I’ve even learnt to read a few Hiragana and Katakana symbols. With a little practice, I’ll be fluent in no time.
Now, if I can just get things to work out with my new job, I’ll be set. Meg hasn’t even checked in with me to see how I’m going. I’ve e-mailed her every day with no response. And I haven’t been able to get in touch with Don either. I don’t want to call through his office because I’ll get his assistant, and I don’t want her accidentally telling Meg about it. If only I had his direct number or e-mail address. I can’t say much for the way Ace Advertising look after their overseas employees. I’m going to have a serious talk with Don if I ever see him again. The company has always been pretty good to me, but to ship me off to Asia for a year with no notice, and then make me work under someone like David is really bad.
***
Hiroshi is booked to visit on Friday morning. David makes the whole team show up extra early, and we prepare our presentation in the boardroom. I’m not exactly sure what the others do. The language barrier is a huge disadvantage. Yoshi says he does some sort of marketing analysis, and I’m sure it would be helpful if I could understand what he was talking about, but his pigeon English explanations don’t make any sense. I wish I really had taken Japanese in high school. I feel so helpless.
Hiroshi arrives. I wonder what the rest of my colleagues make of him. They probably think he’s crazy but are too scared to point out he’s not actually Japanese.
I look at Yoshi, but his face is impenetrable.
“Jessica-san. So nice to see you again. I hope you have some great ideas to help boost our sales.”
“I hope so too.”
“All right, why don’t we begin?”
He sits down and waits politely.
David motions for me to start.
“Okay. Please take a look at the folder in front of you. It contains some explanations of my theory behind the designs. And the slides here,” I point to the big screen at the front of the room, “will display some of the logos and advertisements I’ve developed.”
I flick to the logo and present my heart out.
***
Hiroshi folds his fingers into a pyramid and rests them under his chin.
“I’m afraid I’m a little disappointed,” he says.
“Oh. Is there anything in particular that you didn’t like?” I say, trying to hide my panic.
“Well, truthfully, I thought you might come up with something a bit more radical. You’re using the same old thing we’ve been doing for the last five years. I have heard great things about your firm back in Australia. I don’t understand why you don’t have any fresh ideas.”
I open my mouth to protest, but David butts in.
“Hiroshi-san, please do not blame her.” He then switches to Japanese and talks for five minutes flat. What is he doing?
He pulls out another folder and opens it in front of Hiroshi. I can’t see what it is from where I’m standing, but Hiroshi looks at it intently.
He says something in Japanese to David.
I look to Yoshi for help but his head is bowed.
“Jessica-san, David here has explained the situation. I will review all options and get back to you on Monday.”
Phew. I can’t believe David saved me. He must have told him about the other ideas I had. Maybe I can send them to him this afternoon and everything will be okay. I smile at the two of them.
“Thank you Hiroshi-san. I look forward to seeing you on Monday.”
He looks mildly surprised. Maybe I wasn’t supposed to use his first name. Or maybe I said san wrong. I swear I said it exactly the same way he did.
Hiroshi and David leave for an extended lunch and the rest of us go back to our table.
“Yoshi?” I whisper. “Did David explain to Hiroshi about my other designs?”
“Your other designs?”
“Yes. I did up a whole bunch of them earlier in the week and David said they weren’t good enough, so I did what he told me to do and made some others that were similar to the existing ones.”
He furrows his brow. “David showed him his own designs.”
My heart sinks.
“Yoshi, what did David’s designs look like?”
“They were very beautiful. Blue and gold.”
My face crumples. Yoshi looks at me, worried. “Are you okay, Jessica-san?”
“They were my designs!”
“David’s designs?” He seems confused.
“Yes! David kept my report the other day and he must have shown it to Hiroshi.”
“That is bad,” Yoshi murmurs, shaking his head.
“What can we do? Can we tell Hiroshi?”
“I don’t think so. David and Hiroshi are friends.”
“But he stole my work!”
“I know. But when you work at Bella, the boss is always right. You cannot make David look bad. You have to obey him.”
“I don’t want to obey him! He’s an awful person.”
“I’m sorry Jessica-san. There is nothing you can do.”
“Fine. Then I’m taking the rest of the day off!”
ELEVEN
How could David do this to me? I’m sure it must be illegal! If not, it’s highly, highly unethical.
I shove my way outside and stomp down the street. The nerve! Passing off my ideas as his own. And speaking in Japanese to bamboozle me! If only I could have understood what they were talking about, I might have been able to defend myself. But then perhaps not. I’m sure David and Hiroshi, in their deluded attempt at embracing Japanese culture would have insisted I stay quiet while the men higher up the food chain made all the decisions.
Maybe I should quit. I’ll call Australia and talk to Meg—seeing as she won’t answer my e-mails. I shouldn’t have to put up with this kind of thing just to get a promotion. I get out my phone and dial the number for her line.
It rings out. Where on earth is she? I get put through to reception.
“Ace Advertising, may I help you?”
“Hi, yes, it’s Jess from graphic design here. Listen, could you please put me through to Meg Ashton? It’s urgent. I’m calling from overseas.”
“Oh, Meg’s gone on leave. Some sort of family emergency.”
Not again. Her kid probably ran off to a friend’s house or something and Meg thinks she’s gone missing. That happened no less than three times last year.
“Uh, so who am I supposed to liaise with regarding the Bella project?”
“The what?”
“The Bella Beauty project in Osaka.”
“I don’t know. That’s not my area.”
I resist the urge to yell at her. Japan is turning me into an angry person. Or maybe it’s just David making me like this.
“Well, can you please put me through to Violet Simpson then?”
“Hold, please.”
“Hello? Violet speaking.”
“V, it’s me, Jess.”
“Hey! How’s the land of the rising sun?”
“Good and bad. Work sucks big time, but the country is awesome. I’m not sure how long I can talk before my phone credit runs out though, so I’ll be quick. What happened to Meg?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Same old, same old. I think her daughter ran away again.”
“I thought as much. So who’s in charge?”
“No one! I’ve been sitting here bored out of my brain for the past week. It’s very dull, I can tell you. But in other news, I do have the new high score on Tetris.”
“Nice. Then who am I supposed to report to?”
“I don’t know. Do you want me to find out and get back to you?”
“Yes, please. My new manager is horrible. He stole all my ideas and claimed them as his own. And his boss is this weird Western guy pretending to be Japanese.”
“Sounds like fun. So do I call or e-mail?”
“E-mail. Just to the work address. I’ll pick it up on my laptop.”
“Cool. Well I hope it all works out. Try and get me an as
sistant role!”
“At this rate, you’ll have my job by next week.”
“I’m sure it’s not that bad. These things always work out.”
“Yeah, maybe…” The line goes dead. I’ve run out of credit.
I wonder what this all means for my promotion. Now that Meg’s gone, does that mean I answer directly to Don? I’m really going to have to find out how to contact him.
I suddenly feel a bit teary. What’s going on?
And now I’m lost. Literally. I’ve been wandering the streets aimlessly while talking to Violet and now I have no idea where I am. There is a river in front of me, so I sit down on the embankment to get my bearings.
My phone rings again. I wonder if V forgot to tell me something and somehow worked out how to do international redial.
“Hello?”
“Jessica, where are you? I need you back at your desk immediately.”
Oh. It’s David.
“That won’t be possible.”
“This sort of conduct is highly unprofessional, you realise.”
“Um, I think you’ll find that claiming a colleague’s ideas as your own is much worse,” I say. Screw being nice. He doesn’t deserve it.
“We are not colleagues. I am your supervisor. And for the record, I did not steal your ideas.”
I falter for a moment.
“But what did you show Hiroshi?”
“Well, I did show him your other ideas, but I didn’t claim them as my own.”
“Did you tell him I did them?”
“I didn’t get a chance.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“It’s true. Now come back. We have a lot of work to do. I think Hiroshi is going to go with the blue and gold design and we have to fine-tune some of the details so we can get going when he makes his formal decision on Monday.”
“I can’t come back right now. I’m not exactly sure where I am.
“What do you mean?”
“I’m down near the river, but I don’t know how to get back to the office.”
He sighs. “Go find a cab. I’ll excuse your terrible behaviour today, but I expect you to be more civilised in future.”
“Okay.” I hang up, my cheeks flaming. Perhaps I was a bit hasty. Maybe I just don’t understand how this company works.
I return to the office a few minutes later courtesy of a taxi. I quite like the drivers here—they wear white gloves and caps like proper chauffeurs. And the cars have automatic doors. Transport in general seems to be much classier here than back home.
I slink back to my desk and sit down. There is a pile of paper in front of me ready to be reviewed. I get to work, ignoring everyone—including David. Yoshi smiles faintly but I don’t want to look at him. It will just make me sad.
***
I leave at five on the dot. I’m not staying around for David again. Besides, it’s Friday night. I’m going to see what Sarah’s up to.
I track her down at the other end of the floor and wait while she shuts down her computer. She can see I’m flustered but doesn’t say anything until we’re outside.
“What happened this afternoon?”
“I don’t want to talk about it. But I think there’s something weird going on, and I don’t know enough Japanese to figure out what it is.”
“You poor thing. David is a creep and I wouldn’t put anything past him. Just keep your wits about you.”
“I’ll try. But I have a feeling he’s trying to get rid of me.”
“I’ll do whatever I can to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
“Thanks, Sarah. So can I accompany you tonight on one of your wild adventures?”
“I’m not sure how wild it will be, but you’re definitely welcome to come along. I’m meeting my friend Alana at the Coconut Club. She’s an English teacher at the Starlight conversation school. Some of her staff should be there too.”
“Do you think they’d mind if I was there?”
“Of course not. We’re all misfits here. It’s not like high school where you have to get permission from the ‘in crowd’ to hang out with the group.”
“Oh good. I could really use a night out. I’ve been working really hard all week and I need something to take my mind off David and Hiroshi.”
“Well, I can guarantee you’ll forget about Bella, at least for tonight. Those English teachers can get pretty rowdy.”
“Do I need to go home and get changed?”
“Nah. Most of them will be coming from work too. And some of them won’t arrive until later, because they’re doing the late shift.”
“What about dinner?”
“You can get something to eat there.”
“Great. Lead the way!”
***
As soon as we’re on the train, Sarah hands me a can of Chu-Hi.
“Is it legal to drink on the train?” I ask, feeling a bit naughty.
“It’s legal to drink everywhere if you haven’t already noticed. Although, admittedly, I’m not sure how socially acceptable it is in some places.”
“It just feels weird. Like I’m doing something I shouldn’t.”
“You need to relax, Jess. Not everywhere is like Bella. Actually, I wonder if anywhere is like Bella. Those guys are messed up.”
“So why do you stay?”
“There are a few people in HR who are pretty decent. The money’s good. And I love this country. It’s way better than England. I’ll probably go back eventually, but I’d rather stay here for now.”
“Do you miss home?”
“Sometimes. I miss grabbing a pizza on a Friday night with my mates. Do you know Dominos is about double the price of home here?”
“How strange.”
“Yeah, and I miss hearing all the goss back home. I can look up the tabloids online, but it’s not the same. Japanese pop culture is completely different.”
“I’ve noticed.” I stare at a poster on the ceiling advertising a bank. Their mascot is a pink cartoon kitten. Next to it is another advertisement featuring a high-rise building with a provocatively dressed school girl standing out the front.
Something occurs to me.
“Hey, am I getting an apartment? I thought my info pack said I was only going to be staying at the hotel for a week.”
“Oh, yeah. I got a memo today saying it should be ready next week. It was temporarily delayed while they negotiated the contract or something.”
“Do you know where it is?”
“I think it’s near Namba. That’s south of Umeda.”
“Where do you live?”
“I have this tiny run-down studio in Juso—right near all the strip clubs.”
“Nice.”
“Not really. But at least it’s convenient. There’s an indoor rock climbing place nearby, so I go there sometimes. And I can walk over the bridge to Umeda if I’m feeling really energetic. Oh, look. We’re here.”
The club is right beside the station. We catch the world’s slowest elevator to the third floor and come out in a Hawaiian themed bar. It looks more like a restaurant than a club, but it’s overflowing with Westerners. I feel like I’m back at home for a minute. Then I hear all the different accents and realise most of them aren’t Australian.
“Here, let’s get a drink.”
Sarah leads me to the bar. “Hey, Mama! How about some service?”
A large Samoan lady comes over.
“Sarah!” She beams. “How are you?”
“Good. Can I get two mojitos?”
“No problem. I’ll bring them over.”
A girl with facial piercings pushes her way towards us. “Hi,” she says to me. “Taste this. Don’t you think it’s gross? It’s like they blended meat into my pina colada.”
“Ah, no thanks. As appetising as that sounds, I think I’ll pass.”
“Jess, this is Alana.”
“Oh. Hi. So you work at Starlight?”
“Yep. It’s a crap job, but it pays the bills.”
“It can’t be any crappier than Bella.”
“You’d be surprised.”
“Jess has been having issues with David,” Sarah explains.
“That tosser you brought to the Christmas party last year?”
“You brought David to a social event?” I stare at her.
“That was before I knew what he was like!” Sarah protests.
“It took me a whole five minutes to see his true colours,” I point out.
“Yeah, well I never really spoke to him before. I thought I’d give him a chance,” she says defensively.
“He was such a wanker.” Alana chuckles. “Didn’t he order a bottle of Cristal and then forget his credit card?”
“That’s right. And Mama threatened to call the cops. I had to wait while he went back to the office to get his card, and by the time he came back, everyone had moved on to the karaoke parlour down the road.”
“So he had to swig it out of the bottle and everyone thought he was a loser, showing off with his expensive wine.”
“God, I don’t envy you having him as your supervisor,” Sarah muses. “Anyway, do you want to meet the rest of the gang?”
“I suppose.” I’m suddenly feeling a bit shy.
“Hey Mama! What did you put in my drink?” Alana slams her glass on the bar while Sarah drags me over to the corner table.
“Hey guys, this is Jess. She works with me at Bella and she’s had a rough week, so make her feel welcome.”
A bunch of smiling faces wave or say hello.
“Maybe Sarah can help us,” a guy with blonde hair pipes up. “We’re trying to remember the name of that chick from Frasier. The one who played Daphne.”
“Why on earth are you discussing that?”
“I don’t know. We were talking about great sitcoms and then we were saying how we loved Daphne’s accent…”
“It’s a Manchester accent! God, you Aussies. You think anything is exotic. Next you’ll be telling me you think Vicky Pollard from Little Britain is sexy when she talks.”
“Actually,” I interrupt quietly. “The actress who plays Daphne is Jane Leeves and she grew up in Sussex. She put on the Manchester accent just for Frasier.”
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