Saying Goodbye

Ann was disappointed, but she didn't show it to Jeff. She just smiled and told him goodbye. Before she was able to get out of the car, Jeff hugged her and kissed her. "Don't worry about anything, I will take care of everything, ok?" He whispered in her ear.

As soon as they were out of the car, Jeff ordered Ronald to go.

Ann waited until the car was out of sight before she walked into the building. They were greeted by the guard, who seemed to remember Lea. "Welcome back!" He said with a smile, then ushered them in.

The receptionist was already informed by the upper management and knew that Ann and Lea could cancel the contract. She didn't even greet them. She just told Lea, "I'm sure you still remember the way!" She said it sarcastically, then looked at Ann and sneered.

They had not gone far when the receptionist told her colleague loudly, ''Who does she think she is? She's just a pretty face. She's not even famous, and she's acting all high and mighty! Hrmm!" Lea and Ann heard it but did not say anything and just kept on walking.

Ann felt they had the right to criticize her because of the situation, but it still upset her. Lea, on the other hand, wanted to go back and curse them out. Ann was quick to stop her. "Forget it, ok! Let's get this over with."

They were met by an assistant, who left without saying a word after showing them to a meeting room. Ann was getting stressed and worried. 'Jeff, where are you? I need you right now! Please, come now!' She thought to herself.

They waited and waited and waited some more. She must have waited for over an hour before the assistant showed up again, only to tell them that the general manager was still in a meeting, so they had to sit and wait. What else could they do? Of course, they sat and waited.

Lea needed to go to the ladies room, so she asked the assistant for directions and went, leaving Ann by herself.

While Lea was gone, a young, beautiful lady and a gorgeous woman walked by, heading to the general manager's office. She just glanced a little and did not get a good view of their faces. 'They look like a mother and daughter pair.' Ann mumbled to herself.

Ann was entirely losing her patience. 'If the general manager doesn't show up anytime soon, they can kiss my ass goodbye. I will count to one hundred. If by the time I finish, no one has shown up, I'm leaving. One, two, three...' suddenly, the door opened, and the assistant and the general manager walked in.

"Miss Ann, I'm General Manager Lim. I believe you are here to break the contract. First, let me tell you how much the penalty for violating the agreement is, which I'm pretty sure a C-list entertainer like you will never be able to afford in your whole life if not for your similarity with our famous spokesperson who recently retired, we would not have chosen you at all." The general manager informed her.

"Nevertheless, we will give you another chance to change your mind, or else you need to pay 10X of $$$$ as a penalty. Can you pay that?" The general manager asked Ann sarcastically.

Ann looked at the general manager straight in his eyes. "I need to call someone first if you don't mind." She told him without blinking.

The general manager smirked first, then replied, "Go ahead. Call all the people that you can think of. I hope you know that if you cannot pay this amount, even if you're the CEO's hidden mistress, you will still be in trouble! We'll sue you and ruin your career."

"Understood! It will be a quick phone call." Ann replied confidently.

Ann was ready to call for reinforcement when suddenly the door opened. She was expecting either Lea or Jeff to come to her rescue.

To her surprise, it was a young male in his early 20s, dressed impeccably with average height and proper posture. Good looking in his own way.

"Hello! I'm Peter from the CEO's office. I'm here for Miss. Wen?" He asked without batting an eye.

"That would be me!" Ann replied quickly, raising her hand like a child in a classroom. Ann had enough of the arrogant person in front of her; the faster she got out of there, the better.

"I was ordered to bring you up to the CEO's office, he would like to handle this matter directly," Peter said calmly.

The General Manager was speechless when he heard what Peter said. 'The CEO wanted to handle the matter directly, then let him be; Who am I to stop him from hijacking this client?' He thought

"Yes! Take her as you wish." The General Manager said arrogantly.

A thought came to his mind, this might be an opportunity to meet the CEO. "By the way, do I need to come as well?" He asked excitedly with a glimpse of hope in his eyes.

"No, the CEO only asked for Miss. Ann Wen and no one else." Peter replied sarcastically.

Ann gathered her things, ready to follow Peter when she remembered that Lea was still in the ladies' room. "My manager is not back yet. Can we wait for her a little bit?"

The General Manager was stunned when he heard what Ann said, 'this girl is something else, she has the guts to make our CEO wait for her. Does she even have an idea who our CEO is?'

"Look here, Miss. No one makes our CEO wait for any reason at all! If you want any chance to salvage your career, I advise you to use your charm and entice him. Who knows, you might get lucky in the process. Hehe." The General Manager bantered.

'WTF is wrong with this old man, he's been acting like a royal A...hole ever since I came in. You wait, let me finish this business; I'll come back and beat the shit out of you.' Ann thought to herself.

However much she wanted to kick the Manager's ass, unfortunately, she was there to cancel a contract, and she needed to be careful until then.

She put on the sweetest smile she can procure then responded, "Rest assured that I will consider your advice if needed. However, I would not need to use my charm or entice your CEO in any way; I have other ways. Thank you!" She then turned around and walked out the door without looking back.

After walking out the door, she realized that she didn't know where she was going. Ann turned around and looked at Peter, who was scratching his head.

"Are you coming or not! If you are, please lead the way." She then walked like a superstar should, elegant and exquisite.

Lea was able to catch up with them on the way to the CEO's office. She was panting and out of breath from running.

"Where are we going? Is the meeting finished? What did the General Manager say? " Lea bombarded Ann with questions.

Ann was not in the mood to answer, so she just kept following Peter and ignored Lea's question.

They walked through a long hallway, then turned right, then left. Finally, Ann, Lea, and Peter were in front of what seemed to be a private elevator.

Peter punched in some code then the elevator opened. After entering the elevator, Peter had to punch in more codes for the door to close.

They were inside the elevator for what seemed like an eternity before it finally opened to a very luxurious facility.

After getting off the elevator they passed by what looked like a concierge desk with a young man sitting behind the counter answering the phone.

Then, they went through rows of cubicles with people looking at them and whispering as they passed them.

"I wonder who she is, she looks familiar, but I can't pinpoint where I have seen her? Ah! I know who she looks like; it's the 'Diva' Ms. Sophia. Don't you think so?"

"You're right! She could pass for her daughter anytime. Maybe she's the one replacing her. I heard she's retiring soon now that she's married."

Ann heard the conversation along the way, she wondered who they were talking about because she had no idea.

However, that's not why they were there, so she continued following Peter, while Lea followed behind them, complaining the whole way through.

"Excuse me! Do you mind telling us how far more we need to walk? As you can see, my young miss, I mean my talent is wearing high heels." Lea asked Peter in a high tone, almost yelling.

Peter stopped for a moment to give Lea his full attention, then said, "Please accept my apology! To answer your question, it's only one more elevator ride, and we'll be there."

"WTF! I have had it! This is too much, come on, Ann, let's forget the whole thing." While she was complaining, she thought she saw someone she knew from the corner of her eyes.

'No! That can't be. I'm probably hallucinating from all the walking we did.' Lea thought. They were now in front of another elevator.'Finally, the last leg, it's the [F.....king] elevator. Hahaha! Hey! Let's do the boogie!' Lea didn't know if she should laugh or cry.

===

They took the elevator and got off on another luxurious floor. While they were walking towards the CEO's office, Ann had tried contacting Jeff several times with no luck.

"Jeff, you A...hole watch what I do to you when I get home. You said not to worry that everything will be fine, but where the heck are you right now?" She was mumbling to herself, not knowing Peter heard every word she said.

While Ann was busy trying to contact Jeff, they had arrived at their destination, the CEO's office. By then, she was already tired and irritable. If anyone crossed the line with her, they would be in big trouble.