The venue of the Rising Tech Stars After Party was at a fancy high-end bar. Dell arrived in a conservative but elegant-looking green dress. She had pink lipstick on.
"Red lipstick. Pshaw," she said to herself. "I'm here to bag contracts, not a boyfriend. What I need to be is non-threaten--"
"Dell!"
She looked at the sound of the voice and saw William, dressed in his usual smart suit, walking towards her from the bar. "William! I didn't know you would be here."
"Last minute decision. I thought, might as well. It would be good to try to find new clients here." He did something with his hair. It looked a little more fashionable and made him look kinda cute, actually. "Are you here by yourself?"
"Yeah."
"You look really beautiful in that." He gestured at her green dress.
Dell beamed at him. "Thanks, green is my color."
"Hey, if you're here alone, why don't I escort you tonight?"
Dell laughed. "Oh you're so old-fashioned, Will. Women nowadays are fine without an escort. We can hold our own in a networking party."
He frowned, clearly affronted. "Well, I'm sorry if you don't like old-fashioned."
Dell squeezed his arm. "I didn't say I didn't like it. I actually find it adorable."
This time, she was sure Will blushed as he looked away, which she also found adorable in a colleague, almost friend sort of way. "So, uh," he continued. "Shall we work the room?"
"Sounds good to me!" She beamed. "You take the left side, I can take the--" Dell stopped. A man in a grey suit in the middle of the hall caught her attention.
The man had short black hair and a sexy five o'clock shadow. He was conversing confidently with a group of four or five people. And he clearly commanded the conversation. But it wasn't because he was oozing with confidence that she couldn't look away. She knew this man. This man had made her heart beat years ago. Only she had been too shy to ever approach him and tell him that. What was he doing here? Is this finally fate giving her a second chance? Well, in her experience, if a lost opportunity suddenly presented itself a second time, then there would be no way she was going to let this one go this time. To hell with shyness. She didn't get where she was by being timid. Taking a deep breath, she resolved to approach the man in the grey suit.
"Dell?" She heard Will ask.
"Sorry, Will. There's someone I need to say hi to," she said as she walked towards the middle of the room "I'll catch you later."
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