Chapter 8 - THE CATERING GIRL
I found Marissa eight months after the party.
Not through Caleb secretly investigating her life.
I asked the catering company if they could forward a letter.
She contacted me.
Twenty-one years old.
Community-college student.
Studying radiologic technology.
We met in a café.
She looked nervous.
“Mrs. Vance.”
“Flora.”
She nodded.
I said:
“Thank you.”
Her eyes filled instantly.
“I should’ve done it sooner.”
“No.”
“There were fifty people.”
“Yes.”
“I kept waiting for someone important to stop him.”
That sentence stayed with me.
Someone important.
Marissa had thought importance meant:
Wealth.
Age.
Status.
Power.
She did not understand she was the important person.
“You cut me down.”
“I was terrified.”
“Still did it.”
She looked down.
“I couldn’t watch anymore.”
I asked what happened afterward.
The catering company initially suspended her for abandoning position.
Then reinstated her after police contacted management.
I almost saw red.
Instead, my attorney helped her document the issue.
No giant payoff.
No bought degree.
The Sterling Foundation already had an open scholarship program for service workers in healthcare education.
Marissa applied like everyone else.
She won one of twelve awards based on grades and financial need.
That pleased me more than simply writing a check.
Two years later, she sent me a photograph in hospital scrubs.
Caption:
Still cutting people loose. Professionally now.
May you like
I laughed for five minutes.
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