August Adeyamo

"Ladies and Gentlemen... I have an announcement." Felix says, raising his glass in the air.

Immediately all the guests quiet down.

"We have an amazing guest speaker tonight. I'd like to introduce her to you." Felix smiles widely as he gestures to where Hilde is standing. "Miss Hilde," he adds with a gentle smile. All eyes turn to Hilde at once. A man seated in the VIP seats seems wholly enthralled by her presence. Her cheeks burn brightly as she bows politely to the audience.

"Thank you," she murmurs, still smiling.

She goes on stage, and Felix nudges her. "Talk about your work in the team."

Hilde nods. She turns around and starts speaking into the microphone. "Hello, everyone! My name is Hilde Weber; I am currently assistant director of operations for the Schauplitz branch."

Everyone applauds loudly as Hilde finishes talking. The applause dies down, and soon enough, silence reigns throughout the room again.

"Before we begin our evening festivities... I think I need to say a few words. Thank you so much for coming. It is such an honor; I don't even know how to explain how happy I am that you all came."

Hilde then rabbles on about her work, thanking all the employees for their efforts during the past year. Eventually, she reaches the climax when she announces Annie's promotion, causing her colleagues to cheer. But she's confused. Why is she speaking without being told to do so in advance?

The venue fills with applause briefly, quieting down when Felix speaks. "I also have another announcement." Felix says, "I have someone new joining us who is looking forward to meeting you all. Please welcome Faith Bock!"

A young girl enters the scene, and everyone starts clapping and cheering, some even making wolf whistles. She looks pretty nervous, and Felix notices that. "She will be staying with the Schauplitz branch, and I hope Ms. Weber can assist her," he says.

Hilde frowns slightly, feeling uneasy.

Annie notices this, too, and furrows her eyebrows. Something about this doesn't sit right with her.

Faith steps forward to the stage after giving a slight bow to the people in the venue. "Hello, everybody," she says softly. "I have no idea what is happening or why, but I think it would be best if everyone just took this seriously and gave me my chance."

Hilde glances over to her side while she listens.

"After hearing the stories about all your hard work, I decided it would be worth taking the position to prove myself. So please help me and support my effort to learn and improve as much as you can. And thanks to everyone working for the company for giving their time; you guys have given me the opportunity to meet you. This is all thanks to you. Please don't forget to enjoy the rest of your night!" Faith finishes with an energetic nod of her head.

A chorus of 'okay's resonates through the venue.

"Good speech, Faith! Let's hope you learn a lot from it!" Felix congratulates her with a sincere smile on his face.

"Thanks, Felix."

In the VIP booth, a tall black man listens intently to the show. His jaw clenches and unclenches as he tries to contain himself. He knows exactly what it means, as he had seen it happen multiple times: The Bocks are back again.

He heard that this upstart athlete wanted to host a party, so he reached out for an invite, wishing to make a deal with him, but he didn't expect... Heaven to have their hands this far down Yggdrasil's roots.

He closes his eyes and presses his fingertips together.

*****

After performing at the party, the entire company disperses and heads home. Annie and Hilde bid farewell to Felix as he escorts them to their respective cars, leaving the couple alone. Hilde is silent as they walk out of the building, which doesn't escape Annie's notice.

"Are you all right, Hildie?" Annie asks worriedly.

"I'm fine," Hilde says.

"You're not. Is it something you should talk about?"

"I didn't expect this type of party," she replies.

"It's a pretty big deal, isn't it?"

Hilde nods hesitantly.

"Come on. I'll give you a lift home." Annie offers, reaching out for Hilde's hand and leading her toward her car.

When they pull up outside of Hilde's house, Annie gets out of the car first. Before she walks away to open Hilde's door, she turns around to look at her friend, who has a blank expression on her face.

"Do you want anything else to drink?"

"How did that, Ms. Bock get a position?" Hilde asks.

"Oh, you know, shortcuts. It happens all the time. She's just a little secretary; get along with her." Annie rolls her eyes, "Now come on, let's go inside."

She opens the car door for Hilde, waiting for her to get out, and when she does, they head towards the front door. Annie unlocks the door, and they walk inside, heading straight up to the kitchen.

"Want a cup of tea?" Annie asks Hilde after filling the kettle and setting it on the stove.

"Sure."

As the kettle boils, Annie goes over to the fridge, pulls out two cans of iced tea, and opens one.

"Hey!" Hilde stops Annie in her tracks. "How the hell do you think tea is made!?"

"Um..." Annie says as she puts her hands behind her head. "What?"

"There's a machine for this sort of thing!" Hilde exclaims. "Why do you use the canned kind?"

"Because there are a bunch of cans lying around the house." Annie simply responds, "Did you really expect any different? It might've been harder to find something useful if it wasn't for these."

Hilde sighs, shaking her head.

"Tea is supposed to be sweet and warm. That's not how you make it."

Annie smirks and raises her eyebrow. "Then teach me."

Hilde stares at her friend, surprised by her boldness.

"If you're willing to learn..." Hilde trails off as she takes a step closer to Annie.

"Let's see how good you are in the kitchen," Annie whispers before she wraps her arms around Hilde's neck and pulls herself close to kiss her.

"Oooohh~!" Hilde pushes her away. "Not so fast."

"Aww, I'm just messing with you." Annie laughs softly.

"Well, I wasn't." Hilde crosses her arms, glaring at Annie.

Annie giggles before walking towards Hilde, grabbing her by the waist, and pulling her close.

"What's up with you right now?" Hilde asks.

"I want to hear you scream."

"Wha-"

Before Hilde can finish her sentence, Annie's lips are on hers again, kissing her *deeply*. Hilde lets out a moan as Annie holds her tight against her body. Annie kisses her and bites her lip lightly. When she finally pulled away, Hilde's eyes were closed tightly.

"So I take it you liked that, huh?" Annie winks seductively.

"What the hell are you on about?" Hilde pushes her away helplessly. Her childhood friend is always like this, overly playful in all the wrong ways...

"You're cute when you blush." Annie teases.

Hilde glares at her.

"So? You enjoyed the kiss?"

"Of course I did." 'This isn't the first time,' Hilde sighs, ignoring Annie as she turns off the electric stove.