Dreams of being a cloud

"Try to be the Sun to someone's cloud." (Maya Angelou - text that was on paper string of my morning tea bag)

The cold grey days were passing slowly - clouds, rain, or a little bit of sun. It did not matter. Akari was working each moment and each second available to her. She would need to hold long speeches, have even longer debates, calculate and crunch a bunch of numbers in the middle of the night.

The days became even more cloudy and monotonous, but on one random dark Monday, suddenly out of nowhere, an unexpected visitor came to Akari's door.

"Asahina, great to see you," a rough voice muttered from the serious old man in the most elegant dark suit as he entered her super-organized office.

Akari stood up, bowed her whole body, and with a somewhat cold voice said, "Great to see you as well. Thank you for paying me a visit. I am honored."

Prime Minister Sachiko bowed just slightly to her as well before leaving her office. "Continue the great work," he said calmly, then proceeded to leave her office.

Asahina bowed with her head and whole body again. "Thank you, sir. Thank you very much. I will do my best."

Akari didn't know if he cared or if this was just something routine he had to do. Still, it made her very happy that the Prime Minister came to her office, even if it was just for a couple of seconds.

Her happiness faded pretty quickly, leaving her feeling empty and lost. She clenched her fist. "I will make it!"

Akari's head weighed like a ton of iron. She was in her own office in Tokyo, holding her head in pain. Office light was shining on piles of paperwork that were organized to the point of obsession. The disappointment and sadness she felt were immeasurable. She clenched her fist and punched the paper in front of her three times with all her force.

Again she didn't move up in the hierarchy. Again she didn't make her dream come true, her dream of becoming finance minister of Japan.

Akari was super popular among the public and peers in her political party. She had also gathered so much experience. Despite all that, at the age of 35, Akari Asahina was still too young and inexperienced in the eyes of the Japanese Prime Minister to be appointed to the position of minister of finance.

Even though Akari did everything in her power on the path to achieving her dream, she was not happy. The effort she put in, in her eyes, was not good enough. "I will make it. I am the most pragmatic person, and I will make it," she started repeating this mantra in her head while holding back tears.

Usually she would just throw herself into work and pull an all-nighter, even if the day was super hard and exhausting. But today she decided to go home early and just restart. That was the most logical and pragmatic thing to do right now, she thought. Akari strolled down the street that was overwhelmingly covered with neon lights, in her elegant black heels with distinctive red soles. Her tailored red coat was giving her an even more gracious look. On one street she descended some steep, old, dark stairs and then approached a noodle stand and ordered one yakisoba to go. While slowly climbing up the stairs, a younger guy passed by her with a radiant, warm smile.

The next day came by quickly. Media covered new appointments in Japan's government and more. Reporter Tanaka started by congratulating the new ministers. Then he started commenting with the host of the show.

 "What do you think about Akari Asahina not being appointed as finance minister?" Tanaka asked curiously.
 The host in the studio very casually started his monologue.
"You know, Tanaka, maybe it is for the best. She can now focus on finding a man and starting a family before it's too late. At her age of 35, it is very hard if you are single. Maybe she should focus less on politics."

Tanaka nodded in agreement and then continued with other questions.

Akari rested a little bit in her minimalistic design apartment for a new day at work. Her mother called her to ask if she had eaten well and then proceeded to question her about her dating life.

 "Everything is fine, Mum, don't worry," Akari said dismissively while in a rush to get to the office.

 "How can I not worry when the media is always talking about how it will be too late for you to start a family? They often quickly mention all the good things that you do for the public and society, but then proceed to talk about how lonely you are. I am worried," her mum said quickly, knowing that her daughter was in a rush and probably not truly listening.

 "They are overreacting, Mum. Don't worry. I have to go to work now. Text me if you need anything." Akari said coldly and then hung up the phone.

Throughout the whole day, Akari didn't have much time to process the information that someone else was elected as minister of finance instead of her. She was focused on work, and the whole day she was in the zone, following her routine, following her system, and doing everything in the most pragmatic way possible. If something that needed to be done would better fit some other person, she would efficiently delegate such tasks. She was not afraid to delegate or to say no. One of her main strengths was this delegation of tasks to the right person, but even so, at the end of this long Tuesday, her desk was still swamped and she was unsure if she would get to go home and rest a little bit. It was late. She organized her desk and decided to go home.

Asahina's fridge was almost always completely empty, just bottles of water. She decided to go for the noodles again. The heavy rain outside was making her wonder if she should just skip the meal. The rain was making the neon signs look even more lively. The smell of the rain was so gentle, and it blended well with the beautiful smell that was coming from the noodle shop. These red lanterns are so pretty, even in the rain, Akari thought. She had a beautiful big red umbrella and decided to descend the stairs to the noodle shop near her apartment - the most pragmatic choice. If I am hungry, I would probably have a hard time sleeping, she thought to herself. She saw some young man climbing the stairs with noodles to go, wet and without an umbrella, and he offered a split-second warm smile to her and then continued quickly on his path.

On Friday, the big public speech was held in front of the National Bank of Japan. Akari had the opening with all the numbers and calculations so precise that no one from the reporters would even dare to ask a question. Her follow-up was the new minister of finance, an older gentleman in a nice classical black suit that almost managed to cover how fat he was. Not too confidently, he started his speech that he had previously asked Akari to write for him. Some reporters were quietly whispering between themselves how Akari would be a better candidate. The new minister was not looking as competent as Akari. But many were also commenting that it would be a hard position for a woman to handle, so it was probably for the best this way.

After this event, Akari was happy that again the job was well done. She decided to rush to the office and finish up what there was to do so that she could maybe arrive home today at a decent time. She was in a taxi and decided to put earbuds in and listen to some news so that she didn't need to waste time on small talk that the taxi driver would start.

Her "favorite" reporter Tanaka was at it again, but this time complimenting her speech in front of the bank that was held just a few moments ago. Then after that, the host asked Tanaka if there was any news about a famous young actor, the so-called prince of romance, Toma Shirakawa.

On the reporter's face, the smile widened. "Yes, amazing news! He accepted the role in this new rom-com, even though he was blabbering about dreams of becoming a basketball player."

The host laughed in a mocking manner. "What a childish thing to say. A basketball player? He is an actor. He should act. He can play basketball later."

Tanaka nodded and with big hand gestures started, "Exactly, but he is 22, so we understand why he is this childish, after all. The important thing is that this big movie is now happening with him."

"How stupid," Akari said unintentionally in the taxi out of frustration. And then she apologized to the taxi driver for the small outburst. "It is this stupid media," Akari said.

The taxi driver, relaxed and unbothered, said, "I know. You don't have to tell me."