Page 45 of Ace

But she and Dex paused.

Jason went to his seat. And still her father waited, and Dex stayed at her side.

“You coming?”

She shook her head.

Dex reached for her hand.

She laced her fingers with his. “Give my apologies to Dex’s dad.”

They turned from her father and made their way toward the back doors.

“I’m gonna punch something.”

“Me too.”

For some reason, his response made her laugh.

“And before they do, I’d just like to congratulate Gianna West for her outstanding work in the islands of the Pacific Ocean. Because of her, countless lives have been saved, children given food, shelter, hope, and a future. We are proud supporters of Gianna West and her work with orphanages around the globe.”

Dex’s father clapped his hands and the whole room joined in.

She waved.

“In fact, Gianna, get back up here. I’d love it if you could explain some of these images to our group today.” He pointed, and the slideshow from the center’s press kit filled the screen behind him to the right.

“My dad sure knows how to get what he wants.” Dex groaned.

“He’s awesome. My dad’s the one we have to worry about.”

Dex didn’t say anything.

The two of them made their way back up to the front. Dex would have sat in his seat at their table, but Gianna waved for him to join her.

“This is Dex Callison. He was recently with me on the island of Panau.”

He nodded. “I’m happy to be here.”

“One thing we both learned while we were there is that the people on these islands are in desperate need. And while every effort is made to help them learn to be self-sufficient—wells are dug, land is farmed, fishing boats built—the frequent storms and extreme poverty of the area often still necessitate humanitarian supplies.” She showed images of food drops. “All of these efforts are where your help comes in. The more resources we collect here, the more villagers we can assist.”

She clicked to the next part of the presentation. “And of course, we are well aware of the current potential conflict in the Pacific. The Pacific Oceanic Alliance has reached out for help. The islands along this string are no longer able to communicate with anyone outside of their situation. But Dex Callison and I were just right here on the tip. And we can attest that they are in desperate need. We have and will continue to make food drops in this location.”

A murmur carried throughout the room.

Dex whispered in her ear. “We don’t want too much of that out there right now. There’s a lot of rank in here who might think we’re causing trouble with the Mantukese.”

She glanced at her father, whose face was a stone, and she wondered if he thought the same. And suddenly, she didn’t care one whit. Right was right. And if they couldn’t see that feeding starving people was the correct move in any situation, they needed to be told a thing or two.

“Especially in a time when we aren’t certain how to move forward with our military, we certainly know how we can move forward with our aid.” She clicked on her photo at the end. “In all our efforts we must consider the citizens on the ground.” One of her dear children came on the screen. He was grinning from ear to ear, holding a banana leaf full of porridge cupped in his hands.

Senator Callison stood up next to them and clapped them both on the shoulder. “Our campaign supports international aid. We are proud sponsors of her nonprofit and will vote to support all efforts that empower people like Gianna West to do greater good in the world.”

Everyone in the room clapped. And then Gianna waved. “Our website accepts donations.”

She and Dex left the stand. “I guess we should stay now.”

“Yes.” He sounded about as excited as she felt.

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