Sammy Boy

Mackenzie was one of the first to arrive in the board room on Monday morning. She wanted her boss, Gladys, to know she was prompt and ready to start the week. She had cut up an apple and was enjoying her slices when Bobby sat down beside her. Bobby was one of her favorite people at the firm.

The company was frequently broken up into teams that were designated to work on a given project. Love for Lilly’s team consisted of four women – Mackenzie, Karen, Harper, and Lucy – and two men – Bobby and Seth.

Mackenzie was thankful that Bobby was on her team for her first big assignment. He was very paternal and had taken the newbie under his wing a little bit. He had a beautiful wife and two kids and was probably in his late thirties. His hair had a touch of gray to it, but it made him look that much more handsome.

One of Mackenzie’s other favorites was Karen; she was in her forties, had a bob cut of beautiful, natural red hair, and was one of the wittiest people Mackenzie had ever encountered. Mac liked sitting next to her at meetings, solely for the sharp comments she’d make under her breath.

“Look what the cat dragged in,” Karen said as Lucy walked into the meeting room. Her thick blonde hair fell past her shoulder blades, her tight pencil skirt squeezed her in like a corset, and her stilettos always seemed to be taller and thinner than the pen in Mackenzie’s hand.

Throughout the months of working on Love for Lilly, Lucy was the only team member to be cold to Mackenzie. Mac didn’t know why, and didn’t particularly care to find out; Lucy wasn’t exactly the type of girl she wanted as a friend, anyway.

“Good morning my little sunshine pellets,” Gladys started once the seats were filled; she was a colorful woman in her mid-fifties. She had weird sayings and eccentric outfits, but she was talented at what she did and was able to make the company the most high in demand PR firm in Pittsburgh.

“Love for Lilly is on Friday and there’s a few things we need to go over…”

As Gladys outlined the week’s schedule, Mackenzie’s mind wandered to Sidney and she wondered what he was doing now. It had dawned on her that on their walk yesterday, neither really touched on the other’s job.

As she racked her memory for anything that involved what he did for a living, she quickly became aware that everyone in the board room was staring at her.

Mac’s face grew hot as she said: “I’m sorry, can you repeat the question?”

The low chuckle ran through the group. Gladys said with a smile on her face, “I wanted to know if you were paying attention but I guess you just answered my question.

---

Sidney had planned on calling Mackenzie on Monday, but time got away from him and on Tuesday morning, Sidney whacked at the clock on his bedside table to stop it from beeping.

“Five more minutes,” he convinced himself.

He had his first real workout the day before and while it felt amazing, his body was sore from the exertion.

It would take a while to get back into the swing of things, but Sidney was the best and would do what it took to stay at the top.

The next step would be getting cleared to skate.

---

“Why does dress shopping always have to be such a hassle?” Mackenzie huffed after trying on a third unsuccessful garment. It was Wednesday and Love for Lilly was two days away, and she had to pick out a dress that was appropriate, but still said: Yeah, that’s right, I planned this event. Or at least, that’s what all the women in the office claimed it needed to say.

However, all the dresses she tried on looked like she was trying too hard. She wanted simplicity and elegance for her first big event, but so far, it felt like she was going prom dress shopping.

Harper, one of the women working of the project, had offered to browse with her. She needed a dress for the cause as well and was more than happy to help the newcomer.

“This is it,” Harper yelled from behind the curtain that separated her dressing room with the rest of the store. Sure enough, when she walked out in a floor length red dress, Mackenzie’s breathe was taken away.

“That looks phenomenal on you!” she gushed. And it did; it complimented her dark complexion impeccably and made her skin look flawless. “Wow, you are going to turn every head in the room!”

“Now, we just have to find one for you,” the woman said with a smile.

She walked into the dressing room and returned in her street clothes, the dress hanging over her forearm.

“Alright, let’s get down to business.”

“To defeat the Huns?” Mackenzie said with a smile.

“I’m sorry?” Mackenzie liked Harper a lot, but clearly, her coworker had never been exposed to Mulan as a child.

“Never mind, let’s keep looking.”

“Remember, lots of important people and hot athletes are going to be there, so let’s be sure to give them whiplash when we walk into the room!” Harper then walked over to the sales rack and began flipping through dresses.

---

Sidney laced up his skates. He had been cleared Wednesday to skate and on Thursday, he made his way to the rink for the first time in a long time.

After putting on his yellow “no contact” penny over his practice sweater, he made his way down the long hallway that stretched from the locker room to the arena, and stepped onto the ice of the Consol.

His teammates were already working drills, and when their captain placed his skates on the ice, they erupted in whoops, hollers, and cat calls.

“Lookin’ good!” … “Oh hot damn!” … “Dat ass, Crosby!”

A smile crept onto the star’s face. He had missed this.

---

Friday was upon them at last. Tonight was Love for Lilly and Mackenzie was at the restaurant finalizing everything with the coordinator.

She had to say, the place looked amazing. The restaurant was draped beautifully in orange, the official support color of Leukemia awareness. Photos were placed throughout the restaurant in memory of kids who hadn’t survived the fight, those still battling, and those who had conquered. Mackenzie hoped that one day, no pictures would be necessary. There were boxes for donations and a large table of prizes to bid on.

Mackenzie was sure the event would raise the money to get what the hospital needed.

“Well,” Bobby came up beside her, “that should do it. My best advice would be to breathe. You’ve done a lot of research for the event and put in a lot of hard work and effort to make it the best you can be. Breathe, smile, and enjoy it. I’ll see you tonight.”

He gave her a reassuring smile before turning to exit the restaurant.