Chapter 21: “An Afternoon That Made No Sense” (Part 2)

…About thirty minutes later, Department Head Osadaira returned.

While he had been gone, Kikuchi, a salesman who had joined the company five years before Natsumi, had also returned.

“Oh, Kikuchi. Welcome back.”

“I’m back.”

“Man, it’s still hot as hell out there. I thought I was going to see heat haze.”

“Huh? You’re the one who gets to sit in a nice, cool office.”

“Well, that’s true. Hahaha.”

“…You seem to be in a good mood. What happened?”

“Oh, I was just talking to Department Manager Shimoyanagi for the first time in a while. He had me laughing…”

“Oh, really? Is he doing well? I haven’t been visiting GT Tech much lately, so I haven’t seen him in a while. I’d kind of like to.”

“Yeah. Once you’re no longer in charge of an account, you naturally stop seeing people.”

“Exactly.”

“Oh, right. Sugisaki.”

As if suddenly remembering something, Osadaira turned toward Natsumi.

“About that matter from earlier—GT Tech has built a little extra room into the delivery schedule, so don’t worry about it. And please let President Uesugi know that everything is fine, so there’s no need to rush.”

“Oh… yes. I see.”

“Alright, I’m counting on you.”

“Um, Department Head…”

“Hmm? What is it?”

“About Uesugi Industries… something like this happened just recently, too… and before that, there was another delay…”

“When was ‘just recently’?”

“About three weeks ago.”

“I see.”

“…I’d like to do something to prevent it from happening again.”

“Prevent it? …For example?”

“For example, giving them an earlier deadline, so that even if they fall behind, there’s still some room…”

“I see. Well, why don’t you try that? But make sure you don’t push Uesugi Industries too hard.”

“…Yes.”

“…? What’s wrong?”

“…How are we supposed to deal with a subcontractor that basically doesn’t keep its deadlines?”

“…”

“From my point of view, I’m already talking to the supplier and adjusting things with the customer. I honestly don’t see what more I can do.”

“…”

“If they don’t keep their delivery dates, I can’t give our customer a proper answer.”

“But it’s not every time, is it?”

“No, but…”

“Well, I can’t say I don’t understand what you’re saying, Sugisaki…”

“Huh? What I’m saying, too?”

“Right. Too. …Well, it’s hot. I understand that you’re feeling irritated. Why don’t you calm down for a bit and think about it?”

“Now I feel like I’m the one who’s done something wrong…”

“That’s not what I meant… Anyway, sorry, but I have to go. The accounting department called for me a little while ago. Oh, and Kikuchi—the factory manager said he wanted to see you when you got back. Alright then, I’m counting on you.”

The two of them were left behind in the room.

For a while, the only sound was the quiet hum of the air conditioner.

…

“What the hell was that? That made no sense…”

The moment she muttered it, she became even more irritated.

She felt like snapping the department head’s folding fan in half.

(This is extremely not amusing…)

Natsumi, too, stormed out of the sales office.

To be continued.