Unexpected Encounter

Chapter 2

Charlotte's POV

It was Sunday afternoon, I was sitting in my living room while working on a presentation for a big meeting tomorrow in the afternoon. I had my glass of chai tea with me to keep myself focused. I was very much focused on my work when the front door of my house burst open and my five friends came in one after the other. 

"Are you serious? You are working? Come on everything is going to go well tomorrow, you are going to crush it. I don't understand why you keep stressing about it" says Heidi as soon as she sees me working.

"Yeah, Heidi is right Charlotte you need to relax. You know that stress doesn't help with your anxiety," says Marima as she sits on one of the couches of the living room

"Come on leave her alone if she thinks that working right now will help her to be ready for tomorrow I think she should do it. However, you should stop at some point because if not then you will start stressing," says Meena in a calm tone

"Charlotte I have seen firsthand all the work that you've put into this presentation and into this particular project. It is amazing, it is unique, and most of all you are going to help a lot of people with it. I know that it is important to you and it is okay to stress about it but trust me when I say that everything is as perfect as it can be," says Ice who is right next to me

"So are you guys finished with the sermon or do I have time to go back to the kitchen and make another sandwich," says Aoom as she walks into the living with a sandwich in hand

"I am so glad that you are making yourself at home by going into my kitchen and eating my food," I say sarcastically looking at Aoom

Everybody starts laughing about my comment. Then they stayed in silence for another 10 more minutes because they knew I needed that time to keep working. However, I knew that I couldn't continue working for much longer because they were right and because if not they would start eating all my food and making a mess of things just to get my attention.

I finally closed my computer and went towards them "Thank you for waiting for me. And you guys are right I have to trust that everything will be fine plus I know you guys are going to be with me tomorrow supporting me because you guys know that this company would not work without you guys. Hell, I wouldn't work without you guys." I say with a warm smile while looking at the five of them. 

"Okay, enough of the emotional moment. Let's go to the kitchen and make something delicious to eat," says Heidi

We all went to the kitchen and made something to eat between the five of us, we put everything on trays, went to the living room, and started to watch a movie. We took about 10 minutes to decide but we ended up choosing an action comedy movie called "Mr. and Mrs. Smith". 

The film ended and we started to clean up everything and went back to the kitchen. Luckily they had brought ice cream with them so we had something to eat as a dessert. While Aoom and Meena served Heidi and Marima washed the dishes and Ice went to the bathroom I decided to sneak out to see if something was missing from the presentation for tomorrow. 

I was doing just fine on checking that everything was okay and I was about to put everything away when somebody cleared their throat behind me which startled me. I looked behind me and the five of them were looking at me in a disapproving way. You know just like a mother would look at a child if they did something that they shouldn't.

"You are lucky we love you because if now we would have come sooner to take you away from your computer and hid it where you wouldn't be able to find it," said Marima with a disapproving tone.

"I know, I am sorry. I just figured that since all of you were busy and I had been relaxed for some time now I could come back to check if everything was okay or if I missed something." I said in a guilty tone.

"And was everything okay? Did you find any mistakes?" asked Aoom in an understanding tone, almost even a motherly tone.

"No there were no mistakes although I did add some stuff to the presentation," I said with a smile.

"Okay, this is what we are going to do because clearly you need this. You are going to present to us the project and we are even going to rehearse each of our parts so that you see for yourself that everything is going to go fine tomorrow," says Ice

I smile at her proposal because it is ironic that she comes up with this idea considering that she won't be presenting on Monday with us although she is going to be present because she is a big part of this company 

"You guys would do that for me?" I say in a pleading tone and with the best puppy eyes.

They all looked at one another, they knew that it would bring me peace, and even though they did not plan on spending Sunday night doing this they had no choice but to accept.

"Ugh... Fine, we will do it. You really are lucky that we love you." says Meena

We went to the living room and prepared for the presentation while we ate our ice creams. We went through it from beginning to end, along the way some questions arose and we were able to clarify them as we moved forward. This ended up helping me with my nerves and I realized that we had everything under control. 

"It wasn't that bad. You guys were right everything is going to go great tomorrow." I say with a smile.

"Yeah but don't get any ideas on doing this every time we have to present a new project," says Meena in a serious tone

I smile because Aoom and Meena are the ones with whom I work the most because they are always here and because they are in charge of the communications department of the company and therefore the foundation as well. Heidi and Marima are in charge of the legal department of the company and the foundation and because of that they travel a lot because the foundation is all over the country and they need to keep everything up to date with the protocols of not just the technological devices that we make but with the people that are benefited by them. Ice is the general secretary of the communications department and mine as well without her I would be a mess. She sometimes is my bodyguard when I am in public events which I am thankful for because sometimes those events can get out of hand and it definitely doesn't help with my anxiety.

"I know don't worry. I respect your need for work-free time. But you guys know that I am not usually like this. You guys know that this is different, if the project gets approved the foundation will grow even more and we will be able to help a lot of people and therefore the company will grow too." I say in a serious tone

"Yeah we know, why do you think that we came back early from our trip?" says Heidi

"Yeah and why do you think we came here this afternoon?" says Meena

I smiled at my friends who clearly know me so well. To be honest, sometimes I don't understand how I got so lucky to have such supportive friends and how they stuck around after putting them through a lot. I wouldn't change them for anything in the world. 

"Thank you guys. That means a lot." I say

"What I still don't understand is why are you so nervous. I mean I get this is a great opportunity but it's not like you don't know the people to whom you will be delivering this project. I mean you've known them for a long time and they know who you are, and what you are made of. Clearly, this presentation is just a formality." says Aoom

"I have known P'Pang for 4 years, she has been there for me in ways that I can't even describe and you guys know it. Teresa May, I've met her a couple of times at public events but never in a professional environment like this one, although she is very lovely I must say that. Nawat has been a constant in my life for 6 years, he helped me grow professionally into the person I am today I owe a lot to him. I guess that tomorrow it's important because I want to make the three of them proud. After all, they have known me for a long time and I want to feel like I have earned this and they are not just giving it to me because of our history." I say in a sentimental tone

"Don't worry you are going to make them proud and not only them but your dad as well. You don't have to worry about us because we are already proud of you," says Marima while hugging me from the side which caused the other four to give me a group hug. 

Let's hope that everything goes well tomorrow.