Chapter 499 - Orion Enterprise annual meeting (12)

Announcer waited for the crowd to calm down a bit before approaching Felix.

Sarah, JoAnna, Aiden and Jeff stepped to the side, leaving Felix in the spotlight.

"I wish we move to front and record this.", JoAnna whispered to Sarah.

"It is being recorded… don't worry… just watch…", Sarah whispered back.

They were excited to watch, curious to see what will happen next. This is where their plan ended: they win the game, while Venus ladies are watching from the stage; they hand over picking of dancing partner to Felix. The rest was up to Felix. They know he will pick Sophia, but they don't know how he will do it. JoAnna and Sarah held their breaths.

Announcer was happy to see everyone excited. It's always good to work with an enthusiastic crowd. He didn't miss the opportunity to raise the atmosphere by few notches. "Director Martin gets to pick a lady from the audience!", he exclaimed and turned to Felix. "Don't forget, she needs to be an employee… Do you have someone on your mind?"

Everyone silently anticipated Felix's answer.

He answered with a small nod.

"Is that someone you work with? Do you see her often? Can you give us some hints?", Announcer was building up the suspense.

Felix smiled, "Yes. We work in the same building, so I get to see her, but not as often as I would like to." His voice laced with French accent filled up the space as his eyes moved through the audience, and he even threw a glance at three ladies from Venus team who were still standing on the stage.

Samantha was sure that he was talking about her… somehow, it had to be her. She almost walked up to Felix, but Denise pulled her back.

Announcer noticed that Felix's words are hinting that there is something more. "Oh? It seems you have feelings for this lady?"

Felix smiled and confirmed. "Yes. Since I've seen her first time, in the elevator… I can't get her out of my mind."

Everyone was silent. It seemed that no one is breathing.

Announcer glanced at his audience and felt like he found a gold mine. He was regretting that this is not live TV. He would have great ratings! "Are you confessing your love?"

"I'm afraid that words are not enough to convey strength of my feelings." His deep voice carried words with French accent, and made number of females go 'Ahh…' and 'Ohh…' from excitement.

There was a thump sound in the back of the crowd. Either something heavy was dropped, or someone fainted.

No matter how you look at it, this public confession is too romantic. Who is the woman he is talking about? They hoped that it's them… But what if… Can it be the CEO? There are rumors that two of them are together… but if they are together, how come they didn't play in the same team? If he is so romantic, would he join a team without her? Not possible… It's not her.

Announcer felt that tension in the room is too much, all these women are trembling from anticipation to hear more. He could not delay any longer, the time is right: "Are you ready to reveal who the lucky lady is?"

Felix glanced at the announcer. He easily hopped off the stage and walked toward Sophia in steady steps while people parted, making way for him. Felix spoke in the microphone: "I am the lucky one. Lucky to know her… Lucky to have her in my life… Lucky that she accepted my unconditional love and agreed to spend the rest of her life with me." He was in front of Sophia who was looking at him while holding her breath. Felix extended his arm toward Sophia, palm up, bowing slightly. "Will you grant me the honor of your next dance?" He smiled, revealing his dimples, while his blue eyes didn't move from her brown ones.

Sophia returned his smile and responded with a small nod while placing her hand in his.

Everyone was dazed, processing what happened. Felix's words were like oil on top of water, not sinking in, and not mixing with their knowledge of how things should be.

Felix gave microphone to a random person who was standing nearby, and walked with Sophia toward the middle of the dance area.

Announcer made few steps back and signaled DJ to start music previously picked for this dance. It was picked by Samantha from Venus team, a slow song.

Samantha regretted her song choice when she saw that she is not the one dancing.

Soft music started and Felix pulled Sophia in his embrace.

"How was that?", his confident smile told her that he knows already.

"Perfect." Sophia was not able to stop smiling. Now everyone in company knew that two of them are engaged, just like she wanted. And she was in his embrace. There is no other place she would rather be.

They started moving following the beat of the music.

At this time some people started clapping, and it didn't take much for others to join in. Soon, most of the people clapped and commented on what happened in last few minutes. Men admired such an open public display of affection, and women could not deny that it was very romantic. Number of women wished to swap with Sophia, but there is nothing they could do except to watch, and clap. After that they will go and get a drink, or two, to make themselves feel better.

Felix and Sophia gazed into each other's eyes while moving as one. They didn't notice anyone around them. It was just the two of them in the world.

They didn't notice three ladies from Venus team stumble off the stage. Defeated.

They didn't notice that Sarah and Aiden as well as JoAnna and Jeff joined them in dancing.

David was watching from the side. He admired his Boss. He had to admit that this was done in style.

On the second floor, Stella and Edward watched their daughters dancing on the big screen. Stella was pleasantly surprised when Edward extended his arm to her and asked for a dance.

Leah was happy that it all turned out well. The scavenger hunt was not canceled, so resources and effort were not wasted. Cheaters didn't win… and Sophia even got her dance with Felix.

Leah looked around and could not spot Isabella. She went to find her. It took her some time to locate the petite redhead.

When Leah's eyes landed on Isabella, she froze.

Isabella was sitting at the far away table with a young man. They had drinks in front of them, beer from the tap, it seems. Two of them looked friendly with each other.

Leah felt constriction in her chest while observing Isabella and that man smiling at each other. She turned around and headed back, regretting that she came to look for Isabella. 'What was I expecting?', she exhaled. Subconsciously, she frowned while trying to suppress the image of Isabella and that man from her mind.

Leah saw that Sophia is still dancing with Felix and estimated that this is third or maybe fourth song since they started dancing. 'It seems that everything is well on that side.'

She moved to make sure other events are progressing as expected.