Page 9 of Fortuity

ChapterFour

Faith

One week later,I wasn’t any closer to figuring out how to find my happiness. I’d been too busy getting myself ready for the start of the new school year and trying to help the group of incoming freshman I’d been working with prepare for their move onto campus. Most days, it felt like a losing battle. They needed so much and had so little. But that didn’t stop them from giving me a hard time about being a local celebrity after they heard about that dumb article in the paper. Extra time hadn’t helped me with my discomfort over it. And it only got worse when I was called into the public relationsoffice.

“You want me to do what?” I shook my head, giving her the physical equivalent of the verbal response since I knew better than to actually say no to a higher-up at the school. The state might have been the one picking up the tab for my tuition and fees as part of their exemption program for former foster kids, plus the stipend to help with living expenses, but I didn’t want to end up on anyone’s radar and run the risk of losing it all by getting kicked out ofschool.

“One of our donors reached out to us after reading your interview in the newspaper. She’d like to have lunch with you today,” the PR Director explainedagain.

Hearing it the second time around didn’t help me make any sense out of what she’d told me. “Butwhy?”

“Because she wants to help your incoming students outfit their dormrooms.”

Shit, I was going to have to say yes. Moving onto campus was an exciting time for most students, but it was also stressful as fuck for foster kids because they didn’t have the same kind of resources. No family to help with the move-in process. Nobody to take them shopping to buy the myriad of things needed for life in the dorm. Or to take them to the campus bookstore to buy school apparel that proudly proclaimed you were a student here—or even just notebooks, pens, and highlighters. If me going to lunch with some lady meant their transition to college was easier than mine had been, then turning down the offer wasn’t anoption.

“Count me in. Whereandwhen?”

I barely stifled a groan when she named a fancy restaurant several miles off campus. Meeting a big donor there meant I not only needed to change out of the cutoff shorts and T-shirt I was currently wearing, but I probably needed to put on a dress instead of whatever dressy-ish option I would have thrown together if I’d been meeting her anywhere else. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, it wasn’t within easy walking distance so I’d have to figure out how I was getting there. Taking an Uber would only cost about fifteen bucks round trip, but it’d still be a hit to my budget in a month when my move-in expenses already made it tighter than it usually was—which was pretty damntight.

Two hours later, I reminded myself how important the meeting was as I stepped out of the car that’d actually ended up costing me ten bucks one-way. “Looks like I’ll be dipping into my savings account sooner than I thought,” I grumbled, walking towards the front doors of the restaurant. The building was light years apart from the dive I’d waitressed in over the summer to earn the thousand bucks I’d barely managed to sock away for textbooks and emergencies. I needed it to last until I found a job after graduation, and I’d promised myself I wouldn’t touch the money in there unless it was absolutely necessary. I hadn’t expected to dip into it quite so soon, but I didn’t have a cheaper transportation option that would’ve workedtoday.

“It is what it is,” I reminded myself. Worrying about it after the fact wasn’t going to do me any good, so I pasted a smile on my face as I walked through the doors. “I’m meeting ElaineMontgomery.”

The pretty blonde working at the hostess stand looked me up and down before offering me an obviously fake smile. “Right this way. Mrs. Montgomery is already at hertable.”

Following behind her, I had to work hard to keep my smile on my face. If I wasn’t up to snuff for the hostess, what were the odds that a big donor wasn’t going to look down on me? I smoothed down the skirt of my dress and took a few deep breaths to try to calm my nerves. When the hostess stopped at a table, the woman seated there thanked her and rose from her seat. The smile she aimed my way was so big, there was no doubt it was genuine. I bit my lip to stifle a giggle at the hostess’s baffled expression as shewalkedaway.

“I’m so happy you could make it to lunch, Faith.” She gave me a quick hug before sitting down and waving at the seat across from her. “I hope that wasn’t too familiar, but I feel like I already know you after reading that article and speaking to the school about you. And I’m a hugger. It drives my son crazy because I’m always embarrassing him by hugging him and all hisfriends.”

“It’s fine, Mrs. Montgomery,” I reassured her as I sat down, even though it was unusual for me since I didn’t know a lot of people who could be consideredhuggers.

“Call me Elaine,please.”

A hug and a request to use her first name.Huh.So far, the big donor who wanted to meet at a super fancy restaurant was way different from what I’d been expecting. I’d thought she’d be uppity and condescending, but I wasn’t getting that feel from heratall.

“Willdo.”

“I always feel so old when someone calls me Mrs. Montgomery.” She leaned forward and lowered her voice as she continued, “And it makes me want to look around for my mother-in-law.”

“Is she here?” Iwhisperedback.

“Good heavens, no!” she laughed. “She moved to Arizona for the dry heat a couple of years ago, but I still find myself doing it anyway out ofhabit.”

“Mrs. Montgomery, it’s a pleasure to have you back againtoday.”

Elaine flashed me a smile, her brown eyes twinkling before her gaze darted up to the waiter. I barely stifled a laugh, feeling like I was in on a secret from thewaiter.

“It’s lovely to be back again,Steven.”

“What can I bring for you ladies todrink?”

“A bottle of sparkling water for the table, a sweet tea forme,and—”

When her attention shifted to me, I asked for water withlemon.

“Can I bring you an appetizertoday?”

Elaine looked at me. “Their stacked Caprese salad is fantastic. It has organic tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella, drizzled with balsamic vinegar with freshbasil.”

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