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Jenni pretended this piece of news was of no interest to her, but she felt her spirit sink. Tory did say late and not that hewasn’tcoming, she reminded herself. But she had hoped to atleast say hello before the meal and program got underway. Well, there was always right after everything ended, but she’d be busy then.
She spoke to several more guests, and soon it was time for everyone to take their seats.
From where Jenni sat at her table, the podium blocked her view of the Second Bank group. She thought she could make out the tops of the heads of Tory and Chase, and apparently the two other couples, but no one else, and clearly no Caleb. She reluctantly turned her attention to the board members seated next to her and politely made the necessary small talk while dinner was served and the program got underway.
No matter how many times Jenni worked on a special event, it always amazed her how quickly the evening would pass after months and months of preparation. This evening was no different.
She tried to be in the moment to remember what she ate for dinner, the motivational words of the keynote speaker, and the outline of the future plans of the organization from Dee who was delivering the closing remarks.
She was jolted out of her reverie when she heard Dee conclude by saying, “These wonderful evenings don’t just happen by themselves. I am sure you will want to join me in thanking Jenni Kirk, our development director, for all her hard work to make this evening such a resounding success. To close out our program, I’d like Jenni to come up and again thank our sponsors.”
Jenni stood and walked to the podium. She noticed two things immediately.
First, there was no piece of paper, no list of sponsors, awaiting her on the podium. Was she to have prepared them and forgot to do so? But it was the second thing she noticed that made her heart stop and her blood run cold. At the SecondBank table, Caleb had obviously arrived, with the most beautiful woman Jenni had ever seen.
She was so taken aback it took her a moment to regain her composure. And then she again remembered she had no list.
Not knowing what else to do, she looked over to Dee and said, “Dee, did you happen to pick up the list? I’m sure I could recite it, but I wouldn’t want to make a mistake.”
She thought she could sense a bit of a nervous titter settle over the audience and she felt her face grow hot with embarrassment.
She could not look Caleb in the eye.
Dee looked through her papers and laughed, “Here it is!” She waved it enthusiastically as she brought it up to Jenni. “You’re good, but memorizing this list wasn’t expected.” The crowd laughed.
Chapter Fifteen
Jenni’s mouth was dry, and her hands were shaking, but she carefully read through each sponsor’s name and allowed for applause. Finally, she’d reached the last name.
“And of course, we want to acknowledge the wonderful contribution from Second Bank as our presenting sponsor. Would the bank representatives please rise to be thanked appropriately?”
Tory, the two other gentlemen, and Caleb rose while the crowd clapped and even cheered a bit. When Caleb sat down, Jenni noticed the woman touch him lightly on the arm and ruffle his hair playfully.
Jenni felt faint and was barely able to, once again, thank everyone and wish them a good evening. Once it was clear the evening was over, chairs were pushed back and the volume of noise in the room escalated. Controlled chaos was exactly what Jenni needed. She turned from the podium, kicked off her heels as she passed her table, and made her way through the crowd. She practically ran barefoot into the ladies’ room and threw herself into a stall.
She sobbed uncontrollably.
But of course, he had a date,she chastised herself.And of course, I had to screw up again. When he is around, I can’t do anything right.
It should have been me on his arm tonight. He didn’t need a plus one. I had my chances, and I blew them. Over and over. Then he looked elsewhere.
I just should have known. I should have prepared myself for this.
He is an amazing guy. Why would he wait around for me to figure out that it’s him I really want, but I’m too fearful to tell him?
Why am I still so afraid of being hurt again?
Jenni sat there, with her head in her hands, tears streaming down her face, for several minutes. Then she realized she had things to do.
If nothing else Dee would be looking for her. She got up and went to the sink splashing cold water on her face, when Tory walked in.
“Jenni, what are you doing in here? I’ve been trying to find you. It was such a great night and… What on earth is wrong?”
Jenni shook her head as if to say it was nothing. “I think I must have eaten something that didn’t agree with me. Had to run, you know?” She hoped Tory would accept the story.
If Tory was skeptical, thankfully, she didn’t appear to let on.
“I just wanted to say congratulations. You’ll have to let me know your end result. Chase is in line to pick up a silent auction item for Mr. Prescott. Lucky him, Mr. Prescott that is, he got the golf package at Pinehurst. He had to leave right away, and well, you know, the assistant takes care of everything. Anyway, he was looking for you, and said if I found you, to congratulate you too.”
