Soon, the others arrived and the secretaries made their way into the bar and led Hannah to their VVIP booth as they call it. It had a large oval-shaped table in the middle with chairs arranged around it. The walls were painted black except for the transparent glass wall that allowed them to see outside of their booth. The booth was dimly lit with an amber glow that came from the ceiling.
The secretaries sat down on the chairs. Hannah was made to sit at the head of the table as she was the reason they were here, while Katherine and Dave sat on both her sides, with Lillian, who was still glaring at Hannah, sitting after Katherine.
One of the employees made their order and soon, the door of the booth opened and bottle after bottle was brought in. Hannah wondered if the employees would be able to finish all of it and she stared weirdly at them and the bottles.
Katherine, who was standing, saw the expression that Hannah adorned and laughed. "These are all for you. We will make sure that you have the best night of your life!" Katherine had her fist in the air as she spoke confidently and the other employees cheered loudly like children.
Hannah cringed at the loud noise and at this point, she was surprised that no one had come to tell them off yet. Or maybe the booth was sound proof but then again, they were at a bar…
No one was going to disturb them…
Hannah looked at the bottles, counting them with her eyes. There were about eighteen bottles on the table but the employees seated around the table were less than eighteen. Katherine had said that the bottles were all for her but Hannah wouldn't want to believe her.
"Okay, that's enough!" Katherine's loud voice raised higher than the cheering voices of the other employees and the room became silent immediately which Hannah was grateful for. "Let's begin". Katherine declared with her hands spread out dramatically on both sides and the secretaries cheered louder than before. There was even a drum roll this time.
Just what on earth is wrong with these people, Hannah thought.
When Katherine said, 'let's begin', the employees stood up and Hannah wondered what they were going to do next.
One by one, the employees took a bottle each and poured the content into the glasses arranged in front of Hannah. Katherine spoke in a serious tone, "Let's begin the ritual".
Hannah looked curiously at the secretaries as they now had solemn expressions like something serious was about to happen. It was really weird.
Noticing the curiosity that Hannah could not contain, Dave, who was on her right, bent down and whispered with a small laugh, "This is just to welcome you to the group. Just think of it as an initiation ceremony. I was scared back then too".
Initiation ceremony? Hannah was alarmed and her eyes widened like her eyeballs were about to pop out. The last time she heard something like this was when she first joined the gang. Though it had been a long time, she still had nightmares about that day. The pain she felt was still fresh in her mind, making goosebumps break out on her pale skin. Even her face had turned pale by now.
Were these secretaries going to do the same thing to her? What kind of sick mentality was that?
Hannah was about to stand up and leave the room before she would lose her temper and end up knocking out one of the employees when a glass was suddenly held out to her face, startling Hannah for a brief second. When she raised her head, she saw the other secretaries stretching out their hands, holding glasses to her face. On top of that, all of them had oddly serious expressions on their faces with their eyes boring numerous holes in her body. Hannah suddenly felt threatened, like a small chick surrounded by hawks. They looked like they were going to maim her instead of offering her a drink.
It was a shocking sight!
Hannah jerked back as the strong scent of liquor invaded her nostrils. She swallowed and kept staring at them with a wary expression and subconsciously assumed a fighting stance. They looked like they wanted to behead her!
The secretaries burst out laughing at Hannah's expression and Hannah's heart finally calmed down. "Don't worry, we are not going to behead you". Katherine laughed, "You looked like you were about to flee. Don't be scared, we just want you to accept our glasses".
Hannah narrowed her eyes at that explanation. So they knew what they were doing. She must have looked like a fool. "I don't drink". Hannah deadpanned and she watched as the secretaries' smiles faltered. She was going to take revenge on them for scaring her like that.
"Oh come on. At least accept the drinks. Our hands can't hold up for much longer," said Lilian, with a condescending look.
"Mr. Miller wouldn't be happy if skip work tomorrow because of a hangover. What do you think would happen if he finds out that you guys brought me here to get drunk". Hannah retorted and the secretaries withdrew their hands and sat down silently. Even Lilian was quiet now and she gritted her teeth in anger.
Hannah enjoyed the silence for a while and noticed how true Camden's words are. Just a mention of Axel's name and everyone behaves right.
How nice.
After five minutes of silence, Hannah noticed that none of the secretaries attempted to speak. It was clear that Katherine wanted to speak but she would part her lips and close them back like a fish.
Hannah cleared her throat audibly. She was starting to feel guilty. Maybe she went too far by mentioning Axel's name. "You…you guys can continue with what you have planned".
The secretaries turned to her with stars in their eyes. Their expressions loudly screamed 'thanks' to Hannah's face.
For a moment, they were scared that Hannah would get angry and report them to Mr. Miller. For all they knew, she might turn out to be the head of their department very soon.
"Okay… as you wish". Katherine stuttered making Hannah more guilty. Katherine used to speak without any restraints and now she was stuttering.
This is all her fault. No, it wasn't her fault! If Axel wasn't so scary then the employees wouldn't be so scared at the mention of his name! Yes, it was all Axel's fault, only his!
Hannah pushed the blame onto Axel and her guilt slowly disappeared.
Meanwhile, Axel was working in his office with Camden behind him when he suddenly sneezed loudly.
"What's wrong?" Camden asked, "are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine". Axel replied, wondering who was thinking bad about him. But then again, he had so many enemies, so he discarded the thought and continued working.