When I told her about my magical calendar during our senior year, she had a brilliant idea. It was basically an app that, when infused with certain spells, would do the same thing. With some coding magic, we could do things like build entire project timelines and find times for meetings across many schedules.
We didn’t tell anyone it was magic, though, and luckily, AI was so up and coming, throwing that word around had people interested. It had broad applications as a term, and most people believed it was magic anyway. We called it PlanD, which we thought was cute and catchy.
Now we just needed the capital to get it up and running. Creating apps took a lot more money than people would think, and as two broke, just out of college women, we didn’t have it.
So, for the last few years Casey took side jobs in coding to help earn money, and I picked up extra shifts at the coffee shop whenever I could. Graduating with a communications major wasn’t her most financially smart move, but it did make her perfect for things like this.
“I still can’t believe your mom gave you her ticket,” I said to Casey.
The only reason we were able to attend this event was because Casey’s mom was a lawyer who got invited to these things all the time. Not that she would help pay for the app. She thought Casey’s time was better spent elsewhere, rubbing elbows with people like this, which was exactly what scored us this shot.
“She just wants me to get a regular job at some corporation, but I have no interest.” Casey was sort of like my family that way, very against The Man and all that. And while I could respect it, The Man was who currently had the money we needed.
“Well, it gave us this great opportunity.” My calendar dinged, reminding me it was time to go. “Wish me luck.”
“You’re going to get us all the money we could need and more.”
I stepped out to the chill of the fall and planned to get to work.
When I arrived, the valet took my car, looking at it like he was confused as to why I was here. It was valid. I drove a beat up Honda while the car directly in front of her seemed to be the newest BMW.
The place was gorgeous. Large steps led up the front of the venue, into a large ball room. It was all decked out in silver, white, and black. There were black and white roses on every table in large fluted glasses, and a large silver chandelier hanging over the black and white tiled dance floor. Though it was obvious a lot of money had gone into it, it was sort of tacky looking. Everyone wore some shade of white or black, since that was the theme. Looking around at all of these people, who were obviously pedigreed differently from me, made me lose a bit of my confidence.
I couldn’t let that get in the way though. We’d worked so hard, spent countless all nighters making sure the code and the magic fused seamlessly. The product was perfect, and one people would go crazy for, we just needed to sell it.
And I would sell the absolute shit out of it.
But maybe a drink first to calm my nerves I moved over to the bar sectioned across the room. The menu had themed drinks on it. As I read down, my nose scrunched.
The first one was ‘the dark abyss’ and had licorice liqueur in it. The ‘white sour’ had… milk? None of that sounded appetizing. It seemed like they were made more for the aesthetic of the party than the actual flavor. I ordered a vodka sour that came quickly.
I didn’t see anyone else holding one of the black and white drinks either, so at least I wasn’t the only one put off.
A man slid up next to me to place an order, and I decided this was my moment. I was going to make a connection. After downing the drink for confidence, I would make my move.
I moved myself in front of him, so he would notice me. “Another,” I said to the bar tender who dropped his drink off.
“Excuse me,” I said before the man could turn away.
He turned to look at me, and suddenly, every thought I had went out the window. “I like your tie.”
He looked down. “Thanks, my wife picked it.”
“She has excellent taste.”
Then he was gone. I took a deep breath. That was a warm up, I told myself. I wasn’t going to get it perfect on the first try.
So I tried again… then again… then again. Each time I said something stupid, or started a conversation I couldn’t find my way into. One woman dragged me into a thirty minute conversation about her opinion on the stock market, and before I could get a word in, she sauntered off back into the crowd.
This was feeling hopeless. I didn’t know what was going on. I was an excellent speaker. It was one of my best traits, and the one thing—besides my magic—that made me of value to our business. I couldn’t fail here.
I was on my third drink and rested my head against the bar, whispering a quick spell to help quell the effects of the alcohol. While the buzz was nice, I was here on business, and needed to be professional.
I decided I needed some food. I had watched trays walk by all night, but hadn’t grabbed anything for myself. I snagged something off of the next tray that came around and shoved it in my mouth.
My eyes widened in instant regret. I wasn’t sure what it was. It had looked to be some cured meat on bread, but there was a fruity flavor as well? Whatever it was, it didn’t work.
I tried to swallow, but it was so awful I retched. I reached across for a cocktail napkin and spit it out, dropping it into my empty glass. I didn’t want to be rude, but there was no way I was eating that. I could only hope no one saw.
