Nova hoped that her relaxed smile and borrowed outfit would hide the truth about her being an outsider. It was a simple company dinner but all she could see were big names, people that she had only seen on screen and in credits of movies.
Would Levi even be eligible for this dinner event? Sure he worked at the headquarters but he only worked in the IT department, which was far beneath editorial and production.
The first person that walked up to them was a tall man with blond hair and a bleached smile, he wore a gold suit that made him stand out like a lamp.
"Roan!" He called familiarly, offering a hand, "I was beginning to think you wouldn't show."
Nova quietly watched their interaction, catching herself staring at Roan more often. She never paid attention to it before but when Roan spoke to the strange man, he had a detached look on his face, his voice lacking warmth.
The man didn't even look like he noticed this lackluster response to his enthusiastic greeting, he nodded politely to Nova, called out to someone else, and excused himself.
Roan must have noticed her blatant staring, because he leaned closer to her with a slanted smile, "Is there something on my face?"
Nova looked away, flustered, "N-No, sorry-"
"Don't apologize," Roan calmly cut her off, quietly leading her to a table set on a dais.
The ballroom was divided into parts, one had the tables and chairs. The black tablecloths set off a nice backdrop for the dim silver lights from hanging chandeliers.
There was an open space in one corner, right next to a wet bar for guests to socialize freely without furniture being in the way.
Nova noticed that although a lot of people had their eyes on them, only one person approached Roan. It was only when he pulled out a chair for her to sit, did a man walked over, he had graying dark hair and a friendly smile.
"Welcome, Mr. Reyes," He said politely, offering his hand to Roan. Then he turned to Nova with something like concern in his eyes, "The same goes to you, Miss uh…"
"Nova," Roan completed, his voice hard.
The man had been drifting closer to her, perhaps to shake her hand as well but he straightened up at Roan's voice, stepping back.
"I apologize on behalf of Lance, he's talented but a little slow." The older man spoke quietly, "The event is progressing on schedule but…" He hesitated like he wasn't sure he should speak, "I'll have to encourage you to do some socializing-"
"I know, Astor," Roan dryly replied.
"And a good number of employees are terrified of you - not Lance," He was quick to add, "So I'll also encourage you to be less intense."
+
Roan wanted his second-in-command to stop talking, uninterested in being babysat. "I always do what I want, Astor." He said, unimpressed.
The COO of Reyes Media knew when he had crossed a line, and although he was easily twice as old as Roan Reyes, the young CEO commanded respect. "Got it, sir."
"Are the arrangements in order?" Roan asked, his gaze steady.
Realization clicked in Astor Gregory's sharp eyes, "They are, I'll notify you when it's time." He nodded, walking off.
Roan turned his attention to Nova, noticing that she had gotten distracted by the view of the ballroom while he conversed with Astor and he would rather have her attention all to himself, "Would you like a drink?"
+
Nova turned around at this to see Roan staring at her from across the table, a candelabra that was a work of art separating them. She was wary of being left all alone at such a big function, even more than she was worried about having Roan be the one to get her a drink.
Although there had been no lack of waiters in the foyer, there were none in the ballroom, no doubt it wasn't yet time for the dinner part of the event.
"C-Can I come with you?" She asked nervously.
"I had no intention of leaving you behind," Roan rose to his feet and she did the same.
She reached for her purse that he had placed on the table to have something to clutch, holding tightly to Roan's offered hand. All her preparations to be the wife of a CEO weren't enough to give her enough confidence to flawlessly get through this event, and although she had been searching constantly, she still hadn't seen the main reason she was invited to the company dinner.
The moment they stepped on the open floor, people gravitated towards them, this included Nova's worst nightmare, having to interact with another lady.
A couple moved in their direction, a bored-looking man with dead eyes, and a woman in a sequined dress and a bright expression. Her red hair was loud just like everything about her.
"You certainly know how to throw a party, Mr. Reyes." She beamed at Roan, offering her hand to him first.
"I hardly had a hand in it," He replied bluntly, shaking her hand although she had blatantly held out her gloved hand for a kiss.
Her bright smile didn't dim at this, "I was telling Daniel that you would be coming with company and he called me a liar, didn't I Daniel?"
Nova watched on as the tall lanky man glanced down at the lady and then make a non-committal sound, tense now that the conversation her shifted to her.
"Won't you introduce your date to us, Mr. Reyes?" She asked earnestly, "Even as employees working right beside you, we know nothing of your personal life."
Nova was learning a lot about Roan from the company dinner, well as much as people who knew next to nothing about the enigma could tell her.
"I'm Nova," She introduced herself with a gracious smile, "It's a pleasure to meet you."
The lady looked shocked that Nova had been the one to speak, glancing at Roan like she expected a rebuttal from him, when none came she drifted closer to her.
"The pleasure is all mine. I'm Mia and this is my husband, Daniel, we're both managing directors in the same company, odd I know… but…" Mia finally paused, her bright smile looking forced now. "Strangely, I've never seen you before-"
Right in the middle of the loud lady's lengthy introduction, Roan led them away, cutting her off.