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To avoid sweating through his dress shirt, he blasted the AC in the car on the way to the meeting. He wasn’t so much nervous as annoyed. Okay, maybe a little nervous.
Every so often, he had to pitch a proposal for work, but public speaking wasn’t generally part of his job description. Yet here he was. He’d joined the local Rotary chapter at Janet’s suggestion. It’ll be good for business, she’d said. You’ll meet new friends and have fun, she’d said. What she failed to mention was that new members were eventually roped into doing a presentation on themselves and their businesses.
He arrived and grabbed his name tag. Of the twenty people in the room, most were strangers, some he’d consider acquaintances, and one or two might count as friends. The mayor of New Bern, Edward Parker, was in attendance, which upped the ante and added to Noah’s agitation. Many of his current contracts were with city hall, so keeping the mayor impressed was essential to his growing business.
Noah had attended enough meetings to have seen other members present, so he had a handle on what was expected. Some of the presentations had been painfully dull and overly long. He was determined not to fall into the death-by-PowerPoint trap, and planned his spiel to be short and sweet. His slides were mostly pictures and memes. He even threw in a few jokes about mall cops.
When it was his turn to present, he gave a quick history of himself and his career as a New Bern police officer, then launched into what his current business did.
“Walsh Security Consulting works on many fronts. We have a cadre of police officers who sign up to work off-duty gigs for us. Anything from traffic control for road construction projects to security for private or community events. We also do consulting for businesses’ physical and/or cybersecurity.”
He wrapped up quickly after taking a few questions and returned to his seat for breakfast.
After the meeting adjourned, the mayor approached him.
“Noah,” Edward said, offering a handshake. “Nice to see you. Great presentation.”
“Thank you, sir,” Noah said. “I appreciate working with you and the amazing folks in your office.”
“Glad to hear it. Sounds like you have a solid business plan. Good luck with everything.” He left with a parting slap on the shoulder.
Noah accepted a few more accolades before hightailing it back to the office.
“How’d it go?” Janet asked.
“All right,” Noah said, ripping off his tie and unbuttoning the top button of his shirt. “I talked with the mayor for a second.”
“That’s nice. He’s such a good man. Been friends with my husband for years.”
Noah nodded and took the pink slips of paper Janet held up. Two messages were from officers who wanted on his schedule, and a third was from his mother.
“My mom called?”
“Oh, yes,” Janet said. “We had a lovely chat.”
“I don’t want to know what that means,” he mumbled, entering his office and closing the door.
His mom probably wanted to invite him to some family function. With three brothers and three sisters, all married with kids, there was always something on the schedule—a birthday party, recital, anniversary, sporting event, or holiday celebration.
After hearing about current events, he might get a lecture about it being time to settle down and find a wife. His mom and Janet seemed to tag team on that subject a lot these days. He was only thirty-two. There was plenty of time. Between the sting of betrayal from his ex, Sarah, and his guilt over what happened with his old partner, Tucker, he wasn’t ready. Might never be. Sure, it had been a year, but that didn’t mean the pain wasn’t still fresh.
He didn’t have time for a long conversation, but he also felt guilty he hadn’t talked to her in a while, so he picked up the phone.
“Hi, honey,” his mom said. “Kayla is here with me and wanted to call you. Here, I’ll put her on.”
Nine-year-old Kayla was the family treasure. And out of Noah’s dozens of nieces and nephews, though he’d never say it out loud, she was his favorite. She had Down syndrome but never let that get in her way. She was the happiest, most loving person, child or adult, Noah had ever known. He could always be himself with her.
“Hey, sweetheart,” he said. “How’s my girl?”
“Uncle Noah,” she said. “I miss you. School is out, and I play on a softball team with other kids like me. We’re not very good, but we have fun.”
“I’m sure you’re fantastic. You remember what I taught you about throwing, right?”
“Arm up, elbow in, and let go by my ear. Yes. I remember, Uncle Noah.”
They chatted a few more minutes before Noah’s mom got back on the line.
“West Virginia’s not that far a drive, son,” his mother said. “And we haven’t seen you in ages.”
