Chapter 154: The Second Meeting Between Asano and Satake

At 8: 0 the next morning, as the alarm clock rang, Asano Aiko opened her hazy, sleepy eyes and sat up from under the covers.

Yesterday, after she and Akiwara Yuto finished singing at the KTV, they went to eat at the food street, and at the same time, they went to find a bar in the evening and had a little to drink.

By 10: 0 at night, the two of them said their goodbyes and took a taxi back to their respective homes.

Asano Aiko pressed the button on the alarm clock to stop the noisy ringing, then hugged her bent legs, lowered her head, and fell into deep thought.

At the KTV yesterday, after she finished singing that song written by Akiwara Yuto, her heart was touched quite a bit. In her view, the lyrics inside fit her own state of mind too well.

All this time, her feelings for Akiwara Yuto had been very complicated; the two were friends, partners, and had even experienced various events together.

And in this constant time spent together, she found that it was already very difficult for her to look at Akiwara Yuto with a purely platonic relationship.

Although she had different thoughts, she discovered with frustration that Akiwara Yuto did not have any such ideas at all. Even when she hinted repeatedly, it was the same.

Everything that happened made her unable to help but feel shaken.

It wasn't that she hadn't thought about taking the initiative to pursue him, but she also understood one principle.

If she were to be rejected, the relationship between the two would become very awkward, and they wouldn't even be able to maintain the basic friendship they had now...

If it reached that point, where would she go from there?

Thinking of this, she couldn't help but hum the song Akiwara wrote yesterday, "... ven if it is a love that is destined to be a luxury, is there still a moment reflected in the mirror..."

Why was Akiwara able to write such a song?

Does he really not understand my feelings?

Asano Aiko sighed and buried her head in her arms again.

Just then, a knocking sound came from outside the room, followed by a gentle female voice, "Aiko-chan, come eat breakfast quickly. Aren't you going to that new workplace later?"

Hearing these words, Asano Aiko's train of thought was interrupted. She shook her head and replied, "I know, I'll be there in a moment."

Forget it, let's not think about so much for now. Perhaps if there is enough time, Akiwara will still be able to notice me.

She got out of bed, put on her slippers, and prepared to go wash up.

Next, she was going to represent Akiwara Yuto and go to Anjiu Bookstore to discuss the publication work for the book "Negligent Homicide."

Setagaya Ward, Anjiu Bookstore.

Satake Maki sat in front of her desk and hung up an order call that had come from the Yokohama Bookstore side.

She looked at the trees outside the window, her eyes unfocused for a moment.

After that protest march, she had been worried about whether Akiwara Yuto would have any other troubles. After all, as a giant in the publishing industry, just hearing the name Mantan Society was enough to make President Anjiu tremble with fear.

But to her surprise, immediately afterward, Mantan Society held a corresponding press conference, and Teacher Akiwara also published a relevant statement in the newspaper, proving that everything that happened before was only the responsibility of a few people.

Although Satake Maki was still a bit suspicious, she could also see that this matter had more or less subsided.

And this, too, made her heave a sigh of relief.

While she was thinking, a female voice suddenly came from behind her, "Ah, I'm exhausted. Why have there been so many order calls lately!"

Satake Maki's train of thought was suddenly interrupted. She turned her head and saw Itakura Naka, who was complaining, and smiled helplessly, "Senior Itakura, many order calls mean that our publishing business is getting better and better."

Itakura Naka waved her hand, then looked to the side, and after discovering that it was only herself and Satake Maki, she said in an indifferent tone, "Business is good, but I haven't seen the president raise our wages. Instead, the workload has increased quite a bit."

For her, slacking off was the normal way to operate. As for overtime work, she would rather go look for a few reliable men.

Finding a rich man to marry and then living a life of leisure was her true plan.

Satake Maki "sighed," then continued to lower her head and began to fill out the recent shipping invoices.

To tell the truth, she didn't have as many thoughts as Itakura Naka. With the time spent complaining, it would be better to do the work at hand well.

Seeing that Satake Maki ignored her, Itakura Naka took the initiative to sit opposite her and gossiped, "Satake, Nishijima Souta seems very down lately. Do you know anything about it?"

The hand Satake Maki was using to fill in data paused unconsciously, but she quickly reacted and continued writing, "Sorry, I'm not very clear about that."

Itakura Naka looked at her with suspicious eyes and pressed, "Really? You two have had quite a lot of work handovers recently, right?"

After finishing this sentence, Itakura Naka took a makeup kit out of her drawer and said while applying lipstick, "Satake, Nishijima seems to have those kinds of feelings for you. Have you considered dating Nishijima? Come to think of it, as a salesperson, he has received quite a lot of sales commissions lately!"

Satake Maki smiled reluctantly, "Senior Itakura, sorry, I think you might be overthinking it. Nishijima only communicates with me frequently because of work."

Satake Maki lied; in fact, she understood Nishijima Souta's attitude toward her.

Over the past year, from her birthday to every holiday, Nishijima Souta would give her various gifts, and sometimes he would even take the initiative to ask her out for meals.

Although she had refused repeatedly, Nishijima Souta still used courier services and other forms to send gifts directly to her home.

And because it had been going on for so long, the other few people at Anjiu Bookstore had more or less figured it out.

But to tell the truth, Satake Maki did not have those kinds of thoughts about Nishijima. Perhaps feelings are something that really cannot be forced.

And for her, she already had someone she liked.

Thinking of this, Satake Maki suddenly remembered that she had sent a bento to the person she liked that night, only to see him staying with another beautiful woman.

She put down her pen and touched her chest with her hand.

Whenever she thought of this scene, she felt extremely uncomfortable...

Itakura Naka did not know Satake Maki's thoughts, but after finishing her lipstick, she looked at her makeup in the mirror and said in a casual tone, "Satake, as a senior, I'll tell you a principle: women, only when they are young, can they attract men's attention the most. Otherwise, when you get old, you'll regret it too late."

As she spoke, she became sentimental, "Don't learn from me. I'm almost 30 years old, and I've dated 7 or 8 boyfriends, but not one of them was reliable."

Listening to Itakura Naka pouring out her bitter history, Satake Maki could only nod silently.

Just then, the sound of "creak, creak" footsteps came from the stairs outside the door, and Itakura Naka immediately closed her makeup mirror and put it back into the drawer.

Immediately afterward, the door opened, and under the gaze of the two, Anjiu Tsugou and another beautiful woman with short hair wearing a gray professional suit walked in.

Upon seeing the face of the short-haired woman, Satake Maki felt a slight sense of surprise.

Anjiu Tsugou stopped, coughed, and said to the other two who had stood up in the office, "Let me introduce you. This is Miss Asano Aiko. In future work, she will fully represent Teacher Akiwara and be responsible for the coordination work with our publishing house."

After finishing this sentence, Anjiu Tsugou turned his head again and introduced the two people present to Asano Aiko, "Miss Asano, this is Satake Maki, who is mainly responsible for proofreading work, and this is Itakura Naka, who is responsible for administrative affairs."

After hearing his introduction, Asano Aiko walked forward two steps and bowed politely, "Nice to meet you, I am Asano Aiko. Please take care of me."

Because too much time had passed, she had already forgotten that she had seen one of them at Akiwara's house. Moreover, the night was too dark, and she hadn't seen clearly.

On the other side, Satake Maki rushed ahead of Itakura Naka, walked up, bowed, and responded in a "polite and courteous" voice, "Nice to meet you, I am Satake Maki. Please take care of me!"

While saying this, a very complicated feeling welled up in Satake Maki's heart...