The Pinnacle

The click of her heels announced her presence. Swiftly pulling her white tweed jacket over her shoulders, she tilted her chin up as she made her way to the elevator. A sea of employees waiting for the elevator immediately glided backwards as soon as they noticed their CEO entering the building. As usual, her bodyguards would trail behind her from the minute Leona stepped out of the mansion. As she entered the elevator, one of the bodyguards immediately followed, pressing the "30" button that led to the top floor of the building. Catrina, her assistant, greeted Leona as she passed by her desk. Catrina: Good morning, Miss Gong. I just emailed you your schedule today, and here’s your Americano. Leona nodded as her bodyguards opened her office door. Catrina gently placed a white porcelain cup of hot Americano on her neatly organized desk while Leona turned on her computer. After glancing through her schedule, Leona dismissed Catrina with a flick of her finger. As Catrina closed the door behind her, the phone on her desk started to ring. Catrina: Hello, this is Catrina speaking. Ben: Hey Cat, is your boss around? Catrina: Yes, she just got in. Ben: Listen, I need you to schedule my team for a meeting with her right away. It's urgent! Catrina: Uh, but she's fully booked today. She's meeting with several investors this morning, and this meeting took months to schedule. Can you at least tell me what this is about? Ben: Tell her we have to arrange a press conference. The paparazzi just reported a love scandal about Amanda S. Catrina: Let me put you on hold. I'll tell Leona right away. Ben: Okay. knock knock. Leona: Yes? Catrina: Ben from the public relations team just called. Amanda S. is in trouble. He wants to schedule a meeting with you right away. Leona: Okay, bring his team in right now, and cancel my morning bookings. Catrina: But that's the meeting with the investors, it took us months to... Leona: I don't want to repeat myself. Catrina: Of course. I'll arrange that immediately. Ten minutes later, the elevator door opened, and a team of 15 people marched towards the CEO's office door. Ben stepped forward and knocked on the door. Leona: Come in. Ben and his team immediately slipped into the office and began reporting the situation. An hour later, members of the public relations team walked out of the office one by one and hurried into the elevator while talking on the phone. Catrina watched as the last two members entered the elevator, before grabbing Ben by the elbow and pulling him to a corner. Catrina: So? Ben: It's complicated. Amanda S. is in an affair with Nick K., and the paparazzi got photos of them going into a hotel together. Catrina: Nick K.? You mean the heir of the well-known diamond supplier, Diamonds Forever? Ben: Yeah, and I haven't been able to get ahold of Amanda this morning. All that we know is that if we don't do something right now, all those commercials we got for Amanda earlier this year will go straight to Star Entertainment. It's the fifth scandal this year. Looks like I have to cancel my vacation next week. Catrina: Geez, I'm glad I don't have your job. Ben: Haha, sorry, can't talk, gotta get back to work. Catrina: Good luck! Inside the CEO's office, Leona was busy making phone calls, until finally, she heard a familiar voice at the other end of the line. Amanda: Hello? Leona: Amanda, it's Leona from Peak Entertainment. Where are you right now? Amanda: Oh, hi Leona. I guess I'm in trouble, amn't I? Leona: Amanda, I need to know where you are, so I can send someone over. Amanda: To do what? Those photos are all over the internet! Nick just broke up with me over the phone! It's too late, there's nothing we can do! Leona: No, it's not. Amanda, you're one of our most valued artists. We won't let a guy get in the way of your career. Amanda: All I wanted was love, someone who would care for me, a shoulder to lean on... Amanda busted into tears as she laid on the floor inside her house. All the windows were covered with curtains and all the lights were off. Engulfed by the darkness and sorrow, Amanda allowed her tears to flow freely into her ears, keeping them safe from the calls and knocking outside the house and the vibrations of her phone. After multiple attempts, Leona placed her phone down and leaned into her chair. She let her eyes wander until her eyes settled on a pair of confident, fierce-looking eyes on the painting across the room. Leona used to admire that painting of her late father, Dallas Gong, the founder and CEO of Peak Entertainment. Lately, she felt as if her father was staring at her with disappointment. Since he passed away eight years ago, Leona had taken over the company and had made significant progress. However, during the COVID pandemic, multiple countries were in lockdown, and all the concerts were cancelled. Even commercials and movie productions were put on hold until restrictions were removed. Most entertainment companies were hit extremely hard, including Peak Entertainment. Although restrictions were lifted, she has been dealing with scandals one after another. Leona: I won't let you down, father. Dallas: Remember, Leona, fight like a warrior to get what you want. Leona: I promise I'll make Peak Entertainment the largest entertainment company in Asia. Dallas: That's my girl. If it wasn't for my lung --cough, cough-- cancer, you and I would be working side by side to dream this into reality. Leona: Father, please, you should get some rest. Dallas: Haha, as I always say, you can get plenty of rest after you die. Leona: Don't worry, I'll take care of the business. Everything will be alright. The scenes of her last conversation with her father were so vivid, replaying constantly in her head. Leona recollects stepping outside of the hospital, and instead of getting into her car, she wandered into a nearby park, where she sat down at a park bench next to an oak tree. At the age of 22, she had just finished college, with little to no experience of how to run a company. Although she worked at her father's company as an intern every summer, she realized she never got the opportunity to manage anyone, let alone an entire company. The fear of her losing her father and his company brought tears to her eyes. She knew she had to do everything in her power to keep the company running, and the current challenge was to bring in high-profile artists into the company. The question was, how would she do that? Just then, she heard footsteps coming from a distance. Gang1: Hey, stop there! Gang2: How dare you injure our boss! Gang3: Yeah, come back here you punk! Leona stood up and saw, at a distance, a group of middle-aged men chasing after a young man around her age. His curly short hair was drenched, his clothes were torn, and his face was covered in blood. The young man was desperately trying to escape, and passed by Leona without noticing her there. Leona watched as he made his way to a split intersection on the trail and chose the path on the right. Shortly after, the gang arrived at the same intersection and stopped in their tracks. One of the men turned around and jogged over to Leona, pointing towards the intersection: Gang1: Hey you, did you see a guy pass by a while ago? Which way did he go? Leona: Yes, he went to the left side. Gang1: He headed left! Gang2: Okay, let's go! As she watched the men disappear down the path, Leona hoped the path that the young man chose would bring him to safety. Later that evening, Leona sat down at the bar, and asked for a beer. Before she was able to take a sip, the door to her left busted open. The same person from the park tumbled onto the floor, smearing blood everywhere, as the gang followed into the bar. He got up and limped backwards, leaning against a wall. Customers scurried to the other side of the bar, unable to leave, with the gang blocking the exit. Gang1: Let's make this a little easier for us, shall we? Young man: I told you, I don't have it! Gang2: Quit playing games and just give it to us! Gang3: Ugh, we should just take him back to the boss and let him deal with this. The rest of the gang started stepping forward and surrounding the young man. A total of eight men kicked and punched the young man, until he fell onto his knees. Gang1: Enough. Boss said, we have to keep him alive. As soon as the others stepped back, the sound of police sirens filled the whole block. After the police took the eight men into custody, Leona turned around and noticed the injured man lying on the ground, gasping for air. She immediately grabbed a few paper towels and placed them on the young man's forehead, applying pressure to stop the bleeding. Soon, the paramedics arrived and took over. Leona stood up and briefly described the injuries she found on the victim and the first aid treatments she performed on him. As the paramedics left with the injured man, Leona glanced at her watch, realizing how late it was, and quickly walked back to her apartment building. After a hot shower, she collapsed on the bed, and drifted off to sleep. That following week was rough for Leona. After losing her phone at the bar, she immediately asked her assistant, Catrina, to order a new phone for her, as well as transfer everything from Cloud onto it. Since she didn't have her phone on her, she had missed several calls from the hospital notifying her about her father's death. Having to deal with a family member passing while keeping a business running, Leona worked non-stop for two weeks, falling asleep in the office and only returning home shortly to shower and change her clothes. She kept wondering why everything was falling apart? Why did all this have to happen now? Lost in thought, she found herself standing at the door of the same bar where she lost her phone two weeks ago. As she stepped inside, she noticed a figure resembling the person she encountered two weeks ago. Standing by the bar table talking to the bartender, was the young man Leona performed first aid on previously. When the bartender saw Leona at the entrance, he pointed to her and said something to the young man. Previously covered in blood, the young man was now covered with gauze and bandages. He limped over to Leona and reached out his hand. Young man: Hi, you're the one who saved me two weeks ago. Do you remember me? Leona: Yes, how are you feeling? Young man: Much better, thanks to you. Leona: You're welcome. I hope you're not being chased today. Young man: Haha, no, no. The police took care of everything. It's all good now. Leona: That's good. Umm, shouldn't you be resting and recovering? Last time I checked, this was not a medical clinic. Young man: Oh, I actually came today because I wanted to return this phone to its owner. The paramedics must have thought it was mine because they found it on the floor next to me. I think this belongs to you? Leona: Yes, I thought I had lost it. Thank you, but I already got a new phone. Young man: Really? It's the newest model. You should still take it back, maybe sell it, to earn some money back. Leona: Sure. Leona willingly took the phone from him. She knew it would be time-consuming to take the phone into the store to format it and trade it in. Young man: I would like to thank you properly. May I buy you a drink? Leona: No thank you, I'm good. Young man: Could you at least tell me your name? So at least I know who helped me? Leona: I'm Leona, and you? Young man: People call me Tiger. Leona: Nice to meet you Tiger. I hope you get better soon. Take care. Tiger: Wait. Please, is there any way I can repay you? Leona: It's fine. Don't worry about it. Before Tiger could say anything, Leona turned around and walked out of the bar. Thinking that she would never see this man again, she made her way back to her apartment and tossed her old phone onto her bed before heading into the shower. Feeling slightly refreshed after her shower, Leona slowly walked to her bed, sat down, and picked up her old phone. She unlocked the phone and browsed through her old photos with her father, reminiscing about the adventures and memories they shared together. After going through her photos, she decided to go through the messages she missed. Amongst them was a message from an unknown contact. It was a message from Tiger, suggesting Leona change her pin, since it was too easy to hack into her phone. This is my number. Feel free to contact me if you need anything.