"Was it possible he liked boys, or was he just possibly suspicious of her?" Zoe wondered as she got into a cab.
She glanced down when her phone started ringing, and it was a call from her father again.
"Hey pumpkin, I hope you're on your way home?" Chairman Jiang asked in a whisper.
"Yes, I am. Is there a problem?" Zoe asked with a frown.
"Your mother is here, and I just told her you left the office for home already. Make sure you get home before us. We are about to leave the office. I only excused myself to make this call," Chairman Jiang said.
"Thanks, Dad. I love you," Zoe said. She was deeply touched that her father was going through so much stress to help her actualize her dreams.
She wasn't going to allow that crazy person, whoever he was, to put her father's efforts to waste.
"I love you too, pumpkin. See you later," Chairman Jiang said before disconnecting the call.
Zoe dropped by the departmental store she had dressed up earlier and quickly changed into her gown before going back to the house.
***********
"Sir, Aren't you going to the welcome party with Miss Grace anymore?" His personal assistant, who was already tired and needed to go out on a date, asked.
Wang Tae-Joon raised his head from the document he was going through and realized it was already late. "What's the time?" He asked, disoriented.
"It's 7 pm already, sir," His personal assistant answered, hoping that would be the last question.
"You can leave now," Tae-Joon said dismissively to his personal assistant, who happily left him.
He stood up and looked outside his window. Chairman Jiang had said Grace was having a kind of personality disorder. Was that responsible for all the changes? Or did she actually like girls even before now?
He buttoned his suit jacket before leaving the office with his briefcase. Immediately he got into his car he dropped his suitcase in the back seat of the car and picked up his phone.
He realized Grace had sent him a text telling him the venue for the welcome party. He dropped his phone on his lap before driving off.
*************
"What are you doing?" Grace asked under her breath when she noticed the way Ann was already drinking and the party was yet to start.
"C'mon, you should loosen up a bit," Ann said, giggling in a way that made the other staff look at her with interest.
"Stop that. You're embarrassing me," Grace pleaded under her breath.
"It's just for tonight anyway. You said you want to tell your family the truth. I'm sure they will figure out a way to correct it. So can you at least allow me to have fun tonight?" Ann asked under her breath, making the others wonder what sort of conversation they were having.
"Let's make a toast to the new employee in our midst," One of the young men said, raising his glass of wine.
"To Miss Peters," He said, and the others echoed after him.
"Someone should sing for us," Ann suggested making them look at each other uncomfortably.
"Okay fine. Everyone has to sing. I'll take the lead," Ann said, making Grace shamefully cover her face. How was she going to live her life after all of this if Ann was bent on humiliating her?
Ann stood up and walked up to the stage. She picked up the microphone and tapped it, and she smiled as she thought of the song she was to sing.
"She's so much more beautiful when she smiles like this," A lady said in admiration.
"She's acting so different and cute lately," Another said.
"She seems more human now," The young man who had offered the toast said.
Grace tried not to glare at them as she listened to them. "How did you get to work for her?" Someone dared to ask.
"I was curious too. She really doesn't like people being so close to her. Are you related to her?" Another asked.
Grace simply smiled without saying a word. Even though it was annoying, she was beginning to realize that she could actually make the best of this opportunity. It wasn't every day you got to hear directly what people thought of you right in front of you.
"Clock strikes upon the hour
And the sun begins to fade
Still enough time to figure out
How to chase my blues away
I've done alright up to now."
Everyone turned to face Ann the moment they heard her voice. Ann almost turned back just to be sure she was the one singing cause that voice wasn't anything like her own.
Just then, Tae-Joon stepped into the hall and paused when he saw her on the stage singing.
"Oh, I wanna dance with somebody
I wanna feel the heat with somebody
Yeah, I wanna dance with somebody
With somebody who loves me."
Everyone joined in the chorus and clapped as she danced to the tune.
Grace, who was actually feeling entertained, watched herself perform in amazement. She was feeling too entertained to be angry with Ann.
Ann pointed to Tae-Joon as she sang and walked down to his side to dance with him.
Tae-Joon couldn't believe Grace was actually this easygoing and lively. He smiled despite himself and moved to the rhythm of the song along with her.
When the chorus finally ended, everyone stood up to applaud her as she returned to her seat.
"You sing really well," Tae-Joon told her as they waited for the next person to walk to the stage.
"Miss Ann? That should be you," They pointed at Grace expectantly while she looked at them, totally aghast.