Like a Virgin

Chapter Eleven

Chris' POV
I stood in front of my brother and helped him fix his tie then looked him in the eye and said,"You know this is some real business right?"
He nodded and swallowed hard.
"You nervous?"
He shrugged,"Maybe just a little bit. Who knows what can go on tonight, you know?"
"Trey you ain't gotta be nervous. This where all our hard work is getting put into. Them mothafuckas is gon remember us whether they like it or not."
We both laughed.
"Ma and pop are probably watching over us right now. We got this."
Trey nodded.
"Now let's go make a name for ourselves."I said leading the way into the ACS auction with my head held up high and my hands stuffed into my pockets.
Trey and I were immediately stopped by a group of major investors. They all were involved in this auction in almost the same way as us, through big contributions.
I stuck my hand out and shook each of their hands and introduced Trey and he did the same. "Aye how are you all doing?",I asked engaging in some small talk.
One white man with a drink in his hand answered,"You know, we're just really waiting for this thing to start. By the way, I'm George. George Jackson,"
"I'm Trey Brown and this is my brother Chris.", Trey responded.
"So, who brought you fellas here tonight?"
"Excuse me?"I asked.
"Well you know, I've been coming to this auction for years and this is my first time ever seeing you two here so I just wanted to know who brought you two as their guest."
Trey and I looked at each other and chuckled. George stood before us with a confused look on his face then asked,"Did I miss the joke or something?"
"George man," I placed a hand on his shoulder then pointed at Trey and myself "I want you to take a good look at our faces aight? Remember them because the next time you will see them after tonight is if you go to the General Motors main office in downtown Detroit and ask to meet with their owners."
His eyes widened and a smile flashed across his face,"So you two are Cliff's boys?"
We nodded and Trey asked,"You know our father?"
"Hell yeah I do! Your dad was the only person to ever outbid in this damn auction. One of my dearest friends too. It's a shame he and your moms life got take away so suddenly. but I should have known you two are the famous Brown boys everyone has been talking about. You guys look just like Cliff!"
"What do you mean everybody has been talking about us? You mean like in a bad way?",I asked. No fuck niggas better try me tonight.
"No. We're all just preparing to see what you two have brought to the table this year being your first ACS auction."
"Man I'm just tryna make a good impression on everybody. We're still kinda new to this town and we want everyone to know the Browns are here to stay.",Trey said.
"It's amazing. You are like replicas of your dad. Well, I'd love to stay and chat boys ,but I gotta find the Mrs. Make sure you find your seats before somebody tries to take em."George said before walking off.
As Trey and I headed over to a table with our names on a place card, I cocked my head towards the entrance door and was immediately taken aback by the beauty of a petite looking female with golden hair and blue eyes. Her body was small but filled with incredible curves in all the right places. The dimples in her cheeks were deep enough for me to swim in. I gotta know her name. There is just no way in hell I'm leaving this place without introducing myself to her.
Trey placed a hand on my shoulder and asked,"Chris man, you good?"
"Uh, yeah. Yeah, I'm cool.",I answered.
"Aight. Just checkin."
"Mhmm.",I turned around to look for the beautiful looking girl but she was lost somewhere among the crowd.

Melanie's POV
The entire plane ride here and the drive was extremely uncomfortable for me. For one thing, I don't usually ride planes and then there was the fact that Dr.Neal and his pregnant "friend" were practically cooing at each other the ENTIRE time. They swear they don't have anything going on, or maybe they're just in denial, but I can see something sparkle in their eyes when they look at each other.
Then when we got to the hotel, we each had a separate room which kinda bummed me out because I hate being alone in strange places. I honestly wouldn't mind sharing a room with Candace but I didn't bother to ask if we could because I didn't want her to think of me as weird. She's a really nice woman actually, I just have only known her for a few hours.
After an hour of getting ready, we all made our way to this big auction that's been the talk of the month in the media. With cancer being such a big deal, this auction that's raising TONS of money is a really big deal and the fact that I'm being recognized at such an event is a big deal as well.
We were escorted to our table just minutes before it was time for the event to officially begin. Candace nudged my in my side and said,"Are you nervous?"
"Why should I be nervous?",I questioned.
She shrugged,"I don't know, I just thought you would be since you have to say an acceptance speech for your award, but you're probably a lot more confident I could ever be."
"Wait. I have to give a speech?",My heart started pounding. I hate public speaking, especially to a huge crowd like this and it's also being televised. Damn, I wonder if it's too late to quit.....
Dr.Neal leaned over and said,"Melanie, relax. It's all a piece of cake. You go up there, accept your award, and just say a quick thank you to whoever you want then it's over."
"Don't listen to him. Melanie, you need to thank whoever has impacted you enough to get you to where you are today. Whatever you say, just make sure it comes from the heart."Candace smiled.
"Oh, okay.",I exhaled. Breathe Melanie, breathe.
"Good evenings ladies and gentlemen and welcomed to the 2014 American Cancer Association Auction.",the announcer began. "I already have a good feeling about his year so let's get this thing started!"
The entire room clapped.
"Okay, now to start off we will begin with some of toughest heroes we have sitting in this room, our nurses. We have nurses and doctor's all over the country right in this very room who have made outstanding contributions to society. Please welcome Dr.Gerald from Phoenix Children's Hospital in Arizona."
We all clapped. The doctor gave a short speech then called up his chosen nurse who gave a short speech then was given her award and they walked off the stage. It went on like this for awhile now and my hands were all clammy and I was sort of shaking.
Before long, the announcer called up Dr.Neal and he winked at me just as he walked up on stage. He stood at the podium and and smiled,"Any doctor's mission is to save lives and take care of his or her patients the best way possible. It's hard sometimes, because you feel like all the weight in the world is being placed on your shoulders but it's easier knowing we doctor's aren't alone. We have hard working nurses by our sides and one in particular, here to accept this prestigious award, is Ms.Melanie Blake."
The entire room erupted with claps and I stood up with an uneasy smile on my face and walked up the steps of the stage over to Dr.Neal, who handed me a plaque and shook my hand then walked off the stage. I looked over at the crowd of people as I stood at the podium and gulped. The harsh lights made it a lot harder for me to concentrate. Relax. Just speak from the heart.
"Hi.",was all I managed to choke out which for some reason made the crowd giggle and lightened the mood a bit.
I looked down at the plaque and smiled at this awards that I earned with my hard work. "My life hasn't always been the best. I grew up with a single mother and my life was.....pretty much hell. I felt as if no one ever cared about me and there was nothing important in life anymore. All my life, I had been searching for my purpose in life and this is it." I held up my plaque.
"To some people patients are just....patients. To me, they are the loving family I never had. I devote my life to patients because that's the kind of support they need to fight. The fight to overcome cancer is one of the biggest fights a person will ever have to face in there lifetime but I'm here to say to you all that where there's a will, there IS a way. Thank you."I finished and walked away just as the entire room stood to there feet and applauded me. Along the way down the steps, my eyes caught onto someone who stared at me with deep eyes and flashed me a soft smile. I smiled back and headed back to my seat.
A bunch of other doctors and nurses gave their speeches and when they finished we moved onto the next part of the event, the large investors and contributors.
"I'm going to the little girl's room okay?."Candace whispered to me.
"You need me to come with you?",I offered.
"No, that's okay. It'll just be a minute."she got up from the table and wobbled over towards the bathrooms.
"Now, let's give a warm welcome to the two men that have been the talk of this event. They both took over their parents' General Motor's empire at such young ages, give it up from Chris and Trey Brown!",the announcer yelled through the mic.
Everyone clapped as the two men walked up to the podium. I recognized one of them as the guy that smiled as me after I gave my speech. I gave them my undivided attention as he cleared his throat to speak.
"Aye how you doin everybody? I'm Chris and this is my younger brother Trey. A few years ago, most of you here today came to this very event yearly but instead of us, you saw our parents. The two of them worked hard at literally everything they did. They had such a strong connection that I even as a child I remember wanting a solid relationship like theirs. But tragedy struck and their precious lives were taken away from them and all their hard work was passed down onto us."
My heart sunk at his sad story. I couldn't help but feel somewhat connected to him, almost as if I knew exactly where he was coming from. I was staring up into his eyes from my seat and once his eyes found mine, they never left.
"So now, here we are. We moved into the big city which seems to be the opposite of L.A., where we grew up. Basically, we want to be taken seriously in this town and we will. If you haven't already seen these four vehicles to my left, they have been donated by us to this important event."
We all went crazy in cheers and claps. These guys aren't playing around. Four cars? And they're not even the cheap kinds, those are high quality cars right there.
Chris turned to his brother and asked,"Trey you wanna say something?"
Trey shook his head and Chris ended his speech when he said, "Thank you." and the two walked off the stage and back to their seats.
The announcer came back on stage,"Okay and now, for the moment we have all been waiting for, the auction part of the evening will officially start......"
Candace wobbled back from the bathroom and sat down beside me and asked,"What'd I miss?"
"Nothing major, they're just about to start the auction that's all."I said.