Episode 6: The Two of Us, Alone in the Office at Night
In the sales car that day, Hanamori was unusually quiet in the passenger seat.
“Hanamori-san, you okay?”
Today was her first solo client pitch. I was there to accompany her, but the plan was for her to take the lead.
“I’m fine. Totally normal.”
A curt reply. But her grip on her phone had tightened, just slightly.
“If you’re nervous, I can start us off. I’ll hand it over to you partway through.”
“I’m fine. I can do it alone.”
Completely, transparently putting on a brave face.
Well, she wasn’t going to listen no matter what I said. Might as well leave her to it.
The client’s conference room.
Across from us sat a sour-faced man in his fifties and a woman with a sharp, piercing gaze. The air went tense the moment we walked in.
“Right then, Hanamori will be walking you through today’s proposal.”
At my cue, Hanamori opened her materials. Her hand was trembling, faintly.
“Ah, um… so, regarding this plan… this material here, ah, sorry, wrong page…”
An immediate stumble. The man’s brow furrowed, unmistakably.
“So? What’s the concrete benefit here?”
“That would be… um… in terms of cost…”
“Cost? How much of a reduction are we talking? Give me an actual number.”
The questions kept coming, relentless. Caught off guard, Hanamori’s face went pale.
“I-it’s… approximately, ju—”
“Approximately ten percent? That doesn’t sound like much return on investment.”
The woman chimed in, her voice equally cold.
“And besides, how is this proposal any different from the one we already rejected last meeting? Sounds like the same thing all over again.”
“No, um, th-that’s not…”
Hanamori’s voice kept shrinking. Words wouldn’t come, like her throat had closed up.
A heavy silence dropped over the conference room.
This was bad. At this rate she was going to get completely crushed. No choice, then.
“Excuse me, if I could add something.”
I cut in.
“This plan achieves both cost reduction and improved quality simultaneously. We can cut annual operating costs by 30% while reducing defects by 40% through standardization and automation.”
“Thirty percent… really?”
The man’s expression shifted.
“We already have results from a trial run in Division A.”
“…Interesting.”
The woman’s eyes dropped to the materials. The air in the room changed.
“I’d like to hear a bit more detail.”
The man leaned forward. I glanced sideways at Hanamori. Some color returned to her pale cheeks.
The client’s expressions had softened slightly.
“I see. So, what’s the implementation schedule?”
“Hanamori will cover that.”
I turned to her; she gave a small nod, looking a little steadier now.
“As for the schedule, we’re projecting about three months to initial implementation. In the first month…”
This time, she spoke with noticeably more composure than before.
I listened quietly, turning pages and supplying supporting figures where needed.
“…and that’s the overall flow.”
“Alright, understood. We’ll take it back and discuss internally.”
The client stood, smiling.
Good. Somehow, it came together.
Back in the car, the moment she sat in the passenger seat, Hanamori stayed silent, facing the window.
“Good work today.”
“…”
No response.
“Hanamori-san?”
“Haah…”
A deep sigh.
I started the engine.
“Everyone’s like that their first time. Anyone would—”
“You don’t need to comfort me. It just makes it more pathetic.”
Hanamori cut in sharply.
“I know I screwed up on my own. Pretty pathetic, needing you to bail me out just to get through it.”
“I never said that.”
“You didn’t say it, but you’re thinking it.”
…Yeah, she was in a mood.
I said nothing and just drove.
That night, after finishing tomorrow’s prep in the conference room, I was heading back to my desk when I noticed light spilling out from the sales floor.
I checked the clock; already past nine.
Wondering who it was, I looked in and found Hanamori alone at her computer.
“Hanamori-san, you’re still here?”
“Still here. Haven’t finished Monday’s proposal materials.”
Her voice was cold. Still stewing over it, then.
“You don’t have to finish that today.”
“No, I’m going to.”
“Don’t push yourself.”
“I’m not pushing myself.”
She answered without looking away from the screen.
…This one gets stubborn and difficult when she digs in.
But leaving her here and going home also felt wrong, somehow.
I bought a café au lait from the vending machine near the break room and set it down beside her.
“…What’s this?”
“Café au lait.”
“I can see that.”
Hanamori glanced at it but didn’t reach for it.
“Not gonna drink it?”
“Not particularly thirsty.”
I cracked open my own coffee can and sat down beside her.
“Um, could you not sit next to me?”
“Why not.”
“I can’t concentrate with someone next to me.”
Hanamori shot me an annoyed look.
“…Good work today, really.”
Hanamori picked up the café au lait and took a sip.
A silence stretched on for a while.
Hanamori sighed.
“…I’m hopeless, aren’t I.”
She murmured it quietly.
“I thought I’d prepared properly, but when it actually mattered, I completely fell apart.”
“That’s how it goes, your first time.”
“Could you do it from the start, Asami-san?”
“Not at all. On my first solo pitch, I was so nervous I spilled my tea and soaked the client’s suit.”
“…That’s the worst.”
“It was. I apologized like crazy.”
Hanamori laughed a little.
“Didn’t expect something like that from you, Asami-san.”
“It happens. Everyone’s like that at first.”
“…You really are surprisingly kind, huh, Asami-san.”
“You think?”
“Yeah. You’re normally so cold. It’s only at times like this that you’re nice.”
“‘Only at times like this.’ I’m nice all the time.”
“No, you’re cold. An ice queen.”
“What’s that supposed to mean.”
I couldn’t help but burst out laughing, and Hanamori giggled too.
“But that save today, that was kind of cool.”
“…Cool? Stop that.”
“No, really. That kind of smart, composed thing, isn’t that exactly Asakura-san’s type?”
“I wouldn’t know.”
“…She’d definitely fall for it.”
Hanamori said it with a faint, wistful smile on her profile.
Probably just worn out from all the overtime, I figured.
“Let’s head home. We’ll pick this up Monday.”
“Okay.”
Hanamori started putting her materials away.
I stood too and tossed my empty coffee can.
“Asami-san.”
“Hm?”
“…Thank you.”
Hanamori said it quietly.
“Don’t mention it.”
“I mean it. Sort of.”
Sort of. What was that supposed to mean.
There she goes again, one word too many.
But her profile looked a little softer than usual.
“…You’re welcome.”
I answered, and switched off the lights.
We walked side by side down the hallway.
The sound of Hanamori’s footsteps beside me rang out strangely pleasant.