Chapter 113

113 D-Day

“I think we are overall very ready for the presentation tomorrow. Just like the other years, we’re given roughly 15 minute to present the storyline and the storyboard. The 15 minutes also includes a couple of minutes to address questions that the committee members may have,” Richard explained sternly.

“We should be fine with what we have. We’ve reiterated on it so many times, I’m honestly quite sick of it. Let’s get tomorrow’s presentation over and done with so we can move on to the next phase. The detailed planning should be exciting and so will the actual production,” Ace said with a nod of his head.

It as true that we reiterated the storyboard many times. Since Ace provided his first round of feedback while we were in my bed together, the storyboard went through minor changes here and there based on his second round of feedbacks and suggestions from the other team members. Somehow, with

Jeremy’s help, we were able to get everything right at the end. Everyone worked extremely hard on their part.

Richard was right. We were very ready for the presentation tomorrow.

Come what may. I was certain that our storyboard would pass with flying colors.

“Before we end this meeting so we can all get some sleep for the night. Julianna has some updates on last minute logistics for tomorrow’s event,” Ace said before gesturing with his hand towards where Julianna was seated.

She cleared her throat as if she was about to make a very important announcement before she started speaking.

“The agenda for the meeting tomorrow is the same as always. There will be an opening speech from the committee’s representative and then the presentations from the various contending companies will start immediately. For that, I am going to share on the screen the presentation sequence that has been decided for the meeting tomorrow,” Julianna announced.

.....

All eyes were on the screen and suddenly, it seemed like the pressure in the room had increased substantially. A few seconds later, the empty presentation transformed into a table listing company names in sequence for the presentation tomorrow.

My eyes immediately landed on our company’s name, and I bet that the other team members did exact same thing. Out of around twenty companies, we were fifth. My eye widened when my eyes shifted to the name of our biggest competitor in the market and for this competition: Chase Creatives.

The name of our largest competitor was just above our company’s name. It seemed like we were set to present right after them. I had no idea if this was intentional or not, but it seemed like our work will be compared side-by-side right off the bat.

“It is what it is...” Richer murmured darkly.

It seemed like it wasn’t just me that had realized that we were schedule to present right after Chase Creatives. I had no idea how much this would impact our presentation or if at all. However, the members in the room seemed to tense up a little at this new piece of information.

“Relax. The presentation order doesn’t matter. What matters is the quality of what is going to be presented. Have a little more confidence in yourself and your work, will you?” Ace spoke up before he smiled with confidence.

Ace’s words truly felt motivating and reassuring at the same time. I could feel the tension leave my body and the atmosphere in the room lightened a little. It wouldn’t be much longer before we got to see the result of our hard work.

“Jeremy, can you stay behind for a bit?” Ace asked.

Jeremy didn’t seem surprised to be requested to stay behind and he just nodded his head in acknowledgement. After that the meeting was dismissed and we were all told to call it a day so that we could get adequate rest for the presentation tomorrow.

...

**First Pitch Presentation Day**

The moment that we got off the company’s bus, I was awestruck by how large the venue was. I’ve seen this venue and the inside of it various times before on television, but I had never been here. The other team members did not seem surprised by the sheer size and luxurious feel of the place. I guess that was to be expected, it wasn’t their first time here at all.

“Focus...” Richard hissed from behind me.

“Sorry...” I whispered back.

He must have sensed that I was focusing too much on our surroundings rather than the work at hand. It has been decided naturally that Ace would be the one presenting at this meeting. The man in question was nowhere to be seen and I wondered where he was. He’s not going to be late on such an important day, is he?

Suddenly, I started feeling extremely worried. Ace had insisted that I travel along with the other team members on the company’s bus after I met up with the other team member at the company’s headquarters. I’m his secretary and I don’t even know where he physically was right now. Does this mean that I just failed at my job?

I glanced at the watch on my wrist and found that the event was about to start. Even though, it wasn’t our turn to present yet, we were expected to be there at the start of the event in the auditorium hall. Ace knew that, and yet, he’s nowhere in sight.

“Let’s go. Stop spacing out,” Julianna said as she walked on ahead.

Everyone started following her into the building before she led us to the auditorium where the meeting was scheduled to take place. Although it was just the first round of presentations, I could feel the tension skyrocket in the air surrounding us when we entered the auditorium. Julianna seemed to know where our seats were, and she led us immediately to them.

I stared at the sign that bore our company’s name to label the area of our seats while my mind wondered where Ace was?

Maybe, I should give him a call. That was what I decided and what I did immediately after pulling out my phone.

–To be continued...