章 38: Ch 37: The Solution To Our Problems
"The dream that was in my hands, that I tasted and saw with my own eyes, that I'd held like a precious treasure which I wanted to protect with all my might….slowly started to slip away. All I could do was clench my fingers together as tight as I could and close my hands. I was afraid that if I opened them….or relaxed in the slightest….I would find that it was gone completely…."
★ ★ ★
Minami sat anxiously on the couches in the lounge area of Sun Media. It had been two weeks since she'd stepped foot in the office, or left her apartment at all.
The comments had not died down and Smile Days continued to perform the song at their busking events.
Makoto had called Minami to come in as he had come to a decision on what action to take. Today, they would have a meeting discussing plans for the future.
Anxiety loomed over her as she sat there trying to occupy herself. Her fingers were busy fiddling with themselves, playing with the peach enamel music note buttons on her black skirt, twirling the ends of her low pigtails.
She'd never turned her phone back on in those two weeks, and only communicated with Makoto through email. She didn't want to turn it back on anyways, although it would've been much nicer to browse the web or play some apps while she waited for him to call her over to his desk.
Instead, she'd just have to settle with these boring little tasks in the meantime.
The atmosphere in the office was unusual as well, there was hardly any typing or phone calls, no staff were whispering to each other or murmuring to themselves.
It was eerie and she could feel the hair on the back of her neck standing up as if some sort of ghostly presence were hovering around her.
The swishing noise of her white ruffle blouse was starting to become irritated as it was one of the few noises she could hear.
That, the ticking of the clock above her, the scraping of paper rubbing together and the 'TINK TINK TINK' noises of her nails against her buttons felt so loud in her ears.
Her foot started tapping against the floor, in an attempt to release some of the anxiety, but it wasn't working.
She stood up and headed towards the bathroom.
Placing her hands on the basin of the sink for support, she stared at her unfamiliar reflection in the large mirror. Her eyes were still swollen, her nose was still red, there were now bags under her eyes and her skin looked awful.
She turned the faucet on and splashed some cold water on her face, hoping it would somehow fix some of the problems in her appearance as well as shock the anxiety away. Water was good for you right? It could work wonders right? Surely, it would help here.
Right?
She dabbed her face gently and stared back at her reflection.
Wrong.
Nothing had changed other than the strands of hair around her face were now wet, which if anything, made her look even worse.
She huffed, causing her mouth to roll, and walked back out into the office, taking her seat on the couch again.
There she remained, irritation and anxiety continuing to build as the little sounds picked at her ears, the lack of more filling or soothing noises to cover it up, feeling it was amplifying it.
Finally, Makoto called her over, "Ishihara. Come here."
A shiver ran down her spine. She wasn't used to him calling her that.
Biting her lip, she rose from her seat and headed straight for the chair across from his desk.
'Mmm-mmm." He cleared his throat as he stood in the doorway to the recording studio, his head nodding towards the inside of the room.
"Come in here. This is a private matter. There shouldn't be any eavesdropping."
Her heart sank. The eyes of the staff members were burrowing into the entire back of her body. It felt like her outline was being traced….scanned for movement, as if she were being tracked.
She slowly nodded as she wiggled her shoulders, trying to shrug off the staff's prying eyes before heading into the dimly lit room.
Part of her was ecstatic to escape the staff's line of sight.
Makoto followed her and shut the door slowly behind them.
"Take a seat." He motioned to the chair she would often sit at.
It was a comfortable chair that she'd spent a lot of time in when she first entered the company and worked alongside him on audio mixing songs, or directing recording sessions. Even when she recorded her own song, it was a seat she'd used.
Out of everyone in the office, Minami had probably sat on it the most, and the impression of her own rear on the seat made for a very comfortable and familiar seat.
At least there was something that felt normal today.
She looked around at the studio. It had been a long time since she'd been in there. At some point, she had started doubting if she'd ever step foot in there again.
The wooden walls and sound proofing panels had seemed a little intimidating the first time she'd entered, but now they seemed really cool and awe inspiring. Inside this room, she felt like a real artist.
All of the equipment was turned off, causing the usual lights and noises to be absent.
It felt sort of like outside, all though there was solace in it just being the two of them.
Makoto sat across from her. His keyboard sat in between them as he'd set it up to be a makeshift desk. There was a small pile of papers on it, but with the dim lighting and the distance, she couldn't really make out what they said.
"This is a private matter, so I've brought you in here today. I apologize that it's a bit uncomfortable, but given that I don't have a proper office nor do we have any extra rooms available, this is the best I could do." His voice trembled a bit, which was shocking to Minami.
It wasn't that of anger or fear, but she couldn't read it. She'd never heard him sound like that before.
She bit her lip, and clutched tightly onto her knees.
"It's alright…" Her own voice was trembling as well, although hers was definitely from her anxiousness.
Makoto stared at her, examining her appearance. How pitiful she'd looked.
He clenched his fists. If only if Smile Days had just done as they were told. Why was Minami the only obedient one? Part of him wished he could go back in time and just sign Minami as his flagship artist and erase Smile Days completely.
"How have you been doing?" He averted his gaze.
Minami hesitated a moment, not sure if it was appropriate to tell him everything or not. They were friends, kind of, but he was also her boss.
Well, if he was asking, then he must want to know, so it couldn't hurt to say so.
"I'm having a really hard time…I wish this could be resolved already. I just want things to go back to normal and return to work. I want to resume production on my single and just move forward from all of this. So, while I've been very nervous about today….I'm also excited to hear your solution so that this can all be over."
She kept her head down, eyes focused on her lap. The whole situation was so stressful and the toll it had taken on her had made her feel so ashamed. It was hard to keep eye contact with him.
"I understand that it's been hard on you. I wish that things could've been different." He slowly shook his head and sighed.
"Thank you, that means a lot to me…" Minami said quietly. At least she had Makoto's support.
They sat awkwardly in silence for a while.
"….Aren't you going to tell me what the solution is? Let's start working on it as soon as possible. That's what's best right?" Her tone was inquisitive and urgent. She was dying of anticipation and was ready for this situation to be done with and part of the past.
Makoto rubbed his chin before taking a deep breath. He leaned back in his seat and folded his arms, with one leg crossing over the other.
"After careful review….we've come to the conclusion that you have breached your contract."
'Breached. Your. Contract.'
Those words felt like they had stabbed her in the chest and exploded out the other side as they echoed in her ears.
She gasped as her breath caught in her throat and covered her mouth, her eyes wide with shock and horror.
Makoto took a breath to start speaking again, but Minami jumped from her seat, sending it flying backwards on its wheels and shouted out, "BREACHED MY CONTRACT?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!"
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