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"Do you realize how incredibly destructive a development corporation like mine is to the social fabric of a neighborhood?" I ask into the audience. Silence.
"Does anyone realize what happens when the corner butcher, or baker, or liquor store can't pay their rent when it comes time to renew?" I ask again. And again silence. "When they have to make a choice between paying rent and paying their workers?
People are listening to my words with a sense of interest now.
"New York City isn't just about the big buildings that reach toward the heavens," I say quietly. Flatly. "It's about the people. The people in the neighborhoods who make up the foundation for those buildings."
People are now nodding.
"Did you know that if the first floor tenants aren't good tenants and decide to vacate their spaces, then the maintenance fund of a skyscraper drops dramatically?" I ask. Bet you didn't know that either. "That's because anchor tenants are nice, but the people who are on the ground floor are the ones holding up the building."
I see people start to smile and nod. They can tell where I'm going with this.
"It's those people who form the community," I say. "It's those people who've seen you since you were born. Who know that you want the newspaper from the bottom and not the top when you're buying it for your old man. Who know when your parents have passed away. Who ask you if you've been holding up okay."
I'm thinking back to my neighborhood. Sure, the Upper East Side may not seem like a neighborhood to grow up in if you want the classic New York thing with games of stickball and fire hydrants.
"People who know you. People who care about you. It's all thanks to the neighborhoods in this city. Without neighbors, and without neighborhoods, we're just a collection of tall buildings on an island. Tall buildings that would go empty as people move out," I say feeling myself get to some sort of point. "That's why Davion Development is committed to building a larger, stronger, more active NYU. Because we realize that so many neighborhoods rely on this hospital to stay strong. And without this institution that we're here for tonight—without NYU—too many of our neighborhoods would stop thriving. And start dying."
"And so, we will never stop in our quest to make New York great. We will donate $1 million this year. We will donate $1 million next year. Until we turn our neighborhoods around. We will never give up.“ I say and get ready to finish. "And I hope, ladies and gentlemen, neither will you. Thank you."
I stop and get off the stage.
I swear for a moment I didn't hear anything.
But then the crescendo of applause as people stand up to give me a rousing ovation hits me.
I'm a bit taken aback.
Between walking back to where I know Penny is standing and people applauding me for something good like giving a speech, I'm a bit out of my fucking element.
All I care about in this moment though, is the woman who's looking at me, her mouth open as I approach her.
"You didn't swear once," she says to me, her eyes travelling the length of my body. "Did you mean everything you said up there?"
I cock my head. Is she interested now?
"Why?" I ask.
Simple. Straight to the point.
She shrugs. Her cheeks turn red. It's fucking cute.
Careful. She's you’re stepdaughter. Don't forget that.
"It just seemed so...real," she says to me and I look into her eyes. "So genuine. You really felt what you said."
Those eyes are telling me she's feeling like fucking me.
I've seen it before in countless women.
I know that look.
"Have dinner with me," I tell her. She starts visibly.
"Father to daughter," I say, giving her a smile. "So we can catch up. Nothing more."
Does she want more?
