“I help keep things running smoothly.”
“You must be an intelligent woman,” Cavin ascertained.
“I can hold my own.”
“I have noticed.”
“Before I ran into you—literally,” she laughed, “I was sitting with some friends.You should join us.”
Cavin knew better than to pass up such an opportunity.“I would be honored.”
Cavin followed Georgia through the maze of people before shaking hands with a table full of locals including the mayor and his wife, another town councilperson, a doctor, and an insurance agent.
“It is a pleasure to meet each of you.”
Within thirty minutes of filling a chair at the table, Cavin received an invitation to the mayor’s party tomorrow night, an acceptance to join the Saturday morning golf outing, and a handful of business cards.It appeared that meeting Georgia, whom he learned was an attorney, might have been his golden ticket.
“Would you like to dance, City Boy?”Georgia confidently asked Cavin as people shuffled to the dance floor at the onset of a popular song.
“Of course,” Cavin accepted.
Cavin quickly figured out that Georgia knew her way around a dance floor, and he sure was glad his mother forced him to start taking dance classes at age twelve.“It is a sure-fire way to meet and get close to pretty girls,” his father told him when Cavin initially scoffed at the idea.At the time Cavin didn’t realize the skill would continue to reap benefits well into adulthood.
“You and I might need to sign up for one of those reality dancing shows,” Georgia mentioned acknowledging Cavin’s abilities.
They danced, drank, and mingled with the group as well as other patrons who eagerly flocked to their table and then danced some more.Cavin never expected songs like “Run Run Rudolph” to cause so much commotion, but everyone hurried to the dance floor every time the band started a Christmas tune.
When Georgia asked how Cavin kept in such great shape, he told her about his rigorous workout routine.During that conversation she recommended the local gym where she said she worked out daily.
Although unsure how many drinks he consumed, Cavin knew when to call it quits.Another rule his father taught him was that getting drunk in the presence of intelligent business people was a terrible idea, especially in public.“You will show your hand to them if you have more than your share of alcohol, and if you aren’t careful, you will show your rear end as well,” his dad preached.“Instead buy them drinks and let them show you their cards and whatever else they can’t control.”
Most of the people at this table, or at any table where he sat, didn’t need anyone to buy them drinks; however, the gesture often received value well beyond the monetary kind.As the evening wound down, Cavin picked up the tab for the whole group and walked away from the venue with more than a handful of new friends, one of whom mirrored his every step as the creek slapped against the boardwalk’s concrete wall.
“Thanks for buying drinks for me and my friends,” Georgia acknowledged.“Bumping into you really paid off,” she added with a wink and a simultaneous shoulder tap.
“Was that your plan all along?”
“Do I come across as that type of woman?”she teased.
Before Cavin had the opportunity to respond, a man stepped out from a dark area underneath a large, mysterious live oak tree.“Georgia, who’s your new boyfriend?”he slurred.
Cavin and Georgia both stopped in their tracks and turned their attention to the guy.Realizing the fellow knew Georgia by name, Cavin held his tongue.
“He is my friend, and his name is none of your business,” Georgia stated calmly and intelligently.
“You don’t know his name,” the man laughed then turned his attention toward Cavin while stepping close enough for Cavin to smell the alcohol on his breath or maybe he spilled some on his worn jacket.“Dude, she doesn’t even know your name.”
Cavin squinted his eyes.“What is your name?”he inquired while trying to diffuse the situation.
The guy’s eyes bulged.“My name?”he asked slowly and loudly, stumbling back a step.“Georgia knows my name.”
Despite the fact that pole lights lit the area well and many people from the bar remained within shouting distance, Cavin still felt uncomfortable.He glanced at Georgia but kept the guy in his peripheral vision.
“Everyone knows your name,” Georgia said to the man.
“I know his name,” the fellow responded, nearly sticking his finger into Cavin’s chest.
“This is the guy who was harassing me earlier...right before we met,” Georgia explained to Cavin.
