"It seems like you got the hang of everything in training, so I think it's safe to say you're ready to go out on the floor now, Miss Tachikawa," a man with messy black hair smiled at Mimi.
"Okay," she nodded as she held onto her oversized handbag.
"Your cubicle is just this way. We work with a lot of clients here, but since you're new, we'll have you working on the Fin de Semaine magazine project. I don't know if you've heard of it, but it's that thin magazine insert that comes with every Friday newspaper. It'll have listings of cultural and music events, an interview or two with local artists, critic reviews, advertisements for local businesses, coupons, and a recipe of the week. A lot of people really love the recipes almost as much as they love the coupons. And if you do well here, you can work your way up to the actual newspaper, but judging by the way you're dressed, you could even do a fashion magazine," the man said.
"Thanks," Mimi slowly nodded.
"Alright everybody! Quick huddle! I'd like all of you to welcome Mimi Tachikawa to your team! She's going to be helping out with the logistics side, so please be patient and help her out. Izzy, if you wouldn't mind?" the man clasped his hands together.
"Seriously, Daigo?" a thin pale guy with spiky red hair sighed.
"But you're so good at computers," the man, Daigo, pouted.
"Yeah, but he's not good at people," a handsome, tall guy with big brown hair smirked.
"Tai!" a redheaded, buxom girl gasped.
"He's got a point, Sora. Look, new girl, I'd definitely be glad to take you under my wing. I'm Matt by the way. Hey, do you like concerts-"
"Yeah-"
"Alright, alright, alright, that's enough. New person, come with me. I guess we should start training while we wasted enough time," Izzy motioned Mimi over.
"My name is Mimi by the way. I'll be here a while," Mimi quipped.
"Sure, we'll see about that," Izzy said, almost dismissively.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Mimi crossed her arms.
"Look, I've trained several people already and none of them have stayed around. You are the seventh replacement," Izzy tapped on a sticky note with tally marks on it.
"Are you sure it doesn't have anything to do with you? Because you're not exactly being very welcoming or nice," Mimi crossed her arms.
"I'm not here because I'm nice. I'm here because I know how to do my job. Now, what's your position so I can get ready?" Izzy asked.
"Uh... I don't think that's something I want to talk about with someone I just met, especially with someone as mean as you, but if I have to, I guess doggy-"
"Oh my God, no...," Izzy turned red and slid his hand down his face. "Okay, let's start over. What job were you hired for?"
"I dunno. I just applied for everything on the website, went on the interview, and I got a job," Mimi shrugged.
"Oh my God, you are the worst. You are seriously the worst. Fine, do you have your orientation paperwork with you? With that large bag, I would hope so," Izzy huffed.
"Yeah," Mimi nodded and pulled out a folder. "Here."
"Thank you," Izzy sifted through the paperwork. "Oh. Okay..."
"What?" Mimi asked.
"Alright, so your main job role is making sure that every copy of the newspaper gets one of these little magazines," Izzy picked up a magazine. "But since they only come out once a week, you're also going to help keep on top of current subscriptions and the Sunday inserts as well. That includes making sure all the mailing addresses, billing info, and whatever other customer credentials are accurate and updated. Does that make sense?"
"Uh huh...," Mimi nodded slowly.
"Are you saying that because you understand or are you saying that to please me?" Izzy asked.
"Yes," Mimi nodded slowly.
"Today's going to be a long day. You know what? I'm just going to grab some coffee, maybe start taking up smoking, whatever. I'll be back in 15. You do whatever," Izzy locked his computer and stormed off.
"What the..." Mimi made a face.
"Hey, forget him! He's so uptight, you could shove a piece of coal up his ass and in a week it'll be a diamond. Hey, if you like diamonds, maybe you should...ya know," Matt winked.
"Yeah, I don't think he likes me very much," Mimi shrugged.
"Don't take it personally. He's like that with people he doesn't know. He's not that bad of a guy, honestly," Tai nodded.
"Well, he's not really giving me a good impression," Mimi crossed her arms.
"Hey, while he's gone, why don't we introduce you to everyone else. It's a small team, but when you're a small publication, you don't have a lot of wiggle room!" Tai nodded.
"Okay," Mimi said.
"Alright party people! Check it, we have Mimi in the house! So here's Sora. She does a lot of the art gallery pieces. TK is Matt's little brother, he writes book, movie and music reviews, along with proofreading the magazine," Tai said.
"I'm a busy guy," TK nodded.
"Then there's my little sister Kari and her friend Yolei. They're photography. Me and Davis check out the culinary and sporting events, and Matt and Ken go to the musical and theatre performs. Cody and Izzy are the guys who take all that content and make it all fit into the magazine so nicely, and Joe's the coupon and advertisment guy, but technically he's not one of us, but that's basically our team! Welcome to the group!" Tai grinned.
"Thanks," Mimi said.
"Hey, you're in good hands here! We all get along with each other and I'd like to say we're a fun bunch! What do you guys think?" Tai asked.
"Yeah, it's pretty chill here. Daigo's pretty cool too, and I don't know if you met Himekawa. She actually works for the newspaper but she comes to check up on us every so often. She's got a serious case of the resting bitch face, but she's not that bad," TK folded up a scrap of paper into an airplane.
"Oh okay," Mimi nodded.
Izzy was not having a good day. He was mostly ambivalent towards his job, except when it came to days like this. Then he really couldn't stand his job. He couldn't really find anywhere else that would hire him without "experience", so he took the first job that would take him, but after being there for years, now the other places wanted to hire kids straight out of university. It's as if he couldn't win. Now, he's just a glorified, underpaid trainer until hopefully a job in his field comes along, with the extra pay of course.
"I don't know, they just dumped this girl on me and I'm supposed to train her!" Izzy exhaled as he talked into his phone.
"Izzy! Do I hear smoking?"
"Uh...," Izzy paused as he brushed the end of the cigarette against the building. "I was drinking coffee?"
"I heard smoking! You better not be back on that habit again! You know, when you're smoking, I know what that means and I'm not happy about that!"
"Look, I gotta go... I said I was gonna be gone for 15 minutes and I'm late. Love you, bye," Izzy hung up his phone and slid it in his pocket. "I can't do anything in peace apparently."
"Oh my God, you guys are so funny!" Mimi laughed as she squeezed Tai's arm.
"Break time's over, it's time to get back to work," Izzy said to Mimi.
"Come on, you're no fun!" Matt made a face.
"Maybe because I have to do my job on top of teach someone how to do their completely unrelated job? Now let's go," Izzy motioned Mimi over.
"Alright. I guess I'll talk to you later," Mimi pouted.
"Hey, you should come out to happy hour with us after work! Of course, you're always invited too, Izzy," TK said.
"I have plans," Izzy bluntly said.
"Okay," Davis shrugged.
"I'd love to come. Thanks!" Mimi smiled.
"Awesome! Now go. You don't wanna keep him waiting," Matt laughed.
"Right," Mimi said.
"Okay, so you might want to take notes because I don't really like having to repeat myself to someone who doesn't seem to be paying attention, got it?" Izzy asked.
"Umm, you don't have to talk to me like I'm some dumb kid. Like we're all adults here and if you ask me, I bet I'm older than you so watch it with that tone. Would it really kill you to be nice?" Mimi frowned.
"It would. It really, really would. Let's just get this over with. I'll try to go at a steady enough pace so that you can follow along. I'll do a couple of these first and you watch along, then I'll go a little slower and break down step by step, and then I'll give you a shot at it, okay? For now, just watch. When we get to the second part, you can ask questions, but for now, I just want you to see the process," Izzy logged into his computer.
"Okay," Mimi moved her seat closer to Izzy and rested her hand on Izzy's arm as he went back and forth between computer screens.
"This is basically repetitive work. It's not hard to do, but there are some exceptions that you come across. It's not a big deal though, you just have to make sure to keep on your toes. Despite the fact that this process is going to be the same 99.99% of the time, there is going to be that one minor crucial detail that will pop up every so often, so you don't want to work on auto-pilot, if that makes sense," Izzy said.
"Okay," Mimi nodded.
"For now, it's important to take your time because accuracy is more important than getting the list checked off. Sora and Joe were the backups until you were hired, but if you need more help on this, it's probably better if you go ask one of them since that's their field. I only know a broad sense," Izzy said.
"Oh. So then why did they ask you to train me instead of one of them?" Mimi asked.
"Don't even get me started on this place. But do you think you have the hang of it?" Izzy asked.
"It looks fairly easy," Mimi pursed her lips together.
"Let's see then. Your turn," Izzy moved his chair so Mimi could sit on the computer.
"Okay...so I click here...here...check here, and then check here and I'm good to go!" Mimi said.
"Wrong," Izzy crossed his arms.
"What are you taking about? I did everything right, like you showed me!" Mimi whined.
"Except for the mailing address! Look," Izzy pointed at the screen.
"Yeah. I see. There's an 8 in the beginning and a 2 at the end! What's the problem?" Mimi raised an eyebrow.
"What about the numbers in the middle? You don't think those are important? Those numbers are nothing alike! I can imagine you working at a sandwich shop. As long as there's two pieces of bread, who cares what's in between, right?" Izzy huffed.
"Okay, jeez! It was a mistake! I'll be more careful!" Mimi turned red.
"Oh my God, you're the worst," Izzy huffed.
"Am I seriously? Or are you just being rude?" Mimi grunted.
"Tell me, did you get hired through a temp agency? Because I thought we stopped doing that months ago," Izzy asked.
"I'm the worst? Seriously? Excuse me, I think I need to step out for a bit," Mimi got up from her chair.
"Ten minutes. We're behind schedule," Izzy huffed.
"Fine," Mimi grabbed her bag and walked out.
Later that night...
"Hey girl! How was your first day on the job?" Tai excitedly said.
"Could have been better. It wasn't exactly the most exciting day I've had," Mimi shrugged.
"Well, sorry to hear that. Not to late to turn it around though! We made it in time for happy hour and I couldn't be even happier!" Matt sipped at a Cosmo.
"Yes, I could definitely use a drink after today," Mimi sighed.
"Rough day?" Sora asked.
"Tell me, is Izzy always so mean?" Mimi huffed.
"Mean? No, he's not a mean guy! Was he mean?" Kari gasped.
"Yeah, he was like rude to me almost the whole time. Like what's his problem?" Mimi huffed.
"Really? Sure, he can be like stiff sometimes, but I've never seen him be mean," TK shrugged.
"Yeah. He was basically talking to me like I was an idiot the entire day and then he was asking if I was just a temp. Oh, and he kept saying how I was the worst and I'm wondering how, when I literally didn't do anything. Like and I hate that I have to train with him again tomorrow, especially if he's going to be like that. Like sorry you hate your job, don't take it out on me," Mimi huffed.
"Sorry to hear that, Mimi," Daigo frowned.
"It's fine. It's whatever. Now let's get our drink on," Mimi forced a smile.
"Alright!" Yolei whistled.
"Hey, guess who," Izzy walked into the apartment.
"Izzy! It's been so long," Izzy's mom came up and hugged him.
"It's only been a week," Izzy's dad smiled.
"Still...," Izzy's mom pouted. "So, how was work? How's life?"
"Ugh, today was...a day I should have called in sick. They asked me to train a new person again," Izzy sighed.
"You know, with the amount of times that's been happening, you should negotiate a pay raise. And a title change," Izzy's dad said.
"Yeah, then they'll cut me loose and try to have my coworker do the job of two people for the pay of one. It's not like the good old times, Dad," Izzy huffed.
"I was just giving out some advice. Don't shoot me," Izzy's dad said.
"Sorry. I'm just so frustrated today. This new girl just drives me up the wall. She's so immature, airheaded, and pink...like a real-life Barbie with brown hair," Izzy said.
"So she's pretty?" Izzy's dad smirked.
"I-uh...sure, I guess?" Izzy uncomfortably said.
"Hmmm...," Izzy's mom looked at the boys disapprovingly.
"No, but she's got as much filling in her head as a doll does. It's nothing but hollow inside that skull of hers, that's the only logical explanation for any of her reasoning. Can you believe this, she didn't know what job she was hired for! I had to tell her! Why did they hire her?" Izzy groaned.
"Maybe it's because she looks like a real-life Barbie with brown hair," Izzy's dad smirked.
"Boys," Izzy's mom sternly said. "And Izzy?"
"Yes?" Izzy bit his lip.
"I'm very disappointed in you. Are you smoking again?" Izzy's mom asked.
"Uh...," Izzy paused.
"These fell out of your pocket," Izzy's mom held up a pack of cigarettes and tossed them in the trash.
"Ugh, I just got those today... That's $12 wasted," Izzy huffed.
"That's $12 you could have spent elsewhere. I know you don't live with us anymore, but you're smarter than this. Now come, dinner's almost ready," Izzy's mom sighed.
"Okay," Izzy said.
The next day...
"So Izzy, glad I ran into you! Can we speak for a bit in my office?" Daigo nodded.
"What is it?" Izzy huffed.
"Close the door," Daigo said.
"Hey guys, what's going on? Where's Izzy?" Mimi walked into the office.
"He's in Daigo's office," Cody whispered.
"Is that a good or a bad thing?" Mimi asked.
"It could go both ways. You only go there if you're in trouble or there's good news coming your way, but let's just say there hasn't been any good news coming this way in a while," TK said.
"Oooh, I wonder what Izzy did," Davis jeered.
"Come on! He's never done anything bad, Daigo's probably there to talk to him about a promotion of sorts," Sora said.
"Promotion to where? There's nowhere to be promoted to, unless Himekawa was in the room with them," Yolei sucked her teeth.
"I don't exactly know how everything works around here but I think maybe I might have said something to get him in the office...," Mimi bit her lip.
"What?!" everyone gasped.
"Look, I just made the side comment about how Izzy was being rude, but I didn't expect Daigo to go and do something about it. All my other jobs pretty much told you to deal with it," Mimi nervously said.
"Okay, I can definitely see Daigo trying to mediate, but I don't think that's what it could really be about," Sora said.
"Someone listen at the door. Someone who's good at being sneaky," Matt said.
"Already on it," Ken walked his way over.
"I'm going back to work," Cody said in disgust.
"I'm glad we had this talk," Daigo opened the door and led Izzy out.
"Sure," Izzy looked at him with a deadpan expression.
"Hey Izzy," Mimi sweetly smiled at him.
"Ugh...change of plans, you'll be training with Joe now. Apparently I'm too unwelcoming and creating a hostile working environment, so I'll be on probation," Izzy said.
"Oh my God, really? I didn't mean-"
"Joe, this is the new person. Be nice to her, because that's really, really important. Trust me. I have to get back to work now," Izzy trudged off.
"Hi, nice to meet you. I'm Joe," Joe introduced himself.
"Hi Joe, I am the worst," Mimi looked back at a miserable Izzy.