Episode 30: It’s That Woman’s Fault I Can’t Get Any Work Done
Hanamori’s face was slowly drawing closer.
Her eyes were fixed on mine. Her lips, right there.
Close. So close. And then, a light touch.
Soft, warm.
Hanamori’s lips press against mine.
Slowly, gently. And then, deeper still. The sensation of our tongues entwining.
Our sweet breaths mingle.
I can feel Hanamori’s body heat.
With my fingertips, I gently stroke Hanamori’s body.
From the nape of the neck, to the shoulders, to the chest. And down to the lower body.
Hanamori’s sweet voice.
So cute.
I want to touch them more.
I want them to be even closer.
“Asami-san…”
Hanamori called out in a whisper.
Her voice rang in my ear and melted away.
“Hanamori-san…”
I found myself calling her name back.
Pulling her closer. Closer, more—
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP! BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!
*
“WHAAAAAAAT?!?!?!”
I bolted upright.
My phone alarm was blaring.
Spread out in front of me was my own, familiar room.
I was drenched in sweat on the bed.
Morning. It had been a dream.
Just now, all of it, had been a dream.
“Haah… haah…”
My breathing was ragged.
My heart was pounding violently.
My face burned hot, my hands trembling in small tremors.
Wait, hold on. No, no, no, what kind of dream was I having.
I held my head, going pale.
A dream where I was doing… that… with my junior coworker of all people. With Hanamori Chisa.
“This is bad… this is genuinely bad…”
My voice was shaking. My heart wouldn’t stop racing.
What is happening to me.
A few days after returning from the business trip.
My daily life had completely changed.
Changed how, you ask?
I couldn’t get any work done, because I was way too aware of Hanamori.
“Asami-san, about this document—”
Sasaki-kun spoke to me, but my eyes kept sneaking glances at Hanamori across the room.
Hanamori, working on materials at her computer, a serious look on her face.
Before I knew it, I was tracking her with my eyes.
“Asami-san?”
“Ah, sorry. What?”
I snapped back and looked at Sasaki-kun.
“About this document—”
“Ah, right. That one.”
Focus, me.
The decision had come down to feature the new service at a major trade show, and the sales department had turned into a war zone. We wanted to build broad awareness in one shot at this show. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say the company’s fate rode on it.
Between ongoing sales work, preparing exhibition materials, planning the booth layout, and prepping the demonstration, the workload had piled up, and late overtime had become the new normal.
Even in the middle of all that busyness, I kept catching myself tracking Hanamori with my eyes.
Hanamori stood up from her seat.
I found myself watching.
Her back, heading toward the break room.
“Asami-san, so here’s the thing… Asami-san?”
“Eh!? …Ah, ah! Right, this part, um—”
No good. I’m completely spaced out. Need to get it together.
Sasaki-kun said “Thanks” and went back to his desk.
While that was happening, Hanamori came back from the break room.
Coffee cup in hand.
And then, our eyes met.
Thud.
My heart gave a hard jolt.
I hurriedly looked away.
Turned back to my computer, staring intently at the screen.
But nothing was sinking in.
Why is it like this. It doesn’t make sense.
Frustrating.
“Asami.”
The sales manager’s voice rang out.
“Yes!”
“The trade show pamphlet, is the design draft done?”
“Ah, yes. I’ll have it finished by end of day.”
“Count on it. We’re cutting it close with the printer deadline.”
“Understood. I’ll push it through.”
I need to work.
I really need to actually work.
This isn’t the time to be worrying about Hanamori.
Telling myself that, I turned back to my computer.
“Asami-san.”
A voice from behind.
I flinched.
My body jumped at the sound.
I turned around, and Hanamori was standing there.
“H-Hanamori-san. Morning.”
My voice cracked.
Calm down, me.
“Fufu, you jumped just now. About the trade show booth layout, does this look okay?”
Hanamori held out her tablet right beside me.
Close.
Her face was close.
Hanamori’s scent drifted over. Sweet peach.
“Ah, yeah. Looks fine, doesn’t it?”
“Really? I thought the traffic flow here was a little off.”
Hanamori pointed at the screen.
Her finger.
Slender, pretty.
…Wait, what am I even looking at?
“Asami-san?”
She was staring right at me, her face right beside mine.
My body felt hot.
“Ah, sorry. Where?”
“Here. Listen the first time, would you?”
Hanamori said it with her usual bratty jab, pointing again.
Focus.
Actually look at it.
“Ah, true. Then maybe this layout would work better.”
“Right? Thought so.”
Hanamori nodded, satisfied.
That expression. What was that.
…Cute.
Frustrating. Why does she look cute?
“Thanks. I’ll fix it.”
Hanamori headed back to her desk.
I let out a long breath.
My heart wouldn’t stop pounding.
We’d only talked about work.
In the afternoon, Hanamori spoke to me again.
“Asami-san, good work out there.”
“G-good work.”
“I finished the corrections on that trade show document from earlier.”
“Ah, right. Thanks.”
Why am I this awkward?
“Asami-san, something’s off with you.”
Hanamori looked at me, puzzled.
“Wh-what, nothing’s off.”
“Your face, isn’t it red? Do you have a fever?”
“Not at all.”
“Then were you thinking something weird again?”
“Wha!? N-n-not thinking anything.”
Hanamori giggled.
That smile. That laugh.
…Fun.
Frustrating, but fun.
I actually enjoy talking with Hanamori. That’s just how it is now.
“Something’s definitely off, though.”
“N-nothing’s off.”
“You’ve been like this since the trip.”
“I-is that so?”
“Yeah. You’ve been awkward.”
“I-i-it’s your imagination.”
Hanamori narrowed her eyes, tilting her head.
That gesture, cute all over again.
Damn it. Frustrating.
Why does she look cute?
“Well, I’ll head back.”
“O-okay.”
Hanamori walked away.
I found myself watching her back again.
Before I know it, I’m watching.
I don’t even understand myself anymore.
But Hanamori likes Tamura-san.
Right.
Tamura-san. Not me.
She likes Tamura-san.
Getting all giddy just from being able to talk to her, what an idiot.
My chest gave a sharp stab of pain.
What is this feeling? It hurts.
Night fell.
Only Tamura-san, Hanamori, and I were left in the office.
An exquisitely, precisely awkward trio.
Working on materials at my desk, I glanced over at Hanamori. She was next to Tamura-san, talking about something.
Hanamori, talking and laughing in that sweet, honeyed voice.
Tamura-san, looking like he was having fun.
My chest throbbed. It hurt.
That’s just the usual scene I’ve watched this whole time, isn’t it.
Hanamori likes talking with Tamura-san.
She likes Tamura-san.
Not someone like me.
Their conversation drifted over.
Happy-sounding voices. Laughter. Hanamori’s hand on his arm.
My chest ached again. Throbbing.
I turned my eyes back to my computer.
Don’t look.
You can’t look.
But my gaze drifted toward Hanamori again, unconsciously.
Don’t get in the way.
Don’t get in the way of their time together.
I stood up.
“I’m gonna run to the convenience store real quick.”
Tamura-san and Hanamori looked up.
“Ah, then I’ll come too.”
Hanamori started to stand.
“Ahh, it’s fine, it’s fine.”
I forced a smile.
“I’ll grab something for you two as well.”
“But…”
“It’s fine, really, keep working. Ah, Tamura-san, black coffee okay?”
For a split second, Hanamori’s face looked, somehow, pained.
Or so it seemed.
No, definitely just my imagination.
She’s probably thinking “lucky,” “Asami-san’s actually being thoughtful for once,” something like that.
Probably thinking she finally gets Tamura-san alone.
That thought irritated me all over again.
“Well, I’m off.”
I hurried out of the office.
My chest ached again. A rough, grating feeling.
Hanamori’s probably happy right now.
Getting Tamura-san all to herself.
With me, the obstacle, out of the way.
Can’t even focus on work, thinking about nothing but this, like an idiot.
Frustrating. Frustrating, and yet I can’t stop thinking about it.
I bought some drinks at random at the convenience store, took the long way back to the office, deliberately slow.
Taking as much time as I could.
*
So I could give the two of them a little more time alone together.