Chapter 68 - Meet Again
Meanwhile, the atmosphere at the UAL campus was very busy, the students were making final preparations before the show began, the main players and supporting players appeared to be getting ready on the stage. The other officers were already in their respective positions, they were really ready to put on a performance.
"I'm nervous, Anne," Linda whispered softly.
"Calm down, everything will be fine. After all, you don't go on stage alone, there'll be friends," said Anne softly as she smoothed the make-up on Linda's face.
"Ahhh, you don't come out on stage, so you can talk like that," said Linda with an elevated tone.
"I still participate in this event Linda, I even met the invited guests directly. Actually, if you want to say who is more nervous, I'm more nervous because I will meet them out front, face-to-face, Linda," said Anne slowly, trying to defend herself.
"Anyone can greet guests like you do, but you don't perform on stage, Anne, so you don't know how it feels. I really can't act, Anne, but now I have to act in front of them. You know me, I really can't do things like this." Linda grumbled desperately.
"Think of it as Linda's year-end show, so you don't feel overwhelmed or think of the guests as the grass on your family's ranch, so you can feel calm and be yourself," Anne whispered softly into Linda's ear.
Linda raised an eyebrow at Anne's words. She still didn't understand the direction of Anne's conversation. Anne then explained slowly to Linda, and soon Linda's face looked more excited. A confident smile appeared on her beautiful face, which had been made up by Anne. Actually, Linda's role was not too hard, because she would only appear in two scenes, after which the show would focus on Edward, Isabel, and Gabriella, who were the main characters of this performance. But still, Linda felt nervous because she had never done anything like this before. Because during the year-end performance at her school, she only played a tree that didn't need acting skills like today.
Finally, when the show was about to begin, all the supporting actors were asked to go to their respective posts, including Anne, who had to be on standby at her guest table in front, with another student who had been appointed. They had to prepare even though the invited guests hadn't yet taken their seats. But Professor Gilbert had already told them that the guests of honor were almost here, so that all the players were asked to prepare.
"What's wrong with your face, Agnes?" asked Anne quietly to Agnes, who sat beside her.
"I'm nervous Anne," answered Agnes honestly.
"Why do you have to be nervous? Aren't we not participating in the show? We're only greeters, Agnes," said Anne softly with a smile.
"But still, Anne, I'm still nervous. These guests are important people and I have not been able to face them directly," Agnes whispered with an increasingly pale face.
Anne smiled at Agnes's words. She then tried to calm Agnes down by giving the same motivational words as what she had previously said to Linda behind the stage. When Anne was wiping the cold sweat that came out of Linda's forehead, a motorcade of luxury cars began to enter the UAL campus area. Without any suspicion, Anne was getting ready. She tidied the shirt she was wearing to make it look neat. Because she didn't wear any complete makeup on her face, she didn't need a touch up like what Agnes was doing now. Agnes turned to Anne while smoothing the make-up on her face using the powder puff she had been holding earlier. Seeing what Agnes was doing made Anne smile.
Anne's decision not to wear makeup on her face was the right decision, because today the sun was shining quite hot and it made everyone sweat, especially if that person used thick makeup. Anne only used a lip gloss that would turn red when applied to the lips, a favorite lip gloss she got from a friend who lives in Seoul. Anne only used thin mascara to make her eyelashes look thicker, the redness on Anne's face showed naturally because she sat under a large canopy.
When a black Jeep Wrangler stopped, Anne was ready to welcome him. But when she saw the figure that got out of the car, Anne was suddenly speechless. She could only remain silent while locking her lips tightly until finally the man stood right in front of her and Agnes.
"Hi Anne," said the man first to Anne, smiling.
"Welcome sir, please fill in your personal data first in this column," Agnes replied quickly with a friendly smile towards the man who had just arrived.
"Please just fill in my data, my name is Jack. Jackson Patrick Muller," said the first guest who turned out to be Jack, the barista whom Anne knew very well.
"Alright, where are you from sir?" asked Agnes again.
"Switzerland," Jack replied briefly, as he continued to stare at the silent Anne without blinking.
"What does your company name …?"
"Muller Finance International," Jack said quickly, interrupting Agnes.
"Oh so you are the CEO of that Swiss finance company, sir. It is a great honor for me to meet you, Mr. Muller," said Agnes loudly when she realized the man in front of her was an important person from Switzerland.
"Thank you, Miss, I'm the lucky one to have come to this campus," Jack replied quietly, smiling without taking his eyes off Anne, who still didn't want to say anything at all.
From a distance, Professor Gilbert was seen running towards them. He came with another lecturer to prepare to welcome Jack, who apparently arrived on campus first. After making small talk, Jack finally walked towards the venue with Professor Gilbert. He left Anne, who was still speechless. Jack, who was shocked to see Anne's presence at the UAL campus, almost screamed with joy. But he had to cancel his intention, because he realized that his current position was as a guest of honor at UAL. While walking with Professor Albert, Jack was seen turning several times to look at Anne, who was still silently sitting facing forward without speaking.
"No wonder that bastard made a collaboration on this campus, it turns out that he already knows that you are here. Okay, it doesn't matter, it's important that finally I will get you, Anne," Jack said in a confident heart.
While Anne's surprise of seeing Jack in front of her hadn't subsided, soon Anne's breath was racing again very quickly when she saw a couple she knew very well suddenly walked towards her.
Prankk!
The coffee glass, held by the woman who was walking beside the man being escorted by bodyguards, suddenly fell from her hands when she arrived in front of Anne. Her face suddenly turned pale. So was the man beside her. His mouth was opened wide when he saw Anne.
"Welcome Mr. and Mrs. Ganke," said Anne softly greeted the two humans she hated with a smile.
"Anne, do you know them?" asked Agnes in surprise in a whisper.
"Of course, I do. This is Mister Leonardo Ganke, and his wife, Mrs. Steffani Ganke," said Anne loudly, smiling sweetly at the two persons who were still very surprised to see her.
Leon seemed speechless when he saw his ex-wife in front of his eyes. Even though he didn't love Anne, but because they had lived together for almost a year, it made him sure that the beautiful and cheerful girl in front of him right now was Marianne, who he had humiliated from the first time they met until their last meeting in court. Steffi, who was standing beside Leon, also showed the same surprise. After dropping her cup, Steffi was still very surprised when she saw Anne, the helpful angel that she had stabbed from behind.
"Excuse me sir, please fill in your personal data first," said Agnes quietly breaking the silence that occurred between Leon, Steffi, and Anne who only looked at each other.
"W-where should I fill it?" stammered Leon.
"Right here, sir," answered Agnes quickly, pointing out the empty column.
Leon slowly lowered his head and grabbed the pen that Agnes gave him. He then made a signature on the empty column with his heart beating very fast. When he signed, Leon accidentally saw Anne's name and student ID number on Anne's ID card which was lying on the table, meanwhile Anne seemed to stare without blinking at Steffi, who looked very embarrassed. Steffi, who was usually proud and arrogant towards people she thought were not on her level, suddenly lost her courage when faced with Anne.
Not seeing Anne for two years left her speechless, especially since Anne's appearance, which she currently saw, was very different from the Anne she met two years ago in Germany. After Leon stood back upright, Anne showed him the direction of the event, but when he was about to take a step, from a distance, Professor Gilbert came to greet the arrival of his second guests.
To be Continued