A week had passed until Sandra was summoned to Dr Jones' office with no indication of the reasoning for the meeting. Sandra had no idea what she had done wrong. Dr Jones never invitation never had anything to do with rewards, but rather complaints, warning or disciplinary action. He was a man you enjoyed watching others suffering. The last time she had been there, he decided to scream at her because she accidentally mixed up the order of documents in a file compared to the prescribed order. He had a field day with that. A rather cruel boss.

Sandra decided to bite the bullet and head straight to his office. She knocked and entered upon command. The office walls were lined with multiple achievements of Dr Jones that it was difficult to distinguish the original colour of the wall. She wouldn't be surprised if she found a certificate for being the line leader in kindergarten.

Vain, conceited and self-centred.

If only he wasn't her boss.

"Good afternoon Dr Jones," Sandra said. Dr Jones presence filled the office, as he sat with his fingers interlinked at the desk. He loved to make himself seem bigger than he was. His office chair gave him extra height compared to Sandra, who sat on the lower cushioned chair.

A small metaphor to remind all his subordinates of his authority while trying to compensate for something else.

"Have a seat Dr Williams," he replied without greeting her. The man never had time for niceties unless he needed to suck up to anyone who was higher in the chain of command. When Sandra sat down, he said nothing but stared at her inquisitively. She was just as puzzled at his behaviour as he was for whatever reason that she had been called into the office.

"How can I help you?" Sandra broke the silence, twiddling with her thumbs of her lap. She had patients to see there were definitely a higher priority than sitting here and being ogled here. If she could find out what his problem was, she could find a solution.

"It seems you impressed some very important people." Dr Jones didn't bother hiding his astonishment. He believed that he should've been invited instead of her and was ready to decline on her behalf to take her place, but the board of directors made it clearly, they want Dr Williams or no one. There must be some sort of reason.

"I have?" Sandra was unsure how to respond. At the end, whoever these important people were, they didn't have to work with Dr Jones on a daily business with his mood swings.

"Yes, you've been invited to represent the hospital at a fund-raising gala," he spat out the words. The distress was easily seen, despite how hard he tried to hide it from Sandra. Dr Jones was so used to getting nice things, he could not believe someone else aside from him, who deserved anything.

"That's...nice." Sandra wanted to be subtle around Dr Jones, so he didn't find a way get her uninvited. This was just something he needed to find her way out from underneath Dr Jones. There were many words better than nice to describe the opportunity to network than nice.

Life-changing.

"Very nice indeed. You will represent us. Just know that I will know if anything goes south," he warned. He actually wanted Dr Williams to mess up so that in future he could have a real reason to make sure that he was the one invited to influential events but for now his hands were tied.

"I understand Dr Jones." Sandra shifted uncomfortably from his warning. She could sense that he was just waiting to pounce her at the first sight of her screwing up. There was unknown pressure pushing down on her now. No one enjoyed having someone breathing down their neck. It was already terrible that she was under Dr Jones' radar without having his actually giving a verbal warning.

"Very well, you may return to shift," Dr Jones dismissed, and started reading some random documents on his desk. Sandra left, closing the door gently and returned to her shift.

What if it has to do with him?

Sandra eliminated that thought just as swiftly as it crossed her mind. There was no way. She had a short moment of to gather herself before returning to the chaotic environment of the hospital.

~*~

The day of the fundraising gala arrived in a blink of an eye. Sandra was drained from a shift at the hospital. Dr Jones had been gracious enough to give her the next day off, but it didn't mean she hadn't just worked a night shift. Sandra decided to have a nap before getting ready. When she told Andrea about the opportunity, she had been thrilled that Sandra was getting a chance to connect with other professionals. Andrea had managed to drag a promise from Sandra to tell her all about the event at the first chance given. They would probably take a while since their shifts were always clashing but they always somehow managed to find a way around the obstacle.

If someone wanted to spend time with you, they would make time.

The fundraising gala had a formal dress code, giving Sandra a chance to dress up. Her dresses finally got a chance to shine over her usual scrubs. Her dress was a golden yellow, with a halter top and mermaid style skirt that wrapped around her figure in a favourable fashion. Sandra pulled her box braids into a pigtail twist. She wanted to do something different from her usual high bun that she was forced to wear a work. She applied her make up with care. Usually there wasn't even time to put one more than a quick swipe of lip balm with her frenzied lifestyle.

Once she was ready, she checked herself in her full body mirror on the inside of her wardrobe and was pleased with the way she looked. She had a few minutes to spare which was enough for her banished negative thoughts to make a comeback. She knew no one else at the fundraising gala and there was a chance she could spend the whole time sitting in the corner, fading into the background. The last thing she wanted was to waste an opportunity, especially one as big as this. Dr Jones had been no help as expected but luckily Sandra had decent mentors in the past, so she had a general idea on what to expect when she arrived.

A text message alerted her that there was a taxi waiting for her outside her building. She glanced one last time in the mirror and placed a fake confident smile on her face. There was no time to back out now and it the worst-case scenario would be she would get a free meal. When in doubt, there was only one way to go.

Fake it, until you make it.

~*~

"Look at the stars
Look how they shine for you"