The Upward Ripple

“Don’t worry about that. I can make a call to Barneys or any other store…. Or better still Deloris can take you shopping. She and Leon are after all sticking around for the gala. You girls could make a day of it.”

Cynthia took a long, deep breath.

“I don’t know… Deloris has been so good to me. I wouldn’t want to look like I am taking advantage of her kind nature.”

Nate forced out laugh.

“Trust me, Deloris is not going to feel that way at all. She likes you and she will be delighted in taking some time to bod with you. They do have to go back home for work and everything but until then, have fun. Live a little… experience life in the Big Apple.”

Cynthia smiled at Nate and nodded.

“Okay,” she said in a soft voice.

“Is that okay you will go shopping or okay you will be my date for the gala?” he asked, and she bit her lower lip.

“Yes, to both questions,” she said, grinning.

And Cynthia did have fun in the Big Apple. From shopping to having coffee and then dining in some of the best spots in New York. She especially loved dining at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay. It was one of the highlights of her time there.

On the day the gala was supposed to be held, Cynthia took a shower and changed into the dress she and Deloris had picked out. It took a while for her to get ready. Hair, makeup and all. She could still not believe she was going to attend a Page Six event. The little black girl from Colorado. She was so used to being unnoticed that this gave her a thrill that she could not even understand.

As Cynthia stood in front of the full-length mirror, she did not really know how to react to what she was looking at. She did have impeccable taste but dressing for the gala was a little different than her everyday power outfits. This did not call for one of her pencil skirts and stilettos. This was a couture event and Cynthia did not know the first thing about couture. This was why Deloris had pulled off a miracle. The maroon one shoulder frock was beautiful without being too overpowering. The dress had minimal detail which made her curves look even better. She had a pair of diamond studded peep-toe heels showing off the perfect manicure. She finished the look with a loose French braid and a small diamond studded clutch to match her shoes.

“So, what do you think?” Deloris asked.

“Honestly, I don’t know what to say,” Cynthia said in a soft voice.

“I guess, first things first. Do you like the dress?” Deloris pressed and Cynthia nodded.

“Of course, I do!” she turned to look at Deloris. “I feel like a princess. Hell, I feel like a queen.”

“Well, you definitely should feel that way because you are a queen,” Deloris pointed out. “So, is this your first gala?”

Cynthia sighed loudly as she walked to the couch.

“Not really… but in New York, yeah it is which is as good as this being my first gala because I mean, it is like the difference between a normal concert at Madison Square Garden and Coachella,” she explained making Deloris grin widely.

“Really? You brought in Coachella into this?” she asked and Cynthia shrugged

“I don’t really have any other thing to compare it to.”

Deloris sat down next to her.

“I guess. I totally get it. When I first started working at Blair Publications, I felt like a speck in the sand especially when I realized that every single person who I have ever looked up to in the literary world was walking in and out of the office building. I wanted to piss my pants every time I heard some big writer was in the building.”

“How big are we talking?” Cynthia asked. “Like the Fifty Shades writer or something?”

Deloris grinned even wider.

“There was a week I met Tilly Bagshaw on a Tuesday and I thought I had reached the highest level of enlightenment,” she began.

Cynthia laughed.

“Really? Enlightenment?” she shook her head. “It sounds like some kind of cult thing.”

“Well, I have every reason to say it like that seeing as Sidney Sheldon is one of those writers whose work remains unrivalled and Tilly, also known as Matilda Emily Bagshaw is the woman who has penned a number of books that Mr. Sheldon originally started off but kind of left such a cliff hanging ending that made his readers wait for another book. She saved us from that. Her storytelling prowess is unrivalled. I don’t know whether it is how she writes a character so perfectly that you actually feel like you are that woman or the way she just manages to captivate her audience in the most simplistic way.”

Cynthia raised an eyebrow over the other.

“You really like this writer, don’t you?” she asked and Deloris all but squealed.

“I cannot wait for the next project she puts out but meeting her was just a starter. Later on, that same week, I met Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie,” Deloris continued excitedly.

“Chimamanda? I love her work… I watched a reading she did of one of her books and it made me buy her book Half Of A Yellow Sun,” Cynthia pointed out as Deloris pushed a lock of hair behind her ear. “She is a literary genius among the many we have in this generation. Maybe even in the last generation as well.”

“You can imagine meeting two people who you greatly admire all in one day… I mean, how much better could everything get?”

Cynthia shrugged.

“Coachella,” she said, and Deloris nodded.

“Well, think about this gala like that. Only it has everyone… people in politics, fashion, entertainment, literature. Everyone,” Deloris explained, and Cynthia shook her head.

“I don’t know if I can do this,” she said, and Deloris smiled at her.

“Of course, you can. All you have to do is show up.”

Cynthia looked at her reflection again and bit her lip. Deloris was right. All she had to do was walk into the gala and with Nate as her date, there was no way she could go wrong.

She was nervous as she rode to the gala and she was right to be nervous. This was after all her first society event. It was not until she got to the event when her nerves finally settled, and they only settled when she saw Nate.