[Complete] Invisible Chains- Chapter 12
I guess this the chapter that you have been waiting for! Our supporting character appears!! He plays an important role as he becomes the mediator and the annoying voice of reason for Asuka. I hope you enjoy the bit of teasing in this chapter... （●＾□＾●）
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Chapter 12
I sat quietly in my chair at my office. I had a lot of things running in mind. Problems that had accumulated over time when I wasn’t at work. Not to mention my short vacation period, and my confused feelings that became unsettling and irritating as I tried to keep my mind away from thinking too much about it. I sighed and then I pulled out a drawer to unwrap a cream bread to eat.
Then my eyes were slowly attracted towards a huge poster on a huge billboard behind my desk that can be seen from outside of my office. It was a poster of Arashi promoting our health tonics. Currently the commercial is number one in the rankings as most liked commercial of 2015 by the public and from the commercial, our sales have risen drastically. I was surprised to find out how much consumer power that fangirls have. They would buy a product that may not be for them but if it were to help support their favorite idols, then they wouldn’t mind becoming broke. I sighed again. Then I heard a knock from the door.
I remained still with my chair facing away from the door. I began to stuff the rest of my cream bread down to hear the door opening. “Nakashima-san, we have some documents…” I scurried into my pocket to grab my handkerchief to wipe my mouth and my dirty hands before I turned around to make a small smile to my assistant. “Can you check and sign these documents?” She asked, not noticing that I still had food in my mouth.
I took fast but small chews as I tried to swallow my food. I should have just put the rest of my cream bread away instead of stuffing it all… I skimmed through the contents to see that it was the promotions department wanting more money for another commercial. I widened my eyes to find out that we’re already producing another commercial within a few weeks since that commercial came out. I wondered what the rush was to promote the product again. Are our sales declining again?
This commercial will include Aiba Masaki and Ninomiya Kazunari. It is a scene about two old friends whom want to relive their youth so when they drink (the product), they transform to their late 20s selves. They would do things that they regretted doing before they turned old. E.g. playing baseball, travel, wear the latest trends, skydive, etc.
Curious, I flipped the pages to see a rough draft of the shoot and was interested how the director thought of a creative way to promote our health tonics using these famous idols. Usually I wouldn’t care about the creative process of the commercials and just sign without looking, but after seeing the results of the first commercial, I was excited to see the end results of this one.
“Nakashima-san, is there something wrong with the proposal?” My assistant asked. I slowly looked up at her and shook my head. I swallowed whatever remains I had in my mouth. “I was just curious about this new commercial since the commercial out now is helping out our sales.” She smiled, making me give back the same smile. How come she isn’t going to say anything about what I said?
Once I signed and skimmed through the others, I handed the files back to her. “Arigato gozaimasu. I will let the promotions department start with the production. Also I will ask them when they plan to shoot the commercial.” She said, and then she spun on her heels to face the door. “I didn’t ask for-“ Before I could finish, I saw her leaving my office. I almost didn’t see it but did she just smirk at me?
Recently there has been a rumor floating around the office that I have a secret lover or I’m destined to stay single forever due to my personality. Where do these people come up with these ridiculous rumors? This is an office not a gossip building. It makes me irritated to know that people spend time thinking up of crazy ideas about a person they’ve only seen a few times. If they got to know the real me then… Then I guess those rumors would… No, those rumors wouldn’t change at all. They would still call me a devil behind my back, they would still avoid me, and most of all people would still call me cold-hearted.
I turned my chair and stared at the billboard one again. Many people around the nation like Arashi. They make it so easy to be so likeable, so why can’t I be likeable as well?
~*~
I walked into the studio to see busy people scurrying around the room. I had assumed that these people were the production staff. I walked further into the room to see the director, that initially I had a bad impression of, huddled together with a few other people.
“Director-san.” I said and all the heads in the circle turned their eyes towards me. I forced a small smile and slightly bowed my head towards them. “Konnichiwa.” Then I lifted my eyes up to see nervous looks on their faces. I guess they never expected that I would inspect their work again. Their facial expression stiffened. “I read your proposal and thought that it was interesting. Don’t mind me, today I only wanted to watch the behind the scenes. Please continue with what you’re doing.” I tried to assure them but they didn’t seem to buy it. Maybe it was due to the fact that I looked like I was on important business. I wasn’t exactly alone; I had my assistant with me and two managers by my side.
“Aiba-san and Ninomiya-san are entering the studio!” A staff member shouted out and I turned my head to the side to see Ninomiya-san walking into the studio followed by Aiba-san. Then suddenly Aiba-san and I made eye contact. As soon as they met, I turned my eyes away and warmth rose from my cheeks. Even though I only had thought about work for the past few days, as soon I saw him, he made me remember the time when we stayed in the same room and spent an entire day together.
I slowly glanced up to see if Aiba-san was looking at me but he had focused his attention in the director’s instructions of the commercial. So I sneakily took another look at him and this time, without realization, I just stared at him. Flashbacks of that time ran wild through my head that I never realized that someone caught me staring.
Ninomiya-san smirked but carefully hid it with his hand on top of his mouth. I knew he was laughing at me. “Ninomiya-san, can you please stand here?” A production member asked him. Then he took a glance at me before he looked at him and did as what he said. Why did he look at me and laughed at me? I didn’t joke or did anything to make him laugh so why did he just smirk at me? Wait did he just make fun of me?
Angry and provoked, I folded my arms and sat down in a chair that one of the production staff provided chairs to let us sit down on. I furrowed my eyebrows and turned my attention from Aiba-san to Ninomiya-san. I began to observe his actions, his expressions and how he treated others. From what I got out of by just observing him was that he was playful, easy-going and quite lethargic. He had no motivations to put all his effort into shooting the commercial but he obediently followed whatever instructions he was given. I grinned as I thought that Ninomiya-san shouldn’t even work as an idol if he does his work half-heartedly. Why work as something when you don’t look like you’re enjoying it?
From the background checks we did on them, I know that he is a successful actor and has written lyrics to some of his solo songs, but if he has an attitude like what I’m looking at now. Why force to do something when you have to fake your happiness for other people’s sake?
“Asuka-chan, you’re here!” A high-pitchy Aiba-san said happily to me. With widened eyes, I slowly turned my head to him. When Ninomiya-san walked up to us as well. Shoot, I forgot Aiba-san kept calling me ever since I had bumped into him at the ryokan. I wanted to massage my temples to prevent a headache but it was already too late. Eyes were already beaming at me and thoughts started to run wild in their minds. I had already decided to keep a distance from Aiba-san but if he keeps this up, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear a rumor that I was dating him. That would be a worse case scenario for me. What would the board of directors think of me? They would probably think that I’m unsuited to run the company if I cannot keep my personal life a secret from others. Those old geezers… Think they know everything.
I forced myself to smile but I could only manage to curve one side of my lips. “Konnichiwa Aiba-kun. How are you?” I asked and wanted to get rid of the unnecessary thoughts that people were probably coming up with. “I’m fine, Asuka-chan. Oh, I have your handkerchief in my bag. I’ll give it to you after the shoot.” All of a sudden, loud whispers started to roam around the studio. I slowly looked around to see that people were looking at me as they whispered. Just when I tried to avoid anymore talk about us…
I bit my lower lip and tried to get away from this situation but nothing popped in my intellectual brain. I was going to close my eyes and walk away from everyone, but that would say to others that we had something going on. It would feel like I accepted defeat. As I tried to think up of something else to say and tried to move away from this conversation, Ninomiya-san said with a grin. “Konnichiwa Asuka-chan. Don’t mind Aiba-chan here. He’s really shy so he tries to hide his shyness by giving people nicknames. In this case, he couldn’t think up of one.” Then whispers started up again but this time, they began to speculate that it was just a sign of good friendly terms. “Since we are working with each other often, I hope it’s okay to call you that. We don’t mind you calling us in an informal speech if that will help lighten our new relationship.”
I forced a smile at him, which he automatically gave back to me. But my gut feeling was telling me that there was something else he was hinting about to me.
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Chapter 12
I sat quietly in my chair at my office. I had a lot of things running in mind. Problems that had accumulated over time when I wasn’t at work. Not to mention my short vacation period, and my confused feelings that became unsettling and irritating as I tried to keep my mind away from thinking too much about it. I sighed and then I pulled out a drawer to unwrap a cream bread to eat.
Then my eyes were slowly attracted towards a huge poster on a huge billboard behind my desk that can be seen from outside of my office. It was a poster of Arashi promoting our health tonics. Currently the commercial is number one in the rankings as most liked commercial of 2015 by the public and from the commercial, our sales have risen drastically. I was surprised to find out how much consumer power that fangirls have. They would buy a product that may not be for them but if it were to help support their favorite idols, then they wouldn’t mind becoming broke. I sighed again. Then I heard a knock from the door.
I remained still with my chair facing away from the door. I began to stuff the rest of my cream bread down to hear the door opening. “Nakashima-san, we have some documents…” I scurried into my pocket to grab my handkerchief to wipe my mouth and my dirty hands before I turned around to make a small smile to my assistant. “Can you check and sign these documents?” She asked, not noticing that I still had food in my mouth.
I took fast but small chews as I tried to swallow my food. I should have just put the rest of my cream bread away instead of stuffing it all… I skimmed through the contents to see that it was the promotions department wanting more money for another commercial. I widened my eyes to find out that we’re already producing another commercial within a few weeks since that commercial came out. I wondered what the rush was to promote the product again. Are our sales declining again?
This commercial will include Aiba Masaki and Ninomiya Kazunari. It is a scene about two old friends whom want to relive their youth so when they drink (the product), they transform to their late 20s selves. They would do things that they regretted doing before they turned old. E.g. playing baseball, travel, wear the latest trends, skydive, etc.
Curious, I flipped the pages to see a rough draft of the shoot and was interested how the director thought of a creative way to promote our health tonics using these famous idols. Usually I wouldn’t care about the creative process of the commercials and just sign without looking, but after seeing the results of the first commercial, I was excited to see the end results of this one.
“Nakashima-san, is there something wrong with the proposal?” My assistant asked. I slowly looked up at her and shook my head. I swallowed whatever remains I had in my mouth. “I was just curious about this new commercial since the commercial out now is helping out our sales.” She smiled, making me give back the same smile. How come she isn’t going to say anything about what I said?
Once I signed and skimmed through the others, I handed the files back to her. “Arigato gozaimasu. I will let the promotions department start with the production. Also I will ask them when they plan to shoot the commercial.” She said, and then she spun on her heels to face the door. “I didn’t ask for-“ Before I could finish, I saw her leaving my office. I almost didn’t see it but did she just smirk at me?
Recently there has been a rumor floating around the office that I have a secret lover or I’m destined to stay single forever due to my personality. Where do these people come up with these ridiculous rumors? This is an office not a gossip building. It makes me irritated to know that people spend time thinking up of crazy ideas about a person they’ve only seen a few times. If they got to know the real me then… Then I guess those rumors would… No, those rumors wouldn’t change at all. They would still call me a devil behind my back, they would still avoid me, and most of all people would still call me cold-hearted.
I turned my chair and stared at the billboard one again. Many people around the nation like Arashi. They make it so easy to be so likeable, so why can’t I be likeable as well?
~*~
I walked into the studio to see busy people scurrying around the room. I had assumed that these people were the production staff. I walked further into the room to see the director, that initially I had a bad impression of, huddled together with a few other people.
“Director-san.” I said and all the heads in the circle turned their eyes towards me. I forced a small smile and slightly bowed my head towards them. “Konnichiwa.” Then I lifted my eyes up to see nervous looks on their faces. I guess they never expected that I would inspect their work again. Their facial expression stiffened. “I read your proposal and thought that it was interesting. Don’t mind me, today I only wanted to watch the behind the scenes. Please continue with what you’re doing.” I tried to assure them but they didn’t seem to buy it. Maybe it was due to the fact that I looked like I was on important business. I wasn’t exactly alone; I had my assistant with me and two managers by my side.
“Aiba-san and Ninomiya-san are entering the studio!” A staff member shouted out and I turned my head to the side to see Ninomiya-san walking into the studio followed by Aiba-san. Then suddenly Aiba-san and I made eye contact. As soon as they met, I turned my eyes away and warmth rose from my cheeks. Even though I only had thought about work for the past few days, as soon I saw him, he made me remember the time when we stayed in the same room and spent an entire day together.
I slowly glanced up to see if Aiba-san was looking at me but he had focused his attention in the director’s instructions of the commercial. So I sneakily took another look at him and this time, without realization, I just stared at him. Flashbacks of that time ran wild through my head that I never realized that someone caught me staring.
Ninomiya-san smirked but carefully hid it with his hand on top of his mouth. I knew he was laughing at me. “Ninomiya-san, can you please stand here?” A production member asked him. Then he took a glance at me before he looked at him and did as what he said. Why did he look at me and laughed at me? I didn’t joke or did anything to make him laugh so why did he just smirk at me? Wait did he just make fun of me?
Angry and provoked, I folded my arms and sat down in a chair that one of the production staff provided chairs to let us sit down on. I furrowed my eyebrows and turned my attention from Aiba-san to Ninomiya-san. I began to observe his actions, his expressions and how he treated others. From what I got out of by just observing him was that he was playful, easy-going and quite lethargic. He had no motivations to put all his effort into shooting the commercial but he obediently followed whatever instructions he was given. I grinned as I thought that Ninomiya-san shouldn’t even work as an idol if he does his work half-heartedly. Why work as something when you don’t look like you’re enjoying it?
From the background checks we did on them, I know that he is a successful actor and has written lyrics to some of his solo songs, but if he has an attitude like what I’m looking at now. Why force to do something when you have to fake your happiness for other people’s sake?
“Asuka-chan, you’re here!” A high-pitchy Aiba-san said happily to me. With widened eyes, I slowly turned my head to him. When Ninomiya-san walked up to us as well. Shoot, I forgot Aiba-san kept calling me ever since I had bumped into him at the ryokan. I wanted to massage my temples to prevent a headache but it was already too late. Eyes were already beaming at me and thoughts started to run wild in their minds. I had already decided to keep a distance from Aiba-san but if he keeps this up, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear a rumor that I was dating him. That would be a worse case scenario for me. What would the board of directors think of me? They would probably think that I’m unsuited to run the company if I cannot keep my personal life a secret from others. Those old geezers… Think they know everything.
I forced myself to smile but I could only manage to curve one side of my lips. “Konnichiwa Aiba-kun. How are you?” I asked and wanted to get rid of the unnecessary thoughts that people were probably coming up with. “I’m fine, Asuka-chan. Oh, I have your handkerchief in my bag. I’ll give it to you after the shoot.” All of a sudden, loud whispers started to roam around the studio. I slowly looked around to see that people were looking at me as they whispered. Just when I tried to avoid anymore talk about us…
I bit my lower lip and tried to get away from this situation but nothing popped in my intellectual brain. I was going to close my eyes and walk away from everyone, but that would say to others that we had something going on. It would feel like I accepted defeat. As I tried to think up of something else to say and tried to move away from this conversation, Ninomiya-san said with a grin. “Konnichiwa Asuka-chan. Don’t mind Aiba-chan here. He’s really shy so he tries to hide his shyness by giving people nicknames. In this case, he couldn’t think up of one.” Then whispers started up again but this time, they began to speculate that it was just a sign of good friendly terms. “Since we are working with each other often, I hope it’s okay to call you that. We don’t mind you calling us in an informal speech if that will help lighten our new relationship.”
I forced a smile at him, which he automatically gave back to me. But my gut feeling was telling me that there was something else he was hinting about to me.