It was now mid-afternoon, and I needed to get back and shower before the big event. The auction was to start at 5:30, and I wanted to be there by around 5:00. Scott dropped me at the hotel where my bag was awaiting me (thanks to Joellen) and the best room in the house had my name on it. Jennifer was happy to announce that every aspect of the hotel had been taken care of, and my room had been comp'ed to address the inconvenience.
"Jennifer, this is perfect. I have only one request -- can I speak to your manager?"
Jennifer looked very concerned. "Is there anything I've overlooked?"
"No, you've done just about everything I could reasonably ask," I said, letting the innuendo hang in the air, "but there is one more thing I'd like to speak to your manager about. Can you get her or him for me?"
Minutes later Ms. Johnston and I had a short conversation. Afterwards, she shook my hand and told me, "I'm happy to help. I'll have Jennifer bring it up in the next hour."
I went to my room and took a long shower. The last few days had been a euphoric blur, and I struggled to recount the various events. It was too much, and I realized I was looking forward to my trip back to Stimson Beach and the relative calm of my small house with a view of the Pacific.
As I dried my hair a knock came to the door. I wondered, then remembered where the knock was coming from. Jennifer was delivering the envelope from the manager. I opened the door in my robe and took the envelope from Jennifer. "Thanks, Jennifer. I appreciate it."
"No problem, Mr. Dotson. By the way, I meant it when I said I'd be happy to do anything I could to make our stay a good one. I still feel bad that we pushed you out into the cold the last couple of days."
I looked at her carefully to be certain of what she had just said. Her body was screaming "fuck me" as her words were carefully chosen to give her a small bit of "plausible deniability."
"Well, Jennifer. That sounds great to me. But right now I'm a bit tired and need to get ready for an event." I paused and considered my options.
"What time to you get off tonight?" I asked.
"Well, 10:00 officially, but I usually stay and help out the transition until about 11:00. There's a lot of switchboard activity at that time -- wake up calls and more towels!" She smiled at me.
"I should be done with this meeting at about 10:00. I'd be delighted if you bought me a glass of wine. Is that overstepping my bounds?" I looked at her directly. She never broke eye contact.
"Oh, no. That's totally within bounds. And I think we can do better than that. Why don't you just come to the front desk when you get back and I'll peel of then." I could tell that she wanted something now, but this little "date" was my only chance.
"I'll see you then," I said. I put out my hand to shake hers, but she stepped up and gave me a hug. This pushed my robe open a bit (I never seem to tie them quite right) and it came open as she stepped away. I left it open and stood there. She looked me up and down completely, drinking in my body as best she could. This little exchange brought a stir to my cock, but mostly made clear to both of us that more than wine was going to get consumed tonight.
She then turned and walked out the door. I took the envelope and opened it. Inside was a gift certificate promising a weeks lodging at any of the resorts or properties managed by this huge corporation. Some pretty outstanding properties were part of this deal. I couldn't believe my good fortune. Trudy and Joellen would going to love this little surprise. They might even reward me . . . I had to let that one go. Too much of a great thing really could be too much sometimes.
I entered the auction in that chaotic-last-minute phase when everything is nearly done. I walked around and spoke to the key players -- presenters, auctioneer, check-out personnel. Everyone was both ready and excited. This was bound to be a success. Like so much, the success is pre-ordained if the preparation is good. We had the right gifts, the right people and the right cause. We were easily going to exceed our goal.
The dinner was very good, the silent auction went off without a hitch. It was loud and people were drunk. The main event -- the oral auction -- was looking better all the time. We had a relatively modest number of things to auction off, but they were all high-dollar items. The pick of the lot was four first class tickets to Athens, and full tickets to all the events of the Olympics. I could never compete for such a wonderful item, but if I could, I'd go to the mat.
During the middle of the oral auction, the auctioneer stopped and introduced one of the students of the school. This young woman was fresh-faced and articulate, and proceeded to give one of the finest speeches I've ever heard. It was a combination of well-rehearsed and spontaneous. It made the case crystal clear -- your contributions don't just help your kids. They help the entire community by providing scholarships and community-service projects that benefit everyone.
The next step was the paddle raise. People are encouraged to give an unrestricted gift that supports the school. The general approach is to start one or two levels above what you know someone will give. So we started at $50,000, knowing we had a $15,000 commitment in hand. To everyone's surprise, two paddles went up. The air left the room and everyone broke into applause. After a short pause, the auctioneer announced the level of $25,000. No one budged for a minute, until one of the $50,000 donors raised her paddle again. The other top donor followed suit. Then two, then three, and finally four more paddles were raised. This meant we had $250,000 in less than five minutes and we still hadn't started where we thought we would start.
In the next 25 minutes a frenzy ensued. People fell over themselves to continue to give, each level getting many times more funds that we thought possible. Our best donor raised her paddle at every level, contributing well over $125,000 alone. Our goal was to raise $150,000 in this part of the auction -- something never done before by this group. We hit more than $500,000 and we still hadn't even hit the biggest auction items. I sat back down at my table in the corner and realized that the investment made to bring me here had been a good one. My stock had risen considerably. And all the while, I was getting my lights fucked out.
Man, I love this job.
After the event was nearly over, Trudy took the microphone and nearly in tears told everyone how pleased she was with the turnout here. She very briefly described the process of planning and the remarkable results, but announced that there was one more item not on the list. A combination of a certificate for four at a resort anywhere in the world plus round-trip tickets for four to fly anywhere in the continental US and Hawaii on American Airlines. The resort certificate was from my friend the manager, and the miles were from my account -- a small dent in my accumulation that numbers several hundred thousand per year.
To my surprise, there bidding was pretty furious. When I began paying attention again, I realized it was going hard between Leann and a man at the adjoining table. Both seemed to be pleasantly buzzed and certain to outbid the other. By the end of the day, Leann was not to be denied. I had seen that in her myself, and smiled to know that she was going to have a great vacation for her and her family.
As the event wound down, Trudy and Leann came up to me and gave me big hugs. They were ecstatic. Both had pushed hard for hiring me -- going out on a limb to make the commitment. Both had been vindicated. There was little doubt but that my value was paying off. Then Leann announced that she was taking Trudy and another friend with her on the tickets and airfare to either Kauai or St. John (US Virgin Islands).
"We fully expect you to join us. We're happy to work with your schedule, but this is something we really want to do."
"Okay . . . hard to argue with you, Joann. And I don't see any reason to anyway."