Bambi sat next to Lydia, meekly nodding her head as she felt the stares of everyone on the table.
"You know the deal about your promotion, right?" Lydia asked, cooly taking a sip of bourbon.
Bee nodded. She had been waiting for this for months.
"Let's talk more about this tomorrow," Lydia said, gesturing for the waiter to give a glass. "For now, let's celebrate. Isn't that right? Team?"
The table cheered and raised their glasses. Bambi saw a bottle of wine get plopped right in front of her by the waiter Lydia called over.
"Oh my god! Congratulations, Bee."
"You deserve it so much!"
"Wow. About time, huh?"
The entire table congratulated Bambi on her promotion. The mysterious 'Bee' that was always online in their website was the one who had always worked on time and fixed everyone's mistakes before they went public.
They had always wondered why she was never promoted despite her stellar work ethic. So, it was a wonderful time now that she had finally gotten what she deserved.
"Thank you," she muttered out. She could hardly believe that she was here, with people right next to her, talking and conversing with her. And yet, her condition wasn't acting up! It was a miracle.
It felt like she was dreaming those dreams where you suddenly gained the ability to fly. And in the middle of this dream, you realized that you were fully awake and conscious of what was happening.
And now, Bambi decided to fly. She wanted to experience what it felt like to be normal.
"Hey, I'm Potter by the way," said the ginger-haired woman right next to her. Bambi remembered her.
"I'm Mark, you know, the funniest guy on the server?" said the man next to Potter.
"Oh shut up, Mark. Your jokes aren't funny," Potter said, elbowing Mark.
Bambi nodded her head and greeted them politely. Everyone at the table seemed well-acquainted with each other. It made sense since all of them worked on the same building here in Liberty HQ. She was the only one working from home.
"By the way, why do you never come into the office?" Potter asked.
Bee stayed silent. She always found it hard to explain her condition to people. After all, she was the only one in the world who had it.
Potter seemed to have noticed her aversion to the topic and quickly brushed off her own question. "Nevermind that. Let's just enjoy the party."
Just as Bambi was about to say something, the drums rolled and the curtains rose as the emcee took the mic and began to announce something very important.
"Ladies and gentleman, please give a warm round of applause for our Founder and our CEO, Nessa Liberty!"
Everyone in the crowd went into an uproar even before the star of the show entered the stage. Lydia and everyone else at the table stopped what they were doing and clapped at the stage.
Bee slowly raised her hands and clapped as an old woman, who didn't look a day over 60 years old, strutted in front of the stage with her high heels and her black and white designer dress with style. She took everyone's attention just from her posture alone.
"Oh my god. She still looks so great. Did you see the montage earlier? I can't believe that those pictures were forty years ago. It looks like she just aged ten years!" Potter said with her eyes filled with awe and admiration.
"She's a billionaire. What do you expect? She probably found the fountain of youth and just hoarded it for herself," Mark commented.
Nessa took the mic and began to address the crowd. "Good evening, everyone. Hope you all had a wonderful day, I know I didn't. Can't believe I'm already 80 years old…"
She continued to speak to the crowd, which Bambi wasn't able to hear because of the constant bickering of the two people next to her.
"Hey, did you hear the rumor?" Mark whispered to the table. "They say Nessa's going to announce her retirement this evening."
"Shut up. No, she won't. She's still spry enough to manage the company," Potter whispered back, shaking her head.
"It's true. I heard this from very credible sources: the janitors."
"Even so, who is she going to appoint as her inheritor?"
Mark leaned into the table. "Who else? It's gotta be Lionel."
Bambi couldn't help but overhear their conversation. Her ears perked up as she listened in.
"Oh please, not that guy. He may have her beautiful genes, but he certainly doesn't have her grace and talent. He's a wackjob! I truly believe this company would crumble into the ground if he took the reins."
Potter almost shouted out her words.
"He's not that bad, I think," Mark muttered out.
"Of course, you would think that. He's your idol, isn't he? The perfect billionaire bad boy that does whatever he wants."
"Maybe…"
"Ha! Didn't you know that he fired an entire department last month just because he was in a bad mood? What makes you think he won't fire you, or me, or our entire department?"
Bambi gulped and inwardly shook her head. She was with Potter on this one. She didn't want to get fired just after she received her promotion.
"That was just a rumor," Mark denied. "He must have had some other reason."
"Well, here's to hoping that it's true," Lydia suddenly commented, the ice clinking on her drink. "I heard that rumor too. And it's coming from management itself. I think he's going to be crowned the heir of this entire company."
Potter's face was full of despair. "No…" she quietly cried out. "Bambi. I'm sorry that your promotion came at such a bad time."
Just then, the music stopped and all lights were directed at the stage. Nessa looked towards the crowd, towards a specific table at the very front.
"My dear grandson, Lionel," she said, melancholy painted over her face.
Another set of lights opened and directed everyone's eyes towards a man seated all alone at the very front.
Bambi's eyes widened as she recognized his face.
He was the guy she bumped into!