AUTHOR'S POV
Mara no longer wanted to continue. But it looked like they were not going to let her go either.
"I ate."
Everyone went silent again.
"You ate where?" Mika asked.
At that moment, Mara really wanted to disappear.
"In front of him."
The office exploded into laughter again.
"No!" Ken shouted.
"Yes," Mara answered miserably. "I was hungry."
"While you were talking to the CEO?" Josh asked, now clearly unable to stay serious anymore.
"Yes!"
"And it didn't occur to you to wait until the conversation was over?"
"I only remembered I was hungry when we reached the part where it was just the two of us in the office."
"What did you eat?" Nina asked as if that detail were extremely important.
"Fries. Then a sandwich."
Mika clutched her chest again. "Please tell me you at least sat properly."
Mara stayed quiet.
Lara's eyes widened. "Mara."
"I was eating properly in my head."
"That means not in real life?" Ken said.
Mara pressed a hand to her forehead. "I got ketchup on my lips."
Lara squealed from laughing so hard. Aira smacked the table. Even Josh just shut his eyes while forcing back a smile like he could not believe this was the person they had allowed to volunteer for such an important student council concern.
"You had ketchup," Mika repeated, clearly still unable to move on.
"I also got sauce on my finger," Mara added softly, because at that point her reputation was already destroyed anyway.
"Stop," Ken said. "My stomach hurts."
"I don't deserve any of you," Mara said as she grabbed the remaining half of her sandwich and took a bitter bite out of it.
Everyone automatically looked at her.
"And you're still eating now," Josh said.
"What? Is that bad?"
"No. You're just being consistent."
Despite the humiliation, Aira smiled a little as she looked at the papers in the folder. The laughter around them slowly faded and was replaced by a more serious atmosphere. One by one, they read through the flagged items, and with every line they discovered, the real problem became clearer.
The sponsorship had not actually been withdrawn.
The partial release had only been put on hold because the revised budget they sent was wrong.
And when they traced where the error came from, everyone looked at Josh at the same time.
"Me?" he said immediately, sounding defensive.
"Wait," Nina said while checking the email thread on the laptop. "No, not you exactly. The attachment from last night. The old version got included."
Aira's eyes widened. "What?"
Josh sat up properly and quickly opened the inbox. He scrolled for a few seconds before stopping. The slow realization was clear on his face.
"Oh no."
"What?" Paolo asked.
Josh rubbed the back of his neck. "I sent the file packet using the old folder. I thought everything there had already been updated."
Everyone fell silent.
Not because they were angry.
But because that really was the answer.
Aira let out a deep breath and leaned back in her chair. She looked exhausted, but instead of exploding, she just closed her eyes for a few seconds. When she opened them again, her expression was calmer.
"Okay," she said. "No blaming for now. We're not going to move forward if we panic."
"Sorry," Josh said, and the guilt in his voice was genuine.
"Apologies later," Aira replied. "Let's fix it first."
And that was what Mara loved most about her friend. No matter how messy the situation got, Aira always knew how to return to what mattered first.
The whole office suddenly became busy.
Nina and Paolo double checked the budget line items. Josh searched for the correct proposal file and all the updated attachments. Aira compiled the final set while talking to the faculty adviser on the phone. Ken became the unofficial messenger, going back and forth between the printing room and the office like he had his own transport system. Lara and Mika, even if they were not official student council members, willingly helped arrange the papers and staple everything because, according to them, they wanted to make sure Mara's humiliation had not gone to waste.
"What about me?" Mara asked as she stood in the middle of all the chaos.
"Stop eating and help us," Lara said.
"I am helping emotionally."
"That does not count."
Mara pouted but obeyed. She finally threw away the sandwich wrapper and set down her empty iced coffee, then walked over to the table to help organize the documents.
And that was when it was proven once again that Mara truly had a talent for making simple tasks more complicated.
In the first three minutes, she handed over the wrong clip. In the next two minutes, she reversed the order of the papers. After that, she almost spilled the leftover ice from her cup onto the final printed sheet.
"Mara!" Aira and Josh shouted at the same time.
"What?" she defended herself immediately. "It's still alive!"
No one let her touch the ice again.
Instead, Mika sat her down in one corner and gave her a simpler task. "You read the checklist and tell us what's missing."
"That sounds like a nursery role."
"Exactly."
Mara frowned but accepted it. Honestly, it probably was safer for everyone that way.
After almost an hour of nervously fixing everything, the final corrected packet was finally laid out on the table. Clean. Complete. In the right order. With the right attachments. With the right figures.
They all let out a sigh at almost the same time.
"We're done," Nina said.
"Almost," Aira said. "We still need to send this right away."
"Just email it," Ken said.
"We can't," Josh replied while checking the notes in the folder. "It says here that revised documents should be resubmitted both digitally and physically for expedited review."
It was like the air inside the office changed all over again.
"Physically?" Lara repeated.
"Yes," Josh said.
"Today?" Paolo asked.
Aira looked at the paper. "Today."
Silence again.
They all looked at the clock.
Four thirty.
And Alcázar Holdings was still in the business district.
Little by little, everyone turned in the same direction.
Toward Mara.
Her eyes widened immediately. "Why me?"
"Is that even a question?" Ken said.
"You already have the contact."
"I do not have a contact. I have trauma."
"You've already gone there," Mika said. "That makes you the most qualified."
"Humiliation is not a qualification."
"In this situation, it kind of is," Josh said.
Mara could not believe them. She looked at Aira for backup, but her traitorous best friend looked like she was seriously considering it too.
"Aira," she said, almost under her breath like she was begging for mercy. "I'm your best friend."
"Exactly," Aira answered with a small smile. "And because you're my best friend, I trust that you can do it."
"I can also leave right now."
"You won't get far," Lara said.
"I can run."
"We'll chase you."
Mara held her head. "Can't someone else go?"
Aira stayed quiet for a few seconds, then slowly let out a breath. "I should be the one to go. I'm the student council president."
Mara went quiet for a moment. She could immediately see the exhaustion on her friend's face. Aira had been battered by stress all day, lacking rest, and had barely even sat down properly. Even if Mara could be childish and chaotic sometimes, she was not blind. She knew that if anyone between the two of them needed to rest, it was Aira.
So despite the fear, the embarrassment, and the intense desire never to face that man again, Mara could only let out a sigh.
"Okay," she said.
Everyone paused.
"What?" Mika asked.
"I'll go again."
Aira's eyes widened. "Are you sure?"
"No," Mara answered honestly. "But if we wait until I'm sure, this probably won't get submitted until next month."
For the first time since that whole mess had started, Aira smiled for real. "Thank you."
"No thank you, thank you. I have one condition."
"What?"
"If this gets done and the sponsorship gets approved, you're buying me samgyup."
Ken laughed. "Wow. There's negotiation now."
"I'm a business woman too," Mara said as she pretended to fix her hair even though it was still messy.
"Fine," Aira said. "I'll treat you."
"With cheese?"
"Yes."
"With unlimited drinks?"
"Yes."
"With dessert?"
"Mara."
"Okay, fine. I'm really the one going."
Everyone became busy again preparing the final packet for physical submission. Nina and Paolo helped her seal the envelope. Josh printed the transmittal letter. Aira signed it and looked at Mara as if she still wanted to tell her not to go if only they did not need to get it done.
When Mara took the envelope, she suddenly felt that familiar nervousness again.
She was going back there.
To that building.
To that company.
And possibly to the man she had nearly ordered around earlier as if he were her driver.
"If you see him again," Lara whispered while fixing the collar of Mara's blouse, "do not eat."
"I'm not making promises."
"Mara."
"I'm joking."
"I'm not laughing."
"To be honest, I kind of am."
Mika shook her head and handed her some wet wipes. "Wipe your face first. For safety."
"You're so mean."
"Preventive measure."
Mara accepted them and quickly wiped her face while looking into Lara's small mirror. Better safe than sorry. For all she knew, she might still be carrying another ketchup stain as some kind of personal branding.
After that, she took a deep breath and hugged the envelope to her chest.
The truth was, she still was not ready.
She did not know when she ever would be.
But like what so often happened in her life, her feet were already moving ahead before any proper plan could catch up.
"I'm leaving," she said.
"Message us when you get there," Aira said.
"If you don't update us in thirty minutes, we're going after you," Ken added.
"You'll probably just embarrass yourselves with me," Mara replied.
"Valid concern," Josh said.
She raised an eyebrow at him. "Very helpful."
Despite the nerves, Mara smiled a little as she looked at them all. Messy. Loud. Annoying sometimes. But they were also the reason she did not completely regret charging in earlier.
So when she turned around and started walking out of the student council office, her grip on the envelope was steadier.
Her breathing was more stable too, at least somehow.
On the other side of the city, on the highest floor of Alcázar Holdings, the digital copy of the revised packet had just arrived in Lucien Alcázar's office inbox.
Lucien quietly read the subject line, then paused at the sender's name.
Aira Lopez, Student Council President.
But what he looked at longer was the name written in the transmittal note below.
Physical packet to be delivered by Mara Cortez.
He slowly leaned back in his chair.
He did not know why, but for the first time that entire day, the atmosphere in his office felt a little lighter.
Meanwhile, Mara Cortez had no idea that while she was once again on her way to the building that embarrassment seemed determined to make her memorize, there was a man who had been trying all afternoon to ignore the noise she had left in his quiet day.
And whether it was bad luck or good luck for both of them, it seemed that nothing was ending there yet.
Because sometimes, the people you do not want to see again are exactly the ones fate wants most to place right in front of you once more.
And at that moment, Mara Cortez was once again heading straight into the chaos she had been the first to run toward.