Mitchel had been standing by the glass door entrance to the main convention hall, waiting for JC to arrive. He wanted to go over some last minute talking points of his keynote speech. Mitchel was the new president of the National Associate for Music Education. The national conference was held in California for a reason. Recently, the state had reconfigured its funding formula for public education to be more holistic. It's a radical funding approach that could inspire other states and serve as the perfect talking point to promote music education. The new funding formula accounted for addressing the needs of underserved demographics, and foster youth were a high need priority.  JC was the perfect keynote speaker to speak to how impactful music can be for kids with nontraditional family lives. It was a big favor to ask of one of his oldest friends, but JC didn't seem to hesitate to confirm, which is why Mitchel was feeling slightly guilty after the episode from the night before. He saw an SUV pull up to a curb, and he was quite sure it was JC who got out. His instinct was confirmed when immediately a small group of women rushed him. Mitchel promptly exited the convention hall and went to JC's rescue. 

"Ladies, JC is needed in the conference hall. We hope you are attending his keynote speech at exhibition room C."

"It's fine," JC smiled at him, then turned back to the women, and held up a camera phone for a group selfie. "It's nice to meet you lovely ladies. Thank you for coming out. You're teachers?"

The crowd of women responded in the affirmative. 

"Couldn't do what you all do. Thank you."

He waved and posed for a few more selfies, before he allowed Mitchel to escort him into the convention center. JC followed in step with Mitchel as they breezed past the main exhibition hall and flashed a badge that allowed them entrance into a short hallway with a few small office spaces. The two men took seats in two of the red office chairs strategically placed around a conference table. Mitchel took two small index cards out of his breast pocket and handed them off to JC.  

"I know your speech is going to be great, but it's super important you include these two topics. I listed some keywords. I hope you can find a way to incorporate these at some point."

"Not a problem," JC assured him as he flipped through the cards. 

"I wanted to go over them with you earlier," Mitchel tried to explain, but I missed you in the hotel.

"Yeah. I realized I didn't have my credit card, so I went back to that bar."

"I'm so sorry about last night."

"Hey, no biggie, man. We're heroes," JC laughed. 

"I mean, I guess," Mitchel mumbled, confused.

"No. We are. I ran into Nicole at the bar."

"She was there again today?"

"No, no. She came in while I was there. She wanted to tell the manager about what happened."

"How did she seem?"

"She seems okay. We talked a little. She actually drove me here," a slight chuckle punctured his sentence. "She thanked me profusely. I don't think she really remembers much. Maybe that's a good thing."

"She drove you here?"

"Yeah. To thank me."

"Uh huh."

"I was going to get an Uber, she insisted. I didn't feel like I could say no."

"Does she know who you are? Is this going to be a problem for you?"

"I don't think she does. It doesn't matter. Anyway, she seems good. She's grateful. She will probably call you. She tried me earlier, but I didn't answer." 

Mitchel shook his head and shrugged. "Okay, well, you'll be on in about 45 minutes. You can stay here and prepare if you'd like, or you can wander around."

"I got some calls to make. I'll stick around here. Don't worry about me. See you in a bit," JC waved his friend away.