Chapter 10 : Unpleasant Guest

Everything was almost perfect.

Key word is almost.

Today is the first event that I've organized for Williams, Inc. It has been a few weeks since the night Arthur and I had coffee together. I thought that we have made progress in developing our friendship during that night, however he's back to being his usual serious and cold self. It's sad that I wasn't able to speak to him like that again. Our conversations are now limited to awkward greetings at the hallways and updates on my progress with handling the event.

The loud and energetic voice of the host interrupted my thoughts. I've been so busy with constructing scenarios for the evening ahead that I haven't noticed that the first speaker was already done. I tapped one of the workers on the back and signaled him to the next speaker. He nodded in response as he quickly rushed to do his task.

I watched the event unfold before me as a small smile formed on my face.

This is it.

This is what I've been preparing for.

The pressure to get everything right was overwhelming until the point that I started to feel lightheaded. I fell onto one of the plastic seats that was backstage to take a break. I checked the messages sent to me throughout the night along with the current list of attendees.

Like rain on a window, I started drumming my fingers relentlessly against the side of the chair. Each click of the french polished nails on the table echoed the tumultuous thudding of my heartbeat. My face that was rigid with tension belied my youthfulness, probably aging me a decade in the past few hours.

My eyes widened in shock as I felt my heart skip a beat when I saw his face.

He actually came.

I quickly sat up and ran to the edge of the backstage to take a good look at the guests that were coming in from the main entrance.

I stared in pure terror as I watched him greet the other guests that he knew. A wave of memories from the last time I encountered him washed over me, making me dizzy. I put my hand over my mouth in shock. I could hear my heart hammering inside my chest as it echoed in my already throbbing head.

What am I going to do?

Panic filled my veins as I grasped my chest. My heart raced faster as my chest tightened; it felt as if the center of my head, right behind my nasal cavity, was being pulled. A sound roared through me as my knees buckled.

My thoughts were cut short when I felt someone's hand on my shoulder. I slowly turned to look at the owner of the hand to see Arthur.

"Are you okay?" He had a concerned look on his face as he examined me intently.

I shook my head, trying to snap myself out of the trance that I was in. I forced a closed mouth smile. "I'm fine. I'm just feeling a little lightheaded."

He furrowed his eyebrows. He could probably see through my lie. He pursed his lips into a thin line. "Go freshen up. Drink water, go to the bathroom or sit down. You don't look so well." He said, his voice was laced with worry. I nodded in response as I started to feel uncomfortable with my dry mouth and the lump in my throat. He's right. "Don't pressure yourself too much, okay? Take a break."

"Thank you." I uttered softly as I turned around and walked to the washroom. I tried taking deep breaths to calm myself down, but everything around me was just so overwhelming. I clenched my fists tightly, until my nails dug into the palm of my hand, but I barely noticed until I started to feel it sting with pain. The only thing I was really aware of was the sound of my heart throbbing against my chest.

It's only when I look into the mirror of the washroom that I've become aware that I've been biting my lip so badly that it's starting to bleed. I groaned in frustration as I got a tissue to gently wipe my lips. I set my bag on the counter to search for my lipstick and lip liner to try and cover the wound.

"Sandra!" I jumped in surprise, dropping my lipstick by accident. I quickly picked it up afterwards, cursing at my stupidity.

I examined the lipstick first to make sure that I didn't break it before I snapped my head towards the source of the voice. Charlotte looked at me with a worried expression on her face.

"What happened?" Worry and confusion was written all over my face as I stood up and stuffed my lipstick in my bag.

"I don't know what exactly, but something happened at the lights room." My eyes widened in surprise as I quickly swung my bag over my shoulder.

"Thanks for informing me." I said curtly as I rushed outside of the washroom.

I walked quickly towards the lights room with my bag clenched tightly to my chest. There were too many important people and breakable items around me and I definitely did not want to risk hitting any of them.

My unbreaking gaze to the door's room kept me from noticing the person walking directly towards me. Without breaking his stride, his shoulder hit me.

I lost my balance and stumbled a little bit backwards. I turned to look at the person who hit me. I stood there paralyzed in shock as I stared at him.

My brain couldn't process everything that's happening, as if my brain short-circuited and needed to be rebooted. Around me, everything was in fast-forward while I was motionless in the middle of it all. Why now of all times?

I quickly snapped out of the trance that I was in and immediately turned my back to hide before he could even realize that it was me. I didn't want him to see me at all. I'm afraid that he would spread rumors about me and ruin my chances of ever working in the entertainment industry again. I have to go as soon as possible.

I was about to walk away until I heard him call my attention, stopping me mid-step.

"Hey, you!" He called, his voice was laced with annoyance. I was suddenly paralyzed by nervousness and fear as my heart rate quickened and my breathing became more rapid and shallow. What am I going to do? "Watch where you're going!" It was then I heard his footsteps coming closer and closer.

Panic started to fill my veins as adrenaline started to rush inside my body. "Sorry, sir." I increased the pitch of my voice in an attempt to disguise it as I quickly walked away from him. The click and clack of my heels echoed in my head as I walked so fast, I was practically running. I took the long cut to go to the lights room as I tried to the best of my ability to make sure that he doesn't recognize me.

I huffed out in frustration, thinking that out of all the people in the party I had to bump into him. I gently wiped the sweat that formed on my forehead. While making my way to the lights room, I emptied my head with thoughts about what happened earlier. I needed to focus on the party itself, not on him. I kept repeating these words over and over again as if to convince me to forget about what happened but my thoughts were cut by the awful smell coming from the room. I frowned as I got closer to the door because the odor was becoming much stronger. As I opened it, a wave of horror rushed my body as I got scared of the scene unfolding in front of me.

Is this going to be my first and last event in Williams Inc.?