Chapter 11: They met again

"I heard that they will be announcing the new CEO today. Who do you think it is going to be?" The girl sitting next to Alexandra leaned over closer to ask as curiosity laced her high-pitched voice. 

Everyone else at the table was busy whispering among themselves, keeping themselves occupied with their random guesses, as they looked at the stage with curious eyes. 

From the corner of her eye, Alexandra could see Caleb sitting quietly next to her with a serious look on his face, as usual. He was staring ahead as if he was deep in thought. His fingers were tugging at the hem of his shirt, adjusting it before he reached for the glass of water in front of him, and took a sip. 

"Ummm… I don't know Christine. I don't even work here." She responded softly, gesturing at Caleb who had his eyes still fixated on the stage in front of them. 

Their conversation was quickly interrupted as a loud voice echoed in the ballroom, catching everyone's attention. The chatter that once filled the air quickly died down and the lights were dimmed. 

"Welcome to the company's annual dinner. Let us first welcome our CEO, Mr. Wright on stage to give us a short speech." 

Isn't that...

Applause and cheers erupted from the floor. 

"Good evening everyone, how is everyone doing today?" Mr. Wright started with a slight smile etched onto his face. He was dressed in his tailored-made black suit with his dark grey hair gelled back neatly. His glasses were the type that was thin and rectangular, and it was sitting at the bridge of his nose perfectly. 

"I'm sure that by now you have all heard the rumour going around that I will be stepping down and that we will be announcing the new CEO to take over NextGen Technologies today. I'm here to confirm that this is indeed true."

Gasps of shock and excitement filled the place and people were starting to mutter once again, their eyes scanning the room eagerly. There was a small frown on his face as he only lightly tapped the top of his microphone and all eyes were now on him in a matter of seconds.

"I'm very pleased to inform all of you here today that this person I have chosen is highly knowledgeable and has had experience in the field of technologies and artificial intelligence. He is a well-respected individual in his field and a leader who is committed to bringing the company and team to greater heights. I'm happy to introduce to everyone, Caleb Wright."

Alexandra watched in awe and surprise as Caleb rose from his seat next to her and carefully made his way up onto the stage to give his speech. She couldn't remember the words that came out of his mouth but she will never forget the look on Ethan and Hannah's faces. 

Their eyes went wide and their faces turned pale the moment their eyes landed on Caleb and realisation hit them hard, crashing into them. 

Alexandra couldn't help but stifle a laugh. She only shrugged her shoulders when they had turned to look at her, but Alexandra only had a satisfied grin etched onto her face as soon as their eyes locked 

Just a few tables away, Hannah huffed in anger as she lightly hit Ethan in his arm. "See… I told you…" She muttered under her breath with a pout on her face. Her words were drowned by the sounds of chatter that filled the air. 

"You were the one that yelled for security!" Ethan retaliated, anger and frustration written all over his face.

"Oh, so now it's my fault?"

Hannah and Ethan were arguing, of course, blaming one another as they bickered back and forth. They didn't seem to care that the others at the table were staring and obviously looking at them with judgement. 

It wasn't out of goodwill or anything now that the both of them were standing in front of Alexandra and Caleb in the corner away from the crowd as Hannah attempted to apologise on Ethan's behalf. Alexandra knew for a fact that it was only because Hannah didn't want this to affect Ethan's career. 

"I'm sorry, we didn't think that-" Hannah apologised for the second time now, but was soon cut off by Alexandra. 

"Didn't think that your little boyfriend over here would be working under Caleb, huh? Ain't it a small world?" Alexandra taunted with a smirk on her face, satisfied to see the looks on their faces.

"I'm really sor-"

"Stop. I want to hear it from him," Caleb demanded, cutting Hannah off as he pointed at Ethan who was standing next to her in complete silence with his head hung low in shame as regret filled his eyes. 

There was a short pause before he finally muttered something under his breath, his words were barely coherent. "I apologise for earlier."

"I can't hear you," Caleb commented nonchalantly, as he tapped his feet against the carpeted floor impatiently. Ethan finally looked up from the ground and their eyes met as he tried to apologise to Caleb. 

"Not to me, to her. Look Alexandra in her eyes and apologise," Caleb demanded again. 

With much reluctance, Ethan slowly turned to face Alexandra who had her arms crossed over her chest as she looked him straight in his eyes. "What are you waiting for?" She asked and the look on his face darkened. 

His job was at stake here. Ethan had considered all his options and knew that he had to do exactly as Caleb wished to save whatever was left to salvage after everything that went down. But little did he know that apologising would barely change anything as the sweet sweet revenge awaits him. 

"I'm sorry for everything," the words finally came out of his mouth this time. Alexandra's lips curled upwards into a small smile of satisfaction, knowing that it took everything in him to even utter the word "sorry".

"That's more like it," Caleb said, casually giving Ethan a firm pat on his back with a smirk etched onto his face while Ethan scoffed. 

"Now, get out of our sight," Caleb said this time, and soon enough, both Ethan and Hannah were scrambling off, disappearing into the crowd. 

They were about to leave when Alexandra heard someone calling out to Caleb. A wave of recognition washed over her and it all made sense when she turned around to see his parents who were dressed in designer clothes walking over to them. 

"Caleb, you are leaving already?" His mother had asked as she reached her arm out to touch him on his shoulder. 

"Yeah."

"Is that… Alexandra?" She now noticed Alexandra standing next to Caleb.

"Hi Stephanie, hi William," she greeted simply with a smile on her face.

They both returned the smile. "It's been long, I almost didn't recognise you. What are you doing here?" His father asked this time. 

Before the words left her mouth, she could feel Caleb's arm snaking around her waist, pulling her closer to him, and once again, she hated to admit it but it made her heart flutter, just a little. 

"Actually, she's here with me as my girlfriend," he announced and Alexandra watched as his parent's faces fell. 

"Girlfriend? Since when?" Stephanie asked, surprise evident in her voice. She did not even try to hide the small frown on her face while William lightly shook his head beside her. 

"It's been a while now. Didn't you always say that you wanted me to get a girlfriend?"

"Well yeah… but… not her," she mumbled under her breath but Alexandra caught every word that was said at that very moment. 

Alexandra knew she should have kept her mouth shut, but she couldn't be that girl who stayed quiet again. Not this time. 

"Do you have something against me?"