12 Dropped a Bomb

Olivia's entourage entered through the backdoor of Cultural Center. With a dozen security detail in tow, the men blocked their madam from all prying eyes.

A little lass with a name pin 'Yana' welcomed the entourage through the backdoor and ushered them to their booth on the balcony floor. Although this was Yana's third job for the day and she's on the brink of exhaustion that her legs were starting to sleep on its own, she kept a smile on her face and walked along the long and winding corridors. She was told that they have two VVIP guests tonight and Olivia was the VVIP that she luckily picked. With a smile on her face as if her feet was not in pain from a daylong of standing in heels, she opened the booth's door for Olivia's entourage.

Her mouth hung open but quickly closed when she finally saw who her VVIP guest was. Dressed in a black velvet gown with only one long sleeve on her left arm, Olivia looked elegant and fashionable at the same time. Olivia noticed the girl and remembered straight away when and where she saw the lass before.

"Good evening, Ms. Lin. I'll be your hostess tonight. If you need anything, just let me know," Yana said professionally while bowing down. Of course, she'll recognize who Olivia was even though the manifest didn't mention her name due to 'privacy'. Once Yana's done greeting Olvia, she moved to the bar cart to whip up a drink or two, one for the miss and one for her. She was crying internally when she remembered what she saw in that check this afternoon at the restaurant.

On her way to the counter that afternoon, she didn't notice the bill because she was too focused on Olivia's diamond-encrusted black royal credit card. When she punched the ticket, however, she was flabbergasted at her tip.

$1

She blinked twice and blinked once more but the amount stayed the same. Yana looked at the group in the VIP section of the restaurant, laughing at the weird gentleman beside Mr. Lin.

Back in Private Booth 1, Yana wanted to spit on her VVIP's champagne for she knew tonight she'll be slaving herself and won't be equally compensated. This Olivia Lin with an exclusive diamond-encrusted black royal credit card is the miser of all misers. Yana was fooled with her sweet smile that afternoon… but not anymore.

"How many more jobs do you have?" Olivia asked, her hand suspended in the air as she waited for Yana to place the champagne-filled glass in her hand.

"Three, Ms. Lin. This is the last for tonight," Yana curtly replied.

Olivia eyed Yana from head to toe, scrutinizing the lass with a small face. She had her fair share of helpers growing up and she could tell at first glance the experienced ones from those who were not. Given that Yana worked at three high-end places meant she had exceptional training in client services. Olivia tilted her head towards Secretary Gail's direction, sending her order through telepathy to which the secretary nodded her reply.

A few minutes later, Secretary Gail walked to where Yana stood and handed the little lass a piece of paper. Yana frowned when she saw the details written on that piece of paper: an email address, a salary offer and a list of required documents.

'Don't tell me she's gonna pirate me?' Yana said in her thoughts, her brows scrunched as she remembered her tip that afternoon. She mentally calculated the difference from working her three jobs vs working for Olivia and realized that there was a 5% margin. The corners of her mouth twitched at the small gap. What was she expecting from that miser Olivia? Although the offer was better than having to catch her breath after sprinting from one job to another, the thought of working exclusively for someone in the top 1% was a grey area to her. So she took another deep breath and tucked the piece of paper in her pocket. She had to think about this job offer properly before going to sleep tonight.

Tonight's gonna be a long night, Yana muttered under her breath.

Down in the main hall, men and women dressed in their couture gowns and tuxedos crowd in, looking for their designated table. The hall was filled with a sea of round tables that were decorated with a lit bonsai tree as the centerpiece and name cards of the guests with a matching bidding paddle for the auction.

Beside the stage, a table reserved for auction proxies, or those who would call out a bid on someone's behalf. It had telephones and headsets that were prepared for the proxies' use.

It was almost time for the auction to start and the hall was filled with endless chatters from men and women of the higher stratum of society. Tonight was the perfect night to forge business alliances and they all came in for that alone… and maybe spend a few million for charity's sake.

Silence ensued when the auctioneer walked up to the centerstage with a gavel in hand.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the annual Cultural Center auction gala. I see we have new faces here, Lance and Selena Go, welcome," the auctioneer opened the night, acknowledging the pair's attendance which earned curious looks from other guests. The truth was, Selena was college friends with the auctioneer and asked him if he could give a shout out to Lance so people would approach them after the auction. This was a big charity auction and the best way to get noticed is either bid high and win, or be mentioned by the auctioneer. With Lance's financial woes at the moment, the latter option was the best way to meet possible business partners without hurting their bank.

"Opening the night is Lot number 7: Sir James. Let's start with the opening bid..."

The halls reverberated with peals of laughter and applause at the absurdity of Lot 7 making it in the charity auction and an opening piece at that. Flashed on the screen was an oil painting in a canvass of a Bengal cat dressed in a royal court uniform, in a side-face pose. However, people's laughter didn't last longer than a second when a proxy bidder raised a finger and dropped a bomb.

"Ten million dollars, sir."