Carmen inched closer to her before urging her, “Hurry up and tell us your plans, Wendy,”
“Well, the multimedia classroom is small and tight, right? So, what if we move it to the spacious basketball court?” Wendy suggested.
The moment she finished, Carmen and Cael both rolled their eyes at her. It was obvious they thought her plan was highly unrealistic.
“How would that even work? What kind of person do you take Mr. Charles for to move his lecture venue to the likes of a basketball court? This isn’t some rural assembly, you know. I don’t think we can even persuade ourselves to make it work, much less persuade Master Henson,” Cael scoffed.
“What’s so wrong about that? Not only can the basketball court on campus hold a large number of people, it’s also equipped with air conditioning. Most importantly, it’s huge and has a lot of nice vantage points, where anyone can see his face clearly regardless of where they stand. So, this is a potential solution to cater to the masses who worship the man. I, for one, think it’s a brilliant plan,” Wendy argued.
“B-but most importantly, how do we even bring our plans up to Master Henson?” Carmen stuttered.
Wendy shrugged in response. “Easy, we turn to the president,” she replied.
Cael shook his head after hearing that. “And why would the president even agree to such a ridiculous request in the first place? Didn’t he require for us to resolve the situation amongst ourselves? If we go to him now and let him take the fall for us, wouldn’t we just be asking for a beating from him at this point?” he retorted.
“Well, do you two have any other bright ideas then?” Wendy looked at the two of them.
But they didn’t speak. “I think this could work,” Linda piped up eventually.
Cael shot Linda a look. “When did you start taking her side? You two better to go the president yourselves if you want, because I sure as h*ll ain’t going,” he snapped.
“I daren’t go either,” Carmen muttered awkwardly.
“Then, I suppose we can split the work amongst us like this – Linda and I will discuss things over with the president, while you two can go inform the students in the multimedia classroom about the matter. If the president shifts the blame on us, I’ll happily take the fall for the team, and make sure none of you gets the blame. However, if the president agrees to it, I’ll give you two a call so that you two can continue clearing out the classroom.
“Also, it’s inevitable that the students who’ve already secured their seats would make noise when the two of you start clearing the room, so don’t tell them it’s by order of the university, but tell them it’s by Master Henson’s orders. This way, they can’t retaliate even if they’re upset about the change in venue, since usually no one would dare question his orders,” Wendy explained.
Cael and Carmen then exchanged looks with one another. “Would that even work?” Cael asked.
“I told you, I’ll shoulder all the blame if anything comes up,” Wendy replied firmly.
The two of them fell silent after hearing that.
After leaving the office, Linda piped up, “Are we actually going to the headmaster’s office for this?”
“Of course not, if I go to him now, he’ll definitely explode in rage. I’ll just give Henson a phone call,” Wendy said.
“I have a few things to discuss with you, Mr. Charles,” she giggled the minute he picked up her call.
“Alright, I’m listening,” he said over the phone.
“Is it alright if you hold your lecture this afternoon in the basketball court?” she asked.
He paused for a few moments before asking back, “And why is that?”
“Two groups of students got into a huge scuffle just because they wanted to attend your lecture, so the headmaster asked us to think up of a way to resolve this,” she explained.
“So, that’s why you resorted to underhanded tactics?” he chuckled.
She pursed her lips and said nervously, “What ‘underhanded tactics’? Can’t you see it as us asking for your cooperation instead?”
“Me, cooperating with you guys?” he probed while trying his best to not burst out laughing. “I’m the lecturer here and you all are just my assistants. So, how dare you all ask me to cooperate with you? I’m afraid you’re not making any sense,” he joked, feigning anger.
“I’m sure you know how hard it is to talk sense to women in this world. Just tell me if you want to do it or not,” she replied grumpily.
“I want to do… you,” he teased.
“There he goes, acting like a rogue again,” she thought.
Just as her anger started to flare up, she heard him say in an amused tone on the other side, “I’m willing to do anything you ask of me,”
She gritted her teeth in response. So, he wanted to play. She’ll play along as well, then.
“We can’t wait to see you in the afternoon then, Mr. Charles,” she said
then hung up, annoyed.
“I’ve always assumed that Master Henson was a pretty unapproachable guy. Who knew he could be so friendly with the people close to him,” Linda, who was standing beside her remarked, somewhat surprised.
“Friendly? Nonsense,” she thought. It was obvious that he derived amusement from teasing her.
She pursed her lips. She vowed that she’d get back at this son of a gun later in the afternoon.
To make sure the president didn’t kick up a fuss, Wendy phoned him up to inform him that she’d relayed the matter to Henson and that HE was the one who suggested changing venues to the basketball court, not her.
With Henson as her scapegoat, she felt akin to a fox riding on a tiger’s back. Invincible.
Initially, she thought that since they’d changed venues to a place that was bigger and more spacious, that there would be an abundance of seats inside and that there wouldn’t be any lines outside the court, but
after hearing Carmen’s report at half past one, after she circled the perimeter, she wasn’t too sure anymore. “I thank God we’re Master Henson’s personal assistants, if not, we wouldn’t be able to get any seats at all. The only space left now is at the back, where no one can see a thing. A few of our students even had the bright idea of bringing binoculars along, without which they wouldn’t be able to see squat,” she reported.
Wendy wondered if that was even necessary.
Initially, Wendy planned to wait some more before heading off to the basketball court when two o’ clock rolled around, but
Carmen, who’d already grown restless, kept insisting that they should wait for Henson before he arrived at the entrance.
She was his personal assistant, after all, so it was only natural that she showed her face early.
Wendy didn’t feel good lazing about too after seeing Cael and Linda stand up in unison.
The four of them then proceeded to stand outside the basketball court in waiting.
Wendy didn’t know what to say as they stood outside in the cold weather, while the strong rays of the sun beat on them.
After waiting for an hour, six black Audi cars finally came into view.
Four bodyguards who were dressed in black got out of each car in an orderly fashion.
Henson’s car then arrived immediately after their cars drove off, .
He got out of the car in a graceful manner, which caused Carmen to grind her teeth in excitement. “Oh no, I hope I don’t mess up since I’m so excited now,” she squealed.
“Stay strong, it’s going to be alright,” Cael said stiffly.
While being escorted by his bodyguards, Henson walked up the stairs and took a look at the four of them who were standing at the entrance of the building.
Cael took a step forward and greeted him first. “It’s an honour to meet you, Master Henson. We’re the personal assistants the university arranged for you. The name’s Cael,” he said.
Carmen’s trembling voice came afterwards. “G-good afternoon, M-Master H-Henson. -I-I’m C-Carmen,” she stuttered.
“Good afternoon, sir. Linda here,” Linda followed afterwards.
Wendy pouted as she stared at him. “Hello, sir. The name’s Wendy,” she greeted.
“A pleasure to be working with you all. Come with me,”
he said and walked past them.
Carmen excitedly grabbed hold of Wendy’s arm and whispered to her, “How’d I do just now, Wendy? Did I stutter?”
“Nah, you did alright,” Wendy assured.
Cael then shot Carmen a look. “Oh, stop it with the coaxing, Wendy. She clearly stuttered horribly,” he said.
She then glanced at him from the corner of her eye. “Zip it,” she snapped.
The crowd went wild the moment Henson appeared inside the basketball court.
A few screamed, and others kept chanting his name.
Wendy, who was tailing a bodyguard, didn’t know what to say.
It was obvious to her that a lot of them didn’t come for the lecture, but were only there to see a star.