Chapter 6: Tension at the Table

Bella

"This is unbelievable. Please try to pinch me, Kris," I uttered as I scrolled through my cellphone.

We were now on our way to dinner when I decided to check if I really did well enough for our segment to hit the highest rating, and what I'm seeing are a bunch of articles talking about my newscasting yesterday.

Kristoff suddenly stopped the car and touched my hair. "Instead of pinching you," he said and then pulled a strand of my hair.

"That's itchy," I complained as I scratched my head.

"Better itchy than hurt," he chuckled.

He continued driving until we reached the meet-and-greet restaurant where they also sell alcoholic drinks along with variants of food.

"I thought we wouldn't be able to drink," I uttered out of excitement.

"Well, I guess we're lucky, but not that much," Kris commented.

"What do you mean?" I wondered.

"I heard the CEO's coming too. Not completely sure, but he says he will. Isn't he too old for that?" He slightly tilted his head as he said that.

So, he wasn't aware as well? That Alex is taking over the company?

I tried telling him a couple of times this afternoon, but how come I didn't get to? He would be really shocked if he saw him. Or maybe not? In fact, we're not really sure if he's going to attend. Given his busy schedule, and this place doesn't suit a very classy man like him.

We headed inside, and to my surprise, he's already there, sitting at the end of the table along with a familiar-looking woman, who seems to get along with him really well.

"Our star is here!" Our senior producer greeted me.

I just gave them a smile and then walked my way to the vacant chair, Kristoff sat beside me. We were almost at the front of where Alex is sitting, glad we're not sitting exactly in the place where we had to face him.

"Why is he here?" I heard Kristoff utter loud enough for me to hear it.

"Sorry I didn't get to tell you, but he will be taking over the company from now on," I whispered in his ear.

Kristoff couldn't move his eyes off from him, and he looks as if he's glaring at him, so I pinched his right arm. "Hey, don't look at him. Let's just enjoy the night."

We spent an hour drinking and them congratulating me for contributing to the highest rating. I'm not exactly sure why I happened to be the cause of it, but the articles and comments show that they were amazed at how I deliver the news. Some say they never saw me do newscasting ever since, assuming I am new to the field and complimented me for nailing it for the first time.

Alex being here? It doesn't seem awkward though, except for the times that I would catch him looking at me, or maybe glaring at me and would not even dare to withdraw his look even though we caught each other's eye.

After a few more minutes, Alex stood up and said goodbye as he said he would have some late-night dinner somewhere with the woman linking arms with him. It's not even that late though, it's only 8 PM, so I assume they would really rather spend the night with each other than here.

'Is she the woman he married? The one his mother told me about?' I wondered to myself.

"Hey, are you okay?" Kristoff asked me. I nodded as a response.

An hour has passed, and it seems like they're not planning to leave yet. I didn't get to drink that much, same as Kristoff, who seemed to lose his cravings towards alcohol after seeing Alex.

I felt my phone in my vest pocket vibrating. I put it on that mode earlier so that I wouldn't miss any emergencies just in case something happens back home.

I went out to answer Nana's call, and she told me that Alliah is missing. Kristoff followed me when I went out and asked, "What is it, what happened?" He asked.

"Nana said Alliah is missing. We need to find her."

We both head to the car and search for wherever she could possibly go. Alliah is a smart kid; she even surprised us by going home by herself from school by riding a bus.

We searched for her everywhere, but we just couldn't find her.