Celebration


    “Theunch looks good. All the cements look good…” Julianna murmured as she continued


    checking the screens.


    “There shouldn’t be any issues. Now we just need to wait for the feedback from the audiences,” one


    team member said reassuringly.


    “We actually went out to the shopping district earlier to get some firsthand feedback,” I announced with


    a smile.


    “Ace dragged you out there with him? How did it go? Were people super excited?” Julianna asked


    excitedly.


    I could feel all pairs of eyes in the room on me and it was clear that I had their attention now. Since


    everyone was undoubtedly stuck here in the war room in the office, they haven’t had the chance to see


    the realmercial ying outside or had any interaction with the audience. Now I truly understood


    why Ace was so determined to go out there to collect some feedback. It wasn’t just to satisfy his


    personal curiosity but it also made sure that we had something to share with the other team members.


    “I would say that people are excited. I’ve only heard positive reviews. The message that we nned


    seemed to be getting across well. I was also told that themercial is easier to watchpared to


    the other ones rted to the dog meat trade because we didn’t put in any gruesome scenes,” I ryed


    my experience to the team members.


    “I think themercial is very well-received. For pet lovers, it is a very touchingmercial while for


    non-pet lovers, it makes them consider this topic more. Of course, this is just preliminary and we’ll have


    to keep monitor the audiences’ sentiments,” Ace added in.


    “That sounds heavenly. More than good enough for our firstunch night,” Julianna said with a satisfied


    smile.


    “Don’t get ahead of yourself so much. We haven’t seen the donation amount yet…” Ace reminded us of


    the other key objective of themercial.


    Julianna let out a sigh and I did the same. Getting positive reactions was only the starting point. It


    wouldn’t be enough if it didn’t lead to putting any money behind the cause to support it. Unfortunately,


    all problems seem to require some money to help fund the solution. Fishing forpliments for our


    “Maybe if you’ll give me my paycheck for the month earlier, I can donate my pay to support the


    cause…” Julianna said teasingly before sheughed a little.


    “Oh, that actually sounds like a good idea. I’ll pay for your drink tonight if you donate your sry to the


    cause,” another team member readily agreed.


    “Enough joking around. You all should go out now before it gets toote,” Ace suggested.


    “Thank you, boss! I’ll make sure toe back to monitor the whole thing tomorrow morning,” Julianna


    promised as she got up from her seat and gathered her things.


    Everyone moved to do the same and it seemed like the night of work hade to an end and a


    celebration was in order. We haven’t won thepetition yet, but theunch was clearly one of the


    biggest milestones that we’ve achieved so far in this project, and it does warrant a celebration.


    “Do you want to join them?” Ace whispered to me.


    “Ace! You’lle along, right?” Julianna asked invitingly before I could reply to Ace’s question.


    “Sure. I think that’s a great idea…” I quickly voiced when I saw Ace hesitating.


    It had been a while since we went out with the team and going out might help me keep my mind off the


    issue of Elizabeth’s sudden appearance earlier on in the day. The overall mood was so festive that I


    found it hard to get used to at first. After spending so much time working under stressful and tight


    deadlines, this sudden change in pace felt sudden although it wasn’t at all unweed.


    “Where are we going to go?” I asked.


    “James booked a rooftop bar. Supposedly they have good and cheap happy hour drinks. I wouldn’t


    mind if the cocktails are bad at this point, honestly…” Julianna replied.


    I watched as everyone made their way out of the war room to call it a night. I bumped into Jeremy as


    we made our way out of the room. He looked tired and I could tell that he had been with Julianna and


    her team for the whole day. That made me feel slightly bad for ditching him to go out with Ace.


    “Hey, are you joining everyone for drinks?” I asked.


    “Nope. I’m about to fall t on my face. I have no idea where Julianna gets all her energy from but I’m


    pretty much burnt out so I’m heading home,” Jeremy replied with a regretful smile.


    “That’s too bad. Hang in there. Go home and get some sleep,” I said with a smallugh.


    Jeremy just smiled at me before heading out of the door. I watched as he disappeared down the


    hallway while thinking that it really was too bad that he didn’t have the stamina to join the celebration.


    Julianna and her team were quite loud as they made their way down the corridor. As far as they were


    concerned, it seemed like the party had already started.


    “Shall we head out too?” I turned to ask Ace.


    I found his eyes watching me intently and I sudden felt a little ufortable under his scrutinizing


    gaze. Ace had a slightly thoughtful look on his face as he continued to observe me. The longer he


    stared at me, the more I started to feel nervous.


    “Why are you…looking at me like that?” I asked.N?velDrama.Org (C) content.


    “I was wondering when you and Jeremy got so close,” he replied with his hazel brown eyes still


    watching me.


    “We’re not close. We’ve just been stuck working together a lot for Project Alpha. So…we’re not close


    like that…” I quickly cleared up this misunderstanding before it could lead somewhere troublesome.


    “Is that so?” Ace said as he cocked his head to the side.


    --To be continued…