Chapter 82: Welcoming Ceremony
"Ding dong ding…Ding dong ding"
The irritating sound of the alarm invited a groan from Diana who opened her sleep-filled eyes with difficulty. She wanted to hit the snooze button but realized that it was her 3rd time waking up to the alarm this morning.
She could not afford to delay things any longer. With an exhausted sigh, she pushed herself off her bed and went to the washroom.
The first thing she did when she entered the washroom was to look at herself in the mirror. A set of drowsy eyes stared back at her. Her gaze went subtly down a bit to look at her lips as the memory from yesterday night bombarded her mind and a tinge of hue appeared on her face soon after.
She shook her head to get rid of that image in her mind but that was to no effect. Her passionate encounter with Jin last night was too deeply embedded in her mind to be put in the back of her mind this easily.
'Ugh it feels so embarrassing now…how am I even going to meet his eye in the afternoon?' Diana whined to herself and attempted to shake those thoughts away by splashing water over her face.
The cold water calmed her a bit as she busied herself with her morning routine.
Half an hour later, after a long hot shower, a fully refreshed Diana exited the bathroom. She changed into a new set of clothes and did the final touches in front of the dressing table.
"All done," Diana was about to stand up but her eyes suddenly fell upon the pendant box which Jin gave her last night.
"How could I forget about this?" She muttered as a bright expression formed on her face. She took out the pendant and carefully placed it around her neck.
She traced the crescent moon with her fingers as Jin's words from last night resonated in her mind. 'It looks fantastic on you but nothing beats your smile,'
A blushing smile once again formed on her as a result of it.
A few moments later Diana put on her lab coat and took a cab to her office.
"Good morning Diana," A colleague greeted her as she entered the premises of her workplace.
"Good morning Tania," Diana greeted back with a pleasant smile.
"Oh my! What's that on your neck? I thought you weren't into wearing jewellery and all.." Tania immediately noticed the pendant around Diana's neck.
"This…" A thoughtful expression along with a blush appeared on Diana's face as she thought of words to describe things that transpired. Thankfully, she didn't need to put that much effort as Tania connected the strings just from seeing Diana's expression.
Tania gasped, "Don't tell me!...it's him right? He gave it to you right?" She asked in an excited manner.
Diana nodded. She immediately felt her shoulders tightly grasped by Tania who looked at her with an expression filled with anticipation, "Girl, tell me everything that transpired between the two of you…"
A few moments later…
Tania sighed while looking up at the ceiling.
"I'm so jealous of you. You managed to get a handsome hunk head over heels for you and here I am…whose romantic life is as dry as a desert," Tania muttered.
"Hey, it's no big deal. You are much prettier than me so it's a definite that you'll find the one you're looking for very soon," Diana consoled.
"That's exactly why I like you sooo much," Tania hugged Diana tightly, totally pleased by her words.
"I think we should be going now, the welcoming ceremony is about to start," Diana said.
"Yeah, let's go then," Tania agreed as well and the two of them soon left for the hall where the new branch director was going to be welcomed and took their seats.
Time passed and the ceremony finally started. The new director was welcomed with a bouquet of flowers from the higher-ups and was soon guided to the podium by them under the gazes of all the employees.
"He looks angry," Diana suggested.
"Even I would be frustrated if I was him," Tania replied.
"Hmm? What do you mean?" Diana asked.
"Oh right, I forgot to tell you about it. From my sources, I got to know that he had been at quite a high post in the main branch. So coming from there to serve as a branch director in our tiny country is more like a demotion for him than a promotion." Tania explained.
"That's true, I wonder why he was sent here when everything was going fine," Diana muttered.
"Who knows, the higher-ups have access to more information than us so there must be a solid reason that us small folks are unaware of," Tania mentioned.
"True," Diana said and focused her attention back on the stage.
The higher-ups were currently using flowery words to welcome the director. It soon finished up and it was finally the turn of the new director to give his speech.
"His voice is pretty manly," Tania said in a low voice to Diana to which Diana just gazed at her friend weirdly and replied, "He's in his late 30s woman, don't fall for an old man,"
"Heh! What do you know? I dig those kinds!" Tania replied with a defiant expression.
While the two were busy with their exchange a tiny bug flew out of the crevice in Diana's pendant and flew up towards the ceiling.
It hovered there for a couple of seconds before making its way towards the new director who was currently engrossed in giving his speech.
A few moments later the bug was resting on the director's shoulder's as he made his way back to his seat under cheers from the audience.
The event was soon over and the director was being guided to his new office by his secretary who was briefing him about everything on the way.
They finally reached the topmost floor.
"The system already has your biometrics transferred to it sir so you just need to scan your fingerprints and iris and you're good to go," The secretary explained.
"I see," The director replied in a hoarse voice and placed his palm on the scanner which was followed by an iris scan.
The door to his office finally opened.
"Bring me all the documents I need to familiarize myself with," The director told his secretary as he made his way towards his table.
"Got it, sir," The secretary took a leave to bring back all the necessary documents.