Actually, There’s Someone at Your Workplace Who Likes You ~ I’m Being Transferred to a Sales Office Filled With Only Beautiful Women!? - Chapter 23: Jinguji-Shochou — That Seemed Like a Good Call

The office had been a bit chaotic in the morning, but everyone quickly switched to work mode. As expected, they were all professionals.

“Hirabayashi-kun, can you hold the meeting with Hono-chan about the performance improvement plan this morning?”

“Ah, yes.”

“In the afternoon, I’ll be visiting a few client companies. I’d like you to come along as well for introductions.”

“Understood.”

I’d get to see Jinguji-shochou in action during sales visits—this would be a great learning experience. I was looking forward to it.

With that in mind, I moved to the meeting area and started the discussion with Honoka.

The meeting with Honoka was a bit heated at times, as our opinions clashed, but we managed to outline a general direction.

By the time we finished, it was already past noon, so we grabbed a quick lunch at a nearby café before returning to the office.

Just as I was about to report the meeting results, I saw the chief on the phone.

“What…? Really? Thank you so much! Ah, yes, understood. I’ll head over right away!”

Jinguji-shochou hung up, looking rather pleased.

“Um, Shochou, I have the report on our performance improvement discussion…”

“Oh, Hirabayashi-kun, we’ll go over that later. I need to visit a client now—come with me.”

“Ah, got it.”

I hurried to keep up as she quickly prepared to leave. We got into the company car—she was at the wheel while I took the passenger seat.

Dressed in her navy-blue suit, Jinguji-shochou looked incredibly composed as she gripped the steering wheel.

“Jinguji-shochou, that seemed like a good call just now.”

“Yeah, you could say that. It’s about the large deal that got rejected last Friday. The person in charge just called, saying they’d like to work with our company after all.”

Now that she mentioned it, I remembered how the chief had come back from an external meeting looking a bit annoyed before my welcome party. Honoka had even teased her, asking if a “big deal” had fallen through.

“That’s great news!”

“Well, I wouldn’t call it great just yet.”

She then explained the situation.

The client was a local mid-sized manufacturer, Kagaya Manufacturing. They typically didn’t hire many employees at once, but due to a new project launch, they were looking to recruit five people in one go.

Honoka had called it a “big deal”, and she was right—it was a huge opportunity.

The client usually worked with three staffing agencies, including ours, but for this particular project, the company’s executive director had decided to exclude us from consideration.

However, the HR manager, who was directly in charge of hiring, felt uneasy about relying solely on the other two agencies to fill all five positions. That’s why he reached out again, asking to discuss things once more.

“The executive director’s decision… was there a reason our company got left out?”

“Ah, well, um… no, nothing in particular!”

I wonder what was wrong?

As she gripped the steering wheel, the director furrowed her brows with a troubled expression that I had never seen before.

Well, at least the general affairs manager was willing to have a positive discussion. No need to dwell on the details.

As I watched the director drive, her well-defined and beautiful profile caught my eye.

Hmm… Come to think of it, Jinguji-shochou had quite a high nose bridge. It was perfectly straight, adding to her striking beauty. Paired with her neatly tied bun at the collar of her suit, she exuded the aura of a highly competent woman.

When we arrived at the client’s office, we were ushered into a meeting room. The only person there was General Affairs Manager Suzuki.

He looked to be in his 50s—a mild-mannered man with glasses, giving off a gentle impression.

After exchanging business cards and introducing myself, Jinguji-shochou followed up from the side.

“Moving forward, I believe Hirabayashi here will be working closely with you, so we appreciate your cooperation.”

“Ah, yes, I’m Suzuki. I look forward to working with you as well.”

After exchanging pleasantries, we were invited to take a seat at the meeting table. The director and I sat side by side, while Suzuki took a seat across from us.

Suzuki handed a document to the director.

Peeking over, I saw that it outlined the requirements for the recruitment positions.

“Um, Suzuki-san. Does this mean that our company will also be allowed to handle the recruitment? The other day, your senior executive mentioned that our company would not be considered. Has there been a change in policy?”

At the director’s words, Suzuki’s expression became somewhat awkward.

His eyes, behind his glasses, had a slightly apologetic look.

“Well… um, Jinguji-shochou. Actually, it hasn’t been officially decided that we will be working with your company. However, after reviewing the progress of the other two agencies, it seems that they may struggle to secure all five candidates.”

“I see. Is that so?”

“At this stage, our senior executive has not approved working with your company. However, if we wait until we are short on candidates before reaching out to you, it will be too late…”

In other words, what Suzuki was suggesting was—

We should proceed behind the scenes to secure candidates, and only if the other agencies failed to fill all five positions, would our candidates be considered for interviews.

Basically, we were being treated as a backup option.

I had thought this was a good opportunity, but this arrangement felt rather uncertain.

I understood Suzuki’s concerns, but why go through such a roundabout process? Wouldn’t it be easier to just get approval from the senior executive?

As I pondered this, I turned to see how the director would respond.

She furrowed her brows and let out a thoughtful “Hmm…”

—And then, at that moment, the meeting room door suddenly swung open with a loud clack, and a flashy-looking man strode in.

“Ah! Senior Executive!”

Suzuki called out in a panicked voice. So this was the infamous senior executive.

He was dressed in a high-end striped suit, with neatly styled hair. A strikingly handsome man with sharp, chiseled features.

He looked to be in his mid-30s or maybe around 40. Since he held the title of senior executive, I had imagined someone much older, but he was surprisingly young. He must be quite capable.

With a smirk on his face, the senior executive slowly scanned Jinguji-shochou from head to toe, as if sizing up a model.