2016, October 1.
A hill mirage overloomed him.
Josaya sniffed and sighed. He was assigned to take care of the entry-level boring duties at his work and he didn’t like it. He deserved it though as he was the new employee. And that he’d come across an old fling’s father. Some top executive at the company. He had never met the man but apparently he was known.
“What’s with the look,” Char asked. It was noon in the fall, perfect for a picnic. She’d texted him the night before for an impromptu walk along the river. He had been dreaming of his first love, a blurry question to his mind. Who she had been, he’d already forgotten. It had been a long time since he’d dreamed of her, and he was interrupted.
He stopped walking. A small exhale escaped his lips. “So why are we here again?” he asked.
Her steps also ceased and she’d wrapped her arms around his abdomen. “It’s kind of scary how fast we’d improved and how things turned out exactly as Begoina had said.”
He put the tip of his tongue between his lips and hummed. “Hmm,” he uttered. “She knows the market, doesn’t she? It’s only natural that it’d turn out predictable.”
“Yeah, but we’re the first group ever in the world,” she stated. “How could she describe the expectations to this level of detail.”
He sighed again. “You said she’s like a witch, right?”
“Mhm.”
“So you guys are basically training to be singing witches then,” he joked.
She pinched the skin of his right ribcage. He’d considered wearing a sweater since the season was set, but he didn’t expect to be outside for long. Though he had no meetings or anything on the schedule, his bosses still expected for him to get back immediately. No matter how lax the lunch policy break was. After all, who’d feed the machine learning computers input if not for junior employees like him?
“You haven’t met her that’s why,” she said. “She’s beautiful, graceful, everything to describe somebody as good, but I somehow can’t escape this feeling of something being off. The others haven’t questioned anything, they’re just glad for their newfound skills. But I really don’t understand how eating that pineapple gave us these skills. It’s straight out of a novel.”
He puffed in resignation. “What do you mean?” he asked. “You know I met her for the last song of your album, right?”
She ended the hug to stand in front of him. “Wait, you didn’t just send her the track over the net?”
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“Ya I did, but that was after,” he said. “We met after you told her that I was pretty good in making songs. Like the day after.”
“Wait, how’d she get your number?” she asked. “I never gave it.”
“She didn’t call me,” he replied. “She actually found my workplace and asked to chat.”
He sighed. She narrowed her eyes. “And then?”
“Well, that’s it, we just talked about how the royalties were going to be split,” he answered. “She said 80-20 right off the bat and I was prepared to like complain until she said that the ratio was favored for me. Said she wanted the input of people from outside the company. That she was only given a framework base and that expanding upon things weren’t really her style.”
He gulped as she kept eyes at him. “And then what?”
“That is i-i-t,” he stammered. He knew her unspoken question enough though and dared not answer it. No good results from it.
She resumed walking along the cobblestone path. “You sure?”
He followed to her side, her oversized hat kept him at bay. “Ya, she’s cool.”
“Not cool enough to give me more lines with that song,” she complained. “It was my idea.”
He faked coughed. “Well, you haven’t really taken seriously your vocal lessons from her.”
She half-turned her sandals for another pause but decided against it. “She said that?”
“Ya,” he replied. “She said you could be the best vocalist in the group but you just keep doing non-singing or dancing stuff. What’s up with that, anyway?”
She sighed. “Well, I don’t really know if I’m up to this. We’d just finished recording our last stage for the fans but it was still crazy how loud they were cheering.”
“I thought you wanted to have all the attention or adulations for your vanity,” he half-jested.
She stepped on his left foot. Again, he’d also pondered on wearing shoes but the weather prediction seemed nice enough and so he was stuck with stepped on toes. “Yes, but not like this,” she admitted. “I feel like some sort of idol, you know, like the real idol type of thing, not this singer performer type. And you know how I feel about shit like that.”
He kept silent as their strides continued. A minute had passed before he decided to offer a reply. “Well that’s part of the job, you know,” he stated in a soft tone. “How long do your contracts last anyway?”
She whistled a sharp note. “Phew, well, I mean,” she began. “It’s for five years, our six-month training period included. Can’t quit or complain before then.”
“Five years for something that’s never been done before,” he muttered. “Really, Char? Is that impulsiveness of yours ever going to change?”
She sighed again, a bit heavier this time. “Not everyone’s as chill as you,” she retorted. “Maybe that’s why we make a good match.”
She linked her right hand with his. “I thought it was my looks?” he quipped. “You said you’ve never seen somebody like me before.”
“Well ya, you’re from—” she started but stopped. He’d been smirking at her but soon followed her gaze. In front of them was a girl wearing an oversized sweater. He couldn’t see her shorts, so he assumed it was one of those short shorts type. But at the start of October, it was something he hadn’t seen before.
A gust of wind came out of nowhere, and the blonde hair of the girl in front of them flew in all sorts of directions. Her hairstyle had gone from orderly, to unkempt.
“Umm,” he voiced after the two girls had stopped to stare at each other. “Do you guys know each other?”
He’d always heard about poems, sagas, and all sorts of hallucinations about words being like honey to the ears. But when she answered him, his mind had gone to wherever eusocial heavens bees depart for.
“No, but she was told of me.”