Is this destiny?

~ Los Angeles, White corp. annual meeting ~

Thursday, October 24, 2:02 PM

The venue used for White corp. annual meeting is a coliseum which is an outdoor sports stadium.

Expansive stage is on the ground level, and seats are circling it with each row going higher with VIP lounges suspended all the way on the top.

There is more than ten thousand attendees present (in person), and more than a hundred thousand people are watching the live stream.

Three MCs are on the stage, firing up the audience by announcing all the famous bands and celebrities which will come to entertain them in-between presentations. The MCs are members of a popular boy band and a lot of young female (and some male) employees are screaming at every move the MCs are making (and they are moving a lot).

Sarah and Aiden entered the VIP lounge which is located above all \'regular seats\'.

From the open side (enclosed in the glass) which is facing the venue, the VIP lounge provides a great view of the venue, including the seats and the stage below.

VIP lounge offers comfortable seating, an open bar and a huge TV screen which streams live whatever is happening on the stage.

Sarah\'s attention got drawn to the corner of the VIP lounge where the bags with freebies are located. She slowly inched toward that corner while greeting people on her way.

Sophia, Felix, Bridgette, and Elanor are on the oversized sofa which can easily fit more than twelve people. They are talking about Sophia\'s pregnancy. Both Bridgette and Elanor lit up when they heard that Sophia and Felix still didn\'t decide on a name. That means two of them can make suggestions!

Oscar and Steve are seated at the bar and engaged in a discussion while looking at the data on the laptop, probably something related to today\'s event.

JoAnna and Jeff are standing almost at the middle of the room. She is fixing Jeff\'s necktie.

"Shouldn\'t you be down there?", Aiden asked Jeff. He knows that after MC\'s are done with introductions, Jeff is the one who should be on the stage to start up the event.

"Yes. I\'m going in a minute.", Jeff responded to Aiden and turned to JoAnna. "Thank you for your help. I don\'t know how I would do it without you.", he pulled JoAnna into his embrace and kissed her.

"Hmph!", Oscar grumbled from the side. "Ungrateful."

"Let him be.", Elanor reminded Oscar.

"How can I let him be?", Oscar complained. "I\'m working on this for weeks while he is enjoying his life! Did I get a thank you? Is it possible that we are responsible for raising such an ungrateful child?"

Oscar looked at Jeff and his eyes widened in horror. He leaped off from the barstool and took a step back at the sight of Jeff walking toward him with arms extended for a hug and lips puckered, ready for a kiss.

"What are you doing?", Oscar was outraged.

"You wanted a \'thank you\'.", Jeff explained. "This is how I say my thanks…" Jeff puckered his lips again and made another step toward Oscar.

"You...! I don\'t want your thanks!", Oscar screamed while backing away from Jeff. How can his son be this shameless? Is this even his son?

Jeff slowly lowered his arms while his puckered lips shifted to a pout.

"If dad doesn\'t want it, I will.", JoAnna stood in front of Jeff and got on her toes to steal a kiss. "I will not allow any of your kisses to go wasted."

Jeff wrapped his arms around JoAnna and made a noise of approval. "Mmm… all my \'thanks\' are only for you. You appreciate them and they are not wasted." He glanced at Oscar. "Don\'t ask again why I\'m not thanking YOU for anything."

A minute later, Jeff headed out of the VIP lounge without addressing any of Oscar\'s silent questions.

Oscar looked around at the people present and could not believe it. Did Jeff just make fun on his account? Was it so difficult just to say: \'Thank you, dad\'? What was that with a hug and a kiss? Did Jeff make a joke?!

Sophia and Felix were laughing from the back together with Sarah and Aiden, and Elanor hid her laugh behind a cough. Steve and Bridgette pretended not to notice what is happening inside the VIP lounge.

Sarah is amazed to see how much JoAnna changed Jeff. If she didn\'t know Jeff before he met JoAnna, she would not understand how stiff he was before and how much of a miracle is each joke that comes out of Jeff.

Sarah happily went through the bag with goodies. The bag itself is a leather backpack with a White corp. logo on it, and inside is other branded merchandise: a t-shirt, a baseball hat, several notebooks with pencils, a coffee mug which will keep the beverage warm, a water bottle which keeps liquid chilled… Sarah grinned while going through this. Everyone likes freebies.

Of course, full backpack comes only for the people in the VIP lounge.

Besides this one, few more VIP lounges are occupied with most valuable partners of White corp. Jeff will go and greet those people with Oscar later.

People seated in regular seats need to make an effort in order to get access to freebies, which are offered at different locations through the venue. There are several thousands of each of the items, and they are available on a first-come first-served basis. That is why Marcus told Alexander not to be late. Latecomers might end up empty handed.

JoAnna sat next to Sarah and excitedly nudged her to pay attention to the TV. It\'s Jeff\'s turn to give a speech and officially start the event.

Sarah saw JoAnna\'s pass. "Guest? I thought you are an employee."

JoAnna glanced at the pass hanging around her neck. "I will officially start on Monday."

Sarah was happy. "OK. Good. We should meet for lunch."

"We are coming to office on Monday?", Aiden was surprised. They usually work remotely and coming to office is… more work. Besides dressing up they need to interact with other people and behave. Aiden prefers when two of them work from home… in their pajamas… or without the pajamas.

"I didn\'t say Monday. It can be any day. But my sister is starting to work at White corp., and we should support her.", Sarah explained and added. "And she should treat us lunch."

JoAnna rolled her eyes. Why is her sister shamelessly asking for a free lunch?

They all sat on the sofa and watched Jeff\'s speech from the large TV screen. Looking directly down is good in order to experience the atmosphere, but the stage is too far away. TV is a much better option to see the speaker and what is happening on the stage.

JoAnna\'s eyes sparkled. Her man is super-handsome even on the TV, and his deep voice is mesmerizing.

JoAnna frowned at the thought that thousands of female employees might be thinking exactly the same as she is. JoAnna is happy that she will work at White corp. because that will give her an opportunity to keep an eye on that magnet for women (aka her husband).

JoAnna completely forgot that Jeff has a history which is devoid of female companionship. But it can\'t hurt to make sure no woman gets funny ideas.

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