Chapter 37 #2
“You must have been quite a player if you were up against Magic Johnson.” Flattery never hurt when trying to get an older white guy to open up his wallet, “Say, did you see that we have a VIP Lakers experience including courtside seats up for auction later tonight?” Avery grabbed the program pamphlet from a nearby cocktail table and opened it to the page listing the live auction items.
As she was selling the other perks to Lenny, Josh returned with her prosecco.
“Lenny, meet Josh. He works in marketing for Archer,” Avery introduced the two men.
“Not to mention, her dashing date tonight,” Josh interjected.
She clocked the comment, but didn’t respond.
“Josh, I was telling Lenny about the auction items. Now that I have my drink in hand, Lenny, I notice yours is empty. You really ought to go get something to drink,” she nearly shoved the older gentleman in the direction of the bar.
“Yes, Lenny, do you like old fashioneds? Greg, the bartender, makes a fantastic one. Here let me introduce you,” Josh added, whisking Lenny back to the bar.
Thank you, Avery silently mouthed to Josh. He winked back at her.
The rest of the cocktail hour proceeded in much the same fashion, with Avery’s parents passing guests off to her to greet, and in turn, she gave them the elevator pitch about the causes and sent them on their way to the bar, or the auction tables.
Josh continued to play his part beautifully, refilling her glass, interjecting during awkward pauses in conversation.
He was a devoted date, but she was beginning to wonder whether inviting him in the first place had sent some mixed signals.
Finally, Caroline tapped on her shoulder. “Avery, it’s time to start the program.” She followed Caroline to one end of the tent, where a small stage and podium had been set up in front of a huge projection screen.
“Your dad is about to go on and give his welcome speech. You’re up next with the video,” Caroline informed her.
Right on cue, Avery’s dad nearly hopped up onto the platform and grabbed the microphone from its spot on the lectern.
“Good evening, everyone, and welcome to the fifteenth annual Silver Foundation Gala. On behalf of Sharon and our whole family, including our chosen family at the Silver Formula One team, we thank you for being here tonight to help us raise money for worthy causes. Sharon and I are delighted to start the evening off by announcing that we will personally match the total raised tonight, so anything you give tonight will be doubled,” he paused for applause, which the crowd offered thunderously.
Avery felt her mouth fall open. She knew, of course, that her parents would make a major personal contribution tonight.
But she had no clue it was going to be a matching gift.
Her mouth involuntarily formed a smile, the first one she hadn’t forced all night.
Seeing all of the heads around the room nod in approval and the hands vigorously clapping, reignited something in her. She felt a fire in her belly.
She knew that her dad was about to introduce her, that she was up next in the evening’s line-up of speakers.
While she felt the good kind of butterflies in her stomach that were only natural before speaking in front of hundreds of people, she’d always been a confident public speaker.
Whether it was from the theater and improv class she’d taken in college or from always being in the quasi-public eye as a Silver, she wasn’t sure, but for some reason giving a rehearsed speech to a crowd was far less scary to her than confronting someone one-on-one.
“Lipstick, please,” she whispered to Caroline, who pulled Avery’s tube from her cross-body bag.
Caroline was carrying both Avery’s and her mom’s lipstick and phones in her purse, as neither of them wanted their hands tied up holding a clutch.
They needed to be hands-free to shake hands, offer hugs, etc…
A trick Sharon had passed down to Avery several years ago when she was old enough to start carrying a purse.
Avery swiped the creamy stick across her lips and pressed her lips firmly together a couple of times. She looked over at Caroline.
“Good?” she asked.
Caroline gave her a thumbs up. “Lookin’ good, boss lady.”
“And now, it is my honor and privilege to introduce the very talented woman who is responsible for bringing this incredible evening to life. She also happens to be my beautiful daughter,” Michael’s voice boomed from across the stage.
She cringed. He was never going to get it. He’d never call another woman in the Silver organization beautiful by introduction. She was finally getting some recognition for all her contributions, and they were made lesser when accompanied by mentions of her appearance. It wasn’t fair.
She had to let the frustration fuel her because she had to go onstage right now.
Her dad had teed it up for her with the matching gift and now she had to do her job—tug on the heartstrings.
The video would do the job for her: adorable little kids and surprisingly eloquent teens speaking about what a new sports complex would mean for their community were far more powerful than her explanation.
She handed the tube of lipstick back to Caroline, who replaced it with her note cards. She hadn’t needed to write down her speech word for word, but she wanted to make sure she didn’t forget any of her major points or people she wanted to thank.
“Good evening, everyone, and thanks Dad, for that warm, albeit somewhat embarrassing introduction.” She might as well lean into the awkwardness.
It paid off, as she heard more than one person in the audience chuckle.
She looked up from her notes to see her mom smiling at her.
They made eye contact, and her mom nodded at her encouragingly.
“This beautiful event tonight would not have been possible without the hard work of some very important people. First, a huge thank you to my brother Ben, and my brother-in-law Adam for hosting all of us at their beautiful home.” The crowd erupted into applause once again.
She hadn’t expected to pause there, but okay, this was good, the crowd was happy, feeling the celebratory atmosphere just as she had hoped they would.
“And to Caroline Whitaker, my right-hand woman. Caroline, take a bow, please.”
Avery gestured to where Caroline was standing on the ground next to the stage as the crowd clapped once again.
“And finally, thank you to everyone at the Silver Charitable Foundation, and the entire Silver team. From the drivers, Teddy and Zack, who went above and beyond with their auction contributions this year, to everyone at the factory who makes this organization what it is. I know Zack is here tonight representing the team,” She scanned the crowd, looking for Zack until she found him and grinned.
He raised a hand and waved to the crowd, then blew Avery a kiss.
Avery looked back at him and froze.
It wasn’t. No. It couldn’t be.
She was hallucinating, surely. She could only see a sliver of the man behind Zack, hidden in his shadow—a brown flip of hair at the collar of the suit jacket, the slim fit of expertly tailored dress pants paired with pristine designer sneakers.
It couldn’t be Teddy standing in the back of the room behind Zack, or could it?
She knew she had to wrap up her speech and cue up the video.
But she felt completely breathless, unable to find the words.
She wanted to jump off the stage, elbow her way through the sea of people, and make sure her eyes weren’t deceiving her. But she had a room full of people, with their eyes on her, waiting. She had to say something, anything, not just stand there staring like an idiot, frozen.
She cleared her throat, forcing her attention back to the microphone in her hand.
“Right, thanks. With no further ado, please turn your attention to the video screen above me so you can learn the real reason we are all here tonight. To make sure our most vulnerable citizens have opportunities to pursue their dreams. Thank you.”
* * *
The video came to life on the screen behind her, and Avery shot her eyes back to where Zack was seated, where she thought she had spotted Teddy, her heart pounding.
Where is he? She squinted. Whoever that guy had been, he’d moved.
Or maybe her overactive imagination had seen what it wanted to see, and projected Teddy’s likeness onto some other guy?
Maybe all these tall guys in dark suits looked the same from her vantage point on the stage.
Was he trying to be incognito? No, that would be seriously impossible for Teddy to try and blend in anonymously at this event. He’d be recognized instantly. She had to go find out if it was actually him.
She turned to step down, but felt one of her heels catch on the side of the stage, and stumbled.
She was falling toward the grass below. Please, God, don’t let me eat shit right now.
Even with the lights dimmed and the focus on the adorable youngsters lighting up the video screen keeping her somewhat hidden, she really, really didn’t want to be the girl who fell off the stage.
Luckily, Caroline saw what was happening, and thrust her hand out, giving Avery something to grab onto while she righted herself.
“Are you okay? You look like you saw a ghost,” Caroline asked with concern, her arm still on Avery’s, steadying her.
“I… uh…think, I did see a ghost,” Avery answered.
“Teddy isn’t here, is he? I mean, someone would have mentioned that to me.
I would know that already,” she said, trying to convince herself that it couldn’t have been him.
But she’d recognize those eyes anywhere (even if she only got a glimpse of one-quarter of his face) and the defined cheekbones underneath that meant he’d always have a backup career in modeling.
Caroline looked at her sheepishly. “Me too. I thought you knew.”