Thomas said, “Ivan’s still a young guy, Nathan. He’s not going anywhere. You still have plenty of time to write articles up on him.”

Nathan said, “Yeah, but now it looks like we missed the boat on the first one.”

“Not if you let me cover this event for you, you won’t. But it’s all on you,” Ava repeated.

Henry had nothing to add. He only heard everyone out while bobbing from left to right to left, as if he were watching a tennis match.

Back inside Ivan’s circle, an older woman complained, “Ivan, I am very sad that I did not arrive early enough to receive a gift bag to remember you by.”

Ivan smiled and told her, “I’ll have one of our lovely assistants run and grab you one of the extras.”

They had prepared an additional hundred gift bags just for the left-out latecomers who would ask for them.

“Oh, thank heavens, and bless your soul, young man,” she responded. “Also, happy birthday. And congratulations on all of your success. I’m sure that your mother is very proud of you.”

Ivan heard that and froze. He nodded and said, “I’m quite sure she is. Can you take her with you to get her a gift bag?” he asked his new Filipina assistant.

“Oh, sure.”

Ashley was there that night as well, working the crowd on the far left side of the room near the catered food. Money was money, so she chose to work that night. She remained upset with Ivan for playing her second to Lucina, but what could she do about it? Ivan and Lucina were partners, while she was only a part-time employee.

Lucina looked over in Ivan’s direction to see how he was doing and noticed Randy and Ralph headed in her partner’s direction. She saw that and panicked.

Should I intervene to steer the conversation, or stay out of it and see where it goes on its own? she asked herself. She quickly decided to stay out of it. Ivan could handle himself. And she would ask him about their conversation later.

“Hey, Ivan, I’m Randy Sterling, and this is my partner, Ralph Collins, from Randy and Ralph Entertainment.”

Ivan heard the name and nodded to them. “Yeah, I’ve heard about you guys. You’re always doing big things in the city.” They were two of the few people not dressed to impress that evening. Outside of their sports jackets, they looked pretty casual in their blue jeans, soft leather shoes, and button-up shirts.

“Yeah, I hear you’ve been doing your thing as well,” Randy commented. “We used to partner up with Lucina ourselves.”

“Yeah, whatever happened with that?” Ivan asked them. He had never talked with Lucina in detail about it. He wondered what their views of her would be.