She Can't See

chapter eleven

I wonder if she'll make use of the good weather today. Maybe she'll take a walk after work. Maybe I could go with her. 

And the weather was good that day. It was around the middle of May. Spring had definitely done a good job at making its mark, even in New York City. The sky was just the right amount of sunny and clear with the perfect shade of blue. If she listened closely enough, she would probably be able to hear birds singing as they flew by the windows.

"Asami, dear, did you hear what I just said?"

That was exactly why she couldn't listen closely enough. Because she wasn't in the quietness of her apartment, instead, she was in a large, rectangular room that was only filled with a long table and a projector screen. Those, along with several of her co-workers who all sat with A+ posture and flat faces.

Hiroshi Sato stood at the front of the table, arms behind his stiff back. Right. Asami was still in the meeting without a clue of how many minutes she had let go by from mindless dreaming. Her cheeks flushed, nearly burning. 

"Um," She stuttered, feeling panicked. She hated stuttering in front of her father. He had said that it showed weakness. Weakness didn't equal power. Power was a necessity in this world. She tired to put on a flat face and luckily succeeded. "No I don't think I caught the last few bits. I apologize for being distracted."

"And what exactly was distracting you?" Hiroshi asked rhetorically. He waved a hand in the air so that Asami didn't answer him aloud, then tucked both hands behind his back again, broadening his shoulders in the process. "You're in a meeting right now. You need to be paying attention at all times. Otherwise, you could very well miss out on something important. Is that understood, dear?"

Asami didn't think that there were many other things that she hated more than when her father addressed her as 'dear.' It was never meant to be soothing or comforting, like most older people or parents used the term as. With Hiroshi, it slipped off of his tongue with spite following close behind it. It always sounded like it was more of a warning. 

"Yes, father, you're right. I understand." Asami settled with as she began to scrunch up her skirt underneath the table. A nervous habit that no one had ever noticed. Her eyes went to one of her father's personal assistants who stood a corner. That guy never spoke, and only moved when he was told to. He hardly ever blinked, actually. "I'll make sure to concentrate better in the future."

"See to it. It may help to keep your eyes on the person who is currently speaking rather than whatever is on the other side of those windows." Hiroshi said. He kept a straight face when he snapped his fingers, signaling for the assistant to walk around the room and pull down the blinds to block out the outside world. Asami held back a disappointed sigh. Now the room didn't have any color to it other than her outfit or the ties that the men wore. Everything was dull again.

"Understood." 

"Excellent. Forgive my daughter's absence." He painted on a grin that said 'You know how kids can be' as if Asami was some delinquent child that was one step away from being sent to reformatory school for troubled young women. "Now, as I was saying. It has been decided that I will take a temporary leave-"

Her eyes bulged out of their sockets in less than a beat. "You're leaving?!"

"Asami." Hiroshi snapped. The entire world seemed to be silenced by that alone. 

Asami's lower lip almost quivered - almost - as she briefly looked around to her other co-workers, the ones that she hadn't bothered to pay any proper mind to until now. All of their eyes and fixed facial expressions were on her. Because she was the embarrassment in that moment. She was the one who had a 'free mind.' A mind that still had yet to come up with a decent enough car model that would impress her own father.