“Lindera, the boss sent a gift.”
“Ah… it’s fruit, isn’t it?”
I woke up late again today and walked into the office, only to have my sister suddenly hand me a box of fruit.
And it was an enormous variety.
In just one box, there were five different types of fruit.
But there were three such boxes on one side of the office…
…I appreciate it, but I don’t know if I can eat it all.
“They say your health might decline soon. The boss insisted you must eat them,” she said.
“…I appreciate it. But it seems a bit much.”
“I definitely said that three boxes are too many, that one box would be enough… but the boss insisted on three.”
“…Haha.”
Well… I’m grateful, but it’s really a lot.
If I eat with the Commander seriously, it might last over a month… um.
In fact, I think they might spoil before I can eat them.
“Commander, could you carry this a bit when you leave work?”
“Three boxes?”
“…I can’t possibly carry those.”
Leaving aside strength, my body structure made it difficult to lift boxes because of my belly.
I felt sorry for the Commander too, but it was genuinely an impossible situation for me.
I had no choice but to ask the Commander for help.
“…I’ll try.”
“…If it’s too hard for you, I can…?”
“No, that’s not it.”
“…….Yes.”
There was nothing I could do.
…I did feel quite bad about it, but it was unavoidable.
“Lindera.”
“Yes?”
While I was lamenting with the Commander about the fruit boxes, my sister suddenly called me from behind.
I wondered what it was.
“You can just ask the agents to do it. The boss directed them to help you with whatever you need,” she said.
“But, is it okay to have the agents do something like this?”
Wouldn’t it be an inconvenience…?
Of course, it would be easier, but I genuinely thought it was a hassle.
I planned to make the Commander just go back and forth three times, but suddenly my sister suggested asking the agents, which put me in a bit of a bind.
I never expected the boss would say something like this… in many ways… it was awkward.
To be honest, it would surely be easier, but it felt like a bit of an overreach…
“Uh… Dolores, Midori…?”
I had no choice but to ask my two close friends.
Having an unfamiliar agent do it felt a bit too much…
Of course, I felt bad asking even my close friends, but…
“Could you carry some luggage?”
“…Yay!”
“Well, I can’t help it.”
“…Thank you.”
Still, I appreciated that they were kind enough to help.
But for some reason, I couldn’t understand why they both seemed to like it.
Isn’t it generally something people dislike being asked to do, moving luggage?
It felt a bit awkward, but for now, we all started moving one fruit box each to my personal room.
The work I was doing in the office naturally stopped.
“By the way, all the fruit in here seems to be high-end stuff.”
“Is that so? I don’t really know much about fruit…”
“Yes, they’re all really good quality. They probably have amazing juice.”
“Oh…”
I wasn’t sure, but since Dolores said it was good, it must be.
Anyhow, we all arrived at my personal room.
These days, it was the room I often shared with the Commander, so the term personal room felt a little ambiguous, but still.
“So, you two have been spending time together lately, huh?”
“Were we pretending?”
“But I’ve never seen a couple living together before.”
“Well… there’s nothing special about it.”
There really wasn’t much in my room.
It was just that the Commander’s clothes were hanging slightly on the hanger, or maybe my laundry was together with the Commander’s on the dryer.
And the bathroom had two toothbrushes at most?
Everyone seemed to be looking at the room curiously, but nothing remarkable was there.
It was really ordinary.
“Commander, get a drink from the fridge to serve. It shouldn’t have been too much trouble, but still, thanks.”
“I want cola!”
“What about Dolores and the temporary Vice Commander?”
“Um… do you have Zero?”
“…We do.”
“Then I’d appreciate it if you could make mine Zero cola.”
“Since everyone’s having cola, I’ll take that too.”
“Got it.”
Anyway, we all ended up drinking cola.
All sitting on the sofa together.
Originally, this room only had a bed and no sofa, but it ended up being added because I didn’t move into the house the boss bought.
The room was small, but honestly, it was more comfortable than a chair.
I was sincerely grateful.
With the house being bought for us, it felt guilty not using it.
“Did the boss give you this sofa?”
“Yes, it’s really nice, right?”
“Indeed… it’s top-notch. It’s definitely from the same lineup used in the boss’s office.”
“…It was the best?”
“Yes.”
“……….”
Um… I felt genuinely sorry now.
Not only did I feel bad for not moving into the house, but to find out that the sofa I received was especially high-end?
Sure, the boss was rich, but still, I felt a bit overwhelmingly guilty.
Once the baby comes, I’ll have to send plenty of baby photos to Grandma.
“Lindera, here.”
“Thank you.”
After the Commander handed out drinks to the others, I received a cup of tea from him.
It wasn’t too hot and was just warm enough.
I figured cold tea… might not be the best idea. So I’d been drinking it this way lately.
Of course, it was caffeine-free tea.
“Ugh… this is tough…”
“Aren’t you still exercising these days?”
“…I don’t have time because of you, Lindera.”
“Why is it my fault…?”
The slander against me began as soon as I sat down.
I honestly felt wronged.
I clearly said it was okay to exercise, yet he held back just because he was worried about me.
“What can I do? If I’m alone in the room and something dangerous happens…”
“Really?”
“You never know. Suddenly sitting down could cause a stomachache, or I might just fall… and then there’s the possibility of headaches…?”
“Eww… Dolores, look at them. They’re at it again.”
“…But it’s unavoidable.”
The Commander, getting teased by Midori while talking about me again.
His reaction was entertaining in its own right.
Even being teased like that, he didn’t seem to react badly or get angry.
He just laughed and brushed it off.
I had heard similar chatter in the office before.
“It seems like Lindera and everyone get along well.”
“Yeah?”
“It seems that way among the people in the office.”
“Uh… right? We’ve spent over a year together.”
Having spent over a year together, it was inevitable we’d get close.
Moreover, we’ve worked together, had gatherings, birthdays, and so on.
It would probably seem strange if we hadn’t gotten close.
“…Is that so?”
“Yes. Dolores came in a bit later, but it’s still been over a year.”
“…I see.”
It hadn’t been long since my sister started working in our area.
It hasn’t even been a month yet, so it was indeed pretty recent.
My sister’s personality… somewhat resembled my past self.
But there was a more composed side to her, mixed with tranquility.
Her using formal speech towards others also reminded me a lot of my former self, making it a bit amusing.
That and the fact that she treated me nicely every time we spoke probably helped that impression.
I could at least consider her someone who wasn’t bad, you know?
“I was a bit envious because everyone seemed to find me intimidating.”
“…Huh?”
“Eh?”
Upon hearing my sister’s comment, we couldn’t help but look at her.
After all, the people being spoken about were all right here…?
Dolores and Midori were present, plus the Commander as well.
In such a scenario, I never expected her to openly state that she felt people found her intimidating.
That was quite a serious statement.
I felt pretty flustered.
“…Um, that… how about you elaborate a bit more on what you mean?”
“…Everyone seems to avoid me and even during lunch together, there’s barely any conversation.”
“……..”
“So it feels like everyone is avoiding me.”
“………”
Um.
I wasn’t quite sure what was going on, but it seemed like the people in the office had something to work on.
I didn’t know the specifics of her situation, but I gathered enough from before speaking with my sister at headquarters to know what kind of person she is.
Thus, I couldn’t help but lean towards blaming the misunderstanding on the other office colleagues.
“…Everyone, come over here.”
“…Yes.”
“Uh, okay…”
“Commander too.”
I called everyone over.
My sister and I sat on the sofa, while the rest stood in front of me, looking at me.
I wasn’t sure exactly what the situation was, but they weren’t purposely ignoring her.
There were definitely not those kinds of people.
But….
“Don’t you all talk to my sister much?”
“…Not too often…”
“Right…”
“…Why is that?”
“Well, it’s just… there’s so much work that I’ve barely had time to chat with the temporary Vice Commander… Even during lunch, it’s been very quiet…”
“……..”
“So it feels rather difficult to try and strike up a conversation.”
Something felt off.
Um.
It seemed like there was a mix of misunderstandings between everyone.
It was all quite ambiguous in many ways.
Understanding that, I had everyone sit back on the sofa and we decided to talk normally again.
“…Your sister’s a bit… more composed than she seems. Honestly, when I first came, she seemed quiet unless talking about the boss.”
That was indeed a fact.
“But it doesn’t mean she’s a bad person. In fact, she’s the one who asks about my health frequently after the boss and the commander.”
First and foremost, clarification of the biggest misunderstanding.
My sister was merely a victim of circumstance since others hadn’t approached her.
If only the other colleagues spoke to her, we wouldn’t have these issues.
“And the workload you have being assigned… that’s what you all are supposed to handle.”
“Eh?”
“Yes?”
“…You mean my workload was already more than normal…?”
“Absolutely what you’re doing is normal amounts.”
“………Really?”
“Yes.”
Everyone looked shocked.
Apparently, they truly hadn’t realized.
Though my work had undoubtedly increased compared to before, I had still been deliberately making things as comfortable as possible.
Thus it’s understandable that they were not used to what normal workload felt like, I guess.
“…I absolutely didn’t slack off as the temporary Vice Commander, nor did I treat any of you poorly, so you can treat me normally.”
“…I was probably just lazing around until a month ago…?”
“That’s entirely true, so just stop being surprised.”
In any case… this bizarre misunderstanding somehow concluded.
I knew they didn’t have a clue about how they managed their work in my absence.
But it seemed like everyone was… still the same.
“So just treat each other casually, okay? We’re not teenagers here.”
“…Did I seem like a cold person…?”
Though my sister did seem cuter than her first impression could have suggested?
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