The Great Passage by Shion Miura

Author:Shion Miura
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, azw3
ISBN: 9781477823071
Publisher: AmazonCrossing
Published: 2017-05-31T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 4

For the first time in her three years at Gembu Books, Midori Kishibe set foot in the annex, located in a corner of the company grounds, and promptly sneezed three times.

She was allergic to dust and sudden temperature changes. Entering rooms that hadn’t been adequately cleaned or that were a different temperature gave her sneezing spells and a runny nose. The annex was the kind of place that might give her a hard time. As soon as she opened the heavy wooden door, she felt the chill in the dim corridor. The air smelled musty, like a library.

This was nothing like the modern main building. Could she really be in the right place? She’d always known about the annex, but assumed it was some sort of storage facility. The Western–style wooden structure was so old-fashioned. Yet once inside, she could tell that despite its age, the building was currently being used. The floorboards and the staircase railing were worn to a deep amber. The walls were white plaster, the ceiling high and elegantly arched. Her nose itched, but no dust bunnies lay in the corners. The building was clearly in daily use and kept up well.

“Excuse me,” she called down the corridor. “Hello?”

“What is it?” said a voice beside her, making her jump.

She timidly looked and realized that nervousness and poor lighting had caused her to overlook a small window just inside the door, where now a custodian or security guard was peering out at her. A faded piece of paper taped to the window was hand-lettered RECEPTION. Just beyond the window was a small room where the man had been sitting, watching television in the breeze from an electric fan.

The entrance to the main building had a metallic reception counter with a smiling woman to greet visitors. What a difference, Kishibe thought, and started to announce herself. Before she could get a word out, the man waved his right hand carelessly.

“Second floor,” he said, twice, before closing the window and turning back to his show.

She decided to follow his instructions and go on up to the second floor. Her footsteps rang out in the corridor. In the main building, her high heels clattered pleasantly on the tile floor, but on this wooden floor the sound was muffled. She thought it sounded like a bird pecking for food.

Every time she stepped on a riser, the stairs creaked. Have I gained weight? My waist size hasn’t changed, but lately I’ve been pigging out on snacks from all the stress. She tiptoed the rest of the way up.

The second floor was a little brighter, thanks to light coming through the windows. Only one of the doors leading off the corridor was open. She headed for that one.

As she drew closer, she saw the door wasn’t open but had in fact been removed. Inside, bookshelves lined the walls and every desk was buried in piles of paper. She sneezed three times. She hesitated to go into the room. It had to be full of dust.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.