Page 29 of Sixty Meters Under
“Then how will Santa bring me the doll I want?”
“Don’t worry, sweetheart, Santa always finds a way.” The mother gave her daughter a warm smile, and it seemed to work. Little Sarah looked content and smiled with a nod. “I can’t wait!”
Ryosuke bit his lip and looked towards his fiancé. It seemed she hadn’t heard the exchange. A veil of sadness passed over him, and he swore to himself that he’d avoid listening to random conversations.
Ayame put her cutlery in one of the compartments, and wiped her mouth with a napkin, her phone vibrated. She took it out of her pocket and Ryosuke’s phone buzzed as well.
“We got our job assignments!” Ayame exclaimed, excited. “I wonder what it is.”
“We will get our answers in the office. At eleven o’clock.” Ryosuke read the details.
“Why can’t we go right now? I’m really curious!”
Ryosuke laughed at her childish impatience and glanced at his watch. “Well, it’s not that far from now. We’ll return to our room, get ready, then we can go.”
Ayame pouted. Ryosuke, still smiling, got up and collected both trays.
?
Ayame and Ryosuke stood on the top level of the bunker outside the office door and waited. It was 10:59 when Ayame decided to finally knock. The wait wasn’t prolonged since the door opened quickly.
“Good day to you, Ms. Nakashima and Mr. Kato. Please, come in,” Anna greeted them with a smile.
The two young people returned a smile, bowed, and entered the room.
“Have a seat.” Anna pointed at two chairs in front of the desk. A woman they hadn’t seen before was sitting at another table. She stood up and greeted them too. She had short black hair cut right above her shoulders and wore a gray shirt with white buttons. Her face looked stern at first glance, but a small smile danced on her lips.
Anna introduced the dark-haired woman. “This is my assistant, Clara.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too!” Ayame added cheerfully, Ryosuke only smiled and looked around the room to confirm that there was no one but the two women present.
“Okay. Let’s get started. As you already know we have job assignments for you. We selected you for these positions based on your resumes, but after a month you’ll have the opportunity to propose to be moved if you’re not satisfied,” Anna explained. “Ms. Nakashima, you will be working in the Cinema, which means you will be responsible for its organization. You have been granted authorization to access the Cinema sector at any time and to manage it.”
“Thank you! That sounds great.” Ayame clapped her hands.
Anna smiled. “Of course. I was sure you’d be the right person for this job.”
“Yeah, I believe so too. Thank you again!”
“I’m giving you this list with all the remaining details.” Anna handed Ayame a sheet of paper. “Tomorrow will be the first day we’ll open the Cinema.”
“Great!”
“Any questions?”
“Umm, no. I can’t think of anything right now.” Ayame smiled sheepishly.
“No worries. You can always ring me.” Anna looked at Ryosuke then lowered her gaze to the paper. “Now we can switch to Mr.Kato. Mr. Kato will be helping us to manage residents during communication hours.”
Ryosuke looked puzzled, but Anna looked up and explained. “Communication hours will be held in a special monitoring room which is next to the teaching room. Residents will have sixty minutes a day to get in touch with the outside world and access the internet.”
“Okay…” Ryosuke said. “That’s fine by me.”
Only for that short?he wondered.
“You also have special access in the app to assist you with your duties,” Anna added and stretched her hand to give him the instructions. “Here you go.”
