Eiji suspected it… that the person on the crew list was the same man he met a few nights ago. But seeing him right before his eyes, he was truly speechless. It was awkward and both of them carried a secret he wanted to bury for a lifetime.
He had to say something. Yet at the same time, no words came out from his mouth. His mind was filled with Whys and Hows, yet not a single question was asked. He simply stood still, frozen as he looked back at Nobu.
”Eiji-san? Answer me please. You haven’t forgotten me right?”, Nobu asked again. His hand continued to grip on Eiji’s out of fear he’d disappear if he let him go.
”Takahashi-san! They’re waiting…”, Minami ran to their side, with a look of confusion why two grown men would be standing still for minutes. “Do you know him Eiji-san? Why is he holding your hand? A pervert?”
”No… I don’t know him. He mistook me for someone.”, Eiji freed himself from Nobu’s grip and walked with Minami away from the still frozen Nobu. They both arrived at the meeting area where the filming crew was waiting.
”Hello, I’m Eiji Takahashi of XX company’s R&D department, and this is Minami Sakuraba of the Advertising department. It’s nice to meet you”, Eiji extended a hand which the director accepted with a shake hand.
”I’m sorry for coming late. Our shoot from another location took a little longer than expected. I hope we didn’t make things difficult for your busy schedule”, the Director apologized.
”Oh my, where’s my manners. I’m Juichi Kusakabe, the Director. And they are…”, the Director introduced the crew one by one, each extending a hand at Eiji. One man was missing though. It was him, the guy he just met.
”There’s one more person I’d like you to meet. That brat is just somewhere… Akihiko! Go get your superior!”, the Director ordered. But while the young boy was just about to leave, the man in question suddenly entered the room.
”Oh there he is. Takahashi-san, this is Nobuaki Umehara, the Cinematographer.”, the director pulled Nobu right in front of Eiji. It was awkward between the two. Eiji looked away but he didn’t want to appear rude. He extended a hand regardless.
One second, two seconds…three seconds… Eiji’s arm was starting to get sore, but Nobu won’t shake his hand. He felt embarrassed getting rejected. Perhaps Nobu was mad because Eiji suddenly appeared at his workplace?
”I don’t think I should shake hands with a person who ignores me.”, Nobu retorted, walking away to a distance and sat beside other crew members.
”This kid… you’ll get a beating later! Oh… sorry Takahashi-san, Nobuaki isn’t feeling good today… I hope you just ignore his mood swings…”, the Director replied in a panic.
”It’s alright. I understand.”, Eiji responded.
”No, you surely don’t… Hmpp!”, Nobu crossed his hands and looked away.
”Shut that mouth Nobuaki!”, the Director seemed to have snapped. Everyone felt tense and silence followed.
”It’s alright Director-san. Anyway, as you were told, the filming script was changed. The advertising department came up with something better. I’d like you to take a look and ask for your opinion.”, Eiji tried to lighten the atmosphere by changing the topic. He handed a copy of the papers Minami gave him to the Director.
”I see. The previous script wasn’t too bad, but this one looks better. Still, I hoped your company won’t change schedules suddenly. We are supposed to do the filming for the commercial today. It’s a good thing we had a backup client”, the Director responded while he read through the papers.
”I apologize in behalf of the company. Our president deemed the project to bring an impact to the market and thought that the commercial shouldn’t be boring and tasteless. We’ll see to it that the crew will be compensated fairly for the trouble.”, Eiji responded and the Director nodded in agreement.
”It’s alright. Anyway, the script is interesting. I think minor changes are needed for polishing though. Do you mind if I ask our own scriptwriters to refine this script?”, the Director asked.
Eiji wasn’t sure about it. He was not from the Advertising department. If there was one person who had a say about it, it was none other than the rookie he brought with him.
”What do you think Sakuraba-san?”, Eiji asked.
”Umm… the company scriptwriters made the scripts in a hurry and only made samples for the filming crew scriptwriters to base upon. We didn’t have enough time to come up with a finalized version. So… it shouldn’t be a problem if there’s a couple of changes here and there…”, Minami replied. Eiji was surprised the newbie could actually talk confidently like this. Since most of the time, he would stutter or panic and only apologize at the end.
”I see. It’s set then. Please give us a day to finish the adjustments. Meanwhile, we’re going to do a few takes before taking our lunch break. I hope Takahashi-san and Sakuraba-san can join us.”, the Director said while he handed the script to a couple of people who begun reading them on the spot.
”I’ll decli-”..
”We’re more than glad to accept, Director-san!”, Minami cut Eiji off and hurriedly accepted the director’s offer.
”Takahashi-san… let’s stay please. I don’t want to return yet. If I go back now, they’d make me a slave and have me buy lunch for the whole department as usual…”, Minami whispered.
Eiji didn’t want to accept the offer, but the young newbie seemed pitiful. He could just imagine the little guy having trouble carrying all the food and drink his department ordered him to buy.
”We’ll gladly accept the offer then”, Eiji responded. The director tapped his shoulder and soon the meeting ended.
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