The audience waited with bated breath, staring intensely at the host, who held an envelope in his hand. That envelope contained the name of the winning team and each moment that he allowed to pass increased the anxiety and nervousness of the five team leaders standing on the stage.
"And the winner is.." The host paused, using his handkerchief to wipe away sweat from his face. "The winner is," he said again, riling up the crowd even further, "one of the five people standing on stage."
The crowd groaned, clearly displeased at his low-ball method of creating suspense, when the one that filled the room was thick enough to cut with a knife.
"Before I announce the winner, I have to say that the five people who are standing here are winners. These guys had about 24 hours to come up with a business idea worth $2000 and lead a group of people and it takes immense courage to be up here. Give these guys another round of applause." The judges, and all the members of the audience, complied-- mostly because they felt it would speed up the announcement. "And now, without further ado. The winner is, Team Climax!"
A small section of the crowd erupted into joyous celebration as soon as those words left his mouth while the host made his way towards me, holding out his hand to shake mine.
The song All I Do Is Win blared out from the large speakers, drowning out the ecstatic cheering of the crowd. One by one, the judges arose from their comfortable seats in a standing ovation while members of Team Climax streamed forward to celebrate.
Do days get much better than this?
"Do you have any words, team leader?" The host pressed a microphone into my hands and I stood aloof, feeling like a fish out of water, looking downwards to meet the gazes of expectant eyes.
"Uhm." I stammered, scratching my almost bald head while forcing my stunned mind to conjure up words to speak. "I'm standing here but every single member of Team Climax had a part to play. The idea to set up a music-lesson class business wasn't mine and everyone can feel proud of this success."
I handed the microphone back to the host in a bid to avoid embarrassing myself any further. My rather expansive vocabulary seemed to depart me the moment the bright glare of the spotlight hit my face.
"Hold up, that's too short of a victory speech. Tell us, what have you learnt from this two day course?"
The host's enthusiastic voice sounded better suited for commentary on a soccer match rather than a money management program for teenagers. However, he performed his job with aplomb.
"Well, I learnt more about managing money in these two days than I have in the past two years and I've made a few friends too, so that's a plus."
"One more thing before you go." The man's voice echoed from the speakers, drowning the chatter of the crowd. "We need you to pose for pictures with the judges and collect the cheque on behalf of your team." I grinned, rubbing my hands in delight at the thought of leaving a few dollars richer than I arrived. "It's a cheque of $2000 to be divided amongst the members of your team."
The cameraman adjusted his lens a few times in search of a better angle while I, along with the judges and the charming host, plastered plastic grins on our faces-- each one of us keen to get it over with.
It took a while for the euphoric feeling of winning to hit me but when it did, it was overwhelming. Gone was the timidity that gripped me earlier, a brash and brazen confidence welled up from within me to the point that every word that I spoke was infused with it.
Few things in life are as sweet as the pleasure of winning something.
I could almost feel the stares of the crowd as I walked back to my seat, however, their stares only served to fuel the exhilarating feeling that surged through my veins. Who needs drugs when you can get this high?
Members of my team flanked me on both sides, sharing high-fives and congratulatory handshakes with people while creating a clear path for me to walk. In that moment, I was a celebrity and the concrete pathway was my red carpet.
"Wow!" I exclaimed excitedly, turning to the nearest person. "Can you imagine that I didn't even want to be here a few hours ago? My parents registered me for this behind my back."
"Same here brother," he responded, raising his hand to give me a high-five. "This is the one time I'm glad my parents interfered into what I do with my time."
"Me too, I..."
"Don't look now." The boy said, interrupting me. He stared intensely over my shoulder, tempting me to turn and look. "A hottie is approaching us, I wonder which one of us she wants to speak to."
"Hi," a distinctively feminine voice said from behind me.
"Hello," I said in reply, turning to take a look at the girl that stood in front of me.
"Hey!" The boy beside me jumped in, rushing forward to meet her. "I'm Curtis."
"Nice to meet you," the girl replied, smiling, before turning to face me. "I'm Stella."
Her lips curved upwards, unleashing a mesmerising smile that left the both of us momentarily dazed. "I'm Ronald, Ronald Williams." I took her hand in mine, shaking it firmly as though she was a business associate. "Nice to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you too, Ronald."
Curtis, perhaps sensing that Stella was interested in speaking to me and not him, faded out of the picture, leaving the two of us to acquaint ourselves. Her smile appeared to grow prettier with each second that it adorned her face and if my skin tone wasn't on the darker side of the spectrum, it'll have turned red. She stood about an inch taller than me, with her curly, medium length, brown hair-- that matched her brown-chocolate eyes-- falling over both shoulders. She wore a bright-yellow summer dress that looked as though it was tailor-made for her along with a pair of bright yellow shoes and a matching purse. Her dress hugged her body in such a way that it accentuated all her curves while her lipstick made her pink, full lips look very kissable.
Focus Ron!
"Congrats on the win," she said, putting an end to a brief moment of uncomfortable silence. "You guys definitely deserved it."
"Thanks. To be honest, I didn't do much except for listen and select the best idea." I rubbed my sweaty palms against my shirt, hoping that my nervousness was inconspicuous to her.
"Ron." Curtis returned, still grinning. "We're all waiting for you so that we can have a share of the booty." He placed emphasis on the last word, dragging it while allowing his eyes to roam up and down Stella's body before smirking naughtily.
"Stella, please give me a moment." She nodded silently, placing her hands in the pocket of her dress and leaning against the wall.
"Man." Curtis said, when we were sure Stella could no longer hear us. "You've scored big."
"I haven't scored at all." I scoffed, matching his quick strides. "You can't score if you aren't even playing. I don't know if you've noticed but, I don't get approached at all so she's way out of my league."
"That," he said, while forcing a white door open, "is why you've scored big." I chuckled, shrugging my shoulders nonchalantly while he stuck both his thumbs in the air in approval.
"Where is the team leader?"
"Here," I said, bursting through the white door. "I'm here ma'am." The woman looked at me, accessing my appearance before returning her gaze to the pile of money she was counting.
"This is $2000," she said. "How do you guys want to share it?"
"As the best team leader this team never had," Curtis said, milking laughter from those present, " I suggest we distribute money according to the effort we put in into the success."
"Yeah." The other members chimed in unison, each of them trying to stake a claim to the reward.
"I propose," Curtis said again, "that we give our man, Ron, $150 and share the remaining $1500 amongst the rest of us."
"I second that," someone else said, nodding in agreement, leaving me smiling to myself at the fact that I'll be walking away $150 richer.
I held out my hand expectantly as the bursar placed some notes into my hand and I pocketed them after thanking her before walking away from the rest of the group.
"Sorry that took a while," I said, turning to Stella. She sat down on a plastic chair, crossing her legs while twirling her brown hair.
"It's fine." She handed my notebook to me, smiling softly. "I hope you don't mind that I went through your notebook. I wasn't paying attention to any of the speakers and I wanted to know if you did."
"I got a few notes in. How did you get here anyway?" She laughed, straightening out creases in her dress with her hand.
"The same way most people got here. My parents woke me up and drove me here."
"Excuse me." A little boy said, interrupting our discussion. "Are you Ron?"
"Yes, why?"
"That lady," he said, turning to face my mother, "said that she's waiting for you."
The boy left promptly, playfully skipping away, leaving me to pack my bags while my mother stared at me from the distance. "I have to go now." I could feel her gaze trail my every step, however, when I turned to say goodbye, she had already vacated the chair.
I should have asked for her number.
"Ron," My mum said, rubbing my head with her soft hand. "I heard you won."
"Of course." She chuckled at my cocky reply. "I'm a William."
The celebratory mood continued long into the night as my father decided to treat all of us to a meal at the Yellow Chili.
"This stew," my mother said, holding a saucer up to her mouth, "is excellent." The sun sunk into the horizon, allowing the stars to brighten the dark canvass of night. My father paid the exorbitant bill without complaint and soon we were speeding through the highway in his SUV while I entertained everyone with an account of my day.
"So, Ron." My mum said, shortly after we arrived at our home, "what did you learn today?"
"Nothing new really," I replied, flipping through my notebook. "I mean, I already knew to save and whatnot but I got $150 so I'm not complaining."
She laughed before retiring to her room, leaving me to flip through the pages of my notebook. As I turned the pages, I noticed a strange handwriting. It was written in pink ink and the penmanship was better than anything I was capable of.
Hi Ron ! It was nice meeting you today, I wasn't sure you'd ask for my number so I left mine. Call me maybe.
ns 15.158.61.12da2
