Today's importance couldn't be more overstated.
Liberty Corporation was having its 70th anniversary, which coincidentally, was also a birthday celebration for its founder, so the event was even more doubly important.
All employees, whether they be interns, managers, or even work-from-home freelancers were mandated to show up and bring celebrations for one of the most successful media moguls of the century.
Despite calling it a 'forced' event, nobody really dragged their feet as they entered Liberty HQ. Who would want to miss a once-in-a-lifetime event such as this? There were people lined up across the streets just trying to take a peek at who was inside, prompting bodyguards to make a solid wall as guests exited their porsches and their lamborghinis.
People were dressed to the nines, both celebrities and employees alike. This was a chance for people to mingle and make connections with, especially those that were trying to get that sweet promotion they'd been wanting for months.
However, in the midst of sequin dresses, gaudy ball gowns, and designer clothes, there was one person inside that was different from the rest.
Bambi Bourden, or affectionately called as Bee by her family, only wore stained jogging pants and a black hoodie over her head. And if that wasn't strange enough, she wore blocky sunglasses that covered half her face and paired it with a face mask to complete her 'I'm a shady individual' look.
She looked like she didn't want to be there. Correction. She didn't want to be there AT ALL.
If her job as a work-from-home girlie and her promotion wasn't on the line, then she wouldn't have risked going out in such a public place with a lot of strangers in her midst.
That was because unlike everyone else who could live their lives normally, she was bound by three rules known as the—
Taboo Threes, Bee thought to herself as she looked around the room. The tables were filled with standing guests, clinking their glasses and laughing at their inside jokes. Nobody was looking at her. Yet.
Taboo Threes. Don't draw attention, but be mindful of the three rules.
Unfortunately, her strange attire caused a few guests to turn towards her, whispering to each other about this suspicious individual in their midst.
Bambi pulled on her hoodie's drawstrings, reducing the visible part of her face even more before scurrying away from their prying eyes.
Looking around, she spotted the reception area where new guests were scanning their IDs and checking into the guest list.
This was her goal.
Get in, scan my ID, get out.
This was the only way she can prove that she was in the party without actually being in the party.
As she got near the receptionist, she ducked down under the table and waited for the perfect time to strike. Luckily, one of the male guests became a bit flirty with the receptionist, giving her time to sneakily scan her ID at the computer.
At least, that's what she thought.
"Hello, welcome to Liberty HQ's Platinum Jubilee celebration," the receptionist peeked down the table. "Please tell me your name and scan your ID so we can sort out your seating at the tables."
Unfortunately, Bambi was too slow and the receptionist was too fast at rejecting that guy's advances.
This was the first real hurdle.
Talk. One of Bambi's Taboo Threes.
She cannot engage in conversation with strangers.
"Hello? Miss, can you hear me?" the receptionist asked her again.
Bambi began to feel the effects of her condition. She could feel it starting to act up, like a domino about to fall and tip over the next tile.
She held her mouth and slowly backed away from the receptionist table. And now, the condition was fleeting. It was backing down.
But as she tried to take a deep breath to compose herself, she suddenly tripped on the jumble of wires connected to the light fixtures on the ground, causing her to fall backwards. And as she fell, her head smacked onto one of the tables nearby.
"Ow…" Bambi massaged her head.
She garnered a few concerned looks since it looked like a bad fall, but most were more concerned with her strange get-up.
Unfortunately for Bambi, people were kinder than she wanted them to be. One of the guests sitting at the table kneeled down as she tried to help Bambi up to her feet.
"Are you okay? Here, let me get you up." The woman grabbed onto Bambi's shoulders, causing Bambi to jerk away from her.
Touch. The second of the Taboo Threes.
And there it was again. Bambi's heart raced, her body temperature rose, and her skin felt like it was getting bitten by thousands of red ants simultaneously.
"Sorry, I was just trying to help," the woman immediately apologized.
This made Bambi feel a lot worse. She didn't mean for the woman to feel so bad after trying to help. But she just couldn't explain herself.
Bambi got up from the ground and immediately ran away from this horrible situation.
She ran through the guests, startling them all and making them spill their drinks in the ground.
"Hey!" they called out to her, but she ignored them all.
The condition in her body was still present, increasing in heat and intensity as she became ever more panicked. She needed to get out of this place now for it to subside back to normal.
She headed for the door, but just as she was about to reach the glass panes, a large suited man blocked her path.
"Hey you! If you wanted to sneak in, then you should have picked a better attire. Come with me. You're going to jail."
The burly bodyguard reached for her hands to forcefully escort her out of the building.
This was the final Taboo. Threaten.
Bambi felt the world start turning. Nausea. She wanted to vomit. Her windpipe was closing up. She wanted to just lay down on the ground and breathe.
Spurred on by desperation and pure survival instincts, Bambi did what she had to do.
She ran.
She turned around, escaping from the bodyguard's clutches at the very last moment. Then, she bolted. She didn't know where she was going or how she was going to escape, but she knew she had to go.
Her memories seemed to have blurred at this point–either from adrenaline or from panic–but she instinctively went towards the closest door she could find.
A hallway with red velvet carpet opened up to her as she burst through the revolving gates.
And despite the bodyguard no longer chasing after her, she kept on running and running until she reached the end of the hallway onto another door.
She ran inside only for her to immediately collide with something hard.
She fell onto the ground, with her sunglasses falling out of her head.
With hazy eyes, she looked up and saw him.
A tall man wearing a dashing black and white suit whose jaws seemed like they were chiseled by an artisan and eyes painted blue by an artist.
The only thing bad about him was his frown.
The man squatted down in front of her and with quick movements far too fast for her to react to, suddenly pulled the hoodie off her head and forcefully pulled down the mask obscuring her face.
He grabbed Bambi by her chin and forced her to look at him.
"I don't know who you are, but you better leave now or I will make your life a living hell."