Chapter 17: In A Hurry To Catch Her Old Man!

On the day of the interview, Mayuka led Hisaki to the trading company. Hisaki was met with a view of a busy morning. There were even some customers who directly walked into the warehouse to make their big purchases.

The warehouse was too spacious. Several trucks and big lorries were parked outside the building. The labor workers who worked the morning shift were already busy on their feet as they transferred the goods to the vehicles.

Mayuka greeted a few familiar faces as she led Hisaki inside.

At the entrance, several counters were set up for the walk-in customers. There was a huge space that separated the counter from the office, allowing people to move freely.

The office was right inside the warehouse, just less than fifty meters away from the busy warehouse entrance. Further inside the warehouse were rows and rows of high steel racks where goods were stored.

"Hello, I'm Chisaka Hisaki. I'm here for an interview."

Hisaki greeted the office front desk. Only one young lady was there. She immediately brought Hisaki to an area.

"Please wait here for a while," The receptionist smiled politely at Hisaki, "Our manager would arrive shortly."

"Thank you," Hisaki returned the smile.

The office section was just separated by partitions, forming its own fort inside the warehouse. Hisaki could see the busy warehouse from the windows of the partitions. A few cubicles were built inside the office for the manager and other clerical staff.

"Excuse me, are you a candidate for the vacant position? I'm the manager of the warehouse, my name is Mayeda Yoshiaki."

Soon, a man appeared in front of Hisaki. She quickly stood up from the chair and gave him a polite bow.

"Hello, Mr. Mayeda. I'm Chisaka Hisaki who's here for the interview."

Mr. Mayeda gestured at one of the cubicles, "Let's talk inside my office. Shall we?"

Hisaki nodded. She quietly followed the man from behind.

The first part of the interview was relatively simple. Hisaki was asked to introduce herself and her qualifications.

"Usually, we don't expect much for someone who applies for the assistant clerk job. Even though you don't have many skills, we can teach you here since it's not an important position. But, since you said you know basic accounting, bookkeeping and even English, may I test you on that?"

"Sure," Hisaki quickly nodded, "It's my pleasure."

Mr. Mayeda gave a few sets of problems for Hisaki to solve. They were the previous records of the company where they ran some trouble during calculating and tallying the accounts.

Whether this young lady could spot the error or not didn't really matter. Yet, if she could, it would delight Mr. Mayeda to have another capable subordinate.

After careful consideration, Hisaki pointed out the error and explained it to Mr. Mayeda. The man's smile broadened.

"Yes! That's correct! Oh, do you know how to use the computers? Have you used one before?"

Hisaki stared at the bulky computer on Mr. Mayeda's table. She replied, "Yes, I do. But, I didn't get to use it much."

The ones she frequently used before were laptops and slim monitors in the future. Hisaki didn't really remember using the bulky and big one in her previous life.

Igarashi Keigo had a few during their marriage. Hisaki never dared to touch them so, she just learned to use computers later on in her life. The staff at the nursing home patiently taught her how to first use one.

"It's alright. We can teach you. Well, I won't test you on the English aspect since I'm not fluent in it," admitted Mr. Mayeda with a friendly laugh, "This concludes the interview. Congratulations! You get the job! I don't think we would have a better candidate than you."

Hisaki's face brightened, "Thank you, Mr. Mayeda!"

The man continued laughing. He pulled a thin stack of papers from a drawer and asked Hisaki, "We should talk about salary and the benefits now."

The work hours were from 8 AM to 4 PM, the same hours as the morning shift. The office staff would have a lunch break at 1 PM.

Even though the clerical team only needed to work five days a week, at certain times, they were required to cover the evening shift by rotation. Hisaki's rotation would only start after she had gotten used to working here.

The pay was increased from the initial amount because of Hisaki's abilities. She was so happy to see the amount offered to her. After paying the rent and setting some aside for necessities, she could still save half of them.

"Don't worry about the job. It's relatively easy."

At the end of the interview sessions, Hisaki signed a contract after analyzing its content. She would start working on Monday, five days from now.

"Thank you, Mr. Mayeda," Hisaki gave the man a polite bow, "I'll work hard."

"Hope we'll have a happy cooperation," responded Mr. Mayeda who couldn't stop smiling.

After leaving the office, Hisaki met Mayuka who was waiting for her in the reception area. She saw the latter was talking to a girl with a ponytail. From the way they interacted, it seemed they had a friendly relationship.

'Is that Miss Kinoshita?'

Hisaki just made a guess because the ponytail girl had her back to her. She slowly approached them. Mayuka noticed her first.

"Hisaki, how's the interview?" asked Mayuka in anticipation, "Ah, let me introduce you to my friend. This is Kinoshita Kaori. His dad's the boss here."

Hisaki put on a smile at the girl, "Hello, Miss Kinoshita. I'm Chisaka Hisaki."

"Hello," greeted Kaori cheerfully, "I heard you're new in town. Did Mr. Mayeda make things difficult for you?"

"He didn't," Hisaki chuckled, "I got the job. I'll start next Monday."

"Congratulations!" Mayuka was so excited, "Since you have a job now, you don't have to worry about anything."

"Congratulations," Kaori didn't forget to cheer on the girl she had just met, "If you need any help, just ask anyone. They would be willing to help. I'm only here because it's summer break."

Both Mayuka and Kaori studied at the same university. While Mayuka took courses related to medical care, Kaori had her head busy with business management. The university was in the neighboring prefecture, only a few hours away by train.

"Thank you," Hisaki couldn't stop smiling.

Soon, Hisaki and Mayuka parted ways with Kaori who went looking for Mr. Mayeda under her father's instruction. Both of them made a stop at a nearby ice cream parlor.

"Here! Congrats again."

Mayuka bought Hisaki a strawberry ice cream. Colorful rainbow sprinkles sat on top of the sweet and creamy cold dessert.

"Thank you."

Hisaki didn't act reserved. She took the ice cream from Mayuka. They sat on the bench outside the shop.

"Do you want to start moving into the apartment now?" Mayuka asked before licking her coffee-flavored ice cream, "You know you don't have to be in a hurry. It's alright to continue living in my home. You could even wait until you get your first paycheck."

"Hah, I am in a hurry," answered Hisaki with a laugh, "I wanna move into the apartment soon."

She was indeed in a hurry!

In a hurry to catch her old man!

Mayuka didn't think much of what Hisaki had said. She just treated it as a joke.

"I think I have to contact Mr. Kawata to finalize the agreement," Hisaki brought out Shuuya's business card from her purse, "The apartment is bare but, I didn't expect the landlord would prepare a refrigerator for his tenants."

Electrical appliances like the refrigerator and washing machine still cost a lot during this time. Not many households would have both at the same time. Even if they did, they would only be able to buy them after saving for months to a year.

Hisaki thought the other things she had to buy herself were an iron and a table fan as they were essential for daily use. Fortunately, Mr. Mayeda said she could buy them directly from the warehouse using an employee discount.

This hot summer made Hisaki long for the cool home air conditioning system. Even though its price had reduced a lot over the years, it was still so expensive for most people.

'Never mind. Focus on moving first!'

Thus, Hisaki quickly contacted Shuuya.