The Luck Of The Draw

She wasn’t like the rest of them. The mirror affirmed that her bargain sweater and wrap dress exuded the confidence that a holiday party where she would know almost no one demanded. Sara tightly exhaled. The typical new hire in Artificial Intelligence was in their early 20’s and a good 12 years her junior. They also possessed a resume bulleted with internships and project successes corporations yearned for.

But most of them hadn’t worked a decade as a computer science teacher to indifferent 10^th graders. If she continued plodding the online job search like the thousands of other hopefuls, she wasn’t going to be any farther than she was now. Except her laugh lines would be deeper and the studious look between her eyes a more visible challenge for a dermatologist’s needle. And her student debt would still be hers.

So was it luck that her research into Bedley Solutions’s elusive CEO unearthed today’s revelation? Throughout her sophomore year at Newburg State, Sara had dreamed about making the Bedley name her own until she realized she wasn’t Ricky Bedley’s love interest. Love wasn’t what it had been for him, but the other four letter word. After he disappeared when that devastating fall semester ended, she spent the next 15 years kicking herself for being his college lay, or one of, and tried to forget him. She never thought to put two and two together. Until today.

She was still undecided about what to do with the information glaring on her computer screen. A song from one of her favorite musicals, “Guys And Dolls,” warned that luck is fickle, faithless, unlady like, not like her heart had been all this time. She determined it was good old fashioned karma that allowed her to discover that used to be Ricky was the R.F. Bedley. The one responsible for the loss she endured abjectly and alone every December 19^th.

The black dress was a knockoff, but Sara’s figure in it was anything but merely glance-worthy. When her girlfriends went label shopping, she was in the gym. And if some things about Ricky remained the same, he’d be the first to appreciate her dedication to fitness.

She lathered on the crimson lip gloss and took another look at the holiday invite extended to all final round candidates. If she operated without the new-found information, tonight would present the last hurdle to her dream career. The 3 group interviews and mock project design were going to come down to how often she refilled her wine glass, or how stimulating a conversationalist Bedley’s top guns found her to be.

In the winter wonderland themed banquet room an hour later, the renowned Richard Franklin Bedley, atop Forbes’ list of executives to watch, stood at the end of the receiving line. Flanking him were the flawless faced Mrs. R. F. and a teen who squirmed in his askew necktie. Sara took her place at the other end it, smoothing one hand over her dress while she accepted the shimmering glass of prosecco with the other. Everyone else might be satisfied with a split second introduction, but before the night was over, Richard and she needed to have an interview he was never going to forget.

 If he didn’t make a way to speak with her, she’d rely on nature to provide an opening. Every woman needed a trip to the girls’ room to ensure the spinach salad wasn’t hiding in her smile and that her lipstick hadn’t relocated to her teeth. She’d watch for the moment his missus went to do her check and strike up some revelatory girl talk. If Richard still didn’t position her deservedly, then she’d fire up social media portals with tales from their year of coed cozying. Even the geeks would find it irresistable.

In a millisecond of quiet, his baritoned chuckle cut through the room and took her out of the present. Sara closed her eyes and allowed herself to go back to the time when that sound began and ended each day. The last time she heard his voice it wasn’t in laughter, but in his “We need to cool it” speech which he delivered between guilty smiles to soften the blow of the verdict.

The baby thing had stressed them both out, he said as if he had been the one just off the operating table carrying only relief and regret. He just couldn’t ace his finals and do them too.

“I hope you won’t hate me, Ray. It’s what’s best. For me. For us.” Like an actor on cue, Richard touched her cheek on “Ray”, his name for her, since he’d declared “Ra” for Sara, was weird.

Sara felt herself advance the line, but wasn’t fully aware of herself until no one stood ahead of her.

“Welcome to Bedley Business Solutions Holiday Fest. I’m R.F. Bedley, but call me Richard. My family, Megan, Ricky. And you are?”

Of course no one saw the jolt that raced through his hand to her soul, or the unnameable thing that flickered in his eyes. Sara inhaled then charged forward.

“Hopefully, the newest member of BBS’s AI team, Sara Ledger. Thanks, Richard and how unexpectedly lovely to meet your family. I see I’d better get on  my favorite appetizer line before it’s too late. I absolutely have no self-control when it comes to anything even faintly resembling pizza.”

In case he was tempted to disbelieve his eyes, the pizza comment was to remove any doubt Richard may have had as to who stood before him. Back at Newburg they used to make a game out of ordering every variation of pizza their off campus pizzeria featured on its menu. Sara felt Richard’s eyes bore a hole through her back as she shook fingers with Ricky Jr. and sashayed toward the HR associate who waved her over. She added just enough of a little extra to the hips that the other glances confirmed slayed in the form fitting dress.

“Gutsy one, isn’t she?” Megan said between smiles as they shook the last sets of hands. Everyone who was expected was in the room. In a few moments, Richard would take the mic and attempt to look as natural at public speaking as his mother was, or used to be. He actually hated these things. But Mother who was still the official CEO hadn’t been up to much in the last year and like everything else pertaining to Mother, it  fell on him.

Richard preferred the coffee catch-up meetings which allowed him inroads into what his staff was thinking and them a nonthreatening setting to receive his feedback in return. But events like this forced him to speak in business platitudes, or at least that’s how it felt. However, Mother wouldn’t have it any other way. Bedley Solutions always ended the year with a bang whether or not their profit margin reflected that. And since her mobility was diminishing by the month, Richard was going to have to take the lead whether he liked it or not.

And what in the hell was Ray doing here? His mind raced. You’re a damn fool, he thought. He knew their paths would have to cross again, simply because of how technology shrunk the world making everyone reachable. Richard was surprised Ray hadn’t connected before this. When he remembered to think about her, he looked out for a DM or an unrecognizable email adress in his inbox for a day or two. Then again, he could have just as easily reached out to her. Tried to see if her address, pizzalover@hotmail still worked.

The bigger question was what did she want - really want? He could’ve seen this coming if he checked on talent recruitment more often. But unlike Mother, he allowed everyone to lead as they had been delegated, so that most days he had a shutdown time of 7:00 pm. Nonetheless, he’d have Doug email notes on all the candidates under consideration for the new AI team. He’d tell him as much while he tried not to gulp down the whiskey sour he was definitely going to need before he cracked his opening joke.

Was her presence here really about a job? He didn’t imagine Ray’s lingering look at Megan nor the way she wrapped her tongue around the word family, was coincidental. In college, she only wanted to know enough about computers to communicate and to get her papers done. Yet, obviously the team lead determined she was Bedley material by her presence here. As for discovering what transpired in the years between Newburg and now, he’d have to wait on that.

I’m thinking like it’s a given that I’ll find that or anything out, he chided himself. Easy, Richard, you have to act like she’s just another candidate and stay out of the process. Last thing you need to do is to raise any red flags by sticking your nose into what you usually don’t.

He smoothed his hand over the ponytail he refused to cut no matter how many times his mother insisted. It granted him the view of where Ray, Ricky Jr. and Meg were positioned in the room. Like a chess pro, he’d have to navigate all these pieces and catch Ray alone. Ricky wouldn’t be a problem. Glad to be free of the reception line, he was furiously texting in a corner. Meg chatted comfortably with the other exec’s wives, but she had the nose of a bloodhound and an intuition that still unnerved him after 13 years of marriage. He’d have to move carefully. They were still working their way back to civility after his fling last year. But he’d have to move.

He hadn’t noticed a ring on Ray, but the shock of her being a foot away from him had temporarily knocked his senses out of whack. What he had noticed was that she looked fantastic! These days women made light of holding onto baby fat well into the “baby’s” entry into kindergarten. If she was a mother by now, she sure hadn’t let herself go. He almost smiled thinking of the jogs they took together on those frigid Pennsylvania mornings. He and Ray had had a lot of fun until -

“Hey Rich, great party, definitely one of the best!” Doug patted him on the back and handed him the champagne for the end of speech toast. “I’m not supposed to say this, but speaking like a male with 2 drinks under his belt, that candidate over there is fine as hell.”

“Who?” Richard answered with what he hoped was convincing nonchalance.

“Who? Of course your Meghan supercedes the room in elegance, but that number 2 candidate, Sara is a showstopper. Her res ain’t bad either.”

“Oh? Hadn’t noticed.”

“Most of the team favors the Princeton guy,  but two of us feel someone older with a more varied background might give the team the roundedness it’s been lacking. And doesn’t hurt that her rearview has just the right amount of round.”

“Heel, Doug. One of us has a speech to make. If you think you really might be stuck, lemme take a look at their resumes. Though I doubt you’ll need my input.”

“No problem, man. Knock ‘em dead.”

That was easier than I thought, Richard breathed somewhat easier. He’d get a sense of what Ray, Sara had been up to since their parting. Maybe his—it wasn’t guilt, his -  apprehension was nothing. He didn’t do anything wrong. 15 years ago he was a senior in college with his future in panoramic view. One of them had to practical and not emotional like she was crying all the time. He couldn’t allow an unplanned pregnancy with a girl he only liked a lot to alter the path his parents had so skillfully ordered. He was just letting the stress of the season get to him. It was six days before Christmas and January with the fiscal headaches was hurtling around the corner.

Sara was a coincidence and the team was going to settle on the Princeton kid. Bedley Solutions had always been partial to ivy leaguers.

Richard took the DJ’s mic and panned the room with an accomplished smile. When his gaze paused where Doug sat, Sara’s face rested in her hand graced with a large ring. Richard faced his second shock of the evening. He now discovered what had happened to his college ring.