CALLA : BOOK II

6 : On Stage

"Can we have Allac representatives step up to the platform?"

                I was enjoying the little tuna horderves when Ben Carter made his announcement on the stage.

"What do you want to do?" Alex whispered.

"Just ignore it" I whispered back.

                No one had notice our presence since we arrived. I had hoped to remain in the background until the very end.

"Ah, there you are Calla!"

                Ben Carter smiled widely when he spotted me in the far back. Everyone followed the direction of his eyes and finger. All of a sudden, more than 100 pairs of eyes turned to me.

"Still want to ignore it?" Alex whispered teasingly.

Would anyone notice if I punch my CEO in the face?

"Don't be shy, Calla. Come up on stage"

                Will anyone care if I punch Ben Carter in the face?

"Let's go"

                Alex stood up with a smile and held out his arm for me to take. With a defeated sigh, I stood and placed my hand on his arm.

"Mr. Carter"

                I gave Ben Carter an icy smile when I got up on the stage. He knew I had wanted to remain anonymous when it comes to Allac, but by calling me up on stage as Allac's representative, he pretty much made everyone there questioned my role in the company.

"I have no part in this" Mason Banks leaned over to me to whisper with clear hesitation.

"You're involved by affiliation" I didn't care if he had a part in it or not.

He can only blame his choice in friends.

"Why don't you introduce yourselves" Ben Carter held the wireless microphone to my face.

"Calla"

"Calla what?" He purposely baited with a grin.

                If my smiles get any colder, the man could have freeze to death.

"Calla Lind"

                I could hear the gasp and awe in the crowd. My family name is very well known after all. Plus, my older sister did just stood on the same stage an hour ago. Before Ben Carter said anything else, Mason Banks quickly held his microphone to the smiling Alex beside me.

"How about you?"

"Alexander Locke" Alex smiles was all business.

                Again, the crowd was startled. They knew the name Alexander Locke. It was no secret that the CEO of the infamous Allac is Alexander Locke. While he had done several high profile magazine interviews, none of the article showed any picture of him. Seeing him onstage, no one expected Allac's CEO to be that young and that good looking.

"Calla and Alexander is our next challenger everyone!" Ben Carter spoke to the crowd, causing everyone to applaud."So are you two confident in winning the game?"

                Seriously, would anyone care if I punch Ben Carter in the face?

"I don't know, what do you think Alex?" I turned to the man beside me. "Confident?"

                Alex's smiles said it all. I turned back to the two hosts, but instead of Ben Carter, I look at Mason Banks. The man was smart enough to understand the meaning of my cold smile and quickly grabbed his co-host off the stage after wishing us good luck.

"Try to have some fun will you?" Alex leaned over to me and whispered. "The game does look interesting. Doesn't hurt to try it out"

                Alex was right of course. Cooling my temper, I waited for the lights in the room to dim down.