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so it’s great to get a glimpse of you here. And Charlotte, how have you been? Last time I saw you, you were quite eloquent about the horrors of parenting an adolescent. Have things improved?”
    Charlotte vented about her daughter’s independent spirit and bragged about her PSAT scores.
    Ruth moved on to a thin woman in a black suit looking around for someone to talk to while trying not to look desperate. “Hi Clarissa, how’s it going?”
    â€œRuth you’re such a genius. And it’s so good of you,” said with hand over heart, “to raise all this money for these poor children.”
    â€œIt’s a terrible disease. Imagine what it must be like to have your own immune system attack you. To count yourself lucky if it’s only your skin that’s affected and not your organs.
    â€œTheir friends are probably worried about acne, and these kids would give anything to have acne be their worst skin problem.
    â€œAnd the most heart-breaking part is that these kids have no idea why this is happening to them. No one does, really. All they know is that their skin gets thick and stiff. That’s why it’s so important for us to raise money for research and treatment. Thanks, Clarissa, for being part of it.”
    Next was diminutive Rita, with the huge eyeglasses and even huger earrings, who wondered aloud if the corporate benefits were cost-effective while her eyes ceaselessly roamed the crowd like a lighthouse beam.
    â€œCome on, Rita, you have plenty of time at work to arm-wrestle with me about the bottom line. Tonight, let’s just be music lovers, okay? Who knows, tomorrow I might actually agree with you.”
    Cameron’s son was considering the Peace Corps, which made it a convenient topic whenever they needed one.
    â€œSo there I was, running a health dispensary at the tender age of twenty-two, seeing people with diseases ranging from polio to elephantiasis to scleroderma. And also meeting David, the volunteer in the next village. Little did I know he was my future better half.”
    Charm on command was exhausting, she thought. It was necessary social lubrication, she knew, and, even though David, the natural-born storyteller, had helped her learn to do it, she still preferred one-on-one intimacy. No one could tell she was a recovering introvert whose shyness had sometimes been mistaken for snobbery. And she’d even managed to stop worrying about how she looked in her dress.
    Flickering lights signaled Turandot would start in five minutes.
    As people ended their small talk and drifted out to the Mimosa block of seats in the first mezzanine, Ruth started towards Pat to tell her what a fine job she’d done. But Pat was busy talking to Jeremy. From her body language, she might easily have been talking about how big a fish she’d caught. She really shouldn’t suck up so soon and so obviously, Ruth thought. You just never know. Office Politics 101.
    Ruth tended to three others who needed herding into the theatre, then found David’s waiting arm.
    â€œHow’s it going so far?”
    She commented on the gratifying mix of “regular” people mixed in with the rich folks. “I’m not sure, but I think we’ll set a record. Lots of people paid at the door. Which means they paid a lot. I can’t wait to see the figures tomorrow. Plus, Mark Bloom pulled me over. Remember him? He used to be CFO at our place, and everyone thought he’d be our new CEO but now he’s being groomed for some top Big Daddy job. He went on and on about how great my charity benefits are, so he’s okay in my book.”
    Seated, Ruth quickly did an inventory of who was sitting with whom just as the lights dimmed and the overture welcomed her to the spectacle.
    To avoid her usual operatic head-flopping, she’d read the English translation of the libretto and listened to the music before coming. And she was glad she had: knowing what was