Regrets Come Too Late (Sierra and Johnny) novel Chapter 125

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“There should be,” the colleague who had called her over answered. “First place at the anniversary party is two thousand, second place is one thousand, and third place is five hundred. You also get two hundred merely for participating. There’s no way management will be stingier with the tenth anniversary compared to a regular annual party.”

“Our department always gets the participation award every year, though.”

“Yeah, and Jenny’s always the one who goes up.”

Sierra instinctively looked over at Jenny, then asked, “What did our department do at the past parties?”

Everyone coughed and stayed quiet.

Sierra was confused.

Jenny, who had been reading the group messages, paused for a moment. Just when Sierra thought she would get no answer, Jenny finally answered her.

“Poetry recital.”

Everyone immediately chimed in. “That’s right.”

Sierra praised her. “That’s impressive. Poetry recitals take skills. Most people won’t even dare pick that. You really live up to your reputation, Jenny.”

Her coworkers all gave Jenny a thumbs–up.

They had never noticed it before, but now they suddenly realized Sierra was actually a master flatterer.

Sierra herself was a little puzzled. She genuinely thought poetry recitals required real skills. Back in school, every class had to do them and compete. Her class lost every time, so she had always treated that kind of performance with a certain awe and kept her distance.

“That was just because every department is required to perform,” Jenny explained at last, her tone mild. “If you have another skill, you can enter the contest.”

“Whoa, first prize is ten thousand dollars!” the colleague on Sierra’s left suddenly gasped. “They’re really going big for the tenth anniversary!”

Sierra glanced over. Only then did she notice that Morgan’s secretary had sent a new message in the group chat.

First place, ten thousand dollars. Second place, five thousand dollars. Third place, two thousand dollars.

If the group was made from five staff or fewer, each person gets a two–hundred–dollar participation reward. It the group had more than five staff, it would be counted as a performance by the entire department, and the department would get one thousand dollars instead.

To be honest, Sierra was tempted. Only after becoming a salaried worker had she truly realized how important money was.

“Sierra, you can do it,” Cindy Inman, the colleague on her left, said with stars in her eyes. “Ten thousand dollars! It I had known, I would have forced myself to learn some kind of talent after the last party.”

“Great. Once again, the same people will walk off with it.”

“There’s still time to go buy a big sack. On Wednesday night, we grab whoever gets first place!”

“Count me in!”

As they were all chattering, Pamela arrived.

She had already heard their conversation from a distance and knew everyone had been asking what Sierra thought. So, the first

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thing she said when she walked over was…

“Sierra, didn’t you win a bunch of national awards for classical dance? Why don’t you sign up?”

Everyone in the room looked at Sierra.

After these few days together, they all felt Sierra was polite, modest, and very easy to get along with at work. Hearing this now gave them hope.

Not for themselves, but to finally clear the department’s name.

“So, we had a star sitting right next to us!”

“Sierra, you’re our department’s only hope!”

“You should give it a try,” Jenny added as well.

With so many eyes on her, Sierra felt a sense of team pride rise in her chest for the first time since leaving school. “I’ll go home and think about what to perform. I’ll tell you tomorrow.”

Everyone agreed at once.

Once that topic was wrapped up, Cindy turned her attention to Pamela again, eyes full of curiosity. “Ms. Sanders, can I quietly ask you something?”

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