"I"m very proud of you! Is Daniel coming later?", Hannah probed. "No, he"s not in the city. Also, I don"t think it"s the right time to go out in the public together, what with the collaboration going on.", Samantha replied.
It"s Trident"s 4th anniversary and Samantha decided to finally appear in front of her people. She was very nervous and didn"t know how they would react. Will they hate her for not showing up for the past years or will they welcome her? She will just have to wait and see later when she arrives at the venue.
When the ladies were done, they left Sapphire gardens all dolled up and ready to go. Samantha drove her car, Taz towards the Stellar Hotel, one of Cho Corporation"s hotels. Daniel had insisted to host their venue for her company, thus, it was a grand celebration.
When Samantha and Hannah arrived, there were tons of reporters. None of them knew who they were but they still happily clicked their cameras and took a video of their arrival.
The Bugatti Chiron parked in front of the hotel"s entrance and their arrival was obviously eye-catching, especially that they arrived in a luxurious super sports car. As soon as they got off the car, the media was even more surprised to see two gorgeous ladies.
Hannah wore a white evening gown that hugged her body in the right places, looking so fine. While Samantha wore a s.e.xy deep V-neck chiffon evening gown in Red. She looked absolutely stunning!
The reporters and journalists had bewildered expressions on their faces. They didn"t really expect someone high profile like the one in front of them to arrive in that manner, what"s more, two beautiful women!
"Did you get a memo that a celebrity was gonna be present here? I thought it was a software company?", said one of the reporters to her right.
"I- I don"t know. I haven"t heard anything like that. But who cares? She looks fabulous! Quick! Take more pictures and focus on her face.", the reporter ordered the photographer.
One reporter tried his luck and was brave enough to ask Samantha, "Miss, are you a here to promote or are you here to celebrate Trident"s anniversary? What"s your name?"
Samantha smiled to the media and paused before she spoke again to give just one simple message, "Thank you for coming. I hope you enjoy the celebration tonight."
Everyone was stunned when they heard her speak, she looked and sounded very amiable that the reporters instantly became a fan of her presence. They watched her walk towards the hall before they were ushered to enter the venue.
Samantha actually asked Alexander to prepare the event, she had told him what she wanted. At first, Alexander was shocked that she had decided to finally show herself but he was also thrilled.
"How are you holding up, S?", Hannah was concerned for her best friend. Samantha used to fear the media because of what happened before so she knew that it was hard for her to do that earlier.
Samantha smiled before she showed Hannah her slightly trembling hands.
Her best friend grabbed her hands and held it tightly. "You"ll be fine, you have been doing great so far. You can do it!"
Just then, the door of the resting area opened and Alexander came in. "Sam? We"re ready for you."
Alexander walked towards her and offered his arm, Samantha clung onto it and breathed out.
They walked towards the entrance of the hall and listened as the host spoke into the microphone.
"…everyone has been looking forward to our celebration this evening. Apart from celebrating Trident"s anniversary, we are going to celebrate 2 more things today."
The audience from below the stage were quite hyped. "Two things? I wonder what those are.", said the male employee, he was thrilled.
The woman beside him muttered, "I"ve heard that we joined a bidding for a huge project, maybe we won?"
"Yeah, that"s possible. But what could be the other one?", he asked.
"...it"s been 4 years.", The host continued to speak his speech. "But tonight, we are excited to tell everyone in the room that we are going to meet the CEO.", he paused, trying to make it suspenseful as he listened to the crowd below him whisper in antic.i.p.ation. "Yes, you heard it correctly. We are finally going to meet the mysterious CEO of Trident, in flesh."
The audience got excited, some clapped their hands and cheered. The others started to turn their heads from side to side trying to see if they could already get a glimpse of their boss.
"Our boss? We"re finally going to meet our boss?!", an employee exclaimed.
The host urged the crowd, "If you could please turn your attention to the entrance, let us all welcome, the CEO of Trident."
Everyone turned their heads towards the entrance, extending their neck and legs to take a look at the person they have most awaited for years. They heard that their boss was really smart and capable. All the employees have speculations as to who it is but they never had the chance.
A few seconds have pa.s.sed but no one entered the hall, they were starting to get anxious.
"Where is he? Where"s the CEO?", a woman said and it ignited the other"s curiosity that everybody started to chatter as well.
The host on the stage didn"t know what to do, he stepped aside and went to the backstage but no one from the production staff knows why the CEO hasn"t appeared yet.
Outside the waiting room, Alexander and Hannah were panicking as they were trying to calm down Samantha, she was hyperventilating.
She clutched her dress tightly and her eyes darted to the side nervously, "Oh G.o.d. Why? I can"t do this! Why the heck did I ever think that I can?", she questioned.
"You"re gonna be okay, S! Just breathe, follow me.", Hannah instructed and did a breathing exercise with her.
Alexander turned to a.s.sistant Chen who was also distressed about her boss" panic attack. "Chen, tell them to delay it for 10 minutes."
Chen nodded and quickly left to inform the production team.
He turned to Hannah with a worried expression, "What do we do?"
She looked at her best friend who was currently curled up on the couch, "Samantha can do this.", Hannah sounded confident but she was also freaking out. "Where are her parents? Why aren"t they here yet?"
"Joon called, they"re stuck in traffic and will be here late.", Alexander replied.
Hannah thought about it for a second before she proposed, "Call Daniel Cho."
Alexander"s eyes widened, "What? How could I? You call him!"
"Then do you want to take care of her alone?", she said and they both looked at the woman who was breathing in and out of a paper bag.
"I think I"m gonna throw up.", Samantha clambered up from the sofa and rushed to the restroom a few meters away.
Alexander stood up abruptly that he became nauseous himself. He shook his head and said, "I"m calling.", he took out his phone and dialed Daniel Cho"s number.