Hale led her to the middle of the office and Nancy stood shyly by his side. Hale enthusiastically clapped his hands, “People! We have a newcomer to our company. Let’s welcome her.”
True enough, everyone from the department gathered around them. Nancy felt a shiver down her spine. She hates being put on display and being stared at. Everyone clapped in unison and Nancy smiled awkwardly.
Hale raised his hands to quiet the co-workers. He said while winking at Nancy, “Come on, give a self-introduction and let everyone get acquainted. We’re all colleagues from now on.”
“Wait a minute!”
Nancy looked towards the direction of the voice and to her surprise, she saw that eccentric friend of hers, Mandy!
What is she doing here? It appears that she is her guardian angel, looking after her. Nancy was close to tears.
Mandy’s entrance drew everyone’s attention away from Nancy. Mandy was very confident and poised. That’s so Mandy Woods!
With everyone’s attention on her, she walked casually to Nancy’s side. But she only glanced momentarily at Nancy before locking eyes with Hale. With his eyebrows raised in curiosity, he irresistibly looked back at Mandy and thought, “My, what a lady!”
Mandy straightened herself and calmly said to everyone, “Greetings everyone, I’m Mandy Woods, a newcomer at the HR department. My last name is Woods, you know, as brown as Wood.”
True enough, this tongue in cheek introduction caught everyone’s attention and some tried to hide their laughter. There was something about this introduction that seemed to suggest that something was going on between her and Hale Brown.
Mandy sure caught the attention and curiosity of Hale. He searched his memory and he was sure he has not met her before.
Nancy, seizing the distraction, tried to sneak her introduction in. “Hi everyone, I’m a new accountant in the Finance department. My name is…”
“Quiet everyone. Please listen to our new colleague’s introduction!” Nancy was suddenly interrupted by Zack who somehow emerged from the crowd.
Nancy immediately blushed, her heart rate raced to 180 beats per minute. But she was stunned like a deer in headlights. Mandy couldn’t bear to see her make a fool of herself and shouted, “Please allow me to introduce her. She’s Nancy Xavier, she’s my good friend, which department are you going to?” Mandy said as she gestured at Nancy, “Accountant at Finance department.”
“Yes yes yes, she is the new accountant in the Finance department. Please take care of us.” Mandy was quick to finish up the introduction.
An awkward silence fell and everyone looked at Nancy and Mandy. Hale, still looking at Mandy said, “Applause! What are you waiting for?”
Standing among the crowd, Zack was the first to clap as he looked at Nancy’s blushed rosy cheeks.