I turn and open my mouth to respond but she’s gone. Always the one to say her thoughts and disappear.
Inspecting myself one last time, I can almost feel Roarke behind me, kissing my shoulder like he always did, telling me how beautiful I am. Reassuring me I’m the only one for him.
I blink and see it’s just me and it’s the first time in over a week that I debate if I really did make the right decision.
Chapter Thirty-Two
I walk into the gala and a real smile creases my lips for the first time since everything went to shit with Roarke.
The simple vases with clusters of white roses and greenery on each table under the pleated white tent give off a casual elegant vibe. A makeshift dance floor is surrounded by tables of eight covered in white tablecloths and the tent is open along the sides so you can see the city skyline.
“You like?” Sonya approaches me wearing a nice pink dress and heels, her name tag in place.
“I love. It’s beautiful.”
“May I walk you around?”
The waitstaff are dressed in classic black and white and flit between tables, filling the water glasses while others straighten the flower arrangements and place cards.
“Definitely.”
“So we have the champagne toast ready go after the final speech.” She points to the back kitchen. “Over here we arranged a black light room for the girls to write inspiring messages in neon colors.”
The entire blocked off room has black dry erase boards with pink, yellow, blue and green neon markers ready to be used.
“I love it.”
“I was a little unsure because I know you wanted elegant but since some of the girls and families were going to be here, I figured it could work. I ran the idea by Chelsea and she seemed to agree so we went ahead with it.” She leads me over to a long table covered in gift baskets. “This is the silent auction. Whoever hustled to get these did an awesome job. You’ve got Cubs packages, Blackhawks, a weekend getaway at The Drake, someone even donated a five day trip to Napa with the use of a private jet. It’s crazy how much money is in this city. We’ll be doing the live auction right after dinner while dessert is being served with the other items.”
Her enthusiasm is catching and I love that she seems as excited as I am about all this. “Everything is perfect.”
She smiles, winding through the tables. “I wasn’t sure how you’ll feel about this next part...Chelsea and I had discussed it but she mentioned you’ve been out of the office a lot the last week. I’m so happy you’re feeling better.”
I nod but say nothing.
“We decided instead of seating all the speakers together, that we’d sprinkle them in with the families. So the six Winter Classics athletes have been split up in groups of two to sit at tables with users of the programs. I hope that’s okay, but we thought if they saw the difference the foundation is making, they’d be more likely to either donate their time or money at a later date. And I think it will make everyone feel included and equal. I’m not sure if Roarke told you, but I used a non-profit company to get help when I was struggling in community college. The interview training helped me land this job. I just didn’t want the people who were part of the RISE Foundation’s generosity to feel any separation from the people funding the foundation.” Her cheeks blush with a slight pink that matches her dress. “Does that sound terrible? I hadn’t meant it to be.”
Her innocence and insightfulness amazes me. “It sounded beautiful and very well thought out. Thank you so much for thinking of it.”
She shrugs and touches my arm. “I’m so grateful to the One Million Degrees program and that’s why I had no problem bumping a profit event for yours.” She winks. “Between us of course.”
I’m floored by her candidness. “Of course. I’m so happy you got the help you needed to succeed.”
She smiles and heads to the podium. “The sound and video guy have the ads ready to go. They’ll play those right after the speeches and before the dinner.”
“Sonya, I’m truly amazed at how wonderful everything has been planned out.”
“Oh!” she exclaims but tapers down her reaction checking to make sure no one noticed. “Don’t even ask how, but we got fireworks. They’ll go off at ten thirty for fifteen minutes before the end of the evening. Called it another favor.”
She winks and although I am so appreciative of her efforts, the word firecracker reminds me of Roarke’s nickname for me. I push back the memories beating at the door for entry and smile at her.
“Really? Oh it will be beautiful.”
She nods and her hand rests on my arm again. “I have to check on some last minute preparations but enjoy. And if there’s anything you need, just grab any waitstaff and tell them to find me.”
I pull her into a hug. “Thank you, Sonya.”
She draws back. “You’re welcome. Any friend of Roarke’s is a friend of mine.” A soft smile creases her lips and I wonder if she knows. What kind of relationship does he still have with her? “I’m sure he’ll be quite smitten when he arrives and sees you.” She lightly squeezes my arm and I’m guessing she doesn’t know that we’ve broken up.
“I’m speechless,” Victoria says when she arrives a short time later, her arm entwined through Reed’s. She’s stunning in her black dress with a puffy bottom over her toned legs. Jade is wearing a soft pink dress with a beaded belt around the waist while Reed is in a typical black tuxedo. They look like the perfect American family.
I hold my hands out to the room. “Amazing, right?”
Victoria slides out from Reed’s hold, her hand over her heart as she approaches me. “It’s beautiful and more than I even imagined. What a great start to RISE.” She embraces me and the warmth of her arms brings the hopeful feeling that this will not be our only gala. That RISE will succeed and there will be many more to come.
“Looks great,” Reed says behind her.
Victoria draws back from me, giving me the look like ‘he’s a guy, don’t blame him for his lack of enthusiasm.’
“Can I write on the board?” Jade asks.
“Definitely. Start it off, girl,” I say.
She runs to the room and disappears. “You guys talk, I’ll keep an eye on her.” Reed leans forward kissing me on the cheek. “Congratulations, Hannah.”
“Thank you, Reed.”
With one last look at Victoria, he heads to the room Jade disappeared into.
“Anything I need to do?” Victoria inspects every surface.
“Nope. Just enjoy tonight. I’m going to introduce you and Chelsea at the beginning of the evening and other than that, you guys just have fun.” I lean in close. “There’s going to be fireworks near the end so maybe Jade can stay later?”
“Reed won that round. Said a late bedtime isn’t going to kill her.” She rolls her eyes and I wonder how much say he gets these days. Victoria usually holds all control when her ex isn’t around and I imagine having Reed interject his opinion must be hard to get used to.
“Holy shit, it’s awesome!” Chelsea’s voice screeches into the nearly empty room. When we turn, we see her mouth hanging open as she looks around. “Sonya is pure magic. I say we hire her to do all of our events.”