Chapter 8

An hour goes by and the door finally opens. There were people who rushed in to get a good seat not knowing all the seats are assigned. The ones that need to be on the stage get the seats closest to it. This helps with walking through the tables to get to the stage. Once the waiter informed them of their mistake, they carried dejected faces as they looked for their own seats. Interesting, maybe next year I should make the seating free-for-all. That'll certainly take some work off the menu. I look around hoping to see Adam. He isn't here, "Looking for someone?" Janice said as she came up from behind me. "What!!! No, I'm just checking to see who's here first." I nervously stopped looking around and turned to the group I called friends. There Adam was, he was dressed in formal attire. I haven't seen him in three days, he looked more dashing cleaned up then in regular work clothes. "I'm glad I wasn't forgotten in the invitations." Adam gave an awkward smile. After that night I had considered not to invite him, but I didn't want that being a plausible reason for him to use. I turned away to avoid any more eye contact that was made. "Oh are you blushing? Something definitely happened between you two." Jake bumped in looking for his seat. "Nothing happened!....We sit over there." I calmed myself down. I pointed at the table next to the stage. It was just to the right of it and was a good place to be seated. There you were close enough to the stage, but not too close so it won't be uncomfortable. I was embarrassed from my voice cracking, yet I felt happy Adam made it. I can't stand myself sometimes. "Nice seats." Sarah rushes to the table looking for her name. Jake follows after her. "They're besties, inseparable besties." Janice smiles as she takes her time to reach the table. "Aren't you gonna run to the table too." I turned to face Adam who was just standing there. "Not until I clear up some misunderstanding and get my apology." Adam smirked and walked closer to me. "What apology?" I was more shocked that he demanded an apology than listening to what he had to say. "Wow was that really all you heard?" Adam slapped his hand on his head. "Hmph! I don't know why I need to apologize. You should be the one apologizing." I crossed my arms letting him know, he won't get an apology from me. Adam simply shook his head then pulled me to the table. "Why is Grace's name here?" Jake asked. "Do you know her?" Sarah followed up. "Does she know you?" Janice gave me a stirn look. From her look I was able to tell that she was asking if Grace knew my identity as the chairwoman. "She will tonight, yes I know her. Adam does too. And because I want to be friends with her." I looked to Janice as I answered her then to Sarah then to Jake. I sit down feeling a little tired of just talking. Once everyone put their personal items down they went to get food at the stands on the other side of the room. There was a spread of lasagna, rice (brown and white), chicken, beef, and salad. The drinks were found further up on a separate table. There were alcoholic drinks and non-alcoholic drinks, so that way if you didn't feel like drinking or drank too much you could just tone it down. I stayed sitting because I wanted to recollect myself. I need to be at 100% if I wanna carry out this plan. I can't accept 90% or 80%. I was too focused on taking my deep breaths that I had forgotten not everyone went to get food. Adam stayed behind with me. "What is it?" I asked a little peeved when I noticed he was still sitting. "I don't have any pictures of you. And yes I'll get you some food. Seems like you're too tired to even get back up." Adam stood up and patted me on my back. I felt comforted and I got even more upset at the fact that I liked it. Before I could push him off Adam backed away and went to join the rest at the food table. I looked around hoping to find Grace so I could help her to her seat. The room was slowly filling up, but there was still no sign of Grace. I pulled out my phone and dialed her. I obtained her number last week when I tried inviting her to lunch again. My phone rang twice before she picked up. "Hello." Grace sounded exhausted, "Grace….are you at the company party?" I was a bit afraid she might not be here. "Yes, I am. But, it's weird I can't seem to find my seat so I decided to get a drink and talk to people until I accidentally stumble upon it." I was relieved that Grace was here. "Where are you right now? I'll show you to your seat." I started looking around intensely. "I'm by the food table- Hey Grace you made it. Great hold this" ~beep~ She must've hung up so she could help whoever it was she met. I looked to the food table to see Grace walking here with Jake and Sarah. The thing she was holding was a plate of food. Should I be glad that she found them or should I be mad that they're making her carry plates? Nevermind, let's see how this plays out. "The food here looks scrumptious, I can't wait to dig in." Sarah's mouth started drooling again. "Sarah aren't you too hungry?" Grace asked, I didn't know they knew her too. "Don't mind her, she just starved herself so she could eat more today." Jake laughed as he set his plate down on the table. "Guys you know Grace too? How come you never told me?" I felt left out. It seemed like to me that I'm always the one to be left out of the group. "You never asked." Janice cut in. "Whoa, when'd you get here." Sarah set her plate down in fear of dropping it due to the surprise of Janice's sudden appearance. "Just now." Janice didn't miss a beat as she sat down to enjoy her food. I noticed she was carrying 2 plates of food. "Wow you're really taking advantage of this all-you-can-eat invite." I chuckled a bit looking down at her 2 plates. "One of them is mine." Adam came from behind me setting a plate of food down in front of me. It was too sudden to react. I turned to face Adam when my mind finally processed what he did. I wasn't aware of how close he was to me….I ended up kissing him while trying to tell him to back away. Grace, Janice, Jake, and Sarah stopped what they were doing to watch the good show. I pulled my head away getting more and more shy than angry. "Ahem, look away can't you see the lady is shy." Adam joked around a little too happy from the kiss. That comment made me want to punch him in the throat. "Well….you guys certainly did a good job of keeping it low-key." Janice broke the tension. "We're not together, that was genuinely a mistake." I wiped my lips with a napkin to let Adam know I did not enjoy it. Even though I did, he won't know it. Adam sets a drink by Janice and by his part of the table, then grabs his food "Thank you love." He winked at Janice as he sat down. After that Grace finally decided to sit down. The tension around the table grew as they all kept stealing short glances at me. I glared back waiting for them to ask me when is the big reveal. The MC finally got on the stage to announce the awards and give credit to all the hard working store managers. Everyone avoided trying to talk about the connection between me and Adam until the MC eventually called the chairwoman up. It was when I left the table I heard the topic of their conversation switch to Adam's love life. I stood up abruptly, then in order to avoid the sudden questions Adam started clapping. Leaving Janice, Jake, and Sarah to follow his lead. They were the first to clap because they knew about my position and were happy that it was me. Unlike my executives, whom only gave an unbearable pity clap once I got up on the stage. There I saw the jaws of everyone in the room drop. A few gasps were heard through the new found silence I had brought upon my appearance. "Ahem, we are nearing the end of the night. I personally wanted to close out tonight's party with a surprise. One being that some of you already know me, granted the rest of you didn't know I was the chairwoman you are working for. However, I assure you I kept my identity a secret for so long only to get the experience needed in order to better understand you all." I pause to look around for the bullies and new recruitments. Which took a lot of time to find, even had to make Janice the hiring manager while I handled the rest of the work. "I would like to call a couple of people up to the stage. Marilen Manny, Trevor Fish, Dana McCormick, and Nathaniel Vincent. Please come up." I wait as I see each and everyone of them stand and walk on the stage. It took them quite a while too, because I had them sit near the exit which was farthest from the stage. This way Everyone could get a good look at them. Once all of them were finally on the stage I nodded my head giving the crew members working in the back to make the big screen appear and put on the video evidence of them in action, doing what they do best. "These people here have been not only slacking on the job, but pushing their work on other employees." I turned to point at the big screen showing the evidence of Grace's blurred out face and them piling work on her, and me as well. The people on the stage turned to face the big screen in disbelief. Their faces turned white as they realized they were not getting rewarded. "This alone grants me the power to fire them on the spot. However, their deeds don't stop there." The slide changed to a blown up picture of the contract they signed to get their hush pay. "One of my trusted executives Mr.Colling has contributed to their rule breaking by breaking some rules himself." I looked at Mr.Colling who was trying to leave before I called him out. "Please come to the stage, so I can explain in detail what you did." I stared him down, once he saw me Mr.Colling cleared his throat. "Or you can take a seat at your table." I gave him leeway, he can choose to sit and hide or come up to the stage and face his consequences. He chose to sit. "Mr.Colling, as of today you're unemployed by this company and no longer a free man. The cops are waiting for you outside, so don't bother running. As I was saying, for the people you see here would know far better of his crime and why embezzlement of any sort has major consequences. Instead of trying to contact the other executives each one of them signed a form agreeing to get a $10 or more raise to never speak of it to anyone ever again. Thus, forced me to find replacements for them. However, Mr.Colling's position will remain open until further discussion. That is all. Have a good night everyone." I turned to the group that I called up to see them crying. I walked in closer to them. "Just so you know, you guys are going to have to pay back the money you received from your sudden raise. As it was not supported by the company. If you want we can take this to court and yes, we will give you the choice of having a paid lawyer." I smiled knowing they were too devastated to wrap their heads around the situation. Then I walked off the stage and handed Grace a check of $2,000 in a small envelope. I told her to open it when she gets home so she won't get too excited. Grace looked confused as she accepted the check. The company party went off with a bang. The shock and surprise I gave the company made it all worthwhile to have me finish the night. "Um….what should I call you now?" Grace looked worried as she tried not to offend me. "You can call me Lizabeth. That is if you want to be my friend." I smiled letting her know that there was no reason to be uneasy. The rest of the group smiled, welcoming Grace into our friend group. Grace stood up. "Thank you." Grace finally smiled. It gave me a sense of relief. I plopped down tired. Ah the table feels so good being pressed against my cheek. "Lizzy" I heard Julie's voice in the background. "Lizzy" There it was again. I must really miss her. "Let me sleep Julie, can't you see I'm tired." I picked up my head slightly only to turn the other cheek against the table. "I'm Janice, not Julie. Come on let's get you home." Janice said as she tried to pick me up. "Let me give it a try" Adam butted in. He walked up to me, leaned in and whispered in my ear "if you don't get up I'll kiss you." I jolted up, looked at Adam and looked at the rest of the group who was smiling and holding their own opinions. "Adam, you….you…." I had no comeback for him only because I was too tired. If I wasn't so tired I'm sure I would've told him off by now. "Shall we start making our way home?" Adam smirked as he took my hand. I guess he could tell how tired I was and was being sure to take advantage of it. "Great, after party at Lizzy's," Sarah sprung out "I can't, I don't trust my husband to watch the kids by himself." Janice opened her phone to check if she received any calls or texts. By the look of her face….none. "Okay how about you call your husband, if things are as chaotic as you think, go home. But, if things are going well you're coming to the after party." Jake gave Janice a good idea. Wait a minute, where did they say this after party was? "Guys….~yawn~ my house is not~yawn~ a place for parties." I tried to speak but I just grew more and more exhausted as the minutes passed by. "Looks like you're in no condition to drive either. Hey guys we'll have the party tomorrow how's that?" Adam cut off their idea fast. Finally he's starting to speak some sense. Now all I need to do is sleep. Thinking about it, the last 2 weeks the only sleep I got was when I went on that date with Adam. After that I would either be working or paranoid thinking Adam would blackmail me. So I'm pretty tired. I fell asleep as I sit back down. I felt everyone trying to wake me up but I didn't want to wake up. "At least walk to the car that way you won't lose face here. They might think you to be drunk." I heard and complied to it. I don't want to look bad in front of anybody right after I just fired some people. I dragged myself up and out to the lobby where I tried to feel refreshed again. It didn't work so I decided some fresh 9 o'clock night air would do good. I walked out to get that cold slap in the face, luckily for me it worked. I was able to clear my head.~Sigh~ "Maybe some good old fashioned sleep would do me some good….and maybe driving isn't the best solution. Should I call an Uber?" I talk to myself when I force myself to stay awake for long periods of time. The talking helps my sleep deprived brain to focus better. "No need I have a car and I am willing to take you. Plus it won't be just me but Sarah and Jake too. Hehe, I gotta drop them off too….I'm their ride after all." Adam shocked me, I didn't notice anyone was next to me. I really got to stop doing that. "Adam….I….nevermind. I would appreciate it if you could." At the end of the day I need to get home safely. However, I had a hidden agenda for easily accepting his invitation to take me home. While Adam is driving I could look through his car and see if he hid any photos of me there. This way I could try to kill 2 birds with 1 stone. "Alright gang let's go." Adam takes off in the direction to where he parked leading us there like a mama duck. "Come on, He said he got it. Let's all hang out together." Sarah was talking to Janice who was reluctant to go. "Yeah he did say that….but you don't know him like I know him. Plus I'm worried the kids will be taking care of him instead." I couldn't help but chuckle a bit when I heard Janice's rebuttal. It seems like her dear husband is a handful. "Just come over. They're all gonna do so anyway, it would be more fun with you around." I was feeling a sleep high, that's when you've stayed up so long nothing bothers you and everything starts becoming nice and fun. My first experience with this is when I was working under my late father who was training me for his position. There had been countless nights where I was not allowed to sleep because I hadn't fully grasped the lesson. I had forgotten how good it felt once it finally hit. We finally reached Adam's minivan after a 5 minute walk. "Okay, due to a sudden change in mood the destination has been changed. Get in if you're going to Lizzy's house." Adam announces as he unlocks his car. They all get in, first Sarah, then Jake, and Grace, who I didn't even know followed us. Janice went to take her own car because unlike me, she couldn't afford to just pay someone to retrieve it for her. I got in the front next to Adam. And for a split moment I felt as though we were a family. Our children in the back, going home to sleep while Adam spoils me with careful attention and cuddles me. What a wonderful feeling. I lay back to feel more comfortable letting myself dream. An hour goes by fast and before I knew it was being woken up by Adam. "Hey Lizzy we're here. Get up." He demanded, but I was still a little foggy from the little sleep I got. "Here, let the kids in first then come pick me up." I sloppily handed Adam the keys. "Are we the kids?" I heard Sarah ask. "I guess so….well daddy Adam, unlock the door for us then take mom who's clearly too tired to accept reality here to bed." Jake laughed as he reached to help me up. "Looks like she's still daydreaming. Hahaha every woman's dream is to have a family once they've become successful. Let her dream, it would be fun to tease her for a bit." Janice chuckled as she took Grace's hand and led her to my front door. The only change I realized was another car parked in my driveway. "Okay, if we're gonna play family….son give me your mother and go unlock the door for your siblings." Adam handed Jake the keys and picked me up on his shoulders. "Ugh" I grunted as my stomach got bashed in. "Sorry honey." Adam closed the door behind him and followed Jake to my front door. "Welcome into the family Grace." Sarah said as she rushed to my living room couch. "Here we have awesome close-nit parties and get to know each other a bit more. Although, we are missing a sister." Jake explained. "What Jake is trying to explain is we all told our life stories here and became somewhat of a family. There was another female who is actually Lizzy's best friend. Her name is Julie, she left the country to pursue her own dream. That's why you haven't met her yet." Janice explained as she went to grab a drink of water. "So this place is a safe place!" Grace's excited face shone throughout the whole room. Adam put me down gently next to Sarah who was still sitting on the couch. My head rolled onto her lap. "My, darling daughter. This will always be your home." I was still in lala land. I just couldn't get a grasp of reality when I was thinking I was in a dream. "Well you heard your mother. You have a home here." Adam followed Janice to the kitchen to get himself a drink of water. "Wow, then I'll start. I'm an orphan. I lost my parents at a very young age and just recently found my grandmother. The only problem is she's sick and needs to be taken care of. So I put up with a lot in order to keep the heat on in the house." Grace looked to me as if to say she didn't want to continue. "You are a brave one. I'm very proud of you. Then my turn." I close my eyes to better word my sentences. "I'm a victim of rape and emotional abuse from my past relationship." I open my eyes slowly. "I was gonna have a kid from that person, but I had just found my father at that time. I went to work and in order to not have any more ties to him….I got an abortion. Sometimes the pain I felt from it comes back." I looked to Sarah letting her know she was next. But, nobody dared to talk. "Lizzy….WHAT THE FUCK!!!!! No not just you. Grace you too, WHAT THE FUCK?" Jake broke the silence that had crept in. "All this time I was thinking that you guys had a happy past, meanwhile Grace you're an orphan and Lizzy you're a rape victim????? You are the guys who have it harder than anyone else here, so why do you put on airs like your life is normal?????? Does that even make sense!" Jake was getting mad as he started pacing the room back and forth. "Jake, calm down. At least now we understand why Lizzy doesn't like getting close to guys." Janice hugged Jake and sat him down on a kitchen chair. "Um….would you mind me asking how long have you been in that relationship?" Sarah tapped on my shoulder not letting me forget my little confession. "3 years." I kept my answer short so I can sleep. "3 years….no wonder she doesn't trust me." Adam spoke up as he looked down. "Seems like the ones that are hurt the most are the kindest ones of the group." Janice said as she tapped Adam. "Help me to bring the mother to her bed." Janice has always been kind and understanding, But this time I didn't want to part from the group. "No! Not until I find the pictures." I jolted up remembering why I wanted to sit in the passenger seat in the first place. "What pictures?" Grace rushed to my side when she saw I was about to fall. "The pictures Adam took of me when I got drunk." I felt the atmosphere grow cold as the silence crept its way in again. Everyone was looking at Adam now with a cold distant face of "Really nigga." "That's not true. Here's what happened, we went on a date at a night bar. The night bar. By the way it's only 5 minutes from here, so if anything she could just run back home. We didn't even drink much on the date. It's when she noticed she left her bag in my car. She had gone back to the night bar and made it the drop-off point. That's when she accidentally drank 4 servings of vodka in one go. It was in a big cup. I brought her back home, and tried to leave. But….she gets um….weird when she's drunk so I stayed the night to make sure she doesn't accidentally hurt herself in any way. Nothing happened between us." After hearing Adam's explanation, the memories of that night started flooding in. I covered my mouth with both of my hands. I remember now. I probably had remembered long ago, but was too focused on work or trying to frame Adam that I hadn't bothered to try to remember it. I tried to sleep with Adam, and no matter my advances he would not do anything. "Wait till you're sober." I said out loud recalling the line he used most. "Oh for crying out loud you just remembered. ~Sigh~ You almost got me killed here." Adam sits down on the couch as everyone's eyes revert to me. "Let's get you to bed dear." Janice walks me to my room and helps me get ready to sleep. "All this time….I thought he was an asshole. But turns out I'm the asshole!" I say with a confused look on my face. "You accused him of what you thought he would do. You're not an asshole. You've just made a mistake, get some rest and tomorrow you can apologize to him." Janice tucked me in and gave me a kiss on my forehead. She honestly felt like my mom.