The room had settled into silence.

"So I eventually decided that I couldn't worry about what other people thought. What mattered is what I thought about myself, and that's why I decided to leave here, leave my home and my family to try and achieve what would be success in my own eyes."

A hand lifted. Kerry pointed at the girl. "Go ahead."

"Couldn't you have done that here? Wouldn't it have been more impressive, if you had?"

Good question. "I might have been able to," Kerry conceded. "It would have been harder, staying here and being so close to everything that I felt was boxing me in. But the fact is I didn't."

She paused, and then continued. "What I did was take a job in the field of my major, in a city far away from home. It was scary," she said. "But the people who hired me had no idea who I was, only that I could speak English and construct compound sentences, so it was like starting from scratch in a way."

Another hand. "What job was it?"

"Manager of an IT department," Kerry said. "It was a small company, and I actually did well there until one day a much bigger company bought us."

She nibbled her lower lip. "When that happened, the person in charge of their IT department came in and told me that we weren't wanted or needed, and we'd be getting pink slips in very short order."

The audience reacted, murmuring a little.

"In a way, that was pretty horrific," Kerry said. "But in a way, it's just reality. That's what it's like out there." She made eye contact again with a few of the watchers. "That does happen, every day. It's business. And one thing it meant to me was that I was being treated just like any other unwanted worker would have been. There was nothing personal about it."

It was hard not to smile as she said it, seeing she knew just how much of a lie they were both telling themselves at the time. "When you grow up in privilege like I did, like a lot of you did--" She paused meaningfully. "You don't expect that. You expect someone to come in and fix things don't you?'

She could tell at least some of them were thinking about it. It had taken her a long time to be able to. "So for me, it was a learning experience because I hadn't faced that kind of situation before."

"What did you do?" the same girl asked. "Go to another company?"

"Well." Kerry smothered a grin. "Not exactly. I worked hard to make the transition less painful for the people working for me. I wasn't worried about myself, but there were people there who really were depending week to week on that job to survive."

"Wait, wait." Her old friend stood up again, glancing behind her at the headmistress, before she continued. "You can't have it both ways, Kerry. Either you were on your own there, or you were just posing, in which case you're right, you had nothing to worry about."

Kerry smiled. "I was on my own," she clarified. "But I knew I was unattached, and I could get a job again fairly easily. Most of the people working for me had families and mortgages they had to worry about, which I didn't," she said. "But it was a very tough time for me, because the last thing I wanted was to have to come home, having failed."

Several of the girls in the front nodded.

"So then I had my second big learning experience," Kerry went on. "That same person in charge from the bigger company came to see me, and, not knowing me from Adam's housecat, told me 'Hey. You've got talent. We'll keep you'."

The crowd laughed, a bit hesitantly.

"Honestly," Kerry said. "It was the first time in my life that I'd been taken at face value and been told I was competent--by a virtual stranger," she added. "So the lesson there was you never know where your inspiration in life is going to come from. It could come at you from unexpected places."

"So you stayed," the blond girl in the front called out.

"The bigger company was ILS. So yes, I did." Kerry smiled. "And as you can see, it worked out very much in my favor, which is another lesson--sometimes bad things can lead to good results."

"Would you do the same thing again?"

Kerry's smile broadened. "In a heartbeat," she said. "Do yourselves a favor--whatever you do, wherever you choose to do it, follow your heart. Do what feels right to you and you'll end up being grateful for it."

She stepped back to the podium, and put the microphone back in its holder. "Now I think it's time to get this party started," she said. "Thanks for inviting me to speak, but this is about old friends getting together, and rediscovering what they left here, so let's let everyone get at it."

There was a brief pause, and then applause sounded. Kerry lifted a hand in acknowledgement, then turned and headed back to where Angie was waiting, resisting the urge to wipe her palms on her skirt.

"Wow," Angie greeted her. "That was impressive."

"Gag." Kerry made a face. "I wish I could have just kicked Stacey in the teeth. Now that would have been impressive in these heels." Privately though, she felt good about her presentation. It hadn't been her best, but it hadn't been her worst, and at least no one had tossed a balled up program at her.

"C'mon." Her sister gave her a hug. "Stop dissing yourself Ker. You were great."

"I'm just glad it's over. Let's get out of here." Her sister exhaled, rocking her head to either side to loosen up tense shoulders. "Boy am I looking forward to that beer."

Angie chuckled and turned to lead Kerry out from behind the stage. They'd only gotten three or four steps though, before a tall figure intercepted them. "Ah, Ms. Strickfield."

"Girls," the older woman said. "A word with you please."

Angie pulled up uncertaintly. Kerry, however, didn't hesitate.

"Sorry, Ms. Strickfield," Kerry said. "My brother and sister and I have a previous engagement. Thanks for your hospitality, but we need to be going."

The older woman seemed surprised. "You won't be staying for the reception then?" she asked. "I thought perhaps you would enjoy meeting with your classmates. I think your speech was very well received."

"No," Kerry said firmly. "I appreciate that, and I'm sure the reception will be just lovely, but unfortunately I have prior family commitments."

"Of course." The woman recovered. "I'm sure you want to spend time with your loved ones while you are here. Forgive me, and thank you for coming, Ms. Stuart. It really was a pleasure to listen to you speak."

Kerry blinked, caught a little off guard. "Thanks," she said. "Bit of a tough crowd, but I did my best."

Ms. Strickfield smiled at her. "Ms. Stuart, I had no fear of that. Your grace under pressure is very well recorded in recent years. At any rate, since we won't have the pleasure of your company at the reception, have a good evening, and enjoy your time with your family." She gave Angie a brief nod, and slipped out a side door to the auditorium.

"Wow," Angie murmured. "Who'd have guessed?"

Kerry scratched her nose. "Dar, actually," she muttered. "But that's another long story best told over lager. Let's get Mike before he starts kissing someone, and get out of here." She resumed her course for the door, straightening her jacket again before she put her hand on the knob to turn it.

"Why do I get a feeling I'm going to get more of an education tonight than I bargained for?" Angie followed her with a wry grin. "You know, Ker, life around you must never be boring."

"Hah."


Chapter Seven

"SO, IT IS agreed."

Dar watched in utter relief as Sir Melthon and Alastair clasped hands. She avoided looking at her watch, resting her chin against her fist instead as she waited for the rest of the niceties to be finished. The negotiations hadn't been that lengthy, but it was late, and she was tired, and she was very much looking forward to that nice big bed with its fluffily soft pillows.

"Good deal," Alastair said, briskly. "It's been a pleasure spending the evening with you good folks, but now it's time for me to get my team some rest so they can start planning the integration transition tomorrow."

Sir Melthon nodded, looking tired himself. "Right," he said. "We can pick up tomorrow at lunchtime. I will have my lot set up a workroom, and we'll put a spread on. Mimosas will start the day off right, eh?"

"Sounds great." Alastair waved at his group. "Let's go people." He picked up the signed contract paper in its folder and tucked it under his arm as the rest of the ILS team stood up and started their goodbyes.

Dar stretched her back out, and let her hand rest on the back of her chair. She waited for Alastair to move toward the door, then followed him with a casual wave toward the rest of the team. "Goodnight, gentlemen."

"Good night, Dar," Francois responded. "See you tomorrow."

Hans caught up with them as she reached the door. He smiled, as he opened it. "It was a good day, yes?" he asked Dar in German. "Long, but good."

"Long, but good," Dar agreed. "I think everyone pretty much got some of what they wanted."

"That is very true." Hans was at her shoulder as they walked down the long, curving staircase that led to the ground floor of the big mansion. "I think he is happy. He likes your boss."

"I like my boss." Dar smiled. "In fact, today he's on my A-list."

Hans chuckled.

They reached the outer door that was opened for them by a uniformed doorman. Another was standing by, holding their jackets. Dar took hers and escaped in the chilly, very early morning fall air and took a minute to shrug into the soft leather as they stood waiting for their cars.