"Mr. L/n?"
M/n, who had been busy at work, looked over at the phone on the right side of his desk. He grabbed it and put it against his ear. "Speaking."
"About that new applicant..."
M/n's gaze flew over to the clock. It seemed that the new applicant had arrived early. "Already here, huh?"
"Yes, sir. Shall I send her up to your office or...?"
"No, it's alright. Let her know I'm on my way," he said before hanging up.
Down in the lobby, the ladies at the front desk were huddled together, their gazes on the new applicant. They were left in awe of her beauty.
"She looks vaguely familiar," one of them said. "I wonder if she used to work as a model..."
"Well, she looks relatively young, so maybe she's fresh out of college."
Their murmurings soon went silent when they heard the elevator ding. They looked over to see M/n stepping out with what looked to be a folder in his hand.
"Good morning, Mr. L/n," they greeted.
M/n returned their greeting before making his way toward the new applicant. The girl stood up from her seat when he reached her. "Good morning," he said. "I'm--"
"L/n M/n," she finished for him, making the (h/c)-ette arch an eyebrow. "I know. I believe we went to school together, Mr. L/n."
After those words left her mouth, M/n took a close look, searching through his brain for any memory of her. "What was your name again?"
"Hasegawa Eszter."
Hasegawa... Eszter...?
"M/n, this is my good friend, Eszter. We've been friends since middle school. I thought it'd be nice if you met each other."
"Hey! Nice to meet ya, M/n."
M/n's eyes widen in realization. "You're--"
"That's right," she answered, already knowing what he was going to say.
M/n was beginning to feel like rejecting her application. But before he could open his mouth to say anything else, she stopped him. "But, I just want you to know... We're not friends anymore."
A look of surprise grew on the (h/c)-ette's face. He was about to say something until he realized they were still in the lobby. So, he lowered his voice so that he wouldn't be heard so easily.
"I thought you two were close friends."
"We were. But, then I heard what happened... It was a shitty thing to do. I'm sorry it happened, by the way... I might not have known you for as long as I'd known her, but... You didn't deserve what she put you through."
M/n shook his head. "It's in the past."
"Still... I'm glad to see where you're at in life right now," Eszter said, trying to change the mood of the conversation. "You're really making it big time."
"Thank you," he replied. "Anyway, you're here to be a new addition to the team, isn't that right?"
Eszter could see M/n returning to his more professional persona and nodded. "Yes."
"Then, I'll show you around and give you a short explanation of everything that goes on here."
M/n then motioned Eszter to follow him. He first introduced her to the ladies at the front desk. "It's nice to meet you," she said. "My name is Hasegawa Eszter. I look forward to working with you."
They all introduced themselves to Eszter with warm smiles. "They are the first people the clients interact with, and if they ask for you, they'll give you a call to let you know."
"That's right. We also let you know when a client themselves calls to let us know that they're on their way or have to reschedule."
"It's your choice whether to come down or have them escorted to your office," M/n said. "But, I would advise that you come down instead. You might not think it matters much, but for some clients, it affects their image of you."
"I understand."
"Good."
M/n then turned on his heel and motioned toward the coffee bar nearby. "The bar's mostly for clients waiting in the lobby, but all staff are free to access it as well. If you stop by and see that something's run out, let the front desk know, or just leave them a note."
It seemed to Eszter that the tour was already off to a good start. "That's pretty much it for the first floor. Now, we'll be heading upstairs."
--
"It's not necessary to tour all the floors, but if you ever need to find someone in a different department, there's a map."
Eszter looked toward where M/n pointed to see a map with all the floors labeled, the locations of the departments, and where each department head's offices were. The (h/c)-ette led Eszter down the hall where the department of Criminal Defense was located. When they reached it, they were greeted by the secretaries of the floor.
"Hello, Mr. L/n. What can I do for you?"
"Hello," he said. "Is Sakai in his office?"
"Yes, sir. He just finished up a meeting with a client, so he should be free."
"I see. Thank you. Could I also trouble you to let the department gather in the meeting room?"
The secretary nodded his head. "Of course."
M/n led Eszter away, leaving the secretary to send a message to the rest of the department. They soon reached Sakai's office, which wasn't far from the floor's secretaries. M/n knocked and waited until the door opened.
"Ah. L/n. What can I do for you?"
"Sakai, this is Hasegawa Eszter. She'll be joining your department from today on."
Sakai smiled. "Oh, of course, the new member of the team! Welcome, Ms. Hasegawa. I'm Sakai Hitoshi, the head of the Criminal Defense department."
"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Sakai."
"Well, then, I suppose it's time to introduce you to the rest of your co-workers," M/n said, leading the two toward the meeting room that was just down the hall.
Already, most of the department's team was present and seated. They seemed excited about the new addition as they chatted about. But their chatter died down when M/n stepped into the room with Sakai.
"Thank you, everyone, for taking the time to come and greet our new co-worker," he said. "Go ahead, Ms. Hasegawa. The floor is yours."
Eszter looked out at everyone, relieved to see so many friendly faces smiling back at her. It was possibly the first time she'd ever felt so welcomed into a place. They seemed to treat each other like good friends, or family even. That made her all the less nervous about speaking.
"Hello," she greeted. "My name is Hasegawa Eszter. I'll be joining you all from today onwards, so please take care of me."
The others all clapped and gave their own 'welcome's and 'hello's. In the corner, M/n was glad to see that it had all gone well, despite how much he'd been worrying about it. It was a huge weight off of his shoulders to see that Eszter's presence brought a new wave of happiness and excitement to everyone.
M/n then turned to Sakai. "Please finish out her tour of the department and where her office is. I've got other business to attend, so I'll be leaving it to you."
"Of course," Sakai responded. "Good luck."
M/n nodded and left the room. Knowing he was leaving Eszter in good hands, he returned to his own office, where a mountain of papers was waiting for him. When his gaze fell on the huge stack, all energy left his body.
"Well... There's no helping it, I guess..."
--
A heavy sigh left M/n's lips as he stepped off the elevator. It was getting rather late out, and most of the staff were already packing up their stuff and leaving. Just as he reached the lobby, he was stopped by someone.
He turned his head to see Eszter. "Good work today, Mr. L/n."
"You too. Though..."
Eszter arched an eyebrow. "Hmm?"
"It feels weird to hear you call me that. Just L/n's fine."
"Alright," she replied. "Then I'll call you L/n from on."
"How was your first day?"
Eszter thought back to everything that happened. "It was nice. Everyone was really welcoming, but..."
"But?"
She sighed tiredly. "I knew being a lawyer was going to be hard, but seriously... How do you do it, anyway? I've been hearing how good you are at all this."
M/n shrugged. "I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a tiring job. Still... I like it. I also know that I have to do it, for the sake of the people depending on me."
"Well, whaddya know..." Eszter said, not having quite expected that answer.
"By the way, why did you decide to become a lawyer? If I remember right, weren't you studying cosmetology?"
"Yeah," she replied, shrugging her shoulders. "But I changed paths. I took a class related to criminal defense and, well... I liked it. So, I decided to pursue it."
"I see..."
"Papa!"
M/n recognized that voice instantly and turned around. At the entrance were his parents and S/n. A smile sprouted on his face as his son ran toward him, the keychain on his backpack jingling behind him. He picked the boy up in his arms with ease.
"Hey, S/n. How was preschool today?"
"Today, in art class, we got to make an animal out of clay," S/n said, his eyes shining with excitement.
"Yeah? What'd you make?"
"You have to guess," he said.
M/n thought about it for a bit before answering. "Mm... A dog?"
S/n was shocked by how easily his father was able to guess what he made. M/n chuckled at his reaction. "Did I get it right?"
"Yeah, but what kind of dog?"
S/n hoped he could stump M/n with that question, but was hit with another correct guess instead. "By any chance, is it... Kiri?"
The boy was left amazed. M/n laughed at the lack of response of S/n. "Well, I can't wait to see how it turned out."
"It couldn't be..."
The sudden sound of Eszter's voice made M/n realize he was still in the lobby. "Is that...?" she started to say.
M/n nodded. "Hasegawa, this is my son, S/n."
"S/n..." she repeated. "Oh wow..."
"S/n, say hello to Hasegawa. She started working here today."
"Hello," the boy greeted, a bit shy about seeing a new face.
Eszter shook her head, dismissing her thoughts, and smiled. "It's nice to meet you, S/n."
M/n set S/n down and took hold of his hand instead. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow, Hasegawa."
"Ah... Yeah. Have a good night."
"You too."
That was the last thing he said as he left with S/n, greeting his parents as they walked out of the bureau. The image brought Eszter relief. For a while, she had been wondering what had happened with the boy. But, she was glad to see that they were doing well.
"You really missed out, Hinako..."