I stopped and stared at the building through the glass wall, trying to compare it to the one in my dream.
"What's wrong?" Kim's voice disrupted my thoughts.
"Oh, nothing." I resumed walking, but I noticed that Kim was stealing glances at me.
"What?" I stepped ahead, then turned and faced him, getting his full attention.
He held my gaze for a moment then pulled up his brows together. "Why do I feel something is bothering you?"
I turned and glanced at the house again. "That building seems familiar."
To my surprise, Kim's eyes lit up, and he smiled.
"Really? You must have seen it in movies. One time, a filming group rented that building."
I bit my lower lip and squinted, letting my mind run through my memories. My thoughts then flashed to some movie scenes I had watched before. And I indeed thought I had seen this building in one of those movies.
"You're right," I nodded and resumed walking.
"This way, please." Kim gestured with his hand, lifting it forward for me to look at the door in front of us.
"Oh, is it your office?"
"No, the function room."
My heart then started to pound hard, thinking of those new, intimidating faces I would soon going to meet.
"How many people are there?" I asked, watching his hand on the doorknob.
"About ten people."
He then stepped aside and let me in. My eyes immediately fell on the long 20-seater table not far from where we stood. There were already men and a few women in their business suits, occupying the chairs. They were all looking in our direction.
However, I didn't notice right away that Trish was one of them, and beside him was a gorgeous-looking man. She waved at me when I caught her eyes, her smile reaching her ears. I immediately heaved a sigh, expecting that she would speak on my behalf, that I was not Jakara, the woman they thought I was.
But what made them think that way? Do I look like her?
"Is it Jakara?"
"Oh, my goodness! It's indeed Jakara."
The smile I initially plastered on my face faded when I heard their stifled voices.
"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen," Kim greeted as soon as we're about a meter away from them, hushing out there whispering toward each other.
I felt their eyes on me as Kim pulled out a chair for both of us. Once we were seated, Kim lifted his head and cleared his throat, catching their full attention.
"Ladies and gentlemen, one of the important things that I am going to bring up this morning is to let you met our new manager for the Asian branches, Miss Yen Ramos."
"To let you see her qualifications, Miss Trish will do it for us."
I glanced at Kim and ran my eyes on all of them, acknowledging everyone's presence with a smile. I didn't think Kim hadn't heard their whispering, but he didn't comment on it. Perhaps, it's something a leader is expected to do--to ignore nonsense criticism that's not worth his time.
Trish stood up and walked to the front, facing the huge screen in front of us. Different images of the company were already running through the screen. Trish then smiled and made a slight bow before she started speaking.
"Good afternoon, everyone! I am going to show you Miss Yen Ramos' personal and educational background to let you see why Mr. Mori chooses her as the overall manager of Kim Yuan Microelectronics-Asian branches."
My hands started shaking, and drops of sweat immediately trickled down from my temples. Stealing glances at the intimidating looks of the members of the board, I suddenly felt inferior. Too late did I realize that I was too daring to accept such a huge responsibility with just my simple educational background and work experiences. Trish didn't even have to stand in front and tell everyone that I was just an ordinary graduate of San Carlos University and the latest accounting head of Mayo Medical Center.
A slow instrumental background floated into the air as the images on the screen began to move. Then, I heard Trish's recorded voice starting to narrate.
"Miss Yen Reyes-Ramos took her elementary and secondary education at Bethsaida Christian School and graduated with high honors. She then went to San Carlos University and took up accountancy, also graduating as summa cum laude."
"Miss Yen Reyes-Ramos was also a known achiever. She garnered multiple awards and won local and national competitions in different learning areas such as Science and Mathematics. She also joined the Literary Department and got promoted as the editor of the University's Press during her last year in college."
"As for her work experience, she started as an auditor of All Thrift Bank, a leading bank in the country. Then six years ago, she's appointed as the vice-president of Quicksend Remittance, a Japan-based international remittance company with hundreds of branches worldwide."
My eyes flew wide at this information. Japan-based company? Five years ago? Where does Trish get this idea? I had never been to Japan!
But since I thought this could be a made-up story ordered by Kim to make me appear more credible, I just stayed silent. It would also be impolite to correct or question Trish while she was presenting. But what if someone would see through the lies?
"Before Miss Yen Ramos decided to join Kim Yuan Microelectronics, she worked as the head accountant of Mayo Medical Center."
"And before I'll take my seat, I would like you to know that Miss Yen Reyes got married to Mr. Zed Ramos a few months ago."
Miss Trish smiled and ran her eyes from her left to right, indicating the end to her presentation. Instead of getting a round of applause from the board members, all of them threw questioning gaze at me. Then someone raised his hand and stood up.
"Miss Yen Ramos, why did you resign from Quicksend? I even heard that you suddenly disappear."
A commotion broke out from the small crowd as they began voicing out their opinions. All of them started mentioning the name Jakara. Suddenly, I no longer knew what to do. My knees started to shake, and my breathing became labored.