Leaving the class, she drove to a local mall and wandered around for a while, looking for the most nondescript black dress she could find. It was a strange feeling not to worry about money, but still she was frugal. Years of not knowing what the next day would bring had taught her to be careful. She couldn’t change that in the course of a few years. She didn’t want to change it.
Never would she be as selfish and bitter as her grandparents.
Finding a dress she could live with, she paid the cashier, then drove home. The event was that night and she figured she’d better get it over with, or else lose her nerve. If that happened, she’d have to try another event, and on and on until no events were left. She could do this.
Taking a little time to apply a spot of blush and some mascara, she threw her hair into a bun and slipped into the dress and low heels, then grabbed a purse and headed back out the door of her apartment.
Arriving at the fundraiser, she found herself in a line of cars waiting for valet parking. It didn’t take long for her to reach the front of the line, and she offered a genuine yet nervous smile to the young boy who opened her car door.
“Good evening, ma’am. Have a pleasant night,” he said as she handed him a tip and stepped from the car.
Walking through the open double doors on trembling legs, she found herself in a glamorous ballroom, and the butterflies in her stomach nearly flew out of her mouth. To be more exact, she felt as if something were going to come out of her mouth...and it probably wasn’t butterflies. There was so much to take in around her.
Men were dressed in impeccably tailored tuxedoes — no rentals here — and women displayed gowns in all styles and colors, though none came close to her sixty-dollar off-the-rack pièce de résistance. The amount of sparkle from the diamonds dripping from the women was enough to blind her, but she kept her head high as she scanned the items up for bid.
Though she had enough money to pay for any of the items for sale, she would never spend ten thousand dollars on a one-of-a-kind diamond bracelet or twenty thousand for a night on the town with a Hollywood megastar. She had so picked the wrong place to come for her psychology paper.
Just as she was thinking it was time for her to abandon this mission, her eye caught on a poster showcasing an exclusive island resort with blue skies and shining beaches. Intrigued, she moved toward it and found an older gentleman standing nearby.
His expression was friendly; she wondered whether he might be willing to answer a few questions, but her shyness took over and she turned to stare at the advertisement.
It wasn’t an auction item, but a vacation won by raffle only. At the end of the night, a name would be drawn, and the winner would spend two weeks at the new resort in Catalina Island when it opened in May. She was tempted to invest a few dollars on the off chance of winning.
“It looks like paradise, doesn’t it?”
Haley was startled when the older gentleman spoke. She tentatively glanced up and realized he was speaking to her.
“Yes, it does. After my finals are done, I could use a vacation,” she shyly responded.
“Finals? What are you studying?”
This was the perfect opportunity to ask him some questions.
Taking a deep breath, she thought, Here goes. “Among other things, I’m taking a psychology class right now.”
“I love psychology courses. I remember learning more about myself than anything else while there,” he replied, and she relaxed.
A soft beard covered his cheeks and chin, and he wore tinted glasses. She wondered why, and thought that would be a good question, but more than a bit rude.
“Yes, I think I’ve grown over the past four months, though our professor likes to give us assignments that many would consider outside of the box,” she said with a slight laugh.
“Ah, I had a few professors like that. What is this man or woman doing to torment you at the moment?”
His easy laughter made Haley feel a bit more comfortable. “I’m supposed to ask questions of strangers,” she said nervously.
“Mmm, that sounds interesting.”
She couldn’t tell whether he would be willing or not, but she had nothing to lose by asking. “Would you mind answering a few for me? Though asking the questions is the entire reason that I’m here tonight, I’d rather die, honestly, than approach people.” Her heart pounded as she waited for his response.
“It’s never a hardship to speak to a woman as beautiful as you,” he suavely replied.
Blushing furiously, Haley pulled out her notepad and a pen. If he thought it strange, he didn’t say anything.
She really should have planned better because she didn’t have anything written down. She honestly hadn’t thought she’d get this far. She’d start off easy, and just ask a few more than the three she was supposed to, then pick and choose what she wrote about in her paper.
“Did you grow up in Seattle?”
“No, I didn’t. I was born here, but then my parents moved to the East Coast when I was a young boy. I just recently moved back,” he said before asking his own question. “Now it’s my turn. Why did it take a college class to get you out here, and why are you all alone?”
Haley was nervous to the point of nausea, but she stifled it and smiled at him. “I don’t like public events at all, especially parties like this, though I shouldn’t tell you that. I just feel like I’m in far over my head. I’d rather be home in my jammies studying,” she answered with a nervous giggle.
“Now you have me intrigued. Tell me more.”
“There’s not a whole lot to tell. I go to school, work part time, and harass strangers on the side,” she tried to joke.
When his lips twitched and a chuckle escaped his mouth, she felt her nausea rise. She couldn’t have a sophisticated conversation with a man in a tux. He was so far above her station in life, it wasn’t even funny. It didn’t matter how much she had in her bank account. That wasn’t truly her money; it was an inheritance — and to make it worse, her grandparents were surely rolling over in their graves at the way she was using it. They’d never thought her worthy of going to college, of being anything other than a burden on society.
“Well, we don’t want you failing your course, now, do we? Ask me anything else you’d like,” he said.
Haley beamed up at him and lifted her notepad back up. “Do you have children?”