>>5629435The time of the next meeting arrives…and goes.
Five extra minutes pass before you hear the footfalls of somebody dashing down the hallway.
The door swings open wildly and reveals a dishevelled looking girl with sweat pouring down the sides of her face.
<span class="mu-g">“I AM HERE!”</span> cries the girl, <span class="mu-g">“DID I MAKE IT?”</span>
You glance at the clock. She’s late.
This probably wouldn’t fly with some of the other managers.
Good thing for her that you’re not those managers.
Judging by her state she clearly made an effort to try and arrive on time, that’s enough.
<span class="mu-g">”Close enough,”</span> you say with a smile.
The girl squeezes her eyes tight and pumps both hands into the air, <span class="mu-g">“YATAA!”</span>
Then collapses to her knees immediately after, panting in exhaustion.
<span class="mu-g">“Ena-tsu. Maa…ha…ri,”</span> she manages between gasps, <span class="mu-g">“Inter…view.”</span>
You send a quick message to Matsui-san to ask her to bring some water.
Afterwards, you get up and walk towards Enatsu Mari, <span class="mu-g">“Are you okay?”</span> you ask, <span class="mu-g">“What happened?”</span>
Still kneeling on the ground with her legs bent outward, she lets out a self-deprecating chuckle.
<span class="mu-g">”I was like watching some videos at home and then I was late,”</span> she says, lightly tapping herself on the side of head with a fist, <span class="mu-g">“Eh-he?”</span>
<span class="mu-g">“Only watched a few, but time went sooooooo fast”</span> she says, nodding knowingly.
Clearly, it’s the fault of the videos for being too entertaining.
Now that she seems to have caught her breath, she continues.
<span class="mu-g">”So I run out of the house, I got on my bike, right?”</span> she says, <span class="mu-g">“Pedal. Pedal. Pedal. To the bus station!”</span>
She seems to be pausing for dramatic effect, <span class="mu-g">“But then I missed the bus!”</span>
<span class="mu-g">”I go by bus, to train, to here,”</span> she says, she seems to talk faster as the story goes on, <span class="mu-g">“But no bus, so instead I pedal, pedal, pedal to the train station.”</span>
It’s honestly exhausting just hearing about it.
<span class="mu-g">“But THEN,”</span> continues Enatsu Mari, <span class="mu-g">“Panic! I left my train card and money at home!”</span>
She clutches her head like she’s reliving the moment, <span class="mu-g">“If I go back I’ll be late for real!”</span>
<span class="mu-g">”Instead,”</span> she says, smirking like mankind’s smartest scientists couldn’t have come up with the idea, <span class="mu-g">“I decide I can just get on my bike again and ride here!”</span>
You lean back a little and glance over your shoulder at her audition form.
Rough guess places Enatsu Mari’s house over twenty miles from here, at the outskirts of the city.
How hard did she pedal? What time did she leave from home?
