Finally, the bidding session came to an end. The guests then were ushered to their respective table for the dinner. Well, mostly the parents and adults.
The girls were so happy with their new treasure. Although it looked like they were in war just a few minutes ago, fighting each other to own their idols" belonging, now they became the friendly fans back, sharing their pa.s.sion under one fan club. They started to discuss about their love and their new treasure, squealing when they saw their idols walking toward them.
"Stay calm, girls," Mika reminded, holding her excitement tightly.
The girls nodded. Their eyes sparkled brightly seeing the men getting closer to them.
Even Jeremy joined his band members to spend a little time with their fans. It was some sort of thanking them for eagerly buying their items in no time. The cheapest was actually five times the current price. They spent a few minutes chatting and taking pictures with the girls.
Then, Jacob, Jeremy"s personal a.s.sistant, hurriedly ushered them to their table. Jeremy and his groupmates were divided into different table. Only Mika, Ryn and Jason shared the same table. Jeremy took the chance to discuss more about the charity with the director of the orphanage homes and what his vision for the kids. He also included the VIPs in his table with the discussion.
The dinner started officially with the host welcoming Mika, as the director for the event today, for a short speech. Mika squeezed Ryn"s hand before walked to the front. She thanked everyone who came and partic.i.p.ated in the auctions. She also thanks the parents for willingly bringing their daughter to come, which was replied by laughter from the bemused adults. She also expressed her hope that the money used for the charity would inspire the orphanage kids to study well and eventually reach their goal. She ended the speech with another thanks to everyone for coming to the dinner.
The second speech started after the performance by the orphanage kids. They even played their own musical instruments. Apparently, the group leader always stopped by at the home to teach the kids music. In fact, the performance was taught by the leader.
The second speech was given by the director of the orphanage home. Just like Mika, he thanked everyone for coming to the dinner and donated quite a lot of money for the renovation of the home. He promised to help the children achieving their dream, even taking a chance to show off the achievement of the kids in academic, sports, arts and music.
Then, Stephanie took over by announcing the amount of money they managed to collect. Everyone was surprised with the amount, even the team, as they were actually thought it would not reach half of the amount they got.
Jeremy, Mika, Ryn, Jason, the director of the orphanage home and the higher-ups in the foundation all went up the stage and bowed at the guests.
Everyone was a bit taken back seeing Ryn was there as well. The girls especially recognized Ryn as the woman having the gossip with Jeremy. Their eyes widened in shock. What did that woman doing there on the stage with their precious Jeremy?
Once they were done with the thanking, they went back to their table. The dinner continued with everyone having their meal and being entertained by instrumental music.
The girls were actually nervous as they thought Jeremy would come to their table to chat but Jeremy just stayed at his table, chatting with the director and some of the VIPs there. Mia was waiting as well but having receiving the glare from Jeremy to behave herself.
Even Jeremy was trying hard to behave himself. He was not allocated to the same table as Ryn, which frustrated him, but it did not mean he would go straight to Ryn"s table to chat. He needed to stay calm and behave himself. There would be time for him to chat with her tonight. He believed it.
The dinner went on and on but still, he could not find the chance to talk with her. That Miss Long really controlled her too much!
Harry gripped his hands, trying to control his emotion desperately.
"Mia, introduce us to your brother," some of the girls asked Mia. They ignored their parents" warning and went to Mia"s table when they noticed how handsome Harry was (their parents told them to behave themself and do not go interrupting their idols eating). His face was quite familiar to them. Where did they see him before?
"Oh, this is my brother, Henry. He"s a model," Mia introduced proudly.
The girls cooed and started to ask Harry to take pictures with them. Girls" heart is really easy to be swayed by a handsome face. They knew they had their dream fulfilled just now taking pictures with their idols and now they would not waste time to take pictures with Mia"s handsome brother.
Harry was a bit fl.u.s.tered and was hoping for Mia to save him but for Mia, it was payback time for refusing to let her bid to her heart content just now. Who asked him to steal her paddle?
Harry, unwillingly had to let himself being pictured with the girls. He pasted a smile, hoping it did not look forced in the picture. No wonder Ryn told him to think twice before signing the contract. He had to have two ident.i.ties now, one as himself and another as a professional model. When meeting the public in his modelling persona, he needed to hide his own emotion and just smile.
Ryn, on the other hand, was oblivious with Jeremy"s thought. She was busy networking with the people in her table and at the same time trying to control Mika"s excitement. She knew how happy Mika was after reaching more than their target. When Mika was so happy, she tended to drink more than she could. And that was what Ryn and Jason were worried about.
"I did not know you buy two tables tonight, Ryn," Mika cried.
Ryn glanced at the two tables filled with the children from the orphanage home. These children were chosen based on their achievement. The kids were so happy to be included in the dinner and tried their best to behave. For them, Ryn actually told Stephanie to prepare food suitable for them and make it high quality so that although some of the dishes were different from the guests, the quality was the same. They were even given choices to drink juices or chocolates.
"It is all I can do for them. Besides, I rarely have time to visit them," Ryn shrugged.
The reason why Ryn and Jason were attending the dinner was because they were also involved with the orphanage home. When the place held an event, both would join the siblings attending it so slowly Ryn, although still new at the home, was getting familiar and closer to the kids. In fact, the money she got from the clothes she donated not too long ago went straight for the kids.
She just felt happy seeing the smile on their little face.
"Well, next time just tell me. Maybe we can have a special event for the kids after the renovation?" Mika suggested with her eyes brightened at the thought.
"Try to schedule it with Mei Li."
Although her schedule was kind of packed right now but Ryn truthfully did not mind squeezing a few hours for the kids. After all, she did nothing when she got home so better she do something worthy.
"Is it possible for us to join as well?" another elder woman asked, interested when she heard an event will be conducted at the orphanage home.
"Of course. The more the merrier. My team will plan first and once we found the right time, we will send you the invitation," Mika was happy when her suggestion received positive reply from others.
"You can come and visit the home too. But it will be after the building is ready," Jason added.
While the orphanage home was being renovated, they had decided to rent two big houses to house the kids. The furnitures would be placed at the sibling"s parents" home. Some would be placed at Ryn"s house too. Everything was already planned out, only waiting for this dinner to happen before they can begin the renovation.
In fact, next week, Jeremy and Mika would meet the contractor with the director to discuss the building plan. If everything according to the plan, the contruction would start as early as next month!
Harry tried to keep noting what Ryn was doing and hoping for her to notice him. But it seemed like she was so focussed on chatting with the people in her table. Not once she threw a look at him. He sighed a bit.
Almost at the end of the dinner, the chance Harry had been waiting for arrived. His eyes widened seeing Ryn put her napkin on thr chair and walked toward the door. Luckily for him, Mika was talking with the woman next to her and did not come along with Ryn. Without thinking, Harry stood up and followed behind Ryn.
Finally the chance to talk with Ryn!