Chapter 21: “An Afternoon That Made No Sense” (Part 1)

The chime marking the end of the three o’clock break had just finished ringing.

At almost the same moment, Natsumi Sugisaki, the newest member of the sales department, returned to the office, wiping sweat from her forehead.

“I’m back.”

“Welcome back.”

Osadaira, the head of the sales department, was leaning his heavy body back in his chair, staring at his computer screen.

“Ahhh… it’s nice and cool in here.”

“Mm. But… aren’t you supposed to be good with summer, Sugisaki?”

The department head sat up and spoke while busily fanning himself.

“...First of all, may I ask why you would think that?”

“Well, your name, you see… it has two characters that make it sound summery. So I thought maybe you were naturally good with summer…”

“That is, Director, a complete misunderstanding. For one thing, I didn’t choose my own name. And I don’t particularly like summer.”

“I see. Well, yes, of course. Sorry, sorry. What a stupid joke, especially in this heat.”

Just then, the telephone rang.

“Kurogane Manufacturing, Sales Department.”

After exchanging a few words with the caller, Osadaira held out the receiver.

“Sugisaki, it’s the president of Uesugi Industries.”

Natsumi took the receiver, already feeling a little uneasy.

“Hello. This is Sugisaki speaking.”

“Ah, Sugisaki? This is Uesugi from Uesugi Industries. I’m sorry, but could you extend the delivery deadline on the item we’re working on right now?”

“Which item are you talking about?”

“You know—the one you came to see the day before yesterday. The one where you helped us with the dimensions we couldn’t figure out… that one.”

“But, President Uesugi, didn’t you say at the time that you could make the deadline?”

“Yeah, I did. I really thought I could then, but it’s turned out to be more troublesome than I expected… Could you give us another two or three days?”

“But I already gave our customer the delivery date. Because you said you could do it, I went and told the customer…”

“Mm… could you somehow work something out?”

“...”

“Would you like me to take over, Sugisaki?”

The department head cut in.

Covering the mouthpiece of the receiver with her hand, Natsumi whispered to him with a troubled expression,

“...Again.”

Osadaira raised one hand and took the phone from her.

“Hello, this is Osadaira… Yes, hello, President. What happened? …Yes, I see… Yes… Though really, it’s hot, isn’t it? ………………”

After speaking for a while, he put the receiver down.

“The customer is GT Tech, right?”

“Yes.”

“And the person in charge is Department Manager Shimoyanagi?”

“No, it’s the section chief…”

“Ah, I see. Perhaps these days the department manager leaves all the work to his subordinates and spends his time playing golf? Heh heh heh.”

“Um…”

“No, I haven’t spoken to Shimoyanagi in a while. I think I’ll give him a call. I could use a cup of coffee, too…”

And with that, he walked out of the sales office.

To be continued.