“So you're Ava right?” 
Thelma jumped beside Orlando. She did not expect him to start a normal conversation with her, and as discussed with Kaycee she is not to engage in any conversation with the family but he was starting one.
‘act natural Thelma, just act natural’
“Er- yes- it is.” She replied with a convincing smile but Orlando was skeptical with her response.
“I asked if you were Ava?” He repeated in a gentle voice and leaned one of his hands across the table to take Thelma's laced fingers. “You seem nervous, why?” He asked after a pause.
“Ner- nervous? No, no I am not nervous. It’s just that I wasn’t expecting the crowd.” Thelma replied and looked away from his intense gaze to avoid the awkwardness she felt.
“Really? I thought you were used to the showbiz, you are a model... or maybe we-“ Orlando was suggesting for them to have some private discussion when the music stopped and the loud MC interrupted everyone.
“Ladies and gentlemen we are here to celebrate the retirement of our influential leader and mentor, Sir Ivan Senior as the CEO and owner of I ivan.co!!!!. And also! There is a surprise for every investor of this great partnership, a celebration and addition to this marvelous occasion where one of the Chester sons will take over the business."
There was a round of applause and cheering among the guests.
"But!- tonight we have the handsome, the toughest and most secretive Chester who has returned from his prodigal lifestyle to rejoin the family honor, please let’s welcome Orlando Ivan Chester!” The MC yelled over the microphone, and Orlando groaned with irritation in his voice. His eyes moved from the crowd to his parents and glared at them but they acted like nothing was happening.
Isaiah put on a cheerful smile and encouraged his son to come out with a glass of champagne lifted in his honor while Ruby gave her son a toothy grin.
“Darn it!.” Orlando muttered under his breath and stood up. For a second Thelma thought he would leave and she breathed out a sigh in relief, it was cut short when she noticed his hand stretched at her. “Shall we?” He requested.
Thelma looked at his hand and then at his face, there was a ghost smile on his lips that convinced her to slowly take his hand and they made their way to the stage. People cheered and clapped as they went. While some guys thought it would be nice to make inappropriate comments at Thelma
“Nice ass!” A random guy yelled and his fellow mates also joined in cheering her gorgeous figure. Orlando was furious and turned around to punch the idiots insulting her but there were too many people in the hall, finding those lunatics would be impossible else he broke every man's jaw.
“Is something wrong?” Thelma asked. She noticed Orlando was tensed and glared hostile at the audience.
“Just making sure nothing is wrong.” He answered with an iced tone and continued leading them up the stage. What bothered Orlando was the urge to beat up those men insulting Thelma, but he wondered why he felt the need to do that for a stranger he barely knew.
“And please welcome my friend, your friend, the better son and the people’s guy… Nicholas Hosea Chester!” The MC exclaimed after Orlando and Thelma stepped on the stage. People clapped and whistled a lot, some even threw money on the aisle Nicholas would walk on as a sign of worship.
Screams erupted inside the halls as Nick stood up from his seat at a different corner form the VIP section reserved for his family. Thelma wondered if he was actually Ivan senior son or just a representative because of his simple clothes and how well he mixed with regular people.
“And now I will create a poll, you guys will choose your candidate. But make sure you choose wisely. The rules are simple, red color is for Orlando and the blue is for Nick. Push the button when I say so, are you ready!” The MC asks the audience.
“Yes!” They all exclaim with excitement.
“Just to be clear, this is a fun game, your votes does determine who wins or loses are we cool?”
“Yeah!” The crowd shouted.
‘what sort of weird ceremony is this?’ Thelma pondered.
“Orlando Ivan Chester junior, please push the red button if you vote for him.” People pushed their buttons and she remembered the VIP tables lacked any voting buttons.
“Nicholas Hosea Chester, please hit the blue button if you vote for him.” Thelma saw a lot of people pressing buttons like a race, it was clear Nick was more liked than Orlando ‘but why?’ She wanted to know.
A smile found it way on her lips and her head turned to face Orlando who was already looking at her. Thelma tried reading those invincible eyes concealed by the dark shades, she wanted to know what he is thinking and what was giving him so much attention. Thelma couldn’t hold the stare anymore and looked away.
“Now let’s see how many votes we have here. Please display on the screen Nick Chester and Orlando Chester vote.” 
A big screen emerge from the top of the stage showing the votes for everyone to see.
“I think we have a winner here, Orlando Ivan Chester!” The MC announced and the crowd cheered, some were confused and the others took it as they heard it. “So, we welcome Kaycee Wells, manager and organizer of this beautiful event to present the winner.” The crowds cheered as Kaycee climbed up the stage but he stopped for a moment to look at Thelma. He gave her a reassuring smile before continuing up the stage.
“Greetings my guest, today we are here to celebrate the handing over of one of our top partner’s posts to a more reliable trusted volunteer. And my mentor here, Ivan Senior is a good man…” Kaycee started his speech, but Thelma and Orlando had zoned out into their own world, waiting for the speech to end. Orlando still kept a firm grip on Thelma’s hand, the softness of her hand calmed his restless nerves. This feels right to him and he was positive never to ley go
“The new CEO of I ivan.co is…” Kaycee trailed and opened a white envelope handed to him. “Orlando Ivan Chester!” He announced and a lot of gasps of surprise echoed on the walls followed by a few clapping of hands.