moving up

Chapter 14

When Shoto takes Momo aside at work one day, she tries to keep her panic from showing. A part of her worries that she's been more obvious about her feelings, that she's been too obvious and that he's figured her out. She's afraid that he is taking her aside to tell her that this needs to stop, or that it would be better if she left the store; a lot of scenarios run through her head rather quickly, and all of them end in him rejecting her, often making fun of her.

Needless to say, when he says, "I might have some good news," she is so relieved that it is hard not to show it. If he does notice it, she hopes that he will just think that she's simply excited about whatever his good news may be.

"What is it?" she asks.

"Can you come talk to me in the office for a little bit?" She goes with him, trying not to think about the fact that she will be alone in a room with him, reminding herself that she will still be at work, and that this is still Shoto, and she still has to keep her composure, regardless of the situation.

When they're alone in the office, he sits down at the desk and she takes the seat across from him. Shoto starts off with, "Nothing I say here is certain yet, and I probably shouldn't tell you before I know more, but I thought you should know about this. We might be getting approved to open a new position at this store.

"It'll be a full time position, similar to the positions Kyoka and Eijiro hold, but rather than the stock room or the front end, it will be focused on the sales floor. I wanted to tell you about it because you're one of our best sales floor associates."

Blushing at the compliment she knows is only meant professionally, she says, "Thank you."

"Are you interested in working full time here?" he asks her.

"I am," she replies. "It's not necessary, as long as I have a job here, I'm fine with working part time, but if there were something open that you and the other managers thought that I was qualified for, then I would definitely be interested in taking it."

"Well, if this opened up, I think it would be offered to you before anyone else," he says. "The job title is sales floor lead, and you would be doing a lot of what you're doing now, overlapping shifts with other sales floor associates and touching base with them, making sure that they know what they need to do. You'd also have influence on the processes out there, and could work with the managers in their departments."

As she listens to him describe it, she thinks that it's something she'd enjoy, and even something that she'd be good at. Already, she tries to take on a leadership role when she can, wanting to help her coworkers in whatever way she is able. It's not just because Shoto is telling her that he thinks she's a good fit for it; this is something that she would have wanted to go for either way, and would be happy to have any manager tell her that she was being considered for it.

"That sounds great," she says. "Thank you so much for considering me for it."

"I was actually the one to recommend you for it," he says. "But the other managers all agreed pretty quickly that you would be perfect for it."

There is only one thing that causes her to hesitate, and she voices it then. "Are you sure that I'm the best one for it? Tsuyu is very good on the floor as well, and she's worked for the company longer than I have. Shouldn't you approach her first?"

"We talked about her as well," Shoto says. "I was the one to suggest you, but we also discussed Tsuyu as a potential candidate. However, she hasn't been interested in full time in the past, and, seniority or not, you have the leadership qualities that we need. Like I said, it's not set in stone yet, but I'm pretty confident that we'll get approved for that position here, and you're the one that we'll want for it."

"I really appreciate it," she says. "And I really appreciate you telling me about it ahead of time. I know you didn't have to, so I..." Finally, she remembers that she's alone in a room with Shoto, and that she was initially nervous about that. She tries to suppress that again, telling herself that nothing is different now, and that she was doing just fine beforehand, before she let herself think about her feelings for him.

"I'd rather you have as much time to think about it as you need, so that, if it does come open soon, you'll be able to make the decision a little easier."

"I don't think I have much to think about," she confesses. "I'm already getting kind of excited just thinking about it, but I'm trying not to get my hopes up."

"Like I said, you're a perfect fit," Shoto says. "I don't think there's anyone else better for the job than you, and I'm not just saying that because we work so well together either." There's a hint of a smile as he says this, which feels almost out of character for him, and Momo feels like her heart is going to beat out of her chest.

"Maybe you'd say that to anyone," she replies, her voice sounding foreign to her. Her tone is different than she's used to with him, a little more confident, and she wonders if it's his slight smile that makes her think she can tease him back. "Now I'm getting suspicious."

"There's nothing to be suspicious of. I wouldn't bother lying about something like that." Though his tone is as dry as ever, now she knows he's smiling, and she knows that he's teasing, and it's so odd to feel so comfortable while talking to Shoto. "As much as I'm enjoying this conversation, we should probably go back out there. I'm pretty sure Aizawa is the only manager allowed to hide in the office all day."

Momo laughs as they both stand up, and Shoto opens the door to let her out of the office, and even though she's still nervous and still just as flustered as ever, it's all so nice. It's nice to get to talk to him and sit with him, and she's reminded of why she fell for him in the first place. But, then again, that isn't a good thing, considering she knows she's just set herself a little bit further back in terms of being able to get over him.

All of this is going too far and getting too intense, and she doesn't know what to do. She's happy about the potential promotion, and happy that Shoto sees potential for her; she's happy just to be able to talk to him like they're friends, but she's no closer to being able to put her ridiculous crush behind her.