[CH.5] (Beautiful Woman's POV) Personnel decisions for the spring have been made...
We go back to early March.
The Fores Corp. Hamayama Sales Office is located on the second floor of a four-story building.
The office is quite small, and from the outside, you can't tell if there's an office here at first glance.
At the moment, there are only female employees, which also has a security aspect, leading to these location conditions.
On the floor, office desks are lined up facing each other, and three beautiful women are working.
The time is 7:30 PM. It's already been over two hours since the regular working hours of 5:30 PM.
The members of the Hamayama Sales Office, who are rumored not to do overtime, were typing on their respective devices.
"By the way, Manager, have they already announced the personnel changes for April?"
In the office where only the sound of typing echoed, a cheerful voice suddenly mixed in. It was a comment from Kazuha Nishina, a fourth-year employee who had disconnected her hands from the Bluetooth keyboard connected to her tablet.
Nishina had a charming, amber-colored, fluffy medium-length hair and round, twinkling eyes that left a strong impression. Her appearance was exceptionally cute, and her cheerful personality was quite endearing.
If she had been attending school, she would have undoubtedly been praised as the most refreshing and popular idol in the entire school.
The person Nishina was addressing was her boss, Rion Mimasaka.
"Yes, we received the official notice yesterday," replied Mimasaka, the manager of the Hamayama Sales Office, who was now 28 years old.
Though she had a petite frame, holding the position of a branch manager was no small feat, and it was a testament to her high capabilities. Her slender figure in a sharp navy ladies' suit belied her small stature.
Mimasaka was typing away on a stylish laptop that differed from the company-provided one. She finished typing with an ENTER key press and looked up.
Despite her sharp, slanted eyes that could be quite intimidating when she was angry, she was generally a soft-spoken woman with a frequent smile. Her semi-long hair, half-up, was styled elegantly, and her glossy dark hair complemented her beauty exceptionally well. It was a style that one could only pull off with absolute confidence in one's own beauty.
"Ah," Mimasaka let out a sultry sigh.
"Does that mean there were some unfavorable personnel changes in Hamayama based on that feeling?" asked a beautiful woman who had stopped her flick input on her smartphone. Her posture was impeccable, making her appear taller than Nishina, and her long, flowing, jet-black hair swayed gracefully down to her back.
Her name was Hinata Kuhou, the youngest employee among them, a newcomer who had joined the company this year and would be entering her second year in April.
She had a polite manner of speaking, and her tone was gentle, giving off an aura of a sheltered young lady, both in her appearance and behavior.
"Starting from April, we'll have a new employee joining us... and it's a man."
"Eeeh..."
The fact that it was a male employee was met with displeasure from both Nishina and Hinata, given that it had been an all-female environment.
"It seems someone from the head office's Design and Development Department is switching to Sales."
"Weren't there any women in the Development Department?"
In response to Hinata's question, Mimasaka explained that, apart from clerical staff, the department was entirely comprised of men.
"Well, that product... It would be tough for us, but a man, huh?"
"Nishina, you're not particularly fond of people from the head office, right?"
"Well, there have been various reasons..."
"I was assigned here pretty much right away, so it didn't affect me much..."
"You, too, Hinata-chan, right? During the newcomer training..."
As Nishina spoke, Hinata's expression turned a bit more serious, as if she had remembered something.
"I remember... He kept trying to get me to drink alcohol. He would even invite me on my days off..."
"Yeah, even though there are other girls, why bother coming over here? The male colleagues in our cohort weren't bad, but... they got too familiar after a few drinks, and I didn't like that."
Facing each other at their seats, Nishina and Hinata nodded in agreement.
"The manager had to deal with this too, right?"
"I came in as a lateral hire, so I didn't go through those kinds of harassment-like newcomer trainings. I've had similar experiences, though, more than I can count."
Being three beautiful women, they had each faced their fair share of challenges when it came to interactions with male colleagues. With the prospect of male employees from the head office joining them in April, they couldn't help but voice their concerns despite having managed as an all-female team so far.
"I... I'm not very comfortable around men."
"And there's no way to refuse, right?"
"I mentioned it too. But... the head office director who spoke up about it also managed to secure this major deal for us, so I can't really put my foot down."
"You told the director?"
"That? It's not that big of a deal."
Both Nishina and Hinata cracked a slight smile at the teasing about their remarks regarding their own department heads. Mimasaka's comments were more of a reassuring gesture towards the two anxious women rather than a genuine complaint.
"Well, there's no helping it. He'll be attached to me for a while. If his behavior or actions become too much to handle, I'll escalate it."
"Manager, are you okay being so short?"
"Short, you say? I'll just remind them that I hold a second-degree black belt in karate."
Despite her height of just a little over 150 cm, Mimasaka seemed to have some concerns about her stature. While she didn't come across as petite, thanks to her confident demeanor, she often wore platform boots outside of her sales activities, possibly to address her complex about her height.
"The changing rooms are already separate for men and women... Desks and partitions can be arranged gradually..."
"I'll do my best to make sure it doesn't become a burden, Manager!"
"Hinata-chan, I know you're patient, but... don't push yourself too hard. Promise me you'll talk to me if it gets too much."
Mimasaka opened her company-provided laptop and began reviewing the data of the male employee who would be transferring.
"Though I'm not that great at it either... I'll try to avoid talking too much... though that might be impossible."
"I'm anxious too... I can handle it with customers."
"The department head said he's a serious guy."
Mimasaka clicked on a name and read it aloud.
"Hidaka Hanamura... I wonder what kind of person he is?"
"Wha...!" "...!"
The two women's voices stopped, and their movements became awkward.
Because of the C-shaped desk arrangement, it was clear from Misasa's perspective that Nishina and Hinata had both frozen in place.
Mimasaka briefly found it strange but didn't dwell on it and raised her voice.
"It might be a good idea to go pick him up on his first day at the station. We need to give him a security card, and I'll..."
"Manager, I'll do it! Please let me do it!"
"Huh!? Didn't you just say you want to avoid talking to him as much as possible!?"
Misasa was perplexed by the sudden change of heart.
"W-well, Hanamura-kun is my fellow newcomer! So, it's only natural that I go."
"Didn't you just say you don't like your fellow newcomers?"
"As people keep quitting one after another, fellow newcomers become even more important!"
It was a drastic change in Nishina's attitude, considering how dissatisfied she had been with men. Even the talented sales manager Mimasaka was at a loss.
"Uh, Manager?"
"What is it, Hinata?"
"Is this... Hanamura-san?"
"No, I've seen his face, but...!?"
Hinata suddenly pulled out the monthly internal newsletter sent to the office. It featured photos of the development team members, and Hidaka Hanamura's photo was circled in red pen.
"Moreover, this isn't from last year's newsletter. Why do you have something like this?"
"Oh! It's nothing!"
Hinata timidly put the internal newsletter back in her bag.
Seeing Hinata's flushed face and her shrinking posture...
"Hanamura-chan is coming... It's been a while..."
Nishina smiled faintly as if recalling something.
"Hanamura-kun... I wonder what's up with him."
Mimasaka, who hadn't been particularly enthusiastic about this personnel change, found herself a bit intrigued.
And then, April 1st arrived.
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