Chapter 14

Kevin

“Okay, Mark, if you are manning the front door, I need you to work with the security team and ensure only people with invitations who are on the list should be getting in. Okay?” Emily said firmly to Mark as we were finishing the final touches for the event.

“What if they have an invitation but are not on the list?” he asked.

“That shouldn’t happen, but use your best judgment. If they are famous, just let them in. If you have no idea who they are, let me know, and I’ll come decide. Okay?”

“Okay, what if they are on the list and don’t have an invitation?”

“Then let them in. If they just show up and forgot their invitation, and you know they are on the list, let them in. The security guard will be doing most of the work, but he will need you to give final say if he has any questions on who should come in and who should not. I’m going to be really busy. It would be much better if you could make the call on letting people in because it might take me a really long time to get to you.”

Mark looked nervous as he and Emily finalized the front door rules. It was pretty funny how serious he was taking this job. I’d been impressed by how much effort he was putting into the charity and this event. He was passionate about helping, and I really needed that in my life at the moment.

“Where do you need me?” Ed said as he and Barbra walked into the house.

“Wow, you look amazing, Barbra. That’s some dress you’ve got there.” I gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and shook hands with Ed as we walked toward the great room. “What I need you two to do is keep this room in party mode. The DJ will do most of the work, but we are going to have a few breaks to update on what’s going on in other areas. I’ve put a schedule by the mic over there. Other than that, I’m sure Emily will come find you if there’s anything else she needs help with.”

“So basically you need us to drink and dance all night?” Ed asked.

“Exactly. I want you two to have a great time. Be the first ones on the dance floor. Be the couple having the most fun, and everyone else will follow.”

“I love this charity work.” Barbra laughed as she went over to the fully stocked bar and ordered a drink. “Ed, this is the best idea you’ve ever had. Kevin, if you need any more volunteers for the organization, I’m totally game to help more. Seriously, I love this and would be happy to help you with your goals.”

“Thanks, I might just take you up on that. We will see how the night goes and if we get some funding to kick things off.”

I gave Ed a quick pat on the back and then made my way to the kitchen to check in with Caroline and the catering team. Mark had offered up his restaurant for catering, and we were using them for appetizers that were being served outside. We also had a full-service caterer who offered me a big discount to try them out. I’d seen their work at a charity event a few months previous and was happy to give them a chance with my organization.

“Everything is good here,” Caroline said before I even had a chance to ask questions. “We’ve got a tent out back with all of Mark’s people. They will keep the outside moving, and in here we got this wonderful team.”

The kitchen was packed with a dozen waiters and waitresses as well as a couple of chefs who were too busy to turn around and acknowledge our conversation. It felt good. Everything about the event was on track and running as smoothly as I could possibly have hoped for, especially since we had set things up on such a last minute timeline.

“Someone is arriving,” Mark yelled from the front door. “It’s only a quarter to seven.”

“Calm down. It’s show time,” Emily said calmly as she had just walked into the kitchen and turned around to go back to the front door with Mark.

“Here we go,” I added as I went to the front to greet whoever was showing up first.

There was no way I was going to be able to stay at the door all night long, but I could certainly manage to greet some of the first guests. This was it; this was the night I’d been waiting for, and I couldn’t help wishing that the first person arriving was one of the really big athletes I’d invited. A few minutes of one on one conversation with them would be fantastic.

It wasn’t an athlete; instead, all the local politicians and big businesses were the first people to arrive. There was a steady stream of them for the first twenty minutes, and I should have known the people who were downtown the most would be the ones arriving on time. Most people who didn’t work in San Francisco on a daily basis totally underestimated how long it took to get through the city on a Saturday night.

Greeting all the new arrivals was exciting but not nearly as fun as I’d imagined it being. When I was planning the event, I’d pictured Jenna standing with me and greeting everyone. I thought about how beautiful she would look and how much everyone was going to compliment her. But there I was, alone, trying to fumble through the process of making people feel comfortable when I didn’t feel comfortable myself.

When I saw Cassandra walk up to the door, I tried to get away, but she had already spotted me.

“Kevin, hi,” she yelled out toward me.

“Hello,” I replied graciously. “Jenna decided not to come?”

“You know. It was a little awkward for her. But I’m here. Would you mind showing me around? I’d love to hear more about your charity and the things you’ll be doing,” she said and then wrapped her arm around mine and started to walk with me.

I didn’t necessarily want to be stuck talking to Cassandra, but it was better than greeting all the local politicians and their spouses. The politicians weren’t the ones that were going to be giving a lot of money, but they were a necessary part of building any successful business within the city; even if that business was going to be a charity.

“So in here we will have dancing,” I said as we walked into the room Ed and Barbra were in. “This is …”

“Musicly!” Cassandra said as she shook hands with Ed. “You run Musicly. I know you.”

“Yes, I’m Ed, and this is my girlfriend, Barbra, it’s nice to meet you.”

“Wow, I bet you are making tons of money through that company. Good catch, Barb,” Cassandra said with an awkward wink.

I couldn’t believe my ears. Had she really just said that? It was by far one of the most tacky things I’d heard a woman say at a party in a really long time.

“Sorry,” I whispered to Ed as the two women talked for a minute.

“Is this the girl? She’s older than I pictured.”

“No, that’s not her! That’s her boss.”

“Thank God,” Ed replied with relief. “So your girl isn’t coming?”

“I guess not.”

As quickly as I could, I pulled Cassandra away from my friends and brought her out to the backyard. At least out there, I hoped I wouldn’t have to worry about her insulting any of my friends.

“This is where the auction items are. Feel free to bid on anything you like. It’s a silent auction, so you just write your bid and put it in the container. You never know what you might win.”

“Oh, that’s perfect. I’m sure I’ll find a few things to bid on. Maybe when I’m done, we could dance?”

There was no way I wanted to dance with Cassandra. I didn’t even think I would be able to pretend like I could stand her while dancing. With a smile, I nodded my head in agreement but didn’t say anything. I was definitely planning on being really busy later and not being free to dance with her.

I didn’t want to dance with any of the women. Not even the models who I saw starting to arrive at the front door. It didn’t matter who they were or how beautiful they were, I wasn’t in the mood for dancing or flirting.

“Do you want something to eat? My friend Mark has his restaurants catering the food out here?” I asked in an effort to break the seal of talking to Cassandra and being stuck outside with her.

“Yes, I’d love that.”

“Caroline,” I said as I yelled for my assistant across the yard.

She looked confused and came over to me so I didn’t have to keep yelling. Caroline wasn’t going to be very happy with what I was about to do, but at least she was getting paid for her night of work. It was the only consolation she’d have when I pawned Cassandra off on her.

“What’s up?” she asked.

“This is Cassandra, the lead manager from the San Francisco Ballet. Would you mind shower her to the food area and helping her get settled in? I need to greet some of the guests inside,” I said as I motioned for the two of them to introduce themselves or shake hands, or whatever they wanted to do. I just needed to get out of there.

Caroline smiled and graciously walked with Cassandra over to the food tent, but I knew only a few minutes with the woman was going to drive my assistant crazy. Caroline didn’t really enjoy snooty people like Cassandra.

As I walked back into the house, a lot more people had arrived. Several of the football players that I’d invited were there; it was impossible to avoid them because they stood a foot taller than many of the guests. The music was blasting in the great room, and the party was in full swing as I began the obligatory rounds to try and get people to donate money.

Many of my guests just knew me as a rich tech guy. They had probably seen me at a charity event or two, but not very many people knew that I was taking on this new quest so I really had to sell my ideas.

“Morgan, it’s so nice to see you,” I said as I walked up to one of my favorite movie stars. “Thank you so much for coming. I know you must be busy.”

“Thanks for the invite. Sometimes I think people assume I’m not going to come, so they don’t even invite me to events. I must say I was surprised that you were starting a non-profit. You aren’t exactly known for your charity work.”

I knew he didn’t mean it as an insult. But it still stung a little to hear how little respect the guy had for me, or at least who he thought I was before he showed up to my event.

“It’s a new adventure for me. I’m excited to make giving back to the community more of a full-time job for me. Thanks again for coming. We have silent auction items outside, or if you’d like to give a direct donation, you can see Emily who is set up in the study. She has information and plans for our first year that she can share with you.”

“I’ll go see her in a little bit. I hear some music calling my name for now,” Morgan said as he made his way to the great room.

As I waved to Morgan and waited for him to turn back around so I could go visit with others, I got a glimpse of a little commotion going on by the front door. I couldn’t see what was going on, but there was a line of people standing at the door and looking out to where Mark and the security team were greeting the new arrivals.

We had the front gates opened up so drivers could come into the property to drop off the guests before leaving again. But maybe our plan wasn’t working and was causing more congestion than we’d expected.

“Please just ask Kevin; I think he will let me in. My name is Jenna Andover,” I heard her say before I’d even pushed my way through the group of people at the door.

When I finally made my way to the front of the house, I saw Jenna standing in the driveway in front of a brilliant white limousine with a dress that had her looking like an angel. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought the lights in front of the house were purposely spotlighting her because her dress was practically glowing as the jewels caught the light.

“Jenna,” I said as I pushed through. “You came.”

I knew what Cassandra had said about Jenna, but I couldn’t help being excited to see her. Instinctively, I reached out to grab her hand. The touch of her fingers in mine felt right. Having her there with me felt right, that was all I knew at that moment.

“Oh, this is the girl,” Mark said with a smile.

“Wow, you had the nerve to show up?” Cassandra said as she appeared at the door.

“Mark, help me out here. Can you take that one off my hands?” I whispered as I nodded toward Cassandra. “I’ll owe you big time.”

“Hell, I’d love to handle her. She’s a spitfire.” Mark laughed as he grabbed Cassandra and pulled her away. “I need you to help me with something.”

“What? I don’t know who you are …”

“I’m Kevin’s best friend. Let’s go talk about this amazing dress you have on. You look like you’re twenty-nine. Maybe a little young for me, but I’m still going to flirt with you,” Mark said as he and Cassandra went off inside the house.

He was a lifesaver. I couldn’t quite figure out if he was serious about his flirting with her, but more power to him if he was. Mark was a passionate man and deserved to find a woman that could keep him occupied. Definitely not sure if he could tame Cassandra, but having a good man like Mark in her life probably wouldn’t hurt her either.

“I know you’ve heard some things about me, and I would appreciate if you gave me a chance to tell my side of the story,” Jenna said as she looked up at me with the biggest brown eyes I’d ever seen.

“Yes, of course.” I motioned for us to go to the garage area where there was a tent set up for the staff. No one was going to be in there since they were all working the party so we could have a few minutes of privacy at least.

The night air was getting cool, and as we walked to the tent, I saw goose bumps on Jenna’s shoulders. I couldn’t help taking my jacket off and wrapping it around her shoulders as we made our way into the large white tent.

I was nervous for what Jenna had to say. There was so much going through my mind though and so many emotions just having her there with me. I genuinely wanted to reach over and grab her and kiss her, yet I held myself back as I waited to hear what her side of this story was. Clearly, there were some secrets she’d been keeping, but was everything Cassandra said true?

“I’m not sure what Cassandra said, but I can tell you she was right about one thing. I did lie to you.”

“Okay,” I said as I waited to hear more.

“That night we first met. The night of the masquerade event, my friend Elaina hadn’t shown up for the event, and I was covering for her. I choreographed the dance so I knew it, and I squeezed into her costume. It was just supposed to be me dancing, and then no one would know Elaina hadn’t arrived. That was it. There was no intention to trick you. No intention to lie about anything.”

“You are not a dancer?” I asked. “Then you’re the choreographer?”

“Not exactly. I’m an assistant choreographer, but Cassandra has me doing a lot of different things for her. I did choreograph that whole show, though, despite her saying that she did it.”

So far I believed everything Jenna was telling me. The way she looked me in the eyes as she talked. The genuine emotion she had in her voice, she was telling me the truth. But this was about more than just that night. This was about several nights, even nights when we were naked in bed; she had plenty of opportunities to tell me the truth, and she didn’t do it.