Ch 24: What a Useless Girl

BZZ! BZZ!

Minami's phone continuously blows up as Naoto bombards her with text messages and phone calls.

The banners on top of her screen with messages changing and shifting as he hits 'SEND' over and over again.

[Naoto] Answer the phone!

[Naoto] We need to talk!

[Naoto] Are you really ignoring me?

[Naoto] I'd never do this to you.

[Naoto] You really think you're all that because you're an idol, so you just toss me away?!

[Naoto] Your behavior is really unattractive you know that right?

[Naoto] I guess it doesn't matter to you, you'll probably just spend your time sleeping with all your dedicated fans anyways.

[Naoto] Lol, I guess I really lost huh?

[Naoto] I don't know what you're mad about when I just wanted to spend time with you and show you off as my girlfriend.

[Naoto] You're the one who keeps trying to keep in the shadows. Acting like the victim…..lol.

Minami rolled her eyes. She tapped away on her phone, trying to remain calm.

[Minami] I need time to think. Please stop messaging me for the time being.

There. That was a nice message, right? Boundary drawn!

She had so much to think about in regard to being with Naoto.

He knew that if he was seen with her, her career would be over. Could she really be with someone that was so ready and willing to destroy her dream? If she's dating someone, she really needed them to be supportive.

BZZ! BZZ!

She sighed as more and more messages came in.

[Naoto] Think about what?!

[Naoto] We should be having a conversation and communicating instead of you just ignoring me.

She could feel her shoulders tensing up and a wave of nausea coming over her. Turning the phone off, she turned to face her computer screen instead.

It had already been months since she'd sent in her application to Happy Wave Entertainment, surely she should've gotten a response by now.

CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! CLICK!

Her email refreshed in the browser over and over again.

'NO NEW EMAILS'

That message didn't change no matter how many times she checked.

Minami sighed and bit her lip, 'Maybe my email is glitching or something? Maybe I can't receive incoming emails from those kinds of email addresses?'

She'd gotten numerous email notifications from Hivideo alerting her of video comments and responses, but that was the majority of them. So maybe it was indeed, just her email bugging.

'They wouldn't have not accepted me right? I'm doing well on Hivideo and gaining a steady fanbase and I'm already signed to a company….so how could I be rejected?'

She shook her head, 'No, no! I shouldn't think like that! I'm sure it's something with the email system….'

A lightbulb goes off her in mind, 'Oh! I'll ask someone at SUN MEDIA to check for me!' It was almost time for her to go in to work anyways. So what if she got there early? She'd just be hailed as having a good work ethic!

She grabbed her bag and ran to the company head quarters.

★ ★ ★

"Hello, Minami!" the receptionist greeted her with a wide and welcoming smile. She really was the perfect person to man the front desk and be the first face of SUN MEDIA that you meet.

"Good morning! How are you today?" Minami returned her smile with enthusiasm.

"I'm well thank you, what about you?" She had such a proper way of speaking when she was in on the job, it was impressive.

"I'm fine thanks….you…" Minami felt awkward to respond in such a casual manner, "Actually, I was wondering if you could do me a favor really quick?"

The receptionist checked her watch, "If I have time to, I have no problem helping you out. What do you need help with?"

"I'm not sure if my email is receiving incoming emails, so can you send me a test one to see if it comes in?" Minami sucked her lips in and fiddled her thumbs.

"Oh of course! The contents of the email don't matter right?" She was already typing Minami's email into her program as she spoke.

"No it doesn't matter! You can just put a letter or something!"

The receptionist clicked 'SEND' and smiled, "There, it's done! Is there anything else?"

Minami shook her head and smiled back, "No, that's all! Thank you!"

She pulled out her phone and opened up her email app.

The email from SUN MEDIA was right there. Her shoulders slumped. 'Did I really get rejected?'

She sat on the couches and opened up her notebook and started to work on her lyric writing skills when Makoto came over and called her to his desk.

The two of them walked over and sat down across from each other.

"Have you received anything about the audition yet?"

"Huh?"

Her heart stopped for a moment. Did he know she'd been anxiously checking her email or did they just happen to be in sync and were curious about it at the same time?

"Did you receive any notice about your audition with Happy Wave Entertainment yet." This time, Makoto's voice was stern with a tinge of irritation wrapped around his words.

"Oh…no. I haven't gotten anything from them yet." She bit her lip and stared at her lap feeling like a failure. Then, she remembered where she was at and furrowed her eyebrows.

'Wait a second. Who cares? I'm already signed to an agency, it's not that big of a deal. Why do I feel like I did something so wrong? I haven't failed.' She thought to herself as she sighed in relief.

Makoto noticed her sudden shift in expression.

"What is it?" He inquired.

"Oh, I was just feeling really bad about not having gotten a response back, but I realized it's really not a big deal. So what? I'm already signed with you! So I haven't failed! Even they had accepted me, I wouldn't have signed with them, so I haven't lost anything!" She smiled bright and giggled excitedly as she thought more and more about how her dream was already coming true.

Makoto huffed and clenched his jaw, "You didn't fail? The biggest entertainment company in the country doesn't want you. It's obvious you've been rejected if they haven't responded to you by now. Companies don't waste their time on someone they don't want, not even to give them a simple no."

Minami nodded, "Right, but isn't it important that YOU want me? I'm your artist! I'm signed with you, not them. Doesn't this just show that you can spot better talent than they can?" She giggled again, trying to keep the mood light.

Makoto slammed his hands down on his desk, causing Minami to jump. She wasn't sure why she jumped anymore, this was common behavior from him now-a-days, but for some reason it always gave her a fright.

"Do you not understand? This biggest entertainment company in the country said, 'This girl isn't good enough for us.' Do you know what that says about SUN MEDIA? SUN MEDIA accepts their trash. SUN MEDIA accepts the leftovers that Happy Wave Entertainment leaves. When you debut, their people will say, 'She auditioned for us, but we turned her down.' That'll follow you AND IT'LL FOLLOW US!"

He started to scream, causing the rest of the staff to look over and whisper amongst themselves.

Minami felt tears prickle the back of her eyes and sharp pain appear deep within her nose. She pursed her lips and took slow shaky breaths. 'Don't cry here, don't cry here!'

"I-I'm sorry….I didn't realize that's what it meant." Her voice shook as she struggled to keep control of herself and her head drooped, her eyes focusing on her lap.

"What a useless and stupid girl…." Makoto mumbled under his breath as he pulled out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it.

Some of the staff huffed as soon as they smelled the smoke.

Minami's eyes widened and her head shot up. Did she just hear him correctly?

"W-what?" She must've misheard what he said, because there's no way he would've called her useless for not being able to sign with a competing agency right? That didn't even make any sense!

Tears were fighting their way through Minami's defenses and were about to break through her barrier of will power when one of the staff members rushed over and whispered quietly to Makoto.

"I'm really sorry sir, but the smoke detectors will go off if you continue…"

He rolled his eyes and huffed as he grabbed his jacket and headed outside.

Her defense fell as soon as he left the room and she burst into silent tears.

The staff member placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and squatted down to be more eye level, "Are you alright?"

Minami wiped her tears and nodded. She sniffled as slowly as she could as not to alert the rest of the office that was sitting there crying like a little baby.

"Why don't you go to the bathroom and calm down a little? I think you should go home for the day….sound good?" The staff's voice was hushed and Minami nodded in response.