Actually, There’s Someone at Your Workplace Who Likes You ~ I’m Being Transferred to a Sales Office Filled With Only Beautiful Women!?

“Good work today, Hirabayashi-kun. Cheers!”

“Good work, Shochou! Cheers!”

I clinked my beer glass against Jinguji-shochou’s chu-hai glass. We were at a yakiniku restaurant near the station. When Jinguji-shochou asked me “What kind of restaurant would you like to go to?”, I had reflexively answered a yakiniku place.

I loved yakiniku, but for some reason, yakiniku restaurants were difficult to enter alone. Beef bowl shops were easy, though. In Tokyo, solo yakiniku restaurants had become quite popular, but they were still rare in provincial cities.

So after transferring to the Shimizu branch, I had been sadly thinking that I wouldn’t have the opportunity to eat yakiniku for a while.

But then came the Director’s question: “What kind of restaurant would you like to go to?” No one could blame me for reflexively answering “yakiniku”, right?

However—

After Shochou responded “I understand,” a strange question bubbled up: would a model-like woman like her actually go to a yakiniku restaurant? But she’d then said, “I love yakiniku too,” so yakiniku it was.

“Now then, shall we start grilling?”

Jinguji-shochou took off her suit jacket, rolled up her white blouse sleeves, and said this.

I hadn’t noticed because she’s always wearing her jacket, but the Director was indeed slender, yet well-proportioned where it counted. Her figure was truly outstanding.

When she gripped the tongs for the meat, I hastily reached out.

“Ah, excuse me, Shochou. I’ll do the grilling!”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. Today is like a party to thank you, Hirabayashi-kun, so I’ll grill.”

“No, no. I can’t let you do that, Shochou. I’ll grill.”

When I tried to grab the tongs in her hand, she tried to move them away from me. My hand chased after them and when I grabbed the tongs…

—Squish.

“Ah… s-sorry! It wasn’t on purpose! Please believe me!”

Oh no! This was bad! I meant to grab the tongs but misjudged and firmly gripped the Director’s hand holding them instead.

She might despise me as some kind of sexual harasser…

“Hirabayashi-kun. There’s no need to panic. I understand perfectly well that it wasn’t intentional.”

“Ah, sorry. But to grab a woman’s hand…”

“We’re not high school students anymore, that much is fine.”

“Y-you’re right, haha.”

“See? Haha.”

Jinguji-shochou’s face seemed somewhat tense, but she laughed and forgave me.

Despite saying “we’re not high school students anymore”, she had a rather embarrassed expression. The Director quickly drank her chu-hai, as if to hide her embarrassment. I also emptied my beer to hide my own embarrassment.

“Oh, Hirabayashi-kun, you can drink! Would you like another?”

“Yes, please.”

Come to think of it, I had also accidentally held Ruka’s hand recently. It really wasn’t intentional, but somehow these things kept happening. It was my carelessness at fault. I needed to be more careful.

Still… Ruka’s hand had felt soft, but the Director’s hand was thin and delicate. Women’s hands had different textures.

—This was something I realized for the first time in my life.

“But really, with the Kagaya Manufacturing matter, we owe it all to you, Hirabayashi-kun. Thank you. You worked really hard.”

“No, Shochou. Actually… I was moved by your words and wanted to do my best.”

“My words? What do you mean?”

“You know. The day we met the Executive Director. In the car on the way back, you said, ‘I have a responsibility to protect everyone at the office, more than myself’.”

“Huh? Oh, I did say that.”

“That really moved me. I thought it was amazing to be able to work under a boss who would say something like that…”

“Hirabayashi-kun… it’s… not that big a deal.”

“No. Because of those words, I said that we staff members have a responsibility to protect you. I didn’t just say it. I truly felt it from the bottom of my heart.”

Jinguji-shochou remained silent, staring at me with a serious expression. Her cheeks were slightly flushed from the alcohol, her beautiful eyes slightly upturned, a small face with a straight nose and beautifully proportioned features, her black hair in a bun at her collar that made her look even more dignified.

Being stared at by such a model-like beauty was certainly a bit embarrassing.

“Hirabayashi-kun…”

“Yes…?”

“Well, drink up!”

“Huh?”

The Director took my glass and thrust it in front of me.

“Oh, yes.”

I took the glass from the Director and gulped down the beer.

“That’s it. That’s quite good drinking form.”

With a happy face, the Director also gulped down her chu-hai.

“Mmm, delicious! Today’s drinks are the best!”

Today, she seemed particularly happy. The success with Kagaya Manufacturing seemed to have made her much happier than I had imagined—

“Hey, Hirabayashi~ …Are you drinking~?”

—Oh no, this was bad.

As we were chatting and drinking while eating yakiniku, I suddenly noticed Shochou’s eyes had become unfocused. Her speech had changed from her usual calm, refined tone to something a bit rougher.

The image of her getting completely drunk at my welcome party flashed through my mind.

The juicy, delicious yakiniku made us drink more. And above all, the Director was drinking so happily that I forgot to restrain her from drinking as heavily as she did last time.

It was too late to regret it now.

“Ah, yes. I’m drinking.”

“Very good!”

Saying that, the Director gulped down another chu-hai.