Jana smiled. “I’m not worried about gossip—I’m expecting it. People want me to hide away like a fallen, shamed woman. He’s the one who was married, not me. I’m flipping the script on their expectations.”

Kamila nodded, impressed. “You’re a renegade. I like it.”

“Thank you.” Jana cringed. “Are those dogs on your dress? I’ll never understand how you manage to pull off clothes like that.”

Kamila laughed.

With Jana by her side, Kamila mingled with the crowd. The food was perfect. Anil’s impassioned speech about the good work the incubator would do was probably effective, even if Jana rolled her eyes through it. Judging by the numerous donation forms being filled out in the room, it looked like the evening was a financial success, too.

It actually made Kamila feel good. As much as she didn’t respect Anil anymore, and as much as she had discovered that all this work she’d done was useless for her, hearing Anil talk about the project gave her the warm fuzzies about the small part she’d played in raising the money. Helping people with their small businesses was Kamila’s passion, and she loved that Aim High’s mandate was to help refugees and newcomers make their dreams come true. Her bitterness about being here started to wash away. A little bit.

And to add to the night’s positives, Rohan didn’t approach her again. He seemed busy with his corporate buddies. Marlene did, though. Annoyingly.

“I’m surprised to see you,” she said primly to Kamila. “You should thank me for arriving early enough to help Mr. Nasser deal with the caterers. Weren’t you supposed to be here to let them know where to set up the food?”

She didn’t understand why this woman called Rohan Mr. Nasser. And as if he weren’t capable of telling a caterer where to put veggie platters. “I did let him know I had a work crisis.”

“I was under the impression you were at a pet festival? What was the crisis…a flea outbreak?” She laughed at her own joke, then eyed the lower half of Kamila’s dress. “Your skirt has dogs on it.”

“So?” Kamila asked.

Marlene shook her head. “We’re voting on whether or not to put your little firm on retainer for our financial needs at next week’s board meeting. Personally, I believe it would be better for Aim High to work with a more reputable accounting agency. And now that I see that you’re not truly dedicated to the cause of helping immigrants and refugees start their own businesses, I am sure it won’t be hard to convince the rest of the board to look elsewhere for our financial administration needs.”