“All right, put that music back on,” Thomas barked at him.

The DJ was already set to play the old school classic “Joy and Pain” from Maze. When he spun the popular record, the crowd broke into a frenzy and went back to the dance floor.

Ivan took a deep breath and was glad his speech was over. He hugged Ida and her mother before they returned to their back office. He then apologized to Thomas.

“Hey, I’m sorry I forgot to thank you and the Urban League, but I was a little nervous, and I felt like we had already stopped the party long enough.”

Thomas told him, “You don’t have to apologize to me. I understand. Carol had already thanked us anyway.” He said, “But I will tell you this, though, you better get good and used to speaking out in public. Because if you’re serious about the promotion game, you can’t afford to be shy. You know what I mean?”

Ivan smiled it off. He was already thinking of ways to minimize his need to be at the center of attention. He would rather the events go over well instead.

Jeff and Paul rushed over to him next. They had taken plenty of photographs of the event, and they couldn’t wait to start uploading the best pictures for the website.

“Hey, you did it, man. And this is just the first one. How do you feel?” Paul asked him.

Ivan nodded. “I feel good,” he told them, especially considering he would make a small profit. That was better than he expected.

“Well, we got plenty of pictures, man. So we’re gonna head back and download them on a disc so you can tell us what images you definitely want for the site,” Jeff told him.

As his young webmasters walked out, more of the crowd approached Ivan with their business cards, event ideas, and basic small talk. Catherine watched from a distance, aroused by everything. Ivan was the big man on campus for the night. But Thomas stepped in to intervene.

He calmly pulled Ivan aside from all of the hoopla surrounding him in the room to speak to him in private.

He said, “Now, here’s the hard part, Ivan. I know everybody in here is gonna have a business idea for you. But most of them are gonna be blowing a cloud of smoke up your ass. So you can’t deal with everybody. You hear me?”

He continued, “The oldest rule in business still applies, Ivan: money talks, bullshit walks. So you’re gonna have to put on a tough coat of skin real fast and get used to telling a lot of people no.”

Ivan grinned and reminded him, “I told you no, several times. I just wasn’t into joining things then.”