rubber-neckers and celebrity seekers alike. But it would also mean she’d have to deal with him. “There has to be another way, someone else.”
She didn’t want Lillian’s Fund to fail, but she couldn’t work side by side with Xavier again. It had shredded her heart to bits.
She looked up at Elena. “Seriously. I’d rather sell my soul to the devil before I had to deal with Xavier.”
“Maybe, but I’m pretty sure the devil isn’t interested in attending a charity event.” Elena fixed her with a stubborn stare.
Paula shuffled the papers on her desk up and shoved them back into the folder. “I’ll think about it. There has to be someone we can hire, or someone with a heart who is willing to help out a good cause.”
Elena nodded. “There is. Xavier did bring a lot of added attention to our 5k.”
Paula felt a headache coming on. She’d find another way. Any way that didn’t rely on Xavier Rostov. “I’ll make some calls. I’ll find somebody,” she said with as much confidence as she could. Savvy and smart, Elena saw right through her ruse. “If getting Xavier to work with us is a way to save this charity, then you have to do it.”
Paula sighed and as Elena left her office, she wondered if summoning the devil was difficult as it sounded, even here in Vegas. His schedule was probably freer than Xavier’s, and he’d probably be a less unpleasant choice. He might steal her soul, but at least he wouldn’t pulverize her heart.
***
“Are you sure? Don’t you think that David Copperfield might be interested? It’s a great cause! He comes for an hour, makes a lot of stuff disappear, and then we can really help the women and their families suffering through chemo and mastectomies,” Paula fumbled, wishing all the while her voice was steadier than it actually was.
She’d come to the end of her Rolodex. But still, she and hadn’t found one celebrity in this star-studded town to be her knight in shining armor or her saving grace. Most of them had been booked years in advance. On top of that, Lillian’s Fund was still too new to interest them. They wanted their “charitable” appearances to result in huge publicity, and Lillian’s Fund couldn’t deliver.
She was well and truly screwed.
“Oh, I understand, but if Ms. Zabriskie does have a cancellation… in case something happens, then she’s more than welcome to work with us. No, I understand…Europe, right,” she said, trying to sound upbeat even if she felt like she was drowning at sea in the middle of a typhoon. “Great, well thank you for your time and----”
She tried not to take it personally that they’d already hung up on her before she could finish her sentence, but it stung. Everything stung. It was like working back in New York all over again.
Why was it she could kick ass with private finance or banking, but she could never bring in enough donors on her own for charity work? Granted, since 2008 the economy everywhere had been awful and there just wasn’t the federal or private funding for non-profits that there used to be, but so many still thrived.
But if they didn’t have a massive turn around in their organization, then Lillian’s Fund was going to be run out of business, no questions asked, within the year.
And she’d tried every other name in Vegas and every other contact she’d collected in her eight years of working since she’d graduated from college.
There wasn’t any choice, which meant she was practically crawling over broken glass and back to Xavier Rostov, the one man on Earth she didn’t want to be indebted to. But this wasn’t about her. She had to think of the greater good, and the women who were sick suffering from cancer. If being a supplicant at Xavier’s altar could help save them then, yes, Paula would do it.
How could she not?
Part of her had been desperately praying that his voicemail would at least pick up. The last thing she needed after such a horrible day was to
She didn’t want Lillian’s Fund to fail, but she couldn’t work side by side with Xavier again. It had shredded her heart to bits.
She looked up at Elena. “Seriously. I’d rather sell my soul to the devil before I had to deal with Xavier.”
“Maybe, but I’m pretty sure the devil isn’t interested in attending a charity event.” Elena fixed her with a stubborn stare.
Paula shuffled the papers on her desk up and shoved them back into the folder. “I’ll think about it. There has to be someone we can hire, or someone with a heart who is willing to help out a good cause.”
Elena nodded. “There is. Xavier did bring a lot of added attention to our 5k.”
Paula felt a headache coming on. She’d find another way. Any way that didn’t rely on Xavier Rostov. “I’ll make some calls. I’ll find somebody,” she said with as much confidence as she could. Savvy and smart, Elena saw right through her ruse. “If getting Xavier to work with us is a way to save this charity, then you have to do it.”
Paula sighed and as Elena left her office, she wondered if summoning the devil was difficult as it sounded, even here in Vegas. His schedule was probably freer than Xavier’s, and he’d probably be a less unpleasant choice. He might steal her soul, but at least he wouldn’t pulverize her heart.
***
“Are you sure? Don’t you think that David Copperfield might be interested? It’s a great cause! He comes for an hour, makes a lot of stuff disappear, and then we can really help the women and their families suffering through chemo and mastectomies,” Paula fumbled, wishing all the while her voice was steadier than it actually was.
She’d come to the end of her Rolodex. But still, she and hadn’t found one celebrity in this star-studded town to be her knight in shining armor or her saving grace. Most of them had been booked years in advance. On top of that, Lillian’s Fund was still too new to interest them. They wanted their “charitable” appearances to result in huge publicity, and Lillian’s Fund couldn’t deliver.
She was well and truly screwed.
“Oh, I understand, but if Ms. Zabriskie does have a cancellation… in case something happens, then she’s more than welcome to work with us. No, I understand…Europe, right,” she said, trying to sound upbeat even if she felt like she was drowning at sea in the middle of a typhoon. “Great, well thank you for your time and----”
She tried not to take it personally that they’d already hung up on her before she could finish her sentence, but it stung. Everything stung. It was like working back in New York all over again.
Why was it she could kick ass with private finance or banking, but she could never bring in enough donors on her own for charity work? Granted, since 2008 the economy everywhere had been awful and there just wasn’t the federal or private funding for non-profits that there used to be, but so many still thrived.
But if they didn’t have a massive turn around in their organization, then Lillian’s Fund was going to be run out of business, no questions asked, within the year.
And she’d tried every other name in Vegas and every other contact she’d collected in her eight years of working since she’d graduated from college.
There wasn’t any choice, which meant she was practically crawling over broken glass and back to Xavier Rostov, the one man on Earth she didn’t want to be indebted to. But this wasn’t about her. She had to think of the greater good, and the women who were sick suffering from cancer. If being a supplicant at Xavier’s altar could help save them then, yes, Paula would do it.
How could she not?
Part of her had been desperately praying that his voicemail would at least pick up. The last thing she needed after such a horrible day was to
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