No One Plays the Role of Cupid Better Than Random People Who Decide to Get Involved

Normally he couldn't sleep either, but that night he couldn't even close his eyes, so as not to open them again, and every time he would get up and make sure his suit looked impeccable. Hikaru also considered changing before leaving the office since he was supposed to meet a girl. Neither of them had called this meeting a date, and he kept reminding himself of that, but in his heart, he wanted to believe it. He got up several times to look at himself in the mirror and check if he shouldn't change his hairstyle. He styled his hair, looking for the right version for such a significant time.

Since he couldn't sleep, he simply lay there and waited, making a list of questions he wanted to ask her. He found that it was somehow easier to smile at his co-workers, and despite the sleepless night, work went quite smoothly. Despite this, time didn't fly any faster, which only increased his impatience. He felt the curious glances of his co-workers on him, surprised by his unusually sociable aura.

The women commented on something, nudging each other with their elbows, knowing that their famous intuition was right and that something was happening with Hikaru Nishikawa, and something romantic at that. Of course, they were interested in the personal lives of their colleagues; they had to sometimes take their minds off work and gossip or ask around among their acquaintances if they had any charming daughters to give away to the company's bachelors. They meant well, and they considered their interests, or rather their snooping, to be nothing more than an expression of friendly concern.

Hikaru's superior, however, was not so sensitive to such delicate matters, and using the authority that his higher position gave him and a disingenuous smile, approached the young man's desk. He had a lot of paperwork with him that needed to be done immediately, so of course he had no qualms about placing it on the desk of the employee with the shortest experience. He noticed how the young one looked at the documents and then at his watch and opened his mouth to protest. But gently, yet directly, he suggested to him that if anything, he was the first on the list to be laid off.

Hikaru felt his humor and smile slowly turn into despair as soon as he saw his superior leaving his office. He felt overwhelmed, and for a moment he had the courage to say: No, I can't today, I have important plans, but he was quickly reminded of his insignificant position for any discussion. He skimmed through the stack, knowing that there was no way he would leave work at a human hour. All he could do was hurry up and then beg Hortensja for forgiveness.

The young man just hadn't thought about the fact that they didn't really have any contact with each other, and he was afraid that she would wait for him and freeze unnecessarily. Hikaru couldn't leave and come back, because his superior always checked it and then used it to threaten at such moments. He worried about it, so his work was disturbed, and on top of that, he started to feel tired after a sleepless night, so there were more and more small mistakes, and frustration only made it worse to handle.

When time had flown slowly before, it was now going much too fast. He wondered whether to call Matsuo and ask him to check if Hortensja was waiting for him and ask him to send her to the hotel. Before he could dial the number, his coworker called, and he answered, unsure what it was about.

“Listen, Nishikawa, I was just coming back from the store, and it seems to me that the girl from yesterday, the one who gave you something, is in front of the company again. Maybe she's waiting behind you today too? I saw how much work you have, so…”

“Put her on the phone, please!” He jumped up from his chair. “Tell her it's me. She might be a little wary.”

He listened for a moment, trying to drown out the pangs of conscience that had been nagging at him for hours. He knew he had to be honest, but it still hurt him to call off their meeting.

“Hikaru?” she asked uncertainly, her worried voice gripping his heart painfully until he felt a physical pain in his chest.

“Horteni, I'm sorry, but I have a lot of work today. Don't wait up for me. Go back to the hotel, I think…”

“I'll wait,” she interrupted him.

“No.” He stated firmly, not knowing how to explain to her that he didn't want her to wait and freeze, risk catching a cold, or for anyone to bother her. She was definitely hungry too. “If you're hungry, do you remember the way to Matsuo's restaurant? I'll tell him you'll come.”

“Hikaru, be honest, but do you actually want to meet me?” she asked after a moment of silence.

“Of course I do, I really do!” He almost grabbed his things to run to her and prove it, but he froze in mid-step.

“I can't today, I'm so sorry.”

“Tomorrow?” The hope she put into that one word almost knocked him off his feet.

“Yes, of course.” He decided to do everything to make it up to her.

Hortensja handed the phone back to the stranger and thanked him. She hadn't expected this turn of events and was looking forward to meeting Hikaru. She even dared to go shopping for at least basic make-up items, since it had been years since she had last put on make-up. The Pole chose the prettiest of the things she had brought with her and pinned up her hair. She didn't want to admit to herself that she would like to impress him, but still hoped that he would notice her efforts. Now, she could only try to look even better the next day. However, she had to hide a few tears that were imperceptibly flowing down her cheeks.

The man who had approached her and allowed her to talk to Hikaru caught up with her and asked for a moment.

“I'll give you Nishikawa's number. Where's your phone?” he asked, deciding that out of gratitude that every additional task no longer falls on him, he would help his younger colleague win the girl's heart.

“Nishikawa?” She didn't realize at first who he was talking about.

“Hikaru, Hikaru Nishikawa,” he said, a little disgusted, at an early stage the relationship between the two was.

“I don't have it with me. Besides, I'm only using the hotel's Wi-Fi,” she replied. “I'll wait for him tomorrow.”

“Wait. There's an app.” He searched frantically in his pockets for something to write down the information she needed. He only checked a few things on his phone. “This is the name of the app and Hikaru's account. We all use it. I'll tell him I told you about it. It would be a shame if you waited again in vain. Unfortunately, situations like this can often happen.”

“I understand and thank you.” She tightly clenched her fingers around the piece of paper that contained such valuable information for her and, at the same time, tried to figure out why so many people helped her, even though she hadn't asked for it.