I explain to Erika about her part in the project. There are a few things she needs to know before getting to work.
1. Wait until I tell her the number of workers I'll hire to work in the new shop.
2. With their consent, measures everything she needs to design clothes.
3. If she needs more money to work on the design, just tell me and I'll provide it.
4. She'll get paid but not my money, Jake's money.
She accepted the agreement and threatened me if I broke the agreement. I'm not that brave to get on her dangerous side. Thus, I promise her that she can kill me if I ever break it. It feels like making a deal with a demon.
Anyway, we were done talking and now we want to go back home, well her, not me. I have to meet the candidates and see if one of them is suitable for the job as an accountant. After I've paid, we're apart, and she goes back home while I'll meet one of the candidates who live nearby. She promised to meet at a cafeteria, not the one where I always hang out, but the other one. The one I had never gone to before.
While I was walking, I feel like I've been followed by someone. Every time I look behind to see who is it, nothing. I did it a few times before I take out my smartphone from my pocket and pretended to use the front camera to look at my hair. I play with my hair a bit while looking at the screen, deceive the stalker, and sneakily look behind.
What I see is shocking me. The stalker is the waitress from the restaurant who took our order and served the food. But, she's not wearing the waitress outfit, instead, she wears a long sleeve purple t-shirt, black jeans, purple sneakers, and a black mask. I know she covers her face but I recognize the blood-red eyes, looking at me with a dangerous stare, the hair is as dark as night, tied into a ponytail, and I don't how but I can feel that she has a slasher smile carved on her face.
I put back my phone into my pocket. To prevent from her escaping, I stop and do nothing for a minute to make her confused about my action. Then, with a speed of sound, I turn back and manage to grab her arm before she escapes. Whew, she's fast! She has a quick reflex and sharp eyes to see my movement. Is she a martial artist, by any chance? If so, she'll be a problem to deal with.
She's struggling to escape as I hold her arm tightly but not so tight as I don't want to leave a mark on her arm and also don't want to deal with the police and everything. She stops escaping, maybe because she knows it's no use to run as she was caught red-handed. I look at her and think about how to deal with her and why she followed me. So I ask her. (Yeah, no shit sherlock.)
"Why are you following me, huh?"
"Hehehe, I'm one of your subscribers! I've been watching all of your streaming since the beginning and contribute a lot of money. I always want to meet you but I don't know where you live, so I hold the idea. But one day, when I was hanging out with my friends at the cafe, I saw you! I want to greet you but you were hanging out with your friends, so I had to hold my plan. Then, another day, I met you again! But you were with them again. Why are you always with them, huh? And why I don't know or see them on your stream!? Are all of them men or there are women, too? Tell me!"
What... the f*ck? At first, she was like a fan who was excited to meet her idol but as she explain everything, she got angry at me and raise her voice like she was my girlfriend and thinks that I cheated on her. I'm happy that she watch my streams since I start streaming and has helped me a lot. But, this has crossed the line.
I told her to take off her mask and we will talk on the bench. I need to see her face in case she threatens me again and make me write a report to the police. She nods her head but she wants to take it off after we sit down. No problem, I say.
We sit on the dark-brown wood bench with a 52-inch length, 20-inch tall (not including the back), and 15-inch width, enough for two people. Right next to it standing 20 feet lamp pole that doesn't light up since the sky isn't dark yet. Three meters from the lamp pole is a recycle bin with three holds, each for its own category of recyclable items.
As we sit, I look at her and begin to begin our session. I might have to take a rain check with the candidate later, I hope she's not mad. I start the session by asking for her real name and the account name she uses to watch my stream. She tells me that her name is Onna Hanako and she uses 'Hanako-chan!' as the nickname for her account.
I'm dumbstruck when I hear her account name. I remember the first time I got a subscriber on my fifth stream and I was thrilled till the point I thank her a few times. Not just that, she was also the first subscriber to pay me money even though it was just one dollar. Because of her, I continue to live stream as many as I can until I become like today. Whenever I stream, I always noticed her in the chat and want to personally talk with her, but she always refuses. Today is the day I can finally express my thanks as she always gives me a reason to continue my work.
"Hanako-san... thank you."