that our company got when you quit, right?』

The compensation for selling me like a slave.

「Yes, the president told me about it」

『Yes, that’s the one. We proceeded with the deal, having the marketing company, which brought it to us, to act as the intermediary. But, the client had a false impression and that gave birth to a lot of chaos. We ended up being burdened with an endless amount of work.』

「I see, that’s a disaster」

Though he is saying that they had a false impression, I bet they just believed the president’s bragging.

The situation is not that different from what Tsuchiya told me.

『The young marketing Onee-san who went around mediating also doesn’t seem all that reliable…. But if we are able to pass this hurdle, then our division will surely shoot up in value and we can consider that you will have repaid the gratitude that the company has shown you during your employment.』

「Ah, okay….. the young female marketer?」

I heard something that couldn’t be ignored from the section chief, who I want to ignore. And so I questioned him in reflex.

Marketer. A specialist who uses his expertise and knowledge to formulate sales plans grounded in reality and connects buyers and sellers.

A young lady marketer who is in charge of the deal that was part of the transaction in my trade.

This must definitely be…

『Ah, are you interested in her? She is a bit forceful but a beauty alright. Moreover she is big….』

「And that person’s name is?」

There’s almost no possibility of me being wrong. A 99% chance I’m right.

Though I get it, I still can’t stop hoping that it is not who I think it is. Unfortunately, the section chief still uttered the name that I was very familiar with.

『Was it Saotome-san, right it is Saotome Mio-san』

「Saotome Mio…..」

『If you come and work you might have the chance to meet her. Hurry up, try to make it here within an hour』

「I would like to refuse your offer. As for the reason, it’s because my name is not Matsumoto but Matsutomo. Bye then」

『Eh, Wai』

Beep Beep Beep5

「Fuuuhhh………」

Hanging up the phone, I took a deep breath.

「This must be that」

I expected it ever since speaking with Tsuchiya that day.

Trouble because of the big deal that came in after I quit. It’s simple to deduce that Mio-san will be affected by it.

「It’s a crisis where Tsuchiya and Murasaki might face unemployment because of the lie that the company president told at the deal for my extraction」

How should I put it? Mio-san’s personality is too difficult. Anyways the situation we are stuck in seems to be very complicated. Of course, there is also the matter of being accountable for the contract and one’s professional duties. And if we are playing the blame game then it is President Kusaki who is 99.9% at fault here.

「Even so, Mio-san is surely feeling guilty about it」

“Splashed pasta on the person who had lunch with me”

“Was unable to hold an entertaining conversation when he came shopping with me.”

Mio-san is the type of person who cries while hugging Fuu-chan for such simple things.

 

I wonder what Mio-san thinks about Murasaki and Tsuchiya. Maybe acquaintances? Or friends? At the very least she feels goodwill towards them.

If it was that way, no, I am pretty sure it is so. Then right now Mio-san should be feeling an immense pressure that I can’t possibly fathom. Even if all of this gets settled peacefully she probably wouldn’t dare to meet those two ever again.

After all I went through to set them up. If possible I would like for them to maintain their relationship. How am I going to do that…

「Is there something that I can do…」

 

Night

Mio-san who came home exactly at 9 p.m. told me about what happened during the day while gobbling her Sichuan style bean curd.

「And you know the department head was elated when I told him that I watched “A ghost’s Bon curry” on a big screen using the projector」

「Thank goodness that it was worth the efforts that we put in」

「And this time he loaned out another movie……」

「”Should I eat your pancreas from the inside or from the bottom”?」

「Probably a splatter film…..6

「Let’s have this conversation after dinner. We should drop this for now.」

「Ok, we will do that」

Mio-san has completely omitted the details regarding my former company. Looks like even she understands client confidentiality and is upholding the principle of not divulging information about her clients.

Even regarding this department head who is fond of horror movies, I don’t know his real name nor the company that he works at. That is the norm and hence I have never asked her about such things and that’s how we have traversed so far.

「Let’s change the topic then. That’s right, Mio-san what did you do about that?」

「That?」

「The information regarding the alumni reunion.」

「Ah…. I am thinking of skipping out on it」

「It will be difficult for something like this to happen again, why don’t you go and meet your friends?」

「You see I don’t have anyone that I am close with…..」

「I see, well then I will mail them back informing your absence」

「Thanks!」

「Ummm… well….. uh….」

「……….」

Awkward silence.

「Umm…..」

「Yes…?」

A delicate atmosphere has descended upon the dining table. In the first place I never was good at hiding things.

Mio-san too, she is also like that. I can keep work related things secret but this time I also have my personal things mixed in as well. Hiding this is also a part of communication. There is no doubt Mio-san is also bad at hiding things.

But the situation doesn’t allow me to wait till Mio-san comes out with it.

Then…

If I wanted to avert this bleak future we are slowly advancing towards.

「You seem to be really busy these days.」

「Yes, I am really sorry making you wait everyday」

「Not at all, this is my job. But why did you become busy all of a sudden?」

「That, I can’t tell you much because of the company norms….」

She replied just the way I feared she would.

I took a deep breath.

 

「Is it because you pulled me out of there?」

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TomX204

Somehow this chapter is short 🙂 TFNC

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Thx for the chap!

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