The “thing” in question was an industry dinner thrown by the local restauranteurs' guide.It was purely a networking event, where owners, promoters, bloggers, marketers, you name it could spruce themselves and make contacts.
In my case, it was my first real opportunity to mingle with the competition and ensure that everyone knew I meant business.
“Sam?”Tiffany was looking at me expectantly.The ring around her eyes flared amber in the light, highlighting the way her pupils dilated.
I really had to get myself sorted out if pupils had started to do it for me.
Clearing my throat, I nodded; short, shaky jerks that felt like an obvious sign of how off-balance I felt.There were at least two hours before dinner.I’d need to pull myself together by then.
In a show of non-favoritism,they had crammed all 150 of us into a function room that was semi-connected to one of the oldest restaurants in the city.Of course, said restaurant was owned by one of the attendees, but I decided that commenting on that would be a non-starter.
We made the rounds, greeting as many as we could.I was introduced to far more due to Tiffany’s connections, an added bonus of her joining me.Most of the people in the room maintained a certain level of distance, which I determined to be either competitive jealousy or outright dismissal.But a few stood out as welcoming and friendly.
One, in particular, greeted Tiffany joyfully, with a friendly hug and big smile.“Has he accosted you yet?”the statuesque brunette asked, her cut and dry tone the first sign that she was both a close friend and seemingly as enthused to be there as we were.
She stood taller than Tiffany, who had shocked me by not wearing jeans.Not that I had expected her to, but I hadn’t realized until tonight that I’d never seen her in anything else.Her hair fell across an exposed shoulder, her delicate frame otherwise draped in a loose, deep rust-colored knitted dress that moved gracefully around her.She was, I noted amusingly, still in her usual pair of flat black boots, looking comfortable and effortlessly beautiful.
My black velvet suit jacket and charcoal shirt now felt like I was trying too hard.
“No, thank God,” Tiff replied.“But he’s slinking around here somewhere.You know what Pierce is like.”
Her friend made an unimpressed face.I was immediately a fan.“Unfortunately.”She brightened, turning to face me.“I take it this is the new boss I’ve been hearing all about?”
I shook her hand.“Sam Cooper.”
“Quinn Fisher, nice to meet you.”
“The pleasure’s all mine.Are you having a good night?”
“As much as I can at these things.Tiff’ll tell you; I’m not really great at all this crap.I’d rather be home.Or working.”
“Well, I’m glad you decided to join us tonight, at least so I could have the pleasure of meeting you.”
“Alright.Looker and a charmer, huh?As long as you aren’t a prick, we should get on fine.”
“Trust me, he’s not like the rest,” Tiffany said, her tone unreadable.I couldn’t determine whether that was a compliment or not, but it appeared the best I would get from Tiffany, and her friend seemed pleased, so I let it be.
“It was good to meet you, Sam.I better finish doing the rounds so I can get out of here.Good luck with this lot.”Quinn waved her hand at the room.
I watched her continue through the crowd and asked Tiffany, “Old friend?”
A waiter passed with an empty tray, and she scowled before answering.“Quinn?Oh, yeah.Does it surprise you to know that I have friends?”she teased.
She chuckled at the flat look I gave her in lieu of a response.
“Oh, come on.Not even a smile?You’re always such a tough crowd, Cooper.”Her attention wavered when another waiter passed by without stopping.“You should know that not everyone is like Pierce and his buddies.Quinn’s one of the good ones.”
“Do they really hold that much sway here?”
“They don’t have their fingers in every pie, but they do make it pretty much impossible to go up against them without them swinging their influence around, which usually ends up just hurting everyone.Pissing them off isn’t a good business idea, no matter how good it feels.”
“Hmm.”
“What?”She abandoned her search for a waiter, now focusing intently on me.“That’s your, I’m silently judging you ‘hmm’.”
“I have a judging ‘hmm’?”
“Honey, you have many.”Honey was new.I didn’t hate it.
