Always Mine (The Barrington Billionaires, Book 1) (30 page)

“Thank you, Lizette, I do know and appreciate your dedication. However, it’s not her role I need you to fill tonight. It’s mine.”

Hers?
she thought.
As CEO? I would not feel comfortable having to make all those critical decisions. I like numbers; they’re factual, they don’t lie, they’re black and white, no gray areas.
And yet, it was Friday night; there really couldn’t be anything that would come up that couldn’t wait until Monday. She could do this. All she’d need to do was be on call for anything critical. Then it hit her: Maybe there was something critical going on she wasn’t aware of. Maybe there was a fire in the community or something. Lizette didn’t have to wait long to find out.

“There is an extremely important event I was supposed to attend this evening. Obviously I am too ill to go.”

That was clear from the moment I entered the office, but what does this have to do with me?
Lizette wondered.

“I need you to go in my place,” Elaine continued, pausing to sneeze again. “To represent me, represent us, Another Chance.”

Lizette hoped Elaine couldn’t see the shock and horror that was surely written all over her face. Even though she and Elaine were similar in some ways, the major difference was Elaine carried herself with such confidence she could walk into any room and hold her ground on any topic even with the most influential people. That was not something Lizette enjoyed or was interested in doing. “What? Oh, no, I couldn’t . . . I can’t . . . you know I don’t . . .” Lizette didn’t even realize she was stumbling over her words. She did not want to attend such a high-profile Who’s Who event. That was the last place she wanted to be.

“Lizette, there is no one else who can do this for me tonight. You know my admin Jill is home sick, and the rest of the team is on vacation or also out sick. We need you to do this.” After another sneezing fit, she continued, “I need you to do this. You’re head of the accounting department. I don’t have to tell you what attending an event like this can do for our association. It’s a great opportunity to get our name out there. The people attending could provide exactly the type of funding we need to continue. Normally we could never afford to attend, but an old colleague of mine, Mr. Scott, is the chairman of the event and was kind enough to sponsor a ticket for me. Someone has to represent us. We won’t get another opportunity like this.”

Lizette knew it was true. All the recent cuts in government funding had hit nonprofit organizations like Another Chance extremely hard. Right now they were basically running on personal donations and barely making it. It was getting crucial to find a corporate sponsor; the future of their organization was at risk.

“It’s one night. All the arrangements have already been made. The dress is being delivered to your home at six o’clock. The limo driver will pick you up at seven thirty, and Mr. Scott has been told you will be representing me—I mean, us—tonight.”

As though Elaine noticed the writing all over her face, she continued. “Lizette, this is not only an important charity event, it’s our best shot at networking with people who can provide the kind of financial support we need. I would not ask you to do this if I didn’t know you would represent us well.” In a softer voice, she went on. “We’ve known each other for several years now. I know you can do this. Do what comes naturally. Talk about what you believe in. Talk about the business and all that we do. Tell them about some of our successes. I know you are passionate about what we do here, so it’ll be easy. You’ll see.” With a sincere smile she said, “You may even enjoy yourself so much you’ll wish you could do it all the time.”

Doubt it,
Lizette thought. Yet there was no way to get out of tonight after the speech she’d just received. She knew Elaine was not asking this of her as a friend; she was asking as the CEO. When the CEO asks for a favor, especially one of this magnitude, you don’t really have the option to decline. “Thank you. I will do my best,” she said with a forced smile.

“I need to get to bed. Thank you for filling in for me tonight.” Ms. Manning’s eyes traveled over Lizette’s very conservative business attire as she said, “Better get going, Lizette. You have a lot to do before seven thirty.”

Don’t remind me,
she thought as she rose and left the office. She felt bad Elaine was ill, but for once she wished there
were
problems with the month-end report. At least she knew she could fix that. An event like tonight’s was something she wasn’t comfortable with, something she had been able to avoid since her college days—until now.