Actually, There’s Someone at Your Workplace Who Likes You ~ I’m Being Transferred to a Sales Office Filled With Only Beautiful Women!? - Chapter 35: The Call from Hikawa-san

Thanks to the hard work of both Honoka and me, we secured another four applicants for job openings today. That brought the total number of applicants to eleven.

The interview and written tests for these applicants were scheduled for next week and the week after.

How many of them would actually get hired? Would we be able to achieve our goal of three more sales targets?

It all depended on whether they could pass the interviews. At this stage, there was nothing more we could do but wish them good luck.

But from experience, I knew that with this many applicants, there was a good chance we’d hit our goal. We just needed to keep pushing to secure even more candidates, and… also focus on Kagaya Manufacturing.

It would be great if I could get a chance to speak directly with Hikawa-san’s sister, the secretary at Kagaya Manufacturing…

With these thoughts in mind, I sat down for dinner at my apartment.

I’d been living alone since college, so I’d gotten pretty decent at cooking. Tonight, I made a quick stir-fried dish with meat and vegetables.

Of course, it was my own style, and I’d never really cooked for anyone else, so I was unsure if it was any good for others.

But as long as it tasted good to me, that was all that mattered, right? This was what a man’s cooking was all about.

After finishing my meal and washing the dishes, my work phone suddenly rang.

Who could be calling at this hour? Maybe it was an urgent message from the director?

I quickly dried my hands with a towel and grabbed my phone. The number displayed was unfamiliar to me.

Could it be someone from a client company?

“Hello, this is Hirabayashi from Rikuado!”

Most calls to my work phone were either from people within the company, clients, or registered job applicants, so I answered as usual, with my usual upbeat tone.

To my surprise, the voice on the other end was someone completely unexpected.

“Oh, Hirabayashi-san? This is Hikawa from Shimizu Bussan.”

It was… Hikawa-san, the one from Shimizu Bussan. Shimizu Bussan, her company, was a well-known trading company in the local area that dealt with housing and equipment.

“Oh, Hikawa-san! I’m so glad to hear from you!”

“I’m sorry to call at this hour. Are you free for a moment?”

“Yes, of course.”

“I just spoke with my sister, who works at Kagaya Manufacturing, about you. I told her about you just now.”

She had already followed up on what I asked. I was incredibly grateful.

“So… if it’s okay with you, Hirabayashi-san, would you be able to meet tomorrow?”

“Huh? Tomorrow is Saturday, so, Hikawa-san… ah, I mean, isn’t your sister off tomorrow?”

“Yes. My sister really wants to meet and talk with you, but it seems it’s a bit tricky to meet at the company while working. So, even though you might be off, I thought it would be better to meet on a day off if that’s alright…”

“I see… Ah, of course, I’m fine with that! It’s a great opportunity.”

“I’m glad! So, how about tomorrow at 11 am, at a place called Superior Cafe in the shopping mall near the station? Do you know it?”

“Ah, yes, I know it! That works fine. Thank you very much!”

The shopping mall near the station was a mall with a variety of shops, mostly focusing on fashion and miscellaneous goods, along with a food court and other typical stores.

It didn’t exist when I was in high school, so I was not very familiar with the stores inside the mall.

But I did know the cafe, as it was located on the public street outside.

“Ah, don’t worry, I’ll also go, so you don’t have to worry. It might be awkward to meet my sister alone for the first time, so I thought I’d come along.”

── I’d only met Hikawa-san once before…

But it was indeed different from a work meeting, and meeting a completely new woman alone, especially on a day off, could be awkward.

I really appreciated Hikawa-san’s consideration.

“I’m really sorry for troubling you, Hikawa-san. Thank you so much!”

Although she couldn’t see me, I deeply bowed my head as I spoke on the phone.

“Ah, also, Hirabayashi-san, if you don’t mind, could you come in casual clothes instead of a suit tomorrow?”

“Huh…?”

“My sister, you see, doesn’t want this to be seen as a business meeting. She wants it to appear as though she happened to meet a friend of her sister’s on her day off and the conversation turned to this… So, she would prefer if it looked that way.”

“Ah, yes. Understood. That’s fine.”

I see.

It might be more convenient when she talked to the president later.

Well, I still didn’t know if the president would even talk with me, but…

“You might think that if no one sees, it wouldn’t matter, Hirabayashi-san… but my sister wants to keep things proper, so please. Well, I tend to think like my sister, so I had the same thought myself.”

“Ah, I understand that kind of thinking too.”

“Is that so? I’m glad to hear that.”

Hikawa-san spoke with a relieved-sounding voice.

She was truly a serious, sincere, and wonderful person.

“Well then, Hikawa-san, I look forward to tomorrow.”

“Yes, I look forward to it as well.”

Hikawa-san said that and hung up the phone.

──Hmm?

“Looking forward to it?”

What did she mean…?

Ah, I see.

She was looking forward to my work going well.

Hikawa-san… She was really a great person. I was grateful.

I thought that, and even though the call had already ended, I bowed deeply once again in the direction of the phone as if to thank her.