Page 31 of Rise

“Megan had the greatest idea, and Ellen set it up,” Susie went on. “We’re holding the auction here! Isn’t that incredible? A bigger space, better sound, better equipment, betterfood… everything!”

“And The Rosette is paying for all of it,” Ellen put in.

“No, you aren’t,” Megan blurted out.

“Yes,theyare.” Ellen smiled at her. “They insist.”

“But I—”

What? What was the problem? Did Megan want the kudos for paying for the event? What did it matter who covered it as long as the Studio got what it needed?

They were all looking at her now. “That’s wonderful,” she said, kicking herself for hownotwonderful her voice sounded. She could use her trust fund in a million different ways. So what if this one had felt personal? If this one had made her feel good in a way that all the helping her friends and family didn’t?

“Was that your idea?” she asked Ellen.

“It came up in conversation,” Ellen said enigmatically. So yes.

“It’s good publicity for the hotel,” Alessandro said. “And a tax break.”

“I didn’t—” Something was definitely going on with him. The way he said “publicity” while looking at her. Meganhatednot being able to read someone. And Alessandro was a closed book right now.

“Alessandro, come with us,” Susie said. “Are you doing anything else right now?”

“I was going to visit you,” he said, lifting his hand, which held a baseball cap and the glasses Megan remembered from her first day back. “I usually take the staff entrance.”

“Makes sense.” Ellen nodded.

“Well, we came to you for once!” Susie said.

“Come on back,” Ellen said, “and I’ll show you my ideas for the setup.”

Why should Ellen notice that he wasn’t smiling the way he had the other night? Or that he hadn’t looked at Megan again?

Alessandro let Susie pull him along. Megan trailed behind the small group as Ellen led them down the corridor and into a shadowy banquet hall that looked as large as the lobby outside.

“Wow,” Etta said and mimed staggering back into Alessandro’s arms.

Ellen turned on some lights, and the wow became even wow-er. Cream-colored paneled walls reflected the lights of a dozen chandeliers over a navy carpet that had to take hours to vacuum. Ellen opened a couple sets of navy drapes to reveal arched floor-to-ceiling windows with a view of a terrace outside. At the far end was a raised level, almost a stage, with a microphone and more draped curtains behind it. A lighting assembly peeked out from the ceiling.

“We’ll do round tables in this area, then have rectangular tables for the auction items on this side,” Ellen said. “There’s a staging area, and the kitchens are over there. We can talk about the menu, but I was thinking bite-size hors d’oeuvres your guests can eat while walking around the items. Are the kids coming? Do you want to keep it alcohol-free? We have a list of virgin cocktails you can choose from instead.”

Etta swayed, and Alessandro quickly grabbed a chair from the wall behind him to put her in. “I’m fine,” she said faintly. “I’m fine.”

“This is so beautiful,” Susie said, a catch in her voice.

Megan started thinking about using the venue as a backdrop for online ads. “Can I take some photos?” she asked, and when Ellen nodded, she moved away from the group, letting them talk details while she photographed the chandeliers, the windows, and the stage.

One thing the recent videos hadn’t done was focus on Alessandro as the MC. Megan turned back to them, ready to walk over and ask him if she could take his picture in front of the windows, only to find that he was staring at her, ignoring the others completely.

Her hands wanted to stray to the ends of her hair. If she didn’t know better, she’d say he wasn’t staring, he wasglaring. She took her phone in both hands to stop her weakness from showing.

But wait. He’d already seen it. He’d stopped her doing it before. She shivered. Had he seen that? Now that he’d closed off to this extent, Megan didn’t want to show him any more of herself. She lifted her chin and walked back to Ellen and the others. She didn’t need no stinking pictures of Alessandro Confusing-as-hell Rosselli.

“What about getting all the donations here?” Susie asked Etta. “We’ll have to set up a day.”

“I can help,” Megan said at once. “In fact, why don’t we rent a truck and people to do it for you? That way, you don’t have to negotiate traffic back and forth, and you can get everything here at once.”

“Great idea,” Ellen said.

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