Tokyo Love Read Online Free

thick and she couldn’t quite get her tongue around Kathleen’s name. It sounded more like ‘Shu-mi-tsu.’ “Assistant Vice President Tamura-
san
will see you now.”
    Tamura’s office door opened automatically and Kathleen attempted not to storm inside. The office was lavish compared to Kathleen’s. Kathleen had been impressed, upon moving to Japan, that she got her own fancy workspace with large windows and a desk all to herself. But Tamura’s was about three times in size, with lush oak furniture and soft carpeting. Kathleen was pretty sure she was served lunch on a silver dolly. She also guessed that the other door in her office led to a private bathroom.
    Tamura’s appearance was a typical businesswoman. Her no-nonsense hairstyle was pulled into a sharp bun, and probably hair-sprayed into submission. She always wore suits with pointed shoulders and elbows, all black or slate. She wore thick, black glasses and Kathleen could see a newsfeed projecting from the rims. When Kathleen stepped into the office, Tamura blinked several times to close the feed. She tapped her wrist, bringing up a visual of the document Kathleen had just been skimming to rest on her desk.
    “Always so prompt, Kathleen,” Tamura commented, smiling. She had a slight accent, but her English was perfect. She, of course, did much of her business with foreigners and had gotten used to informality in the work place. Not that she had ever invited Kathleen to use her first name, but that was probably because they worked for the same company.
    “This is a joke, Tamura-
san
.”
    Tamura arched a brow, tapping at the holo document, making it flicker. “I’d thought you’d be excited.”
    “Beta-ing wasn’t supposed to being for another
six months
.” Kathleen held up the pad. “This says by
next week
candidates will be screened! Just last week I was given an urgent text that the cortex readers wouldn’t be running until next month. And we haven’t even gone over the mainframe failures from Tuesday!”
    Tamura leaned back, her black eyes sharp as they assessed Kathleen. “The schedule has been shifted. PR has come back that Lian-Yeh has already started the beta for their companion product.”
    Kathleen really wanted to shout, “I don’t care about China!” Instead she said, “We aren’t ready.”
    Tamura tapped her glasses, blinking through her emails. “Medical has assured me that the cortex readers will be ready by next week. We won’t be able to screen as many applicants, which is why we have decided to choose a very particular few with the skill sets required to properly assess a product that will, obviously, be a little rushed through production.”
    “A
little
rushed? If we send out the product now, it’s bound to have numerous problems. Crashing, coding failure, mechanical failure.” Kathleen knew it would be better to have Lian-Yeh have six months on Mashida than to put out such a faulty product.
    Tamura frowned, all forced politeness gone from her features. She rested her hands on her desk, long nails tense on the wood. “Mashida is the world’s leader in love simulation technology. We are the pinnacle of innovation in the field of AI and robotics. Ms. Kathleen Schmitt, you were brought here three months ago to jumpstart our most exciting product to date. So you
will
make sure it is ready by next week and you
will
be very careful in choosing our beta testers for this exciting opportunity.”
    Kathleen took a step back. She shouldn’t argue with one of the higher people in the corporation. But she had a feeling Tamura didn’t care about the product Kathleen had poured her soul and stress into for the past three months. Tamura just cared about numbers, which China was apparently beating. So Kathleen took a deep breath. “We need to come to a compromise.”
    “Compromise?”
    “The product isn’t ready for beta. Not to the general public. But let me choose some people in the company, one or two that know this product.