マネジャー || Nijiro Murakami

chapter 25

For Mei, this week was a fresh start.
last weekend, she officially moved in with Chiyo. surprisingly, it went great. it took her 1 week to do the deeds, including the documentation with the landlord and moving things.
Chiyo successfully sold some of her furniture online and helped a lot with moving, though there are still some packages that need to be unboxed, but she just left it all in her room for now.

today felt nice as Mei decided to leave early and take the bus. she thought a little walk between the bus stops would be perfect to start a week.

She walked as the chilly winds of early winter hit her face. It was cold and serene. she looked around the city, as the Christmas spirit was already visible everywhere. Only a week left till December to start.
She loved December. She loved this time of the year. having a Christian mother, Mei always had a special place for christmas holidays in her heart. She grew up with lots of good memories of holidays during her childhood, and it felt close to heart , it felt home.

the bus ride was quick as the traffic was light today. reaching the next stop, which was pretty close to the agency building, she walked again.

the first thing she did after entering the building was head to the cafeteria. ordering the regular black coffee to freshen up, she noticed Daiki sitting and scrolling through his phone on one of the sitting areas near the large windows.

"Hi! good morning," she beamed at him, joining him at the table.

Daiki looked up immediately and exchanged the same energy upon realizing her presence.

"Ah, Meiji San! good morning to you, too!" he chuckled lightly, gesturing her to sit.

"I spotted you sitting, so I thought about joining you, I hope I'm not bothering you." she smiled.

"No!! of course not! I'm glad for the company, haha."

"That's nice then," she said, smiling, putting her bag on the side of her chair.

"By the way, you're early today," he sipped his coffee

"Oh, yeah.. the morning was lovely today, so i decided to take the bus and left early. Plus, the traffic was also calm, so the ride was quick." she shrugged.

"I see." he hummed, putting his phone back in his pocket. "Anyways, I was gonna visit you later in your office to deliver a message, but it's a great thing that you're already here."

"Is it? what kind of message? is it important?" she took a sip from her cup, then put it aside.

"Well, yes. very important." Daiki pressed a straight smile.

Mei lifted her brows, intertwining her hands together. "Uh huh, go on."

"Ah well, but firstly, I wanna congratulate you for completing your first month of internship." he did a little clap as a gesture before continuing. "You are done with most of the paperwork and studying documents."

"woah.. thanks actually! haha, I'm so happy to know!! Gosh, i was so tired of those damn paperworks!" she squealed.

"But.." he paused

"There's a but? oh god, please don't do this to me." her expression dropped immediately.

"Haha, calm down, let me at least finish," he chuckled again before continuing, "so I was saying that the paperwork might have ended, but your practicals start from this week."

"practicals? sounds like a school project lol" she snorted.

"Oh, not that, I'm just trying to make it sound easy. by practicals, I mean that you're going to visual learn things from now.
that means you're gonna have to learn the actual management work. that also means assisting Murakami San, managing schedules, appointments, etc. are you ready for that?"

Mei's expression dropped even more. for her, she knew this day would definitely come soon, but it was actually much sooner than she expected. with her recent encounters with Nijiro, she was definitely not ready for this.

she took a deep breath before fixing her expression, she knew avoiding this situation is dumb since she's working as his manager and to be thinking deep what is even the point of getting scared of him when her job is to literally be around him 24x7 mostly. she will have to fight her discomfort, which means it's time to get out of that bubble.

"You look worried Meiji San, is this about facing Murakami San again?" Daiki's worries were now visible on his face.

"No! no, it's nothing like that.. haha, it's just good to know that I'm finally getting started with this."

Mei covered her thoughts by faking a smile on her face.

on the other hand, Daiki well knew Mei's problem. He knew she was trying to hide her thoughts about Nijiro.
her and Nijiro's encounters weren't unnoticeable to him. The day when she was told to deliver him coffee, he saw their interactions from the window that well explained her reaction towards him, and so even when she explained everything later in her office he realized it was a serious thing for her.

Daiki let out a silent sigh. 'it's time to report to Miss Kaori..' he thought.

"Very good then, I guess it's time. Let's head to our offices now, then," he got up from his seat, picking up his belongings.

doing the same, Mei followed Daiki to the elevator.

"also," he said, getting inside the elevator "i forgot to tell you, we have a meeting today that you should attend, you know as a start and don't worry you don't have to participate, just stay there and observe maybe?"

"Uh.. okay? that sounds good.." she looked down, gulping, tapping her shoes continuously but lightly. "I'll be there." she plastered a smile

the rest of the elevator ride was silent, Daiki didn't say anything either, and Mei was also silent. he could sense her anxiety and thought it was better not to say anything.

as the elevator stopped, both got out when Daiki called her again

"Meiji San?"

"Yes,"

"I'll send a copy of Murakami San's schedule for the next month to your office later."

Mei just nodded and left. Daiki let out a sigh before heading to the other side.

hi guys, I'm back from the hiatus. how is everyone doing? it's been a while, haha

sorry for leaving for so long. These past few months were CRAZY and few days ago i completed my bachelors which is a good thing but also I couldn't make it to my dream uni for my masters so I'm actually very sad.
this thing has actually affected me so much that I can't even focus on lot of things and I'm afraid I might actually go into depression but no worries life goes on and I can maybe try next year so I have my hopes up.

and about this book, sorry for the short chapter and shitty writing I'll try to improve it and PLEASE do tell me if you're not satisfied or happy with the plots or anything in particular I'd love to hear you guys out and improve more accordingly.

love, author mwah