1-4 The Interview (Part 2)

— A Sudden Visitor —

The Sound of the Ice

The ice in the glass made a small click, as if answering my words.

Suddenly, the automatic door behind me opened, and a wave of hot air rushed in.

“Thank goodness. I’m really glad.”

A clear, refreshing woman’s voice. It sounded as though she were appealing directly to me.

“What’s wrong, Heidi?” the president said, turning toward the voice with a surprised expression.

When I looked back toward the entrance, a woman about 170 cm tall was standing there, holding a parasol, wearing a pale pink dress.

“She’s beautiful…” The words slipped out naturally.

The white tote bag hanging from her shoulder and her white sandals looked refreshingly cool.

If Heidi from the Alps grew up and came to the city, she would look like this… The thought came to me without effort.

Heidi Appears

“Tabina, right? You’re Tabina, aren’t you?”

The beautiful woman I had been admiring in a daze suddenly called my name. Startled, I twisted my body— and nearly slid off the sofa.

“Yes!” I answered as I caught myself.

“Oh my,” Heidi said, and hurried over to me.

Placing both hands on the back of the sofa where I was sitting, she lowered herself and looked straight into my eyes.

“Are you okay?” “I’m sorry for showing up so suddenly.” “But you must have thought it was strange— a young woman having an interview alone with Maru-san in the office.” “I was worried you’d feel uncomfortable and leave.” “And even if you stayed, I was afraid you’d feel anxious.” “But it looks like you’re doing fine. I’m glad.”

“Maru-san is a dependable president and takes good care of people, but still…” She glanced at the president as she said this.

He scratched the back of his head with his right hand, looking downward with a complicated expression.

A Gentle Scolding

“Why didn’t you put coasters under the glasses when serving tea to a guest?” Heidi asked, not angrily, but in the gentle tone one uses with a child.

“I looked for them, but couldn’t find any,” the president said, laughing as he exaggeratedly scratched his head while looking up at the ceiling.

Heidi hung her parasol on the counter, picked up the two glasses from the sofa table, and carried them into the back room.

According to the president, an employee known as “Sensei” was originally supposed to come to the office today. However, he had fallen ill yesterday, so the president ended up being alone.

He also wondered how Heidi had known about all this— and admitted that the kind of concern she mentioned had never even crossed his mind.

“I’m sorry,” the president said, straightening his back and bowing his head slightly with both hands on his knees. “It seems I made you uncomfortable.”

“No, not at all,” I replied.

When I entered this office, my mind had been entirely filled with confronting the interview in front of me.

“I should learn to notice things like th—”

Just as I began to speak, Heidi returned.

She smiled at me, carefully wiped the glass marks from the table, and placed two fresh glasses on coasters.

“Sensei called. He said, ‘I’ll be taking tomorrow off too, so please have Maru-san look at the documents on my desk and send them by courier.’”

With that, smiling cheerfully, Heidi sat down at one of the desks arranged in a square and began preparing for work.

The air-conditioned, stiff atmosphere seemed to soften.

Is the president called “Maru-san” inside the company?

Just then, the ice in the glass answered again with a small pop, click.

Reorienting the Conversation

“I’ve completely forgotten what we were talking about,” the president said seriously.

His hair, disheveled from his exaggerated scratching earlier, made me stifle a laugh.

Perhaps noticing my gaze, he hurriedly fixed it.

Hands on his hips, chest puffed out, he put on an even more serious expression and asked:

“Have you traveled anywhere recently?”

Then he returned to his gentle smile, waiting for my answer.

A Conversation About Travel

“I haven’t gone anywhere over the past year. I’ve been too busy with job hunting and preparing my graduation thesis.”

I surprised myself by answering so honestly— forgetting that this was an interview.

“But last week I finally had some free time, so I went to the Tokyo National Museum.”

At that moment, it looked as if the president’s posture straightened.

“How was it?” “It’s close from here, so I often go.”

It had been my first visit. It was the kind of place that richly satisfied the pleasure I get from imagining things— seeing the exhibits, creating my own stories and scenes from them, sometimes pleased with what I imagined, sometimes disappointed with what I couldn’t.

I spent much more time there than I expected.

“I only had time to see the second floor of the main building, but it was a wonderful place.”

“What did you enjoy most?” The president’s eyes widened with interest.

And so, I began to talk about the enjoyable hours I had spent at the Tokyo National Museum.