Akari is an average 25-year-old office worker who harbors a secret she hides from her colleagues; she's a huge otaku, to the point that her obsession is ruining her financially! When her lunch is stolen by a pigeon, a kind, attractive stranger offers his homemade bento in its place, and after graciously accepting, Akari tells him the reason she's so destitute. Of course, she assumed she'd never see him again... but he's the newest hire at the company where she works! Will he keep her secret? And will she learn more about this kind-hearted man?

Akari is an average 25-year-old office worker who harbors a secret she hides from her colleagues: she's so obsessed with the pretty-boy idol Ren-Ren that it's ruining her financially! When her lunch is stolen by a pigeon, a kind stranger offers his homemade bento in its place, and after graciously accepting, Akari tells him the reason she's so destitute. It's the first time she's revealed her secret otaku lifestyle to anyone. Of course, she assumes she'll never see this stranger again... until he shows up as the newest employee at her office! Can Akari trust him to keep her tragic and embarrassing secret from their coworkers?

Akari is an average 25-year-old office worker who harbors a secret she hides from her colleagues; she's a huge otaku, to the point that her obsession is ruining her financially! When her lunch is stolen by a pigeon, a kind, attractive stranger offers his homemade bento in its place, and after graciously accepting, Akari tells him the reason she's so destitute. Of course, she assumed she'd never see him again... but he's the newest hire at the company where she works! Will he keep her secret? And will she learn more about this kind-hearted man?

From the creator of the popular website Ask a Manager and New York’s work-advice columnist comes a witty, practical guide to 200 difficult professional conversations—featuring all-new advice! There’s a reason Alison Green has been called “the Dear Abby of the work world.” Ten years as a workplace-advice columnist have taught her that people avoid awkward conversations in the office because they simply don’t know what to say. Thankfully, Green does—and in this incredibly helpful book, she tackles the tough discussions you may need to have during your career. You’ll learn what to say when • coworkers push their work on you—then take credit for it • you accidentally trash-talk someone in an email then hit “reply all” • you’re being micromanaged—or not being managed at all • you catch a colleague in a lie • your boss seems unhappy with your work • your cubemate’s loud speakerphone is making you homicidal • you got drunk at the holiday party Praise for Ask a Manager “A must-read for anyone who works . . . [Alison Green’s] advice boils down to the idea that you should be professional (even when others are not) and that communicating in a straightforward manner with candor and kindness will get you far, no matter where you work.”—Booklist (starred review) “The author’s friendly, warm, no-nonsense writing is a pleasure to read, and her advice can be widely applied to relationships in all areas of readers’ lives. Ideal for anyone new to the job market or new to management, or anyone hoping to improve their work experience.”—Library Journal (starred review) “I am a huge fan of Alison Green’s Ask a Manager column. This book is even better. It teaches us how to deal with many of the most vexing big and little problems in our workplaces—and to do so with grace, confidence, and a sense of humor.”—Robert Sutton, Stanford professor and author of The No Asshole Rule and The Asshole Survival Guide “Ask a Manager is the ultimate playbook for navigating the traditional workforce in a diplomatic but firm way.”—Erin Lowry, author of Broke Millennial: Stop Scraping By and Get Your Financial Life Together

Ami Satou works for Cobara, a company that specializes in sweets. While she may be good at sales, her confidence in pretty much everything else is low, which is why she hasn't even thought about dating since college. Instead, she fills up her imagination with romantic scenes from shoujo manga. When she meets Alain Giraud, a handsome, older French man in charge of a new project she's assigned to work on, she begins to struggle to keep that romantic imagination in check... especially with Alain being so overly friendly! Ami keeps reminding herself that it's just because he's French, but will she be able to resist his romantic charm?

Ichiko and Otoya, a couple in their thirties, get along well, but lacking pizzazz in their sex lives, they decide to see other people. But seeing her happy husband in love has stirred up Ichiko's desires. Is she irritated, jealous, or simply frustrated ... ? On the other hand, Otoya's mistress Mitsuki insists on continuing their relationship, despite pangs of conscience. What does a couple need to keep their marriage going? An ambitious story of lies and truth in the instituation we call marriage!

Cool and collected second-year Yamada is in love with his childhood friend, Seno. His classmates Akama and Toda are also starting to think about romance, though neither of them realizes yet that they might actually feel the same way about each other... High school love in the spring of adolescence blooms with earnest, messy emotions.