Takaro Fukuoka is awakened by the sharp ringing of his cell phone.
He gets up from his bed and plants his feet against the cold floor. A subtle yawn escapes his mouth as he stretches his long arms and raises them in the air. He rubs his tired eyes and slowly struts to his dresser on the other side of the room, on its surface lies his buzzing phone. His feet drag along the wooden floor as he walks to the dresser.
He takes the phone in his left hand while his other hand scruffs up his hair in a little fit of repressed rage.
He recognized the caller as his boss from the organization he works at, a small company called 'Rent a Lover'.
He had quit his job as a rental boyfriend after the suicide of one his clients. Yes, it happened over a couple months ago, but to this day Takaro still suffers from it.
Takaro flips open the phone and places it to his ear.
"Hello?"
"Hey! Fukuoka!" Says a female voice on the other side of the line, "How's your weekend going so far?"
"It was going alright," Takaro sighed, "Until you called me."
"Feisty!" The woman giggles, "I'm sorry for interrupting yet another one of your lonely weekends."
Takaro scoffs.
"Anyway," he said, "What do you want?"
"We just got a call from a girl named Kyojuro Hina," she said, "Who just so happens to be the mayor's eldest daughter."
"And what does that have to do with me?"
The woman sighs.
"Well, if you would use that big head of yours, you would understand that this is a really important job that we must take," she said, "Imagine what this could do for our company."
Takaro groans.
"Imagine the headlines that we could make. The amount of sponsors that we could accumulate," the woman pleads, "Better yet, imagine the amount of money we could make."
Takaro continues to stay silent, biting his lip as his boss continues to persuade him.
"You know better than anyone that this business is drowning. After the whole fiasco with Ami-chan and the fire at the gas station, our precious company is slowly being lost," she says in a very desperate tone, "How long have we waited for this blow up? How long has it been since we saw the promise of a change for the better? For the longest time we've waited for a chance like this and I know that a part of you wants to help."
"What if that part of me no longer wants to help?" Takaro said, "Have you forgotten about what I've done?"
"Oh brother," the woman said, "You know how I feel about that whole thing. Takaro, it wasn't your fault. There was nothing you could do."
"You don't know that," Takaro said, "I was the person she looked to for help. I was the only one there for her. It was my job to make her happy and I couldn't even do that."
For a moment the woman is silent.
"I'm useless," he finally said, "I failed to do my job as a boyfriend. I even failed to fulfill my job as a human being."
"Takaro…" The woman started.
"So please," Takaro said, "Don't call me ever again."
"Takaro, wait…!"
He hangs up the phone and places it back on the dresser, wiping a tear from his pale face.
A flock of birds fly past his window as the sun casts a beam of light through its glass. The shadow of a lonesome tree nearby finds its way into the apartment and lays dormant on the floor like a large hand with razor sharp fingertips.
Takaro turns his head to the window and makes out a subtle reflection of himself. He edges closer to the glass until nose is just inches away from its surface.
He opens the window and closes his eyes as the wind blows against his pale skin.
Takaro lets out a long sigh and shakes his head.
"I'm sorry, boss," he said, "I just can't do it."