Chapter 50 The New Employee

The New Employee

“Oh really? I can’t let that happen. I would never let that happen.”

Rina, my ex-wife, glared at us with cold eyes.

Not understanding why she was here, Airi, who had also opened her eyes in surprise, asked with a puzzled look.

“…Why are you here? If you don’t want to be reported, it would be better for outsiders to leave.”

Airi said something obvious, but Rina, ignoring her words, snorted and replied.

“Oh, that’s too bad. I’m not an outsider.”

“What do you mean?”

Airi furrowed her brow, not understanding the meaning of Rina’s words, and then the section chief scratched his cheek and apologized.

“Well, um, I just found out from the manager, but apparently… Kuroda Rina is a new employee as of today. She asked to be assigned to this department, so she was assigned here….”

“What…?”

“Eh…?”

Airi and I stared blankly at the section chief’s explanation.

Rina, assigned to our department…? Starting today…?

But when I looked closer, I noticed that she was actually wearing a suit.

“No, what’s going on here!? Is that even allowed!?”

Instead of me, Airi shouted and confronted the section chief, glaring at him.

Of course, it’s not uncommon for mid-career hires to be hired, but this is the first time I’ve heard of her being assigned to our department.

“N-no… Well, I just heard about it myself… To be honest, I’m surprised too.”

“Why didn’t you stop it!?”

“Hey, don’t say such a crazy thing! I’m just a section chief, and I can’t go against orders from above.”

“Even if you get fired, defy them!”

“Huh? This is ridiculous…!”

The section chief’s eyes were filled with tears from Airi’s angry and scathing rebuke.

I felt a little sorry for him, but I also had something to say to the section chief.

“No, you could have at least contacted me.”

“Well, I did… but you didn’t read it.”

“Eh…?”

I took out my smartphone and checked, and sure enough, I had received several messages from him.

At that time… I must have been enjoying my time with Airi.

Ah, I must have been so engrossed in spending time with her that I didn’t even notice the notification on my smartphone.

This is completely our fault, not the section chief’s.

“And what was HR thinking? Honestly, it’s unbelievable!”

“Ah, well… Apparently she had a proper interview and was hired.”

“This is ridiculous!?”

Airi was stunned by the section chief’s words.

It must be hard for her to believe, and I don’t want to believe it’s real either.

Why on earth do I have to work in the same department as my ex-wife?

“Well, HR doesn’t get involved in employees’ personal lives, so you just have to accept your bad luck.”

“Yeah, I guess….”

Sure, she hasn’t committed any crimes that would give her a criminal record, and since she had a proper interview and was hired, we have no right to complain.

But what does Rina think?

Could it be that she joined this company just to get back together with me?

Why would she go to such lengths? Or rather, if she’s so obsessed, why did she cheat on me and be cold to me in the first place?

I had a lot of things I wanted to say, but I had to keep my mouth shut because there were other employees who didn’t know about my relationship with Rina.

I glanced at the other employees, who took turns looking at Rina and Airi with suspicion.

From our earlier exchange, they seemed to have figured out that there was some kind of relationship between us.

“Well, anyway… um, Kuroda. Please introduce yourself first.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Nodding obediently to the section chief, Rina smiled and opened her mouth.

“Nice to meet you all. My name is Kuroda Rina. I’m a new employee. I’m new to this industry and don’t know much, but I’d appreciate it if you could kindly teach me. Thank you very much.”

Rina bowed her head after the polite greeting, and applause broke out.

Mostly from the men… Well, it can’t be helped.

Rina is strikingly beautiful, so it’s only natural that she’s popular.

But I couldn’t greet her.

The same was true for Airi, who was obviously unhappy.

“Okay, then… about her mentor….”

The section chief said this and looked around.

The male employees all raised their hands and volunteered.

But Rina didn’t even look at them; she just stared at me and smiled weakly.

I have a bad feeling about this.

“Section chief, I would like to ask him….”

“Ugh….”

“Eh…?!”

As expected, my bad feeling came true.

Rina pointed at me, and Airi shouted in protest.

“That’s not okay! I’ll never allow it!”

“Oh, do I need your permission?”

Rina replied to Airi with a confident look, glaring at her like a snapping dog.

When the air became tense, the section chief intervened with a sweaty face.

“Well, um, Kuroda? He’s a little busy, so he can’t take care of the newcomer.”

“Is that so?”

She looked at me again and asked.

Understanding that the section chief’s words were said out of concern for me, I nodded vigorously.

“Then I guess it can’t be helped.”

“So, um… someone to take care of the new recruit….”

“Yes, I’ll do it.”

“Eh…?”

Surprisingly, it was Airi who volunteered.

Wondering why she would do that, Airi whispered to me in a low voice.

“If I do this, I can keep an eye on her, right? I have to watch her so she doesn’t do anything strange to you. So don’t worry, just leave it to me.”

“U-uh… okay….”

I nodded obediently to Airi’s words.

But I wonder if it’s really okay to leave it to her.

With a feeling of uneasiness, we began our work.