Page 150 of Faithful

On stage, Lena Kalchin continues to talk about the importance of giving back. She’s an animated speaker and under different circumstances, I would probably enjoy watching her, but my world has just been turned upside down. Again.

Kai is here.

I’m not sure how exactly he got in since this is supposed to be a black-tie event (or at least I remember seeing that somewhere in the program), but he’s wearing an embroidered Victorian tailcoat and boots and his hair is loose and a little messy. I wonder if the security out front was stunned by his appearance so much that they forgot all reason and just let him walk in.

A uniformed member of the event staff discreetly shows him to one of the two empty tables in the corner, and since Lena’s holding everyone's gaze hostage, there’s only a handful of people who actually witness Kai’s arrival to the event.

Some make long faces. Some exchange shocked looks. A few uptight whispers roll through the back.

My parents aren’t part of that group. They are too busy listening to Lena.

My father probably can’t see past the end of his nose anyway because he’s next and his pride is about to get another boost.

As for me, I really want to jump to my feet and run to Kai, but my common sense prevails.

You’re working,I remind myself in the privacy of my thoughts.You’re a face of this nonprofit. Interrupting the speech of an honored guest and donor wouldn’t reflect well on your team.

Instead, I pull out my phone and text him.

You came?

The interns seated with us perk up. They sense something is going down because Leigh and Winona are horrible at keeping their excitement at bay.

Plus Val adds more fuel to the fire by trading her phone for Gin’s iPad. Gin’s suddenly tasked with recording the remainder of Lena’s speech while Val furiously stabs her fingers at the screen.

She then shoves the iPad at me. The Twitter feed she pulled up is filled with the search results Kai’s name supplies.

Apparently, he made quite the splash by showing up at the red carpet right outside the hotel a few minutes ago.

Simultaneously, my phone buzzes in my hand.

K: why the question mark?

I return the iPad to Val and glance over my shoulder at the table where Kai is seated. Our eyes meet and the magnitude of what’s happening to us is finally hitting me. For a long moment, I’m simply lost in the rain cloud ocean of his gaze. I soak it up like a sponge, all the little things I’m able to read despite the distance.

I don’t know if it was intentional, him not being offered a spot with any of the other guests because he doesn’t look the part, or if it’s simply because he was late and the event staff wasn’t sure what to do with him.

Either way, Kai doesn’t seem too rattled. There’s already a waiter by his side asking questions and he eventually has to look away, but everything I needed to see, I just saw.

Lena is now talking about her own experiences of spending a lot of time in a hospital as a child, and I feel guilty for being distracted, so I force myself to concentrate on the stage and the words that are coming from the speakers.

My fingers itch to respond to Kai’s text, though, but out of respect for Lena, I wait for her to be done first.

To occupy my overly enthusiastic hands, I pick up a paper liner from the table and inspect its shape and texture.It’s not optimal but it’ll do, I think as I begin folding it absentmindedly.

As soon as Lena steps away from the microphone, I set the tulip I just made aside and message Kai.

I’m ready to go all in. Are you?

My phone remains silent while the event’s host is introducing my father.

I twirl in my seat and watch Kai talking to a young guy in a three-piece ensemble that could give my own tux a run for its money.

“Who’s the dude?” I ask Leigh.

“Rory Coulter.”

“William Coulter’s son,” Val adds.

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