Chapter 9 #2
“Claire and I met a few years ago,” Tai said, not wanting to leave her to an interrogation alone. “Recently decided to get reacquainted.”
True to form, Darlene eyed him with something like a challenge before she refocused on Claire.
“It’s great to meet you, Claire. I’m Darlene Gable.
I work PR for the biggest real estate agency in Virginia, and my boss is really passionate about philanthropy to non-profits, so Tai and I run into each other fairly often. ”
“What sort of things are you looking for at one of these events?”
“We’ve been donating to the Josie Strong Foundation for about a year now, so tonight I’m here for updates on their research.”
They talked a mix of statistics and science, personal stories, and even a smattering of politics—unavoidable in Tai’s work, though he’d always hated that even money spent for medical research held a political element.
Claire asked solid questions and contributed thoughtful opinions, despite her unfamiliarity with the depth of the issues.
Tai found himself talking less than usual so he could listen to her.
But he was also in work mode. If he had the power to “charm,” work was where he used it. He shared and informed and encouraged the interest of everyone at the table until dinner was served. More than once, he caught Claire watching him with something close to fascination.
Then the conversation waned for a few minutes as everyone dug into delicious sirloin, baked potatoes, and asparagus.
“Hey, I’ve got a question for y’all vampires,” announced Dylan Clarke, one of the humans at the table whom Tai hadn’t met before.
He was representing one of their smaller donors, but Tai had made sure to introduce himself regardless.
Everyone got the same attention and respect from the director of fundraising.
Claire’s left eyebrow tipped upward in a clear prologue to a side-eye, maybe due to the man’s grin, which bordered on a leer.
The man poked his fork at his steak. “If you didn’t have to be civilized for the humans, would you eat your sirloin raw?” He bared his teeth at them in what was probably supposed to look like a fanged grin.
Darlene rolled her eyes, and Claire gave an exaggerated, human-sounding sigh.
“Oh, come on, it was funny,” Dylan said.
“Why do you get to decide a joke about me is funny?” Claire said. “Shouldn’t I be the one to decide that?”
He spluttered like a cartoon character. “You don’t have to get all bent out of shape over a joke.”
“Actually,” Darlene said, “you didn’t have to say it, but you chose to. Now we get to choose our response. See how that works?”
Dylan rolled his eyes in Tai’s direction. “Women, am I right?”
“No,” Tai said, “you’re completely wrong.”
The man’s mouth fell open. He cast his gaze around the table to his fellow humans as a last-ditch bid for support, but not a single one of them smiled.
“Dude, it was a jerk thing to say,” one of the other men said. “Just own it.”
Dylan huffed and stared down at his plate.
The silence around the table was stiff, and Tai sought some way to dispel it.
Claire might have overstated his “super-socializing” skill, but it was part of his job to ensure people felt seen and comfortable.
He had to smooth what Dylan’s stupidity had ruffled.
At last he decided on the direct approach.
He set down his fork and cleared his throat. Everyone looked up to meet his eyes. “All right, let’s move on. There’s no reason we can’t have good conversation for the rest of the night, like we were a few minutes ago.”
Relief rippled over the table, and their emcee, Sandra Esposito, gave him a broad smile. “Good idea. Let’s do that.”
Dylan didn’t say another word, but among the rest of them, the conversation picked back up all the way through the dessert course. The menu offered a choice between cheesecake and a cup of seasonal berries. Always up for richness, Tai went for the cheesecake.
“I do not know how you can eat that whole thing,” Claire said with a delicate forkful of berries halfway to her mouth.
“It’s delicious,” Tai said.
“It’s not too much?”
“My favorite desserts are the too much ones.”
She laughed. “Noted. My palate can’t take it, but Leslie’s like you. She adores chocolate cake.”
“Mmm.”
Claire laughed, the inside of her lips colored with blueberry juice.
In a few more minutes, Sandra excused herself from their table, and Tai pushed his plate back a few inches.
Claire’s eyebrows rose. “Going somewhere?”
Right. He hadn’t mentioned this part of his role tonight. “Not far.” He nodded toward the stage.
Sandra tugged a wireless mic from its stand, tapped it, and began speaking. The low drone of conversation among tables dropped off to silence. “Good evening, everyone. I hope you’ve enjoyed our meal this evening.”
Applause rippled over the room.
“I’d like to thank our chefs and servers as well as all the staff at this fantastic venue. We’ve been here before on behalf of the Josie Strong Foundation, and I’m sure we’ll be back.”
Another brief round of applause.
“Now it’s time for me to introduce our keynote.
If you’ve spent any time getting to know the people who work with this foundation, you’ll recognize him as one of the front-facing fighters who work hard getting the word out about our research, our needs, and the huge importance this foundation has played in improving healthcare accessibility for those with a rare genetic disorder diagnosis.
It’s very possible we’d have closed our doors four years ago, but then this person joined our staff.
When it counted most, he worked tirelessly to keep us open.
He was hugely instrumental in getting us past the ‘barely surviving’ mode we’d been in so long, and these days the Josie Strong Foundation is strong indeed.
Now, without further ado, because he’s over here glaring at me for singing his praises… ”
The audience laughed. Tai blinked. Had he been glaring at Sandra? Maybe a little. Her introduction was too much.
He looked away from her to Darlene, who was laughing at him, shaking her head, and then to Claire. She was watching him too, but she wasn’t laughing. She studied him as if she’d just seen him for the first time.
“…here to give us our bi-annual update on the Josie Strong Foundation is our Director of Fundraising, Tai Kristiansen.”
While applause came a little louder this time, Tai stood from the table and walked up to take the mic.
Countless times this year he’d spoken about the foundation he cared so much about—the research, the money, but most importantly the people.
He belonged up here, a face at the front, communicating the mission.
In most ways, this report would be like any other.
But in one way, it was unique. Tonight Claire Vanderlaan sat a few dozen feet away, watching him, hearing his passion, and he wondered if he looked to her a little like Ember in her kitchen.