Page 23 of Running
Not the time, not the place, not the guy.
I turn back to Lara, hoping she hasn’t noticed my brief distraction. Thankfully, no, she hasn’t.
“Let me just read this email, Grace.” She’s concentrating on her phone as she slowly scrolls through the message.
I don’t understand why I keep having these blips of attraction to Johnson, or more specifically, certain parts of him.
We did hook up once, so maybe it’s residual from that?
Normally with the guys I’ve dated the last couple of years, it’s taken me time to be into them sexually. Like I must get to know them first to open up that part of myself. I have other friends that are like that too, so I’m not self conscious about it.
That’s not what’s happening here, though. It can’t be.
Except youdidget to know Johnson a little better on your run…so…
“Why don’t I show you the space we have for you?”
Lara’s question pulls me back from my not-work-appropriate thoughts. “Yes, that’s great.”
She leads me to an empty office down the hall. It’s in a back corner and windowless.
“It’s not glamorous—usually it’s an intern’s office. Since you’ll only be here a couple of days a week until the auction, hopefully you don’t mind. At least you’ll have a place to leave your belongings and work when you’re not in meetings.”
“No, this is fine. I didn’t even know if I’d get an office.”
Lara holds the door for me as I step inside. “Well, get settled. Susie will grab you soon. If you need anything more, please feel free to reach out to me or my assistant.”
I unpack my things and sit in the black plastic office chair, opening up my laptop. I’d asked for information on the donations from the last few years, and I see that Lara’s assistant has already emailed the existing spreadsheets.
Looking over the last couple of years, there are several recognizable local businesses who donated, as well as player and team donations. A few national brands are even listed.
When I look at the row that indicates the “lead contact” for each donation, my eyes widen.
At least forty percent of them have Johnson’s name, including all of the national brands.
Which only reinforces what I’ve learned about him over the last couple of weeks. He’s nothing like the person I’d assumed he was.
“Hi, there.” Susie stands in the entryway of my office. “Happy first day. So thrilled to have you get started.”
Landon told me a little about Susie yesterday. A beloved Waves staff member for almost four decades, she’d begun her career as the executive secretary for the owner, Mr. Blunt. Overthe years, she’d climbed the ranks, and knew everyone and everything about the Waves.
Now, semi-retired in her early sixties, she’s taken on the position of executive director of the Waves non-profit foundation to stay plugged in and keep contributing.
More important to me—I feel a warmth emanating from her, quite different from my experience with Lara.
I send her a smile. “I’m grateful for the opportunity. Do you want to meet now?”
“Yes, come on over to my office.” She looks around my space and crinkles her nose. “I know you’ll be here just for a short time, but feel free to add decorations if you want, liven the place up.”
I really don’t mind the plain office since I’ll be here maybe six hours a week, but I appreciate her offer. “Thanks, sounds good.”
She guides me across the hall to her office, sitting down at a small round meeting table where I join her.
“Now, I’ll try not to make you drink from a firehose today, but you strike me as a fast learner. We’ll have our next co-chairs meeting a week from tomorrow, and here’s everything we’ll need to do before then.”
She lays out a few tasks for me to work on so we can present a status update to the co-chairs on invitations and RVSPs. Happily, I don’t have to worry too much about the invite logistics because they were sent right before they brought me on. Susie then begins to talk about donation outreach.
“We already have several commitments from local businesses that donate annually, and the players will step up too. Johnson will see to that. So it’s a matter of rounding out the total donations and adding a couple of big ‘sizzle’ options.”
