Extra Work

Aki’s job hunt began right away.

“So what exactly are you looking for?” Mark asked.

“A writing job,” she said, looking at her computer.

“What kind of writing job?”

“Anything, really.” Aki plugged “local writing jobs” into Google. Mark read over her shoulder.

“You know this won’t be easy, right?” he asked.

“I have to do something. We need something new around here.”

“Why?”

“We just do. Don’t ask me anymore questions.”

“But…”

“Don’t ask questions!” Aki began feverishly typing away with the search terms that she wanted. Mark sat back on her bed and shrugged.

“Okay then…” he mumbled.

“Could you keep it down while you’re at it?” Aki asked.

“Sure, sure.”

“Thanks.” Aki buried herself deeper into her search. So far, she had a small amount of job results. The aspiring writer applied for everything that she could. She leaned back from her desk and sighed. Mark looked from a manga that he was trying to read.

“You done?” he asked.

“For today, yeah,” his “girlfriend” said.

“Now what?”

“I wait.”

“Ah.”

----------

In the meantime, Aki found ways to keep herself busy. She joined the journalist club and the academy newspaper. Mark began to feel like the time his “girlfriend” was back in Osaka. He had just gotten her back, but now she might as well have been gone again. The lad couldn’t figure it out.

“Why are you doing all of this?” Mark asked as Aki checked her e-mail one night.

“I just want something exciting to happen,” she said.

“But why?”

“I am tired of being bored.” She sighed after she said that. Mark narrowed his eyes.

“What did they say to you?” he asked. Aki’s hands stopped moving across the keyboard.

“Nothing,” she said.

“Come on,” he said. “Was Fuyu? What did she say to you?”

“Nothing! Just drop it, okay?”

Mark put up his hands. “Fine.”

“Oh,” Aki said as she came across a new message in her e-mail.

“What is it?” her “boyfriend” asked.

“I have an offer for a job interview in three days!” she said. Aki finally turned to him with a big smile on her face. “This is it! This is what I needed!”

“What kind of job is it?” Mark asked.

“Resume writing!”

He gave her a funny look. “Do you even know how to write a resume?”

Aki shrugged her shoulders. “I can manage. Besides, I have something new to work with at last!” Her “boyfriend” nervously laughed as he kept up an uncomfortable smile. Nothing good is going to come out of this, is it?