Chapter 78 - Investment For The Future

In the end, Winter had no choice but to attend the meeting for Senior Prom.

They have to discuss about the event hall where it will take place as well as the promenade dance that they will perform for that night. She already knew about the plans they would come up with, so she really didn't need to be there. But to her dismay, the class officers will be taking attendance. If she were to sneak out, she could be called out for cutting classes.  

"Great. Just my luck..." Winter sighed in defeat, slumping back down on her seat. 

"It's a good thing that Sir Lexington will be there. I'll have to send him a message and tell him I'll be late for the meeting." 

From the seat on her side, Ace watches in silence as she types on her cellphone aggressively, giving him the impression that her plans for that afternoon had been ruined. As much as he wanted to console her, he didn't want to meddle in her business too much. With that, he just continued to stare at her and wait for her to open up about it herself.

Little did he know that simply doing so would gather him an audience.

"Ohoh~ Will you look at that," Courtney cooed at the side.

"He can be quite sneaky too, it seems. Lover boy had it bad~" Maxine snickered from behind.

"What are you on about again, you two...?" Xander joined in before turning to where they were looking at.

"Oh, Ace is stalking Wintry again, huh?"

"Again? Why is he still not asking her out, dude?"

"Beats me. He's the shy type, I guess.

"Shy my ass! He's got to step up his game! Graduation is just around the corner!"

"You're only saying that because you wanna make fun of them."

"Well, they can't get together only after we graduated! How can we tease them, then?"

While Maxine and Xander carry on with their conversation, Courtney takes a moment to think of a plan. She continues to observe Winter and Ace until she comes up with something that she and the others can pull out right there and then. 

"Hey, idiots, I've got an idea!" she called out to her friends, stealing back their attention.

"Hmm? What idea?"

"Just a little something~"

As the three of them prepared whatever scheme they were plotting, Winter finally finished sending a text message to Marcellus. Ace tried to take that opportunity to talk with her. But right when he's about to do so, his friends suddenly interrupted.

"Wintry looks upset. She must've wanted to sneak out really bad," Xander chimed in first.

"While I do feel her, there's nothing much we can do about it now," Maxine spoke up next.

"So, how 'bout you try and cheer her up, Ace...?" Courtney suggested before she pulled out something from her schoolbag and gave it to him. 

"With some vanilla-flavored cupcake, I mean~"

"Huh? Where did you get this...?" Ace asked, surprised and confused.

"You want me to give this to Winter?"

"Well, duh. Isn't it obvious? I've heard that she loves vanilla-flavored sweets. Why don't you cheer her up with this?"

Seeing their encouraging looks, Ace was compelled to do what they wanted even though he remained suspicious of their intentions. They seemed to brighten up as soon as he took the cupcake. He then stared down at it, feeling like they were pulling some prank on him.   

"You guys are acting weird, you know that?" Ace muttered while he continued to examine the cupcake. 

"Nothing's weirder than stalking a girl who's literally on the next seat," Xander commented and shrugged.

"Say what-"

"Well, what're you waiting for, Ace? Give it to her..." Maxine cut in, pinching their big-mouthed idiot of a friend at the same time and earning a small yelp from him.

"Oh, and don't tell her it's from us."

Thinking that Winter needs more attention at the moment, Ace decided to let them off the hook and do as they told him to. He let out a sigh before he turned to the other side, calm and collected. His friends watch in anticipation as he pulls out some smooth move - he silently places the cupcake on her desk and gently slides it in front of her, making her perk up in surprise.

"You can have it, Winter. Just take it slow. I know you're pretty busy, but you ought to enjoy what's before you. No need to burn yourself out..." he said like the eloquent gentleman he was, unknowingly impressing his friends. 

"Also, you can talk to me anytime. I'll help you out whenever you need it."

While Xander and Courtney wanted to give Ace a round of applause for being able to play it cool, Maxine tried her hardest not to chime in and tease him as much as she wanted. They're quite satisfied by such a good performance, but they didn't expect that they'd also get something from Winter herself. To their surprise, she accepted the cupcake without a second thought and unwrapped it with care before she split it into half. 

Then, with a smile they didn't know she could do, she held out the other portion to him.

"Thanks, Ace. We can share it if you like..." Winter offered, surprising Ace and the others.

"You did pay for that one back at the coffee shop before. Though I'm not really returning the favor with this, let's enjoy what's before us. I'll treat you to something else next time."

Their audience was both astonished and dumbfounded to hear this. 

The message is as plain as day - they already went out together before. Right when they thought he was still not stepping up his game, he had actually went and hit the base where he'd take her to a date. Learning about this did nothing but fan the flames even more. Now, without the two of them knowing, they're in for a fuss they never asked for.

"Well then, my beloved idiots..." Courtney told Maxine and Xander, smiling a scheming smile all the while.

"Seems like there's much work to do for prom night. Shall we go and play matchmakers?"

---  

Just as Winter thought, she would be late for her meeting with Marcellus and George - more than half an hour late, to be exact.

Claude was the one who picked her up from school and brought her to their meeting place, which she found to be one lavish venue with its upscale setting and spruce-looking employees. It's a fancy restaurant with private rooms for closed-door discussions and restricted sessions. She met up with them in one of those rooms, and there, she saw them having a conversation of their own as they waited.

"I'm very sorry for taking too long, Sir George and Sir Lexington..." Winter apologized as she settled down on the seat across from Marcellus and George.   

"I'll just make this as short as possible."

"Oh, it's okay, Ms. Winter. You can take all the time that you need," George reassured her - but she knew that this was not the impression she should leave on him, so she had to be professional and take responsibility for her tardiness.

"Thank you, Sir. But it's alright. I've come here more than prepared."

Whether his act of consideration was because Marcellus was there with them or not, she could not take advantage of his kindness. This is serious business, after all. She had to be accountable for her actions, and she must act like the adult they probably was not expecting her to be.

"Shall I start with the discussion then, gentlemen?"

Winter meant what she said - she's more than prepared.

She started off with a sensible introduction, which consisted of her explaining everything she knew and understood about the Ratri's latest project as well as the guides that George allowed her to get access to. From there, she proceeded with the trend analysis, which is the process of looking at current trends in order to predict future ones. She then get on with forming a comparative analysis between her research and the undisclosed business that the Ratri's were about to open up.

Through it all, Marcellus and George were silent.

Until the very end, they didn't say anything at all.

'Woah, talk about nerve-wracking. This reminds me of the first time I discussed in front of the board of directors...' Winter thought to herself.

'Or perhaps, this is more nerve-wracking. They're the CEO's of the country's largest companies, after all.'  

Still, she stayed confident of herself.

She has the knowledge of the future, after all. And she made sure that she discussed all the ideas that the Minerva Foundation most probably stole from the Ratri Order. This way, she gave the Ratri's what were supposed to be theirs in the first place. She'd just let the Minerva's get bamboozled once they learned that they already figured out what they're planning.

Scattered on the table before them were the research papers and analytical reports that she took pride in - and there she sat still, towering over her investment for the future that she wanted to created. 

"May I ask something, Ms. Winter...?" George chimed in at long last, making Winter and Marcellus look at him. 

"Why haven't you thought of starting a business before?"